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Project Xenome : First Day

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User avatar salsaSkaarj
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Post Posted: 23 Feb 2010, 12:18

Finally found the time to continue and finish my quest on Unreal.

I've included a screen shot with the results and next to it the scores on Hard again so that comparison is easier.

The first thing I notice is that I hardly take a minute longer on Unreal than on Hard. THat is actually completely normal since this is the third time that I play it and now I don't have to lose much time looking around for strategic positions (and I also wasted time in the last level - looking around and taking the screenshot during the Credits).

The second thing which strikes me is that I inflicted less damage on enemies and my total score is lower, even though I killed the same number of enemies and took less damage. A small difference could be explained by not having killed all enemies myself (I let a couple of enemies take themselves out) and looking at the total number of enemies killed (which is almost the same on Hard and on Unreal) it seems the number of enemies is the same on Hard as on Unreal.


And then I notice that Goal Time and Über-Goal time are the same - this would imply no difference between Hard and Unreal? Granted, it's a simple conclusion based on one (the last) level only.

Is there a marked difference between the campaign on Hard and on Unreal? Difficult to say, some areas don't feel more difficult, but some were flirting with my limits.
My impression is that the number of enemies hasn't changed, nor has their health, but enemy speed has increased slightly, and the damage they do certainly has. Health and ammo pickups are certainly less frequent. I also have the impression that there are less available weapons on Unreal (I certainly missed the rifle in Disposal).

Still, the difference between Hard and Unreal is not as extreme as I had expected/feared (probably a good thing since Hard is already ... HARD). On the whole the experience is different enough to warrant a play on both difficulty settings but on Unreal an extra (weaker) enemy here and there (in the calmer sections) would enhance replay value.

I am really looking forward to the second installment (but I think I'll start that on Medium - these Xenome sessions leave me exhausted :wink: )

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User avatar jazz
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Post Posted: 23 Feb 2010, 19:54

these Xenome sessions leave me exhausted


:lol:

It has'nt escaped me the points raised through out the review and also from members who posted. I've scribbled down all relevant points and will adjust them in time for the full release.

Volumetric lighting will be removed to loosen up FPS in built up areas.
New music tracks have been sourced and will be used to fit in where appropriate.
I will try to eliminate as far as possible the instant death syndrome in certain maps.
The collision radius of door codes will be increased.
Certain lighting down corridors will be enhanced.
The three Skaarj running up the hill will be downgraded to ..... ? No I'm not telling!
Filtering will be more fairly customised for hard,unreal
More ammo,health will be customised for hard,unreal
Proofreading is a problem as my grammer is shite! Always knew i'd get picked up on this point. Nearer the time i may ask somebody for help on this one.
Goal times totally passed by me in construction. I'll sort that out also.

I must admit i was overjoyed yet humbled by Mman's review. I thought 70% was about the best i could hope for, even then i was'nt sure as Déjà Vu is a finished mod and recieved the same. At one point i would of been happy with 65%.

Thx again for the input Salsa ... You've been a star.

User avatar Hellscrag
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Post Posted: 23 Feb 2010, 21:10

jazz wrote:Volumetric lighting will be removed to loosen up FPS in built up areas.


It seems a shame to do that, but I don't know how bad the problem is. Players can, after all, switch it off for themselves if they want to.
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User avatar jazz
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Post Posted: 23 Feb 2010, 21:57

Players can, after all, switch it off for themselves if they want to.


Tis true.
A shed load of geometry does'nt help either. I remember being quite conservative with the use of fog but in hindsight and to aid gameplay it may be a wise move to remove some elements of it and see how it runs, especially in heavy combat areas where you need good reactions.
Everywhere else it should'nt be a problem.

User avatar salsaSkaarj
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Post Posted: 23 Feb 2010, 22:20

jazz wrote:The collision radius of door codes will be increased.

What does collision radius mean? Is it the distance between player and door which triggers the opening of the door? If this is the case I have no comment about it. But if it implies that doors which at the moment cannot be opened by enemies (only by player or by shooting the door), will in future be opened by enemies, then I think that's a bad idea. I regularly had to take advantage of this (e.g. the Skaarj just before leaving the building in the first level) in order to survive.

jazz wrote:The three Skaarj running up the hill will be downgraded to ..... ? No I'm not telling!

hmm, I thought this was the very first situation in which after the second try it was clear that brute force attack wasn't going to work, and I had to use strategy. I found 2 ways to get past that section (and a third way was mentioned by you). This section almost spells it out for the player that the way the player will have to progress is not the standard Unreal way and is in fact outstanding (after the initial curses and thoughts that I must suck at this game). This doesn't need changing to me.

jazz wrote:Filtering will be more fairly customised for hard,unreal
More ammo,health will be customised for hard,unreal.

OMG, on Unreal difficulty I really had to save my ammo (thank God the DP doesn't have the 50 limit and reload time). Come to think of it, double enforcers but with less ammo would be a nice touch).

jazz wrote:I must admit i was overjoyed yet humbled by Mman's review. I thought 70% was about the best i could hope for, even then i was'nt sure as Déjà Vu is a finished mod and recieved the same. At one point i would of been happy with 65%.


At the risk of sounding like a Xenome promoter: Visuals, innovation, non-obvious pathways and gameplay are what matter to me and with this in mind Xenome fully deserved its high score.

jazz wrote:Thx again for the input Salsa ... You've been a star.

I know, I know 8) but the pleasure was all mine :wink:

User avatar Jet v4.3.5
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Post Posted: 23 Feb 2010, 22:49

The collision radius is the invisible notify volume that either triggers the actor in a given way or causes the player and other actors to collide with the actor. If you open the editor, you can turn it on in a viewport's right click menu on the top bar, then you can select an actor (not a light) and see it's collision cylinder, which is all UE1 supports standalone.
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User avatar jazz
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Post Posted: 23 Feb 2010, 23:08

The outside lobby door in the first map is actually on a timer (cant remember what i set it to). So you have to battle for a while before it will open but only for the player allowing you to run if your getting whooped. The collision radius on the code panel triggers will be slightly increased as Mman mentioned when he pulled away they did'nt work anymore (i think this may rectify it).

I believe the balance issue is something we could all agree on that needs work (ammo and health especially).
I think you were the first to realise Salsa that the player must think strategically at times (as when i 'pm' you not long back) Thats how i built the game. I think sometimes unloading all weapons at every opportunity gets tedious after a while, so its nice to actually engage the grey matter for a change. Some people may not agree but thats why i like 7B so much. I think Proph and the guys got it just right.
Personally i would still like a bit of feedback on the Skaarj hill section as this seems to be a crunch point for most.

User avatar salsaSkaarj
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Post Posted: 24 Feb 2010, 00:17

jazz wrote:The outside lobby door in the first map is actually on a timer (cant remember what i set it to). So you have to battle for a while before it will open but only for the player allowing you to run if your getting whooped.

Fighting that Skaarj downstairs was dangerous. I lured him upstairs where the door proved to be my saviour. From then on I checked the behaviour of almost every door so that I would know where to retreat to if necessary.

jazz wrote:I believe the balance issue is something we could all agree on that needs work (ammo and health especially).

Yes, sometimes it gets very heated, but I managed to beat it on Hard and even on Unreal which means it is not unfair (UB probably thinks it's too easy anyway). Personally, I'ld be very wary of changing much on Hard.

jazz wrote:I think you were the first to realise Salsa that the player must think strategically at times (as when i 'pm' you not long back) Thats how i built the game. I think sometimes unloading all weapons at every opportunity gets tedious after a while, so its nice to actually engage the grey matter for a change. Some people may not agree but thats why i like 7B so much. I think Proph and the guys got it just right.

I had forgotten about 7B but you're right, there were situations (even against the humans) were making correct use of the geometry made an anotherwise almost impossible task suddenly acceptable.

BTW, that Skaarj immediately after getting the enforcer down in the basement can be killed without losing health (although again wits are worth more than the avilable ammo) - keep that section and let the fighters suffer :D

jazz wrote:Personally i would still like a bit of feedback on the Skaarj hill section as this seems to be a crunch point for most.

Well, it gave me the shock treatment necessary which made me realise that limited supplies do not necessarily imply that you're gonna need luck. Maybe some more experienced players should try that section (if they don't have enough time for the whole campaign, this part can be played like 3 times, 5 minutes each) and give you feedback by PM (I'm thinking about Hellscrag, UB, Mister Prophet).

nitin
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Subject:

Post Posted: 27 Feb 2010, 01:16

hello,

just thought I'd let you know that I posted this and the review as a news item over at Func Messageboard.

http://www.celephais.net/board

There are some comments there if you are interested.
Last edited by nitin on 28 Feb 2010, 04:36, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar Hellscrag
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Post Posted: 27 Feb 2010, 11:23

Thanks for the linkage. :tup:
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User avatar Xezr
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Subject: Re: Project Xenome : First Day

Post Posted: 25 Jun 2010, 01:55

Hi, I just downloaded this mappack and played for ten minutes, but I could easily point out that there are several textures and sounds ripped straight from Half-Life and I just wanted to know if the author was permissioned by Valve to do this. If not, shame on you.
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Kaka
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Subject: Re: Project Xenome : First Day

Post Posted: 25 Jun 2010, 02:04

Xezr wrote:Hi, I just downloaded this mappack and played for ten minutes, but I could easily point out that there are several textures and sounds ripped straight from Half-Life and I just wanted to know if the author was permissioned by Valve to do this. If not, shame on you.

Pffffff.

User avatar Semfry
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Subject: Re: Project Xenome : First Day

Post Posted: 25 Jun 2010, 02:26

Xezr wrote:Hi, I just downloaded this mappack and played for ten minutes, but I could easily point out that there are several textures and sounds ripped straight from Half-Life and I just wanted to know if the author was permissioned by Valve to do this. If not, shame on you.


That's not how it works with retail content (unless you happen to be ripping the whole game or something). Not to mention if there was one company I could trust to not mind the usage of some of their content in a mod it's Valve.
Formerly Mman

User avatar Buff Skeleton
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Subject: Re: Project Xenome : First Day

Post Posted: 25 Jun 2010, 03:16

Xezr wrote:Hi, I just downloaded this mappack and played for ten minutes, but I could easily point out that there are several textures and sounds ripped straight from Half-Life and I just wanted to know if the author was permissioned by Valve to do this. If not, shame on you.

The assets provided by Unreal and UT are a pretty limited bunch when you think about it. Most people who decide to do something outside the box and not within the constraints of what the engine provides tend to borrow from other sources that fit their design goals, especially since most people who casually make maps and mods for games like Unreal don't have the time or skill to make their own textures / sounds / music / etc. all on their own.

You'll find that a very large number of maps for Unreal and UT (and pretty much every other moddable game out there) take content from other sources to meet their needs. If anything, it doesn't hurt the games the content was ripped from; it helps them by generating exposure. If someone sees some interesting texture set that they haven't seen before, then asks the author where it came from, they'll be more inclined to check out that game if they like what they see. It's kind of a good promotional tool in some cases.

Anyway, please don't be judgemental of mappers who decide to go outside of the sandbox that their game of choice offers them by bringing in external content. It's almost never done with bad intentions and it's almost always done to give the players a different experience and to bring together two (or more) games that the designer really loves by combining parts of them together. At least in my experience, I've only borrowed content from games that I really really really enjoy, games which really inspired me, because I want others to experience the same kind of enjoyment. I encourage people to check out games I've taken stuff from, because I wouldn't have used them as sources if they weren't worthwhile.

So long as proper credit is given, I don't see any harm from this kind of usage. In my mind, it's like the video game version of a literary allusion, but taken to a different level. And honestly, it really makes me smile when I recognize sounds or textures or music from another of my favorite games cleverly reused in a mod. It shows dedication to both games.
Last edited by Buff Skeleton on 25 Jun 2010, 03:23, edited 1 time in total.
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Doublez-Down
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Subject: Re: Project Xenome : First Day

Post Posted: 25 Jun 2010, 03:22

Xezr wrote:Hi, I just downloaded this mappack and played for ten minutes, but I could easily point out that there are several textures and sounds ripped straight from Half-Life and I just wanted to know if the author was permissioned by Valve to do this. If not, shame on you.


I think it's being a bit touchy to worry about someone mapping from a 12 year old game borrowing content from another 12 year old game. Just sayin.

Well that and what Waff said.
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