(WIP) The Great War: 1916 [Files Released- Scavenge Away!]

[bwc153]

That looks pretty detailed model for a DOOM mod... although he could use it as a basis for a sprite.

[Dr. Crushcup]

Wow, that's a really nice model!
bwc153 may be right here, I should probably just use it for spriting purposes. Of course, whether soldiers carry pistols or not is entirely up to you guys. I don't think too many soldiers carried pistols, but I have seen games (like Prof. Tournesol's Operation Flashpoint WWI mod) where soldiers carry pistols for backup. If nothing else, I could make pistols exclusive to officers, who I would have to add in.

Actually, that isn't too bad an idea. Make it so if there are no officers left alive in the front lines after an attack, the soldiers are more prone to breaking and fleeing... Hmm...

[bwc153]

Not sure if they'd say yes - but if you want more bases for sprites, you could go ask the WW1 mod team for Napoleon: Total War
Who knows, looking at their work may also inspire a new idea as well.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1608

[David Ferstat]

Apologies if it's already been suggested, but mud could be useful for re-creating the "atmosphere". Historically, thousands of soldiers on the Western Front drowned in mud.

You could have areas of mud that slow the player down. This could force players to choose between, on one hand, higher ground, where they can move faster, and are therefore harder to hit, but more visible, and, on the other hand, lower ground where they're harder to see, but slower and easier to hit.

You could also have mud that deals drowning damage if you get deep enough. Imagine making your way through waist-high mud when a nearby shell stuns you, forcing you to your knees. If you're stunned long enough, you drown.

Oh, and just in case you weren't aware Gallipoli isn't at all "obscure" in some parts of the world.

[bwc153]

I suggested using the ice sector tag thingy in some cases to imitate mud - but your idea is far grander...
However - my idea could be used in conjunction, say having the sides of a shell crater be tagged with the ice thing - so you can just slip back into that pool of mud in the bottom!

[Dr. Crushcup]

Hey, all. Sorry I haven't updated in months; Something went catastrophically wrong with my XPS (for about the third time). As such, I set out to build a computer, but I'm on my second lemon motherboard, trying for a third... As of right now, I'm typing this on an old ca. 2003 Alienware desktop on loan.
Here I'll lay out my plans for everyone interested.

Right now, I'm working on a mod I like to call "Battle of Gonzales", inspired by Hank Hill. The name is inaccurate, of course, as the battle resembles the Alamo more than Gonzales, and features weapons and both friendly and enemy soldiers from the Mexican American War (about 10 years after the Alamo.) Pretty fun so far. But more on that in another thread.

Here's the deal with WWI Doom: The AI just cannot accomplish what I need it to. I found that all of the 'charges' the AI was leading were just going straight to the other side of the map, and the enemy was putting up very little resistance. No matter what I did, after hours and hours and days and days of attempts at fixing it, I temporarily shelved the project, and my computer died on me shortly thereafter.
Anyways, I see no point in hoarding my files, and I'll release them all to you ASAP. Of course, the files are all on a SATA drive; this computer's motherboard is strictly IDE, so until I can get another motherboard for my new beast machine, even I have no access to them. But once they're released, maybe some of you could have some fun with the files. Hell, maybe one of you could even fix it. After all, I'm experienced, but I'm certainly no ZDoom wizard.
If one of you does find a fix for the AI not working properly, and decide to see the project through to completion, just make sure to mention me as the project starter in the credits

[bwc153]

Still going to upload the progress you made?

[Trooper 077]

Still going to upload the progress you made?

Well.... He IS following the rules.... Sorta

[Dr. Crushcup]

Good god, I forgot all about this! My new computer is functional, I'll go dig out my old SATA drive right now! So sorry for the huge delay!

EDIT: What rules? Am I going to be put to death as punishment for my period of absence? Oh no.

EDIT2: Here it is: A 7Zip file with all of my work in progress stuff (excluding the about fifty outdated backups I've kept for reasons beyond me.)

http://www.mediafire.com/?osk4299z1g2vf25

Anyways, looking at my amassed collection of screencaps, I still do see this mod having extraordinary potential. I'm thinking either I or the brave bastard who I pass the torch to should make more of the map immersed in muddy water. At first, I thought the main ground texture was just that, and for that brief moment, the map looked more incredible to me than ever. Besides that, the mod looks like it would be great fun to play in a more complete state, hopefully someone more experienced than me can find a way to coax the AI into doing just what it's supposed to do here.

Related news aside, I found a mod that appeared to have been an earlier attempt at the same type of gameplay as this mod, only it takes place in a Lowe's and features Lowe's and Home Depot employees fighting to the death. The name is Hardware Suction, but that might just be a hilarious typo.

[FDARI]

I don't think the mention of rules could possibly apply to your behaviour, but perhaps to the quoted bump. Updates normally come when creators have something they wish to offer, and impatient bumps rarely do any good at all. I say rarely, not never.

That file of yours is 60.9 MB. No issue for me, I'm downloading it. I'd offer to help with AI, but I'm generally too ambitious in the outset and too intermittent in my work. I can take a look at any specific task/behaviour you want to implement, and try to hand you a functional solution. Just don't hand the lot of it over to me; you'd never get it back.

[JimmyJ]

When you're bumping with content like that it's considered OK, so no worries. I hope this project is able to take off again someday, because it sounds so fun.

[wildweasel]

Yeah, feel free to go back and edit the first post of the thread, too, since this is an official update instead of someone asking "hey, any updates?" for the millionth time.

[Dr. Crushcup]

Ahh, it makes sense now. Alright, so basically, to answer FDARI, what I want the AI to do is go after individual trenches (think flags in a conquest gamemode, but replaced by capturable trenches). What the AI is instead doing, however, is simply rushing straight through the trenchlines and clear to the other side of the map without hanging around the set goal point and awaiting the capture countdown. If you really are willing to just take a glance at it and see what may be able to be done, I'd really appreciate that, thanks.

JimmyJ, I agree. I agree so hard. This is the one Doom mod of mine that I really, really want to take off. I'm only limited by my lack of knowledge, it seems (and artistic [in]ability- I can't sprite for crap, and I need a ton of soldier sprites... And a ton of randomized alt-death sprite sequences for them in addition, to make the carnage that much more incredible.)

Good idea, wildweasel, I'll go update the first post now. That should save me a ton of headaches in the future.

EDIT:
I do feel inspiration returning for this project, after seeing what I had accomplished so far with it. I may begin work on the project once more, but unassisted progress will be painfully slow if I do decide to pick it up. I have two other Doom projects going at the moment in addition to an ongoing car project on the real-world side of things, really constricting whatever free time I have to spend on this one.
In short, don't expect anything, but it's possible that the project may be retrieved from limbo by me.