Unreal 3 Warfare Mod : Talus

Beta Final

2009-05-29T23:22:00.001-07:00

A lot of work has gone into polishing Talus and getting it ready for the Make Something Unreal Contest. We have entered it into three categories:

Best Warfare Level
Best Level for Game Mod
Best FPS Game Mod

We have added in content from the Titan patch to the different classes. We have also noticed an interesting bug with the Titan Mutator. The way we have our classes scripted in kismet causes a player to retain their weapons when they turn into a Titan. Further more, they do not receive the stronger rocket launcher or plasma rifle that Titan's normally receive.

We have finalized the side nodes. They are now housed in a dome structure much like the Power Core.

We have finalized the bot AI. They are pure lemmings now that will only attack if provoked.

We have tweaked the amount of experience gained from events in the game. Players will find themselves leveling a class to max level faster than before.

Talus can be downloaded from:

http://www.fileplanet.com/200257/200000/fileinfo/Unrealtournament-3---Talus

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ennm53mxydw

http://danielmullins.net/Talus.zip

Beta Progress

2009-05-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

The beta is due by 02/19/09.

The beta is playable with 8 players. Four on each team.

Each team will have a base that contains the following: one Power Core, a room for healing/changing your class/spawning, the Shaped Charge deployable, and three buildings that act as factories for the bots.

The bots will consist of 8 enforcer equipped lemmings that run down each lane. That's 24 bots on each team for a total of 48 bots running around in the level at one time. The bot factories are tied to static meshes that if enough damage is dealt to the meshes will be destroyed and the bots will no longer spawn.

The Towers can only be damaged by explosives: Flak Shell, Rocket Launcher, Avril, Shock Rifle's Combo, and the Shaped Charge.

Currently while carrying the Shaped Charge you cannot use other weapons, cannot drop it, and cannot use your hoverboard. The limitations on this item are intentional, because the shaped charge is devastating if used correctly.

There are now walls around the base, but their game play has yet to be implemented. They will have force fields that check the player's team and if the respective player is trying to enter the enemy base the force field will kill him. This is supposed to make the bases a semi safe haven. The forcefields can be temporarily taken down by dealing enough damage to them or by having a level 3 scout jump over the walls and flip a trigger.

The three lanes have been fleshed out. The middle lane is going to be the fastest way between the bases, but the most deadly due to the towers. The top lane will be more open and is where the waterfall begins, also it is has a dense population of glow worms. The bottom lane is where the waterfall ends, will be a close quarters combat area, and it will be lined with holes that the players can fall into.

Upcoming Alpha

2009-02-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

The alpha is due by 02/05/09.

The alpha will be able to have eight players at a time. Four on each team.

Each team will have a base that contains the following: one Power Core, a healing zone that only works for that base's team, the Shaped Charge deployable, and scattered around the base will be spawn areas for bots.

The bots will consist of 4 enforcer equipped lemmings that run down each lane. That's 12 bots on each team for a total of 24 bots running around in the level at one time. The bots are not meant to be smart. They run straight for the core taking objectives along the way if they need to be taken.

There are three "lanes" between the bases. The outer lanes will have standalone nodes as defensive areas that can be controlled by either team and can change as the game plays. The middle lane will feature two towers that devastate the battlefield. Each team will own a tower and the towers will be in a functional, destroyable state.

The map will not have orbs or vehicles.

What have we been doing individually?

Dan - Updated blog, worked on prototypes/mockups for doug and josh
Doug - Created classes, worked on bots, and nodes which consisted of many prototypes
Shane - Created concept art for towers/bases
Rashad - Created art bible/style guide and has made terrain, water, crystal shaders
Jimmy - Outlined asset list, delegated modeling, and modeled the tower
Conrad - Worked on the waterfall's particles, fire particles, and a variety of dust
Josh - Mainly worked with the terrain and now is working on bot pathing
Kevin - Made it so players can select their class before the game begins through a user interface. The HUD has been outlined and creation has begun.

Tower Models

2009-01-31T17:31:00.000-08:00

The UI/HUD is born!

2009-01-31T16:13:00.000-08:00

Terrain Pictures

2009-01-31T15:50:00.000-08:00

Concept Art

2009-01-31T15:48:00.000-08:00

Feature Set/Level Layout

2009-01-15T14:22:00.001-08:00

Feature Set: Three different classes: assault, support, and a scout. Customizable warfare events, environmental obstacles, and an army of never ending soldiers.

Most warfare maps use vehicles as a crutch. With this game we are taking out the vehicles, lowering the size of the map, and adding kismet scripted bots to change the aspect of 'warfare' to create a different play style in the warfare game type.

Architectural Style : Neobyzantine

Warfare Layout:

-Two bases containing the power cores for each team
-Three main lanes that allow travel between the bases
-Warfare objective nodes will be spread out through the lanes

Path 1:
-Highest elevation of the three lanes
-Waterfall location
-Contains one power node

Path 2:
-Middle lane provides straight shot to other base
-More open, but contains two towers to slow progression
-Lower and higher path
-Waterfall creates a river/stream to cross
-Contains one power node that controls a main bridge

Path 3:
-Tighter space, but still open
-Dark area (attach spotlights to players?)
-Contains glow worms
-Contains one power node
-Destruction events: stalactites

Events: Power Core, Power Node, Destruction

Power Core – Using team work overcome an obstacle to get to the core
Tower – Defensive structure that can be destroyed
Destruction – Example: shooting stalactites down

Project Positions

2009-01-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

Project Lead – Dan
Blog/Website – Dan
Lead Modeler – Jimmy
Animation – Jimmy
Puzzle/Objective Designer – Doug
Tech Artist – Josh
Fx Artist – Conrad
Lighting – Conrad
Sound – Shane
Interface Design – Kevin
Art Direction – Rashad