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Why fight alone?

Mon, 11 Feb 2002 21:21:00

mago

I got a great TC some time ago for Duke Nukem, called Starship Troopers TC. It was VERY well done, codes, con's, art, hacking and all those complicated stuff (at least, every review was talking about these things [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] ). And yet, it had a big limitation: the bugs wouldn't attack the soldiers, although those soldiers could help the player a little, and would follow him. It was a great loss for the tc, since the most fun thing in the movie was to see the great bugs (what a design..!) killing and cutting the soldiers. What I'm trying to say is that in Hexen, it seems we don't have that problem. From what I've read in the forum, it sounds even simple to set the priorities which the monster have to follow. And that gives us a great potencial. Well, I know that there will be no fights in the city, but I have to say that it would be extremely good if there would be maps where we would have to defend something from a legion of monsters, not only in one map, but in several, with the help of our own legion of warriors, soldiers, archers mages... It would depend a lot in the story line, to give the proper "feeling" to the scene, the atmosphere of fear, fragility, and the knowledge that we don't have almost any chances to survive the siege (as an example). Of course, we would also need lots of creativity (for narrations, speechs, conversations...) and LOTS of new art (and that is the part I would try to help, specially with new sprites for humans). In terms of hardware, it wouldn't be that impossible, since sprites don't use much of the machine to exist (which is one of the greatest advantages of sprites. In the TC they even mentioned this, that no engine with 3d models as enemies would work with the dozens of aliens running al you, in the vast open areas the tc has. Believe me, in the last map it finnally came true when you have to avoid being killed by an entire colony, running, screamming and dying at the dozens, maybe even hundreds, and I didn't experienced any problems.) I hope someone will like the idea, so we can discuss more about it. PS: Sorry about my poor english! [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
Tue, 30 Apr 2002 21:16:00

RambOrc

...erm sorry... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] I read this post back when it was new and I thought I answered it (maybe it was one of the many times when Netscape crashed becuz of crap UBB). The thing is, pretty similar ideas do exist for Korax' Heritage (most probably saved for The Serpent Power, though), it's just that they exist since '99 or 2000 and those old website stuff have been taken down ages ago where this was described. I had the idea of a town you have to defend long ago. But such a thing would require BIG open areas and that's better left to Vavoom, for 2 very important reasons: - skyboxes that have high resolution and can replace any walls or floors at map borders - slopes and 3D floors without these, large open areas can get VERY boring and VERY ugly VERY fast. That's why Scattered Evil will feature a lot more dungeon maps than I really would want in any fantasy game (for that, The Serpent Power will consist mostly outdoor maps).
Wed, 01 May 2002 00:51:00

Ichor

How about something like an enormous castle on a mountaintop being invaded by the enemy, and you have to guard a certain relic (in the Quake TF map invade4a, it's an ancient scroll) from all kinds of nasty monsters. If it's taken and brought outside to their general, then the mission is over. To win, you have to kill that general (to be revealed after a while or after killing a certain amount of enemies). Most of the map will either be inside or on the battlements or towers looking over the wide open areas at the invading army's camps. They could get in either through the front gate, by flying in, or maybe through the cavernous dungeons below the castle. There may be other people defending the castle that you might accidently kill if you hit them, or heal using the Mystic Ambit Incant or similar artifact. Most of the armor, mana, and other supplies would have already been used up defending the castle, so you'd have to rely on strategy and maybe the occasional "gift" or two when a dying monster drops something.
Wed, 01 May 2002 05:44:00

Tzar Sectus

One thing we could add for Scattered what-ever-it's-name-is is mercenaries the player could hire. Which would happily follow the player and sacriface his life in danger... some kind of speech set should be added though, it's kind of lifeless to have a ally beside you which doesn't say one word. -Remi
Wed, 01 May 2002 05:47:00

Tzar Sectus

Aha, Scattered Evil, that's name! I tend to forget that last part. -Remi
Wed, 01 May 2002 09:11:00

RambOrc

You can called Scattered Evil SE and The Serpent Power SP and then we're back to M$ (Second Edition and Service Pack), LOL. The basic requirement for all kind of NPCs and especially for those who help you is a working AI, so let's not talk about this stuff any more until the time when Remi comes back and reports he's got an NPC AI that can follow you around without blocking your way all the time and fight for you without hitting you all the time. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
Wed, 01 May 2002 12:33:00

mago

Well, I liked Ichor's idea, but it seems impossible to make, although I've thought about some scripts that can simulate very well the process of having a castle invaded, by looking at some scripts in Dark Citadel (although I don't have a clue how to put them to work). The problem of an entrance to the monsters would be easily achieved by a "breaking the walls" effect, whixh exists in that map of Dark Citadel, where you hit the bell and a wall explodes, leaving an entrance to a lower ground (forgot the number), but then there would be the others challenges, like put the monsters to work togheter with the same goal, to put them to follow a routine, or "waypoints", faking and invasion or charge, to make the npcs to actually defend the walls, firing at the monsters, and others things like that... Very hard.

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