Author Topic: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask  (Read 168254 times)

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Offline IceFire

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
Also the Campaign Restoration Project has been plenty busy on bringing Warzone upto SCP spec with the fancy new backgrounds and whatnot.  That will no doubt be out soonish as its looking quite complete.  Thats upto them.
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Online Mobius

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
Ehm... :rolleyes:

Question: Are you using FRED made cutscenes?
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Offline Ace

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
No, important events are done in-mission like FS2 as opposed to by cutscenes. Generally they're triggered in such a way where you won't miss them in the action.
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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
I mean take off and landing cutscenes in each mission. Are you using them?
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Offline Snail

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
I mean take off and landing cutscenes in each mission. Are you using them?

I doubt it.

 

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
I think the same. Only a mad FREDder like me tries to add in-missions cutscenes :blah:
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Offline Ace

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
I mean take off and landing cutscenes in each mission. Are you using them?

This isn't Wing Commander. BWO is not stylistically departing from previous FreeSpace games. There are a few missions that you launch from a fighterbay but generally the missions start as soon as you arrive using your intra-system subspace drive.

Do you want to have to watch a cutscene every single mission of launching and jumping out? Especially if it's a tough mission where you can die?
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Offline Snail

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
And what if you want to jump out 5 times?

 

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
This isn't Wing Commander. BWO is not stylistically departing from previous FreeSpace games. There are a few missions that you launch from a fighterbay but generally the missions start as soon as you arrive using your intra-system subspace drive.

Wing Commander has nothing to do with the missions I have in mind(part of which are already done). In WCS, there are no take off cutscenes. You start the mission in the fighterbay. And there are no landing cutscenes, you actually land on a carrier. As far as I know, only the new autopilot system consists in a cutscene. Rather than using navpoints and time compression, you simply see your fighter as it travels.

Do you want to have to watch a cutscene every single mission of launching and jumping out? Especially if it's a tough mission where you can die?

Ipse dixit, Karajorma docet.
Take a look.

It is possible to skip take off cutscenes if you fail the mission and replay it.
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Offline Ace

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
We do not add things to BWO for the sake of adding them, we're going for the same feel as the original game and so such cutscenes would be frivolous and pointless. There are however missions where you do launch from a fighterbay into an engagement, but isn't the focus of the action or plot.
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Offline IceFire

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
Mobius: Yep I've seen WCS's auto pilot system and its really neat and the waypoint style play takes me right back to Wing Commander. 

BWO doesn't use that system because, as Ace points out, we're staying within the FreeSpace style of one gameplay area per-mission.  The idea is that BWO is meant to be a theoretical continuation of the FreeSpace storyline.  Not a direct sequel in that we don't deal with Shivans...but a fun diversion sort of like how Silent Threat was...or maybe more aptly since this is a fan addition...the same idea as Derelict or Warzone or Twilight.  So we're staying with the established FreeSpace gameplay.
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Online Mobius

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
I get your point, but I don't share your opinion about the "original FreeSpace gameplay".

We have cutscene SEXPs, we can use them without changing the original gameplay. There could have been in-mission cutscenes in FS3, who knows?
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Offline Ace

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
We're going by established gameplay. Once again just because we *can* do something doesn't mean that we should. In-game events can drive the plot just as well, if not better, than cutscenes and it doesn't take the player out of the action.
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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
I like your idea, but:

1) In-mission cutscenes mean a lot of eyecandy. That's something that should be taken in consideration, expecially if we're talking about a major FreeSpace project(in this case, Blackwater Operations);

2) In-game events are good, but they could be sorted in an exaggerate way. In Inferno R1, for example, there continuosly were important events. The result? In the EA-part of the campaign you fight more EA destroyers than cruisers. A bit unrealistic;
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Offline IceFire

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
Let me make another point that I'm sure will resonate with most people here.  The missions have already been scripted and finished minus a few tweaks not already found in testing.  Going back again and adding even more features is a trap we previously fell into and we really want to finish BWO sometime this century.

BWO also has a very strong mix of ships.  I'd say if anything, its the Aeolus and Mentu that get overworked during the campaign rather than the large destroyers.  Not to say that we don't have them and thats of course ignoring the prototype Golgotha class but I think you'll find very FreeSpace style gameplay and balance of ships.
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Offline Mars

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
...ts the Aeolus and Mentu that get overworked during the campaign....
Oh yes... :yes2::yes:

wait... what about the Deimos

 

Offline 0rph3u5

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
1) In-mission cutscenes mean a lot of eyecandy. That's something that should be taken in consideration, expecially if we're talking about a major FreeSpace project(in this case, Blackwater Operations);

... and a hell of work for any FREDer... doing a simple cutscene-mission takes about 3 times more time to get it straight and good looking than a standart mission;
y? - one, you have got to deal with a lot of scripted thing to happen you really have to tie up and two, you have to do music and camera scripting which takes a lot of time 'cause there is nothing to do but to try and to try and to try again

eyecandy is not everything (esspecially EC is player dependant) - and it can be create the usual way

2) In-game events are good, but they could be sorted in an exaggerate way. In Inferno R1, for example, there continuosly were important events. The result? In the EA-part of the campaign you fight more EA destroyers than cruisers. A bit unrealistic;

that says alot about how bad the story-to-FREDing transfer in the INFR1 worked (that is why INFR1 joined ITDOH into the campaign trashcan on my computer)
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Online Mobius

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
Let me make another point that I'm sure will resonate with most people here.  The missions have already been scripted and finished minus a few tweaks not already found in testing.  Going back again and adding even more features is a trap we previously fell into and we really want to finish BWO sometime this century.

You're damn right. I was just saying that in-mission cutscenes would be great. Are you going to add them in a second release(such as a patch)? :)

BWO also has a very strong mix of ships.  I'd say if anything, its the Aeolus and Mentu that get overworked during the campaign rather than the large destroyers.  Not to say that we don't have them and thats of course ignoring the prototype Golgotha class but I think you'll find very FreeSpace style gameplay and balance of ships.

Nice :yes:

1) In-mission cutscenes mean a lot of eyecandy. That's something that should be taken in consideration, expecially if we're talking about a major FreeSpace project(in this case, Blackwater Operations);

... and a hell of work for any FREDer... doing a simple cutscene-mission takes about 3 times more time to get it straight and good looking than a standart mission;
y? - one, you have got to deal with a lot of scripted thing to happen you really have to tie up and two, you have to do music and camera scripting which takes a lot of time 'cause there is nothing to do but to try and to try and to try again

eyecandy is not everything (esspecially EC is player dependant) - and it can be create the usual way

In fact I consider myself a masochist because I'm "cutscening" the whole first episode of Steadfast.  :blah:

Cutscenes are fantastic, but they need time. Sometimes, FreeSpace crashes and I have to check everything to find my error(s) :blah:

2) In-game events are good, but they could be sorted in an exaggerate way. In Inferno R1, for example, there continuosly were important events. The result? In the EA-part of the campaign you fight more EA destroyers than cruisers. A bit unrealistic;

that says alot about how bad the story-to-FREDing transfer in the INFR1 worked (that is why INFR1 joined ITDOH into the campaign trashcan on my computer)

I didn't like the massive presence of destroyers, but INFR1 remains one of my favourite campaigns(obvious...for an Inferno Fanboy  :p ).

According to IceFire, BWO will try to keep the balance.  ;7
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Offline Ace

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
There will not be in-mission cutscenes in BWO. There are cinematic events in the campaign, but they occur in-mission.

There are no plans for a "second release" either. Which is why we're waiting on the first release to have ships HTLed. There will be one release of BWO.
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Offline Mars

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Re: Things you want to know about BWO but were afraid to ask
No possiblility of the split voice acted / non voice acted version? Or was that ST:R I was thinking of?