ManGodAi4x / AquaCoop, Comic, Cinematic…Terminal Dark.

[theArmourer]

Like this

This Stele represents a common Scav motif and credo.

It is called WICOH'AN OTEHIKE - which translates as "the difficult path."

??

[Olrox]

Like this

This Stele represents a common Scav motif and credo.

It is called WICOH'AN OTEHIKE - which translates as "the difficult path."

??

Oh, that's scav folklore

Those are Rman's creations to provide a paupable culture to scavs, increasing in a large rate the depth of the map (which is far from being a simple "map" by this time, but rather a new dimension with a different time & space)
Probably Rman can tell you more about it

~Olrox

[theArmourer]

Also the stone totem thing, other than a neat cliff bending, I don't see a picutre in it.

As a note, I doubt that in 15 years the scavengers would form a warrior culture, with legends and mythology. Unless this isn't the WZ2100 timeline/time.

[Rman Virgil]

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Ahh, that image and artistic vision-license. Really, that's it ? Well then, just think of it as subliminal and if you go back a couple pages its origin is precisely explained..... and a screen cap that does a better job of conveying a meaningful image. I think the stretching & extreme close-up in this last screen cap weakened the image coherence of my earlier example / screen cap.

Well it's pretty much as Olrox explained (thanks Olrox )

But let me expand a bit with a prescient wit.

First - I am drawing from RL & personal experience for narrative inspiration along with dedicated research into primary source evidence.

That word is from the living language of the Lakota Nation - a Native American tribe. I spent a 12 year apprenticeship learning & participating in their most sacred traditional ways - basically adopted into their society.

My tribal roots are out of the native Taino peoples of the Caribbean who were the first of the New World indigenous peoples brought to the brink of extinction then assimilation starting with Chris Columbus & his brigands in 1492 during the first waves of the Spanish imperial colonization & genocidal occupation of the New World (as were many other tribal nations stretching from the far North of the New World hemisphere to the tip of the South American continent).

Fear not, this is relevant. To wit.....

My rationale for drawing from this well of inspiration is manifold. I'll just share this one thought.

If a peoples & their cultures can survive intact resisting over 500 years of concerted genocidal efforts & who even right now, amidst a predominant urban life style (with all its inherent dependencies & illusions), know the land intimately and possess the hardy wilderness survival skills that hundreds of millions of the general populace do not, well then I proceeded to prognosticate in the clearly time-honored vein of Hard Sci Fi world building techniques that these indigenous peoples would very likely be amongst those who survived the collapse of modern technological infrastructure; doing so on the surface and not in some underground enclave, & with a decided edge in a number of areas, not the least being Epigenetic evolution. As well they would continue to adhere to their native culture and warrior traditions which have already endured for thousands of years in this Western hemisphere even under the harshest of man-made adversities - genocide.

There are other components to my narrative prognostications but I'll just leave it there for now save to say that any here who wonder about the why and wherefores of my back story should look into doing a bit of objective research and learning beyond the tissue-thin, inconsistency rife, Pumpkin back story (with more holes than a hunk of Swiss cheese). This is fairly easy to do these days with Google & the Net plus I actually have already provide an extensive list of outstanding primary source references in the "War School" thread for those who are genuinely interested in further exploring any of the subjects raised in my artful back story and also my rationales for moving forward with the particulars of my detailed work done as opposed to simply providing forum lurkers with amusing blather or do nothing spam postings telling others what they could do for me to be in line with my own ego-reality tunnel.

Also - let's not forget that WZ 2100 is a FICTION derived predominantly from 1980's movie fiction entertainments and is very little informed outta primary sources in the sciences surrounding nuclear fallout along with other relevant knowledge disciples like epigenetics, anthropology & ecology.

For those of you new in the neighborhood, if you hang you'll get to know that I'm very old school in that it is in my core nature to do a thorough job of homework before opening my mouth unless I'm obviously making humorous banter or otherwise simply stating my ignorance on the matter & just asking, with all due courtesies & sincere appreciation, for a partial enlightenment.

Alas, this strikes me as a good juncture to take a well earned time out from this effort to refresh my Toltec spirit for the home stretch...

- RV

EDIT:

Here is a more visually coherent iteration, & set of renders, of that Scav Stele WICOH'AN OTEHIKE which you can think of as their "Mount Rushmore".

"Imagination, it's a wonderful thing."

~ whippersnapper, circa '09.

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[theArmourer]

Now I see it. Its nice to have backstory.

[Rman Virgil]

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What Next ?

I am taking that time-out mentioned in the last post which will last no longer than a week.

After this respite I will sprint through the home stretch and complete "Aqua Co-op SE", taking it as far as I can, to the best of my ability. From there I will submit for a pre-release, peer-review, with folk I know can effectively don the full complement of Six Thinking Hats (as opposed to the more common and facile mono-hat input) and from their quality input I will make changes for the better I was blind to in my solo taskings.

After completing those 11th hour changes I will make a new thread in the "Showcase Forum" and release the first Open Beta because I would indeed honor my word that I would do just that and not because i expect any response other than a possible effusion of Black Hat conceit for the effort. Just the way things are, an obvious pattern really, and by acknowledging it I'm merely abiding within a straight forward & cool pragmatism.

The joys are all in the work itself truth be told - then there are other contexts wherein paydays are a sweet consequence.

Lastly, this can never can be acknowledged enough - my whole hearted thanks to Flail13, 4nE, Olrox and Per for all they have contributed to my being able to create "Aqua Co-op SE" as it has become to this point. (Any and all shortfalls in the final release will of course fall squarely & solely on my shoulders.)

This concludes my pre-release remarks and WIP sharing.

- Regards, RV

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[Rman Virgil]

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Necessary Update:

Another curve ball from left field to account for - but it's all good, I have no doubt.

Preliminary testing of Dylan Dog's just released Scavenger AI dydo-scav tells me several things:

1.) Another major scripting advance on top of Per's recent modification to the stock Scav scripts.

2.) I have to see yet about a merge between the two. Specifically, Dylan Dog's "Roving Bands" and Per's / Olrox's "Mobile Defensive Radius". (There may also be inherent issues or conflicts to work out.... not sure yet. I'll have to study-analyze both scripts.)

3.) With the way I've designed and implemented Scav IF Defenses of Oil Resources and combining with Dylan Dog's "Roving Bands" are making for a WAY TOO unbalanced condition in favor of Scavs - at ANY Tech Level !!

4.) Have to make changes to Aqua Coop SE when I get back to it in a few days to account for # 2 & # 3 above.

Changes are not really radical but they will require scrupulous attention to subtle Balance Issues.

This set of changes and the testing for balance, back & forth, will add more time. How much I dunno. But what I am sure is that it will be worth it - the added work and testing time.

An added thanks to Dylan Dog for his fine efforts.

ALSO: With this new development, when it comes to the Elite Edition that follows SE, I think I can just focus on implementing & integrating Scav Air Power to the scripts to achieve full blown SCAV WARS.

Regards, RV

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[macuser]

THIS viewtopic.php?f=3&p=52963#p52963 may be a solution to the scav problem.

-regards macuser

[Rman Virgil]

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THIS viewtopic.php?f=3&p=52963#p52963 may be a solution to the scav problem.

-regards macuser

That is indeed good feedback for making changes to DyDo Ski AI controlled players so that Player 7 Scav AI does not overwhelm them from the get go in the critical start of game phase.

My concern, believe it or not, if with Human Players because I've already given Player 7 A.I. Scavs a little edge that is playing with attrition throughout the map..... when combined with what Dylan Dog has done with the Player 7 A.I. it presents a challenge to human players that I believe crosses the line into too much of an edge for Scavs leading to a clear no-fun frustration so it's really on me to scale-back & re-balance what I've done already on Aqua Co-op to make that challenge still strong and fun instead of too frustrating and annoying.

Then there is that merging thing between Dylan Dog and & Per's scripts.

Regards, RV
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[Rman Virgil]

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Dylan Dog has just said he will integrate the 'Aid-Radius' from stock Scav A.I. (Olrox idea - scripts written by Per) into his new 'DyDo_Scav A.I.'.

Well hold off on our end and see how that works out.

On paper it looks to be an overall terrific advance for Player 7 Scav A.I. and an even more expansive tool kit for Mappers to design MP maps (including true Coop Team Maps like the present project) with an even stronger Campaign flavor - probably as close as we are gonna get in the foreseeable future to Coop CAM GPMs. (Try achieving that using Cam Mode structure to script - I think not.)

- RV

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[Rman Virgil]

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Scylla & Charybdis: One of 2 mainland gateways to the Primary Scav Enclave The Last Redoubt (also a major C0G or Center of Gravity). The other gateway being The Isthmus of Regret. Each presents different challenges and the more difficult of the 2 also provides a great boon for successfully dealing with it that will facilitate the overall war effort. Which of the 2 remains to be seen. I am of course NOT showing any of the real Scav defenses or force strength in the caps. I will add that multi-vectored velocity offenses coordinated between team mates will be a great advantage in taking this C0G but you will have to manage that while the other team is trying to annihilate you (as they too contend with Scav Forces). I will also add that Research Specialization Strats between Team Mates will be pivotal.

NEXT: While I have begun work again I'm still in a holding pattern on Balance issues tied to Player 7 Scav A.I. development. Ergo this post and the post that follows which will comment on the 33 Strategies of War and how they relate to both stock game play on conventional maps and Aqua Coop SE as well how the modus of reverse engineering (which I've used in Campaign Mission designs in past efforts) crept into what I was doing here in MP without my being consciously aware of till I took this recent break and started re-reading Robert Green's absorbing "The 33 Strategies of War".
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[Rman Virgil]

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Scylla & Charybdis evolve...


For Map Makers: It's probably common to create something in FlaME that goes beyond your detailed Height Map, then compile your map to take a look at it in game and go back to FlaME and make adjustments.

In addition to that, what I also find myself doing a lot lately is while in-game with Debug Mode enabled, doing terrain deformation with the "A" & "W" Keys and seeing how different radical variations look. Then when I find something I like, I go back into FlaME and make those radical variations permanent along with the necessary finer tweaking you can't readily control with the key functions in Debug Mode.

Through this process I've ended-up with interesting stuff (that has expanded the 3D-4D aspects that are so central to my design approach) I never would have conceived-created in the more straight forward crafting method you usually use.

...Oh yea.... I'll come back later to The 33 Strategies of War mentioned last when I'm more in a Left Brain mode. At the moment I'm mostly in a Right Brain frame of mind which is the perfect modality for the unselfconscious improvisation I so enjoy.

- RV

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[Rman Virgil]

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Scylla & Charybdis...... Completed...

Except for showing my final resources and Player 7 Scav Force strength.

In the dev sequence I've just shared you clearly see my initial rough notion followed by the much changed intermediate metamorphosis to this completed or final stage were in I also integrate with the adjoining C0Gs and blend 360 with the encompassing topography & Landmarks; in this case - "The Last Redoubt", "The Isthmus of Regret" and "Jian's Tang". The GP Balance matrix tweaking will have to await the new Player 7 Scav A.I.s integrated development currently in process as explained in previous posts.

What Now: I'll continue tweaking the Cartography of Aqua Co-op SE until the new Player 7 Scav A.I. is ready for integration.... AND...

I will also shift over in this interim to Aqua Co-op: Elite Edition development. Specially, continued scripting of the Custom Skirmish A.I. that will be bundled with it ("Aqua Co-op SE" is specifically ONLY for 4 Human Players because no current Ski A.I.s can handle it optimally) and also the back story & dramatic short story that will be bundled with the Elite Edition (may also do some more "Scav Art" like the Fresco Painting posted a week or so ago here for this accompanying .PDF).

"Aqua Co-op EE" will also include my modifications to the Player 7 Scav A.I. currently under development (by DylanDog) where in I will be giving Scavs Air Power Force Strength.

For me this is all consistent with what I've been doing in various projects & efforts with WZ since May '99. Amazing that much time has passed engaging this game which is really a testament to WZ Creators and their core inclusive, generative, vision for the game.
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[Rman Virgil]

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Views of The Last Redoubt the Player 7 Scav Main Enclave and CoG. While this will be a fun & keen challenge, Scavs do have a clear Achilles Heel in this Stock Edition of Aqua Co-op which I will address via unit, weapon & A.I.modding in the Elite Edition so as to make it a tremendously fun challenge to capture The Last Redoubt.

And let us remember the Scav Credo: WICOH'AN OTEHIKE

Which translates as "the difficult path". And so it shall be in both SE & EE.

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[Black Project]

This map is getting more & more interesting on each screenshots

Keep up the great work RV

BP