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 [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development 
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 [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
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INDEPENDENT MILITARY WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT
HDSR990147 RESOURCE ACQUISITION TASK FORCE


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To begin:
This is my first mod and I don't expect it to be very good. However, I've been working on it for some time and for it to feel complete, it needs to be released. I feel the mod is in a decently release-worthy state, and so it is with muted pride that I am letting it out into the open.

Literary vomit follows.

Small Steps, Great Giants
Originally a small weapons manufacturing business now long forgotten, Independent Military Weapons Development - most commonly abbreviated to "IMWD" - represents one of the most advanced military organizations, if not the most advanced, in humankind's history. Defining their strategy and method of engagement more than any weapons system is the Harold Rucker Subreality Field Generation Assembly, more commonly known as the "Rucker Device". While its inventor has since been lost to the ages and its namesake far removed from the field of scientific discovery, the Rucker Device's function is clear: capable of creating the fabric of existence in the seams between reality, it is the most basic and vital component of IMWD's success and technological foundation.

The Rucker Device is more readily understood, whilst incorrect, as an interdimensional tunnelling device. It is with the capacity to access a countless array of other, unique planes of reality that IMWD and its partner organizations, the Advanced Industrial Conglomerate and Rupert Franken General Research Institute, have pushed the limits of humanity's power into spheres few had even believed to exist. With limitless resources, time, and manpower thanks to the Rucker Device, these organizations have established supremacy, covert and overt, in almost all domains.

The final goal of the three organizations is unclear. Some suggest it to be the control of every possible mutation of reality, others believe it to be transcendence of the physical form. What is clear is that all three continue to act for the most basic of necessities; raw resources and new testing environments, be it for IMWD's countless weapons tests and combat exercises or the Franken Institute's innumerable scientific endeavours.

IMWD, in the end, is the face of the group of organizations, representing their military, political, and administrative arm. Tasked with resource acquisition and establishing areas of influence for its partners, IMWD has, over its extraordinarily long history, been governed by a single, irrevocable law; "likeminded engagement". Believed archaic and cumbersome by many in IMWD's current state, "likeminded engagement" states the following: that, in order to prevent the capture of advanced technology by inhabitants of a particular plane of existence - known officially as "locals" and, more grimly, "numbers" in jargon - such technology cannot be deployed in that theater of operations. It is only when the organization itself is threatened by a force capable of relocating themselves from their native universe that the full might of IMWD and its partner organizations is wielded with immeasurable power.

Today is not such a day. Business as usual, the Resource Acquisitions Task Force of Subreality 990147 was deployed on January 22nd of this year in the midst of a nebula not far from the Tradestar Midas' place of residence. A relay drone has since landed on the planet's surface, allowing IMWD troops to come and go as they please. It remains to be seen if their presence will at all be tolerated, or whether it will be the shadowy newcomers that strike the first blow.

Conclude literary vomit. Thank you for your time.

Now that I've concluded my unprovoked bout of amateur writing, we'll proceed on with the faction itself. I doubt I did anything truly impressive or special with this faction, but I came up with a concept and stuck with it. For that, I'm proud of myself, even if I probably shouldn't be. I started work on the mod about two or three months ago shortly after purchasing Cortex Command and, by now - after spending about half of a month off-and-on just getting a release topic set up - I feel it's quite ready for release.

For the most part, I tried to stay true to the vanilla art style and balance without sacrificing my own methods. As such, the code is probably pretty bad, the sprites are probably awful, and the balance probably doesn't make any sense, but I did something I wanted to.

BALANCE DESIGN:
Weak troops with strong armor.
Powerful weapons with overlapping areas of proficiency.
Price tags that'll make you think Techion hardware is cheap.

ACTORS:


WEAPONS:


THROWN:


TOOLS:


DELIVERY:


PROJECT GOALS:


PATCH HISTORY:


KNOWN BUGS & ISSUES:


DISCLAIMER:
As an individual working on this mod for my own entertainment and satisfaction, I cannot promise that all goals will be met or that all bugs will be fixed. While I intend to keep this mod playable and organized even if I do abandon the project, I cannot guarantee that it will be complete should that occur.

CREDITS:
Azukki - Direct help with the now-renamed Rucker Device in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=36293
Lynn - Spritework advice and general assistance.
weegee - Dynamic Warfare and Unmapped Lands 2 faction templates.
OliveD - Codesnooping in the Loyalists Militia mod.
DudeAbides - Codesnooping in the Combine Overwatch mod.
Bad Boy - Help with weapon restore code on the AU140D combat drone's weapons in this thread: http://forums.datarealms.com/viewtopic.php?p=547405
Data Realms - The game itself, codesnooping across vanilla content, and code for the trajectory indicator for the Uber Cannon.
Blendo Games - Rucker Device communications chatter taken from Atom Zombie Smasher.
Westwood Studios - IMWD infantry death screams taken from Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Field operative death screams taken from Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.
GSC Games World - IMWD pain sounds taken from STALKER: Clear Sky. Rucker Device activation sound and RD9100U burst sound taken from STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl.
STALKER Complete Mod Authors - The readme didn't specify who contributed the gunfire sound effects, but thanks go to them for all of the weapon sound effects.
Valve Software - RD325U sound effects made from sounds taken from Half-Life 2 and the original Half-Life. IM35L deploy, ping, and deactivate sounds taken from the original Half-Life.
Croteam - AU140D combat drone movement and death sounds taken from Serious Sam 3: BFE.

LATEST REVISION:
1.02 AU140D Update - 03/02/2014

EXTRAS:
Undead Faction - A joke faction for campaign games composed entirely of zombies with chainsaws and shovels, sprinkled with battle rifle-armed skeletons for good measure. Relies only on Base.rte content.
Alternate Team Icons - A more stylized set of team icons. Modifies Base.rte content!
Kneeshatter Spire - A cramped and framerate-challenged Bunker Breach map built on top of the Burraki Desert. Compatible with Weegee's Dynamic Warfare!


Last edited by Insano-Man on Tue Mar 04, 2014 5:46 pm, edited 8 times in total.



Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:11 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
Looks nice! Trying it out! Will be back soon.

EDIT: I like black but... TOO MUCH BLACK! Even the shells are black! Make it blue or the typical yellow (blue is my favorite color)! Also, it's disorientating and annoying that i don't see what weapon i'm using. Sharp aim is also gone which isn't so good. But EVERYTHING is still awesome! I like the teleporter (only the colors are strange for my taste.), the units are awesome, the gun sprites should do some work but they are fantastic too! Good job! :grin:


Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:34 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
I love the way this looks,im so downloading this... Hope to see more come out of this.


Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:08 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
Demonicidiot666 wrote:
EDIT: I like black but... TOO MUCH BLACK! Even the shells are black! Make it blue or the typical yellow (blue is my favorite color)!

I'll try to make them more of a grey than black. I've had this trouble since I first started working on the weapon sprites. Hopefully, the added contrast should fix...

Quote:
Also, it's disorientating and annoying that i don't see what weapon i'm using.

...this.

Quote:
Sharp aim is also gone which isn't so good.

That's a whoops on my part. I added "HUDVisible = 0" to the rifleman's actor file to help get a screenshot of the Rucker Device in action and forgot to take it out before release. I'll have a hotfix very soon with a couple small additions.

Considering how simple it is to revert, however, you could easily strike that line out yourself if you wanted. The offending line is in between "AngularVel = 0" and "EntryWound = AEmitter" in "IMWD.rte/Actors/Infantry/Rifleman.ini", where the actor itself is defined.

Quote:
But EVERYTHING is still awesome! I like the teleporter (only the colors are strange for my taste.), the units are awesome, the gun sprites should do some work but they are fantastic too! Good job! :grin:

Glad to hear I've made someone happy with the release.
The Rucker Device's appearance is a bit of a holdover from my time spent in StarCraft 2 (specifically, a sandbox gametype curiously named "Cortex"), but other than maybe a few shading and contrast alterations to the sprite, I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

The sprites for the weapons is a subject I've struggled with for a long time. I don't quite know how to give them that extra oomph and still keep them from looking odd one way or another. Adding random detail doesn't feel right, particularly since most don't have enough visual real estate to have more detail. The IM810R is one I'm particularly unsatisfied with; I don't know how to make it look more visually crisp since it's just a tube with a square on the front.


Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:22 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
Quote:
The sprites for the weapons is a subject I've struggled with for a long time. I don't quite know how to give them that extra oomph and still keep them from looking odd one way or another. Adding random detail doesn't feel right, particularly since most don't have enough visual real estate to have more detail. The IM810R is one I'm particularly unsatisfied with; I don't know how to make it look more visually crisp since it's just a tube with a square on the front.


Giving weapons/items some small "light" looks good! Like giving the rocket launcher a red line on it's side that looks like an ammo indicator makes it more visible and decorated too! And about the rocket launcher... well... Most of the rocket launchers are ACTUALLY a tube with a square on the front. So you did it well. :grin: Anyway. I talked my @$$ off. Keep up the good work! :wink:


Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:46 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
Very cool, for a first mod especially. :)


Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:20 am
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
Updated with the 1.01 hotfix.
- Fixed rifleman HUD visibility. Resolves health, team, and sharp aim indicator display issues.
- Fixed cost of the IM15L machine pistol. Was supposed to be upped to 40 on release, slipped my mind when I compiled everything.
- Added faction files and installation instructions for Weegee's Dynamic Warfare and Unmapped Lands 2. Credits amended appropriately.


Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:00 am
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
You seem nice. So I'll ask, you need any sprites done? I can do a lot of things, I can even do vehicles that you could try getting to work on your own.


Wed Jan 02, 2013 3:07 am
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
I have a few concepts that are still just concepts, so I might be willing to take up that offer. I'd just like to note that there's a particular aesthetic direction I want to go in. While I don't pretend to be the greatest artist around, I can still supply a few basic sketches to demonstrate the style. Send me a private message if the offer's still on the table.


Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:14 am
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
OK sent you a PM


Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:11 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
I'm a little confused about the lore.
Correct me,but is the point that they're humans from an alternate universe that have created an interdimensional travel machine and have traveled into thousands of different realities for the purpose of selling their equipment?


Fri Jan 04, 2013 6:44 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
The point is that they're stealing everything and anything of industrial value while no one's looking, as well as conducting combat exercises and weapons tests. My assumption is that you misintepreted the opening line as their current state; while their range of operations are diverse, operating a business is most decidedly not their primary focus.

Additionally, should IMWD fully secure the planet (which, while up for consideration, isn't really their goal), AIC and Franken Institute personnel and equipment are likely to be deployed for their own mining endeavours and experiments. Left alone, the planet wouldn't be much more than a debris field by the end of the century.


Sat Jan 05, 2013 8:47 am
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
Check your PMs I got you that thing you wanted.


Sat Jan 05, 2013 3:03 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
I tested the Mod, i liked it, but i dont understand the craft of it, as because i had to scuttle it so it works. The (currently buyable units) Rifleman and Lightfoot are nice too, but only the lightfoot has a ammo-showing off. The Pistols are good for getting rid of some Coalitions which just invaded my Base, while the Sniper Rifle showed some good perfomance. I didnt had the chance to test the Machinegun, but the Assault Rifle is nice! I have to ask yet, can we get a shotgun for the Faction?


Sat Jan 05, 2013 10:49 pm
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Post Re: [Basic Faction] Independent Military Weapons Development
You might've gotten the slightly bugged initial release as far as the UI for the rifleman goes - there's a hotfix for that.

As for the craft, just wait a bit. It has a short delay after it arrives before it delivers your troops. You should be able to get an idea of how long you're waiting by listening to the radio chatter that plays beforehand.
If it's simply not deploying for you, I'm not sure what's going wrong. I just tested it on my end and it works.

I've been considering a shotgun, but I'd need to do some fiddling to get it the way I want it. I have a few ideas, but I need to get a sprite in the pipeline. Expect something after I get the limbs on the actors brightened a bit.

Edit: Oh, wow, geez. I'm just screwing up left and right, aren't I? Hotfixed the hotfix, it should be as it ought to now.


Mon Jan 07, 2013 7:09 am
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