SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
edited July 2011
working on a fun ability for spor alt fire:
SporeMines.
Im using bilebomb model therefor. when it explodes it releases a sporecloud. conditions for exploding: enemies nearby not placed on infestation being shot
a bubble with gas inside!
update: i finally found out how to apply a hitbox (sphere) for models without hitbox. It was not difficult, but until you find everything alot of time can pass... Nevertheless, now you can shoot the spore bombs
update2: lerk spore mine attack is done and uploaded :) next to come: marine mac mines
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
I decided to delay implementation of the mac mines. it would alter the balance too much, there is already some code written for them, so i guess there is a reason why they are not included already.
instead i will take a look at the flamethrower and fix the "wallhack" issue.
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
im done with prototype of new flamethrower. its working great so far, im just polishing some first person effects right now (thirdperson looks right)
flames will bounce off walls (not go THROUGH them any more :P) and the damage its stacking. meaning your target(s) will heat up and receive more damage the longer they get hit. cripple effect was also changed, abilities cost now twice as much instead of altering energy regen
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
improved flamethrower effects. looks and feels like volumentric damage (it actually is). currently im not doing a los check for the volumetric damage. im afraid that could cost too much
I will soon uploa a video showing all the new stuff
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
there is still a bug in the cinematics (flames.cinematic and the others), which is causing some explosion artifacts to randomly appear fort short time on your screen. After shooting some time in a direction they seem to disappear, but if you change the direction you see them again. i could not find out how to fix it, and I dont want to invest more time in that. its not game breaking, but if someone with more knowledge has time to look into it, i would appreciate.
I created the cinematics by editing the grenade_explosion.cinematic and deleting the parts which i did not need.
<!--quoteo(post=1863554:date=Jul 26 2011, 12:26 PM:name=Schimmel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Schimmel @ Jul 26 2011, 12:26 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1863554"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->there is still a bug in the cinematics (flames.cinematic and the others), which is causing some explosion artifacts to randomly appear fort short time on your screen. After shooting some time in a direction they seem to disappear, but if you change the direction you see them again. i could not find out how to fix it, and I dont want to invest more time in that. its not game breaking, but if someone with more knowledge has time to look into it, i would appreciate.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> What is up with your in-sentence linebreaks? It is pretty anoying tbh. Is it a bug or do you actually create them on purpose?
twilitebluebug stalkerJoin Date: 2003-02-04Member: 13116Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
Hey Schimmel. Could you try tweaking the weapon damage upgrade for different weapons? I found that a lot of weapons aren't receiving them and become too weak late game: <a href="http://getsatisfaction.com/unknownworlds/topics/build_180_bug_attack_weapon_upgrades_not_working_properly" target="_blank">http://getsatisfaction.com/unknownworlds/t...orking_properly</a>
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
<!--quoteo(post=1863563:date=Jul 26 2011, 09:27 AM:name=Feha)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Feha @ Jul 26 2011, 09:27 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1863563"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->What is up with your in-sentence linebreaks? It is pretty anoying tbh. Is it a bug or do you actually create them on purpose?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
no bug, and not really on purpose. its just a habit
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hey Schimmel. Could you try tweaking the weapon damage upgrade for different weapons? I found that a lot of weapons aren't receiving them and become too weak late game: <a href="http://getsatisfaction.com/unknownworlds/t...orking_properly" target="_blank">http://getsatisfaction.com/unknownworlds/t...orking_properly</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
the whole ns2 code is still little bit confusing for me (or maybe its just lua or i still did not catch the idea behind everything). Im currently reading through, and trying to understand, the whole concept about the techtree stuff. I want to implement an EggMenu for Alien Hive, where you can choose to drop eggs (skulk, gorge, lerk...) which players can spawn into (or press use to gestate for free, except for skulk egg its only for respawning).
I think once my understanding overall got better, the fix for the weapon upgrades will be easy done. But until then it already got fixed
update: Skulk Eggs are working! you can place them for 3 resources and players in queue should be able to spawn in them. could be used as distress beacon or forward spawning :D
update 2: wow, that was easier than expected! You can place now all types of eggs, I just have to find out how to restrict placement on infestation only, then override the spawn function and tell the player to gestate (without depleting his resources, since the comm already payed). ah and of course living players should also be able to "use" this eggs
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
updated the mod to be compatible with 182. i should work everything! ("should")..
i forgot to delete SporeCloud.lua. the only change in my version was, that the spore cloud has a delay before doing damage. uwe adressed that somehow themselve now, i was not reading the code.
in 1.4 this will be fixed and also dropable eggs will be included.
I think it is because this is not just a few modded files, but actually another gamemode (in server browser it showed up as "BalanceMod"). If you join a server, you need a gamemode named the same as the servers (and I think it also makes sure certain files are not changed). So he probably figured that when he know people need to dl his mod for their clients, he can add clientside mods to it. Besides, if it is part of his mod, he can be sure everyone get the same changes by default, which makes everything more fair.
@shim About my minimap mod, if you didnt know, I merged it with build 181 minimap, but I dont know if they changed anything in the minimap for build 182. I will use "verify game cache" to make sure I get GUIMinimap for build 182, and compare it to last build, but that will be for tomorrow. If it has not changed, you can use my current version of the mod (you can do that even if it changed, I played a few rounds already, I just don't know if they added any functionality I dont have).
btw, anyone know somewhere we can see list of changed files for every build (rather than a changelog, it would just show what files are new/deleted/changed)?
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
edited July 2011
they didnt change anything, i included it again.
btw, the drop egg mechanic is done. its working so far. you can use it as a personal res dump, "distress beacon" or forward spawning (placement is allowed everywhere on infestation).
im looking forward to test everything :)
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->btw, anyone know somewhere we can see list of changed files for every build (rather than a changelog, it would just show what files are new/deleted/changed)?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I was simply sorting the files by date, so ive seen which they changed :D I will use svn or some other tool in future
edit: link to last version: <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?3pqv6myg8m54urv" target="_blank">Balance Mod 1.4</a>
And I guess the lerk flight would be problematic if client files differ from the servers, so the client would predict something else than the server which would cause you to hitches all the time.
twilitebluebug stalkerJoin Date: 2003-02-04Member: 13116Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
I've updated my Lerk mod!
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?s9617tk4658ad88" target="_blank">Download Lerk Mod V 1.9 - Compatible with B182</a><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
edited July 2011
<!--quoteo(post=1863787:date=Jul 27 2011, 02:04 AM:name=wulf 21)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wulf 21 @ Jul 27 2011, 02:04 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1863787"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->And I guess the lerk flight would be problematic if client files differ from the servers, so the client would predict something else than the server which would cause you to hitches all the time.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
its mainly because of prediction, but another important reason, why im not trying to keep vanila client compatible with modded servers: People could start complaining about the game, without realising that they are playing a mod! So I avoid that problem by simply making the client to require the mod files aswell. so you always know what you are playing, and are not able to connect with the wrong client.
edit: and i think a few features would not work anyway, you could not trigger them on the vanilla client
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->-infestation under unconnected mini-cysts that eventually die never receeds<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I could not reproduce this. Is it possible that you enabled cheats, joined marine team, typed "gorge" in the console and placed a cyst? or typed in "create mini_cyst" and being in the marine team? Is this also happening when you play standard ns2?
when I was gorge (alien team), I placed a mini cyst with the ability, killed it and the infestation receeded normally (it was unconnected aswell)
patch update 1.4.6:
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?09y509iqc59ncn9" target="_blank">Balance Mod 1.4.6</a>
- added restriction that higher / same life-form players are not allowed to use a LifeFormEgg - added visual effect to indicate which eggs are "special" (mist is permanent and has another color) - changed a value in the game_setup.xml, so that players would get the "wrong game" information if trying to connect to a server running another version (version is now displayed at "Game" in the server list)
<!--quoteo(post=1864106:date=Jul 28 2011, 08:21 AM:name=Schimmel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Schimmel @ Jul 28 2011, 08:21 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864106"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->they do damage to enemy players who are not the "owner".<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
well, change this then. hydras and whips and sentries can do damage to their owner if he switched teams (counts as self-kill).
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
edited July 2011
<!--quoteo(post=1864120:date=Jul 28 2011, 02:22 AM:name=wulf 21)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wulf 21 @ Jul 28 2011, 02:22 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864120"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->well, change this then. hydras and whips and sentries can do damage to their owner if he switched teams (counts as self-kill).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
i dont want to change SporeCloud.lua. it would be just another file i have to check with each ns2 update :( and, I dont count this as a bug. sporeclouds are not intended to do damage to their owner. the fix although would be very easy ( ~ 3 minutes work time ^^ )
and how often in real matches would you go lerk, drop you sporemines to only switch the team and step on them? and the sporemines have a limited lifetime (35 seconds as I remember)
edit: I will keep a note so I would not forget about this "bug"
update: I just realised that I might throw away all upgrades a player had before once he uses a dropped egg. I also noticed a bug before going to work today, that dropped eggs possibly float in the air (depends on placement) without dropping to the ground. I think a "structure" is not checking itself if it is on the ground (to increase server perfomance?), so i think this check should be done at creation time.
SewlekThe programmer previously known as SchimmelJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
edited July 2011
Copied from "<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=114036&view=findpost&p=1864136" target="_blank">Resource Model Changes</a>"
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--sizeo:1--><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->i will change the resource model for version 1.5 of my mod to the following:
since <u>alien comms</u> now have a possibility to dump their personal res, I'm fine with them :) life-form eggs cost personal res, "skulk" eggs (for re-spawning only) cost team res, everything else costs energy or team res (as before)
<u>marine commanders</u> will spend team res for everything, except of weapons and equipment (jetpack, exosuit) will cost personal res.
I will change RFK so it will add team res along with personal res. I think that fixes the scaling problem of dropable eggs, medpacks, ammopacks, catpacks <!--coloro:#696969--><span style="color:#696969"><!--/coloro-->(not in the game yet)<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->, and it will speed up games a little bit (an obvious dominant team would dominate just more). I liked that mechanic in ns1 and there it fixed the medpack problem.
since you have as a commander more resources available, you are able to place more structures / eggs / medpacks. its up to the comm to decide if he wants to spam defense structures.
<u>To prevent stalemates</u> (read: prevent marines bunkering up, since they can afford refilling sentries with ammo with RFK) I consider adding the following mechanic:
command chairs will have a "refill sentry" ability, which costs energy. you click that ability, then click on the sentry you want to refill. if you have too many sentries, you cannot maintain them with 1 command chair only, since you would run out of energy. this would even promote building command chairs for the marines, I like this side-effect.
Stop reading here if you are not interested in more in-depth informations :)
<!--coloro:#FFFACD--><span style="color:#FFFACD"><!--/coloro-->This will not prevent marines to simply recycle out-of-ammo-sentries and build new sentries, but this can be addressed by reducing the resource gain from recycled sentries. So overall, the marines should not be able to build -> recycle -> build -> recycle etc.... RFK SHOULD balance that out.
Meaning: You should not be able to maintain your end game bunker by RFK, or even let it grow bigger. if the sentries cost now 15 res, and you get back 2 res, that leaves you with addition 13 res required to build a new sentry. now you get some small amount of res from your extractor, and some amount from rfk(i would say all together 20 res per minute). If a sentry would be out of ammo after 20 seconds, you would not be able to apply the "recycle -> build -> recycle" strategy, leaving you with a constant drain of energy from your command chair and with a lack of 19 res required per minute to maintain or grow your "bunker".
now, the command chair can refill a sentry once per two minutes, that would leave us with 13.5 res per minute required to grow your bunker. that could possibly be achieved by rfk luck, but well, if the aliens are too stupid and "feeding" the marines, its their own fault :) <!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
edit: After thinking through this system a few times, I decided that "reloading" a sentry should require interaction with a marine / MAC on the ground. The commander can stock up 1 additional round to a sentry, after the sentry fired all bullets from the loaded round, it will switch to an "unbuilt" state rather than inactive (90% built for example). if the sentry has stocked up ammo, mac or marines will be able to "build" the sentry ("unbuild state" will not be triggered if no stocked up ammo is present). That increases little bit more Marine / Commander interactions and you no longer have to "babysit" your sentries. you simply can stock up additional ammo when you have time to do so and you see the sentry is soon out of ammo. <!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
update: Today ideas won't stop poping up in my head, I'm really excited about this one:
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=114353&view=findpost&p=1864166" target="_blank">Alien Weapon Changes</a> If you have some more input for me please post there :)
<!--quoteo(post=1864124:date=Jul 28 2011, 09:48 AM:name=Schimmel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Schimmel @ Jul 28 2011, 09:48 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864124"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->i dont want to change SporeCloud.lua. it would be just another file i have to check with each ns2 update :(<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I just found that the problem is not in SporeCloud.lua. It's actually SporeMine.lua. Line 33 should be:
instead of self:GetOwner():GetTeamNumber(). See? If owner switches team, without the change the created sporecloud would be on the same team as the owner (damaging aliens, not doing damage to marines at all). Even without that I would change it simply to have one function call less.
But it's absolutely no problem to damage the owner if he's on the enemy team, so no change to SporeCloud.lua required.
Comments
SporeMines.
Im using bilebomb model therefor. when it explodes it releases a sporecloud.
conditions for exploding:
enemies nearby
not placed on infestation
being shot
a bubble with gas inside!
update: i finally found out how to apply a hitbox (sphere) for models without hitbox.
It was not difficult, but until you find everything alot of time can pass...
Nevertheless, now you can shoot the spore bombs
update2: lerk spore mine attack is done and uploaded :)
next to come: marine mac mines
so i guess there is a reason why they are not included already.
instead i will take a look at the flamethrower and fix the "wallhack" issue.
flames will bounce off walls (not go THROUGH them any more :P) and the damage its stacking. meaning your target(s) will heat up and receive more damage
the longer they get hit. cripple effect was also changed, abilities cost now twice as much instead of altering energy regen
<img src="http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6025/2011072500001w.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
damage (it actually is). currently im not doing a los check for
the volumetric damage. im afraid that could cost too much
I will soon uploa a video showing all the new stuff
<div align='center'><center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RUaDI8zfeBA"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RUaDI8zfeBA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center></div>
its not perfect yet, i will still improve everything until im satisfied
to randomly appear fort short time on your screen. After shooting some time in a direction they seem to disappear, but
if you change the direction you see them again. i could not find out how to fix it, and I dont want to invest
more time in that. its not game breaking, but if someone with more knowledge has time to look into it, i would appreciate.
I created the cinematics by editing the grenade_explosion.cinematic and deleting the parts which i did not need.
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?gby20204tc41cfo" target="_blank">Balance Mod 1.3.5</a>
to randomly appear fort short time on your screen. After shooting some time in a direction they seem to disappear, but
if you change the direction you see them again. i could not find out how to fix it, and I dont want to invest
more time in that. its not game breaking, but if someone with more knowledge has time to look into it, i would appreciate.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What is up with your in-sentence linebreaks? It is pretty anoying tbh.
Is it a bug or do you actually create them on purpose?
Is it a bug or do you actually create them on purpose?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
no bug, and not really on purpose. its just a habit
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hey Schimmel. Could you try tweaking the weapon damage upgrade for different weapons? I found that a lot of weapons aren't receiving them and become too weak late game: <a href="http://getsatisfaction.com/unknownworlds/t...orking_properly" target="_blank">http://getsatisfaction.com/unknownworlds/t...orking_properly</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
the whole ns2 code is still little bit confusing for me (or maybe its just lua or i still did not catch the idea behind everything). Im currently reading through,
and trying to understand, the whole concept about the techtree stuff. I want to implement an EggMenu for Alien Hive, where you can choose to drop eggs
(skulk, gorge, lerk...) which players can spawn into (or press use to gestate for free, except for skulk egg its only for respawning).
I think once my understanding overall got better, the fix for the weapon upgrades will be easy done. But until then it already got fixed
<img src="http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/3730/2011072600001.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<img src="http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/6470/2011072600002.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
update: Skulk Eggs are working! you can place them for 3 resources and players in queue should
be able to spawn in them. could be used as distress beacon or forward spawning :D
update 2: wow, that was easier than expected! You can place now all types of eggs, I just have
to find out how to restrict placement on infestation only, then override the spawn function and tell
the player to gestate (without depleting his resources, since the comm already payed). ah and of course
living players should also be able to "use" this eggs
i forgot to delete SporeCloud.lua. the only change in my version was, that the spore cloud has a delay before
doing damage. uwe adressed that somehow themselve now, i was not reading the code.
in 1.4 this will be fixed and also dropable eggs will be included.
@shim
About my minimap mod, if you didnt know, I merged it with build 181 minimap, but I dont know if they changed anything in the minimap for build 182. I will use "verify game cache" to make sure I get GUIMinimap for build 182, and compare it to last build, but that will be for tomorrow.
If it has not changed, you can use my current version of the mod (you can do that even if it changed, I played a few rounds already, I just don't know if they added any functionality I dont have).
btw, anyone know somewhere we can see list of changed files for every build (rather than a changelog, it would just show what files are new/deleted/changed)?
btw, the drop egg mechanic is done. its working so far. you can use it as a personal res dump, "distress beacon" or
forward spawning (placement is allowed everywhere on infestation).
im looking forward to test everything :)
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->btw, anyone know somewhere we can see list of changed files for every build (rather than a changelog, it would just show what files are new/deleted/changed)?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I was simply sorting the files by date, so ive seen which they changed :D
I will use svn or some other tool in future
edit: link to last version:
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?3pqv6myg8m54urv" target="_blank">Balance Mod 1.4</a>
<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?s9617tk4658ad88" target="_blank">Download Lerk Mod V 1.9 - Compatible with B182</a><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
its mainly because of prediction, but another important reason, why im not trying to keep vanila client compatible with
modded servers: People could start complaining about the game, without realising that they are playing a mod! So
I avoid that problem by simply making the client to require the mod files aswell. so you always know what you are
playing, and are not able to connect with the wrong client.
edit: and i think a few features would not work anyway, you could not trigger them on the vanilla client
could this be caused by my cinematics?
edit: just found another stupid bug: the flames are dealing "normal" damage instead of "Flame"
-infestation under unconnected mini-cysts that eventually die never receeds
-spore mines do no damage? I wasn't on a real server, but I couldn't get them to damage me when I switched teams
But again, great stuff. Most of this should be in the official game!
I could not reproduce this. Is it possible that you enabled cheats, joined marine team, typed "gorge" in the console and placed a cyst? or typed in "create mini_cyst" and being in the marine team? Is this also happening when you play standard ns2?
when I was gorge (alien team), I placed a mini cyst with the ability, killed it and the infestation receeded normally (it was unconnected aswell)
patch update 1.4.6:
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?09y509iqc59ncn9" target="_blank">Balance Mod 1.4.6</a>
- added restriction that higher / same life-form players are not allowed to use a LifeFormEgg
- added visual effect to indicate which eggs are "special" (mist is permanent and has another color)
- changed a value in the game_setup.xml, so that players would get the "wrong game" information if trying to connect to a server running another version (version is now displayed at "Game" in the server list)
well, change this then. hydras and whips and sentries can do damage to their owner if he switched teams (counts as self-kill).
i dont want to change SporeCloud.lua. it would be just another file i have to check with each ns2 update :(
and, I dont count this as a bug. sporeclouds are not intended to do damage to their owner. the fix although would be
very easy ( ~ 3 minutes work time ^^ )
and how often in real matches would you go lerk, drop you sporemines to only switch the team and step on them? and the sporemines
have a limited lifetime (35 seconds as I remember)
edit: I will keep a note so I would not forget about this "bug"
update: I just realised that I might throw away all upgrades a player had before once he uses a dropped egg. I also noticed a bug before going to work today, that dropped eggs possibly float in the air (depends on placement) without dropping to the ground. I think a "structure" is not checking itself if it is on the ground (to increase server perfomance?), so i think this check should be done at creation time.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--sizeo:1--><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->i will change the resource model for version 1.5 of my mod to the following:
since <u>alien comms</u> now have a possibility to dump their personal res, I'm fine with them :) life-form eggs cost personal res, "skulk" eggs (for re-spawning only) cost team res, everything else costs energy or team res (as before)
<u>marine commanders</u> will spend team res for everything, except of weapons and equipment (jetpack, exosuit) will cost personal res.
I will change RFK so it will add team res along with personal res. I think that fixes the scaling problem of dropable eggs, medpacks, ammopacks, catpacks <!--coloro:#696969--><span style="color:#696969"><!--/coloro-->(not in the game yet)<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->, and it will speed up games a little bit (an obvious dominant team would dominate just more). I liked that mechanic in ns1 and there it fixed the medpack problem.
since you have as a commander more resources available, you are able to place more structures / eggs / medpacks. its up to the comm to decide if he wants to spam defense structures.
<u>To prevent stalemates</u> (read: prevent marines bunkering up, since they can afford refilling sentries with ammo with RFK) I consider adding the following mechanic:
command chairs will have a "refill sentry" ability, which costs energy. you click that ability, then click on the sentry you want to refill. if you have too many sentries, you cannot maintain them with 1 command chair only, since you would run out of energy. this would even promote building command chairs for the marines, I like this side-effect.
Stop reading here if you are not interested in more in-depth informations :)
<!--coloro:#FFFACD--><span style="color:#FFFACD"><!--/coloro-->This will not prevent marines to simply recycle out-of-ammo-sentries and build new sentries, but this can be addressed by reducing the resource gain from recycled sentries. So overall, the marines should not be able to build -> recycle -> build -> recycle etc.... RFK SHOULD balance that out.
Meaning: You should not be able to maintain your end game bunker by RFK, or even let it grow bigger. if the sentries cost now 15 res, and you get back 2 res, that leaves you with addition 13 res required to build a new sentry. now you get some small amount of res from your extractor, and some amount from rfk(i would say all together 20 res per minute). If a sentry would be out of ammo after 20 seconds, you would not be able to apply the "recycle -> build -> recycle" strategy, leaving you with a constant drain of energy from your command chair and with a lack of 19 res required per minute to maintain or grow your "bunker".
now, the command chair can refill a sentry once per two minutes, that would leave us with 13.5 res per minute required to grow your bunker. that could possibly be achieved by rfk luck, but well, if the aliens are too stupid and "feeding" the marines, its their own fault :)
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edit: After thinking through this system a few times, I decided that "reloading" a sentry should require interaction with a marine / MAC on the ground. The commander can stock up 1 additional round to a sentry, after the sentry fired all bullets from the loaded round, it will switch to an "unbuilt" state rather than inactive (90% built for example). if the sentry has stocked up ammo, mac or marines will be able to "build" the sentry ("unbuild state" will not be triggered if no stocked up ammo is present). That increases little bit more Marine / Commander interactions and you no longer have to "babysit" your sentries. you simply can stock up additional ammo when you have time to do so and you see the sentry is soon out of ammo.
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update: Today ideas won't stop poping up in my head, I'm really excited about this one:
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=114353&view=findpost&p=1864166" target="_blank">Alien Weapon Changes</a>
If you have some more input for me please post there :)
I just found that the problem is not in SporeCloud.lua. It's actually SporeMine.lua. Line 33 should be:
<!--c1--><div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><!--ec1-->local spores = CreateEntity(SporeCloud.kMapName, spawnPoint, self:GetTeamNumber())<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
instead of self:GetOwner():GetTeamNumber(). See? If owner switches team, without the change the created sporecloud would be on the same team as the owner (damaging aliens, not doing damage to marines at all). Even without that I would change it simply to have one function call less.
But it's absolutely no problem to damage the owner if he's on the enemy team, so no change to SporeCloud.lua required.