[DEVELOPMENT] Campaign 4 Development Thread

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Status update: The main map is now finished! After a 12-hour marathon of fixing texture errors, stress, gateway and play testing (skirmish mode ...), the map seems to be ready for scripting and placement of the Scavenger bases. The next order of business is to procure the Scavenger Tech mods (by the authors listed above) and get that stuff integrated into the Campaign.

After that it's mission planning, more maps, scripting, voice sets, in-game video and Integration. Lots to do.

Nexus is ready for you, Commander. Be assured of that. And there's nowhere to hide...

Cam4MapOverview.png

And yes, it's greyed out in places for a reason.

[Rman Virgil]

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Even from just the overview you can tell you put a lot of TLC into your crafting. Definitely NOT the cookie-cutter approach. The kind of map I like most for its asymmetric, intricate & naturalistic topography. Personally I can't get into RTS combat on maps that have the man-made look of a Central Park or Goldengate Park - places I associate with strolling with a gal, volleyball, rollerblading, picknics, lollygaging, smelling the rose gardens, etc.

Anyway, to the point of your work, it looks perfect for the deadly adventure of RTS Campaign Combat Missions.

- Regards, RV
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[Goth Zagog-Thou]

I built it with a couple things in mind:

a.) Line of sight issues. Past one's Main Base, it shouldn't be possible to kill the opponent with artillery and mortar. Close-quarters combat with point-blank line of sight makes for interesting fights, when balanced properly. There are still spots on the map that I'm not happy with yet, in this regard, because too MUCH can be bad as well.

b.) Waypoints. I dislike 'One way in, one way out". It's too easy to defend. There are places on the map the player must control in order to proceed, and multiple points of entry to the player base that must be defended. And in playtesting, NEXUS takes full advantage of an entry point that even *I* didn't see. Nice little surprise there.

c.) Distribution of resources. I've done this mainly because it fit the bill. Lots of small Scavenger bases here, and they need power too. A secondary benefit of this is they're difficult for a single player to defend en masse. With (b.), above, it makes for a very interesting series of... well, you'll see.

Thanks for the kind words, Rman. Glad I'm on the right track.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Oh... I'll give a hint when attacking Nexus Prime (the main Base) -- you'll need multiple waves of VTOL and Regular units to crack that nut.

[Rman Virgil]

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Your designing in 4D... excellent. To me that is the most interesting game play - and most challenging, as a player going up against and also as creator of the experience in the first place. Cool.

BTW... if you come to need more than one voice acting type & / or some original music I'd be glad give it a shot - no obligation, you'd be absolutely free to reject any of it if it didn't work for what you were after, no hard feelings.

- Regards, Rman

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[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Absolutely. I'll take all the help anyone cares to offer. I'm currently writing out the Mission overviews which includes developer and scripting notes. Among this are the necessary voice sets particular to each mission as well as general voice sets that will be needed. I'm going to need someone with a deep-ish voice for NEXUS, and I'd really like to avoid voice-changing tomfoolery if possible.

As far as the new in-game music, anything that's submitted will be considered. Having a different track per-mission seems a little extreme imo, but I do like the idea of having mission-appropriate music to set mood. Mission 4-1 "Escape" is an example, since it's the first mission and it should set the mood and tone of the entire campaign. Something tense and edgy here, with a sense of desperation.

The latest round of force testing with NEXUS has created an imbalance. (Yes, I jumped ahead to designing the final mission already. I believe it's important to have the start and the finish figured out first.. ). I had an idea to make NEXUS occupy slots 1-7, because I wanted to avoid changing structure limits. What I ended up with was NEXUS at it's most violent, unstoppable form. And it really was overwhelming. Wave after wave of VTOL strikes, combined with 5 factories PER player slot sending units to destroy you. My computer couldn't cope, and began to lag badly. So I'll have to rethink that idea, perhaps have NEXUS occupy slots 1-4 instead. Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated.

[Rman Virgil]

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Ok. Cool on the voice & music parameters. By "tomfoolery" vis-a-vis the NEXUS voice I take your meaning a la natural without any audio processing.

I had similar probs when working on ManGodAi4X & solved this way:

Used 6 slots for the ManGodAi opposition & restricted each to 1 Tank Factory, 1 Borg Factory & 1 Vtol Factory. The 7th slot I used for the Scavs which I maxed-out unit wise & had go postal from jump. The initial VTOL sorties only came from one location & were tied to the Scav ground assualts. All 7 were locked as one.

Balancing was a hella challenge. I ended-up giving the player 2 options - duke it out or take a calculated risk pursueing a tactical retreat that provided an opportunity to retrench from a stronger position & carry foward the fight from that new base of opperations.

One thing that just occured to me that maybe one of devs could answer.

You know how the Message Strings are used to trigger the Mission Briefs & Cut Scenes - could this structure be used to trigger different music themes ?

- RV
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[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Missions 1-3 Maps and documentation done, and ready for scripting. You guys are gonna love this. Those who need it have been sent PM's to get it. Yay!

[Rman Virgil]

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Dang Goth, you're in the Zone of mastery. A burning white heat & flowing, looks to me.

Look forward to getting a couple previous commitments outta the way so I can dig into this wealth you've created so far with unwavering attention.

- Rman
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[milo christiansen]

One question: is someone doing voice acting and/or fmvs?

And if so do they know how to make them available for scripts to use?

Writing all the scripts/AI/WRFs is a LOT of work as it is without having to learn how to add messages and mission briefings too.
Of course if I get to that point and the oggs are done but not in-game I'll just have to learn

[eZAK]

Very Interesting!! Delta is off the ground!

A big Thanks to evryone involved! I 'm sure this will be a great campaign!

All I have to offer is ideas, Good & Bad, Take 'em or Leave 'em
For instance;
1) A long range flare that would light up the darkness for a pre determined amount of time.
2) A guided cruise missle that needs a marker dropped by a cyborg to find its target.
3) End game; Recover the tech for deep space travel from Nexus before they detonate the doomsday bomb.


ZAK

[Rman Virgil]

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Over the last 11 years several groups have tried to make a sequel campaign & none have succeeded in completing. It wasn't for lack of talent or effort but mostly because ofthe amount of work involved across the board (& especially the scripting to tie it all together.)

From what I can tell so far this effort has the best chance of succeeding for the first time in 11 years.

Though I will say, based on past experience, that having more than 1 individual working on scripting would make for a HUGE edge over previous efforts. It truely is a TON of work for just one person - scripting that many missions alone.

- RV
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[Flail13]

I'm interesting in doing some scripting, if needed. Is there any plan to make a new tech tree with this campaign?

[Iluvalar]

Very Interesting!! Delta is off the ground!

A big Thanks to evryone involved! I 'm sure this will be a great campaign!

All I have to offer is ideas, Good & Bad, Take 'em or Leave 'em
For instance;
1) A long range flare that would light up the darkness for a pre determined amount of time.
2) A guided cruise missle that needs a marker dropped by a cyborg to find its target.
3) End game; Recover the tech for deep space travel from Nexus before they detonate the doomsday bomb.


ZAK

If you want to introduce new weapons and a T4 in that campaign. I strongly suggest that you stay with stuff that can be done without further coding.

[eZAK]

All though I know very little about game developement, (scrpting & coding is above my pay grade)
Keeping it as simple as possible would be best.

IMO - Having more or different tech and a golden ring to strive for, makes the player become more involved.

Fear not though, I will keep throwing ideas out there!
Whether or not they are doable wil be entirely up to you guys at the helm