Dario D.
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- Joined
- Nov 30, 2004
- Messages
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I'm on the hunt for dedicated, skilled programmers to help make a multiplayer mod for HL2.
I'm looking for a few programmers for core programming, and I also want one programmer specially dedicated to nothing but hardcore details. In the future we can expand as needed - for the time being, we (meaning myself and my current programmer, who will be joining us later) are just going to get the ball spinning on this mod without a giant team. I've already made tons of weapons and content that we'll start with, on top of tons of existing HL2 content (and weapons) that we'll use, and we'll take it from there.
We'll start with HL2DM as the base gameplay model and build upward.
I'll be making 2 maps for the first release, and in the future, as the mod escalates, more people can come on board with more maps, but for the time-being, I want to make the first ones as a demonstration of how I want the mod to work for future mappers. Since there's a huge difference between lame maps and simply brilliant ones, I want to establish the style of gameplay needed in these first maps to prevent "blah" and "scatterbrained" maps in the future.
I've already made several maps for other games (Thief and UT2004), and one for HL2 DM (below), and even won some money in the nVidia Make Something Unreal Contest for one of them (here and here). My HL2 DM map you can see here (I just want to make you "not worry" about the mod's map quality):
http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/dm_plaza17 showcase1.jpg
-
Ok:
So far the mod is simply called "War", but we'll change it if we think of something later.
It's a multiplayer mod using a mix of HL2 content and new content to bring the war between the Rebels and the Combine to a new level of realism and dynamic, team-based multiplayer gameplay. When I say team-based, I don't mean red vs. blue. I mean Day vs. Night. What I mean is, this team-play should be great. Allow me to explain a little later.
The gameplay model is extremely progressive and rewarding, utilizing a very logical money system, RPG-style method of carrying weapons and managing inventory (yet kept extremely simple), and unheard-of detail in the things you can do, yet still keeping satisfyingly simple, quick to do, and logical.
The combat model is where the first half of the pickle is: Built off of HL2
M's combat model, the fighting is extremely realistic in the sense that anything you could possible imagine doing to the enemy in real life, you can do here.
Ever wanted to sit down and think of crazy strategies to unleash on the enemy? Here's the place to actually do it.
You can plant mines and traps, mix grenades, load guns with the wrong ammo, snipe explosive charges, rig and trap vehicles, sabotage key structures and buildable/destroyable defenses, and basically "do the enemy up right" in any way imaginable.
On top of the Combat model, there is also an equally prestigious Support model - The matches are played as a continuous battle, where total annihilation is the victory condition. Dominating key areas lets you spawn there, after you've taken control of Spawn Terminals and other key structures and utilities (such as power generators) to help establish a stronger front-line for the war.
But attacking and moving forward is not the only element. Since you can carry anything you can fit (and purchase a wide array of weapons and gear at Terminals, including backpacks) you can also make a huge difference by supporting your team.
Support tactics can include driving very useful Resupply vehicles to your teammates, distributing expensive and dangerous exlposives, being a medic, setting up health and armor pods, and other methods of direct support.
Indirect methods of support include a wide array of theft and technology-mixing tactics. Each team has team-specific weapons, explosives, and ammunition, and stealing ammo is an effective way to power your team with foreign weapons that make for deadly combinations when mixed. For example, plugging an Electrical Grenade (Rebel) into a Plasma Gun (Combine) creates a new type of Plasma that's extremely effective against Combine technology. For example, firing Modified Plasma at a Combine Plasma Grenade neutralizes the grenade and allows you to pick it up. Firing it at Combine Terminals and Vehicle Plants very effectively disables and destroys them. Firing it at the Combine themselves disrupts their visors and takes away their HUD for a short time.
Less effective players (and more sneaky ones) can make a healthy living with support tactics, including stealing expensive weapons lying on the ground, and returning them to a Terminal for storage and profit. Items stored in Terminals are available for Free to your entire team, and stocking Terminals with expensive and foreign items is a good way to ensure your team is more powerful when leaving to go fight.
(You can see a larger one here: http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/HL2_Term_Stor_01.jpg )
Whereas one team could generally only afford cheap weapons, another team with a good support agent can have a steady supply of Free weapons, resulting in more saved cash, so that better weapons can be bought. Such support can be the difference between winning a war and losing it.
-- -- --
Other elements to take note of are:
The money and buying system. To keep things realistic and logical, you buy stuff from the nearest Terminal right when you spawn. You get a free pistol, 2 ammo clips, and a complimentary coupon for Mc Donald's when you purchase a... I mean... I mean, you get some free stuff incase you don't have money. :upstare:
Making money is similar to Counter-Strike... which is a game I hate... So forget that idea. What I meant to say is, making money is very logical; when you kill someone, you get moolah.
To make it ever more flexible, you can share money with your teammates. Using the shopping screen or the scoreboard, you can easily dish out cash to your teammates. Is someone poor? Does your squad-mate need money? Donate!
Another use of money is the ability to invest in vehicles (to make them spawn faster) and other team-specific abilities. For example, if your team raises $10,000 toward increased inventory, you can expand your team's carrying capacity.
Another $10,000 invested toward a Gunship (Combine) will bring an AI-controlled gunship to come harass the Rebels while your team can make a move. If the Rebels are well-organized and well-defended, it won't do much more than buy some time... But good tactics can overturn even good Rebel defenses during such an attack. The possibilities of these things you can buy are vast and extremely dynamic. Remember, this is a War, and as dynamic as one can be.
Other features include very many simple abilities and things you can do. For example, you hold rockets, batteries, and other large ammo types in your belt. You can use any of these items as grenades or explosives, and simply throw them with satisfying results. To keep things realistic, throwing such things might not always work. For example, throwing rockets might not always work the first time, or, the rocket might accidentally fire off (instead of exploding) and spin around, bouncing off of things before dying. During such an incident, a player can pick up the rocket off the ground and throw it back... or, dead rockets can simply be carried in your belt and used as a cheap explosive. Just drop it on the ground, wait for someone to walk near, and shoot it. Can you say ragdoll?
Putting explosives behind vehicle tires in also fun.
It's that kind of thing that this mod will utilize to go from, "Guns and Deathmatch" to "Tactics and War"... The typical guns and gun-fighting are still the bread and butter of this war, but what's a sandwich without pickles and onions and ketchup and mayo?
I might also add that I've made a whole array of new weapons for this mod, and I'll be making lots of new grenades and things (I'll make all the custom content in fact) to keep it wide-open.
I originally made these weapons for my Unreal Tournament 2004 mod (which is very similar to this), but now some of them will be used here instead as I move everything over to HL2 since the UT2004 community has died:
(Can you say sweat, blood and tears?)
(note the old UT2004 mod tag at the bottom)
Click here to see a better, wallpaper one:
http://www.deefrag.com/images/ut/gunreal_images/G_Showcase_A.jpg
Even more weapons will follow shortly, especially team-specific ones, and I'm open to anybody who would like to donate media from past/unfinished mods and the like, to this mod.
I'm extremely picky about what actually gets used, but PLEASE feel free to contribute. If your abandoned weapon or item isn't used, don't worry - you'll get a nice polite email and thank you from me, and a note about how awesome it is, but just not quite the right flavor for this particular sandwich. :upstare:
-
And of course, if you're a coder, I'm really interested to know if you can help me make this mod, which will grow larger in the future with more features than are mentioned here, if appropriate. It will start out simply, and I feel that coding will be pretty straight-forward and modular. Adding features will just be a matter of "plugging stuff in" if you know what I mean.
I also ask that you only take this on if you are a really good coder, who can keep code very clean, smart, and modular, without letting features get too intertwined with each other, incase any need to be removed.
-
Of course, you must be ready and willing to work on the mod as a *programmer*... Of course I can't have a bunch of teammates on this project who say, "Do it like this, do it like that, I don't like this, I don't like that," to me and to each other. All advice is taken well, and we'll spend many late nights on Instant Messengers, but I want to keep my job very simple and not ever let it get difficult by people squabbling over things and other out-of-place attempts to "change" things when I or other programmers don't feel it needs to be. There's nothing harder than getting by day-by-day with someone who has a stubborn will, or is bitter because of a decision that he fought.
Absolutely none of that.
This should be a nice, industrious mod team who works on things like brothers, making an effort to get along nicely, being open, talkative, having fun, and most importantly, making an awesome mod... so that in the end, we can have a good time fragging each other and working in real game companies soon after.
Anyway, please consider:
just email me at [email protected] - and get MSN Messenger please. That will be the method of communication.
Work will begin right away (just as soon as the plans are written out that is) :bounce:
(Scribbling hard) :upstare:
---------------------------------------
Notes and references:
The mod will be hosted at my website: www.deefrag.com
I'm still working on a setup for War at the website, but there's no rush at the moment. It really doesn't need advertising until content starts to come together.
I'll make videos of the mod and start real advertising when possible.
-
My MSN handle is [email protected]
Feel free to contact me there about anything, if you want to contribute something, or discuss working on the mod, etc...
-
You can find a detailed writing of the game-design HERE:
http://www.deefrag.com/hl2/war.htm
This is like the field manual for War modders. This is where I post all the plans, game design, renders, and stuff like that for the time being. This is the War Modder's page.
-
Note: War actually started out for Unreal Tournament 2004 under the code-name, "Gunreal War", but since there's nobody left to play UT2004 mods, and since HL2 is so much easier to mod for (since most of the content is compatible with reality, so therefore already made) I decided to move to the HL2 community. I want people to ENJOY this mod, especially since the Unreal version was so much more ambitious and harder to make ...there's just nobody left in Unreal, so it's not worth trying so hard.
Anyway, glad to be part of HL2 now.
-- Oh, and please, if you know any programmers who might be interested, please give them a buzz. Thanks.
Some of the guns we might be using: (viewed in Unreal Ed)
http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/warposts/NewPlasma1.jpg
This gun will become the Combine's Plasma Gun.
This gun is the Combine's own Gravity Gun. It works a bit differently, only able to carry small objects, and more capable of catching flying projectiles.
http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/warposts/Shocker Open.jpg
In it's opened state, the Combine's Gravity Gun can shock the air in front of it and suck in stunned projectiles. It also fires a blunt magnetic harpoon about 12 inches forward, then pulls it back in, sucking projectiles into it's grasp. The harpoon can also be used as a melee attack to impale players at close range.
This is a pump-action shotgun - You right-click to pump, left-click to fire... you can do it very fast, making it a very fun weapon to use. Pumping it twice loads dual-shells... pumping it three times removes the 2nd shell.
http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/warposts/spammer2.jpg
This is the proximity spammer (Combine). It spins and throws small, black hockey-puck type charges that bounce up and explode when someone gets near. In this mod, the Combine represent a more orderly, methodical army, whereas the Rebels are more disorganized and more reliant on guerilla tactics. Thus the proximity spammer is used as the Combine prepare the battlefield for the arrival of the filthy Rebels.
Before we use it (if we even use this one) I'll have to change the skin, add a bunch of details to it, and make it look more like a weapon you might find in a real armory. It's really sleek and smooth - designed for a more Unreal-style mod.
I'm looking for a few programmers for core programming, and I also want one programmer specially dedicated to nothing but hardcore details. In the future we can expand as needed - for the time being, we (meaning myself and my current programmer, who will be joining us later) are just going to get the ball spinning on this mod without a giant team. I've already made tons of weapons and content that we'll start with, on top of tons of existing HL2 content (and weapons) that we'll use, and we'll take it from there.
We'll start with HL2DM as the base gameplay model and build upward.
I'll be making 2 maps for the first release, and in the future, as the mod escalates, more people can come on board with more maps, but for the time-being, I want to make the first ones as a demonstration of how I want the mod to work for future mappers. Since there's a huge difference between lame maps and simply brilliant ones, I want to establish the style of gameplay needed in these first maps to prevent "blah" and "scatterbrained" maps in the future.
I've already made several maps for other games (Thief and UT2004), and one for HL2 DM (below), and even won some money in the nVidia Make Something Unreal Contest for one of them (here and here). My HL2 DM map you can see here (I just want to make you "not worry" about the mod's map quality):
http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/dm_plaza17 showcase1.jpg
-
Ok:
So far the mod is simply called "War", but we'll change it if we think of something later.
It's a multiplayer mod using a mix of HL2 content and new content to bring the war between the Rebels and the Combine to a new level of realism and dynamic, team-based multiplayer gameplay. When I say team-based, I don't mean red vs. blue. I mean Day vs. Night. What I mean is, this team-play should be great. Allow me to explain a little later.
The gameplay model is extremely progressive and rewarding, utilizing a very logical money system, RPG-style method of carrying weapons and managing inventory (yet kept extremely simple), and unheard-of detail in the things you can do, yet still keeping satisfyingly simple, quick to do, and logical.
The combat model is where the first half of the pickle is: Built off of HL2
M's combat model, the fighting is extremely realistic in the sense that anything you could possible imagine doing to the enemy in real life, you can do here.Ever wanted to sit down and think of crazy strategies to unleash on the enemy? Here's the place to actually do it.
You can plant mines and traps, mix grenades, load guns with the wrong ammo, snipe explosive charges, rig and trap vehicles, sabotage key structures and buildable/destroyable defenses, and basically "do the enemy up right" in any way imaginable.
On top of the Combat model, there is also an equally prestigious Support model - The matches are played as a continuous battle, where total annihilation is the victory condition. Dominating key areas lets you spawn there, after you've taken control of Spawn Terminals and other key structures and utilities (such as power generators) to help establish a stronger front-line for the war.
But attacking and moving forward is not the only element. Since you can carry anything you can fit (and purchase a wide array of weapons and gear at Terminals, including backpacks) you can also make a huge difference by supporting your team.
Support tactics can include driving very useful Resupply vehicles to your teammates, distributing expensive and dangerous exlposives, being a medic, setting up health and armor pods, and other methods of direct support.
Indirect methods of support include a wide array of theft and technology-mixing tactics. Each team has team-specific weapons, explosives, and ammunition, and stealing ammo is an effective way to power your team with foreign weapons that make for deadly combinations when mixed. For example, plugging an Electrical Grenade (Rebel) into a Plasma Gun (Combine) creates a new type of Plasma that's extremely effective against Combine technology. For example, firing Modified Plasma at a Combine Plasma Grenade neutralizes the grenade and allows you to pick it up. Firing it at Combine Terminals and Vehicle Plants very effectively disables and destroys them. Firing it at the Combine themselves disrupts their visors and takes away their HUD for a short time.
Less effective players (and more sneaky ones) can make a healthy living with support tactics, including stealing expensive weapons lying on the ground, and returning them to a Terminal for storage and profit. Items stored in Terminals are available for Free to your entire team, and stocking Terminals with expensive and foreign items is a good way to ensure your team is more powerful when leaving to go fight.
(You can see a larger one here: http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/HL2_Term_Stor_01.jpg )
Whereas one team could generally only afford cheap weapons, another team with a good support agent can have a steady supply of Free weapons, resulting in more saved cash, so that better weapons can be bought. Such support can be the difference between winning a war and losing it.
-- -- --
Other elements to take note of are:
The money and buying system. To keep things realistic and logical, you buy stuff from the nearest Terminal right when you spawn. You get a free pistol, 2 ammo clips, and a complimentary coupon for Mc Donald's when you purchase a... I mean... I mean, you get some free stuff incase you don't have money. :upstare:
Making money is similar to Counter-Strike... which is a game I hate... So forget that idea. What I meant to say is, making money is very logical; when you kill someone, you get moolah.
To make it ever more flexible, you can share money with your teammates. Using the shopping screen or the scoreboard, you can easily dish out cash to your teammates. Is someone poor? Does your squad-mate need money? Donate!
Another use of money is the ability to invest in vehicles (to make them spawn faster) and other team-specific abilities. For example, if your team raises $10,000 toward increased inventory, you can expand your team's carrying capacity.
Another $10,000 invested toward a Gunship (Combine) will bring an AI-controlled gunship to come harass the Rebels while your team can make a move. If the Rebels are well-organized and well-defended, it won't do much more than buy some time... But good tactics can overturn even good Rebel defenses during such an attack. The possibilities of these things you can buy are vast and extremely dynamic. Remember, this is a War, and as dynamic as one can be.
Other features include very many simple abilities and things you can do. For example, you hold rockets, batteries, and other large ammo types in your belt. You can use any of these items as grenades or explosives, and simply throw them with satisfying results. To keep things realistic, throwing such things might not always work. For example, throwing rockets might not always work the first time, or, the rocket might accidentally fire off (instead of exploding) and spin around, bouncing off of things before dying. During such an incident, a player can pick up the rocket off the ground and throw it back... or, dead rockets can simply be carried in your belt and used as a cheap explosive. Just drop it on the ground, wait for someone to walk near, and shoot it. Can you say ragdoll?
Putting explosives behind vehicle tires in also fun.
It's that kind of thing that this mod will utilize to go from, "Guns and Deathmatch" to "Tactics and War"... The typical guns and gun-fighting are still the bread and butter of this war, but what's a sandwich without pickles and onions and ketchup and mayo?
I might also add that I've made a whole array of new weapons for this mod, and I'll be making lots of new grenades and things (I'll make all the custom content in fact) to keep it wide-open.
I originally made these weapons for my Unreal Tournament 2004 mod (which is very similar to this), but now some of them will be used here instead as I move everything over to HL2 since the UT2004 community has died:
(Can you say sweat, blood and tears?)
(note the old UT2004 mod tag at the bottom)
Click here to see a better, wallpaper one:
http://www.deefrag.com/images/ut/gunreal_images/G_Showcase_A.jpg
Even more weapons will follow shortly, especially team-specific ones, and I'm open to anybody who would like to donate media from past/unfinished mods and the like, to this mod.
I'm extremely picky about what actually gets used, but PLEASE feel free to contribute. If your abandoned weapon or item isn't used, don't worry - you'll get a nice polite email and thank you from me, and a note about how awesome it is, but just not quite the right flavor for this particular sandwich. :upstare:
-
And of course, if you're a coder, I'm really interested to know if you can help me make this mod, which will grow larger in the future with more features than are mentioned here, if appropriate. It will start out simply, and I feel that coding will be pretty straight-forward and modular. Adding features will just be a matter of "plugging stuff in" if you know what I mean.
I also ask that you only take this on if you are a really good coder, who can keep code very clean, smart, and modular, without letting features get too intertwined with each other, incase any need to be removed.
-
Of course, you must be ready and willing to work on the mod as a *programmer*... Of course I can't have a bunch of teammates on this project who say, "Do it like this, do it like that, I don't like this, I don't like that," to me and to each other. All advice is taken well, and we'll spend many late nights on Instant Messengers, but I want to keep my job very simple and not ever let it get difficult by people squabbling over things and other out-of-place attempts to "change" things when I or other programmers don't feel it needs to be. There's nothing harder than getting by day-by-day with someone who has a stubborn will, or is bitter because of a decision that he fought.
Absolutely none of that.
This should be a nice, industrious mod team who works on things like brothers, making an effort to get along nicely, being open, talkative, having fun, and most importantly, making an awesome mod... so that in the end, we can have a good time fragging each other and working in real game companies soon after.
Anyway, please consider:
just email me at [email protected] - and get MSN Messenger please. That will be the method of communication.
Work will begin right away (just as soon as the plans are written out that is) :bounce:
(Scribbling hard) :upstare:
---------------------------------------
Notes and references:
The mod will be hosted at my website: www.deefrag.com
I'm still working on a setup for War at the website, but there's no rush at the moment. It really doesn't need advertising until content starts to come together.
I'll make videos of the mod and start real advertising when possible.
-
My MSN handle is [email protected]
Feel free to contact me there about anything, if you want to contribute something, or discuss working on the mod, etc...
-
You can find a detailed writing of the game-design HERE:
http://www.deefrag.com/hl2/war.htm
This is like the field manual for War modders. This is where I post all the plans, game design, renders, and stuff like that for the time being. This is the War Modder's page.
-
Note: War actually started out for Unreal Tournament 2004 under the code-name, "Gunreal War", but since there's nobody left to play UT2004 mods, and since HL2 is so much easier to mod for (since most of the content is compatible with reality, so therefore already made) I decided to move to the HL2 community. I want people to ENJOY this mod, especially since the Unreal version was so much more ambitious and harder to make ...there's just nobody left in Unreal, so it's not worth trying so hard.
Anyway, glad to be part of HL2 now.
-- Oh, and please, if you know any programmers who might be interested, please give them a buzz. Thanks.
Some of the guns we might be using: (viewed in Unreal Ed)
http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/warposts/NewPlasma1.jpg
This gun will become the Combine's Plasma Gun.
This gun is the Combine's own Gravity Gun. It works a bit differently, only able to carry small objects, and more capable of catching flying projectiles.
http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/warposts/Shocker Open.jpg
In it's opened state, the Combine's Gravity Gun can shock the air in front of it and suck in stunned projectiles. It also fires a blunt magnetic harpoon about 12 inches forward, then pulls it back in, sucking projectiles into it's grasp. The harpoon can also be used as a melee attack to impale players at close range.
This is a pump-action shotgun - You right-click to pump, left-click to fire... you can do it very fast, making it a very fun weapon to use. Pumping it twice loads dual-shells... pumping it three times removes the 2nd shell.
http://www.deefrag.com/images/hl2/warposts/spammer2.jpg
This is the proximity spammer (Combine). It spins and throws small, black hockey-puck type charges that bounce up and explode when someone gets near. In this mod, the Combine represent a more orderly, methodical army, whereas the Rebels are more disorganized and more reliant on guerilla tactics. Thus the proximity spammer is used as the Combine prepare the battlefield for the arrival of the filthy Rebels.
Before we use it (if we even use this one) I'll have to change the skin, add a bunch of details to it, and make it look more like a weapon you might find in a real armory. It's really sleek and smooth - designed for a more Unreal-style mod.
