feasibility study: parasite
Hello everyone,
This is not an "idea guy" topic. I just want your opinion on whether or not ns2 modding is good/easy enought to made a mod that would implement more or the less the following (rather old but its to give you an idea):
<i>
2007 (First version in Lua) , 2008 ("Second" version) and 2009 (new engine, and C++)
Parasite is a multiplayer modification for Garry's mod (Lua language), and later a standalone game based on the Sauerbraten engine. It is remotely inspired by the Warcraft3 map of the same name.
Players musts accomplish objectives as an alien infestation progresses, turning humans into aliens with human forms that can evolve and infect other players.
The game creates an unique atmosphere of paranoia as alien players will have to deceive human players in order to spread
the infestation. This makes the game similar to The ship (a former HL1 mod then ported to source engine as a retail game), but with a completely different approach : Two teams, and a simple needs system makes the game much more coherent, and allows the players to deeply develop their tactics. Dead players can still take part in the game under a lesser alien form which allows games to be rather long (15 minutes) without being frustrative for dead players.
All the art content is based on existing Garry's Mod content (Half Life 2 for the player models and Counter Strike Source for weapons).
First version
The game has been well received by players for it's original gameplay that force players to be paranoiac and interpret the behavior of other players. Also, the use of microphone and the rather immersive gameplay makes it a very friendly game.
The game is still played today, even if it wasn't much updated and upgraded.
Two main version exist for garry's mod :
The first one, my first attempt at making a program (!!)
First version
The second one is a remake made from scratch. More complete and balanced (and with less bugs and exploits !), but not that prefered by players because it didn't include the reprogramable, human played, robot (which was too frustrating because it could be reprogrammed by the aliens at any time, suddenly going on a rampage).
Version 0.50+
I alway loved to test this game but the interval between coding and testing was long because it was a multiplayer game.
Also an infrastructure was needed to host the games and it was too much time consuming to deal with the community.
A new version based on the sauerbraten engine (free engine) was developped in 2009 (C++ language), with the idea of making a commercial game.
The latest version is playable and contains most of the gameplay of the final game, yet the project was paused due to arious issues (lack of a good computer, lack of a dev-team for contents such as 3d models).
Early alpha under Sauerbraten engine (no model/maps)
<a href="http://www.moddb.com/mods/parasite" target="_blank">http://www.moddb.com/mods/parasite</a>
<a href="http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=321663" target="_blank">http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=321663</a>
GMOD: No download link since the game requires half life 2.</i>
I wondered if it was possible to port the parasite mod/game to ns2. Existing maps looks ok, models looks ok, and the scripting api looks nice. But I don't own ns2 so I can't really tell. What's your take on that?
<b>
What I would need to do in term of scripting :
A way to change the model of a player when he presses a button.
A way for mappers to define areas (like triggers) that the player will have to travel to.
Overlays that indicate these locations (see above).
Posibility to pick up and throw items (with weight system).
A way for entities/players to emit sounds (like contextual sounds in red orchestra 2 for example).
Modification of the scoreboard, interface etc...
Force the player not to have a custom overlay (it would be easy to cheat otherwise, but It's not the only solution).
Good VOIP.
Iron sight a plus.
</b>
I have read that there is no auto dl for mod right now but when do you think it will be available?
I think it would be really easy to port that gamemode to ns2, using ns2 models, physics, maps (can we edit uwe's maps btw?).
This is not an "idea guy" topic. I just want your opinion on whether or not ns2 modding is good/easy enought to made a mod that would implement more or the less the following (rather old but its to give you an idea):
<i>
2007 (First version in Lua) , 2008 ("Second" version) and 2009 (new engine, and C++)
Parasite is a multiplayer modification for Garry's mod (Lua language), and later a standalone game based on the Sauerbraten engine. It is remotely inspired by the Warcraft3 map of the same name.
Players musts accomplish objectives as an alien infestation progresses, turning humans into aliens with human forms that can evolve and infect other players.
The game creates an unique atmosphere of paranoia as alien players will have to deceive human players in order to spread
the infestation. This makes the game similar to The ship (a former HL1 mod then ported to source engine as a retail game), but with a completely different approach : Two teams, and a simple needs system makes the game much more coherent, and allows the players to deeply develop their tactics. Dead players can still take part in the game under a lesser alien form which allows games to be rather long (15 minutes) without being frustrative for dead players.
All the art content is based on existing Garry's Mod content (Half Life 2 for the player models and Counter Strike Source for weapons).
First version
The game has been well received by players for it's original gameplay that force players to be paranoiac and interpret the behavior of other players. Also, the use of microphone and the rather immersive gameplay makes it a very friendly game.
The game is still played today, even if it wasn't much updated and upgraded.
Two main version exist for garry's mod :
The first one, my first attempt at making a program (!!)
First version
The second one is a remake made from scratch. More complete and balanced (and with less bugs and exploits !), but not that prefered by players because it didn't include the reprogramable, human played, robot (which was too frustrating because it could be reprogrammed by the aliens at any time, suddenly going on a rampage).
Version 0.50+
I alway loved to test this game but the interval between coding and testing was long because it was a multiplayer game.
Also an infrastructure was needed to host the games and it was too much time consuming to deal with the community.
A new version based on the sauerbraten engine (free engine) was developped in 2009 (C++ language), with the idea of making a commercial game.
The latest version is playable and contains most of the gameplay of the final game, yet the project was paused due to arious issues (lack of a good computer, lack of a dev-team for contents such as 3d models).
Early alpha under Sauerbraten engine (no model/maps)
<a href="http://www.moddb.com/mods/parasite" target="_blank">http://www.moddb.com/mods/parasite</a>
<a href="http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=321663" target="_blank">http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=321663</a>
GMOD: No download link since the game requires half life 2.</i>
I wondered if it was possible to port the parasite mod/game to ns2. Existing maps looks ok, models looks ok, and the scripting api looks nice. But I don't own ns2 so I can't really tell. What's your take on that?
<b>
What I would need to do in term of scripting :
A way to change the model of a player when he presses a button.
A way for mappers to define areas (like triggers) that the player will have to travel to.
Overlays that indicate these locations (see above).
Posibility to pick up and throw items (with weight system).
A way for entities/players to emit sounds (like contextual sounds in red orchestra 2 for example).
Modification of the scoreboard, interface etc...
Force the player not to have a custom overlay (it would be easy to cheat otherwise, but It's not the only solution).
Good VOIP.
Iron sight a plus.
</b>
I have read that there is no auto dl for mod right now but when do you think it will be available?
I think it would be really easy to port that gamemode to ns2, using ns2 models, physics, maps (can we edit uwe's maps btw?).
Comments
That's trivial, model-changes happen all the time in NS2.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->A way for mappers to define areas (like triggers) that the player will have to travel to.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There is a distinct lack of entities for quite a number of things, but they can be added very easily in Lua, this should not pose a problem.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Posibility to pick up and throw items (with weight system).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Physics-interaction accurately conveyed via the netcode? I'm not sure how well NS2 does that, though I suppose the Lerk-spikes are (or rather were since the last build turned them into hitscan I believe) one example of that.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->A way for entities/players to emit sounds (like contextual sounds in red orchestra 2 for example).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Trivial, infact, <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Lua/Objects/Entity/PlaySound" target="_blank">this</a>.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Modification of the scoreboard, interface etc...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Trivial, it's all in the Lua-script.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Force the player not to have a custom overlay (it would be easy to cheat otherwise, but It's not the only solution).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah it's kind of unknown how exactly consistency will be enforced (it currently isn't), but I imagine the Client's Lua-script will be synced to exactly what the server has, so this shouldn't pose a problem.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Good VOIP.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
NS2 has VOIP, but I have no idea as to what it uses exactly, maybe Steam's properitary, or maybe they have something customized.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Iron sight a plus.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
*shivers*. The Lerk has a kind of iron-sight with Spikes, so there's already something there to work with.
Auto-download is a complete guess as to when that will become available. It will surely be in before v1.0, but on the list of priorities I bet it sits below some other issues at this time. You can edit NS2's maps with ease, they are not compiled\garbled in any way (I believe), and as long as you don't charge for your mod or something similar I can't imagine it being a problem to use\modify\'borrow' from them.
But before you decide to go ahead with creating anything, It's probably a good idea to sit and wait for a while longer, as there are still some serious issues with the engine pending that need to be resolved (rendering\performance), as well as significant changes in the Lua-script every build that you probably don't want to miss out on (which you will if you fork right now).
but small things like spawning rules, or rules that describe the end of a game, could be done quite easily.
This sounds like a great idea, but to reiterate what the brains above me stated, at this points its not worth it. Wait for a much more stable base to work of :)
Its getting there!