Project Oblivion Mod

[Linkal]

Project Oblivion Mod is a mod for HL2 combining the atmosphere of StarCraft with the Commander gameplay of Empires Mod and NS, the FPS style of NS + Empires Mod, and will include all of the StarCraft vechials (pilotable). Currently, the MOD is still pre-alpha, but we are moving along at a good pace. We have a staff of 3 coders, 4 modelers, 2 mappers and 1 concept artist. We are in need of animators, texture artists, sound engineers and skinners. If you're interested in joining, please post on our forums under the join section.

Website: http://www.project-oblivion-mod.com
IRC: #project-oblivion-mod on GameSurge

Some of our current work:

By the way, we are doing all that is possible to prevent a Cease & Desist letter from Blizzard =] So please do not post "OMG U GUNNA GET SHUT DOWN!!1oneone"

 

[X_i_Z_o_R]

Awesome stuff - this would be a really nice game if you can pull it off Keep communicating with Blizzard though to ensure you get that permission, should be your priority right now, but you probably already know that.

 

[crackhead]

how do you intend to handle th huge maps and thousands of models that you show in your conceptuals.

 

[Linkal]

The servers in Project Oblivion will allow up to 64 people (the source engine supports this many), so we will have big battlescenes such as this =]

 

[Yorick]

Looks awesome. Best of luck.

 

[Ennui]

The servers in Project Oblivion will allow up to 64 people (the source engine supports this many), so we will have big battlescenes such as this =]

How much do you know about the source engine?

 

[63]

And who is going to pay for those servers?

 

[armanguy]

the deveopment team ofcourse cmon sixthree use your head

 

[crackhead]

i doubt they will. and how do you intend to handle the lagging. i really dont think it will work. anyway this is probally my last post im banned.

 

[Shinobi]

actually source supports 256 players


I havent coded much in HL2 at all, but in unrealscript you can put a lot of things client side which are mostly just visual.. if you're tricky enough there's no reason you can't get 64 players in a server

 

[Alexferris]

Best of luck. I will be very interested. I don't know how much compensating you'll have to do to maintain a lag-free environment. I'll be around your forums poking my nose in every now and then.

 

[Ennui]

actually source supports 256 players


I havent coded much in HL2 at all, but in unrealscript you can put a lot of things client side which are mostly just visual.. if you're tricky enough there's no reason you can't get 64 players in a server

with vehicles?

they seem to suffer some of 'noob mod syndrome'. luckily, that's curable, and i think they might have the necessary potential to overcome it

 

[Shinobi]

with vehicles?

they seem to suffer some of 'noob mod syndrome'. luckily, that's curable, and i think they might have the necessary potential to overcome it

hehe, I didnt read it, I didnt know they were talking vehicles... you'd have to be a meticulous coder tracking everything and a bloodstream consisting of coffee to pull that off but possible nonetheless, that is my point

 

[Linkal]

Yes, we will have 64 player servers, and vechials will be included in the game, and we're going for minor lag if any at all. It'll also come down to the server box.

 

[Ennui]

I can't figure out if you're talking out of your ass or not.

 

[Linkal]

=| I'm not, our current coder is very good, and we will be trying to make this game as enjoyable as possible (which includes no lag or very minor lag).

 

[Ennui]

Right - I understand you want to do that, but do you think it's possible? It's better not to state things that probably are going to be highly difficult to achieve. Shit, Insurgency removed vehicles because they were too laggy, and no other mod with vehicles has been able to manage the lag they get when there's more than 16 players or so, to my knowledge.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

64 players, in the source engine, would mean de-physicsing and moving 99% of all data to clientside.

He talks from his ass.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Linkal]

Not really, Angry lawyer =] There have/are some CS: S 64 player servers, and I have seen some with lag to minor lag, but it's still fine to play. Source, as I said before, can support 64 players, with physics.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

90% of CS's physics, besides the few barrels, which are "spongy physics", are done clientside.

If you're going to use vehicles, you need to put quite a bit into simulating physics.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Linkal]

Sorry, I mixed up my own words =X I wasn't planning to put vechials in a 64 player map, moreover as include them in the game with minor lag.

 

[Dario D.]

I would have recommended making a StarCraft clone, and not StarCraft itself.

If you DO get a "cease and desist" letter, you will have a lot of redoing to do, to change the look and feel of the game... and the potential of a mod like this is that if it were ever compeltely realized, it would certainly end up on Steam... which can't happen if it's "StarCraft."

 

[Linkal]

This mod is moreover inspiried by StarCraft, I'm making sure it's not a clone at all, that's a 100% chance of a Cease & Desist =| Anyway, I've said this many times, we are taking all actions nessecary to prevent one.

 

[Dario D.]

I don't mean to persist, but I want to avoid a nightmare once you hit Beta. If it's called "StarCraft", there's little or no chance of avoiding trouble, especially when word spreads, or, dare I say, when the release date comes.

And, like I said above, if this mod is fully realized, it will certainly end up on Steam (it's just that kind of mod, if *fully realized*), but that can't happen if it's called StarCraft, or if the units and vehicles look and are named the same as StarCraft ones. Copyrights prevent this. I recently had a book that I'm writing copyrighted, and some of the things that are protected are ideas and resemblances of characters, locations, plot events, etc.

I saw in the news the other day that the author of "The Da Vinci Code" is being sued for lifting mere ideas.. not even named entities.

Point being, you will avoid a lot of frustration if you make the mod "similar" to StarCraft, without actually seeming like it IS StarCraft (chances are the Blizzard won't care), and changing the appearance of things slightly (and of course names), but there's no way to get away from the copyright parts, especially if things are dangerously similar (not just "kind of" similar) so it's crucial that you adapt/evolve before things get too far.

Besides, it's funner when you can add your own ideas, and not be stuck within "StarCraft" ideas.

I totally hate saying this - I just don't want you to have a nightmare when the mod is almost done, and reaching it's first Beta, because I think it's a bit too risky.

(btw, that concept picture pwns)

 

[Linkal]

The mod name is Project Oblivion (see topic title). This mod is mainly inspiried by StarCraft, and if you've ever played it you'll certainly recognize it to look like it, but the units won't be exact copies. We don't want to be shut down, so we are working very hard to prevent a Cease & Desist, as I've said, again, many times beforehand. But thank you for your positive feedback =] And we still need Texture Artists, Sound Engineers, Animators, Skinners and some more mappers. Please, if you're not currently working on a mod, or want to work for this one, apply =]

 

[Linkal]

Since I don't know how to edit my above post (can't find the edit button =|) we have a new render that I personally think is good =] It's still a very early WIP, though.

 

[MightyMiyagi]

Vehicle Help

As far as vehicles, the Incoming Source mod has a demo with one player in Germany, one in Chicago, in a vehicle with no lag. Don't know how they did it, but it does seem to be very possible to have more than one vehicle with minimal lag.

www.incoming-source.net/

 

[Ennui]

2 players is very very different than say, sixteen.

 

[Linkal]

I know INM has their own vechial code. This is what we're going to do, execpt we'll make it better =]

 

[armanguy]

if i were the mode leader of this mod i would switch engines too the battle field 2 engine!

 

[Shinobi]

if i were the mode leader of this mod i would switch engines too the battle field 2 engine!

why dont you apply then?

 

[armanguy]

why dont you apply then?

Well i dont think they have any mod leader positions open.What a stupid question!:dozey:

 

[Linkal]

We wanted it to be on the HL2 Source Engine for HL2 players, so it will be on the Source engine (plus we wanted a challange).

 

[armanguy]

well good luck hope to see this project prevail!

 

[Shinobi]

Well i dont think they have any mod leader positions open.What a stupid question!:dozey:

your e-sarcasm detector needs adjustment

 

[Linkal]

Just got a new sound engineer =] Positions are filling up. And no, we don't have an open position for a new mod manager =P

 

[Ennui]

We wanted it to be on the HL2 Source Engine for HL2 players, so it will be on the Source engine (plus we wanted a challange).

No offense, but the fact that you're being led by someone who doesn't really know how to mod and has never worked on a mod team before, let alone run one, really sets you back a lot.

 

[Linkal]

Which one of us are you talking about?

 

[Ennui]

The other one.

His name eludes me, and my supreme lack of motivation prevents me from checking.

I'm not trying to ... attack you, or whatever, but you seem to be biting off a hell of a lot more than you can chew.

 

[Linkal]

Well, that problam is now fixed =] We are making progession with the mod, and more members would mean faster media releases.