Ah yes, I missed that too! Its just a habit for me to test units in new games by ground shooting, see what weapons they have etc.And attack ground - to shoot wreckage? Why else would you want to...
Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
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Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
Played it -great game, lots of improvment still nessesary, but actually fun already! Still lacks a little bit the feeling that you actually make a diffrence in the tide of combat, but i guess you need more people playing it in the same team, for that effect to appear.
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
I won't reply to all the GUI comments in detail - most of them I concur to, and all in all, the GUI is certainly still WIP.
A few points I wanted to address though:
Knorke, thanks for the praise - that's mostly bobs work!
In general, I'd like to suggest you guys give it a try together with some others of us. That way you can really see what the game is like in action. Next test game will be running next Sunday, same time (17:00 UTC). Wreckages and not seeing console are sure to be fixed (in a version I'll upload Saturday at the latest). I'll make a thread in a moment. Edit: Test-game thread here.
oh, @ Picasso - glad to hear it :). I do think balance altogether still needs a good bit of work - and I think you're right in saying that the Engines don't have enough sway yet (even/especially later game).
A few points I wanted to address though:
Thanks, I was wondering when that happens (seemed random to me)!zwzsg wrote:- If I click anywhere during the start count down, the mech selection screen doesn't appear (but I can still build one from factory)
Yes, on levelup you can select which Ability to level, and then activate abilities there (guess a screenshot showing GUI functions would be an idea...).- Engine control widget hides the chat. Does it serve any other purpose than showing a walk/run button?
Repair is not restricted to yourself - you can repair other Engines with the Helios.- To repair, I had to click on the button, then on myself. I would have expected to instantly apply the repair to me. Same for EMP.
At first I was of the same opinion. By now I don't think it's that bad - after all, you can end up in pretty deep shit if your heat goes above 90%, and this should make that rather clear even to newbs :).knorke wrote: -Instead of "heat > 80%" warning just make the heat display turn red or something. This kind of pop-ups are more what i expect to see in an application but not in a game. Or just make heat display slowly fade from blue to red and at 80% it starts flashing etc.
Knorke, thanks for the praise - that's mostly bobs work!
Thats bad. If you have the replay knocking about, could you upload here/send it me ?knorke wrote:-In first game, my mech (the most left one i think) was walking backwards all the time and would not shot. Not sure if i got it unfucked or restarted.
Ya, all the abilities are in real need of some visibility/gfx. Ballista is the most shooty, and therefore fun alone - course the others may be underpowered at the moment, but like you say, things are certainly different when you have 2 or 3 colleagues running around, and some opponents trying to mess you up :).-Did not really notice what "Rampage" does. Now read that it gives better rof. Hm. Maybe make it fire more guns or different gfx or something. Though i only tried that mech briefly maybe Rampage gets better at levels.
-Playing with the Ballistica mech was alot more fun.
In general, I'd like to suggest you guys give it a try together with some others of us. That way you can really see what the game is like in action. Next test game will be running next Sunday, same time (17:00 UTC). Wreckages and not seeing console are sure to be fixed (in a version I'll upload Saturday at the latest). I'll make a thread in a moment. Edit: Test-game thread here.
oh, @ Picasso - glad to hear it :). I do think balance altogether still needs a good bit of work - and I think you're right in saying that the Engines don't have enough sway yet (even/especially later game).
Last edited by SeanHeron on 12 Feb 2011, 22:37, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
sean, a few things
units:
less sporadic team coloring OR add team colored platers
would be nice if the mechs had colors for faster identification. Like red, white etc not grey. I don't mean spots of colors I am saying like a color scheme. don't want to do it? Give me to obj or a wings file+the base texture, would take me maybe 20 minutes to do the lot of heroes.
More glow on the hero units
ui
needs to say what abilities the units have so I am not just blindly clicking buttans.
make the engine stuff on the bottom so the ui isn't taking up all parts of the screen.
map:
ssmf would be nice
better water colors for bump water. hell steal the ones from gunmetal or something.
the unit lighting on the map is foobar. Better unit lighting settings would make a huge bit of difference.
sum1 has been scaling in upspring...
units:
less sporadic team coloring OR add team colored platers
would be nice if the mechs had colors for faster identification. Like red, white etc not grey. I don't mean spots of colors I am saying like a color scheme. don't want to do it? Give me to obj or a wings file+the base texture, would take me maybe 20 minutes to do the lot of heroes.
More glow on the hero units
ui
needs to say what abilities the units have so I am not just blindly clicking buttans.
make the engine stuff on the bottom so the ui isn't taking up all parts of the screen.
map:
ssmf would be nice
better water colors for bump water. hell steal the ones from gunmetal or something.
the unit lighting on the map is foobar. Better unit lighting settings would make a huge bit of difference.
sum1 has been scaling in upspring...
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
about shields i would suggest something different - no shield surrounding whole unit (tho its still good idea) but little shield which is same size as unit, which is placed in front of it. so it basicly covers only front of engine, not whole unit. could provide some fun microing (trying to keep engine behind it).
tbh main suggestion i got is 'quantity over quality'. i want to rape and pillage, not kill few tanks per minute
tbh main suggestion i got is 'quantity over quality'. i want to rape and pillage, not kill few tanks per minute
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
when i loaded the game up it said:
"couldn't load archive 'lups' for 'engins of war- battel for busan alpha 0.02'"
iv been confused on where to put the lups file, under mods?under games?but the read me said under luaui?...
so i did both, under both names the sources recommended me to......not rlly working out
what am i doing wronge
why can it all be under a ArchiveMover...save us/me/it the trouble...
"couldn't load archive 'lups' for 'engins of war- battel for busan alpha 0.02'"
iv been confused on where to put the lups file, under mods?under games?but the read me said under luaui?...
so i did both, under both names the sources recommended me to......not rlly working out
what am i doing wronge
why can it all be under a ArchiveMover...save us/me/it the trouble...
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
save it in mods folder and double click it
tbh i dont know why whole installation process is hidden in this sea of letters
tbh i dont know why whole installation process is hidden in this sea of letters
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
nope...did not work.....Wombat wrote:save it in mods folder and double click it
tbh i dont know why whole installation process is hidden in this sea of letters
i have a rlly shity comp....might it have someting to do with it??
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
First off, sorry Nightcold that it's not working for you 
. I've put clear installation info up front in the first post now (thanks for pointing that out Wombat).
I'd suggest you try this: remove the LUPS-file you put in your Luaui folder (though I tested, and that didn't give me an error). Make sure you have the Lups-file (and just one copy of it) in the same folder as your other game/mods - and it needs to still be in its zipped form (ie as LUPS_MODULE.sdz).
It should work then. If it doesn't, please check your infolog again, it should now be giving you a different error than "couldn't load archive...". - if you have a new error, post it here (this is where your "shitty comp" might make problems....).
If all that doesn't work, you can also try grabbing a portable version of the game (that is, portable Spring + all the game files required). You'll need to unpack with 7zip, and should then be able to run it directly if you execute "Run_EnginesofWar.bat" (I'm assuming your on windows). Change the resolution with SpringSettings.exe if that gives an error...
-----
Back to feedback:
On color scheme - Thanks for your offer - and I'm quite happy to take you up on it! I've got to organise the source files first though - I'll let you know when I have them.
I was thinking along your lines yesterday (given it's been brought up repeatedly). I like the Bishops current whiter touch, but think the Hellbore, and probably the Ballista need work (Ballista's Wolf-in-exiles texture, I'd like to check back with him before messing with that. I'm assuming bob will be ok with his being changed).
Ssmf - indeed. My thoughts atm (well, and from a long time ago) go in a different direction though - I'm thinking of setting the map up as sm3, which would make messing around with the layout, textures, etc. far easier for now. Then when we're happy with it (hopefully sometime in the foreseeable future), go down on it and make an ssmf out of it. (And yes I realise sm3 == no shadows. Since losview also == no shadows, and seeing what you can see is an absolute must for this type of game, I'm willing to pay that price for now).
. I've put clear installation info up front in the first post now (thanks for pointing that out Wombat).I'd suggest you try this: remove the LUPS-file you put in your Luaui folder (though I tested, and that didn't give me an error). Make sure you have the Lups-file (and just one copy of it) in the same folder as your other game/mods - and it needs to still be in its zipped form (ie as LUPS_MODULE.sdz).
It should work then. If it doesn't, please check your infolog again, it should now be giving you a different error than "couldn't load archive...". - if you have a new error, post it here (this is where your "shitty comp" might make problems....).
If all that doesn't work, you can also try grabbing a portable version of the game (that is, portable Spring + all the game files required). You'll need to unpack with 7zip, and should then be able to run it directly if you execute "Run_EnginesofWar.bat" (I'm assuming your on windows). Change the resolution with SpringSettings.exe if that gives an error...
-----
Back to feedback:
Teamplatter is on my (long) list of things to do - I agree team recognition is really poor atm.smoth wrote: units:
less sporadic team coloring OR add team colored platers
would be nice if the mechs had colors for faster identification. Like red, white etc not grey. I don't mean spots of colors I am saying like a color scheme. don't want to do it? Give me to obj or a wings file+the base texture, would take me maybe 20 minutes to do the lot of heroes.
On color scheme - Thanks for your offer - and I'm quite happy to take you up on it! I've got to organise the source files first though - I'll let you know when I have them.
I was thinking along your lines yesterday (given it's been brought up repeatedly). I like the Bishops current whiter touch, but think the Hellbore, and probably the Ballista need work (Ballista's Wolf-in-exiles texture, I'd like to check back with him before messing with that. I'm assuming bob will be ok with his being changed).
#2 and #3 I wouldn't even have realised - thanks for pointing it out (maybe I can get Picasso to look into his old map a bit again? Hint, hint.) Oh, on unit-lighting - is that with regard to having the night widget on, or regardless of that?!smoth wrote: map:
ssmf would be nice
better water colors for bump water. hell steal the ones from gunmetal or something.
the unit lighting on the map is foobar. Better unit lighting settings would make a huge bit of difference.
Ssmf - indeed. My thoughts atm (well, and from a long time ago) go in a different direction though - I'm thinking of setting the map up as sm3, which would make messing around with the layout, textures, etc. far easier for now. Then when we're happy with it (hopefully sometime in the foreseeable future), go down on it and make an ssmf out of it. (And yes I realise sm3 == no shadows. Since losview also == no shadows, and seeing what you can see is an absolute must for this type of game, I'm willing to pay that price for now).
Noted, but I doubt it's something that'll be addressed quickly (except perhaps by using the unscaled version - can't remember what appx. size they were)smoth wrote: sum1 has been scaling in upspring...
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
team platter and health bars steal them from gundam. 
problem solved.
forget about sm3 I have.I could probably whip up a nice ssmf and bumpwater settings of the map, would need a 1024 of the texture tho so I can get cracking. I am not sure how present you have been but you need to look at gundam, it is a big download but the maps alone should impress you. I am looking at doing something different for los view which should be pretty neat and allow for shadows. SM3 as much as I used to want it, ssmf has given me all that I wanted but in a functional form.
what about the water cooling suggestion?
problem solved.forget about sm3 I have.I could probably whip up a nice ssmf and bumpwater settings of the map, would need a 1024 of the texture tho so I can get cracking. I am not sure how present you have been but you need to look at gundam, it is a big download but the maps alone should impress you. I am looking at doing something different for los view which should be pretty neat and allow for shadows. SM3 as much as I used to want it, ssmf has given me all that I wanted but in a functional form.
what about the water cooling suggestion?
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
I do happen to have Gundam 1.26 installed ÔÇô and I'm well aware of the beauty of your maps! (And believe me, using one of them was a definite attraction - difficulty was none sprung to my eye that'd work well with the "lines" concept). However, I don't see us releasing on IndieDB for a while, so I'm not yet too worried about looks ÔÇô I was assuming people round here would tolerate a little ÔÇ£uglinessÔÇØ .
Our primary consideration at the moment is getting the gameplay up and running. So this is what we'll be prioritising for the moment. Where visuals are relevant to gameplay though, of course we'll try to address that (such as in distinction of friend and foe Regular Forces, different Engines, seeing Abilities being used, etc.).
So regarding the map  I reckon we'll still be going through a number of iterations of the road, river, base position, bridge (or no) and urban areas layout (and maybe gradual texture improvements). And I'll be damned if I compile the map every single time I play around with something. So, as it's not exactly a lot of work to setup  sm3. Like I said, I do mean to switch back someday  but I fail to see the real drawback in going with sm3 for the moment.
On bumpwater - I'm more than happy to steal from Gunmetal - and who am I to say "no" if you want to put together custom settings for Busan
. I'd really save yourself the bother with ssmf for now though, as I highly doubt the map is going to stay the way it is atm.
. Our primary consideration at the moment is getting the gameplay up and running. So this is what we'll be prioritising for the moment. Where visuals are relevant to gameplay though, of course we'll try to address that (such as in distinction of friend and foe Regular Forces, different Engines, seeing Abilities being used, etc.).
So regarding the map  I reckon we'll still be going through a number of iterations of the road, river, base position, bridge (or no) and urban areas layout (and maybe gradual texture improvements). And I'll be damned if I compile the map every single time I play around with something. So, as it's not exactly a lot of work to setup  sm3. Like I said, I do mean to switch back someday  but I fail to see the real drawback in going with sm3 for the moment.
On bumpwater - I'm more than happy to steal from Gunmetal - and who am I to say "no" if you want to put together custom settings for Busan
. I'd really save yourself the bother with ssmf for now though, as I highly doubt the map is going to stay the way it is atm.
- I assume you meant water coloring, ie the bumpwater here ?smoth wrote:what about the water cooling suggestion?
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
No I mean if I am hot and standing in water. Any possibility of cooling faster in water?
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
Yeeas, I have thought of that also :D Edit: And I think it would be pretty damn sweet![/Edit] Since I'm doing about zero coding at the moment though, it's not really for me to implement...
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
ok thx, i got the game working...had to rename it to a sdz....
my two cents:
-engins move rlly slow...there is hardly a diffrence between walking and running
.....i dont rlly know what ablility is what when iam leveing up...
leveling up dose not fell all that signifigent
-copses pile up alot, includeing all the times my engin died....
-imo turrets and engines should not have the flashlight thing
-is it posiable to make controlling the engine more dynamic and skill related...people like things that they can get better at....
-engins stay in the same position position in that they last fired in...it looks awkward when they keep on walking forward
my two cents:
-engins move rlly slow...there is hardly a diffrence between walking and running
.....i dont rlly know what ablility is what when iam leveing up...
leveling up dose not fell all that signifigent
-copses pile up alot, includeing all the times my engin died....
-imo turrets and engines should not have the flashlight thing
-is it posiable to make controlling the engine more dynamic and skill related...people like things that they can get better at....
-engins stay in the same position position in that they last fired in...it looks awkward when they keep on walking forward
-
bobthedinosaur
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Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
i remember a corpse decay gadget lying around some place, maybe it was for that starwars mod. any ways something like that, where corpse only have x long to live might work.
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
so about those models and textures?
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
Thanks nightcold for the feedback! I'll address some of the points later.
New version. Same link. And I forgot to change the version number - oh well, hope that doesn't cause any trouble....
Changelog:
Changes by Alter Heide:
- ability names displayed in GUI for levelups
- a bit of base props was added for both sides
- internal restructuring in Engine Class and related files
- click before Gamestart now doesn't kill the engine selection screen (thanks for pointing out Zwzsg)
- Engines now give more XP than Regular units
Changes by Sean
- EngineTracker GUI added
- SinkingWreckage (by Zwzsg) added
- old/ugly but functional (for me with lazy effort) version of Teamplatter added (by Trepan)
- RedConsole added - (by Regret)
(I really want to point out here again - if it's not obvious from the changelog already - the person doing the actual work here is Alter-Heide).
Hope we've not introduced (too m)any bugs, thanks for any testers.
@Smoth - as I wrote in PM, I'll try to get them to you.
New version. Same link. And I forgot to change the version number - oh well, hope that doesn't cause any trouble....
Changelog:
Changes by Alter Heide:
- ability names displayed in GUI for levelups
- a bit of base props was added for both sides
- internal restructuring in Engine Class and related files
- click before Gamestart now doesn't kill the engine selection screen (thanks for pointing out Zwzsg)
- Engines now give more XP than Regular units
Changes by Sean
- EngineTracker GUI added
- SinkingWreckage (by Zwzsg) added
- old/ugly but functional (for me with lazy effort) version of Teamplatter added (by Trepan)
- RedConsole added - (by Regret)
(I really want to point out here again - if it's not obvious from the changelog already - the person doing the actual work here is Alter-Heide).
Hope we've not introduced (too m)any bugs, thanks for any testers.
@Smoth - as I wrote in PM, I'll try to get them to you.
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
quick note,
i think you guys mixed up the abilities for the hellborn and helios engins....since the one that has jetpacs dose not have the jumpjet ability and has rampage instead....and the one that has no jetpacs can somehow jump(more like teleport).....
also, u might wana consider makeing this a third person shooter with a fixed top down zoom, to make to more skill-ish and dynamic(make engins faster)
you might already know but, animations need alot more polish...ballista's feet sink into the ground when walking....
i think it would be nice if engines were smaller and infantry were bigger...some of the diffrence in scaleing between the diffrent vehicles feels odd....when you compare buildings(building doors) to infanty you cant help but wounder where did they get all those midgets to join their army(everyone is a miget in the future!!!!)
also, add the screen shakeing wiget from nota
spawning locations+walking speed makes it a chore to use the some of the other fighting lines
i think you guys mixed up the abilities for the hellborn and helios engins....since the one that has jetpacs dose not have the jumpjet ability and has rampage instead....and the one that has no jetpacs can somehow jump(more like teleport).....
also, u might wana consider makeing this a third person shooter with a fixed top down zoom, to make to more skill-ish and dynamic(make engins faster)
you might already know but, animations need alot more polish...ballista's feet sink into the ground when walking....
i think it would be nice if engines were smaller and infantry were bigger...some of the diffrence in scaleing between the diffrent vehicles feels odd....when you compare buildings(building doors) to infanty you cant help but wounder where did they get all those midgets to join their army(everyone is a miget in the future!!!!)
also, add the screen shakeing wiget from nota
spawning locations+walking speed makes it a chore to use the some of the other fighting lines
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
Awesome Mod, Great fun so far.
i have a game open on spring lobby if anyones interested, Does EoW dl correctly through Spring lobby?
Only criticisms are:
UI obscuring chat
Animations are clunky
Walk is too slow (although if run was faster i could deal with this)
Not enough difference between run and walk.
Cooldown timers could do with something animated
As for balance, i havent played PvP but i find turerts have way to much range, could do with shorter, more powerful turrets.
I find the mob health good, only mech that i struggled with was #1, all others breezed through.
i have a game open on spring lobby if anyones interested, Does EoW dl correctly through Spring lobby?
Only criticisms are:
UI obscuring chat
Animations are clunky
Walk is too slow (although if run was faster i could deal with this)
Not enough difference between run and walk.
Cooldown timers could do with something animated
As for balance, i havent played PvP but i find turerts have way to much range, could do with shorter, more powerful turrets.
I find the mob health good, only mech that i struggled with was #1, all others breezed through.
Re: Back from the Grave - Engines of War, playable version!
small note, was thinking about it long time ago, wondering if it works. im wondering if its possible to give engine 'impule damage' (i think thats how its called) while moving. would have range of like 1, when engine touches enemy unit it receives damage and gets kicked in the air. (works bit lika guardian from BA set on hihg trajectory)