My only complaint with Mobile Suit ideas in Freelancer is the Mobile Suits are rigid models. If there was a way to get their legs moving with their thrusting direction (the arms can move with modeled turrets), I’d be more excited.
This is not to discourage you from your mod, of course! Just a personal opinion.
Anubis wrote:
we could easily mod the material files to have team color tinges for team based gameplay, build weapons with team color tracers, etc.I definitely agree with w0dk4 here, why reduce the art of the game. We dont need complex custome .ales and such, but that doesnt mean it cant still be pretty.
Hell, we could get more involved and build a class based system if we wanted to, tanks, dps, healers, etc. Or we could keep it a simple shoot em up.
Anubis, I don’t think you understand what I mean by “Arcade”.
I’m really looking for something that is simple to play, simple to code, simple to push through production. I don’t want to have fancy models that we have to upkeep, it’s not even really a demonstration of Freelancer capabilities! It’s meant to be a quick break from the rest of the world, an easy way to wind down and for players to meet up before moving on to bigger, better things.
A class-based system steps away from the “ease of entry” I’m looking for. Having it too class-based limits the player’s ability to play this offline if they want, or on their own.
The basic graphics (with stunning ALEs to make it feel a lot of fun) and the basic game play with the basic feel of “pick up, play, then go back home” will separate the mod from the others, giving TSP a unique modification to call their own, while not competing with the other mods its hosting/advertising.
Well, the arcade style mod that I had in mind would be very simple, very easy for a player to get into, and really focused entirely on a fun concept. Without having to worry too much about super-advanced graphics past some custom built .ALEs and custom built, very simple models, the game would be quick and easy to push through production.
The idea is to develop an arcade-like game for players to enjoy both off- and online, jump in and pick up for a few minutes to unwind from the day, then depart for their real mods. The inspiration came from Beat Hazard, honestly, and blossomed with discussion.
The overall-concept is very few systems with very few ships to choose from: Light and Fast, Medium and balanced, then Heavy and slow. The weapons would be designed the same way. Fast, inaccurate, a tickle but they shoot quickly; Medium that fires at a predictable speed and rate; and a heavy missile-type weapon. The ships would be designed to accommodate their respective weapon. The purpose of the game? Blow the crap outta each other, respawn quickly, and do it all over again.
The systems would be fairly simple. Nothing really past a base or two (maybe four for a four-way team battle). One system would have nothing but that base, and constantly spawning NPCs that come to attack you. A second system would have those four bases, different colors, and one system would have two bases and spawning NPCs to mix the two concepts.
Ships would be simple in design. I’m talking VERY polygonal with basic black and <team color=“”>grid outlines. Nothing super fancy, so the .SURs and the textures would be quick and easy. Backdrops would be a simple grid to make it look very virtual, very arcade-y. Stations could be modeled the same way, or maybe even redoing the texture for the smaller Freelancer base which seems to fit the idea.
Overall, if we do it right, I could see this as something we could churn out in a month or two of dedicated work. It’d be light weight as a total conversion, and really just a fun place for people to come in, meet, play, laugh, then go on to bigger, better things. Something I think would really give that TSP feel.</team>
So if I’m interpreting this right, that is the absolute base to get the game to function? Is that correct?
I was wondering if anyone had a template of what could be removed for a Total conversion modification? What systems can be taken out, what needs to stay, what exactly is required to get a TC to start?
I was curious if anyone had this information so that I could begin a TC of my own.
What about instead of a mod of the month ordeal, we actually release a mod that’s sanctioned/supported by the administrators of The Starport?
Imagine if you will a mod that’s fairly easy to develop and maintain that players can easily jump into, have some fun shooting at one another to unwind after the day, then coordinate to jump into their favorite mod? Almost Arcade in its design.
It’s ease-of-entry would be encouraging to players to actually jump into the mod head first, meet some new friends, and maybe even discuss some new mods between deaths.
The overall design of the modification, which would have Starport’s name on it, would allow for it to be pushed out of production quickly and with few team members, as well as ease of balance and feature implementation. Not a lot of work for a potentially really fun game and social networking tool.
To help promote mods at the same time, why not allow for a billboard that changes every week or two and features specific modifications for a short period of time?
Just an idea that I thought would be good for the Starport overall.
Sol! I forgot to tell you sooner, I don’t need that Pyro-GX I requested. I found a .3ds and a .max model! Now the hard part is getting it into a .cmp and .sur file…
I seem to be a fan of the trading and mining thing. I’m TRYING to get better when it comes to an actual fighter, but it’ll require a little bit of improvement, I think.
cheese on toast wrote:
The Adobe Flash program is… well, about $600, and that’s a little more than I’m willing to spend right now
Is that 600$ more than your willing to spend
No, not necessarily. I’m willing to hand over a little bit of cash, but $600 is just a little much. I’m looking closer to the $99 range max, you know?
I have been looking around and heard OpenLazlo mentioned before. I’ll definitely give that a look! I’ve also downloaded toolkits for Silverlight and AJAX, just to toy around with making a fancy flash-run-appearance website hopefully. This should be interesting to see how it comes out….
Sol, these are amazing. I drool over every one, and want to make a mod to feature them ALL! The undertaking of such is more than I can handle, so it won’t happen, but still.
Uh… a bit of a dream of mine… could you maybe model a Pyro-GX on your free time? From good ol’ Descent 2. If you’ve got the time, mind you.
I’m looking into creating a website using Flash (also downloading and toying around with Microsoft Silverlight), but I’m not sure what programs I should use! The Adobe Flash program is… well, about $600, and that’s a little more than I’m willing to spend right now. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would Silverlight be better to look into?
It’s flyable since of the way we created the .cmp file. And no, it doesn’t lag machines at all, actually. I’m able to run it fine on my laptop that is 1.2ghz and 250mb of RAM.
Sushi, just out of curiosity, your massive 7-part mutant of a Star Destroyer… Does that thing fly? As in, by player control? Because if it does, your team may have just revolutionized Freelancer ship-making and mod-building forever.
I’ve been searching around for it, since I just got my friend into Freelancer, and he’d love to fly the Normandy from Mass Effect. That’s ALL he wants, is just the Normandy to be flyable. I’m positive there’s a model for it out there somewhere, considering the fact that I am now flying that sexy vessel in X3: Terran Conflict with great success. So if anyone knows where I could find this, or even have a model/sur, I might be able to make a small mod to add it in for him.
Thanks for the help!
Excellent! C++ should help with FLHook, and we’re actually exploring a Flash website possibility. You’ve got a PM in your box, tai.
Drive Away - All-American Rejects
Freelancer Community,
It’s Descender|LE again, and I’ve got great news. I and my friend Apoc (or Pocs) are designing a brand new, Original IP modification for Freelancer called Apocalyptic Sky, and we need your help! While we can both do some coding and models (he’s better than I am, really), we’re gonna need a good team to make this a success! Details? Why, of course!
APOCALYPTIC SKY-
Our planned features include:
Totally Original Intellectual Property with accompanying storyline
Planned Manufacturing System with FLHook, which will allow players to create items with the materials they scavenge!
A post-apocalyptic feel, since this takes place 6 years after a crippling civil war
Four major factions vying for control over what’s left of the Terran Confederation, and several minor factions struggling just to survive.
Custom-made ships!
Custom-made weapons and weapon-types
Carefully planned hardpoint system allows players to greatly customize their ship to fit their own playstyle.
And many more features still in the planning phase!
We need any and all of the following:
Modelers
Coders (both game and FLHook)
Texturers
ALE Effects editors
Anyone with creativity looking to be a part of an ambitious project!
Our website is still under construction, but we have fully-functioning forums, which you can find here. If you have the desire drive to make Apocalyptic Sky great, sign-up either here on the threads, or at the forums which, again, can be found here. 
Thanks for reading, and hope to hear from you soon!
~Descender|LE, Project Lead.
zOMG, what is this? I’m going to have to toy around with this little thing here, and see if it’ll do what I want it to! Awesome, thanks Cheese!
Ships would be an interesting idea, but that might be getting a LITTLE ambitious (though you’ve now gotten me thinking. Curse you Fox. Cures you.) for our initial plans. Cool. It’s good to know it’s possible. Now, to see if I’ve got to start coding it myself, or if we have an over-ambitious coder who wants to get into it. laughs
I apologize, I seem to fail at explaining.
What I want to be able to do is have players fly around and find scrap materials, then create weapons/equipment out of those items. It won’t be changing a players ship, just the cargo inside. laughs Sorry, is THAT possible?
