Iron Assault Remake (Demo Update 2.5)

[sherberttcat]

Oh ho ho! I'm looking forward to this one!

[ReformedJoe]

Here's a new gameplay video, showcasing the entire first mission.

More news below.

---

Again mostly been cruising along doing background and UI stuff. Added some useful widgets like a filter for the weapon list, and of course the weapon grouping screen. Background stuff for weapon locks is down, which you can see in the video. Special thanks to Gutawer for making Gutamatics, without which my grug brain could not have done any of the screen projection stuff.

There's now a mw4 style weapon group system which replaces the old 2 weapon system. It's much more streamlined, IMO. There are still some limitations which I am playing around with. Right now a group can have up to 4 weapons for balance and performance reasons. This might change in the future, but for now don't expect to pack 1000 machineguns into your leg and alpha strike everything you run into. Groups are fixed in the actual game, so you can't modify them on the fly. That might change, don't know yet.

Modules are now up and running fully. Most of them stack, so you'll get benefits by having multiple jumpjets or advanced sensors. Some mechs come with built in modules too. I'm trying to strike a balance between power and breaking the game (especially with jumpjets). You can get pretty high if your mech is light enough, so the compromise is having some areas blocked by invisible walls, even if you "should" be able to get there.

Otherwise the bulk of the work has been new content, like mechs, enemy units and textures. The geometry for mission 2 is more or less done and the beginnings of mission1-3 have been put down. At this rate of work I'd guesstimate I'll be able to push out a demo in a few weeks. Obviously don't count on that though.

[Cherno]

Very good! I think the mech sprites are pretty plain but if the original game was like this, what can you do?

[ReformedJoe]

Very good! I think the mech sprites are pretty plain but if the original game was like this, what can you do?

I actually like the sprites. I agree that they are on the smaller side, and their palette is very limited (16 colors). Their being "plain" may have something to do with how I ripped them, since I assumed the game had only 1 play palette (an assumption I am now realizing is likely wrong).

A brief digression: IAs general graphics, wall and floor textures have their palette inside the graphics file. Game sprites pull from common palettes which are actually stored (as far as I can tell) inside the games executable. The palette I used to rip every sprite was one I pulled directly from the games running memory with a hex editor, and in some instances with some sprites it gives odd results.

Anyway, here's a preview of a few other mechs:

[Ferretmanjcdenton]

Unbelievable...that THAT that is GREAT ....PLEASE ..if it gets released or a demo I want to show it on my channel ...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXORaP ... 6X0WTfbbSw

[Cherno]

Very good! I think the mech sprites are pretty plain but if the original game was like this, what can you do?

I actually like the sprites. I agree that they are on the smaller side, and their palette is very limited (16 colors). Their being "plain" may have something to do with how I ripped them, since I assumed the game had only 1 play palette (an assumption I am now realizing is likely wrong).

A brief digression: IAs general graphics, wall and floor textures have their palette inside the graphics file. Game sprites pull from common palettes which are actually stored (as far as I can tell) inside the games executable. The palette I used to rip every sprite was one I pulled directly from the games running memory with a hex editor, and in some instances with some sprites it gives odd results.

Anyway, here's a preview of a few other mechs:

It looks like the shadows would need to be much darker; Do these really look like this in the original game? they would look much better with a severe contrast incrase, methinks!

[ReformedJoe]

...if it gets released or a demo I want to show it on my channel ...

Of course!

...
It looks like the shadows would need to be much darker; Do these really look like this in the original game? they would look much better with a severe contrast incrase, methinks!

Its very close:


But now that you mention it, it wouldn't be too difficult to simply modify the palette to have more contrast. I'll think on this.

[ReformedJoe]

It's been a while, and of course as soon as I typed the words "Demo Soon" I got a little burned out on the project. Such is life.

I'm back at it now though. See below for details, if you so desire.

---

Overview shot of mission 1-3. WIP!
The bulk of the work over the last week or so has been rounding out the final mission of the first operation. This is the most ambitious map yet, featuring a grand total of 377 destructible buildings. I won't lie, I definitely had concerns going in that an open map of this size and density would have unacceptable performance. I have previously been very conservative with IAs map designs, being very careful to segment maps, a lesson I learned the hard way when I was making Interstellar Enforcer. This map proves that I may have been overly cautious, so some future missions will be more "epic" in scale. However final judgment will be reserved until after the playtesting phase.

You might also notice that some textures now have brightmaps. Nothing too crazy or mind blowing, obviously, but it adds a nice touch. The original Iron Assault also had brightmaps, especially in some of its interior levels, so its something you will be seeing much more of in the future.

Speaking of the future: I don't recall if I've discussed this before, but I plan on around 16 missions, split over 5 operations. Once a mission is completed it will become available in "simulator" mode, which will allow you to play the map with custom options. Basic stuff like alternate start locations, and the ability to select the level and type of enemy resistance.

Finally, the horizon for the demo hasn't changed for obvious reasons. It's still a few weeks out, at minimum.

[Cherno]

It looks great! Please confirm that the window textures are brightmaps

[ReformedJoe]

It looks great! Please confirm that the window textures are brightmaps

Thanks. Yes, in this case the windows were an obvious usage for brightmaps. There is also some indoor stuff, and I think I'll make a variant of the streetlights that have them as well.

[Ozymandias81]

Damn this is pure genius, can't wait to put my hands on this and play it!

[Captain J]

Oooooh Nocturnal Mission. Hope my mech have night vision or flares to lighten up the enemy base, because i'll need those!

[ReformedJoe]

Damn this is pure genius, can't wait to put my hands on this and play it!

Thanks for the interest!

Hope my mech have night vision or flares to lighten up the enemy base...

Nightvision is planned. Flares are an interesting idea as well.

Anyhow, here's a really quick update:

---

No new media this week, unfortunately.

I've been doing some internal housekeeping and tying up loose ends. The 3 missions I planned for the demo are now all finish-able, and are all properly hooked up to relevant game systems. I may also include a brief training mission, or at least a kind of test range where you can go to try things out. All demo relevant enemies are in, and in terms of content I'm working on a final energy weapon to round things out. Otherwise have been sorting out bugs and other oddities. Basically the demo is almost content complete.

Before I release the demo, I'll probably do a pre-demo call for testers to iron (heh) out any really shitty bugs and issues. So stay tuned for that.

Unfortunately, I've come across a fairly serious issue. To be clear: this is an issue I knew would crop up eventually, but it is one that needs attention and I can't keep putting it off anymore. Basically, the way projectiles are implemented is not very efficient. Namely, a lot of abuse of transparency and additive blending. This creates some pretty significant performance issues in conditions where there is a lot of stuff flying around. I've got some fixes planned for this, and some overhauls for projectiles in general. The end result is going to look a little bit worse, but I feel the performance gains are waaaaaaay more important.

[Vostyok]

This looks really cool. I'm loving the loadout GUI and explosion effects. Nice!

[zrrion the insect]

This is looking fantastic, I really like the building destruction