Blood Frontier Alpha 2 by Acord and Quin RELEASED

by Acord on 07/26/2008 09:47, 100 messages, last message: 12/09/2008 13:36, 56455 views, last view: 05/19/2024 00:38

It's been over a year coming, but we've finally released Alpha 2 of Blood Frontier. If you feel like shooting the hell out of strangers and some fairly good AI that plays online, drop on by and download it:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=198419

This release feels really good - way more solid. The graphics are a huge improvement, and I've replaced almost everything in the whole project at least once, maybe more. The gameplay is super solid, you can add bots in to play online. The models are *almost* professional quality. I'm getting there, dammit. There are now a lot more modes, including mutators a la unreal. If you like CTF, try mayhem - it swaps the team spawns and results in some fairly maniacal firefights.

The online AI is the beginning of implementing monsters as well - once completed, this sucker will be multi-player online co-op against hordes of the undead. Due to the fact that it utilizes an altered P2P system, the more people you have online, the more bots you can add without lag - at least until your processor gets hot.

Very, very graphics intensive. Everything has normal mapping, parallax mapping, specularity mapping etc.

That is something that'll need to wait until Alpha 3 though(hopefully NOT another year-long wait). For now, I'm taking a much deserved break from my PC for awhile.

One nice thing: Now we have the ability to release the occasional patch, instead of needing a full release.

Control cheat sheet:

wasd - movement keys
space - jump and double/trick jump
q - switch to grenades
e - pick up weapon on ground - replaces current gun, a la Halo
r - reload. The shotgun and sniper rifle must be loaded one round at a time.
left mouse button - shoot or throw grenade. The longer you hold it down, the farther the grenades go.
right mouse button - alt fire. Right now, the only weapon with an alt fire is the rifle, which uses the scope.

9 - switch from first person to third person view and back. Whatever your preference.

tab - view the scoreboard

esc - bring up the teeming multitude of menus

Lemme hear your comments. Keep in mind it is still unfinished.

Big thanks to Eihrul for the huge amount of help(seriously, he got bugged a *lot*, and this release would be nowhere near as good without his help), Verbalshadow for the excellent interface graphics, Hirato for his endless scripting and menu tweaking, Pundit for the sound help, our hosts, and all the people who dropped by and gave feedback/criticism/entertainment.

Super special thanks to Quin for possessing the amazing capability of putting up with a zillion tweaks and changes and experiments, as well as my screwed up sense of humor. There would be no Blood Frontier without you.

If I missed anybody, I blame it on a severe and prolonged lack of sleep, and apologize from the bottom of my heart.

AND DON'T FORGET TO OPEN THE CORRECT PORTS.

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#61: Re: tentus' idea

by JadeMatrix on 08/12/2008 07:00, refers to #60

Meh, it's just something I wrote up for a friend to explain an idea I had. It's still a rough draft, so sorry for the lack of detail. Here's the section on player customization:


EQUIPMENT & LOADOUT SYSTEM

-Player Customization [unfinished]

Equipment can include weapons, ammunition, armor variants, and armor add-ons, all of which have an effect on gameplay. The amount of equipment and your type of armor do affect your weight and speed.

-Loadout Specifics [this section is more gameplay-related, but had to do with the topic, so I included it]

There are four weights/sizes of weapons, based on the slot system: 1-slot, 2-slot, 4-slot, and 7-slot. There are certain rules that apply as to how much and what kinds of equipment you can carry on to the battlefield.
There are a few general things to note. You cannot dual-wield scoped weapons. Each piece of suit equipment takes up one suit-specific slot. When you switch weapons, if there is no room to store the weapon you were just holding, you drop it

...

-Virtual Currency and Market [important part — answers the RL money question]

A virtual market would exist in order to allow players to buy, sell, and trade equipment. Two types of currency would exist: GTUs and ETDs. GTUs (Galactic Trade Units) would be awarded to the player for multiplayers kills and amount of time spent in multiplayer. GTUs would be the standard monetary unit of the virtual market. ETDs (Earth Trade Dollars) can be bought with and are directly ‘translated’ from real USD (US dollars). The USDs generated from the exchange of ETDs would be used to keep the Master server running, and for development costs. ETDs would be used to buy special event or highly-ranked items.

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#62: ..

by {Qs}Homicidal on 08/12/2008 08:28

yea buying credits for stuff you can\'t get any other way = EPIC FAIL and would most likey kill the game

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#63: ..

by Archangel_ on 08/12/2008 15:25

I like what you said had happened so far in SVN, Quin, but when you use the mini-zoom, does it place the gun directly in the middle of the screen, Doom style?

Also, I don't think that prone should be implemented in conjunction with this. I like the idea of prone, just not for such a limited realization; it would be much better, IMO, to have a separate key bound by default to prone.

As Homicidal said, buying stuff with real money would kill the game; that always sucks. I particularly hate it when some newbie pays and gets an excellent gun and kicks my ass, me having some sorry normal weapon. [ WarRock - Premium - FAMAS/G36/MP7 = overpowered, much? ]

I will still advocate the addition of an automatic rifle :P

The game needs more servers and maps to even survive it's first couple of releases, though, and more players. Indeed, I haven't seen a BF player on for more than a week.

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#64: Re: ..

by JadeMatrix on 08/13/2008 04:09, refers to #63

Well, I just copy-and-pasted from what I had written; of course you'd have to adjust it somewhat. The extra stuff if implemented in BF wouldn't affect gameplay (from what I gather), it would just be player skins/addons, a little like UrT.

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#65: Re: ..

by Quin on 08/13/2008 12:46, refers to #63

Yeah, which is why we'd want to tweak the system where purchasable items aren't influencing the online gameplay that much. I think we're more thinking there, content packs, mission episodes, etc. The other stuff would be reward based like Acord had said, based on stats.

Don't be too worried about the lack of interest some weeks after the release, we're at very early stages (which is why this is labeled Alpha). Once we do start getting the types of things that attract users and start gearing toward the first real public betas is when we need to start worrying about it more. It's early days yet, and I'm still getting everything written up, sorted, etc.

I actually want to get this bonus system up so I can offer them as prizes in a mapping competition for BF, but I'm supposed to be working on the AI.

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#66: ..

by geartrooper2 on 08/13/2008 13:58

just wait till it hits the various game forums.

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#67: Gameplay criticism

by Agent Cooper on 08/18/2008 02:30

I can tell you where the lack of intrest comes from: I am afraid to say that the game is not really fun to play.

I think the gravity and physics are horribly slow, the way the scope works is strange to say the least.. (and it really puts one off to see all those variables you´d need to tweak to make it somehow better, you should really find a less drastic default there) the gun switching is slow, the slot thing is weird too, since the guns are really too diverse for it to work. If you had all guns \"pickupable\" at once, you could chose the right one for the right situation. But, the way it is now, you can only chose 2 guns, and whatever combination you chose, it seems to me like if you´re unlucky, your opponent might just happen to use the better combination for the situation/range.

Once you´re airborne, you are basically a sitting duck. The fact that you can change the direction in mid-air once doesn´t help much there, it´s not like it was a very effective dodge to a skilled opponent at that pace. This limits tactics drastically. You should at least make strafing/movement on the ground faster.
It feels like you were underwater.
Also, the flamethrower particles are so oppaque, that it almost acts like a smoke grenade... annoying.

I think if you re-thought and tweaked the core gameplay, it could actually be fun one day. That should be your main concern, not some purchasable add-ons you plan to offer.
I would really suggest you re-think the low-gravity thing.
The mid-air double jump allowing for drastic direction change could actually be fun, but not at such a dopey pace.

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#68: ..

by {Qs}Homicidal on 08/18/2008 03:40

/me smashs Agent Cooper's face in with a Shovel

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#69: Re: Gameplay criticism

by demosthenes on 08/18/2008 06:30, refers to #67

It's set on Mars. Basic research into the premise of the game wouldn't hurt, really.

@Homicidal: I realize you're an idiot, but play nice.

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#70: Re: Gameplay criticism

by Quin on 08/18/2008 11:51, refers to #67

In addendum, the included maps are set on Mars, which has less gravity than Earth. Map creators are actually able to situate their maps in whatever environment they wish, and physical constants like 'gravity', 'movespeed', 'jumpvel', etc are all stored in the map and changable by map authors in editmode.

People are encouraged to create maps situated elsewhere, we just haven't had any other authors yet. Acord has a Mars inspired motif - this is not saying we are limited to it in any way.

Check data/octa.cfg for the settings used when loading Sauerbraten maps to mimic its kind of map style/gameplay in your own maps if you so wish :)

As for the little issue that have all come up from the Alpha 2 release, most if not all have been resolved to some degree, with further advancement in other areas too. Check out SVN if you are truly interested to see the direction and give feedback, we've taken community input quite seriously.

The aim with the weapons is to make them more balanced. The flamer for example is a very powerful weapon, but almost useless close range and very hard to direct, its advantage is providing cover with the flames. Great effort has gone to balancing the weapons, and making them appropriate for different situations (that is what makes them different, but 'balanced') and the trick is to find the right combination of two weapons best for you.

This will only get more focus with recent development, as the default gameplay allows only one instance of a weapon entity on a map at once, even if someone is carrying it. So if the flamer is missing from its spawn location, the only way you're gonna get it is if you got get it off the person who has it. They'll drop it when they die, and if nobody claims it in thirty seconds, it will return to its spawn location.

You feedback is most appreciated, and I hope our current direction is a bit more pleasing. Realise we are Alpha stages, and experimenting alot with with different ideas and approaches. This may not always come out as intended or even well at first. Only when things are ironed out could we ever call it a full version game, right?

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#71: Follow Up

by Quin on 08/18/2008 11:55, refers to #70

Our issue tracker is located here:

http://bloodfrontier.com/Issues

Feel free to browse the rest of the site too, we're slowly trying to improve the information on it.

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#72: Re: Gameplay criticism

by JadeMatrix on 08/19/2008 05:48, refers to #67

I think I have to agree with Agent Cooper, although I wouldn't have said it the same way. The running/jumping is fine (it's quite obvious this is Mars... look at the loading screen / game logo), but otherwise the gameplay doesn't feel polished.

Things of note:
• radar's too big
• ammo count around the crosshair is annoying... I'd much prefer it if it were a number next to the weapon symbol below the radar
• the life count isn't very obvious, and your auto-healing "feels" more like bleeding to death
• all the guns look the same: I can't tell the difference between the sg, flamethrower, and assault rifle unless I'm right next to them
• the way the sniper rifle handles is just... wierd; may just need some getting used to
• the playermodel legs aren't attached properly in 3rd person
• hudguns stick into walls in 1st person

Once you get into Beta, I may just switch over to BF completely from Sauer.

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#73: Re: Gameplay criticism

by Hirato Kirata on 08/19/2008 11:17, refers to #72

in my opinion the radar is fine, and so is the ammo count. heck, they're already next to the weapon icons (well, actually on it) if you're using SVN, which I'm guessing you're not judging by that remark...

regarding the radar size, if you really want to tweak it, take a look at the command reference

http://bloodfrontier.com/Commands#Radar.2C_Weapons_and_Indicators

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#74: Re: Gameplay criticism

by Quin on 08/20/2008 04:03, refers to #73

The reason alot of this isn't readily apparent is there is a long way to go yet. We're finding our niche and getting input from the community, like you guys have already been doing. The approach taken at the moment is "give the user everything at once, then let them figure out what they want on/off/disabled/altered/etc".

I have all these vars, but they're at funky values because I can only go off what we ourselves get comfortable with, and that can often be quite limiting and stagnant. But they are vars, because I am aware of this, and I would like to know what better values for most, if not all of them, are.

Really, the best way to influence development is to work directly with us in the IRC channel. You have your input in realtime, and we're able to exchange opposing suggestions, ideas, and criticism instantly. Usually if someone confronts me directly, and works with me on it, the issue is resolved instantly. Failing that, I really suggest our Issue tracker if you would like something fixed [ http://bloodfrontier.com/Issues ] -- just so your time and effort spent listing all this isn't wasted when the information gets lost in the forums.

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#75: ..

by Quin on 08/20/2008 04:08

Also, just so people understand why I keep posting long winded replies; I am letting those who post suggestions and comments know that I have received them, read them, and acknowledged them.

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#76: Re: Gameplay criticism

by Quin on 08/20/2008 04:22, refers to #72

You're quite right, nothing is really polished, just on the way to looking pretty :)

• radar's too big

The complaint used to be it was too small, for a radar the same size as the release, /radarsize 0.2

• ammo count around the crosshair is annoying... I'd much prefer it if it were a number next to the weapon symbol below the radar

This is one of those "give the player everything and let them switch it off" things. /crosshairclip 0; showhudammo 1 or 2

• the life count isn't very obvious, and your auto-healing "feels" more like bleeding to death

The amount of blood is being worked on, its one of those massively tweaked things. I'm not really sure if something other than a bright orange bar is gonna catch people's attention without losing the simplicity and compactness of the bar.

• all the guns look the same: I can't tell the difference between the sg, flamethrower, and assault rifle unless I'm right next to them

Intentional part of the tactics, and at first I very much agreed with you. After some time, you get used to it, and most people end up knowing where each weapon on a map is. Also, its more realistic to need to see something to know what it is, isn't it? :P

• the way the sniper rifle handles is just... wierd; may just need some getting used to

Yep, it's been a point of massive contention. Try /zoomtype 1 (Alpha 2) or /snipetype 1; /pronetype 1 (SVN) - these will switch those buttons from "toggle" to "only when held down", which may be more the semantic people prefer.

• the playermodel legs aren't attached properly in 3rd person

The player model is a rush job mostly, there's not much point in putting alot of work into how the models act until we're more aware of what we need it to do (we've redesigned a few things about him a number of times already).

• hudguns stick into walls in 1st person

I actually think eihrul has resolved this in the latest copy of SVN. Isn't he nice? I probably wouldn't have bothered, I've seen tons of commercial games do the same thing :P

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#77: Re: Gameplay criticism

by SheeEttin on 08/20/2008 05:34, refers to #76

Any plans to document all those options? ;)

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#78: Re: Gameplay criticism

by Quin on 08/20/2008 12:48, refers to #77

Hirato has made a start on it:

http://bloodfrontier.com/Commands

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#79: Feedback

by Khane on 08/27/2008 21:02

I see improvements from alpha 1 in the bug fixes department, but the gameplay still seems undeveloped and just not much fun. My feedback:

The weapons need more to distinguish them from each other. Except the sniper rifle, every other gun seemed to be pretty interchangeable and I never really considered picking one up outside of replacing the pistol and getting a sniper rifle.

The sniper rifle's zoom itself isn\'t suited to the gamespeed, especially when one can simply fire unscoped, giving little to no reason to use it. Either change the zoom or slow player-movement down to the point where setting up with the sniper rifle\'s zoom means something.

The flame-thrower seems useless in light of the SMG. The SMG does everything the flame-thrower can do in straight combat, and spawning with grenades means that the defensive uses of it don\'t mean much.

The radar: When I played, It made most flanking maneuvers, surprise angles, and attempts to escape from an enemy utterly pointless. Remove it, make the radius smaller, something. Right now it GREATLY detracts from your stated goal of having a \"tactical\" game by giving enemies positions away. Why move carefully when you KNOW that an enemy isn\'t going to ambush you without the radar giving him away long before you get to his ambush spot?

Kill-speed: Your weapons in general do too little damage to have a \"tactical\" game. Instead, you\'re coming closer to console FPS\'s such as Halo and TimeSplitters, where the kill-speed is low enough to allow players to rush open spaces without substantially improving their odds of dying.

Weapons in insta: I could pickup various weapons in insta on several maps. I don\'t know if you want this or not, but I felt obligated to point it out.

Low-gravity+Constant weapon accuracy:
Between the low-gravity and the guns keeping accuracy in the air and while moving, the game seemed to have a lot of jumping around, especially when compared to games such as Counter Strike and Urban Terror. Again, this is unsuited to the \"tactical\" fps genre.


In general, I think you should consider revising your goals and taking another look at the sort of FPS you want to make. The work you have so far regarding the gameplay seems rather opposed to the goal of having a \"tactical\" game. Good day.

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#80: Re: Feedback

by Quin on 08/28/2008 09:10, refers to #79

I think you may be mistaking "tactical" for "counterstrike clone", if so then I think you may have just came looking for something else and gotten something totally different. We are not looking to create another CS clone.

There are tactics to any sort of gameplay, and the actual influences for Blood Frontier are Doom, Quake, Unreal Tournament, and Halo - not Counter Strike, Urban Terror, and the likes - they're already pretty well covered by Urban Terror and, even inside this community, AssaultCube.

The focus here in Blood Frontier is balance and gameplay, we are about having fun, not swearing our heads off because someone is camping with a sniper rifle somewhere. I admit we still have a *LONG* way to go before we have something that is going to be persistently enjoyable to play - that's what Alpha means, and the movement is one of the biggest points of contention, but I think everyone is used to less floaty environments in their shooters, and we hope to bridge the gap a little better in future.

The permanent radar itself is another one of our "experimental gameplay decisions" - like almost everything is. It was already made apparent that it hurt the element of surprise a little, and after a little discussion we tweaked it so the radar is based on motion sensitivity - the slower you are going the less visible you are, to the point where if you are motionless you are invisible. Hopefully this helps ambushing people a little better.

Things change alot in SVN, and as I've said previously, anyone seriously considering providing feedback should be using it first to check what's already been done. You input is appreciated though, as it provides more insight into the overall consensus of what people what, and that's what BF is about.

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