Conquer everything for Blue

[Dr.Q]

Is it even possible to color the whole country in blue by not joining one of the factions and instead conquer everything for the blue base.

I was thinking of starting with Cali-Cantinos and the Baron, then kill the rebels and finish off the green towns, has anyone tried that before? I'm really only afraid of being hunted down by bugs :)

[MoreDread]

i doubt it.. theres no way to defend your sectors by leaving mercs behind or training militia if you don't belong to either side, right?

[R@S]

I haven't touched the AI in BSM, so I guess it's still as buggy as the vanilla version. I plan to make a whole new system for capturing cities in the ARM Project, a much simpler one where the player gets better control of what kind of defenses that captured town will have. And the re-capturing system will not be bogged down by patrols and missing NPC's, but will instead be controlled by a global AI where the player can check each town and it's defenses from anywhere in the game.

But that'll be done later, now I'm working on the new class/skill system and could use some input on that. If you don't mind I'd like to hijack this thread for that:grin:

This is what I got so far:
At the beginning of the game the player will choose a class from the following:
Trooper
Sniper
Sapper
Scout
Medic

Then every time the player advances a CGL he'll get to spend a few points on skills related to the chosen class. As an example, if the player chooses Scout he'll be able to buy points in Camo, Stealth, HtH, Agility and a few others.

It's still very early in it's development, but once I have a working version I could use some help testing it.

[Kyle]

I'd be interested in testing it, if you'll have me come aboard. I have a sizable amount of game testing and mod designing experience:

---For over a year, the only Alpha tester for Jedi Academy ForceMod III (did a TON of .ini entries as well for it, oh my bleeding eyes!)

---Contributed a scad of spacecraft/alien/robot/small arms designs for Star Wars Galaxy at War, a now defunct TC endeavor for Operation Flashpoint

---Assisted in translating from German to English an editing guide for DAC, a dynamic campaign engine for Operation Flashpoint.

---Created bot speed configs executable with in-game key commands for Infiltration, a fantastic hardcore infantry simulator TC for the original Unreal Tournament.

---Created a host of sound effects for YARM (Yet Another Realism Mod), a robust tactical mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, as well as a sound effects mod for Combat Mission Shock Force.

---A lot of playtesting for P2 A Cold Day in Hell mod/campaign for the original Ghost Recon.

---Contributed a carrier spacecraft design (Phoenix class) for BSG Fleet Commander for Homeworld 2 and possibly the Crysis Engine. By the way, "BSG"=Battlestar Gallactica. It's still a work in progress, although the mesh is done and scripted turrets/defenses are being added.

---Contributed a carrier/cruiser design of the Republic Era (The Valiant class) to X-Wing Alliance. The amazingly talented Vince Trageton brought it into virtual reality, and has proven so popular as to be ported over into numerous Star Wars Empire at War mods.

---At one time, I did a ton of playtesting for the excellent STALKER mod Super Mod Pack. Following someone else's lead, I contributed a mini-mod that allows all "Warsaw Pact" arms to fire tracer rounds that are the proper hue of green instead of the NATO tinted rounds of red-orange.

And more...

A common thread through this list is (1) a strong devotion to mods that endeavor to add realism to tactical titles and (2) Star Wars mods. :)


----------------------------

Now, in regards to your class-based skill advancement system...

I like the sounds of it, but urge caution in being too rigid with it. I'm a firm believer that anyone can learn anything if they put their mind and heart to it, regardless of where one is at in life.

That said, perhaps choosing a class will allow a select pool of skills to advance at half the point cost. So let's say that based on a combination of Intelligence and Experience, a Trooper has earned 5 experience points to spend.

Shooting is a skill within the Trooper class' pool, so dedicating 2 experience points towards that skill will see said skill rise by 4. Now this Trooper would like to increase his First Aid skill, but that's not within that class' pool, so it increases only by 1 for every 1 experience point dedicated towards it.

I'd also be in favor of boosting attributes with earned experience points, as this would help simulate strenuous training, but spending points this way is expensive. Part of the reasoning behind this is that raising an attribute allows for easier advancement in a host of other skills.

Physical attributes are more easily exercised in an environment where one is constantly moving, so for every 3 experience points spent a person can raise a physical attribute by 1.

Mental attributes, however, are more difficult to elevate because there's far less time to read a book/miniature computer when one is stalking through a jungle. Because of this limitation, it costs 4 experience points to raise a mental attribute by 1. And in my book, camouflage and stealth are more mental than physical--if one doesn't have the know-how on how to properly execute the above then all of the physical effort in the world won't help said person.

That's my two cents on it. What do you think of it?

----------------------------------

What I would LOVE to see integrated into 7.62 are:
---leaning
---a robust round penetration system; rounds would not only break through walls of various materials/thicknesses, but also other people
---even an anemic ricochet system
---this one's WAY out there, sort of; bear with me please...
Bringing up STALKER got me to thinking, well, what if a science fiction element were added to the game, and even loosely tied to the events of STALKER? Create a campaign that starts out subtly, such as having to run mysterious packages from a certain couple of dealers to various locales (one could be VERY subtle about this, such as these exclusive dealers being not only completely random in appearance, but in location as well). Eventually an accident happens at one of these "Mystery Sites," and suddenly STALKER-esque monsters and anomalies and...! Imagine having one of your merc's mind taken over by a telepathic creature; suddenly a merc's intelligence score becomes even more important than usual. Go on, admit it, you love the sound of it, don't you? I hope so! ;-D

I'd be happy to whip up some concept sketches customized to the region, if you're seriously interested.

Good luck on your new mod! Will it incorporate aspects of the Ecomod?

Yours!
Kyle
:grin:

[Dr.Q]

I haven't touched the AI in BSM, so I guess it's still as buggy as the vanilla version.

If you don't mind I'd like to hijack this thread for that:grin:


Hey make your own begging thread :)

I just want to know if there's anyone who's attempted to do the storyline 'for yourself', you even put in that taxi driver for that. The HLA project also seemed to be workign on it. It seems that this is the way to get the most mileage out of the game, not going for any of the factions and conquering the whole country yourself.

Every faction has a mission after which you switch to their side, by stopping short of those it should be possible to do that, but I'd like to know what kind of AI bugs and other strangeness I should be expecting, thanks for listening :-P

And I'll be very happy to do some testing on the new project too!

[R@S]

Sorry about that Q-man, I guess my reading skills are getting worse with age:-P

The problems I had with taking over cities for myself was the lack of Mayors controlling militia, and sometimes the town even refused to turn blue. then there was the whole issue with roaming patrols invading the town and not taking it from me. There was several weird situations like these that made me stop trying. But with the ARM project I'll remove the factions, patrols and other things that might screw things up and make a new simple system with better oversight.

I think the HLA team has added a militia control system and fixed some of the most obvious issues, but like you I can't take the constant translation issues one has to deal with when playing the mod. I heard a rumor that they planned to release the source code so that the community could work on it independently, but that was for the 0.5 version and I guess they changed their mind. But time will tell...

That's an impressive CV you got there Kyle and I like what you have to say about it, I need some time to digest it and see if my skills/engine limitations will make it happen. I guess a new thread about it might be the way to go, just to avoid the ribbing from The Q:-P

[Vader]

I have done so on nummerous accounts. It is veryy doable.
it can eaven be achieved in the very first moments when you arive in porto veijo... i usally kill closley a policeofficer and after taking his gun i kill the whole city officials. after conquering the city, the next step leads you to the mayor. in certain cities this isnt possible, due to lack of said person. when you have the base and also a firm income by selling weapons of killed enemies, i talk to mayors to bild troups to secure conquered cities and if militia is strong enough it is eaven possible to send troops to not conquered cities. when their strength in numbers is sufficient, then the attacked city is yours and has an instant garrison.

due to some balaceprolems in the bsm mod (soryy r@ss^^) money never was a problem for me, so my garrison were alwas very strong...

only downfall is, since i love playing fights in cities: when you tacle the factions, then the will try to hunt you down in the "open" jungle, which i hate and try to avoid...

but it is doable and i will try to post a pic of my current game map to verify my point..

when all is taken, eaven palinero and its cali cantinos, then the game gets rather dull and i get crazy against the game... doing silly stuff for fun... so long until i restart a new game..

cheers mates

[Solon]

This is what I got so far:
At the beginning of the game the player will choose a class from the following:
Trooper
Sniper
Sapper
Scout
Medic

Then every time the player advances a CGL he'll get to spend a few points on skills related to the chosen class. As an example, if the player chooses Scout he'll be able to buy points in Camo, Stealth, HtH, Agility and a few others.

It's still very early in it's development, but once I have a working version I could use some help testing it.

Mmh, looking for some solution about my crashes (base and smoke grenade), I just read here that there seems to be a way to "spend points" at each new level ? And where would that window be, if such a system is in the BSM ?