I hope you guys don't abandon this project so far along. If you stop work all together you will never go back to it. Just a few hours a week is all you need to keep the project going.
We won't abandon it, Zelda is just insanely busy with school/college stuff, and imo education > mapping. He said he'll have more time come December, so hopefully then we can start making progress again. It's so close to playable...
He also said something about the patch breaking 2v2s :( Let's hope he can fix that.
Okay, so I finally turned thirteen, and I was looking over the past posts. Please excuse me for asking this, but wasn't I like, one of the most annoying people to ever comment on this thread?
On a side note, two questions.
1. Are you still accepting side quest ideas
2. What can I do to help progress this quicker, as I'm dying to play it(aren't we all
Sorry for the unfinished post- my laptop had a heart Attack:(
Basically what I said was that this is looking awesome, and that I want to do everything my feeble little noobish hands can do to get this done and in some sort of an open beta ASAP, so let me know what I can help you with and I'll try to make it happen ;D
You know, maybe I should have looked over the recent developments before I offered to help on a nonexistent matter. It seems you guys are WAAAAAAAY past side-quest ideas, and on the finishing touches before alpha. Sorry! Still, let me know if you need any suggestions for anything. I may not be good At editor, but at least I'm good at making suggestions!!! Thanks, and signing off for the night.
Hey, sorry about not answering yesterday, I read the posts and then.. No idea, did something else quickly and forgot. Happens more than you'd think.
Ideas are always welcome, we'll need em at some point so we can just go back here and look at em again when its time. Right now we're not doing much though :(
Thanks, so therefore expect some more ideas out of me-I hope you like them!
Just wondering what types of starmon still need ability suggestions, and/or what zones still need side-quests (obviously not on the epic scale that I was suggesting earlier)and I'll do my best to fit requirements.
Note-some of my suggestions might be visual based, so either give me the typing of the starmon/terrain or what it looks like.
No screenshots required, though MUCH appreciated and awaited.
Maity, this is kind of out of the blue, but how do you tint weapons and portraits?
I keep trying to use Actor Creation events for the portrait of an archon and the archon attack beam, and I specify the tint color and everything, but the beam always stays blue along with the portrait.
I couldn't really figure out what thread to post this on, so I went here as this is the thread most regularly checked one by a data expert like yourself
I would prefer not to use triggers or reskin the archon
Ok, so my original idea was to create something like blizzard's rainbow archon, that cycles through tint colors and has attacks that correspond to those. The problem, as I stated earlier, was that the two models, the beam and the portrait, aren't changing tints with the archon.
Here's my train of thought:
under unit birth for archon, I create the first tint change to red. On actor birth(theoretically at the same time) I create a timer, decaying after 6 sec, that turns the originally red model into a dark gray. After that, the timer repeats itself, turning it back to the red.
1. How to set up a timer like that
2. How to set up a portrait that changes with the timer, and how to include the attack beam change with the original archon actor
Again, sorry for the irrelevancy, but this is the only regularly checked forum I know of.
Hahaha I would've just posted in the data section which is regularly checked, probably more so than this thread. On a side note these guys were discussing this earlier today HERE.
For future reference it's generally easier to just make a new topic rather than sabotage someones thread.
Basically, Starmon has not been developed for the last few months for a ton of different reasons. The main reason, though, is that I've been unbelievably busy writing college applications and doing a bunch of different things related to that. We're working on a free-to-play mod, and we won't be making money off this. Unfortunately, that means I have to deal with real life stuff first before I can work on the map.
That said, there is some good news. By next week, this entire process of total craziness will finally be done, which means that I'll finally be able to get back to work. A recent patch also broke the 2v2 system so we'll have to fix that....again....but hey, at least we'll be making progress.....
So anyways, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. I never imagined just how much time I'd have to sink into this process, and I did not anticipate how it would impact the development of Starmon. I know we got you guys super hyped for the alpha and then didn't deliver. But I'll be able to get back to work within a week or so and we'll get the alpha to you guys as soon as possible :)
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Glad to hear you might have time to work on it again, and best of luck with your College Applications and other stuff.
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My Projects:
Sorted Multiplayer Leader Board
Card Shuffle Dialog Demo
Air Wars Mass
Blizzard Fan since Starcraft. The Single Player story is AMAZING IMO, I can't wait for the Expansions. In Warcraft 3 I only enjoy the Custom Maps scene (& Blizzards...
Terrainwise, one little village and finishing the Beach. The latter isn't possible yet though - I'm waiting for some custom made models Soulfilcher promised us there. Once I get those, I'm looking at a 2 hour job at most. I'm not sure about Maity, but I think Zelda has the most work to do, having to fix 2v2, updating the quests and finalizing a bunch of features.
@Mozared: Go I'm sorry for the delay. I've been really busy and I barely touch the editor or blender lately. But your ideas aren't hard to make, so I'm sure I can do it when I finally take some free time for it. Don't worry, you will have some beach doodads.
Don't worry about it Soul, it's not like we've been sitting here twidling our thumbs waiting for your models =P. The Beach is workable as is and the doodads will come when they will.
I've been lazy as fuck as well, no need to be sorry :p
I can't remember what our to-do list was >.>
For me: Some UI images, if I can be bothered making them, they're not necessary - I highly doubt you guys will be using the storage box much, and its completely functional already anyway, the buttons are just stand sc2 buttons. Looks quite ugly though, I do want to change that.
Make sure all starmon are ready, have a working move set and are available in the wild / somehow else. (Probably done)
Set up enough trainer types and arena fights (probably done)
"add more stuff" - Relatively unnecessary, for the alpha at least. I do need to get off my ass and add more stuff, there's a lot I need to do, but a lot of things I'd do now simply wouldn't be available in the alpha (We don't have an entire working map and story, so if I add more starmon there's a good chance they won't be available til who knows when. Adding more trainer types without starmon is a bit hard), which is one of the reasons I'm lacking motivation. So much of my stuff isn't necessary :(
I'd need to playtest for a couple of hours to figure out what I'm missing and work on that...
As for Zelda:
- Add 6 player support (That number of players is technically seen already supported, he just needs to make sure there's enough battle arenas for them all and that they're all linked up to the right cameras and then one of us changes the map settings to allow that many players in the lobby)
- Fixing bugs (Probably the biggest thing)
- Finalizing 2v2s (Making them work again in the first place, and then fixing some weird cases/bugs, like starting a 2v2 with only a single available starmon, knocking out two starmon in one go, etc. Also includes looking into whether an AI on the players side is possible with the current system (AIs were set up with us assuming they'll always be on the other side, a lot of stuff is skipped for the "player" side of the battle and the variables are set up differently for AIs)
- I think the last story quest we have in the alpha needs its alternate version/ending
- Modifying the story encounters to reveal the surprise I've been hinting at for quite a while (Actually, this might be up to me)
That should be it I think. There might be some missing UI stuff, I think trading is currently not possible because there is simply no way for a player to activate the trade triggers. (Trading works though, if you can start one)
Not sure about held items at the moment, but those aren't necessary for the alpha (in fact, don't expect many items or starmon abilities (the passive stuff) in the alpha - we have very few of them, and they're not really that necessary yet)
Cool. If I'm reading what Maity is saying correctly, you guys are almost ready for alpha testing. 6 player support isn't a big deal if we can test at least 2 players together imo. I'm not too concerned about 2v2 battles (for now) although I'd like to suggest a new idea. Instead of going with typical RPGs where a party battle simply meant adding more units in (with issues of balance and competitive play) how about Zelda builds a simpler system?
I'm thinking a tag team where players agree when they get to switch in their starmon but it's still 1v1. Then we could add interesting effects with a coop partner around like passive bonuses to the active combatants based on the the trainer or the starmon's ability that will be switched in next. I don't know how this'll work exactly but the idea is to try something new, potentially better, and easier to make/maintain. Maybe the passive coop partner can only use heal/support moves?
This wouldn't actually be "simpler" I think :p Plain and simple tag team may be possible (Swapping control with another player) but probably a short nightmare for Zelda, but adding more stuff to it is probably harder than setting up 2v2s (Which was mostly just modifying existing stuff to take into account the additional slots, targetting stuff and things regarding party sizes and switching). 2v2s are pretty much in already, the patch just broke them, and honestly I think that's the most straightforward way for coop to work - If you do tag-team, one player doesn't get to play much instead of getting to just do what he'd normally do together with a friend, it changes the game fundamentally.
As for 2v2s not being necessary for alpha - They are :p We want to test multiplayer, 2v2s and the story quests do include some 2v2 battles I believe (I can think of at least one, but I'm sure there's more)
Do you guys feel you need alpha testing? I'm patient with starmon and I assume you could test the map between you 3. If you release the alpha version on bnet I'm willing to try it every now and then and report my findings here.
We can't really test things between ourselves. The reason we can work together well as a team is because our times rarely collide :p Moz and I can probably play together a lot, but the only reason I get to talk to Zelda on skype is because my sleep schedule is fucked up :) (If you do some math, you'll notice this is being posted at about 3:30 AM CET) If we need to though we can probably set up a time for the three of us to test together, but there's a more important reason we want to test with other people: We don't get any "first impressions" from this, we don't know whether some things are too hard to understand, follow or find, because we made all this. We know how the game works, where we're supposed to go, etc. We've played this over and over again while testing. I made stuff the way I liked it, without much of a second opinion.
When we were making RuneCraft I made sure to get Eiviyn in on a game wrote down everything he criticized - It helped a lot. Getting another persons opinion on something really helps in finding flaws you didn't notice before.
When you think about it, we want an alpha for similar reasons why we have this thread - Talk about the map, share ideas and get feedback. And we also need to make sure it actually works with multiple players, what bugs can occur with multiple people, etc.
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I hope you guys don't abandon this project so far along. If you stop work all together you will never go back to it. Just a few hours a week is all you need to keep the project going.
We won't abandon it, Zelda is just insanely busy with school/college stuff, and imo education > mapping. He said he'll have more time come December, so hopefully then we can start making progress again. It's so close to playable...
He also said something about the patch breaking 2v2s :( Let's hope he can fix that.
Okay, so I finally turned thirteen, and I was looking over the past posts. Please excuse me for asking this, but wasn't I like, one of the most annoying people to ever comment on this thread?
On a side note, two questions. 1. Are you still accepting side quest ideas 2. What can I do to help progress this quicker, as I'm dying to play it(aren't we all
Sorry for the unfinished post- my laptop had a heart Attack:(
Basically what I said was that this is looking awesome, and that I want to do everything my feeble little noobish hands can do to get this done and in some sort of an open beta ASAP, so let me know what I can help you with and I'll try to make it happen ;D
You know, maybe I should have looked over the recent developments before I offered to help on a nonexistent matter. It seems you guys are WAAAAAAAY past side-quest ideas, and on the finishing touches before alpha. Sorry! Still, let me know if you need any suggestions for anything. I may not be good At editor, but at least I'm good at making suggestions!!! Thanks, and signing off for the night.
Hey, sorry about not answering yesterday, I read the posts and then.. No idea, did something else quickly and forgot. Happens more than you'd think.
Ideas are always welcome, we'll need em at some point so we can just go back here and look at em again when its time. Right now we're not doing much though :(
@TheAlmaity: Go
Thanks, so therefore expect some more ideas out of me-I hope you like them! Just wondering what types of starmon still need ability suggestions, and/or what zones still need side-quests (obviously not on the epic scale that I was suggesting earlier)and I'll do my best to fit requirements. Note-some of my suggestions might be visual based, so either give me the typing of the starmon/terrain or what it looks like. No screenshots required, though MUCH appreciated and awaited.
Maity, this is kind of out of the blue, but how do you tint weapons and portraits?
I keep trying to use Actor Creation events for the portrait of an archon and the archon attack beam, and I specify the tint color and everything, but the beam always stays blue along with the portrait.
I couldn't really figure out what thread to post this on, so I went here as this is the thread most regularly checked one by a data expert like yourself
I would prefer not to use triggers or reskin the archon
SORRY FOR THE IRRELEVANT POST!!!
@BladeOfAiur: Go
The portrait is a model not an actor. Idk how you're messing up the attack beam though. That should work with what you're doing.
Ok, so my original idea was to create something like blizzard's rainbow archon, that cycles through tint colors and has attacks that correspond to those. The problem, as I stated earlier, was that the two models, the beam and the portrait, aren't changing tints with the archon.
Here's my train of thought:
under unit birth for archon, I create the first tint change to red. On actor birth(theoretically at the same time) I create a timer, decaying after 6 sec, that turns the originally red model into a dark gray. After that, the timer repeats itself, turning it back to the red.
1. How to set up a timer like that
2. How to set up a portrait that changes with the timer, and how to include the attack beam change with the original archon actor
Again, sorry for the irrelevancy, but this is the only regularly checked forum I know of.
@BladeOfAiur: Go
Hahaha I would've just posted in the data section which is regularly checked, probably more so than this thread. On a side note these guys were discussing this earlier today HERE.
For future reference it's generally easier to just make a new topic rather than sabotage someones thread.
Yeah, sorry about that, just I wasn't sure that if I opened up my own topic, it wouldn't be checked. Thx, I'll post in data from now on.
Sorry for the lack of updates, guys.
Basically, Starmon has not been developed for the last few months for a ton of different reasons. The main reason, though, is that I've been unbelievably busy writing college applications and doing a bunch of different things related to that. We're working on a free-to-play mod, and we won't be making money off this. Unfortunately, that means I have to deal with real life stuff first before I can work on the map.
That said, there is some good news. By next week, this entire process of total craziness will finally be done, which means that I'll finally be able to get back to work. A recent patch also broke the 2v2 system so we'll have to fix that....again....but hey, at least we'll be making progress.....
So anyways, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. I never imagined just how much time I'd have to sink into this process, and I did not anticipate how it would impact the development of Starmon. I know we got you guys super hyped for the alpha and then didn't deliver. But I'll be able to get back to work within a week or so and we'll get the alpha to you guys as soon as possible :)
@zeldarules28: Go
Glad to hear you might have time to work on it again, and best of luck with your College Applications and other stuff.
@Trieva: Go
Terrainwise, one little village and finishing the Beach. The latter isn't possible yet though - I'm waiting for some custom made models Soulfilcher promised us there. Once I get those, I'm looking at a 2 hour job at most. I'm not sure about Maity, but I think Zelda has the most work to do, having to fix 2v2, updating the quests and finalizing a bunch of features.
@Mozared: Go I'm sorry for the delay. I've been really busy and I barely touch the editor or blender lately. But your ideas aren't hard to make, so I'm sure I can do it when I finally take some free time for it. Don't worry, you will have some beach doodads.
@SoulFilcher: Go
Don't worry about it Soul, it's not like we've been sitting here twidling our thumbs waiting for your models =P. The Beach is workable as is and the doodads will come when they will.
@SoulFilcher: Go
I've been lazy as fuck as well, no need to be sorry :p
I can't remember what our to-do list was >.>
For me: Some UI images, if I can be bothered making them, they're not necessary - I highly doubt you guys will be using the storage box much, and its completely functional already anyway, the buttons are just stand sc2 buttons. Looks quite ugly though, I do want to change that.
Make sure all starmon are ready, have a working move set and are available in the wild / somehow else. (Probably done)
Set up enough trainer types and arena fights (probably done)
"add more stuff" - Relatively unnecessary, for the alpha at least. I do need to get off my ass and add more stuff, there's a lot I need to do, but a lot of things I'd do now simply wouldn't be available in the alpha (We don't have an entire working map and story, so if I add more starmon there's a good chance they won't be available til who knows when. Adding more trainer types without starmon is a bit hard), which is one of the reasons I'm lacking motivation. So much of my stuff isn't necessary :(
I'd need to playtest for a couple of hours to figure out what I'm missing and work on that...
As for Zelda:
- Add 6 player support (That number of players is technically seen already supported, he just needs to make sure there's enough battle arenas for them all and that they're all linked up to the right cameras and then one of us changes the map settings to allow that many players in the lobby)
- Fixing bugs (Probably the biggest thing)
- Finalizing 2v2s (Making them work again in the first place, and then fixing some weird cases/bugs, like starting a 2v2 with only a single available starmon, knocking out two starmon in one go, etc. Also includes looking into whether an AI on the players side is possible with the current system (AIs were set up with us assuming they'll always be on the other side, a lot of stuff is skipped for the "player" side of the battle and the variables are set up differently for AIs)
- I think the last story quest we have in the alpha needs its alternate version/ending
- Modifying the story encounters to reveal the surprise I've been hinting at for quite a while (Actually, this might be up to me)
That should be it I think. There might be some missing UI stuff, I think trading is currently not possible because there is simply no way for a player to activate the trade triggers. (Trading works though, if you can start one)
Not sure about held items at the moment, but those aren't necessary for the alpha (in fact, don't expect many items or starmon abilities (the passive stuff) in the alpha - we have very few of them, and they're not really that necessary yet)
EDIT: SOmeone posted while i was writing...
We could, but it'll always be better if we have more people looking at it, no doubt about it.
This wouldn't actually be "simpler" I think :p Plain and simple tag team may be possible (Swapping control with another player) but probably a short nightmare for Zelda, but adding more stuff to it is probably harder than setting up 2v2s (Which was mostly just modifying existing stuff to take into account the additional slots, targetting stuff and things regarding party sizes and switching). 2v2s are pretty much in already, the patch just broke them, and honestly I think that's the most straightforward way for coop to work - If you do tag-team, one player doesn't get to play much instead of getting to just do what he'd normally do together with a friend, it changes the game fundamentally.
As for 2v2s not being necessary for alpha - They are :p We want to test multiplayer, 2v2s and the story quests do include some 2v2 battles I believe (I can think of at least one, but I'm sure there's more)
We can't really test things between ourselves. The reason we can work together well as a team is because our times rarely collide :p Moz and I can probably play together a lot, but the only reason I get to talk to Zelda on skype is because my sleep schedule is fucked up :) (If you do some math, you'll notice this is being posted at about 3:30 AM CET) If we need to though we can probably set up a time for the three of us to test together, but there's a more important reason we want to test with other people: We don't get any "first impressions" from this, we don't know whether some things are too hard to understand, follow or find, because we made all this. We know how the game works, where we're supposed to go, etc. We've played this over and over again while testing. I made stuff the way I liked it, without much of a second opinion.
When we were making RuneCraft I made sure to get Eiviyn in on a game wrote down everything he criticized - It helped a lot. Getting another persons opinion on something really helps in finding flaws you didn't notice before.
When you think about it, we want an alpha for similar reasons why we have this thread - Talk about the map, share ideas and get feedback. And we also need to make sure it actually works with multiple players, what bugs can occur with multiple people, etc.