We Did It!
We set out to revamp the mod for Version 4.0... and we've done it! The goals of the last few months are all achieved...
Right now we have a completely overhauled tech tree, streamlined gameplay, new units and a completely new scale to the game. It's more epic than ever.
But...
The problem is it's pretty clear that there's a lot more that should be done.
At the end of the day there's always more to do with a project. Being able to draw a line under things and call it "done" is ultimately going to rest on when it "feels" done. It's subjective. That's not to say that it's arbitrary but you only really know when something is truly done when you get there.
Right now things don't feel done. Here's a list of things that we still want to do, see if you agree.
Contrast boost for units
Right now the scale is much smaller than before and the old units look fuzzy at 50% scale. The fix is to boost the contrast of the skins. This helps to define the outlines better and makes the geometry of the tanks stand out. Since they're all fundamentally boxes good clear geometry is really important. The trouble is there's 6 skins per unit and over 100 units that all need carefully adjusted skins to maximise the look of each unit. Revamping takes a while!
Differentiation for factories
Right now the factories are clones of each other. The Germans have already got this problem, so they use manufacturer logos to help set their factories apart. It would be nice to overhaul the other factories to give them distinctive logos too.
AI
A bugbear for all RTS mods, the AI is broken currently. It needs fixing at the very least. I'd like to go in and give it a shot in the arm. In the previous releases it just spammed stuff at your base. I think we can make it go out and fight for the map, build up force and attack the player once it has an advantage. ZH's scripting is very limited but I think this would be fun.
So a mixed message. The mod won't be released for a while, but it will be a lot better than originally planned. In the meantime we will get some screenshots up to show off the new stuff in the mod.
If you're especially disappointed you can sign up on the forums and try asking Neo or DirtyHarry join the beta team. If you're willing to play games with the testers online (and put up with the hacky install process) then you can try things out. Obviously we won't be putting up beta code for general download but there's no great secrets that need protecting either.Overall I hope this is positive news. The goals just got a lot more ambitious and it's going to take a while to get everything ready but the end result should be a whole lot better!
I would like to become a beta tester for this mod, but I can only guarentee I can play on friday and saturday nights (I live in 5:00 Eastern Time)
I think I still have an account on your forums... it was like WehrmachtCell or some unnecesarily long name like that :P
Great! you can always sign up for a new account if you can resuscitate your old one. Playing the mod right now isn't completely straightforward so Neo or DH will have to help guide you through the install process
Hello, I would like to become a beta tester as well if you search for such, I would have nearly always time and I really love your mod and already spent ALOT of hours into it and i also have Starcraft 2 for the future. Still I have a question, what do i have to do? you wrote something about the forums but last time i went there i was confused because stuff was kinda broken
Your forums are sort of broken though, or it might just be my connection. I don't know, but I usually have trouble connecting to them...
Seriously, we're all begging you; don't make the units tiny. They're hard enough to see as it is now in all their glory, and shrinking them so much is just going to irritate a lot of players.
I don't mind the unit shrinking, I support it, as that will mean more units and such for bigger scaled battles.
I have one request though...please grant me the T28/T95. Give the Allies another monster that existed. :)
Plox =3