Released. Big fancy post about it coming after I get some damn sleep.
http://spring1944.com/s44/downloads.php
Spring:1944 dev and testing
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Warlord Zsinj
- Imperial Winter Developer
- Posts: 3742
- Joined: 24 Aug 2004, 08:59
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Well done nemo!
Just a few comments, mostly minor things I'm noticing:
- There's a hole on the inside of the german logistical storage. If you look on one side the semicircular shed seems open at both ends, but looking from externally it is clearly covered at one end. Simply a matter of duplicating that face and flipping it.
- Animations are on the whole, excellent. I love the fact that units will drop to fire, and the little load animations. Lots of attention to detail, it's all very nice.
- That being said, animations are breaking with significant regularity. Everything from run scripts, to aiming scripts, to reload scripts. This was just in one sitting, but I noticed a lot of scripts locking up, or playing at the wrong time.
- The german mortar's weapon seems to be exploding in mid-air?
- How accurate are your scales? The tanks look like they could easily be made bigger.
- Who did your british accents? Flozi? Mind if I borrow whoever it was to do some of the Imperial voices?
- The british accents are very good - the germans aren't as good, I don't think. Some of them are fine, but there are some grating ones that repeat very often.
- The quality of voice acks seems to be a little low. I don't know if this is due to microphone issues, mixing issues or compression issues, but I think these need to improve.
- The large shockwave you have on some of the larger explosions is nice, but seems to be somewhat inconsistent. For example, you have the shockwave on a number of the big tanks, but you have a shockwave of similar size on the cannons mounted on the armoured cars. Surely those two weapons are very different in terms of power. Visually, ignoring the large dirt cloud (the big shockwave is far easier to see, especially from further away), these two units appear to have similar power - and the cannon mounted armoured car shoots faster. Obviously they're not the same, but it's important visually. It also means firefights can become very visually busy very quickly, which makes it hard to absorb what is going on and make decisions.
- British infantry still need a makeover, especially their faces. It's kind of strange to see them pushing some well-detailed cannons, despite having little to no detail on themselves.
- Really can't comment on gameplay as I haven't really played at all, but in the quick firefight I had, units seem to die very quickly. I felt a lot more comfortable playing at speed 0.8
- Spikes textures are lovely, but they could use better reflectivity maps.
Just a few comments, mostly minor things I'm noticing:
- There's a hole on the inside of the german logistical storage. If you look on one side the semicircular shed seems open at both ends, but looking from externally it is clearly covered at one end. Simply a matter of duplicating that face and flipping it.
- Animations are on the whole, excellent. I love the fact that units will drop to fire, and the little load animations. Lots of attention to detail, it's all very nice.
- That being said, animations are breaking with significant regularity. Everything from run scripts, to aiming scripts, to reload scripts. This was just in one sitting, but I noticed a lot of scripts locking up, or playing at the wrong time.
- The german mortar's weapon seems to be exploding in mid-air?
- How accurate are your scales? The tanks look like they could easily be made bigger.
- Who did your british accents? Flozi? Mind if I borrow whoever it was to do some of the Imperial voices?
- The british accents are very good - the germans aren't as good, I don't think. Some of them are fine, but there are some grating ones that repeat very often.
- The quality of voice acks seems to be a little low. I don't know if this is due to microphone issues, mixing issues or compression issues, but I think these need to improve.
- The large shockwave you have on some of the larger explosions is nice, but seems to be somewhat inconsistent. For example, you have the shockwave on a number of the big tanks, but you have a shockwave of similar size on the cannons mounted on the armoured cars. Surely those two weapons are very different in terms of power. Visually, ignoring the large dirt cloud (the big shockwave is far easier to see, especially from further away), these two units appear to have similar power - and the cannon mounted armoured car shoots faster. Obviously they're not the same, but it's important visually. It also means firefights can become very visually busy very quickly, which makes it hard to absorb what is going on and make decisions.
- British infantry still need a makeover, especially their faces. It's kind of strange to see them pushing some well-detailed cannons, despite having little to no detail on themselves.
- Really can't comment on gameplay as I haven't really played at all, but in the quick firefight I had, units seem to die very quickly. I felt a lot more comfortable playing at speed 0.8
- Spikes textures are lovely, but they could use better reflectivity maps.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Itching to give it a try, and the guide is very good, but missing some front-matter of the gameplay, like explaining how flags are planted (it does mention that infantry destroy them).
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Inf animations are a bit rough, yeah. I had a rewrite planned before this release but with the impending spring install and some issues getting it all working I figured it could wait.
I'll check the mortar weapon. Spiked handled the scaling so I figured they're pretty accurate (he's generally very careful about such things).
Floz did the brits, yeah. Nooooo you can never have him!
German we're waiting on new ones from a native speaker - the current set was Spiked learning german in about an hour.
Explosive effects should probably be looked at, yeah. I did them in something of a hurry.
Infantry remake is on the eventual to-do list, as soon as we capture Hootie to do the character models for us.
Raaagh tired and stressed now.
I'll check the mortar weapon. Spiked handled the scaling so I figured they're pretty accurate (he's generally very careful about such things).
Floz did the brits, yeah. Nooooo you can never have him!
German we're waiting on new ones from a native speaker - the current set was Spiked learning german in about an hour.
Explosive effects should probably be looked at, yeah. I did them in something of a hurry.
Infantry remake is on the eventual to-do list, as soon as we capture Hootie to do the character models for us.
Raaagh tired and stressed now.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
just a suggestion..
In real life tanks are very strong and flexible compared to just troops.
They are much more mobile,have huge ranges and do massive dmg.
their disadvantage is that u cant have so many because you are limited by:
1)fuel
2)costs
3)production time
so i suggest the next gameplay concept:
Make troops cost only energy(maybe a tiny symbolic metal price to make it feel more realistic),make them cheap,and make widgets so they can be easily transported by planes or by vehicles without having to micro them heavily.
Make tanks cost alote of metal and be built slowly,make them need refueling.
What you think?that way you can make it feel very close to life..you have limited planes and tanks but masses of soldiers...
Its important to make tanks/air and soldiers need different types of resources.that way you can overcome the fact tanks are so powerfull and u dont need to choose between building tanks units or planes cause they need different res.i think it will make it more tactical,you have front lines of soldiers and limited amounts of tanks and planes,maybe make converter economy very hard...that way only on maps wioth certain amounts of metal we will see heavy tanks and planes just like t2 and t3 in ota based games.
In real life tanks are very strong and flexible compared to just troops.
They are much more mobile,have huge ranges and do massive dmg.
their disadvantage is that u cant have so many because you are limited by:
1)fuel
2)costs
3)production time
so i suggest the next gameplay concept:
Make troops cost only energy(maybe a tiny symbolic metal price to make it feel more realistic),make them cheap,and make widgets so they can be easily transported by planes or by vehicles without having to micro them heavily.
Make tanks cost alote of metal and be built slowly,make them need refueling.
What you think?that way you can make it feel very close to life..you have limited planes and tanks but masses of soldiers...
Its important to make tanks/air and soldiers need different types of resources.that way you can overcome the fact tanks are so powerfull and u dont need to choose between building tanks units or planes cause they need different res.i think it will make it more tactical,you have front lines of soldiers and limited amounts of tanks and planes,maybe make converter economy very hard...that way only on maps wioth certain amounts of metal we will see heavy tanks and planes just like t2 and t3 in ota based games.
Last edited by DZHIBRISH on 24 Dec 2007, 16:58, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Please play the game before making any suggestions.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Downloading.
If some or all has been done that is very good,unfortunatly i wont have time to gain exp in the game since im downlaoding it very slow and i wont have time to play it a lote today and afterwards ill be away for long.
I wrote what i wrote so that maybe the devs might draw some ideas from it and i do thik its a strong game concept(not mine).
If some or all has been done that is very good,unfortunatly i wont have time to gain exp in the game since im downlaoding it very slow and i wont have time to play it a lote today and afterwards ill be away for long.
I wrote what i wrote so that maybe the devs might draw some ideas from it and i do thik its a strong game concept(not mine).
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Honestly, it's a scarily common occurance for us.Argh wrote:LOL.
p.s. I didn't think my acks were all that good. The sound quality on them is also particularly dire.
Holes in models are Spiked's favourite thing it seems. Don't look too closely at any german or american gun barrels!
Nemo expertly explained the rest. Though, I already asked Hootie to have a go at a new (russian, to start with) infantry model... Gnome was already aware of that, Zsinj.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
ok..
played it..
first impressions:i cant see soldiers.. impossible...i cany know where my snipers are..whjere my light machinegunners are..nothing.. soldier war is impossible till u make each type stand out otherwise its just blind mixing and spamming.
played it..
first impressions:i cant see soldiers.. impossible...i cany know where my snipers are..whjere my light machinegunners are..nothing.. soldier war is impossible till u make each type stand out otherwise its just blind mixing and spamming.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Turn down your icondistance. We are considering scaling the models up.
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Guessmyname
- Posts: 3301
- Joined: 28 Apr 2005, 21:07
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
I don't like the Brit acks personally. They sound fake, no-one in Britain speaks like that... It feels really overdone.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Blame FLOZi!
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
hey..how about making small circles under troops that show what kind it is..or maybe just different shapes...
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Or maybe, icons.DZHIBRISH wrote:hey..how about making small circles under troops that show what kind it is..or maybe just different shapes...
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SpikedHelmet
- MC: Legacy & Spring 1944 Developer
- Posts: 1948
- Joined: 21 Sep 2004, 08:25
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
DZHIBRISH wrote:just a suggestion..
In real life tanks are very strong and flexible compared to just troops.
They are much more mobile,have huge ranges and do massive dmg.
their disadvantage is that u cant have so many because you are limited by:
1)fuel
2)costs
3)production time
so i suggest the next gameplay concept:
Make troops cost only energy(maybe a tiny symbolic metal price to make it feel more realistic),make them cheap,and make widgets so they can be easily transported by planes or by vehicles without having to micro them heavily.
Make tanks cost alote of metal and be built slowly,make them need refueling.
What you think?that way you can make it feel very close to life..you have limited planes and tanks but masses of soldiers...
Its important to make tanks/air and soldiers need different types of resources.that way you can overcome the fact tanks are so powerfull and u dont need to choose between building tanks units or planes cause they need different res.i think it will make it more tactical,you have front lines of soldiers and limited amounts of tanks and planes,maybe make converter economy very hard...that way only on maps wioth certain amounts of metal we will see heavy tanks and planes just like t2 and t3 in ota based games.
Yeah, LOL, that's essentially exactly how it is. Infantry are dead cheap and, with a few exceptions, incredibly numerous (low buildtimes) compared to tanks. You can have 100 infantry running around and maybe 5 tanks, a few light vehicles, etc.
The problem with scaling up dramatically is that it changes gameplay. Maps become "smaller", and less "epic". Like the others have said, icons are important. On small maps you can keep zoomed in, on large maps its best to quickly zoom out to see the icons and back in if you need to select anyone specific.
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SpikedHelmet
- MC: Legacy & Spring 1944 Developer
- Posts: 1948
- Joined: 21 Sep 2004, 08:25
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Oh also
That's because I did the German voices, and I'm not German! :DThe british accents are very good - the germans aren't as good, I don't think. Some of them are fine, but there are some grating ones that repeat very often.
AFAIK they're accurate, but I haven't actually checked in some time.- How accurate are your scales? The tanks look like they could easily be made bigger.
ALL of the infantry need a makeover. They are shitty models and shitty textures, and they desperately need to be redone.- British infantry still need a makeover, especially their faces. It's kind of strange to see them pushing some well-detailed cannons, despite having little to no detail on themselves.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
Sorry in advance, for invading your thread...The problem with scaling up dramatically is that it changes gameplay. Maps become "smaller", and less "epic".
1. It certainly shifts gameplay towards tactical play, as well as completely hosing any balance based on accuracy and area effects of weapons. It'd require substantially rebuilding balance throughout. Difficult issue at best.
2. It greatly increases the amount of stuff that's going to bork due to pathfinding problems. My experience has shown that the upper limits on good pathfinding are around 8 X, Z, unless you have really unusual maps or slope tolerances.
All of that said... at typical zoom, 1X1 infantry is teeny. It's a pain in the arse to deal with them, if you're not using icondistances that are short. The SWS infantry, btw, are easily 1:1.5 or so on your guys, IIRC, and are a lot easier to see and manipulate. I'm thinking I'll stick with that scale- scale trees be damned. I'll slip something into the backstory that explains why they're all saplings
As an alternative idea... um, why not just ship this with small maps, where people can realistically expect to see their characters without losing them? It might help with other balance issues, as well.
If people want to play giant, SupCom-esque games, by all means, let them... after all, there's always the Platter Widget, if they're too stupid to know where their people are and refuse to adjust IconDistance...
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
SWS infantry are 1.7:1 with ours. I was considering scaling them up again (because everything is so small right now that we could afford a 50% increase or so without breaking pathfinding, ect), but Upspring can't resize things atm without making the models very dark. I have no idea why.
I don't think it would break things too too badly, since infantry are the units most affected by AoE weapons, and this would buff them somewhat (groups would be less tightly packed, fewer infantry destroyed by a single shell), and accuracy on the whole is low-ish, so making the models and hitspheres a bit bigger wouldn't be the end of the world. Only way to really know is try it, of course. I'd do a mockup but for the aforementioned UpSpring borkage.
I don't think it would break things too too badly, since infantry are the units most affected by AoE weapons, and this would buff them somewhat (groups would be less tightly packed, fewer infantry destroyed by a single shell), and accuracy on the whole is low-ish, so making the models and hitspheres a bit bigger wouldn't be the end of the world. Only way to really know is try it, of course. I'd do a mockup but for the aforementioned UpSpring borkage.
Re: Spring:1944 dev and testing
An annoying thing: When a player drops, and I as spechost wanted to .cheat .team 3 him, there was nothing to take, no building got spawned.