Blogs - {imperialreign}

Time for another GSA report, but which has been compelled by real life means . . .

Due to a few real life factors quickly eating heavily into any free time that I have, I've become pressed with having decide on my current stance in the modding scene. With facing the potential of possibly having to undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy again, which will sap much time and energy out of me, I've also recently learned that my girlfriend is expecting . . . I'm not afraid nor intimidated by either of these situations, it's simply that I'll be left with very little free time to continue my hobbies at any decent rate (as if I get much done currently, lol).

So, at some point within the next year, I'll be semi-retiring from the STALKER modding scene. That's not to say I'm going to dissappear - far from it! I'll still be around offering guidance and help to newcoming modders, and to the grizzled veterans alike. It simply means that I won't be pressing too much time into working on any more projects (although, I'll definitely take the time to look into potential projects once STALKEr2 is released). Therefore, my current goal is to wrap up the last iterations of AAO for all 3 STALKER titles, and wrap up any help I'm offering for other mod projects. I will not be taking on more projects at this current time, and sadly I'll be letting Frozen Sky fall by the wayside . . . I might pass that WIP off to some other team, though, as I'd like to see it continued, too . . .

. . . so, anyhow, that's how things are currently looking. Some things might change as time wears on, that's a given. Just wanting to give a heads up to the community in case a dissapear for lengths of time - I'll be back!

Time for another all-encompassing update . . .

. . . the workshop is again in full swing, but the primary focus of my attention has been on side-work for a few other high profile mods (which will continue to remain unnamed). Work on all iterations of AAO is continuing forward, albeit slowly.

I'm still slowly plodding away at Frozen Sky, but have had a major set-back within the last couple of months . . . more info on that can be found on Frozen Sky's page.

For now, that is all . . .

Just an update for all those interested - AAO for all 3 titles is continuing to move forward. I still intend to complete AAO:CS v1.0, which is building off a lot of info I learned about X-Ray 1.6's audio engine during development of AAO:CoP. The new engine allows for a lot more flexibility with ambient positioning, which can really create more of an ambient feel than was possible with SoC. AAO:CoP will be seeing an updated version in the future as well (probably after AAO:CSv1.0 is released) - although it's "version" is still yet to be decided . . . will really depend on just how much will be addressed. As it stands, I don't intend to have to change a whole lot (although that may change).

As well, AAO:SoCv2.0 is still in the mix - further tweaks and adjustments to the overall ambient schemes for all levels are on the agenda, additionally some more sounds will be thrown in too. If all goes well, I also intend to get further into the SDK and attempt to add additional sound enviornments (EAX) to the vanilla levels . . . and create new sound environments that were not present in the vanilla game. I also intend to place/tweak some additional env_mod sections to prevent ambient sounds from being heard in certain locations (i.e. 100Rads).
Further work on re-commenting all the NPC audio is still slated for all 3 titles . . . and I'm cooking something up to nix all those annoying NPC greetings in CoP.
My goal with the next iterations of all 3 is to make the ambient sounds even more ambient, and further push them back from the forefront - and I also intend to try and make things sound both a bit more realistic, and even more un-nerving . . .

. . . and for the modders out there - I'll start including some resources with releases; tables showing what commenting values were used for which audio sounds (allows for better understanding of how far AI will "hear" them); configs and instructions for activating radios, or adding sounds to physic objects via editing of the .spawn; possibly un-used raw/commented sounds; etc.

So, stay tuned!