Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:42 am
Warriors of the Sky, Alpha One
This is the first public (but not overly-publicized) Alpha of my new mod, Warriors of the Sky.
This is mainly a technique/technology demonstration, rather than a full-blown mod. People who're just expecting something fun to play will probably be sorely disappointed... modders, on the other hand, may find my current feature-list intriguing:
1. Fixed-forward weapons that don't suck. The default Starflier has been souped up considerably, mainly so that modders can inspect its angled hardpoints and fixed-forward guns. Just like the RL counterparts from WWI and WWII, the guns on the Starflier are designed to create convergence near the end of their effective range. To get the best use out of these weapons, use the Cockpit View. I will be working on a custom cockpit with a fixed crosshair, now that I've finally solved the "why is my exported geometry invisible" problem
2. Ocean... endless... run-into-able ocean. It could just as well be land, of course- the key here is that I've gotten the FL engine to properly render a plane that's 200,000 (yes, two hundred THOUSAND) FL units on a side, and I managed to trick the SUR into being approximately the right size. Needless to say, having a truely flat surface to play with in a system means that getting the rest of my Total Conversion mod can now proceed.
3. Playing with height. One of the next big steps (and, uh, it's a doozie) is to get the height of the Ocean to match the height at which Boats will be released (so that they look like they're floating on the water, as opposed to magically hovering). I've tweaked the Liberty Freighter and Liberty Heavy fighters so that they CANNOT alter their vector in the X axis, short of running into things. There is some sort of bug/feature in the FL engine that makes Docking Rings spew ships out at funny angles... the TC will not feature Docking Rings... for that matter, it won't feature planets either.
4. Lots of little tweaks, failed attempts to do various things, and experiments abound. Eventually, I will take this system and empty it of Jump Gates and Holes (it won't be Li01 anymore, to prevent crashes and SP hell), so that the TC can be in its own little private universe.
Want to help? Boy, do I need the following kinds of help:
1. A grownup and experienced modder and INI hacker with the experience necessary (and free time) to build a "empty game", without all of the standard equipment, ships, weapons, etc., that I can use as a sandbox (without worrying about screwing up something far, far away every time I tweak something for the TC's use). I'd really like to work with somebody who'd like to build such a sandbox, both for the use of the mod and for others to build from. Obviously, such a mod wouldnt' be SP-compatible, but I don't care- all of my mods will be multiplayer-oriented.
2. An expert SUR hacker and FL model expert. I want to make custom islands, aircraft, blimps... buildings... you're starting to get the picture, right? And I want these things to be able to correctly detect collisions. I am not terribly familiar with SUR editing in general, and hex editors make me queasy (it took a lot of bravery to hack out the speedometer, and I screwed it up twice).
3. A shipwright who'd be willing to help a modeler (me) bring creations to life through code and texturing support. I'm planning for a very "steampunk" look to the art of the mod- ironclad warships, biplanes and triplanes... sailboats... paddle-steamers and balloons... an eclectic mix of technologies and ways to move from Point A to Point B. If you're an artist and have some spare time, I'd like some help
4. A sound artist would be really nice. I'm OK for gun sounds and explosions... there are tons of good ones on the Web. But I need some very specialized sounds, including recordings of the ocean, music and many sounds associated with different forms of transportation.
Now, I know that I'm not likely to get any help immediately, but hey... take a look at the mod, mess with the Liberty Justices Marks 1-3 (different levels of the machinegun concept)... and fly in the general direction of the sun, if you want to go to another system.
I do NOT (repeat... NOT) garantee that this mod is bug-free. After all, it's an Alpha... not even really a Beta, as the "new" content is relatively small. I re-install the FL SDK 1.3 every few hours while working on this mod, just to make sure that I keep my files clean, and the mod hasn't caused serious crashes over here. But I also run it as MULTIPLAYER ONLY, by starting a FLServer instance from FLMM and then logging on via the LAN option in Multiplayer. If the above sentences were all Greek to you, don't download the mod- you have been warned
DOWNLOAD THE MOD HERE
Edited by - Argh on 11/3/2004 1:43:32 AM
This is mainly a technique/technology demonstration, rather than a full-blown mod. People who're just expecting something fun to play will probably be sorely disappointed... modders, on the other hand, may find my current feature-list intriguing:
1. Fixed-forward weapons that don't suck. The default Starflier has been souped up considerably, mainly so that modders can inspect its angled hardpoints and fixed-forward guns. Just like the RL counterparts from WWI and WWII, the guns on the Starflier are designed to create convergence near the end of their effective range. To get the best use out of these weapons, use the Cockpit View. I will be working on a custom cockpit with a fixed crosshair, now that I've finally solved the "why is my exported geometry invisible" problem
2. Ocean... endless... run-into-able ocean. It could just as well be land, of course- the key here is that I've gotten the FL engine to properly render a plane that's 200,000 (yes, two hundred THOUSAND) FL units on a side, and I managed to trick the SUR into being approximately the right size. Needless to say, having a truely flat surface to play with in a system means that getting the rest of my Total Conversion mod can now proceed.
3. Playing with height. One of the next big steps (and, uh, it's a doozie) is to get the height of the Ocean to match the height at which Boats will be released (so that they look like they're floating on the water, as opposed to magically hovering). I've tweaked the Liberty Freighter and Liberty Heavy fighters so that they CANNOT alter their vector in the X axis, short of running into things. There is some sort of bug/feature in the FL engine that makes Docking Rings spew ships out at funny angles... the TC will not feature Docking Rings... for that matter, it won't feature planets either.
4. Lots of little tweaks, failed attempts to do various things, and experiments abound. Eventually, I will take this system and empty it of Jump Gates and Holes (it won't be Li01 anymore, to prevent crashes and SP hell), so that the TC can be in its own little private universe.
Want to help? Boy, do I need the following kinds of help:
1. A grownup and experienced modder and INI hacker with the experience necessary (and free time) to build a "empty game", without all of the standard equipment, ships, weapons, etc., that I can use as a sandbox (without worrying about screwing up something far, far away every time I tweak something for the TC's use). I'd really like to work with somebody who'd like to build such a sandbox, both for the use of the mod and for others to build from. Obviously, such a mod wouldnt' be SP-compatible, but I don't care- all of my mods will be multiplayer-oriented.
2. An expert SUR hacker and FL model expert. I want to make custom islands, aircraft, blimps... buildings... you're starting to get the picture, right? And I want these things to be able to correctly detect collisions. I am not terribly familiar with SUR editing in general, and hex editors make me queasy (it took a lot of bravery to hack out the speedometer, and I screwed it up twice).
3. A shipwright who'd be willing to help a modeler (me) bring creations to life through code and texturing support. I'm planning for a very "steampunk" look to the art of the mod- ironclad warships, biplanes and triplanes... sailboats... paddle-steamers and balloons... an eclectic mix of technologies and ways to move from Point A to Point B. If you're an artist and have some spare time, I'd like some help
4. A sound artist would be really nice. I'm OK for gun sounds and explosions... there are tons of good ones on the Web. But I need some very specialized sounds, including recordings of the ocean, music and many sounds associated with different forms of transportation.
Now, I know that I'm not likely to get any help immediately, but hey... take a look at the mod, mess with the Liberty Justices Marks 1-3 (different levels of the machinegun concept)... and fly in the general direction of the sun, if you want to go to another system.
I do NOT (repeat... NOT) garantee that this mod is bug-free. After all, it's an Alpha... not even really a Beta, as the "new" content is relatively small. I re-install the FL SDK 1.3 every few hours while working on this mod, just to make sure that I keep my files clean, and the mod hasn't caused serious crashes over here. But I also run it as MULTIPLAYER ONLY, by starting a FLServer instance from FLMM and then logging on via the LAN option in Multiplayer. If the above sentences were all Greek to you, don't download the mod- you have been warned
DOWNLOAD THE MOD HERE
Edited by - Argh on 11/3/2004 1:43:32 AM
