DF-21 Forums

[sheepandshepherd]

That's right, I've got a shovel, ready to dig up DF's grave once again

Anyway, I'm planning a trilogy of new levels for DF, two of which will be exclusively for DarkXL. The first one, however, will probably be released before DarkXL, sometime this year. Out of the first chapter, I'd say I'm about . . . 15% done. So what exactly will this whole "Interloper" business be about? Here's the story so far, excluding spoilers:

You are Marcus Adamus, a high-ranking Imperial stormtrooper who regularly deals with new, dangerous, exotic, and heavy Imperial weapons developments. This time, however, High Command is dispatching you on a much different kind of mission. They have recently discovered a small planet called Skrii and started mining explosive crystals from hollowed caverns beneath the surface. The mining facility is top secret, and only the Emperor's most trusted and loyal servants know of it. However, Command has lost contact with Moff Talthar, the facility's leader. They believe Rebels may have infiltrated the base and have sent you to investigate . . . but why would Rebels take over a remote mining facility? How did they know about the base, and what would they want with explosive crystals? As you infiltrate the facility, you will find not only answers, but also more questions . . .

Dramatic enough for ya?

The first chapter of Interloper will feature many puzzles, new weapons and enemies, plenty of heart-pounding action, and a horror-filled storyline that will leave you hanging off the side of a cliff (no pun intended there - I'm saving that for chapter 2).

Here's some early screenshots of what I've been working on in the past few weeks:

The security room.

An average bedroom for the inhabitants of the Skrii mining facility. Note the mines - they will soon be changed into one of the mentioned new weapons.

All employees must wash hands before getting them dirty again in the mining tunnels.

In case you absolutely have to go during your mission.

More bathrooms. Sorry, I couldn't help putting extra work into it after playing Condition Red

There will be a probe room featured in the level. This is not it. Strangely enough, there will be no actual probes in the probe room.

An early un-INFed Reactor Puzzle. The Reactor Puzzle will probably be one of the funnest and most unique puzzles in the level . . . but since I'm standing on the controls in this screenshot, you won't know what kind of puzzle it is until I release it

Sorry for the low quality screenshots, but you know how DF is. Also, you may have noticed quite a few stitching problems and repetitive textures - don't worry, I didn't forget. I just try to save those things for last so I don't have to deal with strange offsets and things like that during my editing. Also, the Reactor area will be very, very buggy - the subsectors often disappear while moving around. I can't change that. DarkXL will surely fix the problem, and I can't afford to take out one of the best parts of the level.

I may release a demo of the first floor of the facility some time this month, depending on how involved the laziness factor will be. Unfortunately, the aforementioned horror and action all happen after the unveiling of the level's climax, so I won't be able to release anything truly interesting until the entire level is complete. So be patient, and expect the unexpected. Or . . . don't expect the expected. Whatever. Gibberish

HELP NEEDED:
+Someone who's good at making MIDI tracks, so I can have some new music to add to the intensity of the level.
+3dos. Lots of em. If anyone is either good at making them or knows how I can somehow get a model from Milkshape 3D into 3do format, the help will be greatly appreciated (eventually; I'm not ready for it yet.)
+Someone who knows how to do VUEs and can teach me.
+Any suggestions for puzzles that have not yet been used in levels - even if it's vague or difficult to make, I wanna hear it.

[Burning Gundam]

Lookin' good there

I'd help you out, but I have to learn a lot of that myself. Back in the mac days for me, I'd have to solicit help from others too. I say get the shell (LEV) done first then add the filler.

If I get the hang of the mentioned requests I will gladly help.

_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it.

[lucius]

In order to help foster the renewing of the modding scene for DF - if you e-mail me a preview copy of your mod I could probably get some screenshots of you level rendered by DarkXL... Obviously I can't make any gaurantees about everything working yet but I'd try to get similar views to what you already posted in order not to give stuff away Same goes for Burning Gundam and his levels.

_________________
DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com

[Burning Gundam]

Actually, Lucius, the first level of my series has been released, feel free to use it. It would be a real treat to see it rendered in Dark XL

Download

_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it.

[sheepandshepherd]

Actually, I haven't gotten to any of the spoilers . . . unfortunately, progress has been slow since I'm lazy and have plenty of other things to worry about . . . including getting a new computer that will actually support DarkXL with all its new graphics options enabled

[sheepandshepherd]

lucius, once I release the first demo (which will probably be in a week or two), I'll send it to you so you can get some high-res screenshots . . . also, that should help you test out how well custom levels work in DarkXL

[Fenwar]

Looks promising already

[sheepandshepherd]

[Burning Gundam]

[sheepandshepherd]

Don't worry, I'm makin progress . . . eventually, I'm gonna have to download Gimp so I can start work on the new textures . . . I lost about an hour or two's worth of work on those when my hard drive crashed, but as with the level itself, I'm sure I can start over and make it even better

[Burning Gundam]

Good luck then

_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it.

[sheepandshepherd]

The last few days have been pretty slow, but I finally got back into the working spirit. So far, I've helped the engineering pad rendering problem by changing them from subsectors to independent sectors, but I doubt I'll be able to fully fix it in DF's engine. Also, I seem to be getting massive HOMs in small but complex rooms . . . I'm starting to wonder if I should even release this before DarkXL at all . . . what do you guys think? Should I wait until DarkXL is finished before I release it?

Either way, I'm still far from done. I've replanned some of the level to include less mining facility and more . . . well, let's not get into what else . The point is, I think we're all just a little tired of mining facilities after playing Gromas, Robotics, Arc Hammer, Parux, Iron Fort, and whatever else.

[Burning Gundam]

I beg to differ about Ironfort. I never get enough of that one.

_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it.

[sheepandshepherd]

I know, I didnt mean we're tired of Ironfort, just that I shouldn't be spending a lot of time making another mining facility, and instead make the level more unique.
Of course, it would be blasphemy to say we're tired of Ironfort

[Burning Gundam]

yeah, I'm having a similar problem with my projects. Aside from the first and last 2 levels, there's going to be an awful lot of things that are similar between levels 2,3 and 4 as far as level design and structure goes. So I've been trying really hard with concept art and design to see how I can make each area unique. So far, the elements that will really make a difference is atmosphere, the puzzles, and the way you get around. I have a feeling that those three levels will really bog down my series. But to make up for that, I have major plans for the finale

_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it.

[sheepandshepherd]

As far as Imperial facilities, I don't really see a way to make them unique in design . . . I probably won't have a big problem with this, only the first half (or less) of Interloper 1 and most of 3 will be Imperialish . . . the rest should be pretty unique as far as textures and atmosphere go . . .
One thing that really helps make levels that look similar feel unique is new music. You should think about maybe putting some of that in, if you know how. I'm planning on eventually learning how to make MIDI tracks before the final release of Interloper 1 . . . none of the original DF music really fits in.
Also, it helps if there's a really big difference in the point of the level, such as objectives, why you're here, what the enemy is doing here, and why they're trying to keep you out. Some levels should feel more urgent and fast-paced, while others could be stealth or infiltration missions . . . it helps to plan out things like that if you want unique, interesting levels.

[Burning Gundam]

I guess as far as imperial bases go, look back on what others have done and see if there aren't ways to improve upon them. A lot of my inspiration came from Critak Moon and Star's End.

_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it.

[sheepandshepherd]

Minor update for those of you who are still interested. Last week, I wiped my virus-ridden hard drive because it got to the point where my AV program would no longer detect the critters. Fortunately, most of my data was backed up, including my DARK and WDFUSE folders. Some data was corrupted, but as far as i could tell by filenames, it was only some of WDFUSE's countless old Interloper backup copies.

As for the level itself: Most of the first floor is now complete, aside from minor details. All that remains is the rest of the Reactor, the vents, and the Elevator to the lower levels. (And of course the outdoor area, which I won't even try to mess with until DarkXL supports slopes.) There is also a certain . . . secret area that I decided to expand

I have decided to do some major design changes to the new enemies; I just wasn't satisfied with what I had planned out. It won't affect much, just that I'll be using different WAXs and BMs for them and their part of the level (which I haven't even started work on yet). Plot and gameplay will still be just as horrific

All together, not as much progress as I'd have liked, but it'll do for now. After I get out of school on the 19th, I'll have a lot more time to work on this (and a lot more idle creativity )

Aside from level progress - I should be getting a new PC sometime in the next few months, but it's unlikely I'll move my DF editing to it, since it'll almost certainly be a Vista computer. Of course, that'll change once DarkXL is complete, since it fully supports Vista. I will probably post some more screenshots this week of my work, if I get anything interesting done.

[Burning Gundam]

Same could be said for me as well (minus the viruses and new computer). This past few weeks have been hell for me (I have to act as a manager while not being a manager with no extra compensation during season with no one to work with but new people) so progress on my projects should resume soon after the holidays are over.

Can't wait to see your progress too!

_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it.

[klasodeth]

[sheepandshepherd]

Well, that's nice to hear. I've never actually had any compatibility issues with WDFUSE, aside from a minor error involving detection of system memory.

Right now, I'm having some INF issues with those code-key terminals. I copied the INF from DTENTION and created all the necessary dummy sectors, but my door won't open . I do remember reading a really good tutorial on how to make those, but I don't remember what it was called . . . I'll look for it tomorrow, unless any of you happen to know which one I'm talking about.

[sheepandshepherd]

I've been slacking for three months . . . but replaying some old DF levels, along with anticipation for DarkXL, have put me back to work on Interloper. Here's what's new:

I've decided to completely redesign the base reactor. It was ridiculously buggy, not to mention ugly and boring. My original plan was just to retexture and reINF it, but that wouldn't have done much good as far as its bad design. Instead of the weird trapezoid shape with hexagonal pads in the screenshot above, I've made it look a lot more interesting, a lot more like a reactor.

The main puzzle is still similar, but I've added a few other things to it as well. The main reactor engine is damaged and is leaking fuel - the player has to pump the fuel out of the engine and reroute it to the secondary reactor engine. There will be multiple steps to doing this, all with the risk of slipping and falling into a reservoir of boiling fuel. Dangerous enough for an abandoned base, I think

I haven't started building this in WDFUSE yet for the main reason that it's a hexagon. Does anyone know how to draw a perfect regular hexagon in WDFUSE? I know about the polygon tool, but it's hard to use when I don't know the exact size I'm looking for, and especially when I'm working with a lot of subsectors.

After replaying what I have finished of the level, I also decided to learn some better texturing skills and make the base a little less plain. I need some good-quality metal textures to use as a base, so if anyone knows of some free picture websites, I'd appreciate the help

[Burning Gundam]

Yeah, I need to get back to work on my projects too. Been working quite a bit and doing other things I haven't had much time. But I should squeeze some time in to get some work done.

_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it.