AMC TC released! Merry X-mas!

Started by James, 24 December 2011, 22:00:34

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 4 Guests are viewing this topic.

Maarten

Just popping here to say hi, I'm sure gonna give this TC a go, I'll see when I've time but seeing the reactions, and the small parts I watched Merlijn playing looked really promising.

Speaking of mods/tc's, it's weird our Imperium episode is already released like a half year ago....  :o
Time flies, haha :D
Boo!

Micky C

I've given some more thought to my user map I'm attempting to make. I think most of it will take part in a giant underground cavern housing a facility/complex for cloning octabrains, just in case anyone else was thinking of the same idea. I've found that software mode was a lot more stable with TROR than I thought, so I might try to use the feature to help me make the map stand out from the rest, because quite frankly it's the only advantage (if you can call it that) over most other mappers.

I'll probably wait for the wiki to be finished so I can have a complete set of the effects.
Wall whore.

James

I guess that's more motivation for me to start the build side of the wiki then heh heh :D I'm already liking the sound of the story, I do have more plans for the Precog plotline - not so much the Octabrains though but what they used to be instead.

Merlijn

So now I'm at the last level, For providence. Yeah I know, I'm slow as hell. ;)
So far, Millhaven is still my favorite. Revolution was pretty cool as well (I especially liked the design of the city - those burning buildings in the background were a great touch).

However, I do think the Revolution maps have some flaws. For one, the AI of the comrades wasn't very good, they kept getting stuck and the fell off the sprite bridge and got stuck in the water 2 times (I had to replay that part 3 times). Secondly, the boss fight was a bit too hard (as someone on Duke4.net also pointed out). And lastly, it didn't really connect with the rest of the episode, storywise. Would have been better as a separate mission

(but then we're getting close to Forges idea, to give every character their own little background adventure.. I think I'll go ahead and make a map for my own character, even though it won't be as ambitious or conceptually grand as these official levels.. I don't think I have the time for that  :-\).

Anyway, back to the final level. I've played earlier beta's of it, so I know it's a kick-ass level already. ;) Can't wait to properly finish the episode though!

James

Glad you're liking it :) I am aware about the ally AI problems, I never got round to coding at least basic waypoints and stuff for them - when I get some time I'll have a go at patching that stuff in. I have also slowed down the rate at which the robot's grenade launcher fires as well, it's much fairer now.

Storywise, whilst it is unconnected that's not the last you've seen of the characters established there :) There was originally plans to have a single occult room and have James and Highwire commit about how silly it was in a case of dramatic irony, but I thought that would go too far - I didn't want paranormal elements infecting EVERYTHING since that's only a small part of what will happen in the future.

And glad to hear about the map - even if you only end up showing a shot or something, seeing a Merlijn-style map with the AMC texture set would be cool enough :D (If you need help or want some help with cinematics and stuff when the time comes, give me a shout - Highwire's revolution map started the exact same way since he wanted to build a map about his backstory and it turned into the final product just fromt hat)

Merlijn

Well shit, I can't go back now.  8) Concider it a deal; I'll try to start a map about a demon infestation in Amsterdam. Can't promise I will finish it though. ;D

Micky C

Are there already half-finished levels that will be in episode 2? There's some stuff in the 2009 trailer that wasn't in the first one.
Wall whore.

James

Yeah, there's a fair amount of the first 'all-character' part of the episode done, and a few of the later levels have been started on as well :)

Micky C

Ha, ideas don't last long. The underground cavern *might* still be in the map, but now I'm thinking I really want to do a flying ship. That way you can fight on the decks, inside the ship, and under the ship on hanging platforms (which you won't want to fall off of).

The function of the ship is kind of like a flying base. Similar to the Valiant from Dr Who
Of course it won't look anything like that, it'll be more like a traditional sea ship in design.

Stay tuned for a few weeks until I change my mind again  :P Nah I've got a good feeling with this, and I'll try and take my time with it.
Wall whore.

James

Very cool :) There is a skybox feature added into the game like it was with IW - it kinda screws up scopes and stuff but if you don't plan on needing the player to use them than you can always use that to make a dynamic backdrop to the map. If you look at the map DMEPION or INVEPION you can see a pretty detailed example of what you could do :)

Micky C

My god, that was impressive. I could probably whip up a large ocean with some mountains sticking out of it. By scope problems do you mean like sniper scopes, and the reflex sights that one of rusty's weapons have?
Wall whore.

James

Yeah, and some guns really mess up the view on classic mode when you're firing them. I've reported the issue to Helix; hopefully he can fix both problems which is why skyboxes weren't used in the main episode even though they're supported.

QuoteMy god, that was impressive. I could probably whip up a large ocean with some mountains sticking out of it. By scope problems do you mean like sniper scopes, and the reflex sights that one of rusty's weapons have?
If I were you, I'd do this and then use some sprites to simulate clouds; maybe have high mountains with clouds at the top of their peaks or something? :)

Micky C

I created the frame of the ship a few days ago, but I really don't want to start texturing it or adding detail. It was bad enough learning new textures for WGRealms 2 and this texture set is 4 times bigger (WGR2 already had more textures than atomic edition). I'm still hoping something's going to happen to make the transition easier, so I'll wait a while before I dive into that.



I've also been experimenting with the skybox feature, and I don't know what you did James, but the skybox is much smoother than in IWv2, which tended to jerk when you looked around. I still can't figure out how you got the ship to 'fly in a circular path', I've tried to mimic the conditions of the epion map but its difficult without the complete documentation.
Wall whore.

James

If I were you I'd copy the skybox completely to get it working first, than remove all of the stuff apart from the effectors and start from scratch. I should of documented the stuff but 99% was added when I needed it rather than planned stuff, and I had no idea if anybody else was ever gonna use it. I'll take another crack at filling up the wiki with more information on new SE effects though :)

The textures should be organised, but there's a limited amount of new tile sets I can create so I had to prioritise the special sprites. I've got a bunch of days off next week so one day I will at least add categories for decorations and stuff :)

James

I've updated the wiki page with information on all the new stuff I've added to the sector effector sprite - hopefully it'll prove useful to you :)