Salvage Op - Work in Progress

[Jalinth]

Shot 1

Screen Shot 2, Screen Shot 3

Well, here it is. The first public version of my first scenario. It's still very much a work in progress but I am looking forward to some feedback.

Elements of the map were inspired by Sid]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Alpha_Centauri]Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. The ugly red plant life is a stand in for the Settings Xenofungas, and the setting of the map is based on one of the major landmarks in the game. This "Garland Crater" is many times smaller, but it is plenty of room for a rumble.

I used the 'Raid' map as an initial template, and it still uses some resources from it that I have yet to change.

Basically the mission is to capture the ship down in the middle. As in 'Where Eagles Dare' by Dark_AU, both sides are attackers for this mission. Right now there are a couple damaged missile towers standing in for the ships malfunctioning automatic armament.

This version has only light vehicles, but it is easy enough to change to the default load out. Just open up the .scenario file in something like WordPad and remove the <Inventory> and </Inventory> tags, along with everything in between.

Capture the flag is in there, but I have not tried to balance it yet at all. The ball locations are the same as for the 'Raid' map, though the terrain is totally different. Still, it is playable... I think. I've made a few changes since I last tested it, so use caution with that mode.

Edit - Geocities is being a pain. I'll have a link to the rar in a few minutes

[ August 25, 2006, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: Jalinth ]

[Jalinth]

Okay, here it is. It turns out that geocities does not like .rar files, so I tried renaming it to salvage.zip. It worked.

It's still a rar file, so you might need to rename it when you get it downloaded.

I'll change it to a proper zip file in the morrow, I'm doing fighting with the bloody thing for tonight.

http://www.geocities.com/the_ruby_dragon/salvage.htm

[Edit - Geocities apparently doesn't like direct links to files either. I am starting to remember why I haven't used this webpage for anything since about 2000]

[ August 07, 2006, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: Jalinth ]

[aittam]

looks nice, what about some foliage and or trees around the ship to get close encounter a little messier?

[Jalinth]

That you. I'm planning on adding some small funagal 'trees' around the area. The red stuff will also seriously hinder movement, once the feature is added to the game. I'm going to change to location of the fungas then, to make things more interesting/balenced.

[Junglist]

I just tried to play this scenario, but I got a message saying the mod was incomplete because it was missing SmacMask.jpg, or something of the sort.

Looked cool though

[Jalinth]

Yep, it turns out I managed to miss the file. It's on my webpage now. You can download it and drop it in with the rest.

I'll have a version two sometime in the next day or two.

[ August 09, 2006, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: Jalinth ]

[Jalinth]

Since I've added the missing file, has anyone been able to get the scenario to run? If so what do you think?

[ClaytoniousRex]

I like it very much, Ja. The concept of a wrecked ship with working defenses is very cool. The red fungus has already turned out better than I thought it would from your first screenshot above.

You know, you should be able to put some AutomatedGun objects on the wreck so it can really have its own defenses. Have you tried that?

[Jalinth]

ClaytoniousRex, you just made my night! I'm very glad you liked what I've got so far.

It's scary at how much better the red stuff looks when it is blowing in the wind and you see a Paladin crawling through it, coming to blow you away as compared to a still shot from to high above the ground.

As for putting guns on the wreck, that was my plan from the time I decided that it would be a ship rather then a destroyed firebase for an objective. However, I don't think one can yet set the guns to shoot at both sides. So, I've got two partially functional towers to fill in for now. They are not enough to stop a serious attempt at a drop, but they do work to discourage people. Depending on how things go, I may well upgrade their performance.

I should have another version in the next couple days. I put it on the back burner since I posted it, as I found that I was getting really sloppy just playing against bots

Well, that and my Starship Troopers D20 Play by post game is starting to get moving. For a 'quick-n-dirty bug hunt', I've spent an obscene amount of time on it.

I am planning on doing a slightly more elaborate target, either by dropping some more assorted pre-made models in the area or by doing some modeling of my own. Given my current skill set, option one what I'll be going with for the foreseeable future. I've not yet managed to get a grasp on blender yet. Hmmm... I think I will check to see if I can use DOGA to do models. It's a pretty simple program, but you can make some fairly decent looking stuff from the selection of parts.

being an example to what I've done with DOGA. http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h128/Jalinth/Warships/Missile_CA.jpg

An idea that has just occurred to me is the option to set defenses as non captureable. It would not be something to use for all scenarios by any means, but I've got a couple tentative ideas where that could work well.

This thread is part of what inspired me.

http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=61;t=000034

[Jalinth]

Another idea - Non-aligned Sensor Jammers. So it blocks both Water and Blood, but it's automatics can shoot down dropships/shells in it's Zone of Control. Perhaps even with adjustable sensor jammer ranges, though that might already be an option. I haven't taken a look yet.

For this scenario it could either be still functioning ECM or interference from the breached FTL drive.

[aittam]

yhea non capturable towers for sure!

why don't add wreaks all around like if the ship was shoot down during some very bloody battle?

[Jalinth]

I've got a version 2 of the Scenario done. It doesn't have the funkey Red Fungas, as I was having a heck of of a time getting the masking right. I decided to just ditch it for now.

Of course since then, I've figured out how to overcome the problem... right after I was more or less happy with the way it looked. So it's just dirt for now, with nasty evil red stuff coming later.

Anyway, here it is. 2 Deployment Zones, 30 Dropships and a pair of Missile Towers in the middle of the map.

The whole crash site needs some serious work. Right now I've got a bunch of houses representing the cargo containers, but it will work for now.

http://www.geocities.com/the_ruby_dragon/salvage.htm

Please let me know if it doesn't load or something. I am fairly sure I've thrown all the needed files into the rar, but I'm not sure.

[Jalinth]

Garland Crater - Chiron~

Not all Salvage operations are for wrecks dating back to the Mu Arae era. Some are of a more rather more recent vintage. The Knarr, a small FTL cargoship, was carrying a load of valuable loot back to her mother ship, the Liveship Helena. 3 hours ago the stealth systems guarding Knarr failed momentarily and in those short moments another pack of wolves struck. The Liveship Harkhuf had been lured to the system by the same signals that had summoned the Helena and her brood. Angered that Helena had manged to loot the colony before they had a chance to, Harkhuf struck out at the tiny Knarr, striking it down and sending in plunging back to the planet below... thousands of kilometers from any of Helena's other forces... Ripe for the taking...

Perhaps this trip had not been a total waste of time after all...