[Mod] Taco's RA [1.04]

tacozmeister · Post by **tacozmeister** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:42 pm

Here are my thoughts for 1.04
- Some rebalancing, which I've already done
- Hinds, like their real-life counterparts, transport units.
- I tried making the soviets a badger that lands anywhere on the map and transports infantry, but I failed ):
- Landcruiser from the recently released mod source, two turrets (little worse than a mammoth mk1) and a heavy machine gun (better than any tank-mounted MG in the game so far)
- New helicopter for the allies, most like a gunship. It would fire a machine gun and rocket pods at the same time, and not need to go rearm. Unfortunately, I can't make the MG unlimited and the rockets not, so it'd be unlimited or both limited xD
- Tank turret longer ranges?

Maybe for 1.05? Depends on how quickly it gets done
Gauss Riflemen (name pending?) - Elite infantry unit that costs 175 instead of 80 a piece armed with some sort of gauss assault rifle for both teams (this gauss rifle would be good against infantry, but also decent against tanks). I would need a new sound for it, though. Hmm.

Czech Army 1 · Post by **Czech Army 1** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 2:57 pm

- New helicopter for the allies, most like a gunship. It would fire a machine gun and rocket pods at the same time, and not need to go rearm. Unfortunately, I can't make the MG unlimited and the rockets not, so it'd be unlimited or both limited xD
=== it must be limited.. if u let unlimited it will be failure like in cnc

tacozmeister · Post by **tacozmeister** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 6:21 pm

Hinds and yaks work really balancedly in my mod and they both have infinite ammo.

tacozmeister · Post by **tacozmeister** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:15 am

@Baron, are you still working on that comanche? I don't have much else to do for the 1.04 update now and kinda am waiting on it >_>
Also, how do you modify the SHPs? I know you use mixer that comes with XCC editor to extract them (as pngs), but whenever I open them, they turn out all black.

Czech Army 1 · Post by **Czech Army 1** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:53 am

tacozmeister wrote: ↑Hinds and yaks work really balancedly in my mod and they both have infinite ammo.

i know... they are totaly useles they are so weak its useles to have them.maybe good on artys but no able to kill structure

tacozmeister · Post by **tacozmeister** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:59 am

They're mostly for scouting and killing riflemen =D
Oh, and for shooting down other planes. Well, yaks are good for shooting down others (decent, at least), hinds can't do it.
Oh, and hinds will soon be balanced, too, by being able to transport a few troops. Multipurpose transport heli

BaronOfStuff · Post by **BaronOfStuff** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:44 am

Yep, still pissing around removing minor pixels and re-colouring some awkward looking grey areas. Might be able to finish it tonight, at least if I'm not disturbed.

I also have a couple of other things you might be interested in, I'll throw them into the next upload too.

As for editing SHP's, there are two ways I know of. One is to extract the full set of animations as separate images using XCC, in which case you'll have to point the program to your original RA directory where the palettes are contained (at least that's what I did anyway). You might be able to use the 'content/ra' folder too, but I've yet to try this.

The other method is to use the OpenRA.Utility and edit all the frames in one long PNG, but for the life of me I can't remember how this works. I haven't used it in a while.

tacozmeister · Post by **tacozmeister** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:57 am

BaronOfStuff wrote: ↑You might be able to use the 'content/ra' folder too, but I've yet to try this.

That's what gives me the black boxes. I guess I'll have to get my good old burned CDs out, since I spilled soda on the originals and threw them out. >_> So I'll reinstall. What's that software program that lets you install RA on a x86-64 ? I'll probably find it tomorrow.

I kinda wanna make a model for some kind of advanced rifleman unit (so that there's "militia", which are basically "OH MY GOD ENEMY IS ATTACKING SPAM TONS OF UNITS!" units and n00by units for the first 3 minutes of the game, and some kind of advanced unit that costs more. I like the idea of the backpacks on infantry in Dune 2000, and the blue pixels on grenadiers in RA. What is that even supposed to be? Grenades? Maybe both on one unit could be the Riflemen, and the current rifleman can be a militia member. And much worse. Or the current riflemen can be shotgunners since you already made an icon. I can reduce range and damage.
Gauss Riflemen idea nixed xD Just a cooler looking, better rifleman. [Huh, the etymology of "nix" is from "nichts" in German. The more you know.]

But awesome, I can wait, but I really don't wait to get to working. Summertime for a dude still in school makes me feel worthless when I'm doing nothing at home. xD Working on this mod is kinda my summer keep-me-busy-and-not-doing-drugs-and/or-murdering-people project. You know, besides getting a job because 1) too lazy and 2) more people need jobs way worse than I do. And I like helping people / making people happy more than cooking or talking to strangers in person.

PS, just realized this might be distracting you xD

BaronOfStuff · Post by **BaronOfStuff** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:54 pm

tacozmeister wrote: ↑ What's that software program that lets you install RA on a x86-64 ?

Red Alert Manager, IIRC.

tacozmeister wrote: ↑ stuff about infantry

I've got a cameo icon for a 'conscript'. And it's not that weird RA2 one either, it's a suitable-enough looking cameo I've had sitting around doing nothing for Christ-knows how long. I also have a couple of other Infantry cameos taking up a few dozen kilobytes, really I'm just waiting for myself to stop being such a lazy shit and actually put some effort into making something out of them. The Shotgunner itself is pretty much done, but finishing those last few frames is just... argh.

tacozmeister wrote: ↑ But awesome, I can wait, but I really don't wait to get to working. PS, just realized this might be distracting you xD

Oh, I meant time-consuming distractions like having to go out, etc.. Reading a post is something I'd do regardless. Well anyway, the good news is that it's pretty much done. The bad news is that I'm not happy with the 'tail', so that's tomorrow's task.

But after that it really should be finished, Thursday at the absolute latest (and I fucking mean that this time; no more distractions, no more bullshit). Along with:
Vehicles!
Planes!
Some converted TD buildings!
Cameo icons!

tacozmeister · Post by **tacozmeister** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:09 pm

Take your time

I'd love to see everything you have [in both SHP and .png, because you never know what things look like in SHP until you're actually in-game]

And I'm really super excited.

I guess I should already get on that Landkreuzer, but I'll just hold off until everything else until I get your resources

I have other stuffs to look forward to.

I'm considering making my own campaign, full with 1940's-1960's military-style lore and plot and stuff to make it more of a story experience. Also to make it more of a CoD2 style setting, where you're just kinda there, and you're not very significant but it's still very satisfying. You're not some spec-ops ultra-super-important general, but rather just any other commander. Importance is overrated. And that stupid kinda importance is what made CoD4 and beyond (excluding CoDWaW) suck. You know, besides the overall run-and-gun-like-a-chicken-with-its-head-cut-off shooting.
Here's an example of one of the documents I made for a mission, in example of the setting and stuff which I believe would be great in the game. The "included files" are actually files that're gonna be satellite photos and the like, which I am also making. Long live typewriters.

And I recently bought a graphical drawpad/tablet, it should be arriving within the next week so I'll be able to make the handwriting and highlighting and drawings look legit. I dunno how we can integrate it into the game, but I imagine I've got a lot of video recording ahead of me sometime in the future.

.. Anyways, back to the task at hand. xD Can't wait to add those things. Hopefully this mod will get [even] more recognition then

BaronOfStuff · Post by **BaronOfStuff** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 6:24 pm

Ehhrrm.

Yes, here's another pack of stuff. Not everything has a cameo (yet), but then just ask what you want some of this content to be called in-game and I can make cameo icons for them without really trying (it's one thing I am good at).

And the Landcruiser is already in there.

http://www.speedyshare.com/fjFqt/Incomi ... kAgain.zip

Comanche isn't finished, but it's good enough to use as a placeholder for the time being. E9 is the Shotgunner; he uses E4 (Flamethrower) as a sprite base, so copy/paste those sequences for workable results. One problem though is that I'm a fan of the 'miniature' infantry, because the standard sized guys look like giants next to most (if not all) vehicles. They've all got to be 15ft tall or something.

You can use "Renderscale:" in the unit def to make it appear bigger, or you can use this same pack of SHP midgets that I do to keep them all the same size:

http://www.speedyshare.com/hGZ56/SHPmidgets.zip

As a bonus, there's a Chemical Warrior in that pack, complete with cameo icon. Once again, it uses E4 as a base for sequences. Also has some big ugly green fireballs too.

EDIT:
I don't actually have any screenshots of this stuff in action, but to make things easier here's a lazy guide on how to get the sequences working:

3tek: 1 frame for both normal and damaged.

3tekmake: 16 frames

pyle/pylemake: copy the sequences from TD! This has two icons - pyleicna is a reversed image (not the text of course) for the sake of looking less like the Soviet Barracks icon.

scouttnk: Copy any standard tank sequences.

scttur2: Alternate turret, has two barrels (recoloured Cruiser turret). Will probably need a new cameo or something, I just put this in here because I can.

LnCr: Standard tank sequences again.

ttruk: Uses the same sequences as TRUK, as that's all it really is (colour remapped).

mig2: Copy the MiG sequences.

Spitfire: Copy the Yak sequences.

Comanche: Copy either attack Helicopter for this one.

B52: Badger (BADR) clone.

tacozmeister · Post by **tacozmeister** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:16 pm

Hmm. This'll keep me busy for a while.
What exactly does this midget things do? And what renderscale do I have to put the shotgunner at if I want him to appear normal, if I decide not to go midget-infantry?

EDIT: Since we have lots of planes, why not both teams have planes and helis?
EDITx2: Can you get me a cameo for a badger bomber and also for the B52 bomber? I hope that there's some visual difference >_> Like color inversion.
And maybe even a cameo of the Scout Tank instead saying "Medium Tank"?

BaronOfStuff · Post by **BaronOfStuff** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:25 pm

tacozmeister wrote: ↑Hmm. This'll keep me busy for a while.
What exactly does this midget things do? And what renderscale do I have to put the shotgunner at if I want him to appear normal, if I decide not to go midget-infantry?

1.3, I think. I'm not entirely sure, I've not tried using it for over a year now. The 'midget' SHPs are the original DOS versions; they are very small if you play at high resolutions, but I generally prefer that look. Other than size, there's no difference in appearance or anything.

tacozmeister wrote: ↑EDIT: Since we have lots of planes, why not both teams have planes and helis?

I don't see any problem with this overall, and it would certainly make sense. It may require some messing around with the build menus eventually; I'd prefer planes and helicopters to use a different menu each, but we can deal with that later on.

zypres1 · Post by **zypres1** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 9:28 pm

/unrelevant: Midgets... Hobbits...LOTR mod... cool.../

tacozmeister · Post by **tacozmeister** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 9:39 pm

XD Not like that

So, I have an idea. Since we have SO many units, I decided we kinda make it like a age-up thing like in Age of Empires or Empire Earth

Level 1: Barracks ($1000) - Basic Infantry
........ 2: Weap Factory ($2000) - Light vehicles
........ 3: Repair Bay / Radar Dome ($2500/$1000) - Better infantry, medium tanks
........ 4: Tech Center (new) ($5000) - Heavy tanks, better aircraft
........ 5: Team Tech Center ($10,000) - Super tanks, endgame units

And you unlock better units as you go up. Like level 4 gives you tank destroyers / advanced medium tanks, but 5 you get a landcruiser. Makes the game slower, too, which I like. Kind of already in place, but higher costs makes this more tactical and substancial.

This should also prevent a stall, because if there's a stall with medium/heavy tanks, then just rank up and overpower the enemy.

Also, to prevent micromanaging ore (a strategy game shouldn't be about micromanaging) from being super important, refineries should cost more ($3000) and ore miners too ($1800). Most people won't like this, but I really do. >_>

EDIT: If this is implemented, then higher-tier tanks [like mammoths] will be improved.

[Mod] Taco's RA [1.04]

Which faction are you most excited to see in the future?