11 replies to this topic

[ThetaOrion]

Thud wrote: Doing other Race mod's AI based around v3.10 Advanced AI is *NOT* the issue: its the mod teams themselves that need to update their AE code base in order to work and be balanced with SS. AI is easy enough now after 4+years but I cannot simply do AI for mod projects that don't wish to update their code.

I don't know where the proper thread is to discuss this topic, but this is a topic that is still of interest to me.

First of all: What is "AE code base?"

The last time I heard of AE, it meant 'Area Effect,' but that was a long time ago.

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Thud Bud:

1) You have suggested here and elsewhere that Kaveman's Tyranid Mod is on track and that it will be made 3.10 compatible and SoulStorm compatible. I was hearing rumors or vaguely remember that there was a SoulStorm version of that one somewhere. Is that correct? I assume that if there is a SoulStorm version, it will be rather quickly and easily made 3.10 AI Mod compatible? So, we can probably expect it to fall safely under the SoulStorm Combiner Mod at some point?

2) I have noticed that you have picked up the Harlequin Mod and brought it here to the Revora Forums. Is it safe to assume that the Harlequin team will put out something that is SoulStorm compatible and thus come with the 3.10 AI Mod and be SoulStorm Combiner Mod compatible at some point?

If you have these two and a Combiner Mod to combine them, then you have your core upon which to build and add anything else later on.

For myself, of all the Usermade Race Mods, Kaveman's Tyranid Mod was my favorite. I just took to it like a duck to water, and I liked playing as the Tyranids, back in the DC days. This is indeed the first one that I would like to see SoulStorm compatible and the first one that I would like to see as the core of any kind of SoulStorm Combiner Mod.

In many respects, my second favorite Usermade Race Mod was indeed Shin's Harlequin Mod, and I liked taking screenshots of it and watching it in action, and even playing as the Harlequins from time to time. Thus, I would indeed like to see this one be the second Usermade Mod to make it into some kind of SoulStorm Combiner Mod. If we could play the Harlequins and Kaveman's Tyranids together at the same time, that would be really cool, actually.

[ThetaOrion]

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OTHER POTENTIAL CANDIDATES:

Thud Bud:

A) I have noticed by reading Relic Forums and by looking at your responses there that there is indeed a SoulStorm Beta for Compiler's Demonhunt Inquisition Race Mod. And, by going to Compiler's own Forum for the mod, he seems to indicate that he isn't going to do any more work on it, but what he has done he claims to be SoulStorm compatible. Is that what you need in order to take it and run with it and make it Combiner Mod compatible? Compiler seems to imply there in his messages that you can pretty much do whatever you want with it, as long as you give credit where credit is due. I take that to mean that after installing it, you can then apply some sort of Combiner Mod to it that will turn on a couple of the flags it needs to play right, including giving it another unit that can capture listening posts if you think that is what it needs to be SS Combiner Mod ready. I'm pretty sure from the way he talks that he wouldn't mind you giving it an AI and tweaking a couple things so that it fits into the mix in some sort of Combiner Mod -- Compiler was the king of the Combiner Mod for awhile there. (Now, I personally could never figure out how to win as the DH-Inquisition, so I never liked playing them. Their economy and way of doing things was purposefully weird, and done that way on purpose. I just never got into them or learned to like them, so I was always able to do without them. Nevertheless, I did notice that the AI in Dark Crusade seemed to know how to properly play the DH-IQ Race Mod just fine, and if I had decided that I liked the DH Mod and wanted to play as the Inquisition, then I probably would have studied more carefully what the AI was doing and would have tried to mimic it. This DH Inquisition mod was never a favorite of mine and thus never a priority, but since there is a SoulStorm version of it out there, I suppose that is why you and others are talking about making an AI for it?)

B) What is the status of the Steel Legion Mod? Is there a SoulStorm Version? Will there be a SoulStorm version? I never got into that one, because it always kept crashing on me back in the Winter Assault days. It seemed stable in Dark Crusade, but in Dark Crusade, I simply preferred playing the Tyranid Mod all the way around, and it is with the Tyranid Mod that I spent my time. Is there any team working on the Steel Legion Mod porting it to SoulStorm? Or have they all disappeared? I did notice that when I tried to go to the Steel Legion link that you provide on Relic News the other day, it was a dead link. My interest in the Steel Legion also kind of dropped when Relic put out the Imperial Guard in Winter Assault. But, I suppose that it would be easier and faster to switch Steel Legion to SoulStorm than some of the other mods that aren't even close.

C) There is also the KRMZ Witchhunters Mod that I am aware of. I have the DC version installed, and although I really don't like playing as the Witchhunters because the gameplay isn't "natural" and didn't seem to come without a lot of work, I do like firing that one up for a look once in awhile -- possibly the best one for screenshots, especially throughout the Base or Stronghold area, even better than Harlequins. I heard rumor last spring 2008 that there would be a SoulStorm version of the WitchHunters Mod, but the whole thing looks dead to me. So, I don't know what will happen there. There seemed to be a lot of hurt feelings and animosity associated with this one, especially after Relic decided to do the Sisters of Battle in SoulStorm. It's as if Relic doesn't like KRMZ and team, and as if KRMZ and team don't like Relic -- lots of hurt feelings all around. I have noticed that when Relic does a faction and releases it, the associated Usermade Faction simply dies; that's what happened with all the Usermade Necron Mods. I'm afraid that it is going to happen here as well.

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And, those are the UserMade Race Mods that I'm aware of. The rest of the stuff so far is simply vaporware, and I don't know if we will see anything from any of the others or not:

a) It looks to me as if the Tau Mod is dead. Alf seems to have in a sense abandoned it, but we already have Tau, so I haven't been as excited about that one, and others don't seem to be all that excited, including Alf.

b) I don't know if the Dark Elder Mod will do anything or not. But, we have Dark Eldar now, so the excitement seems to be waning there also.

c) Some people are excited about the Blood Angels Mod -- aren't they just more Space Marines?

d) The SplinterFleet Mod has been silent for awhile, but then if we have Kaveman's Tyranid Mod completed and ready for SoulStorm, the need or eagerness for another Tyranid Mod will wane, I suppose. I tried to find a 'sound guy' for the Splinterfleet Mod, at one point, and got one of my friends involved there for awhile. I have indeed mostly been wanting Tyranids and Harlequins finished and ready to go.

e) And, somebody there was putting out a RaceMod of Demons, all the Demons in the DoW Warhammer universe, and that mod looked cool, but I don't know if anything is coming of it or not. I like the Race Mods that are unique, rather than being a simple rehash of a Race that Relic already gave us.

Is there anything on the Horizon that is close that we simply don't know about? It has been rather dead over there at RelicNews, compared to what it was like a year ago.

Anyway, I wanted to discuss the Race Mods and a possible SoulStorm Combiner Mod, and do so here, if that's okay. As far as I know, Thud and team were the ones to give us the Combiner Mod for Dark Crusade, and I would like to see something along that same line eventually built for SoulStorm as well, so that we can play the different UserMade Race Mods against each other.

[thudo]

Uh that was long winded.

So what precisely do you want to know that hasn't already been covered?

And it was Compiler than Croax who gave us all Combiner, not us. Combiner just allows all of it to link together for any joe smoe off the street to integrate.

This is NOT the place to discuss this because AI is a small part of integrating all community faction mods -- 95% of all work is with the faction mods themselves. GO ask them.. Compiler for DH_ID, KRMZ for WH_AS, Shin/Rob for Steel Legions, Shin for Harlies. I can only do so much and so can this team. We aren't the caretakers.. we are just AI consultants working our magic to make you humans look like the raw filth you are.

[ThetaOrion]

So what precisely do you want to know that hasn't already been covered?

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Well, I have been playing around with the Search Feature on Relicnews:

And, I see where you (Thud) have applied for an official update for the Steel Legion Mod.

How is it going? Is the Steel Legion for SS team coming together?

I resurrected a couple of the Steel Legion threads from the bottom there on RelicNews. I want to see if anything is happening there.

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In the I_DH thread, I have been participating there. I put up a link to Compiler's Official SoulStorm Beta so that people can download it. I suppose a Hotfix for Compiler's Official SS I_DH Beta is in order? It looks to me as if Undirector is now trying to take up the balance changes on that one. If Undirector gets a preliminary Hotfix for that one, then as part of the Hotfix, I would assume that Undirector would make sure that the 3.10 AI Mod is properly applied as well?

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I can see that Undirector is participating here in the Harlequin Mod Forum. If he gets the Harlequins balanced right and a SS version of Harlequins released with your help, Thud, then I suppose Undirector would be in a good position to apply those Balance Changes and make a Hotfix for I_DH, and maybe even Steel Legion at some point?

Obviously, I wasn't able to get into the Harlequin Mod Forum to participate, so that's why I created this thread here.

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I assume that people around here want to keep me out of betatesting.

But, I should probably express my particular interest in the Harlequin Mod and offer myself as a betatester on that mod if you or Undirector desire me to be involved with it in some way. I'm not a modder, but I can betatest the Harlequin Mod and some of these other Race Mods for SS that Undirector is getting involved with rebalancing, and make some suggestions if someone wants me to do so.

I found and downloaded the 4.5 Tyranid Mod for SS last night, and gave it a go. I also found the dead Tyranid SS thread on RelicNews and resurrected it, and gave a small report of my experience while playing a game as the Tyranids under SoulStorm. I didn't comment much on balancing, because I would rather have it balanced for 3.10 AI Skirmish Mod gameplay if I'm going to be playing as the Tyranids in SoulStorm. I wasn't all that impressed with the generic Relic AI, obviously.

I guess I'm willing to be a little bit more involved with the update of these Race Mods to SoulStorm and to the 3.10 AI Skirmish Mod, if someone has some betatesting for me to do in that regard. I would just need some guidance as to what specifically needs to be tested or looked for, so that I'm not wasting anyone's time reporting on things that are of no use or of no interest.

[thudo]

Will be revealed in time. Patience plez.

[dreddnott]

Blood Angels mod is a bit more than just "more Space Marines". They have a different focus (melee) and a branching tech tier with gobs of units. Our internal build for DC was supported by the Combiner mod, and I tested it for quite some time.

[Gorb]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but for the sake of people's sanity, and to stop ThetaOrion from worrying unduly, Dark Eldar and Tau will be progressing, indeed, Dark Eldar is close to a public beta.

I can't speak for the other mods, but I can certainly speak for my own

[thudo]

BFG, DE, and Tau: my drooping life is renewed again!

[thudo]

What about Hanger-8?

[thudo]

Errr what? Wrong forum bro..