This project is going to be on hiatus until I can find a texturer and rigger/animator for the model (above). If I do find one Ill get back to work on this and we will have another complete race (basically the only unit that needs to be completed for that race as there is no placeholder that is anything like it) and some gameplay vods. If there is anyone out there would like to try their hand at this please let me know. :)
I want to thank everyone for the support they've given so far.
I am willing to come up with some concept art for free (my strongest
point) and some models as well (my weaker point)
Thanks so much. Do you have a portfolio? There is one more vital 3d model that needs to be made, which is a static artillery unit. Do you think you are capable of doing that including texturing and exporting to the SC2 editor? Thanks.
*
Badger model pretty much ready for texturing :D
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2 Races are pretty much close to completion at the moment. In fact I had a gameplay test with the "United Front" race (fully completed besides the command tree) with a few friends but wasn't happy with the way it turned out.
I will probably be consolidating these 2 races together. The "United Front" race wasn't creating the depth of gameplay I was planning to achieve, although the tactical gameplay was there (lots of hit and runs and battles all over the map), without map control units it just felt like an action RTS rather than a more strategic one which is what I'm looking for.
By bringing these 2 races together I will need to make the mirror matchup as dynamic as possible as there are less races to choose from. I don't want to see mirror builds, instead I want players to be able to tailor their race to them, so that when players face each other, they will be using completely different styles, even though they are using the same race. The command tree is one incentive, but hopefully I can get the unit design so that you will have different groups of units that synergise well with only a few other units.
One combination should be able to do equally well as against another unit combination and the unit combination choice should cater to the player. So if I wanted to play a guerilla style I would use more mobile units to capitalize on vulnerabilities as much as possible, and if I wanted to play a safe area controlling style I would use more seige units and slowly expand towards my opponent while mitigating as much damage as possible. Before these two styles were split amongst the 2 races, but by joining the 2 together, there is the opportunity to use both styles or even transition from one style to another. Anyway only way to find out is to just do it and try it out.
I am actually looking for someone who can do dialog and lore for my game + tutorial missions + possible further missions. Will probably shoot you a PM in a couple weeks time. :)
Looks amazing. Is it similar to a Viking in terms of ground air
versatility?
Haha its something to think about, but I think it would suffer the same fate as the reaper. I would never be able to make it powerful if it could just fly into peoples bases and wreck face. And it needs to be powerful in order to be a non-gimmicky unit.
Its more mobile than a siege tank when "un-deployed", however it can only shoot while "deployed".
We are getting close to finishing the first custom unit
Also, I have gotten halfway through finishing the second race the "united front". Once that is finished and the new unit is implemented, I will get started on a basic command tree, and after that we should have some initial gameplay vods going. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks.
@Fullachain: Hehe, unfortunately that race is the only one that simply can't be completed without custom models :(. I ended up doing it first anyway because well, I just wanted to. However the other races should be just as quick to complete.
1: Make sure Hosting : Host is Implicit, by default its set to _Selectable which is an alias for actors types, click the bubble that says custom to void this out, we want this model to attach to nothing
So I've almost finished the first race (The Confederacy). I just need 2 models done for it.
There are only 2 abilities so far, a smoke canister ability for the razer, and a lockdown ability by the ranger (aka pilot). The smoke canister creates a field of smoke that turns the vision of any unit while inside to 0, it is used to buy more time for the razer to harass worker lines or get out of danger, however it can also affect your own units. The lockdown ability is the same as the one in BW, it allows the player to snipe key units and prevent reinforcements. The reason it was never used in BW was because of the expense of the tech to get it, however I've made it relatively cheap to research (although high tier) and cast, and it is used by the first offensive unit that you can make.
There are 3 upgrades so far, razer speed, weapon and armor upgrades. These have all been completed, however the actor event to actually show the effect of the smoke canister appears on the unit rather than the target, even though the persistent and behavior happens properly at the target (I feel like I've tried everything T_T). If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know haha.
The tech tree is there, and all the upgrades/researches are in place, the Armory is the primary upgrading/research facility for the race. The sound effects are from a very old game called Battlezone 1, I wanted to add different sounds to make it feel like a different game, and so some of the naming will also be off that game. Because the game was done by Activision and about 15 years ago, I don't think we will have any problems there, but if it does get popular we can look at doing custom voices, that would be pretty cool.
One of things I wanted to showcase now was natural pathing. I did it by stopping the ability for units to be able to push each other as well as tweaking the stats until I got the result I wanted. The main reason for this is to add dimishing returns to large armies, and alleviate the not-very-fun-to-watch blobs of units just butting heads with each other.
The map is a custom map I made a while ago called paradigm
Some more good news.
I've been having a discussion with GnaRefforstirk about 3d modeling. There is the potential we may finally get some custom models done for the game. :D
Cybrok has offered to help out with the development of the project. I have split the mod up into 3 mods for each race. This allows us to work on different races separately. This means we should have the first phase of the game completed relatively quickly. Maybe even in a couple of weeks.
After the basic layout for each race is done (units/researches/buildings), we start working on the stats and getting it relatively balanced. Then we should have some gameplay vods up. We might even work on some tutorial missions for it just to gain more exposure.
EDIT: Will they play any part in this, for example ancient discovered technology behind some of the races tech. Perhaps some maps/terrain could incorporate special mechanics? etc.
Yes but as it takes a ton of resources to do something like this I've left it out. It was supposed to be a playable race :)
There is "the machines", its not really an alien race so much so as robotic technology gone rogue. Kinda like in terminator or the matrix. I guess for now I can do something like SC2 did with xel naga, and use it for backstory.
May I suggest that you make the game "work" first, as model swaps are the easiest thing to do later.
The bulk of the work that needs to be done is inside the editor itself. Having pretty models will not make your project succeed - they are part of polishing.
This project actually reminds me quite a bit of Dark Reign 1 (units wise) ... where in AU are you?
I live in Melbourne, Mont Albert :)
Definitely gonna check out dark reign, thanks for the reference.
Its not that I need pretty models, but some units simply cannot be implemented properly, like the mobile hover turret and hover artillery. Siege tank would break the suspension of disbelief because it can obviously shoot while unsieged, there is no mobile minigun turret as far as I am aware of.
Yeah, but also we know how likely projects are to fall through when they get to the data stage especially, because it is boring repetitive work and only a few people far and inbetween really love data. There is a lot more to the project than Models, and what I meant was; he could be doing the rest of the work that needs to be done while he waits for models (especially before he creates models) as if he thinks later on that he might not be able to finish the project, it is better that he still has money in his pocket than having nothing.
From the number of currently finished super-projects (which is none after 2 years), then you can kinda see where I am going.
I've made a quite a few completed sc2 rebalances with new units that I tested with GM/Masters players for fun. Like getting reapers to drop D8 charges, ghosts that lay remote mines that you could detonate manually, moving shot without triggers using validators, etc. All the units and spells I know how to set up already as I've mucked around with the editor quite a lot.
I started project micro just after the beta days which a lot of people took on board as well. I created a nexus that could lift off and shoot laser beams, re-created the old thor but made barrage cannon hit air. I even created a hybrid BW and SC2 game, where you could use SC2 and BW units together (pulled the reaver/defiler/etc out of sc2bw). As all the games were extremely imbalanced and were purely for my own enjoyment, I never bothered releasing them. I have the skill, and am very capable of putting in the time and effort to do all that kind of stuff.
I just spent months creating an open-source testing framework which is essentially a DSL. While its fun to design, actually implementing a pseudo programming language is one of the most mundane tasks you could ever imagine. :P
I am actually doing what you are suggesting now though. I am going to create the game first then swap the models out, its just more efficient to have the models there first, it reduces the overhead of having to create another unit and replace it because I had to wait for the model to be made. It also skews some of my design decisions.
Please check back in 4 weeks and there should be at least 1 if not 2 playable races by then, this game should be awesome :)
Not yet, I've been very busy tackling both part-time university and full time work. My exams are in 1 week, I have to demo the project I'm working on for work, and I have an assignment due, so I've halted all progress until after then. I've also just released a ruby testing framework on github (https://github.com/DanielShuey/testme) which I decided to just get out of the way so I could focus better. The rationale behind opening the thread at this time, was in the hope of having the models ready by the time I could work on it. :)
I'm perfectly ok with people thinking this might be vaporware for now, though I will have some stuff done within next month for sure and I'm definitely capable of getting projects done. Its actually hard not working on the project, I really really want to, but I have to stick to my priorities. However Ill remain active here just to answer any questions.
Right now I'm working a lot more on the game design and scoping out what I can/can't/should/shouldn't do, which will hopefully give me a clear direction on what to do with the editor. I do have several pages of written stuff (like what I wrote above), but its not organised well enough to show as of this moment.
So here's basically what you should expect within the next month or two.
As the biological units can be recycled the easiest for this game, I plan on working on the brotherhood race to begin with and get that finished. I'm pretty sure I can use the hover train for the APC, and find some old school tank for the tank.
For the United Front. The APU (open hull mech) will have to be the merc goliath for now. Grizzly will be a merc tank or a hover unit. And the hornet will be a vulture. Demo truck should be easy.
The confederacy will be difficult. I will have to look for some artillery model and maybe have it be static-d for now, could be interesting. I don't really think the siege tank fits into what I'm looking for. Badger will be also a problem, there's no real mobile turret model in SC2 I don't think. The rest shouldn't be too hard though.
When I have done some work I will update this thread, with a site (or atleast a wiki) and some showcase videos and 1v1 reps. For now that will have to wait though.
Thanks for the questions. I'd appreciate holding off on the "what have you done so far?" questions, seeing as once I'm ready to showcase I will update the thread. Any other questions about the game I'm more than happy to answer though. Don't worry, I am planning on having a playable game by the end of August (its a stretch goal, but its achievable), and I can guarantee you will at least see an update by then.
It is something that I thought a lot about but it is very low priority. At least it will be very unlikely within the first iteration as it is primarily designed to be a 1v1 multiplayer game. However there will probably be a tutorial map for each race which may be very similar to the first mission in RTS campaigns.
0
Hey folks
This project is going to be on hiatus until I can find a texturer and rigger/animator for the model (above). If I do find one Ill get back to work on this and we will have another complete race (basically the only unit that needs to be completed for that race as there is no placeholder that is anything like it) and some gameplay vods. If there is anyone out there would like to try their hand at this please let me know. :)
I want to thank everyone for the support they've given so far.
0
Hey folks
Looking for someone who can texture and rig this.
Will pay $50 if you have paypal.
Thanks
0
Thanks so much. Do you have a portfolio? There is one more vital 3d model that needs to be made, which is a static artillery unit. Do you think you are capable of doing that including texturing and exporting to the SC2 editor? Thanks.
*
Badger model pretty much ready for texturing :D
*
2 Races are pretty much close to completion at the moment. In fact I had a gameplay test with the "United Front" race (fully completed besides the command tree) with a few friends but wasn't happy with the way it turned out.
I will probably be consolidating these 2 races together. The "United Front" race wasn't creating the depth of gameplay I was planning to achieve, although the tactical gameplay was there (lots of hit and runs and battles all over the map), without map control units it just felt like an action RTS rather than a more strategic one which is what I'm looking for.
By bringing these 2 races together I will need to make the mirror matchup as dynamic as possible as there are less races to choose from. I don't want to see mirror builds, instead I want players to be able to tailor their race to them, so that when players face each other, they will be using completely different styles, even though they are using the same race. The command tree is one incentive, but hopefully I can get the unit design so that you will have different groups of units that synergise well with only a few other units.
One combination should be able to do equally well as against another unit combination and the unit combination choice should cater to the player. So if I wanted to play a guerilla style I would use more mobile units to capitalize on vulnerabilities as much as possible, and if I wanted to play a safe area controlling style I would use more seige units and slowly expand towards my opponent while mitigating as much damage as possible. Before these two styles were split amongst the 2 races, but by joining the 2 together, there is the opportunity to use both styles or even transition from one style to another. Anyway only way to find out is to just do it and try it out.
0
I am actually looking for someone who can do dialog and lore for my game + tutorial missions + possible further missions. Will probably shoot you a PM in a couple weeks time. :)
0
The final polycount is 1731
The SC2 Siege tank has 3128 triangles, so I think we are definitely on the right track.
0
Ill have to ask :)
Haha its something to think about, but I think it would suffer the same fate as the reaper. I would never be able to make it powerful if it could just fly into peoples bases and wreck face. And it needs to be powerful in order to be a non-gimmicky unit.
Its more mobile than a siege tank when "un-deployed", however it can only shoot while "deployed".
0
GnaReffotsirk is a freaking 3d master
0
We are getting close to finishing the first custom unit
Also, I have gotten halfway through finishing the second race the "united front". Once that is finished and the new unit is implemented, I will get started on a basic command tree, and after that we should have some initial gameplay vods going. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks.
Could definitely use you for developing maps especially for the single-player/tutorial missions. ;) Thanks
0
Looks like 3d modelling is underway!
Here is the sketch of the Badger unit, mobile turret.
GnaReffotsirk has very kindly offered to begin turning it into 3d!
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@Fullachain: Hehe, unfortunately that race is the only one that simply can't be completed without custom models :(. I ended up doing it first anyway because well, I just wanted to. However the other races should be just as quick to complete.
Thanks for the encouragement!
@Dryeyece
Omg it works now, thanks so much!
This seemed to fix it :P
0
So I've almost finished the first race (The Confederacy). I just need 2 models done for it.
There are only 2 abilities so far, a smoke canister ability for the razer, and a lockdown ability by the ranger (aka pilot). The smoke canister creates a field of smoke that turns the vision of any unit while inside to 0, it is used to buy more time for the razer to harass worker lines or get out of danger, however it can also affect your own units. The lockdown ability is the same as the one in BW, it allows the player to snipe key units and prevent reinforcements. The reason it was never used in BW was because of the expense of the tech to get it, however I've made it relatively cheap to research (although high tier) and cast, and it is used by the first offensive unit that you can make.
There are 3 upgrades so far, razer speed, weapon and armor upgrades. These have all been completed, however the actor event to actually show the effect of the smoke canister appears on the unit rather than the target, even though the persistent and behavior happens properly at the target (I feel like I've tried everything T_T). If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know haha.
The tech tree is there, and all the upgrades/researches are in place, the Armory is the primary upgrading/research facility for the race. The sound effects are from a very old game called Battlezone 1, I wanted to add different sounds to make it feel like a different game, and so some of the naming will also be off that game. Because the game was done by Activision and about 15 years ago, I don't think we will have any problems there, but if it does get popular we can look at doing custom voices, that would be pretty cool.
One of things I wanted to showcase now was natural pathing. I did it by stopping the ability for units to be able to push each other as well as tweaking the stats until I got the result I wanted. The main reason for this is to add dimishing returns to large armies, and alleviate the not-very-fun-to-watch blobs of units just butting heads with each other.
Some more good news.
I've been having a discussion with GnaRefforstirk about 3d modeling. There is the potential we may finally get some custom models done for the game. :D
Cybrok has offered to help out with the development of the project. I have split the mod up into 3 mods for each race. This allows us to work on different races separately. This means we should have the first phase of the game completed relatively quickly. Maybe even in a couple of weeks.
After the basic layout for each race is done (units/researches/buildings), we start working on the stats and getting it relatively balanced. Then we should have some gameplay vods up. We might even work on some tutorial missions for it just to gain more exposure.
0
Yes but as it takes a ton of resources to do something like this I've left it out. It was supposed to be a playable race :)
There is "the machines", its not really an alien race so much so as robotic technology gone rogue. Kinda like in terminator or the matrix. I guess for now I can do something like SC2 did with xel naga, and use it for backstory.
0
I live in Melbourne, Mont Albert :)
Definitely gonna check out dark reign, thanks for the reference.
Its not that I need pretty models, but some units simply cannot be implemented properly, like the mobile hover turret and hover artillery. Siege tank would break the suspension of disbelief because it can obviously shoot while unsieged, there is no mobile minigun turret as far as I am aware of.
I've made a quite a few completed sc2 rebalances with new units that I tested with GM/Masters players for fun. Like getting reapers to drop D8 charges, ghosts that lay remote mines that you could detonate manually, moving shot without triggers using validators, etc. All the units and spells I know how to set up already as I've mucked around with the editor quite a lot.
I started project micro just after the beta days which a lot of people took on board as well. I created a nexus that could lift off and shoot laser beams, re-created the old thor but made barrage cannon hit air. I even created a hybrid BW and SC2 game, where you could use SC2 and BW units together (pulled the reaver/defiler/etc out of sc2bw). As all the games were extremely imbalanced and were purely for my own enjoyment, I never bothered releasing them. I have the skill, and am very capable of putting in the time and effort to do all that kind of stuff.
I just spent months creating an open-source testing framework which is essentially a DSL. While its fun to design, actually implementing a pseudo programming language is one of the most mundane tasks you could ever imagine. :P
I am actually doing what you are suggesting now though. I am going to create the game first then swap the models out, its just more efficient to have the models there first, it reduces the overhead of having to create another unit and replace it because I had to wait for the model to be made. It also skews some of my design decisions.
Please check back in 4 weeks and there should be at least 1 if not 2 playable races by then, this game should be awesome :)
Thanks
0
Not yet, I've been very busy tackling both part-time university and full time work. My exams are in 1 week, I have to demo the project I'm working on for work, and I have an assignment due, so I've halted all progress until after then. I've also just released a ruby testing framework on github (https://github.com/DanielShuey/testme) which I decided to just get out of the way so I could focus better. The rationale behind opening the thread at this time, was in the hope of having the models ready by the time I could work on it. :)
I'm perfectly ok with people thinking this might be vaporware for now, though I will have some stuff done within next month for sure and I'm definitely capable of getting projects done. Its actually hard not working on the project, I really really want to, but I have to stick to my priorities. However Ill remain active here just to answer any questions.
Right now I'm working a lot more on the game design and scoping out what I can/can't/should/shouldn't do, which will hopefully give me a clear direction on what to do with the editor. I do have several pages of written stuff (like what I wrote above), but its not organised well enough to show as of this moment.
So here's basically what you should expect within the next month or two.
As the biological units can be recycled the easiest for this game, I plan on working on the brotherhood race to begin with and get that finished. I'm pretty sure I can use the hover train for the APC, and find some old school tank for the tank.
For the United Front. The APU (open hull mech) will have to be the merc goliath for now. Grizzly will be a merc tank or a hover unit. And the hornet will be a vulture. Demo truck should be easy.
The confederacy will be difficult. I will have to look for some artillery model and maybe have it be static-d for now, could be interesting. I don't really think the siege tank fits into what I'm looking for. Badger will be also a problem, there's no real mobile turret model in SC2 I don't think. The rest shouldn't be too hard though.
When I have done some work I will update this thread, with a site (or atleast a wiki) and some showcase videos and 1v1 reps. For now that will have to wait though.
Thanks for the questions. I'd appreciate holding off on the "what have you done so far?" questions, seeing as once I'm ready to showcase I will update the thread. Any other questions about the game I'm more than happy to answer though. Don't worry, I am planning on having a playable game by the end of August (its a stretch goal, but its achievable), and I can guarantee you will at least see an update by then.
0
@Wacclian321
It is something that I thought a lot about but it is very low priority. At least it will be very unlikely within the first iteration as it is primarily designed to be a 1v1 multiplayer game. However there will probably be a tutorial map for each race which may be very similar to the first mission in RTS campaigns.
Thanks