Alpha Playtest my UT2004 Mod

[BaShildy]

Hey guys, some of you may know me from SVE and Lan Party NW. Unfortuantely I was never able to come to any of the bellingham lans. I would love to come, however I am starting a new job soon in Salt Lake City, so I won't be able to come. I look forward to invading your UT2004 server though :/ Anyways...

This is a small project that I have been working on last week. "BloodBank" is a UT2004 team deathmatch modification, in which you must cash in your kills at your teams bank to score. The red and blue team banks are placed on opposite sides of the map, and the golden bank is placed in the middle. Every kill you get gives you a point + bonus points based on how many kills you've gotten.

ie. 1st kill gives you 1 pt. (total 1)
2nd kill gives you 2 pts. (total 3)
3rd kill gives you 3 pts. (total 6)
4th kill gives you 4 pts. (total 10)
etc.

If you enter your team's bank, your points are transfered to your team . If you enter the golden bank, your points are transfered to your team and doubled. While waiting for a streak of kills increases your score exponentially, it is risky because dying wipes out your score!


All of the art is placeholder, and there is still a lot of work to be done. Depending on how the game plays in our playtest, I may decide to add more to the game like making players with large amounts of points stand out, and having an adrenaline powerup that teleports you to your bank for a "direct deposit." The game is playable, and I would love to hear your guys opinion on the gameplay.

I think if we had more than 5 people, we would have enough for what I envision as the amount of players needed to have a good match. I was thinking we could play sometime around Wednesday or Thursday night, before I packup my computer for the move. If anyone is interested please post here.

Download it here: http://www.speakeasy.org/~bashildy/BloodBank_Alpha_v1000.zip

[Dr. Deezee]

Ender's brother has a gaming center in or near Salt Lake City I think... ;)

http://www.goodgameogc.com/

[Ender]

Hey bashildy! Sounds cool you're moving to SLC but sucks you won't be able to come to the LANs! :(

I'll be sure to check it out. :D

And say hi to my brother when you're down there. :)

[Maddeh]

I could possibly help you on Wednesday. Come by #goodgame on irc.gamesurge.net when you're ready. When you get to SLC, definitely come stop by the gaming center. :)

[Itsmeee]

I could possibly help you on Wednesday. Come by #goodgame on irc.gamesurge.net when you're ready. When you get to SLC, definitely come stop by the gaming center. :)

ah HA! Global domination via rj45 GO!

[BaShildy]

Hey bashildy! Sounds cool you're moving to SLC but sucks you won't be able to come to the LANs! :(

I'll be sure to check it out. :D

And say hi to my brother when you're down there. :)

Actually I just checked my move in date and I can barely make it to your next LAN. I'm signing up, and I think its possible for me to squeeze it in the day before I move.

I'll definately say hi to your brother and visit his gaming center.

[DiscoDave]

Count me in for a playtest session, but only if you playtest our mod sometime. ;)

Wednesday or Thursday evening works fine for me...I look forward to checking it out =).

[Ender]

Well damn! If you're coming, then we'll playtest at the LAN if you'd like. :) And you'll be able to test ours as well! :woot:

WIN WIN WINNED situation! ;)

Can't wait to check it out. :rup:

[Expunge]

Well damn! If you're coming, then we'll playtest at the LAN if you'd like. :) And you'll be able to test ours as well! :woot:

WIN WIN WINNED situation! ;)

Can't wait to check it out. :rup:
nn nnn noooo nnn nn noooo

*Jumps out of water and does a backflip*

[SuperDude]

nn nnn noooo nnn nn noooo

*Jumps out of water and does a backflip*


Did you find a turd in the water or what??

[Verbal]

Did you find a turd in the water or what??

waffle floaties! :p

[DiscoDave]

BaShildy...when do you wanna do some testing on this? Me and Ender have a clan match tomorrow at 7:00, but other than that I'm good to go.

[BaShildy]

I guess we can do it at say 7pm today?

[DiscoDave]

I'll be around. :rup:

[hockeysnipermlg]

well, since im on :56k:, plus the system with UT2k4 on it isnt hooked up to anything at all, im doing bot testing :tup:

but iv played a few rounds, and i must say, it is an awesome mod.

cool levels, fun premise. interesting location of the ion painter in BB-SunTemple :yes:

only problem iv run into (is probably on my end, but whatever) is that the Maps like to cycle back into the DM maps, making the game impossible to complete

[BaShildy]

well, since im on :56k:, plus the system with UT2k4 on it isnt hooked up to anything at all, im doing bot testing :tup:

but iv played a few rounds, and i must say, it is an awesome mod.

cool levels, fun premise. interesting location of the ion painter in BB-SunTemple :yes:

only problem iv run into (is probably on my end, but whatever) is that the Maps like to cycle back into the DM maps, making the game impossible to complete

Its not on your end, that's a bug that I need to fix. Plus the bots aren't really aware of the objectives, which may or may not be fixed.

BTW we are starting at 7:30PM Msg me if you want in. (bashildy) on xfire, or BaShildy on AIM.

[hockeysnipermlg]

i noticed that the bots never really decided to jump through the banks.

but other than those two little things, so far its a lot of fun. although starting with every single weapon is a little odd, but i can live with that :yes:

[SuperDude]

I get this error when I try to join the game.

UT2004 Build UT2004_Patch_[2004-07-27_14.28]

OS: Windows XP 5.1 (Build: 2600)
CPU: GenuineIntel Unknown processor @ 3015 MHz with 1022MB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 (Omega P 1.5672a) (5672)

CreateTexture failed(8007000E).

History: FD3DTexture::Cache <- FD3DRenderInterface::CacheTexture <- FD3DRenderInterface::HandleCombinedMaterial <- FD3DRenderInterface::SetSimpleMaterial <- FD3DRenderInterface::SetMaterial <- FStaticMeshBatchList::Render <- RenderLevel <- BB-Suntemple.myLevel <- FLevelSceneNode::Render <- FPlayerSceneNode::Render <- UGameEngine::Draw <- UWindowsViewport::Repaint <- UWindowsClient::Tick <- ClientTick <- UGameEngine::Tick <- Level Sun Temple <- UpdateWorld <- MainLoop <- FMallocWindows::Free <- FMallocWindows::Realloc <- 676F4C57 0 FArray <- FArray::Realloc <- 0*2 <- FMallocWindows::Free




I Hear a horrible hissing static sound that goes away after i click "OK" and when I return to UT2K4 all my controls are erased, not default ERASED, The game acts like it is the first time being booted up IE "It wont let me skip the cutscene movie"


***Edit***
It also killed Xfire both times. It would log me out and give me some errors and when I restarted windows and logged on to xfire guess what?? My skin reverted back to default.


What a shitty day =(


***Edit***

[BaShildy]

i noticed that the bots never really decided to jump through the banks.

but other than those two little things, so far its a lot of fun. although starting with every single weapon is a little odd, but i can live with that :yes:

The reason you start with every weapon is so that people who spawn have a better chance of killing the person who is on the streak. If you started only with assault rifles, the streaks would get out of control. Plus it encourages player focused gameplay, instead of having to pickup weapons. But I'll probably include a start with all weapons / only assault rifle option. its a good idea to accomidate as many different styles of play as possible.

[Expunge]

*Is a n00b* :)

OMGHI2U

[BaShildy]

I get this error when I try to join the game.

UT2004 Build UT2004_Patch_[2004-07-27_14.28]

OS: Windows XP 5.1 (Build: 2600)
CPU: GenuineIntel Unknown processor @ 3015 MHz with 1022MB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 (Omega P 1.5672a) (5672)

CreateTexture failed(8007000E).

History: FD3DTexture::Cache <- FD3DRenderInterface::CacheTexture <- FD3DRenderInterface::HandleCombinedMaterial <- FD3DRenderInterface::SetSimpleMaterial <- FD3DRenderInterface::SetMaterial <- FStaticMeshBatchList::Render <- RenderLevel <- BB-Suntemple.myLevel <- FLevelSceneNode::Render <- FPlayerSceneNode::Render <- UGameEngine::Draw <- UWindowsViewport::Repaint <- UWindowsClient::Tick <- ClientTick <- UGameEngine::Tick <- Level Sun Temple <- UpdateWorld <- MainLoop <- FMallocWindows::Free <- FMallocWindows::Realloc <- 676F4C57 0 FArray <- FArray::Realloc <- 0*2 <- FMallocWindows::Free




I Hear a horrible hissing static sound that goes away after i click "OK" and when I return to UT2K4 all my controls are erased, not default ERASED, The game acts like it is the first time being booted up IE "It wont let me skip the cutscene movie"


***Edit***
It also killed Xfire both times. It would log me out and give me some errors and when I restarted windows and logged on to xfire guess what?? My skin reverted back to default.


What a shitty day =(


***Edit***

Hopefully we can figure out the problem at the LAN. So far this has worked flawlessly on 6 people's machines.

After talking with you I have no idea what could have caused it. I'll definately make sure this works for you at the LAN.

[DiscoDave]

Impressive...I still can't believe you only started this a week ago. :x

Fun mod! I look forward to playing it at the lan! :rup:

[Maddeh]

Superdude, looking at the message it doesn't look like you have patch 3270 installed. That's what I have and it ran fine for me. Give that a shot.

I like the mod, its an original idea and is fun to play. I know nothing about coding, but like Dave said you were spoiling me, since this mod actually works. :p Didn't really seem like Alpha to me. ;) Some feedback:

Bugs
-Didn't really see / find any. There was one time that I got killed when I had built up six kills that I hadn't dropped in the bank yet, and for some reason my team's score went up by 6. I don't know if someone else on my team dropped six in the bank at the exact time, but that is something that should be tested more just to make sure.

Scoreboard / hud
-I'd recommend changing the scoreboard to be a little more informative, like UTComp. Show 1) Kills built up, waiting to go in the bank; 2) Total kills; and 3) A net effeciency stat like (Kills in the bank) minus (Total kills). This way you can tell if you helped or hurt the team. :)
-It would be cool to see on your hud how many kills you had racked up that need to go to the bank, without having to check the scoreboard

Gameplay
-When you kill someone, it would be cool to know how many kills you prevented from going to the other team's bank. I think it would be best if you could add it to the death message (e.g., "You killed DiscoDave, 2 kills saved" or something like that).
-If you kill someone with 3-5 or more kills in their bag, perhaps a reward message would be in order. "Robbery!" or something like that (I'm sure someone else can think up something better).
-Maps / bank locations. Due to its unique gameplay, I think this will be your biggest challenge. The maps we played last night were obviously too big. In Sun Temple, it seemed to me that the easiest way to rack up points was just to camp the Gold Bank in the middle. Eventually the other team would get close enough to kill, and you could build up kills until you're just about to die and then cash them in. Tokara was a little better. Inferno was not good because everyone stayed in the middle area (Inferno is just a really poor map anyway). You need maps that will encourage more use of the map, and less camping. That's one reason I love CTF is you're all over the place, using the map to your advantage, etc. I'm not sure the best way to incorporate this but its something to think about.
-I think this mod would work great as FFA as well as TDM. That would require the enhanced scoreboard, but it could work and be a lot of fun.

All in all I'd say great job. I look forward to additional builds in the future. :)

[SuperDude]

Hopefully we can figure out the problem at the LAN. So far this has worked flawlessly on 6 people's machines.

After talking with you I have no idea what could have caused it. I'll definately make sure this works for you at the LAN.


My pc decided to die shortly after I reinstalled UT so dont feel bad, it wasnt your mod it was my shite job of registry tweeking heh.... I formatted and am ready to go again.

[BaShildy]

Superdude, looking at the message it doesn't look like you have patch 3270 installed. That's what I have and it ran fine for me. Give that a shot.

I like the mod, its an original idea and is fun to play. I know nothing about coding, but like Dave said you were spoiling me, since this mod actually works. :p Didn't really seem like Alpha to me. ;) Some feedback:

Bugs
-Didn't really see / find any. There was one time that I got killed when I had built up six kills that I hadn't dropped in the bank yet, and for some reason my team's score went up by 6. I don't know if someone else on my team dropped six in the bank at the exact time, but that is something that should be tested more just to make sure.

Scoreboard / hud
-I'd recommend changing the scoreboard to be a little more informative, like UTComp. Show 1) Kills built up, waiting to go in the bank; 2) Total kills; and 3) A net effeciency stat like (Kills in the bank) minus (Total kills). This way you can tell if you helped or hurt the team. :)
-It would be cool to see on your hud how many kills you had racked up that need to go to the bank, without having to check the scoreboard

Gameplay
-When you kill someone, it would be cool to know how many kills you prevented from going to the other team's bank. I think it would be best if you could add it to the death message (e.g., "You killed DiscoDave, 2 kills saved" or something like that).
-If you kill someone with 3-5 or more kills in their bag, perhaps a reward message would be in order. "Robbery!" or something like that (I'm sure someone else can think up something better).
-Maps / bank locations. Due to its unique gameplay, I think this will be your biggest challenge. The maps we played last night were obviously too big. In Sun Temple, it seemed to me that the easiest way to rack up points was just to camp the Gold Bank in the middle. Eventually the other team would get close enough to kill, and you could build up kills until you're just about to die and then cash them in. Tokara was a little better. Inferno was not good because everyone stayed in the middle area (Inferno is just a really poor map anyway). You need maps that will encourage more use of the map, and less camping. That's one reason I love CTF is you're all over the place, using the map to your advantage, etc. I'm not sure the best way to incorporate this but its something to think about.
-I think this mod would work great as FFA as well as TDM. That would require the enhanced scoreboard, but it could work and be a lot of fun.

All in all I'd say great job. I look forward to additional builds in the future. :)

This feedback is invaluable thank you. The reward messages will be my first priority, with HUD probably being second. The reward messages will note scores higher than 1. It will also note any denials higher than 3. The HUD will probably have a list of players in red (on the left) and blue (on the right), that have more than 3 points on them.

There may be an additional score below each team's main scores that is the amount of points the other team has lost due to suicides. Also, defensive points will be rewarded with this new scoring column as a percentage of all points lost by your teams kills will be added to that tally. These points can be converted into your team points by running from the enemy's bank, grabbing their debt, and making it back to your bank without dying. This is just a rough idea on how I am going to handle "defensive suicides." if it ever becomes an exploit in the future. (Causing your own death to prevent the other team from scoring on your death).

I was also going to change the gameplay to the following to get around the camping the gold bank strategy.

Gameplay wise for the next alpha version I was thinking about adding:

A 20 meter perimeter "defense zone" around the bank. You cannot fire weapons in this area, and a timer goes off. If the 5 second countdown reaches 0, you are suicided.

Golden banks have 3 locations, with only one being active. Every 2 minutes, the active bank rotates. This prevents a team from taking over the golden bank location and never letting it go.



-It would be cool to see on your hud how many kills you had racked up that need to go to the bank, without having to check the scoreboard

I believe your current score is in the top left corner of the screen. I will be modifying it with new art, a total #pts you have banked, and the # of points your next kill will be worth.

I think this mod would work great as FFA as well as TDM. That would require the enhanced scoreboard, but it could work and be a lot of fun.
That is planned for a future version.

-I'd recommend changing the scoreboard to be a little more informative, like UTComp.
I plan on doing a massive overhaul of the scoreboard, and will implement some of the things you mentioned. What is UTComp?

I don't know if someone else on my team dropped six in the bank at the exact time, but that is something that should be tested more just to make sure.

I believe I had 3 points, and I made a golden bank to get us 6 points. This shows me how urgent it is for me to put in reward messages.

[hockeysnipermlg]

yeah, i was thinking about the weapons loadouts as i said that. i was thinking the spawning could be like rocket, flak, shock, assault, etc. and have to find the lightning guns and link gun, etc.

also, that gold bank switching around is a great idea as well.

i think a locator dot on the HUD for where the banks are would be useful as well, since sometimes its hard to find a few of them

[Maddeh]

Cool ideas. The perimeter idea, multiple gold banks, and also the debt idea sound like they will help spread out the usage of the map. I hadn't even considered the suicide exploit.

UTComp is a mutator that does a lot of things for competitive UT2004. It adds voting abilities, brightskins, hit sounds, team overlay (shows position of teammates on the hud), and the enhanced scoreboard. The scoreboard shows Frags / points (from kills + other points like flag caps etc), the # of deaths you've had, and your net efficiency (kills minus deaths). It also has a stat section at the bottom that shows your stats per weapon. LG fired, LG hit, %, damage given, damage received, etc.

Screenshot:
http://www.prounreal.com/mlut/imgs/upload/s0nic_b00m-vs-known_to_own148180.jpg

You can find out more about UTComp here. (http://www.teamdemise.com/utcomp.htm)