Serpentine Dream Theory (dev and playtest thread)

[pz3]

I played through a good bit of it. I like it, definitly fun! Didn't get to take down notes of any bugs though.

[Giampi]

Mod uses one map taken from SOAF (Wep factory) and thus in violation of EULA

[RileyFletcher_01]

Hmm, when ApexMods made his Heroes Unleashed mod using dozens of maps from other games including SOAF, nobody paid attention. But now that someone doing a smaller scale project uses them, people start making comments.

[Giampi]

Uhm... It's in violation nevertheless. I suggest you to read some of the topics posted in the forum about the same subject.

[Hammer]

"Posted 26 April 2013 - 10:42 PM"

"Really? You're going to play the copyright card now? This isn't a full game being distributed for free, it's a small part of an ancient game. At this stage who gives two hoots if a small portion of an old game is incorporated into a mod to help keep GR alive. Lets face if SOAF is a Ghost Recon mod LOL!

Infact, if I really wanted to get into a debate about it now, I'd say there is no difference in including those maps or any of the existing Ghost Recon maps, they are all assets that belong to Redstorm/Ubisoft and they encourage modding so really, I can't believe we are still debating this point.

Just enjoy them, live's too short to fall out over this."

Source http://www.ghostrecon.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=60195

Posted By Rocky with reference to SOFA content in mods Post No 14

I tend to agree these days

Edited December 26, 2013 by Hammer

[Giampi]

If there is no official statement from UBIsoft or RSE it remains illegal to use assets of SOAF in GR mods. It is not because many years passed or because it became so common to practic such activity that it is not becoming legal.

I'm definitely proud to have creates the MP3 mod or the Punisher mod (thanks to the cooperation of Streinger) that doesn't violate any copyright.

[MrMoon]

Hi Riley silly question but have you tried re-downloading it?

Thanks twcrash you can download the garden of death from the blog. I'm waiting to see if ofpec will be fixed so I can upload a newer version of it but right now it looks like another nail in ofps coffin has been hammered in

Just do what most of us are doing and setup a Google drive account they give you 15 gogs for free and it works pretty well.

Ah I have a media fire account I just needed ofpec around so I could get it properly tested and reviewed.

Played through a good part of 01 today. I really liked the mission and I'm looking forward to finishing it the next time I play.

-In the briefing, there are several points where you forgot to put in spaces. For example, Overview:Alright gentlemen...

-There is no marker on the world map showing the mission location.

-The music made me want to curl up and die when I was selecting my kits.

-The sniper and support expert didn't have any new kits. If you aren't planning on adding any, that's okay. If all of your missions are going to be these close quarter environments, maybe you could replace the sniper kits with marksman loadouts (high-caliber rifles with lower powered scopes).

-The M203 needs a quicker stabilization time and more rounds. I should be able to pull off quick shots just a couple seconds after switching from my rifle to the grenade launcher. Twelve rounds would probably be better.

-I don't see the point in putting "loud" pistols with suppressed rifles. I would remove those kits and just have SD rifle + SD pistol and non-SD rifle + non-SD pistol.

-The enemies seem very weak as far as how many rounds I can put into them before getting a kill. I don't recall shooting any of them more than once with my M4, which is not as much fun and not really realistic when I'm hitting them in the feet or hands.

-The enemies are also very accurate which is even more noticeable because of the close quarters style combat. I would make most of their weapons fully automatic, increase their recoil and stabilization time, and decrease their accuracy. That would allow for more close calls when you step around a corner and get sprayed at by a tango.

-I loved picking up the intel. Only one thing I noticed was that I didn't pick up all of the documents from the office floor.

-How do you have the alarm set up? I only had one instance when I thought it went off when it shouldn't -- I had breached the office door and shot both men inside but they still managed to set off the siren. The rest of the time I found it just right -- if I was smart, I could make my way through the hallways and take out the guards stealthily.

-There are no markers on the in-game map showing me where to place demo charges. This is going to frustrate a lot of forgetful players.

Very nice mission. It's simple, straightforward, and allows for a tactical approach even with AI teammates.

Cheers for taking the time to play it Riley.

Ill have another look through the briefings and make sure its all smoothed out.

The marker doesn't show up for a reason, that reason is I'm lazy and find it time consuming adjusting co-ordinates

As for the music, I nearly fell off my chair when I read that I'm reminded of comments I made about texas militia music. Well there are two equip tracks, I think you will enjoy the other one more

I must mention now that I aim not a weapon or load out specialist I have merely incorporated the m4 sopmod mod into sdt. The other missions while having their moments are not so close drawn and the sniper becomes usefull. I will make some of the changes you recommended though.

I will also have a mess with some of the actors stats and plans to see if I can get a better result.

Not all the documents are removed as a result of the ghosts only wanting specific documents although I can see it being more realistic having them collect all in one swoop.

I used the same alarm set up you used for one of your missions, if a guard sees you killing another he raises the alarm. I might have made a more complex alarm system but having it go off does not effect your mission status and is expected eventually. And thanks I also enjoyed stalking the halls taking out sentries and even stepping over fallen enemies with the alarm blaring in the background.

That's true I shall remember to place them in.

Thanks for giving it a go Riley your feedback is appreciated and useful

As for the issue with the map itself this copy of the map was transferred from another gr mod 'no easy day'. In fact there are a great many mods and map packs in the downloads section that contain maps from soaf, should they be removed from the dl section? Its regrettable that serp has been singled out, but I think at this stage in both the games life we can either just enjoy them, or get the lawyers involved. I think the former would be preferred.

[wombat50]

To set the x y values for the location on the briefing map:
In Photoshop go to Edit> Preferences>Units and Rulers (I'm using CS2 if it makes a difference)
set units for Rulers as pixels
Type as pixels

In the PS View menu, Rulers needs a check mark by it.

Most stock GR briefing maps are 256 x 256 pixels
Upper left hand corner is 0 0 (x and y values)
Bottom right hand corner is 256 256

Open the world location map in PhotoShop.

Using the guides which can be dragged from the image border (top and left side), the location can be marked for the x y values . Then it is a matter of reading the ruler at the top and left sides to get the needed values and enter them in the .mis file.
example:
<BriefingImageX>162</BriefingImageX>
<BriefingImageY>179</BriefingImageY>

Same theory would apply to a briefing map of any size.

Did it by trial and error for along time until I found out about this.

Edit:

Tried entering some values for the pulsing world map icon in the briefing. Can't make it appear at all?

Edited January 3, 2014 by wombat50

[MrMoon]

Hi wombat sorry Ive been slow to reply Ive just gotten back from xmas hols and I'm a little slow getting back into groove.

The reason you can't make the pulse apear at all is because of the cycle image I'm using, it purposely removes the pulse icon so I don't need to worry about map co-ordinates.

It saves that extra lil bit of time and I don't think its ultra important anyway as most of the locations bar the naval base from mission 4 are fictional locations anyway.

Most if not all bugs have been ironed out Ive made a few very minor changes to the load outs and the outro/ credits video is all but done.

Just need to go through a few minor changes get the intro video made and we should be near completion.

[wombat50]

I don't think the pulsing map icon is that important either.

Nice job on removing it completely.

[MrMoon]

Can't take the credit for it

Discovered by accident when I transferred the map from no easy day

[MrMoon]

Ok having some problems getting the outro video to work.

Ive used the setendgamemovie script in the startup of mission 4 Ive tried both entering the name of the movie and the name with the file extension and neither work.

Any ideas?

[RileyFletcher_01]

Setendgamemovie only works in campaign mode. Instead, simply place the video clip in the correct format in your mod's Video folder and name it 'outro'.

[MrMoon]

Got it! 'Setendgamemovie' seemed to be preventing the outro from playing.

Now just the intro movie needs doing!