Development Blog Update - Unknown Worlds Podcast #21
Max
Technical Director, Unknown Worlds Entertainment Join Date: 2002-03-15 Member: 318Super Administrators, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts, Future Perfect Developer
Technical Director, Unknown Worlds Entertainment Join Date: 2002-03-15 Member: 318Super Administrators, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts, Future Perfect Developer
Comments
keep it up, and J good luck in america mate, show dem how aussie's knuckle down and just make awsome progress.
*claps as loud and as hard as he possibly can.... everyone around me is looking at me weird but also have increased there claping volume
NS2TR sounds exciting -- hopefully it will inspire me to learn Hammer. Or, at least see how QuArK's offerings hold up for HL2!
oh and our accents don't sound crazy to us Max <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
dunno if you are allowed, or even want to discuss this in your podcasts, but i'm curious to hear what work is remaining? mapping, art work, and balancing? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
yep gotta agree there, i've got some ideas for rooms, and hallways, but you can't really do anything until you know how the game works, and how different it will be from NS1.
imagine playing a type of Knots and Crosses game at the start of a round which would determine alien and marine starting points aswell as areas of control for either team.
Remember to watch out for Lucasitis. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/nerd-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::nerdy::" border="0" alt="nerd-fix.gif" />
PS: "iPhone ZoS lol..." - no it's a good idea, it's just funny. At first when you said it I got the mental image of trying to emulate steam through wine in an apple environment on a mobile device.
look forward to next weeks.
*cough* NS2 and linux *cough*
Now with that out of the way, I'm kind of shocked by the fact that Max has only ONE computer (heck laptop even) to store his stuff! Get some RAID going or at least more seperate HDD's to store you stuff man, even DVDR's could do the job <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
Scary...
Sidenote:
Did the sound volume of this podcast die or what?
[edit]
GAH! it was winamp and its gastly volume controller, it also lowers my main wave volume... Podcast was fine...
count me in, as long as pencils are involved too
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
GJ guys!
ps. change this <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink-fix.gif" /> into sth less *i've-got-digestion-problems*-type of emot! Please!
Personally I have found source mapping quite liberating compared to goldSRC, dare I say easier, but I do agree with you that it can be harder to make things look good with all the new feature you have to learn.
Having in house level designers will be a major plus in terms of playtesting, having more control over the look and feel of the maps etc... So, yeah you do have a point of them hiring level designers to get a more smooth design traject going.
Sidenote:
From what I've seen in the NS2TR alpha releases, the textures (artwork)/models are a superb quality. Also the community mappers are quite up to the task of making things look awesome with these alpha models and textures. We can't say anything about layouts yet as only Charlie and Max know how NS2 is going to be played, or at least have an idea of it... I hope <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
@La Chupacabra
Fine, you can have your pencils <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
You may have already answered this, but I didnt see anything on it. What are you using for map creation are you using valves stuff like hammer or have you developed your own? I would like to try and make a map for the game and was just wondering what you plan/are using. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/marine.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::marine::" border="0" alt="marine.gif" />
but i'm pretty sure you can use anything that will compile a hl2 compatible bsp file - such as quark
Half life 1 released 1998
NS 1 released 2002
Half-life 2 released 2004
NS 2 started being worked on 2006
so it makes sense that it should be shortly before we experience this game.
UNKNOWNWORLDS dont rush, but work extra hard. youve got a great fanbase and probably the best strategy game ever. no game is as fast as NS. thats why i love it.
the biggest part will be balance and immersing the player in the game. nothing feels quite like being in the game.
I trust you guys to get it done, make it great, and expand into bigger and better things.
Love yall
-frigg
And for those who care: Here is the version in the proper language <a href="http://www.lerk.de/2008/03/21-podcast-mit-angestellten-ns2tr-geld-furs-mappen-und-iphone-spielen/" target="_blank">21. Podcast mit Angestellten, NS2TR, Geld fürs Mappen und iPhone Spielen</a> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/asrifle.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="::asrifle::" border="0" alt="asrifle.gif" />
Wonder if that is who the deal is with. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink-fix.gif" />
For those wanting to learn to map, I got the advanced source level design dvd from noesis interactive. Two days later I made a greenhouse over looking a biological study room with cool lighting, breakable glass and even a breakable sliding glass door that can be opened by a button or by exploding it. I't was pretty sweet. Except I didn't have any real plants to put in my greenhouse <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />. I hope NS2TR comes with alien plant forms I can put places, or I'll get another video on how to make those. Point being the video works and is easy to follow. I beleive the video was made prior to ep2 and maybe ep1 so it doesn't cover the newer source stuff. You can get it off the valve store or amazon and probably noesisinteractive.com their website but I'm too lazy to look cause I already have it.
It's really easy to quantify skill on marine vs skill on alien. You playtest until you have a good understanding of the difficulties of playing each class (based on an objective scale with objective "anchor" reference points) and then quantify the difficulty of the class based on experience and apply that as a multiplier (from 0-1) against the kills made as that class.
PS: You should be doing this anyway while you're playtesting the alien classes, and if possible, it should incorporate the gamestate as well as the class, so it isn't an isolated and arbitrary measurement. IE, you should fetch the armor level on a skulk and the weapon the marine is using and the skulk's total skill level when you're calculating what percentage to alter the killer's score upon resolution of a kill.
Obviously you can't quantify everything, but a few important elements to look at are the player's situational advantage (and the opponent's advantage) including upgrades/classes, and the skills of the players involved (which may happen in the same general area of the code as checking for assists.
It's interesting, you really do sound kind of like a CEO now Charlie. ("company vision", "pencils and paper" as being of real value over bling, etc.) I guess the concerns about managing a business will make you grow in that way, eh?
I think Charlie sounded like a CEO since they have podcasts. I don't know how he sounded before, but judging all the work around NS1 he always knew where to focus on. I just want to mention the Mapper guidelines or the Technology Release.