Hard Light Productions Forums
Archived Boards => The Archive => Halo for FreeSpace => Topic started by: Causality on May 31, 2009, 08:21:37 pm
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Discussion began at: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,63042.msg1245334.html#msg1245334
Firstly, I'd like to thank Starlord for "keeping the faith" and floating me an email about all of this. :yes:
And now, down to business...
A couple of years ago FS2H pretty much died. While there are a myriad of reasons for this, it is sufficient to say that the creator was hit with a lot of personal tragedy, and the mod was no longer a priority. In recent months I conveyed interest in reviving it, and with (some of) Devrous' passwords and old back-up discs I found the bulk of the mod still intact.
I've always loved Freespace, and I played the hell outta FS2. Likewise, I was one of many many MANY Halo fanatics. It seems only natural to pursue the potential of the Halo universe in regards to space combat. Also, there is a lot of "wiggle room" in the Halo storyline for lots and lots of space adventures, battles, and heroic acts. I hope you all join me in agreeing that this mod deserves another chance.
I believe Devrous had a good idea, but simply not enough time to bring it to completion. What I'd like to do is make this mod as open as possible. This will save time and allow for more diverse expertise. As it stands now, the mod only needs the following to be ready to go:
1. Updated models/textures. As of now, most of the models are still low-medium poly. This won't be a problem if we compensate with good textures. I'd like for anyone good with textures and willing to lend their talent to join us.
2. Missions. There are a smattering of half-done, trail, and/or tester missions done, and a storyline has already been written. If anyone out there is good at mission logic and wants to help just say so. I'd like several, if not many, people to create missions for this mod over it's life.
3. Interface. The main menu is complete, but the rest are the same-old FS2 menus. Anyone who's done interface work...we could use you.
Most of the sounds and music are done, and Devrous did a pretty good job in balancing the weapons and ships from what I can tell.
Also, in the end we'll need a place to park this mod. Anyone who knows how to compress it down so it isn't a gig PLEASE let me know how to do that. And if anyone would be willing to host it or know of a good place to go grab some space for a fair price let me know.
Lastly, I'd need an Admin to revive whatever is left of the original forum (if anything) or at least speak with me about where we should go from here.
Anyone who's interested in helping with this mod write a reply or send me a message. And if anyone has any opinions or questions feel free to post those too. I hope there is still some interest out there for this to come back to life.
Causality
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Some examples of this mod:
(http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/devrous_fs2h/fs2h-lngswdpeldocked.jpg)
(http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/devrous_fs2h/oneofeverything1.jpg)
(http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/devrous_fs2h/oneofeverything2.jpg)
(http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/devrous_fs2h/oneofeverything3.jpg)
(http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/devrous_fs2h/reachorbit.jpg)
Some Covenant Screenshots
http://forums.bungie.org/halo/archive27.pl?read=792764
VIDEO
http://www.sectorgame.com/halo/FS2H/fs2hteaser.avi
http://files3.bungie.org/fs2h/fs2htour1.avi
http://files4.bungie.org/fs2htour2.avi
More Movies within a h.b.o. post:
http://forums.bungie.org/halo/archive27.pl?read=802429
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I'm up for it but I don't know how to do anything, haha except maybe testing stuff.
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Lastly, I'd need an Admin to revive whatever is left of the original forum (if anything) or at least speak with me about where we should go from here.
I've notified the other admins about your desire to revive this.
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I'd like to help out with missions as a FREDder and such if you'd be interested.
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I can do voice acting for sure, I did others here.
Also we have to model the Spirit of Fire.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/7/79/UNSC_Spirit_of_Fire_(CFV-88).png
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Thank you, karajorma :yes:
And yes, 367, we definitely need to grab all the new content from Halo Wars. And it will serve two purposes, really; Devrous had a mission where the pilot found an old colony ship, and the Spirit of Fire is basically a refit colony ship converted into a carrier.
@Wistler: I'll get you some details ASAP.
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If he's the new DEV how about simply taking over the existing forum archive on HLP? Most of the relevant stickies shuuld be there.
Like (What we need now) threads...
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I really like this potential revival. :) It was sad when Devrous disappeared...
What's left to be done, exactly? As far as I know many models and textures are ready. :)
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FS2H Status
Regarding the mod's status, a lot of the "framework" is done. Devrous made a majority of the content originally planned, only missing a few things stopping it from going out to the public.
Models
Completed:
- 48 Human Vessels/Structures
- 10 Covenant Vessels
- 3 Forerunner Vessels
- 1 Planet Model
- 1 Halo Model
Still need:
3 Human Ships
- "Bumblebee" Escape Pod (As seen in Halo 1)
- Luxury Liner
- Colony Ship/"Spirit of Fire" Carrier (Same model for both; see Halo Wars)
1 Covenant Vessel
- Covenant Base Ship/"High Charity"
Textures
Only a handful of the ships are completed to a level satisfactory for final design. Most of the ships have default texturing so that they can be used in missions for testing. Also, none of them are texture-mapped. All of them were paint-brushed in TrueSpace, so they don't look up to par with even the original Freespace game in terms of detail. While what is present will suffice for now, it could look a LOT better. This mod could really use a dedicated texture junkie ;) Or, barring that, some detailed paint-brushing at the minimum.
The ones that are done are pretty nice, including blinking running lights and all. For example:
(http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/devrous_fs2h/fs2h-lngswdpeldocked.jpg)
Mechanics/Tables
The tables are completed and the game doesn't crash because of any error in them. So far as I can tell, the game mechanics are balanced to what Devrous envisioned the game to work like. Covenant ships are FAR superior, and it shows if you throw them into a mission. The only thing left is something he had a lot of trouble coming to a decision on: ship speeds. As Devrous juiced-up the fighters and capital ships to go the kinds of speeds the games/books portray he ran into a big problem; dog fighting was near impossible, ballistic weapons like ship-mounted machine guns couldn't hit other fighters, and missiles had to be given speeds that made them impossible to shoot down or dodge/defend against. He tried making the afterburners insanely fast but normal operating speeds low, but the AI would just hit the afterburners all the time and zip around like bees. While it is hilarious to watch, it made the fighting impractical and tedious -- the opposite of fun. In the end he settled down with speeds nearer to the original Freespace games. It's still a sort of "todo" item, but in the end we may just stick with what we know works and just have to make it a part of the game that remains not "true to form."
Interface/Effects
The Main Menu is impressive. Sadly, he didn't leave any notes on how he made it, only leaving a single line under his explanation: "Tricky and hard as hell to perfect." In the end he decided that, other than the Main Menu, all menus and interface elements would remain the same as the original Freespace 2 menus, only they should be blue and maybe have an effect applied to them This won't take very long to complete. Once one menu is done satisfactorily I'll just run all the interface files through a batch conversion process to make them the same color/effect.
Several effects were redone by Devrous, and I doubt we'll need any more than what he already changed. The warp-in animation has been altered and it looks pretty bad@#$. I'll post them later after I hunt down the files.
Missions
This is the area that is most hurt. There are virtually no completed missions; just a smattering of test missions and ideas that never panned out. Wistler has already stepped up to the plate and I'll be getting as much info to him as I can ASAP. Hopefully we can put our heads together and come up with something unique for everyone instead of a ton of boilerplate mission types. Also, Devrous had an ambitious plan in regards to how the flow of a campaign will work. For now, I'll keep it a secret between myself and Wistler. It promises to be unique and engaging... ;7
Music/Sounds/Voice
Devrous and a few others wrote a few tunes for the mod, and even started modifying the original score from the Halo games to make them more "spacey." If anyone wants to add some they are more than welcome. I'll be sure to give credit where it's due in the Credits. The game sounds are pretty much done; he modified a lot fo the defauls game sounds and added a few interesting ones.
Voice acting was apparently made, but the files Devrous had for them have been lost. I've been told that the guy that processed them and recorded them should still have the originals. These voices only cover the generic pilot sounds such as "Attacking your target, sir" and "AAAAHHHH!!!" We will eventually need more voice acting for the tech room and missions, and a few have already volunteered (i.e. Spartan-367). I'll ask for more later after we get more missions done.
Conclusion
Some of these items will not need attention in order to put the game out for testing, but they are the bar I'm setting for whoever ends up on the FS2H Team. Anyone who wishes to contribute may do so, even if it's as simple as brainstorming mission ideas or coming up with character names for the storyline. Anyone who feels that they could help are more than welcomed.
Current FS2H Team (June 7, 2009)
FREDer: Wistler
Voice Acting: Spartan-367
Misc/Fanboy: Starlord :D
Lead/Everything Else For the Moment: Causality
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Do you guys need testing, grammar or storyline people? If you do I'd be willing to help out.
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we definetly need a Fighter, that Longsword is just a bomber.
Aren't Pelicans for air transportation not space?
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No, Pelicans are space-capable. Although they aren't of much use in space combat.
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Longswords are fighters. Thus why they're introduced as 'Longsword fighters'.
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ok just making sure because I'm clueless to the fighters or bombers and pelican abilities in Halo since not much is mentioned about them.
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I can do voice acting for sure, I did others here.
Also we have to model the Spirit of Fire.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/7/79/UNSC_Spirit_of_Fire_(CFV-88).png
That thing is BEAST.
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I can do voice acting for sure, I did others here.
Also we have to model the Spirit of Fire.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/7/79/UNSC_Spirit_of_Fire_(CFV-88).png
That thing is BEAST.
Agreed. Looks awesome.
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Ah, here you are causality.
Thanks for posting and welcome to the HLP. :D
Besides, I know devrous had a definite campaign outline planned regarding FS2H. I think it's still in the FS wiki:
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Halo_for_Freespace
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I think thats as close to fame as I'm ever going to get :p
@Causality: Feel free to PM me any information about the missions or the story and I'll be more then glad to go over them and see the sort of ideas that have been played around with.
I can also forward you my email if that would be easier.
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Any news from the administrators? :)
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I was about to ask the aforementionned question. :D
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Hmmmm. Lost track of this thread. I'll send a PM to Causality detailing what was decided.
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Ohh can i join? I can do fredding, testing and a bit of texture
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send a PM to causality: He'll be glad to welcome you!
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He needs to be a little more active with a few PR member to help get thing HOT.
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The last PM i got off him said he was sorting through the old Halo mod stuff that was left over and he had a lot of RL stuff going on as well but send him a message I'm sure he'd appreciate the help :)
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Hm i wonder how spartans are going to be implemented here?
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Hm i wonder how spartans are going to be implemented here?
They aren't. It's in space.
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It is theorectically possible.
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The only possible way for Spartans to be implemented is if a boarding action is FREDded in and Spartans are onboard the shuttle. Spartans are not pilots and their armor would be useless in a space battle as it mounts no anti-ship weaponry.
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Spartans, in their MJOLNIR Mark V or Mark VI armor's system could theorectically withstand 1, and only 1 covenant ship's point defence laser's hit before breaching.
In FRED, it is possible for us to make a 1/3 fighter sized Spartan, make his "leg" an engine that could operate without an engine glow or give him a T-Pack. Since Spartans use T-Pack to manuver in vacuum, they do not move their body unless necessary. Their body would remain straight, so no movement of body is required.
Putting in into the actual mission itself is easy if the team can make a model like that. There could be a mission where you need to escort a group of Spartans or ODSTs wearing T-Packs to return to an UNSC ship or to board a Covenent ship.
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T-Packs are much slower than Pelicans, and can't take as much damage as a Pelican. If you are forced to escort Spartans or ODST's, that means the Covenant know you are there, and stealth and small size are useless, and the Pelican's speed and survivability are more important.
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I've never read any of the Halo books but I've finished all three of the games, but when are Spartans actually put into a situation where they'd be visible in a Freespace 2 mission? I can think of the Chief "Giving them back their bomb", but that's about it. I don't recall Spartans using jetpacks to carry out a boarding action, however if they have done so previously please correct me.
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In The Fall of Reach the Spartans in their brand-spanking-new Mjolnir armor board a Covenant destroyer and blow up one of its reactors, destroying the ship That was a stealth insertion as the Covenant ship was preoccupied by a UNSC destroyer. The UNSC captain was near a planet and was using the planet's magnetic field to stop the Covenant from launching plasma torpedoes. A stealth insertion in a pitched battle would be a bad idea as the ship the Spartans are departing from would most likely be dead by the time the Spartans finish T-Packing over and sabotaging the Covenant ship. In a situation where speed is required, the Spartans would use a Pelican.
To be honest, I could see Spartans using T-Packs in a mission if the player was doing a story loop for ONI.
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In The Fall of Reach the Spartans in their brand-spanking-new Mjolnir armor board a Covenant destroyer and blow up one of its reactors, destroying the ship That was a stealth insertion as the Covenant ship was preoccupied by a UNSC destroyer. The UNSC captain was near a planet and was using the planet's magnetic field to stop the Covenant from launching plasma torpedoes. A stealth insertion in a pitched battle would be a bad idea as the ship the Spartans are departing from would most likely be dead by the time the Spartans finish T-Packing over and sabotaging the Covenant ship. In a situation where speed is required, the Spartans would use a Pelican.
To be honest, I could see Spartans using T-Packs in a mission if the player was doing a story loop for ONI.
Precisely, some one knows the novel here :D
Aye, Spartans are so small that it seem unlikely that even point defence laser could hit them easily.
[Speculation]On UNSC ships, for example: Iroquois, point defence cannons were never used (at least mentioned) when there is no AI onboard the ship. Which suggest that targeting is required and no auto turrents are included as a ship's weapon. Going back to our topic on covenant ship, since all covenant ship (save for a few important ones we see in book) seem to lack an AI, I believe that point defence laser are manually fired.[/Speculation]
What do you guys think?
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Actually, point-defense weapons are standard on both UNSC and Covenant ships. Covenant ships use pulse lasers and UNSC ships use autocannons. I don't have TFoR with me right now but I think the PoA was equipped with like 200 40mm point-defense autocannons. That was probably more than was normal for a ship that size, however I would assume all UNSC ships would be equipped with PD weaponry to shoot down missiles and fighters. In TFoR it's also mentioned that ships don't need AI to do anything, AI only do things better than a ship's crew. Keyes did the Keyes Loop without the use of an AI after all.
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Actually, point-defense weapons are standard on both UNSC and Covenant ships. Covenant ships use pulse lasers and UNSC ships use autocannons. I don't have TFoR with me right now but I think the PoA was equipped with like 200 40mm point-defense autocannons. That was probably more than was normal for a ship that size, however I would assume all UNSC ships would be equipped with PD weaponry to shoot down missiles and fighters. In TFoR it's also mentioned that ships don't need AI to do anything, AI only do things better than a ship's crew. Keyes did the Keyes Loop without the use of an AI after all.
I know all ships, both covenant, rebel and UNSC are equiped with PDC or PDL. Covenant ships fire their PDL without an AI on board, but UNSC ship doesn't. Apparently atleast Militery Grade C + AI like Wellsley is required to operate it.
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Was it actually stated that an AI is required for a UNSC ship to use point-defense weapons?
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That Im not sure, gotta re read the book.
But Iroquis had been in service during the UNSC-Covenant War longer than PoA without an AI and it never fired a shot. We can assume it needs an AI to fire properly if it is never officially settled or if there are no other sources that say otherwise.
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To add to the debate:
AIs are not required to use point-defense systems. It is mentioned in the first cutscene of Halo and a few times in the books that the on-board computer could handle point-defense, though not as well as an AI could. This goes for the main weapons and missile systems as well. The Archer missiles have their firing solutions plotted by the weapons officer usually, and the same with the MAC guns. It just so happens that the books follow Cortana and Spartan-117 primarily, so we see her doing a lot of the work. I have no doubt that Cortana would be able to plot solutions faster and with better accuracy on every account, but due to limited funds and the fact that UNSC ships drop like flies, it would be prohibitively expensive to put top-of-the-line AIs on every ship. I imagine that the standard computer system aboard every ship is indeed a simple AI, lacking creativity but having great multi-tasking processing.
And to address the use of Spartans and ODSTs, it was in fact envisioned in a very limited fashion. The HEV pods are not out of the question at all, but, as already stated, in a ship-to-ship battle Pelicans would be doing the troop transportation. Pods would be suicide in a space battle. And T-Packs, while a possibility, seem like a fantastic waste of manpower with all the point defense and the inclusion of fightercraft. Also, it would be harder to get a good model for people strapped to packs, let alone get the FS2 engine to make them fly in a believable way through space. Slow moving bees, anyone? :lol:
I like the ideas and discussion, guys. :yes:
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I think Diaspora team have something close to a Pilot model in their cockpit xD Maybe they know what to do.
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And to address the use of Spartans and ODSTs, it was in fact envisioned in a very limited fashion. The HEV pods are not out of the question at all, but, as already stated, in a ship-to-ship battle Pelicans would be doing the troop transportation. Pods would be suicide in a space battle. And T-Packs, while a possibility, seem like a fantastic waste of manpower with all the point defense and the inclusion of fightercraft. Also, it would be harder to get a good model for people strapped to packs, let alone get the FS2 engine to make them fly in a believable way through space. Slow moving bees, anyone? :lol:
Oh ho ho, I just remembered that Covenant have those Assault Boats in Halo 2, those would come handy.
UNSC boarding ships might not be necessary, seeing that Lieutenant Harverson said that a few times UNSC hit the Covenant ships so hard that they are hurt bad enough to surrender, but all they did was initiate self distruct sequence.
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Here here, it would have been a damn shame if this mod died.
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Here here, it would have been a damn shame if this mod died.
Seconded, not to mention this project just came back from the graveyard.
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true enough, as sadly, I've seen no interest in the space combat element of HALO, aside from that MOD. :(
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Has there been much opportunity for people to get interested in the space combat element though?
All the official games have been ground based for the most part and much as I enjoyed the first couple of games, banshee combat absolutely sucked in comparison with anything I've played on FS2_Open. It could be that all that is required is for people to see what they are missing. :)
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Its's a little hard for people to get interested, especially when most of the stuff they see now had been shown before.
BTW, Banshee dont fly properly in space.
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Well that's kind of my point. Are people not interested in a Halo space game simply because they aren't interested, or is it cause they haven't been shown anything yet that made them interested.
Cause if it's the later, some good PR work could help.
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I think some good videos and screen shots could raise interest, at the moment it seems to be more a conceptual idea which is hard to get excited about.
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I recall one trailer having been made on youtube... (with very nice music).
But I think that is all...
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As far as high-resolution models go, I know a fellow by the name of Ben Harber on X-Plane.org. He happens to be quite a Halo fan (I think he might even work for Bungie now... but I'm not certain.) and has developed several flying Halo aircraft/ships for the X-Plane flight simulator. All of these are quite detailed, and should the project evolve to have ships with virtural cockpits (as FotG and Diaspora will), these models might be useful. Of course, that's only IF you get permission to use them.
Here's an example of his handiwork: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw6T6R3xIEw
If there's interest in this on this thread, I'll try and get in touch with him.
-Thaeris
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i believe the covenant space aircraft was a teardrop shaped **** called a scarab. Seems to me the writers of halo really liked the name scarab, seeing as how they gave it to so many of the vehicles in the game.
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No. The Covenant space fighter (the Covie counterpart to the Longsword) is called the Seraph.
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the name Scarab was only ever given to... the Scarab... Halo 2 and 3s big bad walking machine. There both essentially the same vehicle, just different 'varients' (i think) so they're both Scarabs, in the same way the LAAG, Gauss and Transport varients of the Warthog are all Warthogs.
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or it could be design varients, like how the phantom in halo1 looks totally diffrent to the phantom in halo3
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The main reason the scarab changed between Halo 2 and Halo 3 was because the Halo 2 one looked stupid.
Bungie themselves said in the special features of the Legendary Edition of Halo 3 that it looked "like a hand basket with legs." :nod:
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Aye, so they replaced it with one that had needlepoint for legs.
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or it could be design varients, like how the phantom in halo1 looks totally diffrent to the phantom in halo3
Halo 2 & 3 Covenant transport was called the Phantom. Halo: CE Covenant Transport was called the Spirit.
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You are talking Seraph Fighters, not Scarab (Assault/Invasion Walker)
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Spirit? ahh...
what a weird name!
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It's not really a weird name when compared with all other covenant names, there just simply names relateing to the 'after life'/'undead'. (Vampire, Spectre, Spirit, Phantom, Scarabs, Banshee, I could go on, etc.). Or atleast they're the human designation for these vehicles.
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I remember alien ships being called this way in Xcom interceptor:
wraith: light fighter
spectre: med fighter
phantasm: heavy fighter
shade: advanced fighter prototype
spirit: freighter
omen: tug
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It's not really a weird name when compared with all other covenant names, there just simply names relateing to the 'after life'/'undead'. (Vampire, Spectre, Spirit, Phantom, Scarabs, Banshee, I could go on, etc.). Or atleast they're the human designation for these vehicles.
Vampire? I don't recall a Vampire.
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It's not really a weird name when compared with all other covenant names, there just simply names relateing to the 'after life'/'undead'. (Vampire, Spectre, Spirit, Phantom, Scarabs, Banshee, I could go on, etc.). Or atleast they're the human designation for these vehicles.
Vampire? I don't recall a Vampire.
There isnt one named Vampire.
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Might be a little late, but if you still need help with relation to storyline details and stuff like that or you need a webpage I can halp.
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As far as high-resolution models go, I know a fellow by the name of Ben Harber on X-Plane.org. He happens to be quite a Halo fan (I think he might even work for Bungie now... but I'm not certain.) and has developed several flying Halo aircraft/ships for the X-Plane flight simulator. All of these are quite detailed, and should the project evolve to have ships with virtural cockpits (as FotG and Diaspora will), these models might be useful. Of course, that's only IF you get permission to use them.
Here's an example of his handiwork: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw6T6R3xIEw
If there's interest in this on this thread, I'll try and get in touch with him.
I hate to be a pest, but I think I should offer this suggestion one last time.
-Thaeris
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Vampire? I don't recall a Vampire.
Covenant anti air vehicle in Halo Wars
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:lol: :lol: :lol: Halo Wars... :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Blah, Halo Wars...
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Ehh...the Covenant AA vehicle is the AA Wraith.
Cause the actual games > spin offs.
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Halo Wars had an AA Wraith :confused:? That's just WTF as everyone knows the Wraith is a giant hovering plasma mortar. If that's the kind of crap Halo Wars churns out I hope it isn't coming to PC.
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In reality, most battlefield AA vehicles are based off of standard eqipment, including tanks. There were a ton of examples from WWII to illustrate this, including the Whirblewind and Ostwind (both based on the Panzer IV). Even today Germany has an AA tank with the chassis of the Leopard MBT.
Thus it actually makes practical sense to have a common platform for weapons: just swap out the turret and some of the electronics and you have a heavy-duty vehicle that can take some punishment...
-Thaeris
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Its just weird because the Wraith is so big and slow.
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Halo Wars had an AA Wraith :confused:? That's just WTF as everyone knows the Wraith is a giant hovering plasma mortar. If that's the kind of crap Halo Wars churns out I hope it isn't coming to PC.
The AA Wraith was in Halo 3 actually, it was a varient of the original that was mounted with what seem to be quick fire fuel rod cannons. Halo Wars had a new unit for AA if I recall correctly.
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Halo Wars had an AA Wraith :confused:? That's just WTF as everyone knows the Wraith is a giant hovering plasma mortar. If that's the kind of crap Halo Wars churns out I hope it isn't coming to PC.
The AA Wraith was in Halo 3 actually, it was a varient of the original that was mounted with what seem to be quick fire fuel rod cannons. Halo Wars had a new unit for AA if I recall correctly.
Yeah. I was commenting on why they would make a new unit for AA when there's already the AA Wraith in Halo 3.
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I didnt bother with halo wars as in it was microsoft only. Microsoft never really made a great game in my opinion. They rock when doing joint efforts, but going solo, just no.
As for the names... yeah I understand that... but still... spirit? wtf were they thinking
and vampire? we thats microsoft so thats acceptable, but still...
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I didnt bother with halo wars as in it was microsoft only. Microsoft never really made a great game in my opinion. They rock when doing joint efforts, but going solo, just no.
As for the names... yeah I understand that... but still... spirit? wtf were they thinking
and vampire? we thats microsoft so thats acceptable, but still...
Am I detecting some "I dislike Microsoft's stupid ideas" here? :lol:
But yea wtf Vampire? Its not really... valid...
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I didnt bother with halo wars as in it was microsoft only. Microsoft never really made a great game in my opinion. They rock when doing joint efforts, but going solo, just no.
You're a bit off in that sentiment, though, since Halo Wars was created by the internal development group Ensemble Studios, who also crafted the ridiculously excellent Age of Empires/Age of Mythology RTS series.
...though come to think of it, seeing as how MS shut down Ensemble at the drop of a hat after Halo Wars was completed, maybe you have something there.
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I don't think so. IIRC Ensemble had announced previously that Ensemble Studios would be closing after Halo Wars was released, and, IIRC, a different company was formed by the same team to maintain Halo Wars after Ensemble closed.
Of course, it's possible that I'm totally wrong.
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So why close Ensemble in the first place?
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Why does Vista blow? :drevil:
-Thaeris
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I don't think so. IIRC Ensemble had announced previously that Ensemble Studios would be closing after Halo Wars was released, and, IIRC, a different company was formed by the same team to maintain Halo Wars after Ensemble closed.
Of course, it's possible that I'm totally wrong.
Yeah thats pretty much how it happened. Some of the staff are the same i think, some aren't.
On a totally different note, it should be noted tha Halo Wars had a covvie ship in it (A destroyer class I think) that could be added to this game. Not sure i like its design though...
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mmm then again I didn't really like the AOE trilogy. They were good for their time, but got boring real quick. Add to that they never actually did expand on it (no space age, no sciencefiction (not including AOM as that is associated with historical belief), no enhancements (always stuck to 4 ages most of which were similar with the only main diffrences being new buildings and types of units)) it just made it really hard for me to keep playing, exspecially since historic and medievil games have been done to death in my opinion. Which is one of the reasons why Freespace2 is still one of my favorite games and I have been playing it since I was 6 (11 years now (wow has it really been that long?))
You may be right there, however microsoft did have a hand, a big hand, in all of it.
I understand a lot of you liked Halo Wars and the AOE series, and i respect that, but with me I just have played too many games which are too similar from microsoft. I meen its like comparing Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds to AOE2
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I understand a lot of you liked Halo Wars and the AOE series, and i respect that, but with me I just have played too many games which are too similar from microsoft. I meen its like comparing Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds to AOE2
Considering that Galactic Battlegrounds was based on the AOE2 engine and was largely little more than a sprite swap, I'm not entirely sure what your point is. :p
And while medieval sorts of games have been done to death now, they certainly weren't at the time that at least the first two AOE titles were released. I'd also argue about their longevity, as AOE2 kept me happily occupied for more than a month fairly recently as I played through all the singleplayer campaigns. Different strokes, I guess.
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well i respect that... it was a good game i dont deny that... im just saying i wasnt a huge fan...
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Can we talk about how we should do or improve the MOD and not how much we hate Microsoft! :lol:
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Tiz a fair point, however like I said there are almost unlimited possibilities with campain ideas. I personally believe we should at least get a fair chunk of the mod done (like models and stuff) before we work on that. We have already come up with some great ideas, and sure we can use them, however we wont use them just yet.
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Any news on the halo project yet causality? ;)
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Guess I could start doing some really basic FRED now :D
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I really really hope he hasn't had computer failure and other issues as well
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That would suck x-x
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Should have some post by now.
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No, I doubt anything could be done in the 1 minute between your last two posts.
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You kidding? That wasn't even 30 seconds
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No, I doubt anything could be done in the 1 minute between your last two posts.
... I don't mean in response to MY post. Just post in Freespace Halo in general.
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The fact of the matter is for a second time this mod appears to be going nowhere. As such, noone posts here. Because we wanna see action
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The fact of the matter is for a second time this mod appears to be going nowhere. As such, noone posts here. Because we wanna see action
You know, you COULD offer to help with it, that is, if you really want this to get off the ground.
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I've tried to resume contact with causality, no doubt he'll reply at some point...
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The fact of the matter is for a second time this mod appears to be going nowhere. As such, noone posts here. Because we wanna see action
You know, you COULD offer to help with it, that is, if you really want this to get off the ground.
uhhhh I kinda did... 3 times now... so dont accuse me of being the asshole who is going f all cause I dont see you doing anything either
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So is this being worked on or not? :sigh:
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We shall assume for now, that Casuality is working on it in quiet. Or you kids could go pick up blender and go blend a Halo ship model, whether or not Casuality okay'd your help.
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We shall assume for now, that Casuality is working on it in quiet. Or you kids could go pick up blender and go blend a Halo ship model, whether or not Casuality okay'd your help.
Maybe he got sick of people misspelling his name, and left?
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... Well, I wouldn't've noticed 'less you said so, so .... :p
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This is so strange, every project I anticipate appears to burn and die, and it's not just here
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So stop anticipating already! :p
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He will come out like a bang !!!
Or like this
(http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/9499/sleipnirmk1.th.jpg) (http://img22.imageshack.us/i/sleipnirmk1.jpg/)
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I certainly hope so! :nod:
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So stop anticipating already! :p
Just no. That's just really bad
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Is this still alive?
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Until/unless Causality checks back in, I don't think anyone has access to any of the mod materials.
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Well, even if causality doesn't show up, it's reassuring to know that a lot of HALO ship models exist on the internet (as opposed to EOTP or the renegade legion for instance), so hopefully, someone else, if need should be, could potentially start anew due to the abundance of HALO material...
It would be a blast though to see a space sim in the HALO universe and I definately hope the day will come sooner or later, with or without causality...
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Well, how long are we all going to have to wait before this is piled on the dead pile again? Really didn't want to see this happen with this particular project, but we are nearing that moment :( (correct me if I'm wrong.).
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I'm doing my best to contact causality, but I have another person perhaps willing to invest in the project on filefront forums...
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I'm doing my best to contact causality, but I have another person perhaps willing to invest in the project on filefront forums...
With continued hosting here, correct? :yes:
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it seems the person in question finally refused...
Oh dear, this is not good!
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Who has been in charge of this mod lately ? Because I might (I said might) have a proposal to submit him and I'd better like to PM him.
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Judging by who's Moderator round these parts, causality.
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I've tried emails and various PMs but no reply: but please feel free to try!
It would be nice to see the halo MOD revived...
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I believe at this point, waiting for ANY of the people who tried to lead this project before would be foolish, as they seem to have developed a tendency to just disappear after a short time. Just go tabula rasa, and start completely from scratch.
With competent people in the lead. And a plan.
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Quite so: It's just a pity whn you consider the amount of work and models done (especially non canon designs like that covenant corvette)...
Oh well, who knows, perhaps causality will pop back ONE day...
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Is there ANYONE of this mod's team left ?
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Right. Models and designs that only exist in the form of some screenshots somewhere, apparently.
And no, apparently, there is no Halo team at the moment.
Bottom Line: If you want a Halo TC/Mod using the FSO engine, you will have to make one yourself.
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it seems that like devrous, causality kept it as a one man job...
such a pity! :sigh:
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He even applied me as beta tester.
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I suppose you don't have any files of any kind do you?
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Nope. He disappeared just before he planned to send me some.
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At this point, I feel the only way that a Halo mod might still happen is if someone started a new mod. I dont feel anyone could simply take over here without direct permission from Casulty, it just wouldnt be right.
Said mod would also require a proper team, rather than just 1 person makeing the mod, that way there is redundancy, it would also need someone who has experience in mod teams, especailly for freespace. IF anyone does start a new mod, or if Casulty returns here, I do have models (no textures) that i made that could be contributed to said mod. I'm not sure they're brilliant compared to most of the FS mods though :P
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The point is, this space here can definitely be taken over by a new team (even if the old threads should probably be locked and archived). And yeah, a proper team, with proper planning and who can prove they have the necessary commitment to finish this is necessary.
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Actually what I was going to propose was a collaboration with Halo Homefront (http://www.moddb.com/mods/halo-homefront), a TC for Homeworld 2 of which I am a member. We have meshes, effects, and an active team. However I am virtually the only one in this team to know about FS, and I have a close to zilch FS modding experience.
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Actually what I was going to propose was a collaboration with Halo Homefront (http://www.moddb.com/mods/halo-homefront), a TC for Homeworld 2 of which I am a member. We have meshes, effects, and an active team. However I am virtually the only one in this team to know about FS, and I have a close to zilch FS modding experience.
Ah, i was just thinkign of the Homeworld 2 mod this morning, thinking i hadn't looked at anything to do with it.
*Returns from looking at latest pictures on ModDB. I think freespace mods often use higher poly ships, not sure, but if u look at the ships in Diaspora. But then again, less detailed ships means you can probably get more ships on screen with less of a performance penalty :P. Then again, those models do look VERY nice.
I think one of the major problems about a halo fod for Freespace in general is that it just isn't a fighter series, fighters aren't heavilly used, and apart from close in support, they just seem to pretty much be canon fodder.
However, if there was a new mod team for this, i would be more than willing to volunteer, however I don't reaally have any of the required skills. The only thing I could really do is help to develop the story line(s) and give people my opinion :P. However, my FREDing skills aren't grand, and as for modeling, I only have Milkshape. Example of best looking Hlo ship i ever made is:
(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss285/late_wolfy/th_ForwardUntoDawn.png) (http://s584.photobucket.com/albums/ss285/late_wolfy/?action=view¤t=ForwardUntoDawn.png)
Very, erm, flat down the sides :P. and the back is even worse 0_o
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I'm sure we can make a good starfighter experience by stretching the canon a bit. Every TC mod does that at one point.
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That would be swell! and one might be able to also "glance" at designs which devrous has proposed in the FS2H TC: the covenant corvette comes to mind...
The collaboration with homefront sounds very interesting Matt, as this might definately be the way to keep the MOD going...
I seem to recall that space: above and beyond was not a fighter based series either (no more than star trek) yet FSopen TCs existed regarding those... even though S:AAB got cancelled which is a darn shame! Models are still somewhere though...
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Oh well! Archived again... :rolleyes:
Hopefully the boards will remain this time though...
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Well, the boards will remain, but I guess that whoever takes this project over would do well to remember the Hosted Project guidelines (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=53807.0)....
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Of those campaigns that do eventually release something, most languish for years, often going through one or more dormant stages before finishing.
*Looks at Halo for Freespace* ehe... hehehe...
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Don't I know that... Oh well, we can still hope that one day...
Besides, does anyone here know of active halo communities? I tried to post in the HBO forums but no answer yet. Perhaps we could find fresh blood there although collaboration with the homefront MOD might speed up things also...
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You might start with the communities that promote Forge map making.
People with the creative drive to actually produce content tend to gather there.
http://www.forgehub.com/forum/
http://highimpacthalo.org/forum/forum.php
http://www.modhalo.net/index.php?act=idx
Your greatest hurdle will be presenting FS2 modding is something virtually
anyone can do.
Ex. If you don't know anything about modding, you can table and learn
that area as it's only txt based. Everyone can edit text, just needs
someone willing to learn and some basic math skills.
Most folks will say they want to help, but figure modding is a dark art
that automatically means you're supposed to code/program, and shy away
from doing anything at all. That's a gap you'll have to deal with.
You can also try and promote what you're doing as getting more options in the
Halo-verse. In other words you're not constrained, it's free form. No silly Forge
rules (in a sense, there's engine limits of course) so it's an opportunity. Ideas
and creativity are encouraged for a change.
Bungie.org's forums may also be a starting point, just for pure advertisement/
word of mouth purposes. It may not be the 1st or 2nd pair of ears that nets you
a helper... but the 3rd... people talk.
Your most time consuming problem will be content creation (models+textures)
as making a universe is a labor intensive task. The more modelers you can
get or make things assembly line style - the faster you'll go.
Start a FTP everyone can access, and it'd help to have your own SVN for tracking
changes and so on. Somebody do a backup once in a while in case of disaster or
disgruntled contributor.
Besides the novels, there's also the well laid out editorials of
http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/halo-3/the-terminals/
which I find few average Halo players know anything about.
Nice source material to pull from if nothing else.
/my $0.10 of advice.
Best of luck gentlemen. FringeSpace started with 2 guys that knew nothing
and we're almost at year 4 with a staff of 8. We've "restarted" in a sense more times
than I care to think about - so I know where you're coming from.
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Just a post for encouragement guys. Don't worry about audience. You just worry about making it. We 'll play it when it's finished, or when you have something for us.
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Just a post for encouragement guys. Don't worry about audience. You just worry about making it. We 'll play it when it's finished, or when you have something for us.
Thanks! :D :yes:
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any plans on updaating the site devrous?
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Hello devrous? any news?
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Indeed! I've put down a lot of the graphics updates in favor of mission creation for the time being. I can always go back and make it look better but a good mission/campaign makes or breaks a game. I'm also excited about some early success in my planned "hub mission." It doesn't require anything that Freespace 2 couldn't already do but it does mean a LOT of sexp's and variables to keep track of. That isn't really an issue so much as having it confined to a single hub gets rather large and unweildly. Instead, I'm leaning towards the multiple hub route. This would be similar to, let's say, Half-Life 2 or StarCraft 2 when you play single-player. Your menu background changes as you progress through the campaign. Now I don't plan on doing anything with the menu based on that, but those examples should illustrate how I want these hubs to operate.
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Cool, someone else doing hub missions. High five up here ^5
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Cool, someone else doing hub missions. High five up here ^5
:D :yes: :D
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Wow! interesting!