new to modding scene, looking for some help

[coldreboot]

Hi,

I have an ambitous project in mind for a HL2 TC, and I'd like some help from some more experienced modders.

Without giving too much away, as I'm worried people may steal my idea. It's going to be a Vietnam war game that will convey the intensity and violence of the war through an intrecate plot, and there will be some decision making from the player that can change the course of the game. The player will go from being a stepped on rookie, and over the course of the story will become a hardened vet.

I have many of the main plot points and mission ideas sketched out, and the missions will have a unique freedom to them that isn't often seen in an FPS.

The important thing, is that I do not want to trivialise what is a well-known and tragic part of American and Vietnamise history. And while the game will be 'fun' in the immersive and tactical sense, It will also educate the player in the brutalities and psychological aspects of that war.

Anyone interested in joining me on this project, which I believe could easily advance to retail, then please let me know here and I will PM you my email address so we can get things started.

 

[63]

which I believe could easily advance to retail

You're already thinking wrong. Mod for yourself, if you're thinking of money at this stage don't bother.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Seconded. I'd like to consider myself as "pretty good" at modding, but I know that my work's not retail standard. You seem pretty new to modding. Think how badly you're probably not near retail standard either.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Icewolf717]

If you were to sell you would need to actualy buy the source engine code to avoid copyright laws, or something like that, and it aint cheap.

 

[coldreboot]

I was merely trying to emphasise it's potential to be popular.

 

[Crispy]

Fair enough.

I just wrote an ultra-newb's guide to starting a Mod (in the Modifications Forum) and would be available via PM for more in-depth clarification on the matter. Think carefully about this "freedom" element you're describing, though, freedom tends to only be possible if through random generation or heavy scripting. I'm afraid there is no middle ground. You also need to ask yourself if the Source engine is best for what you want to do.

 

[Kebean PFC]

The Freedom part will kill you unless you have an Angry Lawyer quality coder. I started to make a mod like that and realised that i couldnt code it at all. Then i discoved that there werre not available coders to help, so i quit.

 

[Cyanide]

Honestly, if you're totally new to the modding scene you should probably try to get yourself on board with an established mod team rather than trying to start your own mod. Clearly you have no idea how much time, energy, and effort it takes to get a bunch of volunteers to work together to make a single product. It's highly recommended that you test the waters before you dive in and drown.

 

[En1gma]

Although i probably have no room to talk, but they are right. It is really difficult to get a team together with such little material. You need to be pretty far already to get the teams to come. Much like story, characters, etc. Its tough, and i have my sympathies, hope you pull through.

 

[coldreboot]

Thanks for the replies. I sort of expected as much, so I'll start things off myself and come back when I have some tempting screenies.

The 'freedom' element is a claim alot of games make, but it's actually more controlled than you think.

For example, each 'level' would be made up of a grid viewable on an in-game map. a, b, c, d, e etc for latitute, and 1, 2, 3, 4 etc for longitute. Each 'sector' would be a load area. 90% of the areas are going to be outdoor jungle, so it's not going to be a headache trying to create it. The freedom element comes in as the player chooses how to go about his mission.

Say the misson is to get to an LZ on the other side of the map, but there is viet cong between you and it:

You may decide to take your chances and do a direct assault, hunting each one down and nuetralising them. You may decide to take the most direct route following a river, or you may decide something else entirely.

It's pseudo-freedom, really. But good pseudo-freedom.

 

[Crispy]

I like the idea, a bit like Far-Cry, then?

The Jungle could still be a headache unless you put some serious fogging in (and I'd also suggest height variation, such as hillocks, to act as vis-blockers). The fog effect could work well, though, as:

- it could be argued as being authentic
- it would add a huge surprise factor if you programmed the AI with a similar 'viewing' (enemy registry) distance as the fog creates for you. You might narrowly miss a patrol without even knowing about it, move up to the encampment you need to disable, see that there are only a few guards there and that it's ripe for the picking, and after your assault on the camp be caught completely unawares by the returning squad that you passed earlier like ships in the night!
If you did that the jungle missions would keep you on your toes while exterior missions would allow gameplay for people who like to pick off their enemies from afar, or at least do reconnaissance before avoiding them completely.
It's got potential, but you have to stick true to your reasons for making it a Vietnam mod.

 

[coldreboot]

I like the idea, a bit like Far-Cry, then?

The Jungle could still be a headache unless you put some serious fogging in (and I'd also suggest height variation, such as hillocks, to act as vis-blockers). The fog effect could work well, though, as:

- it could be argued as being authentic
- it would add a huge surprise factor if you programmed the AI with a similar 'viewing' (enemy registry) distance as the fog creates for you. You might narrowly miss a patrol without even knowing about it, move up to the encampment you need to disable, see that there are only a few guards there and that it's ripe for the picking, and after your assault on the camp be caught completely unawares by the returning squad that you passed earlier like ships in the night!
If you did that the jungle missions would keep you on your toes while exterior missions would allow gameplay for people who like to pick off their enemies from afar, or at least do reconnaissance before avoiding them completely.
It's got potential, but you have to stick true to your reasons for making it a Vietnam mod.

Spot on. We are thinking along the same lines. I've been thinking about that alot and I was going to experiment with maybe using a matt backdrop of jungle. It won't work in all cases obviously, but it might be a good place to start. The height variation shouldn't be a problem, after all it's Vietnam and it certainly isn't flat so it won't look out of place.

Other things I've been thinking about:

I wanted the introductory level to be something that will stick with you through the game. You see yourself in a mirror so you can see just how much of a 'kid' you really are. Later on you'd catch a glimpse of you again and you'd look more like hardened vet.

One of the sub-levels will have you driving a jeep full of comrades down to the local bar for some R&R where you get into a bar fight with another soldier.

You'd work your way up the ranks during the story. Starting off by being given the orders, then moving on to making them.

Elements of some films will be in there such as Platoon, Apocolypse Now and Deer Hunter.

Part of the storyline is one of your guys goes crazy ape psycho and you'll have to bring him back....or kill him.

Also, there is a decision early on that can affect your own play. Involving your squad leader getting a bit rough with a peasant villager and ordering you to execute him. Should you do as he says, or turn on your superior?

I was going to have a mission where everything goes a bit mental as you start hallucinating and keep having images of the villager you killed (if thats what you did!).

I've done some research on the places of conflict and the weapons used by both sides.

Just for a laugh, I was going to do a 'hidden' bonus level at the end of the game which has your sqaud being attacked by a Predator.

Loads of possibilites that haven't been done yet, really.

PS. Btw, I've never played FarCry so I must be doing something right!

 

[Crispy]

Heh, you're full of ideas, most of them good, but some impractical.

- I like the mirror-image idea. It'd be nice to show some of the emotional hardships and hardening that soldiers go through instead of yet another game about mindless slaughter without consequences. That, coupled with recurring, haunting images of your misdemeanour would add an emotional element that, if well done, would set your Mod apart from most Mods and even many games to boot.

- The bar-fight is, again, a nice idea to give a sense of realism, but if you're going for a FPS style you probably wouldn't be able to pull it off without it looking tacky, hence losing the intended realism.

- It's probably best to get together with a writer to flesh out something to guide the development and give structure to the story and mission order. It would also give you someone to bounce ideas off of and bring a bit more definition to your concept.