New Mod: "Turnstile" Created 18 years ago2006-01-31 15:05:49 UTC by Rimrook

i cant wait to see the dronefly in action. the shannon does look good as a model, but personally i think it could use a little more. maybe a turnstyle logo or 2?

Im loving the sunbeam also. Does that replace the egon?

Yes. the sunbeam is the egon.

Well, i'll just be getting back to the modness.

your a modding machine rim.

if this turns out as well as its seems, you'll likely end up there with Neil Manke and Adam foster in the half-life comunity

oooh... That means the sunbeam will be a very powerful end-game weapon. cant wait

The models are 100% done.

All thats left is the demo hazard course. Which won't take long.

However my days are short when i'm teach muzzleflash 3DS max over msn. He doing rather well at it, i must say. He can model props, animate, skin, and we're working on doing a first weapon... in 3 days!

The demo will be in developement textures. it won't look pretty, but it'll that's why its an alpha test.

You didnt get the sunbeam idea from Prey? Right?

even if he did, it will be cooler in turnstile

even if he did, it will be cooler in turnstile

Just asking.I'm sure of that it will be cooler in the hl1 engine

Great! Then he can animate and compile the HL:HS weapons!

Yarr, with all these new fancy thangajggers this here mod now be havin' some of the greatest potential I ever saw, yarrrr.........

I don't know exactly how you have planned the intro, but I have this interesting idea. You could use a big tapestry full of iconic drawings explaining part of the story of the suzeron, the wars between Heat and Cold and other important mythological aspects of the story.
A camera on a tracktrain would slowly pan along, while a series of game texts or a very good narrator voice tells the background story.

THESE are two screenshots of the "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind" film intro which uses this technique very effectively.
Since you like texture work and drawing, I'm sure you would enjoy doing something similar. If you need any help let me know.

i would be happy to do any sound fx if you want... ask maddymoo about it coz I've already done a load for him!

I like kasperg's idea, and you knw me, just like Alexb, im in for any voiceacting or sound.

My own example:
http://img326.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tapes2py.jpg

oooo... thats nice, although Im not sure i like the 'low-res' feel to it. i get why you did it, but I just think its a bit overdone. The graphics are excellent though...

It's just an example...

superb

cool example kasperg

I was playing around, and came up with some great stuff too. You should so use this for your splash-screen, I think it would really top off the skill and hard work that has gone into this project...what do people think? I mean, I could do the text in white? I think... my mspaint skills aren't particularally 1337, but I could give it my best...

reads mspaint manual



EDIT:: or...whichever you think is best?

lololo

i think i might throw up the poptart im eating

i do like the intro kasperg was talking about. but originally i had it planned where the story unfolds more and develops as you go along, and right as you are up to date, BOOM! you get slapped in the face with the single most greatest video game ending of all time. So it feels like because of you, you were the one who finished the story, or prophecy, or whatever. Rather than recieving a huge reason why this is all happening in bulk.

Love the egyptian style painting tho. I will definately be using something like that in the mod.

Photoshopped?

will you be changing the vortigaunt's beams to icy type of thing?that would be great.

that'd be sweet

i've been trying to, but the beams are stuck in a green color. I tried to change the colors, but they always look strange. I need code to change so many minor things.

Why is it that coders are so hard to come across?

because stuff like this scare them off.

http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=4011

Yeah.

After this, the full-scale beta demo can begin being put together. Please read the description.

Awesome! playing

Edit: Just finished testing everything and so far its looking freakin' great. I especially loved the ability to do suit zooming. Here's a little bug report:

-I'm not crouched in this picture, I'm halfway inside the floor. I don't know whether you meant for this to happen (doubt it) and I don't remember this happening in the first demo, but you might want to fix it.

-The jump script isn't fool proof. Nor is any other special script(zooming, map overview, etc) I didn't know about this new jumping thing and I overbound it in the configs with a normal jump(seeing that there was nothing bound to "jump"). Fix it by doing this: Create a userconfig.cfg in the turnstile folder and add all your special alias bindings in there so that they won't be overbound by the config(the last thing config.cfg does is execute userconfig.cfg if it exists. Userconfig.cfg can only be edited manually so you don't have to worry about the game screwing it up like it can with config.cfg). Doing this will eliminate the possibility of new users overbinding unknown special functions.

-The siaph couldn't hit me, it only shot over my head, assuming you didn't script it to do that.

-The suit zooms out every time you leave the console(or the main menu). This looked like an intentional effect, but it got annoying after a while. If it wasn't intential, however, again I'd look into it.

-All of your models are one body each. Of course, that's not the problem. This sin't really a bug since they look fine without it, but: If don't want your weapons to have rough, pointy edges when the light strikes them, redo all of them so that the additive parts are their own body group. When additive textures on a model are in the same group as non-additive textues the smoothing gets screwed. This is what happens:Notice the arms? Of course, most of your weapons are very "geometric" to begin with so it doesn't affect them much but it WILL affect the parts that are supposed to be smooth(arms, hands, cylinders, etc).

-No steam splash screen But I'm sure you'll get to that eventually.

I also noticed that there was music in the fvox sound folder. Going to use that later for custom music, eh? You would probably be better off replacing the default HL soundtrack. Mp3s are far superior as we all know, plus using wavs for music can interfere with other world sounds and cause a number of other bugs.

see, thats why this is important.

I'm aware of the smoothing groups and i did my best to remedy things.
Some of the bugs you mentioned are things i've never encountered. As far as the original demo still apart of this, nothing has changed besides new content.

I really can't do too much without code, and i tried my best. what can i say? all i can do is keep trying.

I meant to edit this into my last post, but you were too fast!

I don't know if the "custom scripting overbind" bugs will be fixed when the item for them is implemented into the game. Its seems very possibly(and logical) that the item that you pick up to activate them will fix the problem(assuming that when you pick the item up the game overbinds the button with a bind for the new script).

I'm aware of the smoothing groups and i did my best to remedy things.

??? I'm not sure what you are saying here. Remedy what? The flat-shadedness that using additive textures causes? Just make the additive parts a completely new body.

Penguinboy mentioned that you couldn't fight back while in overview mode, and thus you would die unfairly. Here's a simple fix to it: In the script for overviewing, add a change in the "host_framerate" cvar so that you can bring the game to a screeching halt while in overview, but can speed the game back up to normal when you leave it.

oh that is awsome. host_framerate, ftw!

I get what you're saying about the additive stuff now. Will that make them glow fullbright all the time though?

EDIT: i tried it, and for some reason, it speeds up the game insanely fast. not quite what i had expected....

Host_framerate is a tricky thing to get working just the way you want. I learned about it way back when I was trying to finish an addon for my old "nightmare" map.
Host_framerate values have to be insanely low. 1 is actually unbearably fast, as you have found out already. A nice slow-motion would use "host_framerate 0.001" but since you are basically stopping world around you I'd use something like 0.00001. 0 will always change it back to normal speed, so you don't have to worry about finding that sweet spot in the cvar values. Keep in mind that host_framerate is heavily based on how well the player's computer can run the game. For slowing things down, this isn't a problem at all. But if you want to create a little bullet time effect, 0.001 on a decent computer will be much slower than a computer that can run source. Don't worry about it though, its not a concern in this case.

Hmm very impressive but turntest2.bsp is all wierd.. its all greyish and.. I see raining.

But overall I loved it. Great models and reskins.
I'm really looking forward to the final release of this project.

Good luck!

Ok, i fixed the map thing with the host_framerate command, so its stopped when you use it, which is also on a toggle with the M key.

Still investigating the other issues.

UGH! Download FASTER!!!

Rimrook, when this is all said and done and the mod is finished.... You should sent it to valve. Maybe they'll stick it on a CD, Or you can. Because 25mb just for the demo!?!

It'll allll be worth it though.

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After Playing

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With the new gravity jump i played through the demo in a matter of minutes. Instead of the half-hour it took me the first time.
I like all the new weapon models, absolutley love the sunbeam, but i think it has a little sprite issue while firing.

Some of the world models have nulled surfaces...

Dronefly rocks. i love it.

I tried that Siaph map and i really like the look and feel of the apache replacement. although it didnt hit me once with the cannon. even when i stood still.

I still say you should do something with the blinding white light that comes from the doors, its hard on the eyes.

I didnt get stuck in the floor as mentioned above but i keep falling into the pit where the bullsquid is. that entrance that had the bars on it..

Everything looks terrific rimrook. You keep impressing me =]

that map dspesnt work

Fixed the Siaph completely. It was a bone issue. I replaced the bones i made with the bones from the Apache and compiled it with the apache's QC script. It is rediculously awsome now.

I'm still addressing the other problems. So far I've managed to fix some of the issues encountered. I will release an update with after all of the problems have been fixed. Then its on towards the Beta, which is a Hazard Course and much more to do.

I'm also feeling better about adding new character models to the mod. So i might want to upgrade the Suzeron to how they look in that sketch i shown a while back. Also, it'd be nice to design an all new enemy to take place of the Eifolon. Any ideas? please share.

I NEED TO KNOW:

The New Scope Feature has conflicts with the menu and console, yet its nice for viewing and semi-sniping. Should it be kept or left out in the mod? Yes or No, and why?

I vote to keep the zooming in. Even if it gets annoying after a while, the zooming-out-from-exiting-the-menu looks more like a feature than a bug.

I love the extra zooming. I still think its impossible to make that jump on huge. Unless you know something I don't? long jump? bah...

Rimrook. You are the most amazing person I have ever talked to through the internet

Keep up the good work and I am really really really reaalyladjfl looking forward to this mod

Lol
I know how to jump the gap on huge.

hint: its similar to a problem posted on the page but if u get it dont tell anyone.

and i dont know what you guys are talking about with the zoom feature... hitting tab zooms in, then zooms out. nothing does anything different for me.

and i took a look at the hazardcoursemap. even though incomplete, it looks really cool, and i like the grid on the map.

you re-did the siaph? how could it get more awesome it already looks great

The Siaph worked fine for me...Killed me in one hit with 200 health
The weapon arsenal is brilliant and erm that's all I can say!

I understand how you did the gravity jump but the annoying thing is gibs also slowly float down unless that's what you wish.

I registered just to say - you making interesting and anusial mod :). Alpha version impressive, sounds and design(especial) good!
w00t

Yes, the siaph is (believe me) a lot better. It shoots more correctly and accurately.

I know some of you must have jumped the huge map by now.

AND! i found out why the exit-zoom problem happens. it runs down like this:

Upon exiting, the game uses the -command to balace all of the +commands, like +jump, +forward, and even the binds i made, like +scope. For some reason, the overmap is not affected by it. The -commands must fix a prob HL had when leaving the menu.

Its odd that it does look like a feature when you exit the menu. If it doesn't glitch up or cause any major problems, it'll remain in the mod for the time being.

On the other side:

What do you guys think of giving gravity devices to the gargs? Cuz i can if i wanted to...

Also, I'm working on remodelling the character meshes. Its really difficult cuz i can't import the textures. I'll need to retexture anyways, but i have to do so from scratch. I'm Still designing some [u][i]new monsters[/u][/i] by the way. I've got ideas, but no final decisions.

i'll post scans of my sketches once i have made some.

EDIT:
I just realized that the Security Cannons aren't in any of the demo maps. In reality, these are the most accurate and deadly of all opponents. They are invulnerable and such. But they have a simple weakness. I should include this in the update.

If the Gargs had gravity devices...What would they do with them? Make it so you float in mid-air and stop you from running away?

No, more like jump and move to higher to lower ground to chase after you. They would be a little more scary, i think.

I got a great idea for a headcrab replacement. I'll need to post scans.

Besides that, meh. Not much.

they'd be more of a threat also. imo

Jumping gargs would throw classic HL people for a twist. They think they are safe when they get to the higher ground or get behind a wall or something. I can give the player a real run for his life...

I'll see if i can make a demo map for this and release it with the alpha 1.1

Sounds sweet none-the-less

Oh, i need to start another poll-thing.

Q:) What do you think of changing the w_poly limit from 1000 to 2000, or somewhere in between? Please specify and reason.

It would be nice to have larger scenes with the right amount of detail, but i know not everyone has a comp powerful enough to render super high poly stuff. If the personal limit is 2000, i would never go above that, but shoot to get close to it if necessary.

I don't have a problem with the current limits. But once in a while, the r_speeds will jump above 1000 for short periods of time.

The epolies are not changing in detail. The weapons rival the polycount of the original models with few exceptions. The monster polies aren't too different either. I allocate roughly 2000 polies in props per scene. and I plan on modeling lowly poly flora so i can pack much of it in a scene.