Post news Report RSS Zeitgeist, The Arsenal - Part I, the KnK '98

First part of our series of Zeitgeist-weaponry in action. Today, we're presenting the "KnK '98", the even shorter trench combat version of the already shortened K98.

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Introduced by the German Imperial Army for the spring offensive of 1926, the Karabiner - 'noch kürzer' or 'even shorter' features the same 7.92mm calibre firepower of it's ancestor, the Karabiner 1898. But it's reduced length makes it much easier to handle in the chaos of trench war and nightly raids. Although less accurate, it's still capable of hitting a target more than 80 metres away.

The mechanics of the weapon have been changed to a 12-shot-semi-auto firing mode, as losses soared due to the invention of a russian semi-automatic rifle in 1924. Production of a new semi-auto rifle, the "G-26", turned out to be too expensive, so the casing of the Karabiner '98 was kept.


There is work left to be done for us on the sound, some of the texturing and a few animation tweaks; a nice, boring job for long winter evenings...

Next week's update: The Arsenal, Part II - The 'MP 18'.

Cheers,

the Zeitgeist-Dev-Team


P.S.:

A while ago, we found out that there was - gone unnoticed by us for a long time - a "Zeitgeist" game on the IndieDB. After making contact with Daniel / tabmaster, who made that game, he offered to change his game's name to Zeitgeist - The Puzzle Game, so if there ever is reason for us to be listed in the IndieDB, this is now possible.

Indiedb.com

It would be a kind gesture of you to jump over to Daniel's game for a second and check out his work. Rewarding, too, as Daniel's 'Zeitgeist' has already been released and is in a playable state.

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xxx.xxx.xxx
xxx.xxx.xxx - - 1,090 comments

i was just gonna say, maybe you should go indie, but don't charge too much :)

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Albatros44 Author
Albatros44 - - 136 comments

Most of us don't come from a wealthy background, so we were always a bit irritated about the ratio of playtime vs. prices in many AAA titles. Thus, our aim is to keep free whatever can be kept free. If there is reason to charge for anything, e.g. because otherwise some ambitious features can't be realized, I promise that we'll do whatever we can to keep prices in the lowest possible range.

The approach is similar to the creation of content under the aspect of performance - we try to make the game playable on really old machines, notebooks etc. instead of high-end-gaming-equipment, so it won't ever depend on the dimensions of your wallet whether or not you can enjoy the game.

It's great to hear though that you folks appreciate the idea behind the game enough to consider us going indie. That's a welcome ego-boost :D.

Cheers,

Til

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MARiN3
MARiN3 - - 713 comments

cool knk98

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billyboob
billyboob - - 297 comments

If you do go indie allow yourself more time for spit and polish. Epic firing range btw.

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Albatros44 Author
Albatros44 - - 136 comments

If we ever really make it to go indie, you've got my promise that we'll do whatever is humanly possible to erase all bugs and glitches without exception. Immersion is our highest priority, and nothing damages that immersion more than an unfinished or unpolished game.

Cheers!

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claytonian
claytonian - - 366 comments

As if the insanely detailed, and well done maps aren't enough.

This looks fantastic. The run animation looks extremely similar to Day of Defeat Source though, not that that's a bad thing.

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Frogumm
Frogumm - - 114 comments

lovely weapon model

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cW#Ravenblood - - 6,703 comments

Nicely done!

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Dr.Goupyl
Dr.Goupyl - - 2,269 comments

A fully automatic K98 ?
Awww... it's like removing a part of that mythic weapon ! :s

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Albatros44 Author
Albatros44 - - 136 comments

Semi-automatic ; ). Considering there are so many games out there featuring a 1 : 1 historically correct copy of that mythic weapon, I think we can be forgiven for adapting & tweaking it a bit for Zeitgeist.

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KeMoN
KeMoN - - 140 comments

Well, changed historical background isn't that bad when the overall atmosphere is fitting in itself, but please do not mess with the weapons!! You see those all the time and I bet all the fans of this time (including me) will be highly disappointed when the weapons aren't correct.

It is like receiving a bad result in a test and someone's always rubbing your nose into it. Strange example I know :P

What i want to say is. Although your game is set in a historical uncorrect setting, please leave the weapons as they are OR create totally new ones which don't remind you at all of the correct ones.

I see this modification not as alternative but simply as a mistake or the inability of creating a correct weapon.

Please don't get me wrong, I like this mod. It reminds me of Saboteur a truely awesome game. I just want you to be correct where it matters!

Regards
KeMoN

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Mr.Walrus
Mr.Walrus - - 5,806 comments

Interesting modification to the K98, for some reason I didn't think you'd be introducing new guns made in the alternate history timeline. Glad to see I was wrong!

Btw, one of those four pictures looks like it's in the trenches. Isn't the Great War over by the time the mod takes place :o ?

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ReezeTheVampire
ReezeTheVampire - - 3,934 comments

I am really loving the look of all the pictures. Absolutely beautiful work is being made here.

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Rukus_
Rukus_ - - 660 comments

Will there be multiplayer for this? Not that it needs it, but It'd be interesting to see.

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Sadonikus
Sadonikus - - 134 comments

Go indie. PLEASE

Cause simply the concept and visuals are worth it and you will reach a much wider audience!

Also, please dont overdo it with the shooting. A game does not have to be all about fun traditional game-mechanics like shooting, leave it in some passages when it makes sense within the world and dont be shy to make an exploration / adventure game that focuses primarly on story and feeling. And dont waste your time with pointless multiplayer-modes!

Take Call of Cthulhu for example, in the first half of the game you have a feeling that you are "doing something" and being part of the world, but since the refinery-level the game turns into a mindless standart-shooter and looses almost all of its fascination and overall feel!

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Albatros44 Author
Albatros44 - - 136 comments

Your posting really is balm for my soul. In fact, I personally think there's nothing worse (or better) than a mindless shooting orgy, except for maybe a hybrid that doesn't know what it actually wants to be.

Our goal therefore is to reach a level of sophisticated gameplay that will make it possible to treat the game as an RPG/exploration/adventure game as well as a shooter filled up with action, although that contrasting balance is hard to achieve.

Deus Ex is our big (and unreachable) example in most aspects, and if we can create only a tiny bit of the immersion and excitement Deus Ex brought to the players, we can be proud of our mod work.

Hopefully not going to disappoint you,

Til

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HounderKnight
HounderKnight - - 1,660 comments

Nice work!

Any chance of a bayonet, though? ;)

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Albatros44 Author
Albatros44 - - 136 comments

Any chance.

: )

But possibly the chance is bigger for some even nicer melee-weapons.

We'll keep you updated!

Cheers,

Til

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soegel
soegel - - 189 comments

I think the wooden part of the rifle could be a little smoother, it's looks a little gravelly right now, especially on the back. A little more in the direction of this: Marschalgrips.com (of course this is just an example)

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Nebelung13
Nebelung13 - - 13 comments

It looks cool but the visuals don't add up to its function. a 12 shot semi-auto that doesn't eject spent casings makes no sense. Semi-autos need to have some sort of moving part to extract/chamber rounds.

-This is the feeling i get, it locks like a bolt action but oddly from the left hand side.
-it shoots like asemi-auto
-but it looks like a laser gun (no moving bolt or casign ejection).

anyway cheers

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Cong
Cong - - 48 comments

I like the weapon, but i'd still like to see some sort of infantry bolt action rifle

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Cremat0r
Cremat0r - - 6,885 comments

Very lovely concept, a nice blend between the classic WW1 rifle, and the classic WW2 rifle.

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