Unique Styles?

[IchI]

I have been talking toa couple members of my mod team latly about unique mod styles. Mainly because we need to have are own style that everyone understands before we go off track and start creating all these models that don't look related at all. Since we are anime inspired I was looking into different styles of animation. But then I thought of a setting and enviroment/atmosphere that we could imploment that would not only make us unique but proberly get us banned as a mod

I was thinking of having drug infested streets with rape sex and very high levels of violance. I bit like the game thrill kill (psone game) the game was banned in the UK but many people talked about it because of its level of violance. Not only do I like violance but I think it could be a big pull factor to the mod. What do u think about sex, drugs rape, fighting. What I mean by that is that in the levels we are creating there will be junkys down back streets taking herroin and people fighting (very bloody) also porn shops maybe with naked woman dancing in the window. So.... any views on violance sex and drugs?

 

[The Dark Elf]

The problem is, while doing what you suggest would certainly get you noticed, you'd probably run the risk of having reviews put you down. There's a limit to what people should do, and while there's nothing stopping you from doing it, bare in mind the more violent or inapropriate it gets the less your user base. Think of it as cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Not only that, but those you do attract to play your mod wont be the sort of people you would want.

Done in moderation though, what you suggest is fine. I mean, Duke Nukem had strip joints, they were tame but at the same time people knew what they were and it fit well. So I guess providing you don't go OTT with the shock value then it might be a good idea. And since some of the more well liked anime stuff is pretty violent that might help give you a little more space to experiment.

 

[Majestic XII]

Including violence, sex, drugs, and other potentially offensive and (definitely) mature content in games (or mods) should be a means to an end. What I mean by this is that the violence/sex/drugs shouldn't be there for its own sake, it should be there to advance the story, create atmosphere, or generally lend weight to the vision of the game. A game shouldn't depend on them for its value/validity, but if they add to it--it should stand on its own, withOUT the mature content. Then, looking again, if the mature content adds to the mod in some way, whether it be creating atmosphere or playing a role in the story, then by all means add it! If having these things will make it a better mod (and better in the mature adult sense, not the "Look! Breasts! Drugs!" sense), then go ahead. Otherwise, you should rethink the idea, because it depends too much on shock value (which will also kill its replay value).

Im with you all the way here!

Just include stuff like that if you really need it to improve the atmosphere, don't over-do it.

Im more of a romatic/sad/comedy anime watcher, so im not sure with the whole sex atmosphere thing

 

[IchI]

lol, ye i get what u mean by going over the top. U said games like duke nukem had strip joints. But then strip joints where terrible. I mean it is because the game engine wasn't very powerful but imagen what u could do with hl2. U could have them dancing and even say stuff to u when u press enter. You could have people around jumping around (dirty old men) it would look kewl to be hit by it as soon as u go into this building and there is all this happening. You would be thinking "wtf is am i seeing this correctly"

As i said its only an idea I put forward none of this has gone through the mod leader. I was just curoius about what people actually thought towards violance. Since I am not exactly normal and kinda like violance and blood then its hard to see it from someone elses perpective.

I am not really thinking about that much sex. But more violance and drugs. If u have played deus ex 2 u will have seen those holographic woman u talk to who dance infront of u. I was kinda thinking of that but a bit more kinky and with less clothes (not sure about any naked parts yet, might be a bit weird to get old dirty men playing your game and its not reall needed) But having crack heads in streets tacking drugs. I really think that would be kewl. I have never seen any other mod/game do this before. Well do it well. Your imagination is always better than what your game will turn out to be like (a lot better ) but it would be good to see how well we could pull of this enviroment/atmophere. You wouldn;t really have the time to go inside a strip joint and just sit there watching i really don;t think we will have accessable buildings like that. Maybe just something in the window (this is because hl2 is not the god of all engines and with a large city it will strugly) But the citys will be fulled with rubbish and dead bodys will be randomly round the streets. We have been looking into mapping cpabilitys and bandwdith problems and we have got a way to do all this already. But until the sdk is released we can't really say it will work because we are going from old hammer ways

Anyway if anyone else has any more comments on this subject pleasde post them. Its good to see what people actually think about these things. I would what the female community would think?

 

[The Dark Elf]

lol, ye i get what u mean by going over the top. U said games like duke nukem had strip joints. But then strip joints where terrible. I mean it is because the game engine wasn't very powerful but imagen what u could do with hl2. U could have them dancing and even say stuff to u when u press enter. You could have people around jumping around (dirty old men) it would look kewl to be hit by it as soon as u go into this building and there is all this happening. You would be thinking "wtf is am i seeing this correctly"

As i said its only an idea I put forward none of this has gone through the mod leader. I was just curoius about what people actually thought towards violance. Since I am not exactly normal and kinda like violance and blood then its hard to see it from someone elses perpective.

I am not really thinking about that much sex. But more violance and drugs. If u have played deus ex 2 u will have seen those holographic woman u talk to who dance infront of u. I was kinda thinking of that but a bit more kinky and with less clothes (not sure about any naked parts yet, might be a bit weird to get old dirty men playing your game and its not reall needed) But having crack heads in streets tacking drugs. I really think that would be kewl. I have never seen any other mod/game do this before. Well do it well. Your imagination is always better than what your game will turn out to be like (a lot better ) but it would be good to see how well we could pull of this enviroment/atmophere. You wouldn;t really have the time to go inside a strip joint and just sit there watching i really don;t think we will have accessable buildings like that. Maybe just something in the window (this is because hl2 is not the god of all engines and with a large city it will strugly) But the citys will be fulled with rubbish and dead bodys will be randomly round the streets. We have been looking into mapping cpabilitys and bandwdith problems and we have got a way to do all this already. But until the sdk is released we can't really say it will work because we are going from old hammer ways

Anyway if anyone else has any more comments on this subject pleasde post them. Its good to see what people actually think about these things. I would what the female community would think?

Oh I think I see what you mean.. Basically a really anal attention to detail? Well in that case I'll be annoyed if people don't do such detail in their mods!

Absolutely no excuse not to have really impressive maps in Source, I'm sure it can certainly handle it with no problems.

 

[IchI]

Well we are going to be situating maps in citys. These mas will be very very big. We already have over 10,000 roads and paths prefabed in hammer (hl1) so all we need to do to construct are city now is fit the peaces together (the prefabs still need texturing obviasly and will be done with the overlay tool when the sdk comes out). My point is that the citys will be at least 2 kilometers with cars people and 3 teams fighting in these huge areas. They will also have to be sky scrapers for corporate teams and police stations. So I strongly dought we will be having all buildings accessble with full interias. Basiclly because hl2 will just not be able to handle this as well as bandwidth problems. We will have to do a lot of testing with the sdk when it comes out.

 

[Argyll]

My mod is thinking of rating ourselves M for Mature in order to include cursing and possibly the slight pornographic element (magazines or posters in maps) as well as it is going to obviously be violent (not overly though).

Maybe this will keep the 13 year old '1337 h4Xz0rz' away from the mod as well.

 

[IchI]

Argyll I really think this could be a good idea for your mod. Since your mod is a modern day realistic combat game, u could really imply the sorrows of fighting. Now only have it bloody but try and get the person playing to panic and think "SHIT I AM GOING TO DIE" obviasly u will not be able to imploment the troma of ww2 and definatly not ww1. But if u can get people screaming for help and explosions going of everywhere and get a sense of been scared with the enviroment it would really work wonders. I have never seen a game fully pull of this effect except call of duty. In some call of duty levels u really do get imersed into the gameplay mainly because of the sound effects and whats going on around u. As with all mods if u are a mod leader u really should think about this style. Most mods have just started modelling and not even thought about these things. They as the mod leader can imagen what theyw ant to acomplise, but as for making concept art from that and showing other members what they really want to acomplise they not many mods have done this. Is a good idea for most mods and can really bring your team together in a way. But as I said Argyll I think it would really work in your game. You don't have to be in the biggest war on earth to be scared. Just look at the shanty town sequence on tears of the sun (film) they is not many people dieing but u really feal for the people who have been tortured and raped by the rebles.

 

[IchI]

Btw I dunno if u noticed, but the new vb3 poll system u can see who has posted what. Just click on the numbers at the end of the polls and see who voted for each one. Thats a good thing because u see loads of people just voting random things. Thought I would point it out since I think I am one of the first to use the new vb3 polling system.

 

[IchI]

what did u mean by this:

This is incredibly insightful! The best war mods (and games, eg Call of Duty) take you into the proverbial shit--Argyll, your team has a lot to work for!

I don't get it? I was talking about games settings. Because Argylls mod is about small operations and not 100,000 omeha massica. This is why i mentioned it. What does insightful mean and preveriable, or what ever it was.... ;(

 

[IchI]

Owww. I thought u was mad at me trying to say I was wrong. Its hard been stupid u know Its actually turning out to be quiet constructive conversation. If onyl we had more people ideas in here

 

[Argyll]

That's the reason to rate the mod M is because War and even life in the Army during peace time is rated M

Believe me... swearing is a HUGE part. But, the content of my mod wouldn't be there to be swearing and it wouldn't all be... it would be subtle, but still enough that might offend some players and for that, would require a Mature rating.

 

[The Dark Elf]

That's the reason to rate the mod M is because War and even life in the Army during peace time is rated M

Believe me... swearing is a HUGE part. But, the content of my mod wouldn't be there to be swearing and it wouldn't all be... it would be subtle, but still enough that might offend some players and for that, would require a Mature rating.

If you've good reason to have tons of swearing in it, and its not just in there to shock or show off I don't mind it, same goes for the other stuff mentioned on this thread. Providing it's there for a good reason then I welcome it. I just can't abide films for example where there's tons of swearing for the sake of it.

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IchI: Just read you team plan to do a whole city, ok in this situation then yes, be as anal as you can, down to the bird shit on the buildings and pavement. That level of detail, the nice area's the not so nice area's and the places you just wouldn't go after dark. That in itself would make a really enjoyable mod. Oh and I strongly believe the source engine wouldn't have any problems doing the interiors of buildings along with the exterior parts of your city. At the very least you can load maps in for the interiors and move between the different maps seamlessly, could in HL1 with landscape/transitions, so Source is bound to be quite capable of it. You could put all the smaller building interiors in one single map if you wanted to, or lots and lots of separate ones for quicker loading.. Course if its multiplayer thats not a good solution. But then I'm sure Gabe mentioned in that ERC interview that there's no real limit on what you can add to a map, so long as you optimise it it'll run with tons of detail in it even on a low end machine. All in the occlusion, clipping, portals and LOD's.

 

[IchI]

not many people notice this but speach is proberly one of the biggest realistic pull factors in my opinion. If u think about when u are playing a game and u hear your enemy talking to each other (normally only in single player games) saying stuff like "flank right take them out, give them hell!" etc... not only does this tell u that the person knows u are there but some times u kinda in a way get in there head and try and put your self in there persision to see what they mean. U may only do this in a split second but the mind is a very powerful thing. It would be interesting to see how a game with automated voices in would work. Especially in multiplayer. Like, say if u saw the enemy for a split secend. The game engine knows u have seen them for a certain amount of time so your player says "shit i think i just saw something" or "enemy spotted watch your flanks" these little things are very emotive because it seems weird but it could get u as a team working together. Without u doing anything. You all work as a team and the computer in a war is helping u. I supose u could class it as AI. Not everyone likes giving orders. But if the person giving them is clear and simple and everyone else with u hears the same thing. Theya re obviasly going to think about doing it. Not everyone will follow then but if u saw a guy running following the orders and uw as left by your self running to the left when they went right. Then wouldn't u think again and maybe follow them? This would be very very and I mean very very hard to achive to get the engine to understand situations and make commands that players who noticed the iregularity say. But just imagen if it was done correctly. It would be truly a masterpeiace in gaming.

 

[IchI]

Ye I specially bought my 5.1 suround sound speakers and my sound blaster audigy sound card to play games and watch films with. I have a home theater system down stairs and my living room is like a cinema. Sound is everything and can really bring u into something.

Well I also bought them because it all only cost me 100pound and also sound in cs is like having wallhack with 5.1 suround sound because uc an tell where anyone is as long as they make noise

People making mods never really pay attention to small details like this and when games come out with 5.1 suround sound. Even when hl1 got updated to it. People didn't care. But having digital audio is as good as having amazing gfx. Music can also play a big part of 1 player games but also multiplayer games. If u are playing a 1 multiplayer game its very hard to imploment music. But u can if u have clubs in the steets. Imagen running past in a gun battle and your room is shacking ebcause not only the explosions and gun battles but the music in the background, people talking screaming. Even police shouting "get on the ground now or we will open fire!"

Thats a good thing to point out. When have u ever seen a game where they don;t have to cut to a fmv sequence just for a cop to get behind a car and say "get on the ****ing ground now or we will use force, this is your last warning..... Ok lads drop him *guns start to fire, peopel die citizens flee for there saftly screaming there heads of. People moan and cry as theya re shot and lose there loved ones*

Basiclly the way its ment to be and not all this terrible lets make it entertaining, they say nothing and run at u when u have a chainsaw out... That has no emotion, u feel nothing in gta3. Its a terrible game. Not only is the violance done completely wrong but they make a joke out of it. I supose this is a good point to that people don;t get influenced by the game. But boy its so anoying at times. The only good thing gta3 ever had was the fact that the cars handle ok.... saying that they where pritty crap. The game is a joke basiclly. Not emotion, no fealing, u are only playing it to acomplise what they are told to do. its not emersing u or making u feel anything. You are iver playing it to acomplise a goal or u are bored and have nothing better to do. Well thats my opinion anyway. I am looking into more mature scenarios.

 

[leadfish]

I haven't voted in the poll, but my opinion on the matter is thus: I love detail Who remembers the first couple levels of the Russian campaign in Call Of Duty? The fact that they had officers shoot men who came back from the line was great. The better part is that they paid attention to historical fact, and detail. That game drew you as the player right into the fray, and I simply lost track of time while playing it (I clocked it in 2 or 3 sessions :$)

So far, I agree with everything that's been posted in this thread, and I sincerely hope that you'll be able to pull it off, even right down to the pigeon shit lol

 

[Argyll]

Yea... I guess what I am saying with regards to my mod is that it would be like a war movie where cursing comes at times of distress. There won't be any unnecessary comments and no racism or biggoted comments that might really offend someone.

Just the realities

 

[Majestic XII]

Music and sound are as important as graphics in a mod, so make it good