[Mike Norvak]

JUST LET YOU KNOW THAT THE NEW EPISODE IS COMING ALONG REALLY NICE!


Just reading the other post where James asks for mappers to work on AMC TC, the idea came to my mind...

As many of you may know I'm working on the new episode of William G's master piece WG Realms II

I started since 2011 but life, study, musical projects, etc. have been slowed this down almost on a dormant state. I need to confess I've get a kind of weird overwhelming feeling every time I get back to map for this project, a feeling about don't knowing how to continue, where to map, what to map...

I'm a bit known for holding projects and stuff (DH, Sunstroke, 20SCBP, Reduked Atomic Edition - both almost finished) ... but also I've finished other things and taken part on collaborative projects with success (CBP8, CBP8 OST, NsA, 2HCBP, Reduked, Davox's Stadium DNF2013 map OST)

I remember the days when I first got my hands on WGR2, such epic mod, and I never imagined I were gonna work on a brand new episode. I don't want to betray those feelings, and I really want to make justice to the TC. I had never announced openly I was working on WGR2 new episode, where duke returns to his own world at last, till now.

Enough attempt of persuasion, let's get to the point...

WHAT'S DONE

• About 70% of the new code
  
• About 30% of the maps from my episode (4 maps)
  
• About 70% of the maps from DanM episode
  
• Some original music tracks by Maindrian
  
• Some unfinished maps by Micky C
  
• Some unfinished maps by Marked
  
• Chunks of maps by me for the TC
  
• Chunks of William G unfinished maps for the TC
  
• New art, models, enemies, etc...

(The percentages are just estimated)

Some shots for the hype....

I'm just talking for me, since I think Dan is gonna finish his maps someday and he already are making an awesome job, but I have some handicaps while mapping specially on gameplay, story implementing, and mainly give the maps a coherent development, I mean go to A to obtain this, then go to B while using credible locations and smooth transitions between zones. I have kinda a creative slow down atm :S

WHAT'S NEEDED

So it would be very helpful if someone would like to contribute with:

• Concept draws / scketchs with locations - remember, the TC is medieval/nature/fantasy oriented.
  
• Some kind of diagrams to interconnect the existing locations with new ones or totally new areas. Pointing landmarks and vital areas, and some kind short plot.
  
• Give some examples of games with this kind of themes
  
• Come up with ideas about puzzles, locations, gameplay, everything you want.
  
• Nature/medieval unfinished maps you aren't gonna finish.

As well it would be cool:

[*]One additional mapper wouldn't hurt
[*]A coder would be very helpful since DT kinda abandoned the project atm, but I'm sure he'll be back if important progress is done.

So any help would be really appreciated and it would make me focus just on mapping, having a solid basis to base the maps on. I'm good on reproduce things on mapster
I know this maybe sound lazy and noobinsh, but believe me, is the best way to get this done, and speed things up, giving the TC the second part it deserves.

Post here if you're willing to help, and we can discuss it by PM. Any recommendations, critics, etc. are accepted.

[Mike Norvak]

Also you can post opinions. What kind of landscapes/battles/puzzles you would like to see? What weak points did the original WGR2 have (gameplay/etc) ?

Any help, even just some random ideas, would be appreciated. Some experienced mapper's advice would be great as well.

[Micky C]

IMO one of the best things about the original WGRealms 2 was the large, natural looking outdoor environments, and you've got plenty of that. I don't think you'll need any fancy puzzles or anything are needed, just good old fashioned conceptually grand level design and decent combat.

Having a look at your maps in the SVN map 1 is big enough IMO, map 2 would fit in well with that big tower thing that I wasn't able to find. I'd love to see some big dungeons in map 3, like either used as a prison/torture place or both. The snow map doesn't have too much past the start, perhaps there you'd like to build some tall snowy mountains with a winding path leading somewhere, with some underground ice caves every now and then, and why not have another jump boot section?
I think a good example of an underground cave area is the one in level 2 (?) of Imperium, with the flowing water and great use of elevation. In fact try playing Imperium again since that has some nice large outdoor areas to help inspire you.

Is that the kind of advice you're looking for? I know it's not a lot. Honestly big chunks of your maps already look pretty finished, needing only some plants scattered over all the grass for the regions to look sufficiently busy. Maybe some extra trimming along the stone structures, and lots of torches everywhere as well, both inside and out.

[Mike Norvak]

Yes, simple advices like those would make me give a fresh approach to the project. Thank you! Hope some one else could help, just random ideas please. Maybe something you'd love to see from other game on a duke map...

About puzzles, I want to use at least all the new effects coded by DT.

BTW I haven't updated the latest version of the maps to the SVN, as maybe you can see on some shots... I'm gonna give it a go right now before going bed

[Kyanos]

http://www.moddb.com/games/wgrealms-2

Your OP has been copy pasted over to ModDB.

[Mike Norvak]

Well, soon I realized I have to do it on my own. At the actual rate I'm gonna finish in 2020...

[Mike Norvak]

The episode is already taking shape...

[Rhaisher]

I'd like to be able to do something else aside from cheering you up but, unfortunately, I can't right now. I wanted to learn how to mapster since Christmas but university has taken most of my time and the rest has been spent in other projects (such as replaying old-school RPGs).

Having replayed WGR2 v1.2 recently all I can say is that I'm so looking forward for the next (last?) version: the screenshots you released have skyrocketed my hype. But as a member of this community I've grown patient so, please, keep on taking your time to finish this masterpiece.

Anyway, glad to see that development is still ongoing. It's a shame that you haven't had much feedback with concept draws or ideas (in this thread, at least). Have you considered Game of Thrones as a source of inspiration? In environment, at least, lol.

Keep up the good work! (Not only in this TC but in life, study, musical projects, etc. as well)

[Mike Norvak]

Thanks RhaiNukem, inspiring words! Well, I have just seen a few GoT episodes, maybe that's a perfect excuse to watch the whole 4 seasons...

More screenshots to come!

[Mike Norvak]

Hi everyone! Already have some totally playable material. I need a betatester, preferably somebody that isn't involved with the development of the TC over the years. Who's in?

[Fantinaikos]

Mike Norvak, on 26 July 2016 - 09:27 AM, said:

Hi everyone! Already have some totally playable material. I need a betatester, preferably somebody that isn't involved with the development of the TC over the years. Who's in?

It must be focused on bugs finding or on gameplay touch-ups?

Ah, just for information in these days I've started to work on my WGR2 HRP again. It will be 100% compatible with the addon compilation version of WGR2, it would also be interesting to see how it looks in the new episode.

[Mike Norvak]

Fantinaikos, on 26 July 2016 - 12:00 PM, said:

It must be focused on bugs finding or on gameplay touch-ups?

Both.

[Kenny mckormick]

Hey! If you still want another beta-tester i'm here.

This mod is so Epic! I know life is life and i'm really happy mappers&codders gave me already so much freaking good (free!) stuff to play but i was soooo dissappointed when EP2 was cancelled .


I also think this mod have a really good potential gameplay, and i think it has some potential for big fights with lots of monsters like doom's PWAD, some monster seemed maybe a bit strong, but this style in Doom was awesome.

If you have some big chunks area of maps left, doing some Invasion mod might be very cool, given you can move pretty easily .
War of attrition code should work,it sure need work, but he even have the monster locator which is actually a really cool feature
If someone explain me the structure, given it is'nt too hard, i'm ok to do the dirty work, looked up understood some chunks but still..

You also might look for Sunlust and another PWAD by the same author, which could give some nice Lava theme idea. It's really top notch pwad, but areas are pretty large because the wad rely on BIG fight.
Also The classic Torment &torture have those lava theme, & a bit of quake 2 style too so might be worth checking.

[Danukem]

Kenny mckormick, on 19 September 2016 - 01:08 PM, said:

Hey! If you still want another beta-tester i'm here.

Mike Norvak will let you know.

Kenny mckormick, on 19 September 2016 - 01:08 PM, said:

This mod is so Epic! I know life is life and i'm really happy mappers&codders gave me already so much freaking good (free!) stuff to play but i was soooo dissappointed when EP2 was cancelled .

I think you are referring to the episode that Danny Mason was making. It came down to bad timing. The time and motivation of those involved did not align.

Kenny mckormick, on 19 September 2016 - 01:08 PM, said:

I also think this mod have a really good potential gameplay, and i think it has some potential for big fights with lots of monsters like doom's PWAD, some monster seemed maybe a bit strong, but this style in Doom was awesome.

If you have some big chunks area of maps left, doing some Invasion mod might be very cool, given you can move pretty easily .
War of attrition code should work,it sure need work, but he even have the monster locator which is actually a really cool feature
If someone explain me the structure, given it is'nt too hard, i'm ok to do the dirty work, looked up understood some chunks but still..

It's not a bad idea but I think you underestimate the amount of work involved. I'm actually finishing an update to Attrition now. If you just want invasion gameplay without all the player and weapon and monster leveling up that happens in Attrition then I guess it would be manageable.

[Kenny mckormick]

Yes , i know i might be underestimate the work :x

But no, im just referring to the Invasion code ! Most of the work should be replacing defines & reference i guess no?,with working the maps for it for sure.
This always could give a small expansion pack.

Incorporating Attrition system seems surely like huge work! I guess there might be incompatibility etc.. (But that's a good undoable idea to me, WGR2 style would fit well with some RPG-alike elements)

[Danukem]

Kenny mckormick, on 20 September 2016 - 02:21 AM, said:

Yes , i know i might be underestimate the work :x

But no, im just referring to the Invasion code ! Most of the work should be replacing defines & reference i guess no?,with working the maps for it for sure.
This always could give a small expansion pack.

Incorporating Attrition system seems surely like huge work! I guess there might be incompatibility etc.. (But that's a good undoable idea to me, WGR2 style would fit well with some RPG-alike elements)

The scripting system we use is not modular at all, it involves placing code in many different places and you can't even have local variables. Also, I think the RPG elements are what makes the gameplay addictive in Attrition, without those it would get boring quickly, unless you were playing coop (which isn't an option right now). The RPG elements are a ton of work to add because you have to code many variations on weapons and enemies as they upgrade and test everything to make sure it is balanced and working properly. Also, player perks.

[Kenny mckormick]

Trooper Dan, on 20 September 2016 - 11:36 AM, said:

The scripting system we use is not modular at all, it involves placing code in many different places and you can't even have local variables. Also, I think the RPG elements are what makes the gameplay addictive in Attrition, without those it would get boring quickly, unless you were playing coop (which isn't an option right now). The RPG elements are a ton of work to add because you have to code many variations on weapons and enemies as they upgrade and test everything to make sure it is balanced and working properly. Also, player perks.

With different place you are referring (for example) at event&actor stuff? I have basic (but solid) understand of C and understood a bit of CON but i've never done anything in both fields.

For example,the Attrition invasion code seemed really more complex than i thought it was, i've thought you used DP spawner with another actor displaying stuff & activate other waves
(i know this had been done for many reasons! You got me playing Duke for a long time since DNA,(i'm grateful for that!) and gave me an interest for scripting when i was 14 years old (useful today), i would'nt dare..)

So if you think this is a good idea for those chunks,just know i'll be glad to help with doing somehing like that,but as you says, mapping&modding take lots of work i don't estimate and i don't know if i can/will keep up, and i'm aware that this is a pretty prestigious mod and that those chunks should'nt put in anybody hands..


And yes, played hack&slash recently,RPG progression really changes the way you live a gameplay. And i've been proved too that balance is something that take lots of times.
Invasion WGR2 being fun or not is a debate, i don't know, i think it could be cool with an intense gameplay, given more monsters fire projectile, i think you maybe can put more monster with an "easy layout", i'm trying to do a little "invasion" map with DP's spawner , where i plan to give to most monsters Projectiles mods so if a part of enemy is far enough, most of the projectile should be avoidable and you can so put more monster, i should see if the concept is good)

[Danukem]

For now, I'm hopeful that Mike will be able to finish his episode, and I want any efforts I make on this TC to go towards that. At some later point, if there is no mapping activity going on, then I may consider making an invasion style gameplay option. It's certainly a good way to add a lot of gameplay without requiring much level design.

[Mike Norvak]

Kenny mckormick, on 19 September 2016 - 01:08 PM, said:

Hey! If you still want another beta-tester i'm here.

This mod is so Epic! I know life is life and i'm really happy mappers&codders gave me already so much freaking good (free!) stuff to play but i was soooo dissappointed when EP2 was cancelled .

Of course, I really would like your help. I'm preparing a new beta soon, so stay tuned. I'll send you a PM later.

[Mike Norvak]

Hi everyone. I need just one more betatester. Who's in?

[Fantinaikos]

I can, if there is no reservation outside being the first that answer why not?

[Mike Norvak]

Check your messages Fantinaikos

[Sixty Four]

Id'e like to look at this again.. throughout my ventures I've seen hell and returning to see this I'm a lot more interested in it. But I'm also super busy all the time lol. Well good luck man.

[Mike Norvak]

Release is at the corner, of the street, although it won't be as big as original WGR2

[Sixty Four]

Mike Norvak, on 31 January 2018 - 08:16 AM, said:

Release is at the corner, of the street, although it won't be as big as original WGR2

Its release is at the corner of 4th street you make a left and a right arghh.

Just kidding there, from what I played of this (a long time ago now) I liked what I saw then. I remember it pretty clearly actually which is amazing to say. Looking forward to it no rush.