spdyvkng
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Posts posted by spdyvkng
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Could be 1400 dont remember. But something like that.
A for effort, at least...
Man placing out more than a 1000? Damn...
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If there is a semiskilled or skilled cinematic modder/scripter out there that want to jump onto the bandwagon and help us out, we would be more than pleased.
I've done some cinematics scripting, I haven't released any of it, but if you're still looking I could send you a samle and discuss ideas with you.
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P.S. I HATE CHEATERS because what they manage to do is always get around protections but companies believe that they can control them by limiting customization options. They still get around that and we remain with $H!t
Agree. There are simple and pretty easy ways to limit cheaters. I found that TacticalGamer servers have a pretty sweet way to include/exclude people (but there it is used to include those paying vs others).
You register as a user, and when you log into their server you can say "open game server for this IP", and then you can play. Ie. the web site is sending messages to a dynamic firewall.
Very sweet idea. Add to that other wrappers, like dedicated launchers which could implement security around the game, for example checking signatures between server mods, dlls and exes vs the launched game, and I think we have a combination that might work well.
I know, I know, people can hack the launcher, probably, but by using checksums it might be harder? And it would leave the game open for modding.
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When you have the Script editing window up in Igor, click on Summary
I guess it can't be used to paste in new code... @work, no IGOR to test with
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I've been browsing a few threads and see some people posting what amounts to a screen or two of scripting commands when they have problems. My question is, how on earth do you do it? Do you type them in for hand? Or is there something I've missed?
And if you don't type them in, where on earth do you get the output from?
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realize that some are rather long and ppl get tired of watching them. I liked em cuz i thought they were cool and also gave valuable mission information because it seems most ppl read a mission briefing as often as they read a readme.txt file.
I agree that they are cool, but just as fox said they are irritating when playing with no respawns, or with braindead players who get spotted every other game...
One problem with the lenghts is that the individual scenes are long, often lingering on no particular interesting action. I tried to make my own intro, which worked well, but now, a month or two later I notice that they are too static as well.
Problem is that having vehicles going down rugged terrain move correctly is hard. They slide and slip and changing the speed on a vehicle will often lead to new paths (and a truck behaves differently from a humvee because of mass...).
The speed changes are to make them move faster, to make the scenes shorter.
An effective trick is adding more camera angles, and changing the angles for the same scene. For example in your Ghost Town map (one of my favs to play) when the tank moves forward, a couple of different angles on the tank would be great, a threathening ground shot, like described further down, would have been awsome for the last part of that scene.
I'm particularly happy about a scene on the embassy map where I have two humvees escoring a truck and where they go down in front of the bank, the humvees swing behind the bank (to where the vans usually are placed) and the truck goes crashing into the garage ("recreating" a real life bank robbery here in Norway this easter past).
When the cars go around the south east corner of the bank) I switch to a camera down by the ground at the north east corner (almost) and viewing across the T-intersection. This gives a very cool effect when the cars turn etc.
The boring part is while the vehicles accelerate down the street in front of the bank. But adding new cameras is a bore as well, because it was my first intro and I didn't plan it very well with regards to scripting...
But, one thing I can see is that with some cool scripting and camera work one could make pretty awsome stand alone movies. I'm considering it for the future; though I might research other engines for that, because I can't remember if GR allows target tracking or proper pans, tilts and zooms.
And to be honest I'd like a timeline system for the scenes.
BTW, a final note, in my mission I have a hotspot near the spawn point which turns the cinematics on; so that you can view it once and forget it in the future.
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That would be interesting to find out. Only way i found helpful to reduce my work in igor (before my computer got formated losing everything!
) was to have premade generic GTF files already made in a seperate folder in my GR directory.It should be possible to hack the code; if you look into a gtf file you'll see that it is an XML file, but the juicy part is some kind of shorthand for the code itself. Unfortunately the shorthand needs to be decoded.
It is a possible to do, but with GR2 around the corner, and many modders leaving for VBS1 and other simulations/games, I think that no-one would care to do it right now; me neither; I'm just modding for fun until I get the money to buy into VBS1 or GR2.
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That would be interesting to find out. Only way i found helpful to reduce my work in igor (before my computer got formated losing everything! ) was to have premade generic GTF files already made in a seperate folder in my GR directory.
Problem is that "importing" a GTF means replacing the existing code.
I plan to do the same thing as you do; make a script generic enough to take care of the drudge work, for example I have a lot of counters assignements etc which is used in all scripts in my main.gtf file, and then I expand on each of those to work for different types of game types or missions.
The point is that I have that random block you mention:
Group: random 1Trigger: call
set counter random 1 to a randome intiget between 1-4
Stop if blah blahh blah
Stop if blah blahh blah
Stop if blah blahh blah
Stop if blah blahh blah
But when you start on the next random group, not to say the third and fourth, you kind of get ###### at the limitation of not having at least a dreadful copy and paste, but it would have been better to be able to factor out the randomization in the holy grail of arrays.
Man, it isn't better than writing software on a 1983-type home-computer (I wasn't old enough to know how business was done back then on mainframes
) like Commodre 64, no cut and paste, write all in one go...eh at least you don't have to write it all in one go, so some consolation there is.Damn, even vi is preferrable, imho.
I wish for something like PHP as the programming language in future games I mod for. (PHP5, with objects and type hints for functions, and I really hope they get the namespace back in there RSN...). The grace of C++/Java without the negative things (like compiling, manual garbage collection (C++), hard typecasting etc).
Hmm, at least GR scripts do their own garbage collection, to a certain degree (block preserve/block remove could be construed as garbage management, though).
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Hi all,
I've been working on a mission for a while and have a few random elements in it. The trouble is that I would like to use those random elements again. A couple of the blocks I have are pretty large, and with the point and click interface of Igor it takes a while to create similar blocks.
And since GR/Igor doesn't have scripting which is so flexible, the only way to do it is to create different, almost exactly like script blocks (except the teams and calls which are different). And no, i can't queue the calls, because I want some timing between each call.
So, the question is, is there a compiler for GR scripts which will take text and make it into GR mis files?
For GR2 I wish for a more flexible scripting language which can use arrays, switch-case, and not least a text editor friendly scripting language...!
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On a side note - look at the modder names that are converts. That in itself should at least make VBS1 worth a look. Names such as Jack57, Parabellum, Snowfella, AUS_Viper, Dekela, Dugite, Streinger, <insert apology for those I forgot>, etc. These guys are not just players of the game - but die hard modders. If these guys are moving over, it must be something special
I think you missed my first post and parts of my second post where I said about the same as you are saying, so many cool GR modders have moved over, it must be good
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how large M01 Caves feels? It feels like a very, very large area, when in fact it is not. The VBS1 developers are not restricted to such an area; you can play on maps up to 25Kmx25Km in size in VBS1. As such, you'll find that terrain and vegetation is more realistic than in Ghost Recon.
A lot of the GR maps feel very large, you're right. The size in VBS1 seems awesome, that said, I'm going to look more into the maps available, not least trying to find more woodland maps etc. Though, when I come to think of it, urban combat is my favourite, and the Embassy and IGT Downtown are my fav maps...
Your idea is so broad and so vague that it's nearly impossible to say what would work and what wouldn't. That said, almost anything can be modded in VBS1. Some of the new scripting commands are just amazing, and really open up the game to new areas, such as UW or FID missions.Thanks for taking the time to read through it. The planning part was inspired by what I've seen of some VBS1 images and from the missing parts in GR (like not seeing the map properly).
As for the broadness, it is a first draft, I need to split it up into different areas (which the different headings really are) and see what could be done independently. Then it would be easier to create what's needed in steps, or by different people. Factoring of ideas, before factoring the code
How are the scripting tools? For VBS1? I've been using Igor for GR and have had fun with it, but the script language is really...ehrm, not very well thought out. For a programmer comming from C/C++/PHP angle and OOA/D used to using text editors for programming, the interface really, really works against me.
I think 14 FPS is quite impressive, considering the fact that you can see from 500 - 5,000 meters. This isn't like Ghost Recon, where you might be able to see 150 - 200 meters. GR, for all intents and purposes, is very, very limited. Not only are you limited to maybe 200 meter engagements, but the AI is clunky and unrefined for CQB. Not so in VBS1. The AI isn't great for indoor combat, but urban firefights in VBS1 are more intense and deadly than GR ever was.Well, again it depends on how the scene is rendered, I'm not a 3d guru, but still, what I saw on that screenshot didn't really scream a lot of detail.
Though, 500 to 5,000 meters line of sight is impressive. And what you say about hte AI seems to scream "recreate Embassy now"
I'll be looking into VBS1, especially when I see some old GR hands moving that way. For the limitations inherent in GR there have been some very nasty and good ideas springing from a lot of modders.
Thank's for your answers.
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I guess sunset if you're on the northern hemisphere facing west. The sun goes up in the east, and follows a southern (clockwise movement, to your right if facing east) over the sky. So, when you see the sun to your left towards the horizon when facing west, and you're on the northern hemisphere, then it should be sunset.
Unfortunately I can't see which direction you're facing... No anthills, no moss on trees, nothing to give me a hint of where south is
At least that's as far as it looks from how I see the world.
One question:
VBS looks a bit barren, at least when compared to Ghost Recon outdoor maps. Why is this? I'm sure there is a good reason for this, and I'd like to know the reasoning for cutting down the trees, so to speak.
Another question:
I'm wondering if the gameplay is moddable in VBS, I've started thinking of how to make a tactical squad based system, and wonder if VBS might be moddable for this. I've been thinking of other engines, but seeing Jack57 moving to VBS I'm going to look into it, as I've great respect for his work for Ghost Recon.
A third question after viewing the picture one more time:
14 fps... that seems very low for a scene which doesn't look very impressing... This rises a few more questions about VBS... Like what kind of GFX card do I need to get decent playability out of it?
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Harntrox 5 + DA4.9 + Frostbite seems to be most popular. If you like the team play/tactical part of Ghost Recon then Tactical Gamer 3.0 is recommended, but you'll be hard pressed to find games using TG3.0.
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At my own blog I have posted my ideas for a mod or game called "Tactical Squad Operations". This is loosly based on ideas from Ghost Recon, CounterStrike and Operation Flashpoint (I know little about the last two games, except from what I've read and a little CounterStrike playing at lans).
To whet your appetite, so that you can decide if it is worth reading the whole article I've written, here are some points:
- Encourages teamplay
- Encourages good communications skills
Encourages teamplay
Every squad based tactical game will boast this, and I don't blame them. But look at Ghost Recon, there you are awarded points by killing your enemies. Nothing wrong in this, but that stiffles teamplay because it just measures one skill.
Furthermore it favours run and gun gaming, which is the opposite of teamplaying. A sniper in a game where only kills count will lag far behind the support grunts shooting anything in front of them. Other metrics, like hit accuracy might be a consolation price for snipers, but that doesn't help much either if there is nothing left to shoot at...
Therefore the core idea of TSO is to reward other aspects of the gaming experience. Even as far as letting the mission scripters/modders and the players add their own rewards to any game.
Encourages good communications skills
In this part I'm not as bold as above, but if my suggested closer knitting of the game engine and external comms program(s) are acted upon, the combined communications protocol and close integration into the game will create an environment where good communication is helped along by the software packages.
Go read it
If the above is something you miss, or think is interesting I suggest you go and read my outline now.
Thank you for your time, ideas and comments will be followed both on my blog and here in this forum.
- Encourages teamplay
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It seems that CS was a mod/add on to half-life which got a life of its own; recently I've been thinking that it should be possible to create a GR-like tactical mod for Half-Life2, using the gorgeous 3d engine and have the unsurpassed tactical game play of GR.
Does any of the mod guys know if such and undertaking is a) possible and if so b) feasible?
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If UBI/RSE owes its users anything is questionable. They provide a product, we buy it. That doesn't give either party any right to order the other around. By that token we ex-Amiga guys should ##### and moan because DiCE produces BF1942 for the PC and not Amiga, given we all bought their Pinball games back then...
If I don't like GR2 I'll go to another game, or gods forbid: stay with current GR. The one thing I get out of GR are cool people to play with, people who know how to work as a team and not run and gun (which is fun to do sometimes) only.
I don't feel like defending UBI/RSE, I just feel that your sense of entitlement is misplaced and not well founded. And as many have pointed out, this was an early Beta of an X-Box version of the game, it only shows that they're focusing on getting their X-box verions out first, which we all knew would happen.
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These things were seen from the video:
- More interactive environment, at least some cans got shot down, on the other hand I saw grenades exploding right beside boxes in the hangar without the cargo boxes being bruised.
- Destructible environment.
- No more intelligent chatter from the Ghosts yet, those times where someone gave directions about danger it seemed scripted. Seems just as dull and unintelligent as before.
- 3rd persion view...
- A bit better graphics from GR, but the video were so poor, that it was hard to get any details. Especially it didn't seem as impressive as other current games.
- Bullet streaks, they tell us where enemy is...
- Instant AT, no properly firing rockets there, as in GR. Probably bug to be fixed.
- No command map! Didn't see any in use there.
- Better kit layout. The main char in that video had: assault rifle, sidearm, AT and grenades. At least a big improvement from today.
- Better camera control in cut scenes. Check pan and tilt at the end of the long video.
What we couldn't see from the video:
- Intelligence of AIs, at least they didn't many 1 shots 1 kill things, and they seemed totally scripted, especially in the hangar were one AI guy hid behind the box staring one way not noticing the ghost comming from behind.
- Scripting vs AI in missions, most of what we saw could be, and probably were, scripted.
- The true graphics of the game
- The extent of destructible terrain and buildings
- The extent of interactivity with the surroundings
The video was obviously sub-par quality and from an X-Box release. Some people in this thread is afraid UBI/RSE is turning GR2 into a console game. They probably are, look at the numbers, there are a lot of people buying console games, on the PC the numbers aren't that good, and never were. Consoles are, unfortunately, where the money is at.
When the demo is out and I will be making a buy decision, I will be looking for those things I like in current GR: 1st person view, tactical work and real co-op missions. If one of those three isn't there, I'll certainly look otherplaces. I cross my fingers that the PC version will be closer to GR, though.
Was edited to make some of my points clearer.
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I also have a couple of questions with regard to scripting missions:
1. A lot of modders like to add intro movies. Those get very boring when replaying the map. Will it be possible to send arguments to the missions so that the scripts can do more for the users? For example turn off intro/annoying music, add more options to difficulty.
2. Scripting with GR is fun, but a lot of stuff have had to be invented by the modders, and sometimes it hasn't been working well. Will Igor2 support more placeable objects? Especially non-moving objects, so that scripters can create more or less clutter to hide behind in their maps.
3. Will grenades take out people in the stairs on a sherman or real level below the stairs I had this happen to me on the embassy map, I survived a grenade blast in a sherman level above me.
EDIT:
4. MOST Important, will you give us true if then else/case clauses in the scripting? It is a pain somewhere dark and umcomfortable doing it the current way.
VBS1 for North America
in Virtual Battlespace series
Posted
Since quite a few modders and players from GR are moving over, I'm wondering if there will be any mods of the GR quality; ie with new skins etc. With such mods wouldn't the need for the add-on packs be lessened to a certain degree?
150 for the core simulation seems steep just there, and if one needs two-three extra packs to go online to meet people it certainly begins to looks steep...