Topic: Crowd-source level building

[Pumo]

 
Scyphi's idea is even better now that's more well explained!
(and I voted already for one of his ideas ).

Definitely Ifully  support his idea and hope to see it on an actual level.

Now regarding the project itself, I support it but I think I wouldn't have the time to make something for it. I'm barely making time to advance on Pumo Mines making, so...

However, If at any time you want some music for the level, I might do something. Just you decide.

[Kaiaatzl]

Yes I like that idea too.

And Pumo, for music you mean like a trance remix of Game13?  That would be awesome!  I so want to hear that song remixed.

[Shroudeye]

Well, I'd think a more "spooky" mix for a level that dark... But of course, we better ask Schypi...

[-<WillyP>-]

Now regarding the project itself, I support it but I think I wouldn't have the time to make something for it. I'm barely making time to advance on Pumo Mines making, so...

I hope you can at least find the time to pop in and vote on whatever the question of the moment is!  

Anyway, even though we won't know for certain until March 02, I think we should move forward on Scy's Idea.  Someone suggested drawings, any other ideas about what the next step should be?

[Scyphi]

For the music, I was thinking a remix of the level 13 music that starts out calm, soft, and eerie, but slowly builds over time to be more and more dramatic. As for style, I'm not too picky. So long as it's fitting and Descent-ish, and that's pretty much a gimme.

Personally I wouldn't change a thing, but of course as we proceed others may put forth some ideas and even request a vote on some things.

Understood, I am of course open to suggestions, I just wanted it to be clear that there could be an idea or two I'd be hesitant to...bend...on. Depends on the idea.

I have a small offer for the start, a minor suggestion if you like... What if we tell the player that only a "new strain of virus" have been detected at a region of Europa, and tell the player to go and find the source? The mission starts as a recon mission, where the player is forced to engage infected bots... Soon after a few skirmishes, the player detects that the infected robots are concentrated near a wreckage of sorts, which appears to be an old docking port... that turns out to be leading into the good ol' Europa Mining Colony!

I was already envisioning something like this, except the briefing goes as far to state that there IS a mine that needs clearing, it just doesn't tell you WHICH mine.

Anyone care to sketch this out?

Seeing this is my idea, I'd be more than willing to whip up some sketches, to show what I have in mind for this.

[-<WillyP>-]

Since we are planning to incorporate an existing level, start with a screenie of the level. I am trying to remember 13, but drawing a blank, it has been a long time since I have played it.


I believe Scy suggested level 13. If nobody objects to using 13, we can go with that.

[(LL)Atan]

you can turn off the lights for a room in D3 also

I don't think so. You may turn off light from objects, but you can't turn off light in Rooms complete, if any.
Flickering, Pulsing are possible, yes.

[Shroudeye]

Well, I myself had picked some shots of level 13 in D2X-XL, but they are all distorted and grayed out, reasons unknown...

I've taken the liberty to convert the level structure to *.orf format... I've added the preliminary version of the orf to the post, check it out...

NOTICE: The ORF does NOT contain the correct textures, it is just a 3D MASS model for sketching!!

[Pumo]

I hope you can at least find the time to pop in and vote on whatever the question of the moment is!  

...

Yeap, I've done already that since the start of this topic.
--
Regarding the music, if I made it, then I will take both suggestions:
A calm and eerie start with a trance-ish progress.

--
And just to help at least a bit, and since shroudeye had problems taking the screenies, then I will put some scenes of the original level today.

[Shroudeye]

And a late nighter's suprise for you: The Original Descent-1 "Racklights"!!!

The racklights comes in 2 variants, "Single" and "Quad".

Dimensions for a "Single" variant (LxWxH): 20x4,4x0,2 units.

The "Quad" variant is designed to fit an opening of 20x20 units.

I've presented 4 variants for textures, each of them are stock D3 textures.

I thought we might use these in our project...

[-<WillyP>-]

you can turn off the lights for a room in D3 also

I don't think so. You may turn off light from objects, but you can't turn off light in Rooms complete, if any.
Flickering, Pulsing are possible, yes.

There is a check-box in the room propertied dialog labeled 'NoLight' maybe that's what I was thinking of.  I seem to have a foggy recollection of discussing this with you some time ago.

[-<WillyP>-]

Well, I myself had picked some shots of level 13 in D2X-XL, but they are all distorted and grayed out, reasons unknown...

I've taken the liberty to convert the level structure to *.orf format... I've added the preliminary version of the orf to the post, check it out...

NOTICE: The ORF does NOT contain the correct textures, it is just a 3D MASS model for sketching!!

Here are some screenies I took:

[-<WillyP>-]

Here are the same screenies on lighter background if you want to draw with a pencil.

[Scyphi]

@ Shroudeye: I am so glad to see those lights! It would not be a proper D3-rebuild-of-a-D1-level without those.

About the sketches...if I am to do them, it might be a day or two before I present any results, possibly longer (depends on when I can find the free time) so I ask everybody to be patient. I've already reviewed the level myself in-game and in DLE-XP and gotten a bearing of what needs to be where, I just haven't started sketching, so it shouldn't be too long of a wait.

Couple of other things I wish to bring up while I'm thinking of them:

1. Are we going to use stock D3 textures for this, or are we going to re-create old D1 textures for D3? It'd be really cool if it could be the latter.

2. Earlier I suggested applying Shroudeye's teleporter idea to the level as a means of escape, and that got me thinking. Remember the first D3 secret level ("Origin Zero") that had that eerie green dome thing at the very end that did something to your ship that ended the level, but never revealed what? Well, since unresolved things like this can bug me to no end at times, I've often found myself wondering just what that thing was. My favorite idea is that it's just some kind of alien teleporter, and what it did at the end was just zap your ship out of the level. Assuming this is true, I thought maybe we could re-create that thing to serve as the teleporter for this level, if everybody's for that idea. If so, I know exactly where I'd want to stick it into the level.

3. Also, as I was thinking about where some of these new alien tunnels would go, I thought it'd be cool if some of the tunnels led to portions of the old mine that weren't accessible in the original level 13 in D1, like maybe an old computer core room (there has to be one down there somewhere).

Finally, now that I think about it, I did take a screenshot of lvl 13 with some of the cubes marked that I figure were probably destroyed when the first reactor blew. It's actually a much smaller area that is probably logical, but I decided that if I made it much bigger than that, that'd limit the creativity we could have with the original structure, plus some of the best rooms would've been cut out if I expanded the "blast radius" any further. Also, I excluded the reactor room, seeing that SOME part of this would likely need to survive, given the direction the level is to head.

[Shroudeye]

Well, I'd say we custom-create a portion of the textures, because D3's own library does not have the correctly coloured textures.

About using a teleporter or an exit door... I'd say that they make not much of a difference, but the RUSH to them, after blowing the core. It depends on what do you want to see at the end, the classic (and maybe a little torn) exit gate of D1-2; or some twisted-alien teleporter...

So, we going to tear apart the core room (which will become the 'Arena' for our boss battle), the Antechamber before the red key, and the hallway that leads to the what I call the "lounge" (Dark room with screens atop a pillar)? I thought of a more severe damage, at least to the lower portion of the mine... But I guess that is why we got our Alien stuff, which had "repaired" those parts of the mine to their fittings... Am I correct?