Topic: Descent 2 mission in the works - Modding and misc help requested

[CrazyEnzo03]

Uh, where can I find this zip?

[Naphtha]

I uploaded it via Dropbox, and I was pretty sure I'd sent you and Alter-Fox a PM with the link.  I've just sent the link again, so hopefully this helps.

[CrazyEnzo03]

Got it.  I do have a yahoo messenger account but I almost never use it.  I also have Steam, but again, I rarely use it, especially for messaging.  I'm often in the Descent Rangers Mumble and, less frequently but still somewhat often, in the DXX-Rebirth Mumble.

I'm glad I didn't just mindlessly extract it since the levels are not within a HOG.

[Naphtha]

Yeah, something went wrong with a previous attempt to put all the levels into a single .HOG using DLE, where the program crashed and when I started it up again, most of the files were gone from the .HOG.  Good thing I had a backup of them, at any rate.  I don't know if it was a one-time bug (though I guess I should've reported it sooner either way), but that's why I plan to stick to another program like Yahoma to build the .HOG file as we go.

While on the subject of the levels themselves, any suggestions for how to fix them up would be appreciated.  You can also pitch any ideas you'd like to personally add to some of the levels in the winzip, if you want.  Plenty of them are unfinished, after all.  I'll add my notes on where I planned for some of the unfinished levels to go, along with some additional ideas I might want to add in that haven't really taken off yet.  For some of these ideas, I might need a little help in exploiting different parts of the game engine, or both Rebirth and XL because of certain differences.

[Naphtha]

Added the first three polymodel sketches to the winzip, along with a second .TXT file to clear up where I was going with some of the level ideas.  A lot of the .RL2 files I included are still far from finished, so that .TXT should clear up where I was going with a lot of them if anyone else would like to design a little bit.  You're more than welcome to add on to some of my ideas.

[Naphtha]

Made a couple slight changes to the winzip.  There is now a second .RL2 file for one of the boss levels, which could possibly be the hardest level to design now that I think about it.  This second design might be a much better shot at the boss chamber itself, but I'm not sure how to set up the surroundings now.  Check the updated level design .TXT for my thoughts, because I'd like help on that design and also for getting one of the level gimmicks to work in both Rebirth and D2X-XL where it would function differently in both programs.

I might not have a lot of computer access over the next couple days because I'm going to back up everything that's on it and have it finally upgraded to Windows 7, but in the meantime, I'll try to expand on the polymodel sketches that are already in the folder and complete some more to add to it.

[-<WillyP>-]

I've just upgraded 2 machines (mine and the kid's) to W7 and I was amazed at how quickly and smoothly everything went.

[Naphtha]

Just completed the upgrade today, probably going to need a little time to get used to it.  Some things are still moving a little slowly, but that seems to be more of a driver issue than an OS issue.  Certain high-detail Descent levels still cause serious slowdowns, but it's been like that ever since my laptop was restored from a nasty crash last May.  It'd be great if I could figure out what exactly came back wrong when the tech support at the college I went to restored it, but installing the latest drivers doesn't seem to have changed all that much.

[-<WillyP>-]

Some time ago I formatted and restored a machine and when I did, I used time test* to see what difference every change made on fps, from a clean install of Windows using only what was on the Windows install disc, and Descent 3, I think it was Win98 at the time. The biggest hit to fps was the installation of anti-virus software. However, just about everything I installed brought the fps down at least a little.

For anyone who not familiar with this, in Descent3 there is a demo, it's named something like secret time test that you run with a certain command line switch that records fps through the demo. Then you get a text file with the results.

[Naphtha]

Three weeks later and I'm chipping away at various level maps in the mission, mainly the four boss levels.  I've been hit with a complete mental block for the first boss level because I can't come up with any real quirk for it or any way that it could suit the few details I have for the boss, and I'm realizing that this is probably because I've only designated it as a warm-up boss without that many standout qualities (aside from a possible innovative design, anyway).  Of all the levels in the set, the first boss level would probably be the hardest for me to conceptualize, so I'll be willing to accept a lot of help in making it.

For most of the other levels that aren't already finished, I might also be taking a different approach in how to design them.  I have a lot of set piece rooms in mind and not really any interesting way to connect them together, so what I'm thinking of doing is uploading the rooms or room sequences as separate .RL2 or .BLX files to have anyone else involved in the project take a look and see if they can add anything to put the rooms together into a full level.  You're also free to critique the completed levels and suggest any additions to make things interesting or help with the item placement.

At some point, I might start placing powerups and robots into the levels for more of a complete test.  The robot polymodels probably won't be there yet since the designs aren't quite done and I still need to get the Construction Kit set up, but when I do include the robots, I would probably still mod a few of the stats, mostly the combat stats and possibly the HP, but I'll have to avoid changing the mass and other stats more closely tied to the polymodel.

[CrazyEnzo03]

Ahhhhhh I forgot about this.  Thank you, computer science major!

[Naphtha]

For the record, I am still working on the level building side of things.  Trying to get acquainted with SDLDevil as a new builder little by little, but I'm also getting better at speedmapping in DLE.  It's just a matter of getting the concepts down to put together roughly 24-25 levels.


On the other front, however, I asked Blarget and Jihnsius to help me out with the balanced weapons mod.  It should be single- and multiplayer-viable, with the goal of giving every weapon (well, except maybe the Shaker ) its own niche in both game modes, and is being released alongside my first "official" D2 multiplayer mission.  I might've missed my guess and some of these weapons might've been weaker or more overpowered than what I was aiming for, so critique is definitely welcome.  Feel free to pop it into Counterstrike as well and see how you fare!