[Mod] Taco's RA [1.04]

[tacozmeister]

Alright. I finally wrote down a list of all the units that require a special building, I also wrote down the build order (It's really fucked up and not like CnC at all in vanilla OpenRA, so I decided to move it about a bit) and it'll be organized so you don't have a checkerboard, assuming you upgrade linearly.
I just need to get some cameos listed below, reorder the buildlist, set up "requires" since a lot of them are weird are non-congruous to my current plan, and then try the comanche and B52 and Landkreuzer and then 1.04 will be released.

Anyways, I'm going to need a couple cameos.
1) "Medium Tank" subtitle for the current Scout Tank
2) Fighter Jet cameo for mig2 (gonna be an allied fighter jet)
3) Badger Bomber
4) Heavy Bomber (allied equal to a badger bomber)

And one more unit, if you don't mind. Can be done for either now or 1.05
5) Another fast-moving bomber, like the A10, but soviet

And I honestly have no idea what this turret is you gave me, like, is it a vehicle or a building or a ship or what? xD
Oh, and soon, we should work on some more ships. That can be in 1.05, along with the militia/riflemen idea.

Ideas for 1.05:
- Kennel re-added? [need shp]
- Riflemen/Militia
- Midgets?
- Ships [need shp] maybe give soviets some, too?
- Chem trooper?
- Flame tank? (not the silly beetle-looking one from CnC) [need shp]
- Make AI train TacoRA-specific units?
- Mechanic [need shp]?

We have so many units I could seriously successfully make an East Asia faction, but I don't think that'd be very productive, lorefriendly, or different from anything we already have xD. And it'd be too Red Alert 3-esque.

[BaronOfStuff]

I'm going to need a couple cameos.
1) "Medium Tank" subtitle for the current Scout Tank
2) Fighter Jet cameo for mig2 (gonna be an allied fighter jet)
3) Badger Bomber
4) Heavy Bomber (allied equal to a badger bomber)

And one more unit, if you don't mind. Can be done for either now or 1.05
5) Another fast-moving bomber, like the A10, but soviet

The Badger already has an cameo icon in one of the mix files (BADRICON), but if that's not part of the simplified OpenRA downloads then I can just extract it. The rest is not a problem. I can invert the A-10 colours and fiddle with removing/replacing some pixels so that it resembles the IL-28 until something suitable appears.

And I honestly have no idea what this turret is you gave me, like, is it a vehicle or a building or a ship or what? xD

It can be used on anything that's turreted. It'd look quite good as the Soviet Light Tank (what with having two barrels); we can then use the TD version (5TNK) as an upgraded version of the Allied Light Tank. Got a cameo icon here (name is a placeholder/something for my own messing around with in RA95):

Oh, and soon, we should work on some more ships.That can be in 1.05, along with the militia/riflemen idea.

I'm not usually one for taking shortcuts, but seeing as Bellator has already made some ships and doesn't have a problem with us using any SHP's (provided we give credit), we can save a lot of time with this option. I do have a couple of other SHP's sitting around too, so we can get at least 3 new ships in altogether. But not Submarines, because there's not much else that can be done with them.

As for the militia/conscript, here's an early cameo:



The unit SHP will probably be a modified E1, or even just a lazy copy.

deas for 1.05:
- Kennel re-added? [need shp]
- Riflemen/Militia
- Midgets?
- Ships [need shp] maybe give soviets some, too?
- Chem trooper?
- Flame tank? (not the silly beetle-looking one from CnC) [need shp]
- Make AI train TacoRA-specific units?
- Mechanic [need shp]?

Kennel SHP should be in the content folder. I can't remember the name, but I'm sure it's in there (will find out later). The Mechanic is in the 'bits' folder already, and in RA95 uses the same sequences as the Medic (so the same applies to OpenRA). As for the Flame Tank, sometimes I think I'm the only person on the planet who likes that design; it's very unique, so much so that you recognise it instantly and try and blast the bastard before it can get close enough to melt your stuff. I found a Chemical Tank that's pretty much the same but with green fuel tanks on the back, although my cameo icon for it looks a bit shit right now.

Use the midgets, just because... because it looks good and makes everything else look bigger. Not to mention the Chemical Warrior in that pack is also a midget... Anyway, getting the AI to build new things is very easy, all can be found in system.yaml.

We have so many units I could seriously successfully make an East Asia faction, but I don't think that'd be very productive, lorefriendly, or different from anything we already have xD. And it'd be too Red Alert 3-esque.

It's an idea to toy around with, although for the sake of being different you could make some of the new units only be acquirable in the campaign. Not seen that done before (not that I remember anyway).

[tacozmeister]

I still like my idea as using a mix between a D2k rifleman and grenadier (the blue pixel(s)) as a normal rifleman and the conscript be the old kind, if you can get that working. Best if you can get a midget version, so we can use the midgets.

And could you make me those cameos for SHP? I feel so n00by, I don't exactly know how to make them xD

And I'll look for that badger icon, hmm.. Still need the B52 and Jet Fighter icon even if I find it.
EDIT: BADRicon is nonexistant in the compressed OpenRA content. I really don't wanna have to find my disks.

But the idea for the IL-28 sounds good!

We'll use bellator's ships Good idea.

Where exactly are the mechanic bits? Are they named something obscure like e11? .. And is there a midget for him?

[BaronOfStuff]

I still like my idea as using a mix between a D2k rifleman and grenadier (the blue pixel(s)) as a normal rifleman and the conscript be the old kind, if you can get that working. Best if you can get a midget version, so we can use the midgets.

Problem with this is the sequencing. It would require a load of tedious micro-editing to get the 'throw' animations within the SHP (along with adding that backpack to the grenadier sprites), and even then I'm not entirely sure that it's possible to define such things -- primary and secondary weapons seem to fire together, so it's going to look awkward (and potentially shit) if we do this. To be honest, it's also simply too much work for my liking.

Besides which, there are no midget versions of the D2K guys. It's much easier to just fool around with an existing midget SHP anyway, the sequences for them are already coded so all I need to do is find some way of making them distinguishable from the original sprites; I have some ideas for this already (along with an 'elite' infantry unit).

And could you make me those cameos for SHP? I feel so n00by, I don't exactly know how to make them xD

Sure, once I finalise them. Still a few stray pixels on the conscript cameo that I'm not happy with. They'll be in the next set along with most of (if not all) of the other required stuff.

Where exactly are the mechanic bits? Are they named something obscure like e11? .. And is there a midget for him?

MECH.SHP
MECHICON.SHP

When I think about it, I'm not actually sure if they're part of the package, or if I just threw him in myself. Either way, I'll put it all in the next zip.

[tacozmeister]

Thanks!

Oh, and I never really wanted them to throw grenades :P I Just kinda liked how the grenadier looked. Plus backpack. And rifle. But if you have some midget elite infantry, I'd gladly take a look! Tesla rifles (not the crappy tesla trooper sprayer things) would be awesome >_> I just think that riflemen are kinda like... First 5 minute kinda units :P And you kinda laugh when one strolls at you. And Tanyas/commandos cost too much to mass produce.

But really. Thanks. You have no idea how grateful I am for all this stuff :D Without you, this mod would honestly just be a piece of crap like it was in 1.01 that just gave tanks machine guns and rebalanced paratroopers. xD

[BaronOfStuff]

Thanks!
Oh, and I never really wanted them to throw grenades I Just kinda liked how the grenadier looked. Plus backpack. And rifle. But if you have some midget elite infantry, I'd gladly take a look! Tesla rifles (not the crappy tesla trooper sprayer things) would be awesome >_> I just think that riflemen are kinda like... First 5 minute kinda units And you kinda laugh when one strolls at you. And Tanyas/commandos cost too much to mass produce.

Hmmm, given the size of the unit any 'new' weapon they carry would essentially be a recoloured stick (look at the Shotgun guy for an example). The modified E1 I have would be fine for an elite infantry unit, despite only being greyscaled and given armbands (read on for why this works in theory). They wouldn't quite be Commando-level units (for obvious reasons), but in terms of function they'd most likely be something of a cross between RA2's Sniper and SEAL; fast and exceptional at killing bog-standard men in tin hats, but not much worth against tanks or buildings (but more effective than E1 would ever be). The difference though?

Cloaking! They can hide from what they can't take on. I'd say $700 - $800 or so is a reasonable price for something like that, once it's tested and balanced properly. And a wonderful way to ambush and stamp all over any attempts at sabotage by bastard E1/E2/E3 gangs.

But really. Thanks. You have no idea how grateful I am for all this stuff Without you, this mod would honestly just be a piece of crap like it was in 1.01 that just gave tanks machine guns and rebalanced paratroopers. xD

It's fine, I've wanted to get something released myself but never had any idea of where to start. Contributing like is is the next best thing!

[tacozmeister]

The cloaked idea is BRILLIANT, and I like the grayscale and armband idea, too. But the problem is if something cloaks, I can't turn off "AutoTarget" depending on cloakage or not. So it'd always uncloak when sitting still when hostiles are nearby. Even landcruisers/mammoths. And if it's off and selecting each target is bad, especially for infantry. Click on every single infantry unit is annoying and counterproductive. So, bad idea. xD But I like the idea of the power, maybe a tad weaker and they can go for 400 a pop. Alternative to a shock trooper (Having longer range) so a shock trooper & elite infantry mix could wreck anything they come across (for example, tanks). Or bazooka and elite infantry mix.

P.S. I never thought I'd be the one to start such a mod. I never have initiative. xD

[BaronOfStuff]

The cloaked idea is BRILLIANT, and I like the grayscale and armband idea, too. But the problem is if something cloaks, I can't turn off "AutoTarget" depending on cloakage or not. So it'd always uncloak when sitting still when hostiles are nearby. Even landcruisers/mammoths.

Sure? Just tested it with E1 in the latest playtest, they remained hidden at all times if given the "hold fire" stance, both individually and in groups.

But I like the idea of the power, maybe a tad weaker and they can go for 400 a pop. Alternative to a shock trooper (Having longer range) so a shock trooper & elite infantry mix could wreck anything they come across (for example, tanks). Or bazooka and elite infantry mix.

These elite units could be the Allied equivalent to Shock Troopers, but trading effectiveness against vehicles for stealth capabilities. Having a pack of E3 backing them up would (in theory) result in a massacre of almost anything but artillery units.

P.S. I never thought I'd be the one to start such a mod. I never have initiative. xD

It's the sort of tweaking/expanding nonsense I've always enjoyed fooling around with. I still do it with RA95 at times, although due to almost everything being hardcoded it's no surprise that nothing ever quite works out the way I originally intended it to be.

[tacozmeister]

.. Wait a second, you can change stances? What is this witchcraft?
Everyone tells me to "press V" to change stances, but I never know which stance I'm in or how it works or whatever!
Well, then I guess they can be cloaked! Maybe cloaked (slightly better) versions of E1. Cloaked and one-shot kill, but not an increase of ROF. I'll wait until your next upload with the grayscale & armband :D Can't wait. Still $400, but the trade is range, ROF, and cloak for anti-tank capabilities. Yes.

[BaronOfStuff]

'Z' changes unit stance: Attack Anything, Return Fire, Hold Fire, Defend.

This is going to need new sounds, which is another 'easy to make' task along with a cameo. Expect results at some point just after the weekend.

[tacozmeister]

Awesome. I'm gonna post a 1.04 beta version here, just so you can try it out.
I haven't added in the B52 yet because I don't have an icon, but that's okay, I just kinda copy-pasted and renamed the icons for the A10 to all the icons I don't have.

And uh, is there any icon or anything or any way to tell what fire mode your guys are in? Because whenever I press it, nothing visible happens
EDIT: Neeevermind. It shows a thing at the bottom.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/91743020/tacoraBETA.zip

[Matt]

- Kennel re-added? [need shp]

Kennel is kenn.shp and kennmake.shp It's already in sequences.yaml

[BaronOfStuff]

A couple of cameos I got bored of fiddling around with and have uploaded demos for:
B-52

I do have a couple of other ideas for this one, but I like the background here.

Stormtrooper (aka that elite E1 guy)

As you can see, his armband is really obvious in this cameo. The unit SHP has armbands on both sides, although this is only for that split-second for which you can see them before they fade into the scenery.

[tacozmeister]

I like the stormtrooper, and I also like the striking resemblance to the German elite infantry around this time period! Kind of interesting how the erm, socialist/facist Germans, are allied with the rest of the allies in this game (even without Hitler I bet they're still pretty facist/socialist as they were before Hitler), but yeah, so far so good
And that's a rather awesome picture of a bomber, so yeah, keep that background for either that or the badger bomber

[BaronOfStuff]

I like the stormtrooper, and I also like the striking resemblance to the German elite infantry around this time period! Kind of interesting how the erm, socialist/facist Germans, are allied with the rest of the allies in this game (even without Hitler I bet they're still pretty facist/socialist as they were before Hitler), but yeah, so far so good

It was either that or the Star Wars guy! It's true that the image is based on the stereotypical Nazi image, but even in the RA timeline I imagine that the Germans in particular would be pretty pissed off with any hint of Soviet aggression.

And that's a rather awesome picture of a bomber, so yeah, keep that background for either that or the badger bomber

That reminds me:


I'll throw the SHP in with the next lot. I'm sure it should be in with the standard OpenRA content, but whatever.