[released] [ut] [Unofficial Thread] [Beta] Zenith

[TheIronKnuckle]

I don't recall seeing a thread for this here:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/zenith
I'm running on <1 hour sleep and currently cbf doing screenies or description. Keen to hear there's new content on the way







More Screenshots, and story outliine to be found at moddb.

ividyon:
I've edited the thread title to reflect that it's released. Here's some download mirrors courtesy of Delacroix:

Zenith file download:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/735 ... ll5v1b.exe

Zenith hotfix download:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/735 ... patch1.zip

[AlCapowned]

Wow, talk about unexpected. I really liked a lot of the monster concepts that Xoleras posted on Youtube a while back, so I'm guessing they were for this project. Here's to hoping things work out for him.

[makemeunreal]

Awesome news there.

[TheIronKnuckle]

Edited first post with some Screens. I'm particularly interested in the desert temple/tower one. After having just played through RTNP:UE, consider my appetite whet for more crypt maps

[AndryxaXP]

New HUD , Add quests , new weapons and enemies . not long to wait !

[Legendslayer222]

Wow, those tech levels looks really smooth. Thanks for alerting us to this pack, TIK!

[StalwartUK]

Talk about a surprise. Definitely will be giving this a go when it's out!

[Delacroix]

ZenithInstall5v1b.exe - 580 MB - Dropbox mirror by myself.

[UBerserker]

Log: Failed import: Palette Palette XbpFX.Palette18 (file ../Textures/XbpFX.utx)
Warning: Failed to load 'zenithstart': Can't find Palette in file 'Palette XbpFX.Palette18'
Warning: Failed to load 'Level None.MyLevel': Can't find Palette in file 'Palette XbpFX.Palette18'

This begins well, other than loads of Accessed Nones.

[AlCapowned]

Well, it was called a beta release for a reason. At least the accessed nones seem to be exclusive to the first playable map (so far, anyway). There definitely are a lot of things that need to be polished.

Also, I have no idea what is going on with the story. The intro could use subtitles.

[UBerserker]

Note that I can't open up the first map due to that palette error

[AlCapowned]

I must have the texture file from another pack (unless you have it and I have another version). You're really not missing much, though.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/sx6eavquypc9fcp/XbpFX.utx

Edit: So far it looks like the map with the bouncy ship is the only one that doesn't get many accessed none errors.

[Frieza]

Didn't get very far in, too many problems and then somehow my saves were deleted as well, so didnt feel like replaying it.

Errors just from the start you might want to consider

1.) Without OldSkool there is no way to bind the inventory keys inside the .bat launched version of Zenith
2.) The voices in the intro were nigh inaudible
3.) At other points suddenly the voices can be really loud, you need to make sure the voice acting has some consistent levels or it's going to frustrate a lot of players
4.) The XbpFX.utx error, I'm guessing it's related to S3TC/Non-S3TC because the package AlCapowned linked was about 55MBs smaller than the XbpFX.utx I had in my UT folder
5.) Again, without OldSkool, opening the menu will start playing the UT menu music which is very frustrating. Make sure to incorporate a blank.umx for the moments when there is no music playing.
6.) Superblack shadows everywhere, a little bit of ambient light wouldn't hurt.
7.) The cutscenes seemed really random, I'm in a pipe and suddenly I'm staring at a completely different area.. or I randomly get a birds eye view of myself for about 2 seconds. I fail to see what they are adding and only take me out of the game.
8.) The big city area in the first map got really laggy for me whenever I looked at the building with the big white lights.
9.) The save system seems to be buggy. Made 2 saves and they are both nowhere to be found.

Apart from that, I like some of the aesthetics I've seen so far, but I really had no idea what the story was about. If there's a less buggy version in the future I'll give it another try.

Edit: Also you would save a lot of space by using .ogg music in combination with something like the RMusicPlayer.

[jaypeezy]

Preliminary thoughts:
My main gripe is with the spaceship. I feel like that ship could have been made a lot easier to navigate; the jumping on it is a bit iffy. Of course I understand this is a beta, but I really think that's an area to focus on as far as technical improvement goes because it can have serious potential to make the campaign more memorable/fun if it works better. (Also, the enemy jets seem to be able to fire waaay more rockets than you can at some points. Not very balanced gameplay).
Other things I've noticed:
1) Music seems to spill over into the level if you reload the quicksave you were on (so far I am not having issues with saves). Maybe this can't be helped.
2) The audio is, indeed, a bit inconsistent. It's a downer really because I WANT to enjoy and sit back and take in the cutscenes/character comments, but am always distracted by how they are at times too low and other times too loud.
3) The elevator in that level where you choose which way to go (combat or stealth) is hard to get out of. Consider making the railings lower so you can jump out of it easily once it lands.

I'll end with some positive notes!
A) I like your approach to the characters. It's very reminiscent of Deus Ex, having these side-missions to go on and what not. I hope to see more of it and see it done in different, interesting ways.
B) The music vibed really well with me, helped in establishing the moods I'm sure the authors were going for (I'm referring to the custom music here).
C) Geometry and form of the maps is very unique. I try to veer away from being TOO critical of this aspect considering the engine we're working with as Unreal/UT level designers - we don't have too much allowance for super high detail and whatnot. I also acknowledge that, perhaps, what was being intended here was a very sparse, distopian universe, one that struck us as strange. I got that sense from the architecture used.
That comment pertains more to outdoor areas, though. Indoor areas (like the subway?? station) are generally very nice and detailed.
D) I like the cutscenes when they work! For example, the car-chase you stumble upon in those canals.

[Delacroix]

A hotfix patch has just been released.