Some more Cinéma vérité caps...
![Image](http://orbitupload.com/get/bp%20scav%20chopper%207a08.jpg)
![Image](http://orbitupload.com/get/bp%20scav%20chopper%20650.jpg)
![Image](http://orbitupload.com/get/bp%20scav%20chopper%205a25.jpg)
whippersnapper wrote:
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...
Please note:whippersnapper wrote:.
I have decided to use XANAX's Mechs as part of the Alien Presence in War School.
There were several ways that the Mechs could be introduced into game play but I have ultimately chosen this particular way for several reasons. The principal reason being to shift the emphasis of game play some from what I call the "Rote Clerical Click Fest Arms Race Twitch" to the "Battle Field Tactic Leadership" of coordinated multiple vectors and combined-arms..
So, as a part of that decision, I will provide "Opportunity Mechanics" to "Capture" the Alien Mechs and thus garner your gaming edge through a successful execution of field tactics and leadership gumption rather than the aforementioned conventional "Rote Clerical Click-Fest Arms Race Twitch".
To achieve the "Alien Mech Capture" part of the mechanic will necessitate deploying the new "Airlift Mechanic" and your buffed-up Scav Ally Forces.
In-game screens will be forth-coming over the next day or two that will display graphically what I'm talking about here.
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
whippersnapper wrote:
A Note on the War School Dev Roadmap:......
I have decided to include both Flying Constructor Droids and Jump Borgs because I think I've figured out how to balance them with all else.
I'm not sure yet about including Multi-Turrets as much as I love 'em. Just may be beyond my abilities to integrate with all else going on. But, we'll see.
"War School" is focused on expanding the diversity of opportunities in the realm of Battlefield Field Tactics in specific ways associated with making Asymmetric Warfare viable.
At the same time, I am also deeply committed to enhancing what I call the War Preparation GPMs vis-a-vis optimizing non-combat (as well full-blown combat) "switch-tasking". BUT that aspect will not fall within the scope of "War School" because I need an already fully developed BetaWidget / LUA in order to realistically proceed in that direction. I only mention it here because it should be understood that this is an integral part of the development mix as I perceive it in a best case scenario outcome but rather than wait to be able to tackle enhanced simultaneous multiple vectored Command Group UI / AIs I have gone forward with what I believe to be viable, interim, work-a-rounds that will also serve "proof-of-concept" ends.
Regards, whip![]()
Olrox wrote:
Someone knows if there's any already existing guide for that?
:rolleyes:
whippersnapper wrote:
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.
Black NEXUS wrote: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?
whippersnapper wrote:
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![]()
Black NEXUS wrote: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
Then there is the "3DS 2 Pie Converter".. if you'd rather use your favorite 3D Proggy instead of "PieSlicer"...whippersnapper wrote: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
.
whippersnapper wrote:
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
.whippersnapper wrote:
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...
Corporal Punishment wrote:First of all: I like the Idea of having APCs. Here's my two cents on it: The point in having APCs in the real world is that vehicles are faster than men. In WZ, cyborgs can keep pace with just about anything. Giving players a reason for using such ground transports would involve slowing cyborgs down in relation to vehicles.
As an addendum to that comment -whippersnapper wrote:There is truth in all that so it would be foolish to argue those points.... however, it is NOT the whole truth - certainly not in the SF game world year of 2100+ and what can be made credible via Hard Sci Fi tropes. I can definitely make 2100+ WZ APC's viable without scaling back Borg propulsion. But seeing is believing and when hard-shell Turtles start seeing their lovely crafted fortress bases being ripped to shreds from the inside-out then your PoV will, maybe, have to be re-considered - or not. In the greater scheme of things it's not of any real consequence one way or another as far as I can see.
And btw - that last scenario I just painted was NOT for an APC full of Borgs (though I could do that too) but rather a Scav APC for my buff Seven Nations Scav Faction - you can see my .Pie WIP for said Scav APC in my last post in the "War School" thread. xD
Regards, whip![]()
.
Many of my WZ yarns are too long for a BB posting but some are of a suitable length like -whippersnapper wrote:
.......... "In the beginning was story and we tell ourselves stories in order to live"
I firmly believe that. Without "story" most artistic endeavor would vanish. Indeed, without story, you cannot be a fully functioning human being and that is no hyperbole; this has vast support in both philosophic aesthetic tradition going back millenia to the dawn of civilization as well the latest mainstream sciences of mind, brain and society.
......though "War School" has it's own accompanying illustrated e-book called "Truce" (some of which I have also shared in this thread early on) there are a host of other back stories I've written like "Mastar of the Scar" (also published in this thread) that fit within the framework of my own very much filled-out and detailed Time-Line that I may go ahead and post in this thread like:
"Redemption",
"The Lesser Evil",
"Crude In Sur Amerika",
"The Wager Lost by Winning",
"The Goodness of Dr. Reed",
"Queen of the Collective"
.......... In many cases these yarns amount to "Origin Stories", a term I first learned from my days of reading and collecting comic books... but which I later understood has a long history going back to when bards sang their epic tales and the thought of writing them down was a purely alien notion.
The Goodness of Dr. Reed
"The Birth of Nexus"
He'd kept his family safe since the thwarted kidnapping. Even if his wife Amelia still had that perpetual look of a doe in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, his son Jason had survived unscathed all these years after.
Yet for all the money and security resources at his disposal, it wasn't enough. Could he ever do enough ? Or were all his efforts no better than a parlor magicians bag of tricks. That's what it all came to this morning, when he got word of the bombing at Cal Tech. When his heart dropped like a stone to the pit of his stomach and he felt as vulnerable as a helpless newborn.
The knock on his study door shook him suddenly out of his head, back to the firm wooden chair at his desk, all the surrounding plasma monitors dark. Whatever it was, especially a body bag, he couldn't stand to hear it in broadcast NEWS, like just another cool occasion to entertain, to titillate, the masses always on the verge of boredom.
"Come in."
Who else but Fitz and from his tight-lipped look, it wasn't good.
"I'm sorry Alan."
"Give me the worst of it, Fitz."
He stood up, walked around the desk to stand at arms length before his old friend and business partner.
"Both legs gone. That's the worst. Good news is no brain damage & spinal column 75% intact."
"Where is he now ?"
"I have him in route to Bethesda. Should be there within the hour. What do you want to do from there ?"
"You tell Selene yet ?"
"No. Straight to you, Alan. What about Amelia ?"
"Thanks. No. I don't know how or when to tell her."
Reed turned to look out the frost crusted, gilt filigreed, bay windows. Peaceful, beautiful, a harvest moon in a white swirl that was still just a light dusting. Forecast was it would start piling in heavy tomorrow, on the eve.
"Have Sky Dancer ready to roll. She'll make it through this storm no prob. I'll get the prognosis at Bethesda first hand before I decide when to move him over to our Borg Med Unit at Synaptics Labs."
"Good. I'll see to it."
Fitz got the door part-way open before catching himself and closing it again. He turned back to Alan, who had started pacing like a caged animal, the thick carpet totally absorbing his hard stride, not betraying an iota of his pent-up anger.
"Alan...we have that Camp David trip scheduled the end of the week. You know - the New Paradigm initiatives the President wants us to go over with his inner sanctum, Skull and Bones chums. You think you'll still make it with this situation in play ?"
"The New Paradigm", Reed thought to himself, "maybe it doesn't go far enough in dealing with those fanatical Luddites." Of course these were misgivings he'd have keep to himself for now, till he had a chance to sort it all out in his head, then he could possibly share it with Fitz... But maybe not.
Instead he said:
"If you can handle it without me Fitz, I'd be grateful. I wanna stay focused on Jason's care. You understand ?"
"Sure. Of course. I'll just tell 'em the situation, they'll understand, then cover the ground we've rehearsed already. Piece of cake. Don't worry about it. Anyway I'll have 'em call you from the hangar when Sky Dancer is ready to fly."
"Thanks, old friend. Mind turning the light switch off on your way out ?"
Fitz nodded and left a darkened room in his wake.
Reed walked over to the bay window.
Up here in the Catskill mountains the stars were always brighter, diamond hard, the constellations seeming somehow closer, as if you could reach 'em within a few hours travel and not a journey of many life-times.
He could make his son, Jason, whole again, stronger even. That was a certainty and it didn't trouble him as did those New Paradigm initiatives. They seemed too reactive now, too restrictive, too focused on chit after the fact.
Again he looked upon the stars for solace, unconsciously connecting the jeweled points of light that made-up the Huntress, the Bears and the Big Dipper. What he was witnessing had passed eons ago. What was it at this moment ? There was no way of knowing unless you could make the trip through a wormhole.
Yet something else was taking form in his head like connecting constellations except it was more like neural pathways, ganglia, axions & synapses.
What if, what if you could harvest enough COM data ?
These Luddites planned their acts, they communicated over time, layed the ground work, acted just a wee bit out of the norm, basically, unintentionally, left a trail of crumbs.
What if there were a network of receptors & filters dedicated to looking for those patterns and when finding them, initiating a preemptive strike force ?
Of necessity, it would have to operate outside conventional law and order, even the Constitution. But this would surely be one of those rare exceptions, a case were most would agree the means justified the ends.
He would need access to the entire planet's COM LINKS. All of 'em, totally unrestricted. Outside civil law sure, but this was WAR and think of all the innocent lives saved, the mass destruction of critical infrastructure averted, it would be worth it. Yes, it would.
What was that saying ? The one 'bout getting stronger ? Ah, yes, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.
He would have to think of a special name.
The phone played Moonlight Sonata.
"Speaker on. This is Reed."
"Dr Reed, Sky Dancer is clear for take-off."
"I'll be over in fifteen."
A special name.
It would come to him. Things always came to him without having to toil through every step. He imagined it was the way The Bard wrote his sonnets.
Yes. Maybe this would be his real legacy in a world going to hell in a hand-basket and not those ever popular sexy house-cleaning domestic bots that made Synaptics, Inc. the poster child for Wall Street hedge funds, and him wealthier beyond anything he ever imagined at Cal Poly brainstorming with Fitz when they were just young egg heads.
a nice backstory for NP reminds me of "enclave" in falloutwhippersnapper wrote:The Goodness of Dr. Reed
"The Birth of Nexus"
He'd kept his family safe since the thwarted kidnapping. Even if his wife Amelia still had that perpetual look of a doe in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, his son Jason had survived unscathed all these years after.
Yet for all the money and security resources at his disposal, it wasn't enough. Could he ever do enough ? Or were all his efforts no better than a parlor magicians bag of tricks. That's what it all came to this morning, when he got word of the bombing at Cal Tech. When his heart dropped like a stone to the pit of his stomach and he felt as vulnerable as a helpless newborn.
The knock on his study door shook him suddenly out of his head, back to the firm wooden chair at his desk, all the surrounding plasma monitors dark. Whatever it was, especially a body bag, he couldn't stand to hear it in broadcast NEWS, like just another cool occasion to entertain, to titillate, the masses always on the verge of boredom.
"Come in."
Who else but Fitz and from his tight-lipped look, it wasn't good.
"I'm sorry Alan."
"Give me the worst of it, Fitz."
He stood up, walked around the desk to stand at arms length before his old friend and business partner.
"Both legs gone. That's the worst. Good news is no brain damage & spinal column 75% intact."
"Where is he now ?"
"I have him in route to Bethesda. Should be there within the hour. What do you want to do from there ?"
"You tell Selene yet ?"
"No. Straight to you, Alan. What about Amelia ?"
"Thanks. No. I don't know how or when to tell her."
Reed turned to look out the frost crusted, gilt filigreed, bay windows. Peaceful, beautiful, a harvest moon in a white swirl that was still just a light dusting. Forecast was it would start piling in heavy tomorrow, on the eve.
"Have Sky Dancer ready to roll. She'll make it through this storm no prob. I'll get the prognosis at Bethesda first hand before I decide when to move him over to our Borg Med Unit at Synaptics Labs."
"Good. I'll see to it."
Fitz got the door part-way open before catching himself and closing it again. He turned back to Alan, who had started pacing like a caged animal, the thick carpet totally absorbing his hard stride, not betraying an iota of his pent-up anger.
"Alan...we have that Camp David trip scheduled the end of the week. You know - the New Paradigm initiatives the President wants us to go over with his inner sanctum, Skull and Bones chums. You think you'll still make it with this situation in play ?"
"The New Paradigm", Reed thought to himself, "maybe it doesn't go far enough in dealing with those fanatical Luddites." Of course these were misgivings he'd have keep to himself for now, till he had a chance to sort it all out in his head, then he could possibly share it with Fitz... But maybe not.
Instead he said:
"If you can handle it without me Fitz, I'd be grateful. I wanna stay focused on Jason's care. You understand ?"
"Sure. Of course. I'll just tell 'em the situation, they'll understand, then cover the ground we've rehearsed already. Piece of cake. Don't worry about it. Anyway I'll have 'em call you from the hangar when Sky Dancer is ready to fly."
"Thanks, old friend. Mind turning the light switch off on your way out ?"
Fitz nodded and left a darkened room in his wake.
Reed walked over to the bay window.
Up here in the Catskill mountains the stars were always brighter, diamond hard, the constellations seeming somehow closer, as if you could reach 'em within a few hours travel and not a journey of many life-times.
He could make his son, Jason, whole again, stronger even. That was a certainty and it didn't trouble him as did those New Paradigm initiatives. They seemed too reactive now, too restrictive, too focused on chit after the fact.
Again he looked upon the stars for solace, unconsciously connecting the jeweled points of light that made-up the Huntress, the Bears and the Big Dipper. What he was witnessing had passed eons ago. What was it at this moment ? There was no way of knowing unless you could make the trip through a wormhole.
Yet something else was taking form in his head like connecting constellations except it was more like neural pathways, ganglia, axions & synapses.
What if, what if you could harvest enough COM data ?
These Luddites planned their acts, they communicated over time, layed the ground work, acted just a wee bit out of the norm, basically, unintentionally, left a trail of crumbs.
What if there were a network of receptors & filters dedicated to looking for those patterns and when finding them, initiating a preemptive strike force ?
Of necessity, it would have to operate outside conventional law and order, even the Constitution. But this would surely be one of those rare exceptions, a case were most would agree the means justified the ends.
He would need access to the entire planet's COM LINKS. All of 'em, totally unrestricted. Outside civil law sure, but this was WAR and think of all the innocent lives saved, the mass destruction of critical infrastructure averted, it would be worth it. Yes, it would.
What was that saying ? The one 'bout getting stronger ? Ah, yes, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.
He would have to think of a special name.
The phone played Moonlight Sonata.
"Speaker on. This is Reed."
"Dr Reed, Sky Dancer is clear for take-off."
"I'll be over in fifteen."
A special name.
It would come to him. Things always came to him without having to toil through every step. He imagined it was the way The Bard wrote his sonnets.
Yes. Maybe this would be his real legacy in a world going to hell in a hand-basket and not those ever popular sexy house-cleaning domestic bots that made Synaptics, Inc. the poster child for Wall Street hedge funds, and him wealthier beyond anything he ever imagined at Cal Poly brainstorming with Fitz when they were just young egg heads.
In my much expanded WZ Time Line "The Goodness of Dr Reed" takes place about 5 years before The Collapse so it's quite possible to build a scenario werein your conception can hold as well as mine without any inconsistencies. Like from my time frame to just before The Collapse the original NP covert govt. org. could have withered on the vine through under funding and then splintered off independent of its official govt. sanctioned origins and essentially become rogue.new paradigm leader wrote:.......
Interesting.new paradigm leader wrote:ah well its more i like the irony of british empire scavenging american (probably japanese invented/british invented like most weapons are these days) gotta love british technologiesxD well lets hope they dont turn into the dystopian view of what life will be like by 2525 or else its really not worth the hassle with nexus as he wins anyway
So in addition to my first-hand encounters with "evil types" in RL and the aforementioned portrayals in World Lit - Mythologies and in contemporary cinema, anime and comics.... I have supplemented my understanding with at least a score seminal non-fiction studies.* The "Dr. Reed" characters portrayal in the original Campaign and back story is stereotypical, cardboard, & derivative of the worst of melodrama. Totally one-dimensional and straight outta the 1930's pulps, a variant of the demonic "Fu Manchu".
* HOW will it be redressed in "2120" ?
* Like all truly great & memorable villains, "Dr. Reed" has to be conceived as a character that could have been purely good, purely heroic, but for a fatal flaw, an ACHILLES Heel, that led him down the road, bit by bit, of unmitigated, unrepentant EVIL and further away from any possibility of redemption.
* In that manner, "Dr. Reed" is to be conceived as a Tragic figure, in the classic aesthetic sense of "King Lear" or "Prometheus" or "Oedipus"...... or, even, some of the best villains of Super Hero comics or anime or SF / Fantasy epic stories-movies like the original Star Wars trilogy or the LOTR of Peter Jackson, to pick 2 examples from a deep pool of mainstream cinematic art works.
* Or how about, something along the lines of Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis, Professor Moriarty - one of my all time favorite villains. (As well think of Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground" or Knut Hamsun's "Hunger".)
* So that while Dr. Reed and his cohorts MUST be fought he also becomes a somewhat sympathetic figure & an adversary of complexity in the sense of - "there I go but for the grace of fate...."
* At least, that is my core goal in dramatic terms, what passionately interests and drives my re-visioning towards a lasting mythos.