AVALANCHE

[MrAdults]

Thanks for the interest, though I'm rather looking for concrete suggestions of changes or extensions to existing systems, and technology feature requests. What you're talking about is more of a departure from the core gameplay, which could be implemented by just about anyone (who has some level of programming ability) using the SDK. And to that end, I wish more power to you.

 

[Tsetra]

I'm glad you haven't forgotten about it, that'd just be abysmal!
I spread the gospel about this to people on MSN and forums when it's timely  :lol: I just think it's such a cool project for being what I understand to be a one-man job.

If you're looking for simple suggestions, why not improve on Tifa's move set by adding/replacing some of her old specials with her Limit moves from the game? i.e. Beat Rush, Dolphin Blow, Final Heaven, etc. Many of the current moves are similar, and it would make the experience slightly more authentic.

To offset the new power, perhaps some of the enemies could have varied attacks - i.e. the guards at the beginning and their later counterparts have the ability to use their beam guns?

Instead of using swords, which should stay a feature of Cloud, how about a mesh of my older idea of updating gloves and the sword attacks? Some of Tifa's gloves in the game had claws on them. Maybe she could use these as a weapon type item instead.

Eh just some ideas to keep the discussion going.

 

[MrAdults]

Yeah, would be hard-pressed to let it just sit idle forever, after investing half a year of my life into it (not counting prior development of the tech and tools). I have a habit of jumping around between projects like this though. Particularly when one is a free project, and the other is a commercial contract project.

New glove weapons is something I considered, though there is not a great deal to be done there in terms of true variety, if the goal is some level of authenticity in respect to their role in FF7. Tifa's weapon upgrades in FF7 were primarily just damage increases, without a lot of thought to differing effects, so it's a bit of a redundant system when coupled with the underlying stats. That is why I went with swords, rather than simple gloves with added damage effects. In addition to the added effects, the swords allow increased range and are ideal for dispatching large groups of enemies, giving them their own place in the tactical array. I've never gone for gameplay authenticity, but rather done what I felt would mesh most interestingly with a Devil May Cry sort of gameplay, combined with action RPG elements. The same goes for the choice in moves, and not wanting to over-complicate the chain table and general moveset.

That said, more moves is generally not a bad thing, as long as they intelligently mesh with a given chain. But I could continue implementing new moves endlessly, so I'm not sure it's really the best use of my time. Stuff like that is so simple to implement, but it takes time to craft new animations and tweak the timing and feel of them. Which is why I would love to see modders implementing stuff like this. There has been a lot of that in previous commercial titles I've worked on (particularly Jedi Knight 2), but unfortunately I can't garnish that sort of audience for a personal project like this. So I do primarily have to rely on word of mouth, spreading through development communities. I have had a few people pick up on modding the game, but almost all have quietly disappeared before releasing anything. The exception being an Italian translation mod.

So this is why I'm primarily working on features that extend existing systems/technology (or change existing mechanics for the better, without disrupting the overall gameplay), rather than just supplying more content. Some things on the current todo list for when I go back to the project include:

-main rcube engine rdm quadtree support
 [The model import tool can partition into quadtrees, but the current R-Cube revision in AVALANCHE does not make use of them, only bsptrees. Quadtrees are useful for contained partitioning for rendering extremely segmented models, or more usually, clipping against highly complex, dynamically transforming models]

-support for model mesh objects to tie to a bone as a transform matrix in hardware,
 rather than having to go through boneweight path if there are no weights
 [Allows easy animation of scenes compatible with lesser hardware rendering paths, with reliable clipmodel transforms]

-export ase animations as rda, creating bone containers for animated objects in ase scene
 [Support in the model import tool to handle animations in ASE (3DSMax Ascii Scene Export) format, which can be used to animate scenes in the form of moving interactive geometry, or even create massive Colossus-type creatures that the player can jump around and climb on while they animate]

-possibly do main engine clip link system. in-model nodes, or a global quadtree
[Optimization to global clipping, to allow multiple thousands of game objects with less overhead]

-fbo msaa support
[Need to get the hardware to support this, but it's just a prettiness option - fullscreen antialiasing for the framebuffer object (HDR/shadowmaps) rendering path]

I suppose you really need to be a modder to give good suggestions here. But, unfortunately, I'm not really looking for "Give Tifa a super move which lets her paralyze opponents" sort of suggestions. I am looking for people who would like to have a go at that sort of thing themselves, on the other hand.

 

[Izban]

Oh so thats what your after things that can be used by modders to make it a more flexable game from my experience things that help modders are

*mapping tools to create there own maps is almost always the first thing people start to play with includes (map maker, texture editor and a simple script writer)

*people tend to want to make there own enemys by way of chopping and changing you want it to be moddible it is but the majority of people who want to mod games are technicly challenged so a gui based enemy/asset tool so you can make your enemys from existing models

*i'll say it again a magic system or rather a customisable attack/battle system so if people want to slow down or speed up gameplay they can

above all else they need to be easy to use so drop down boxes with what at current can be done modding it time consuming so if you make it simple with the abillity to make your own command for the more advanced people and make it quick you should have a hit on your hands when it comes to modding the hardest part will be dumbing it down

 

[MrAdults]

There is already a level editor, a rather powerful but simplistic scripting system, and external files to define all manner of game objects, items, and weapons (as detailed in the modding section of the AVALANCHE web site). There's a powerful texture shader system to defiine your own materials, and allow you to use per-material pixel/vertex shaders if so desired, external data files to allow you to make your own particle systems, and a whole bunch of other things that let you create content without having to touch a line of code. There is even a character animator built into the level editor.

If you really wanted to, you could pretty easily make a magic system as a branch of the inventory system. Inventory is pretty flexible, and there are all kinds of item behaviors already.

Dumbing the tools down even more is always a possibility, though, I suppose. As for making a full-on geometry editor, I think that's a bit pointless, as people would just need to learn another proprietary piece of software. For real geometric modeling, it's much better to use 3D Studio Max, GTKRadiant, Lightwave, or any of the other versatile tools already in existence. The model import tool accepts models in tons of formats, from 3ds to Quake3 bsp. All you have to do is make a model, import it (which automatically processes and optimizes the model), load up the level editor, and place it. You can then place instances of the model together visually in the level editor, add other dynamic map objects and script triggers, and all of the usual stuff you'd expect.

 

[Izban]

i was more speaking about the code side of things cause you already have a level and animation for instance

steps
1 pick the model for instance a shinra mp
2 set the stats
       hp    150     str  20   def  40
3 set attack type and range
      type earth based    range 15 metres
4 name the enemy
     name  earth_n00b

then you can go into the game and spawn the enemy

you have to have the models animations in there too some where so you can choose between the tonfa attack grenade and machine gun attack

if you really need ideas have a look at what kind of mods are out there for instance look at the some of the levels that have been made for WC3(warcraft 3)
look at the tools that come with the game if you have it

 

[MrAdults]

You can already set AI type, characteristics, model/anim sets, and lots of other things in the rco files as well, with syntax very much like what you just described. You can then go spawn your custom creature/object from the in-game console, or place it in a map with the level editor. I outline a great many of those things in the modding guide, and demonstrate their implementation in the provided example mod, which adds a new weapon to the game (without modifying any code). Though I do appreciate the suggestions, you would probably be able to give much better feedback if you were to first actually review the documentation and tools.

 

[Izban]

good to hear if thats all in there then all you should need to do is promote it

 one small question though are any enemys it it long ranged

 

[CyberPirate]

I don't know if this is a bug or not, but when you level up your strength, vitality etc, and after you level up one of the them over 399 or something, it suddenly goes up to 800, so I don't know if those 400 free polints actually counts or not?

 

[MrAdults]

Zack Fair:
No enemies, though Barrett is. He is friendly AI, but could also be an enemy with the toggling of a simple flag. Though I think you would find that long-ranged enemies are exceptionally irritating to fight in a game like this.

CyberPirate:
You're looking at the upgrade cost for the stat, actually. The stat is the number on the left. The cost of upgrade doubles when it hits above 200, I believe it was.