"War School"-A Map/Mod W.I.P.-locked sticky

[new paradigm leader]

unless its too late i have an idea from "the dark knight" i.e. when the main thing is totalled a bike/trike is ejected from it just before its destroyed... making scavs more dangerous by far

[whippersnapper]

unless its too late i have an idea from "the dark knight" i.e. when the main thing is totalled a bike/trike is ejected from it just before its destroyed... making scavs more dangerous by far

We are on the same wave-length, NPL. Not late at all because........

I've been testing the Scav APC / Transport with "Tumbler" ability (working name "The Locust") and it's some crazy chit I'm doing with it. The pup is "jumping" over Turtle Fortress walls and in "flight" I slow the game speed and deploy Scav units, including trikes, at will, all-over, inside, while the APC is taking all the fire and BEFORE it is taken out. It's a sight to behold, I tell ya. And even though I have been very careful to keep my Scav modifications to a minimum and have NOT made it an auto deploy upon destruction of the Scav "Locust" unit (you have to do it manually)... still......the Scavs are way too dominant at this stage. In other words I have a looooong way to go before I achieve an acceptable balance with everything else including the nullification of the "arms race", among other canonical one-dimensional game play "tacs & strats".

The goal is to give Scavs a fighting chance against the other factions based on player tactical skill and overall strategy - NOT because my modifications and additions have inherently over-powered Scavs. There's is a huge difference between those 2 "states" of game play. One is "cheap & easy", the other, a bedeviling challenge.

This last is one of several major reasons why a premature release is out of the question. New window dressing without expanded, and solid, game play is not my goal. Expanded GPMs integrated with new art is the total package for me, plainly stated.

I can pump-out novel, one-dimensional, mods and maps every week. However, "novelty" alone, to me, is worthless and fleeting, a total waste of time. Different levels of the "game" called modding and, well, I march to my own tune and nothing will ever change that - not even a million bucks on a silver platter let alone - I'd best stop right there.......

Anyway, I'm on the same page with your idea NPL and have it working - now I just have to figure out how to make it an enduring modification with deep, addictive, replay value, well integrated into the whole arc of richer game play possibilities and opportunities. In the end, perhaps making stock WZ passe or maybe just an occasional nostalgic and retro experience whatever the window dressing.

Regards, whip
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__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Incompetent leadership promotes cronyism by default if not assiduously. As Aristotle noted about nature itself, group dynamics abhor a vacuum, often vigorously and with great inequity."

- from "Incisions With Precision & Excavations for Light" a collection of aphorisms & epigrams
by RJ

[whippersnapper]

......

By way of a summation or precis of the inspirational sources (on the Web) for "War School 2112's" expanded GPMs which in turn are inextricably fused with a re-constituted or revisionist back story and game play scenario.

------------------------->

The T-4 tech of War School 2112 circumvents neatly any "sacraligeous" issues or debates about "defiling" the canonical sanctity of WZ Creators original Warzone 2100. This T-4 tech is inspired, in part, by the following RL Tech assimilation's:

Predators? You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Military Soldier Cyborgs - Digital destiny, or Prophetic Holocaust ?

Is Cloaking Technology for U.S. Infantry Warfighters Finally Possible ?

MIT's intelligent aircraft fly, cooperate autonomously.

Self-Repairing Aircraft Becoming a Reality

Self-Repairing Matricies

Chemical Robots

Programmable Matter Research Solidifies

Programmable Matter

Tomorrow's Green Nanofactories

Nanularity: "focused on the enormity of the very small"



War School 2112's GPMs are also inspired and informed, in part, by the following assimilation's from RL 21st Century Warfare Doctrine which again is thoroughly fused with RL cutting edge tech-science:

ASYMMETRIC WARFARE

Fourth Generation Warfare: How Tactics of the Weak Confound the Strong

5GW Theory Timeline - A timeline of the Theory of Fifth Gradient Warfare

US Army Science and Technology Master Plan

Network Centric Warfare - a newly emerging military doctrine

Integrated Command and Control Systems

Inventing 21st Century Warfare

Deep Green Helps Warriors Plan Ahead

DARPA's Deep Green (DG) Augmented Field Commander C-4 Tech - Tactical Systems

Dominant Battlespace Knowledge aka Digital Battlespace

C4 Command and Control Systems

Future Force Warrior Systems

Known and Rumored Black Projects

WARFARE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: U.S. Army War College Library

Information Warfare Tutorial


NEXT: Earlier in this thread I provided an extensive list of my primary sources in book form for my revisionist scenario depiction of the Post Nuke Holocaust Collapse world of War School 2112 .

I'll next provide my Web Resources which are on the very cutting-edge of science and have also been fundamental to my dramatic departures from the presumptive WZ 2100 canticles often stated with very little to back them up other than "I saw it in some movies or comic books or other game scenarios or the threadbare WZ back story." Mostly stereotypes all of that and I've honestly not at all been interested in imitating, duplicating or accepting without rigorous questioning and research of my own which has resulted in the already hinted at re-revisionist perspective and creations of "War School 2112".

I have also applied the same due diligence to my work as it dovetails with Cyborgs, Robotics and the sociological aspects of my visionary forecasting.... however, I will not here provide those resources as i have already done so in my The Future of RTS...& the 7 Deadly Sins along with a host of RTS Design crafting pivotal details and practical aesthetics.

With that next posting I will conclude this topic thread's "housekeeping"....

Regards, whip

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[new paradigm leader]

maybe you could throw us a novel scavenger mod sometime can't wait till BP's Scav mod is out and playable. glad i have some ideas but then there is as you have said before a difference between ideas and ability to implement them. notable example in literature the Artillery man in war of the worlds he had the idea but not the means to bring it about. not for lack of trying

[whippersnapper]

maybe you could throw us a novel scavenger mod sometime

That's an idea. I still have to talk to XANAX about releasing a combo mod of his Mechs I made. If he's into it I can do that by next weekend. To me XANAX is one of the premier talents of the last 10 years and what he's done and is in the process of doing will have an enduring positive impact on the game for years to come.

As for a separate Scav Mod - what I could consider doing is restricting such a mod to just to BP's Chopper (with changes I've made), my Locust "Tumbler" APC and XANAX's new Baba's and Baba Structs. Again, I would have to consult with XANAX on that. We could do such a Mod release well before War School 2112 is finished and ready as forecasted. Such a Scav Mod would also be linch-pinned, as I mentioned before, on Zarel's crux work, and perhaps also including i-NoD's Scav work. Since I wouldn't be including any new map (or scripting) work it would be up to other Mappers to make new maps utilizing and showcasing i-NoD's and Mysteryem's very fine new map feature GFX as well which add a whole other layer of immersion (and tac opportunities as well if you know what you're doing as a map maker and do not settle for a one-dimensional map design)... I can sorta see a vision of how just the initial component's mentioned at the top of this paragraph could alone as a set hang together quite well and apart from what I'm doing with the whole of War School 2112 - plus the idea of having the works of those folks out-there to be enjoyed in tandem and also provide other modders with raw material to make their own unique and addictive mods, appeals to me.

These 2 proposed releases - A Mech Mod and a separate Scav Mod - would not come with any documentation from me. But since the level of complexity is no where near WS 2112s (nor would they include WS's mapping & scripting dimensions), that shouldn't be an obstacle to other modders taking them apart to understand their inner workings. Plus, I frankly have more than enough doc work with WS that the thought of adding to that tasking would completely unmotivate me, to be honest.

I like all of Black Project's work. I think his Hardcore Campaign Mode Mod is one of the seminal achievements of the last 10 years in WZ. His Scav Mod Alpha is also very promising as I understand it to this point. From what I can tell so far we have an entirely different approach which is both interesting and very cool to my mind so having 2 very different new Scav offerings would have no down-side to my mind.

This may also be the perfect time for me to work on these 2 separate mods because I am currently saving some dough to give my self a birthday present - the new Casio PX130 88 Key Digital Stage Piano - and once I have that puppy in hand it's not likely I'll work on anything WZ but War School proper.

Regard's whip
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[XANAX]

That's an idea. I still have to talk to XANAX about releasing a combo mod of his Mechs I made. If he's into it I can do that by next weekend. To me XANAX is one of the premier talents of the last 10 years and what he's done and is in the process of doing will have an enduring positive impact on the game for years to come.

well I would like to finish "my first mech set" before making a full mod
1. I need you to email me so I can grab your email address
2. I send my progress and see what you think or other members
note: I've done my own textures on my medium mech..
so I'm not sure it's acceptable yet
& if it is then I'll re-texture my light and heavy + weapons

As for a separate Scav Mod - what I could consider doing is restricting such a mod to just to BP's Chopper (with changes I've made), my Locust "Tumbler" APC and XANAX's new Baba's and Baba Structs. Again, I would have to consult with XANAX on that.

go ahead
but remember after I'm done with my mech sets..
I'm gonna be working on Scavs ..
& possibly on prop + base struct animations after that
note: Busy Busy Busy + School..

SUPER NOTE: may call for your assistants on a very important "required for graduation" project
I need a "mentor" ...


yeah thats about it for my plan..

[whippersnapper]

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@ XANAX: Sorry, I should have emailed you over the weekend like I said. Got side-tracked with some WZ scripting stuff and music making.

As far as my suggestions in regards to your work - they're nothing more than that.... far as I'm concerned you are totally in charge of your own work and when and how you wanna release it.

I'll have to create a seperate account for you to send stuff to but I will email you now so we can at least communicate on all this till I get to that other acct set-up sometime in the next day or two at which time I will give you that email addy to send files to.

Me & my girlfriend will be getting together over dinner with some folks we know that work at Pixar next week and I was thinking of asking for some inside info to pass on if that was something that might interest you down the road.... but we can get into that via email.

Regards, whip
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[whippersnapper]

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A week or so ago I posted the short story "The Goodness of Dr. Reed" which takes place about 5 - 6 years before The Collapse on my expanded time line. It's a 2 character piece; Dr. Reed and his good friend Oliver "Fitz" van Dyke who is also his business partner in "Synaptics Inc." In that story are mentioned Jason Reed, Dr. Reed's son, and Selene, Fitz's daughter. Jason and Selene are a year apart in age and were raised pretty much like brother and kid sister. They are also the principles in the short story that takes place immediately after "The Goodness of Dr. Reed" called "Redemption" which I have not posted. I have made short FMVs of these stories (which I will eventually post on my forthcoming site) which means that I have had to visualize all these characters beyond mere word descriptions. What I present here are 4 production stills (no anti-aliasing or shaders implemented for reasons explained earlier in this thread - these I only implement for the FINAL cut renders) of these characters - 2 each from the respective FMV shorts.


Dr. Oliver Fitz van Dyke:




Dr. Alan Reed:




Selene van Dyke:




Jason Reed:




And yea, I made Selene van Dyke a foxy babe - some may find that gratuitous and if so, too bad.

Regards, whip
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[new paradigm leader]

not at all gratuitous but does she have an uncle named richard?
sorry couldnt resist xD although it seems that names are recycled anyway as all names have been used by the 6 billion people on the earth

[XANAX]

idea.. maybe to add to the story
during the game some heroes like "Jason Reed" pilots a vehicle(Tank,VTOL,Mech) or a Power Suit(cyborg)

just an Idea...

[whippersnapper]

not at all gratuitous but does she have an uncle named richard?
sorry couldnt resist xD although it seems that names are recycled anyway as all names have been used by the 6 billion people on the earth

To be honest, I'm kinda torn about the technique to use doing the names - between giving them recognizable names and creating names whole cloth (or somewhere in the middle) like is traditional in High Fantasy and which I do in my own fantasy yarns - something I learned from the great Irish author and English language stylist of fantasy Lord Dunsany who in turn has deeply influenced every major Fantasy writer of the last 100 years. In my head I still think Warzone squarely in the genre of Hard Science Fiction and have only created whole cloth names for the characters from the Scavenger Factions.... Though there is an ET Xeno Faction so I have made up non-human. xeno-sounding names for some of the principles like this character from the revised "Truce" FMV / Story:

The Xeno Faction character "Emmu-tu-wache"




BTW: almost all of Lord Dunsany's work is in the Public Domain and very much worth reading for fun.

idea.. maybe to add to the story
during the game some heroes like "Jason Reed" pilots a vehicle(Tank,VTOL,Mech) or a Power Suit(cyborg)

just an Idea...

Definitely.

I was even thinking on the Scripting side of things creating a BOSS stage and putting Dr Reed's consciousness in a "Gundam-like" unit so that player could fight against Dr. Reed mano-a-mano, so to speak (not literally HTH, but with ranged weaps) in the grand tradition of Brawler stages or level climaxes.. I know there will be many who will hate the idea of mixing genre GPMs but, what can I say, I'm an iconoclast rolled-up in a gadfly and I don't have the slightest inclination to reform myself.

Regards, whip

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[whippersnapper]

Yet another info-link UPDATE to new WZ art assets by community artists......

PLUS, more useful info links on HOW to exactly work at creating new art with PieSlicer and such...

------------------------------>


XANAX's new art assets:

Mech Prototypes WIP

New 3D Scav bloke & Cyborg with animations

Altered HQ works

New Body & Struct Set

Cyborg Design WIP

EDIT addition 9/25/09:

Prop Animations


i-NoD's new art assets:

Hi-Res textures

Just another Scavenger art

EDIT addition 9/25/09:

i-NoD's TCMask mod first presented HERE and UPDATED and further discussed HERE... as well in XANAX's Prop Animations


Astorian's new art assets:

Modeling Request - i do it!


Black Project's new art assets:

Scavenger Mod V1.1 ALPHA Released!

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

M1A2 Abrams in WZ2100 (I was bored )

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

Ultimate Warfare V2.0 for 2.1.x Released!

EDIT addition 10/8/09:

New PIE Model for Rail Guns


Mysteryem's new art assets:

New Features

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

Original walls

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

I got bored… Update .... New Fortress Art

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

Mysteryem's Model Package

EDIT addition 9/25/09:

UPDATED Features discussed with links, screen caps and downloads in Lav_Coyote's thread entitled - wip - forestfires -no trees yet...needs input AND Also carried forward HERE

EDIT addition 10/9/09:

New HQ model


Elio's new art assets:

New Base Structures Mod

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

driving mode interface

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

interface proposal


Olrox's new art assets:

NEW STRUCTURE MODELS

New feature: Gates

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

"New Turret".... original creator of thread and art, member thelion

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

"Upgraded Truck model/texture needed!"..... thread creator Zarel... also includes art by members Avestron, Safety0ff as well as member Olrox..


MaNGusT's new art assets...

EDIT addition 9/10/09:

models by MaNGusT

Olrox is also contributing to this effort.


Avestron's new art assets...

EDIT addition 9/12/09:

Bodies - Meshing

EDIT addition 10/8/09:

Rehauling NPC structures in Warzone


XboxJosh's new art WIP....

EDIT addition 10/8/09:

cyborg APC (Ground Cyborg Transport)


DFStormbringer's new art WIP...

EDIT addition 10/8/09:

New rendering WIP

AND......

Let's remember milo christiansen's valuable new WIP Utility - Warzone 2100 Mod Manager

EDIT addition 9/25/09:

Speaking of Milo's new Tools here is his

New "Text Editor" Proggy:

Read about it and check out the download in Milo's thread here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&p=37440#p37440

ALSO...... Zarel's scrupulous and critical:

The 2.2 -> 2.3 Rebalance Thread

ADDITIONAL useful GFX creation info:

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Someone knows if there's any already existing guide for that?
:rolleyes:

Dancing Moogle's guides and tuts are still quite usful IMHO:

DM's Modding PIE Overview Guide

DM's Part 1 PieSlicer Tutorial

DM's Part 2 PieSlicer Tutorial

Then dovetail with the WRP's wiki entries:

http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/Artwork

http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/Creating3DContent

http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/PIE_models

http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/PIE_format

http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/TxtEditing

Regards, whip

BTW: DM was / is a superb artist, modder-coder and A.I. scriptor.. He created the first WZ Mechs 6 years ago but never released 'em. He moved on to work on FPS because of the advanced GFX possible with 'em compared to WZ. He also had (has still, no doubt) a great sense of humor.

In "Where to get PIE editor ?" thread HERE -

I have not so completely understood this still, what must one do so that one can open and edit the current PIE files with the PieSlicerDX? It was PNG use and PCX no more but how shall one surround this?

It's very straight forward.

First open the .Pie file with a simple Text Program like Word Pad.

Look at the texture page file ending. If it's .PNG that means you can open the associated texture page in any Graphics program and that the .pie is ready to be used in-game. The geometry model itself could have been created in any of a host of progs that support 3ds output and then converted with the "3Ds 2 Pie" utility OR the geometry could have easily been done in PieSlicer itself, along with the texturing and then the .Pie itself opened in Word Pad have the referent texture page file ending changed from .pcx to .png and of course that referred to texture would have to be provided for the game binary to use in .png format in the .mp.wz or base.wz - making any changes to .wrfs that may be needed if you create entirely new texture pages.

Now to continue...

IF you want to use that .png .pie in PieSlicer simply change that texture page file ending from .png to .pcx.

Now that assumes you are working with the stock Pumpkin texture pages.

However if that .png .pie is using a new custom .png texture page then you also have to create a .bmp copy of the .png texture page for PieSlicer to use when you open the .pie file that is referring to that now changed .pcx texture page referent in the .pie file itself. Place that .bmp in PieSlicers main directory.

After making those .txt changes to the .pie file you of course also have to create an association with PieSlicer itself which is just a matter of directing the .pie to wherever PieSlicer is resident.

That's it.

Regards, whip

Ok, but the PieSlicerDX say "invalid PIE format". I cant open the PIE files from the base.wz, but i can make new mods with this change. :-S

Ah that...

Well you can get the original .pie files from the retail source release available for download some where, you can decompile v.1.10 .wdg yourself with 'WdgExplorer' & get them that way and, if I recall correctly Strata's WZ Customizer Kit download comes with the original .pies too.

Regards, whip

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Then there is the "3DS 2 Pie Converter".. if you'd rather use your favorite 3D Proggy instead of "PieSlicer"...

Down load Coverter r5209 from THIS thread - it's an executable that works right out of the box beautiful - no compiling necessary...

Here is how it looks after I took the files out of the .zip archive and just put 'em in a folder I named "3DS 2 Pie Converter" and launched the executable:



Regards, whip

ALSO: I am in the midst of writing a brief but comprehensive Tutorial on What can break Mods, Maps & A.I.s, Now and in the Future, and by extension "How To Fix Them To Be Compatible" throughout that continuum of transformation-development...

[whippersnapper]

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In the expanded back story of War School 2112, Scavs have mutations as a consequence of surviving the Post Nuke Apocalypse Collapse ABOVE ground (whereas all the other factions survived in pre-prepared UNDER ground enclaves) which make their genome of experimental, eugenic, value to be exploited by the "darker" factions like Nexus and the Mangodai who routinely "harvest" Scav children in their imperial territorial raids. As a consequence of this one of the Project's principled missions in my revisionist scenario is to rescue such Scav offspring from the dark faction's internment labs and rehabilitate them as Project Citizens or, in cases of special aptitude, as Project Borg Warriors which is the origin of the character Mal of Ory from the "Truce: The Lesser Evil" story which I've published excerpts from earlier in this thread. The nature of these "half-breed" Project Warriors is also explored in another longish story called "Crude in Sur Amerika" wherein is also laid the foundation for both "Truce: The Lesser Evil" AND "War School 2112" itself...

An other short story published in this thread is "Mastar of the Scar". Though this particular story does not explicitly mention that Mastar is a mutant scav, he is indeed and his mutation is one that has a more visible manifestation than Mal of Ory's and is central to another story written but not yet posted - "The Shiny Ones".

This is the visual I've created for Mastar of the Scar:




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[whippersnapper]

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XANAX's New Weaponized Scav Excavator Unit:




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________________________________________________________________________

"Who is John Galt ?"

John Galt: "I swear by my Life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine."
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[whippersnapper]

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My last bit of "housekeeping" in this thread (I'm a stickler for details as much good manners) before I turn to focus exclusively (instead of posting that is) on my new site and future home of "WS 2112" (among much other stuff, interests, projects) which I'm making in "Joomla !" & "Gallery" and which is already providing great satisfaction and sense of enduring ROI value.

While I can trace the roots of "WS 2112" all the way back to discussions with WZ Creators in the game's Official retail release BBs (MPlayer) and the subsequent vibrant communities through source liberation in late 2004.... ALSO instrumental to my ability to sustain War School's initial and ongoing GPM focus and development has been the validation through genuine & provocative conversation with a group of game folks outta MIT & an other coterie outta the CO Game Developers Group (in my current home town) along with the The Last Resource List below of recent, seminal, ground-breaking works that will be informing game creation for at least the next decade to come (& beyond, I have little doubt).

(This final list is supplemental to those already provided earlier in this thread and in The Future of RTS thread... Begining HERE.. )

All the foregoing proving (to me anyway) yet again that authentic community through World Cafe style conversation, Buberesque dialogue if you will, is much more than a mere aggregation of individuals like some crowd of eager shoppers at your local department store trying not to bump into each other while wending & vying to snap-up the latest deals on display, which they will soon forget since anything of lasting value is the least of criteria with received cant, novelty & fashion alone sufficing - at least momentarily, till the unquenchable disaffection creeps in, as it always does when that is the way you subscribe to..

Alas, what can you expect from the top-down example of a headless horseman's pip-squeak collectivist fantasy with only tunnel vision in place of equitable empathy & autocratic edicts in place of wit, courage, reciprocity and prescience. Oh well, so it goes & then it's gone, hoary history, then no more.. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, is the bottom line and the creme de la creme will always rise to the top even under adverse, less than ideal, far from amicable, circumstances. It's always been that way throughout recorded history..


The Last Resource List:


Joystick Soldiers: The Politics of Play in Military Video Games by Nina B. Huntemann & Matthew Thomas Payne Eds. (2009)

Expressive Processing: Digital Fictions, Computer Games, and Software Studies by Noah Wardrip-Fruin (MIT Press 2009)

Simulation and Its Discontents (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) by Sherry Turkle (MIT Press 2009)

Critical Play: Radical Game Design by Mary Flanagan (MIT Press 2009)

The Ethics of Computer Games by Miguel Sicart (MIT Press 2009)

A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players by Jesper Juul (MIT Press 2009)

Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives by Pat Harrigan & Noah Wardrip-Fruin Eds. (MIT Press 2009)

Second Person: Role-Playing and Story in Games and Playable Media (MIT Press 2007)

First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game (MIT Press 2003)

Communities of Play: Emergent Cultures in Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds by Celia Pearce (MIT Press 2009)

The Meaning of Video Games by Steven Jones (2008)

Philosophy Through Video Games by Jon Cogburn & Mark Silcox (2008)

Well Played 1.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning by Drew Davidson (2009)

Against Technology: From the Luddites to Neo-Luddism by Steven E. Jones (2006)


BTW - If you like to read big novels during the winter months I would recommend the engrossing "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. Along with the tremendous entertainment value you might find the ethics, aesthetics and epistemology embodied seamlessly in the grand plot, & compelling characterizations, thought provoking.

This post effectively ends my commitment to this thread as well all others I have participated in.... though, of course, this project goes on. No doubt 'bout that.

For those of you with an enduring interest in this project there are enough key phrases, not to mention my original WZ nick (Rman J.) that a Google search will lead you to my new home on the web which will go live after X-Mas.

Later, whip

SIDE BAR: Locking this thread would be very agreeable to me, however, I do understand that in a collective such prerogatives may not fly.
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