I have just incorporated build 167's changes, and the new version of GmOvrmind (version 7) and released a new installer.
<b>Download links</b> (Installer, EXE) <a href="https://github.com/downloads/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mode/CombatMode-1.6.7.0-Setup.exe" target="_blank">https://github.com/downloads/AlexHayton/NS2...6.7.0-Setup.exe</a> (ZIP, includes full source code) <a href="https://github.com/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mode/zipball/1.6.7.0" target="_blank">https://github.com/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mo...zipball/1.6.7.0</a>
@w0dk4: the norm I am afraid. You can try and run it but it will usually break or misbehave until I release the new version. Combat Mode modifies quite a few of the game files so I use a tool called "git" to merge the latest NS2 build's goodies into Combat's code then publish on a ~2 day lag so that it doesn't detract from the testing of the main game (later than usual this week as I have been away).
@fsfod: there is the option of replacing every single lua file, instead of just the changed ones, which would enable combat to run between patches a bit better, but there is still the risk of potentially weird behaviour as UWE add/remove sounds and modify the other game files in between releases. My preferred option is to borrow an open source auto-update framework from one of the World of Warcraft mod managers and release some kind of ns2 mod manager.
Build 169 is out now. I'll post a new version of Combat after the weekend. Still in the research stage for the next gameplay mode (bagman/capture the res node) so no major changes as of yet (aside from the randomised spawns)!
It looks like UWE have fixed some of the problems with junction (holes in the floor, minimap etc), but there are no power nodes yet so for now I'll keep including the combat mode version of junction in the mod.
Good news, I've released a new build for v169. Bad news is there's no further "combat mode" developments in this build yet. Progress is likely to be slow for the next couple of weeks as my boiler just packed in and I'm without hot water, and spending a lot of time getting that sorted out and visiting friends to catch up and take showers!
I have got somewhere with the random spawns and with a "level up" sound. I think that'll be ready for the next build. but "resource hunter mode" work will have to wait!
<b>Download links</b> (Installer, EXE) <a href="https://github.com/downloads/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mode/CombatMode-1.6.9.0-Setup.exe" target="_blank">https://github.com/downloads/AlexHayton/NS2...6.9.0-Setup.exe</a> (ZIP, includes full source code) <a href="https://github.com/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mode/zipball/1.6.9.0" target="_blank">https://github.com/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mo...zipball/1.6.9.0</a>
I would like to take a look at the balance aspects of this last build and see if it's worth implementing any changes (for now I want it to be very similar to vanilla) - would anyone like to do a quick playtest on Thursday evening?
The other thing I'm interested in is creating some new abilities from scratch, that might otherwise be handled by the commander but could be useful in bridging that gap. I'm thinking that it could be good to enhance the "sayings" menu by including a pheromone dropper for aliens and a "beacon" for marines, to allow you to buy a skill that lets you set a waypoint for your teammates. What do you think?
the variable objective thing seems exactly like killzone 2's multiplayer aspect, and thats awesome! Could have kill hive expansion targets, kill CC expansion targets, res as you already do, VIP's will be tough to do, as some will be soft as ######e and others will be beasts!
It would certainly make the CO game mechanic far more interesting, personally I preferred the NS game type, it did just feel far more satisfying to pull a win out of a seemingly difficult situation the marines often found themselves in!
Just so you know this mod, was causeing me troubles with NS2 graphics, especially on tram, you might want to let people know currently not working right
hmmm... I wonder why you copy-pasted the whole NS2 lua files into this mod. Of course its clear that you have to update your code every build then, even if the changes are in no way related to what you actually have modded. I'd rather put a Script.Load('../ns2/lua/<original filename>.lua') at the beginning of each file and then only override all the functions you want to. You can even store a pointer to the original function and call that within the overridden function if you simply want to add functionality to the original or execute the original code only under some circumstances. Unmodded files don't need to be present at all and are loaded from the ns2 folder by the engine if not found in the mod folder.
By avoiding copypasting original code as much as possible and calling it instead, you have a chance that your mod will work with newer builds without changes.
I really hope (should someone really show the bravery to code this) the new combat mode will be enhanced to the NS2 standarts and is an equally enjoyable gamemode rather than one that kills off the classic.
Other than that! It would be an interesting project anyway!
If you would have read some posts you would know that this isn't in development anymore. To answer your question. If someone will do this mod it will be like NS1 combat so it will have smaler maps. Also he answered already that he planed to work it like in NS1 (exp and menu).
Sorry for keeping everyone in the dark for so long - things have been a bit hectic here. After the boiler thing I was 'afk' for quite a long time, as I moved house and then all my time was spent preparing for epic travels. I am currently travelling around the world without flying with my girlfriend. You can read a little about it here: <a href="http://withoutwings.org.uk" target="_blank">Without Wings</a>
As for Combat, I think that the last build that worked was pretty good - it had the basics of what I think Combat needed - including the build menu, experience, levels etc. However, it was becoming a real pain to keep the mod up to date as major changes to NS2's codebase were coming in hard and fast, and the turnaround on just the weekly update became a 5+ hour job (once you include the testing and debugging time). I think that in a few months the codebase will stabilise somewhat, and we will be looking at a point where it's safe to resume active development on the mod. I think a lot of the code I wrote will still be relevant but there will be some additions and removals required (e.g. no longer a need to give the marines a repair ability - they've already got one).
I'm currently in Australia and have had no access to a decent gaming rig for a long time so work on this fell to zero pretty much after build 169. I never did get it working 100% with 170 so it just went into limbo - I should have posted an update at that point but just didn't get time with all the other stuff going on. When I get back to the UK I do plan to restart development, and all the source code is available in the GitHub repository if anyone wants to have a look at it. I think it's likely that in version 2 I'd work the changes in using more of Wulf's approach - the technique I'd used up to that point was good enough to get it working but got far, far too messy to maintain as time went on.
Anyway, I hope you can forgive me for just going silent on this one. Hopefully development can resume sometime around mid 2012. Very jealous about not being able to play NS2 - must find an afternoon at a decent internet cafe to catch up with what's going on.
Good stuff, hopefully the game will be more stable and easier to code for by the time you return, also if we're lucky we might have in game downloads as well.
Sadly i have to say combat was very fun in ns1 but only for a short time. So good work! But yeah it broke the community a bit, less classic server, more combat servers. The most surprising thing is, nobody start a classic mode, just a combat mode...weird community :P anyway maybe your final version will be fun as combat was.
Soul_RiderMod BeanJoin Date: 2004-06-19Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
Mod author advised in his posts he would be working on this again come summer 2012, when he returns to England. Until then it will only be worked on if someone decides to take it up, but to be fair the code has changed so much since then it will be easier to start again.
Hi, i'm porting the mod at the moment to the 203 Build, but i got actually problems with the spawning. Marines and Aliens spawn in the Ready Room, but I don't know why.
Soul_RiderMod BeanJoin Date: 2004-06-19Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
Porting the code is going to be an almost mammoth task. The code NS2 code base is nothing like the code that the last version of the combat mode was written for.
Rather than porting it, the simplest thing to do is work out what he had implemented, and then start from scratch in the new NS2 build. This code really won't work in the current build, you have to start again to replicate the results.
I believe, although I may be mistaken, but this mod also required cheats to run properly? Which is another reason it should be re-written from scratch.
Comments
I have just incorporated build 167's changes, and the new version of GmOvrmind (version 7) and released a new installer.
<b>Download links</b>
(Installer, EXE)
<a href="https://github.com/downloads/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mode/CombatMode-1.6.7.0-Setup.exe" target="_blank">https://github.com/downloads/AlexHayton/NS2...6.7.0-Setup.exe</a>
(ZIP, includes full source code)
<a href="https://github.com/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mode/zipball/1.6.7.0" target="_blank">https://github.com/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mo...zipball/1.6.7.0</a>
@w0dk4: the norm I am afraid. You can try and run it but it will usually break or misbehave until I release the new version. Combat Mode modifies quite a few of the game files so I use a tool called "git" to merge the latest NS2 build's goodies into Combat's code then publish on a ~2 day lag so that it doesn't detract from the testing of the main game (later than usual this week as I have been away).
@fsfod: there is the option of replacing every single lua file, instead of just the changed ones, which would enable combat to run between patches a bit better, but there is still the risk of potentially weird behaviour as UWE add/remove sounds and modify the other game files in between releases. My preferred option is to borrow an open source auto-update framework from one of the World of Warcraft mod managers and release some kind of ns2 mod manager.
Ya, I only wanted to inform :)
Nice job btw. if only there would be an easier way to switch the game rather than restarting.
(btw. server is up again :) )
It looks like UWE have fixed some of the problems with junction (holes in the floor, minimap etc), but there are no power nodes yet so for now I'll keep including the combat mode version of junction in the mod.
I have got somewhere with the random spawns and with a "level up" sound. I think that'll be ready for the next build. but "resource hunter mode" work will have to wait!
<b>Download links</b>
(Installer, EXE)
<a href="https://github.com/downloads/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mode/CombatMode-1.6.9.0-Setup.exe" target="_blank">https://github.com/downloads/AlexHayton/NS2...6.9.0-Setup.exe</a>
(ZIP, includes full source code)
<a href="https://github.com/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mode/zipball/1.6.9.0" target="_blank">https://github.com/AlexHayton/NS2-Combat-Mo...zipball/1.6.9.0</a>
I would like to take a look at the balance aspects of this last build and see if it's worth implementing any changes (for now I want it to be very similar to vanilla) - would anyone like to do a quick playtest on Thursday evening?
The other thing I'm interested in is creating some new abilities from scratch, that might otherwise be handled by the commander but could be useful in bridging that gap. I'm thinking that it could be good to enhance the "sayings" menu by including a pheromone dropper for aliens and a "beacon" for marines, to allow you to buy a skill that lets you set a waypoint for your teammates. What do you think?
M
It would certainly make the CO game mechanic far more interesting, personally I preferred the NS game type, it did just feel far more satisfying to pull a win out of a seemingly difficult situation the marines often found themselves in!
By avoiding copypasting original code as much as possible and calling it instead, you have a chance that your mod will work with newer builds without changes.
i see the last git hub update was june 14th
Other than that! It would be an interesting project anyway!
To answer your question. If someone will do this mod it will be like NS1 combat so it will have smaler maps.
Also he answered already that he planed to work it like in NS1 (exp and menu).
As for Combat, I think that the last build that worked was pretty good - it had the basics of what I think Combat needed - including the build menu, experience, levels etc. However, it was becoming a real pain to keep the mod up to date as major changes to NS2's codebase were coming in hard and fast, and the turnaround on just the weekly update became a 5+ hour job (once you include the testing and debugging time). I think that in a few months the codebase will stabilise somewhat, and we will be looking at a point where it's safe to resume active development on the mod. I think a lot of the code I wrote will still be relevant but there will be some additions and removals required (e.g. no longer a need to give the marines a repair ability - they've already got one).
I'm currently in Australia and have had no access to a decent gaming rig for a long time so work on this fell to zero pretty much after build 169. I never did get it working 100% with 170 so it just went into limbo - I should have posted an update at that point but just didn't get time with all the other stuff going on. When I get back to the UK I do plan to restart development, and all the source code is available in the GitHub repository if anyone wants to have a look at it. I think it's likely that in version 2 I'd work the changes in using more of Wulf's approach - the technique I'd used up to that point was good enough to get it working but got far, far too messy to maintain as time went on.
Anyway, I hope you can forgive me for just going silent on this one. Hopefully development can resume sometime around mid 2012. Very jealous about not being able to play NS2 - must find an afternoon at a decent internet cafe to catch up with what's going on.
I think allot of people have stalled out for a bit awaiting something a bit more stable, Have a great trip and We will follow your blog for sure!!
So good work!
But yeah it broke the community a bit, less classic server, more combat servers.
The most surprising thing is, nobody start a classic mode, just a combat mode...weird community :P
anyway maybe your final version will be fun as combat was.
i'm porting the mod at the moment to the 203 Build, but i got actually problems with the spawning.
Marines and Aliens spawn in the Ready Room, but I don't know why.
Rather than porting it, the simplest thing to do is work out what he had implemented, and then start from scratch in the new NS2 build. This code really won't work in the current build, you have to start again to replicate the results.
I believe, although I may be mistaken, but this mod also required cheats to run properly? Which is another reason it should be re-written from scratch.
and only server side so everybody can play on it without downloading anything.
Server side only would be good if you can do it for sure :)