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Oh my God, that was so much more than I'd even hoped for. Talay was perfectly dark and gloomy, as it should be, and Sec Base, that was a complete revamp on the atmosphere, you guys should be patting yourselves on the back for a job well done. I got lost a little on Anoat, apparently I hit all the switches in the wrong order so I couldn't find the correct combo to open up the right valve! The remotes were a little annoying, but it was cool that you could hear 'em before you saw them. One discrepancy I noted was the fact that melee damage apparently affects shields too? One Gran (three-eyed guy) walked up right next to me and punched my shields and health down. Other than that and the corrupted download from lucasfiles, that was honestly one of the best mods I've had the pleasure of playing through. Continue the hard work guys!!!

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Ok, downloaded it to my laptop in school (on a lesson... bad me :D ) and played secbase and part of talay...

 

Love it!

 

Now that I came home and wanted to continue, I realized I HAVEN't INSTALLED JKA! doing so now. Just wanna say, I think i love you guys :p

 

I don't think you'll be able to finish the whole thing though, I really think LucasArts would offer you a job before that...

 

I kinda hope so, we would get better games :)

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Nicely done (so far).

 

A few things: it's actually a bit more fun than the JK2 "gun levels" because you can aim for the heads of enemies in JA, thus killing them off a bit faster.

 

I did have a bit of fun when I made it to the Moldy Crow in the first level, because I was down to 10 health and had no more ammo. I was hopping around picking up ST rifles while the bad guys fired and missed.

 

So it's not quite as excrutiating an experience as I originally feared (based on my experiences with SP gunplay in JK2). ; )

 

Sadly, loading the maps into MP isn't very workable, they crash quickly (I assume due to the scripting).

 

The first time I fired it up, I got through Secbase okay, but moving on to talay I had problems. During the cutscene with Kyle and Mon Mothma the sound started getting very "staticy" (as if my speakers had something wrong with them, but everything checked out) getting progressively worse until the sound was completely gone.

 

I was faced with what seemed like several minutes of Mothma gesturing and Kyle nodding his head. : (

 

The map loaded up (talay) and crashed within seconds of spawning into the new map. So I used cheats to get back. So far everything else seems to be in order.

 

I of course messed around with cheats to look at some of the other stuff. I noticed the Dianoga, while looking cool, definately doesn't have that "scare factor" like it did in Dark Forces (I suppose I should wait until I encounter them in the darkness of level 3). They also seem to "punch" you, rather than biting and rasping, which again, added to the fear effect in the original. I guess it's harder in a 3-D game because you can't just make a monster appear and then disappear after attacking the player. It would just seem to weird and random (people expect a 3-D object to BE somewhere and it can be reached).

 

I was disappointed that the "map" wasn't implemented (I still think some way could be found to modify the Siege radar for this purpose), but I understand if the team didn't have time yet. I do hope a way can be found to incorporate it. While Dark Forces was a "hard game" because it lacked a mid-level save feature, it also was logical and methodical because you had a map to help you navigate the levels. Now you have no map, and you can pound the quicksave button like a madman. I'm sure the difficulty was bumped up to coincide with this. But sometimes I felt like firing up the original game just so I could remember where I was supposed to go.

 

I was curious about the "usable items" (like the IR goggles, etc). Dark Forces, like JK had a field light and other items. Jedi Outcast, while lacking the quality of the items in the previous installments, too had items in single player in your inventory. But Jedi Academy removed them from the Single Player game. Sure, you can mod them back in or use cheats and binds, but (correct me if I'm wrong) they are no longer listed in the menus, leading to some confusion. I had IR goggles, but couldn't tell if I had any battery power or how to switch them on.

 

A question: is there more than one voice actor doing Kyle's lines? It sounds like a different person on level 1 vs. level 2.

 

I must say I like the curved surfaces and stuff in Talay (various pipes and cables and things). The overall "blocky, simple textures" look of Dark Forces was replicated well, but in an engine like this it can be underwhelming. But little details like that really showed off the engine in a good way. Kudos.

 

I realize this is just a demo, and we've all been waiting a year for it, but that's my 2 cents of feedback. ; )

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Originally posted by Kurgan

I noticed the Dianoga, while looking cool, definately doesn't have that "scare factor" like it did in Dark Forces (I suppose I should wait until I encounter them in the darkness of level 3). They also seem to "punch" you, rather than biting and rasping, which again, added to the fear effect in the original. I guess it's harder in a 3-D game because you can't just make a monster appear and then disappear after attacking the player. It would just seem to weird and random (people expect a 3-D object to BE somewhere and it can be reached).

 

We couldn't find any suitable AI for the creature, so I didn't complete all the animation sequences (like biting or rasping). If we start working on the MP code then I'll be able to program some new AI suitable for the dianoga (like using the tentacles to attack or not drowning on water). If we do no not continue the project on MP, then I'm gonna put those animations anyway just for the looks and feel.

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IMPRESSIVE! MOST IMPRESSIVE! I love the demo. You've made some very beautiful changes to the levels such like the shuttle in secbase and the holo of Palpatine. Something I miss are some secret places in secbase (e.g. the secret tunnel from the original level, where you've got to use IR Google to see anything, or the secret door in the cave where you have to shoot an the wall to get in). I understand that you probably weren't able to realize in Anoat City to get Kyle drift from the water stream in the channel, but I like your solution for this. A pitty that there were no maps and items, but I know it's just a demo, and I honor your work so far. Thank you!

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I'm very happy you like the demo :)

 

About the IR goggles... part of the functionality had been removed by Raven in JA (perhaps by error, or because the goggles were not needed anymore there in favour to Force Sight).

We tried a lot, included we've been asking Raven,

but we could not get it working.

Only a shader trick worked half, so we decided to keep it out actually.

 

Perhaps we might have used the Force Sight, but its not light amplifying, only making walls transparent to force related things.

 

Same goes for some other stuff in the demo. Limitations of SP engine due to the lack of coding...

In MP we'll have other limitations,

so basically it will be a new engine for us....

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Played it all!

 

The dianogas scared the crap out of me... Till' I saw one, and got even more frightened, but then I found out that it didn't jump at me :p It got kinda cute after that :D

 

The level designs are great and Talay looked the best (in colors and atmosphere and such)

 

I only had one problem : The rendered cutscenes were widescreen, making kyle veeery flat.

 

I would actually rather have them unrendered.

 

The ending with the "surprise" rocked :D

 

Thanks you guys! You rule!

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Originally posted by Kurgan

Nicely done (so far).

The first time I fired it up, I got through Secbase okay, but moving on to talay I had problems. During the cutscene with Kyle and Mon Mothma the sound started getting very "staticy" (as if my speakers had something wrong with them, but everything checked out) getting progressively worse until the sound was completely gone.

 

I was faced with what seemed like several minutes of Mothma gesturing and Kyle nodding his head. : (

 

A question: is there more than one voice actor doing Kyle's lines? It sounds like a different person on level 1 vs. level 2.

 

The audio problems with the Talay cutscene are a known issue. It's not a problem wuth the ROQ file itself but rather seems to be an issue with JA. If you play it again you'll notice that if the sound get garbled again it won't happen in the same place twice. I've never known it to get so bad the sound would stop though. It seems to be an issue in JA that we don't have control over.

 

We used our own voice talent for Talay. We intermixed the new stuff we did with what was in the original DF.

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Ok. Now i will give you my two pennis.

("Senf dazugeben". My opinion. I hope I don't mix things up)

 

It didn't worked first and made me reinstall my JA, but than I had no problems at all.

 

The Level Design is great. Talay is very beautiful an make more sense than in the original (He! It's a real city now!).

Very nice models (great emperor ;) ) and great soundtrack!

 

Well but it has some weaknesses.

 

The cutscenes seem to be sometimes very fast, so he is already finish with an animation but than he plays the sound.

 

The Dianogas are spotted too easily. The first one just stared at me, and it took some time until it realised that I was there.

 

playing your mod was a great experience! If you keep up with this quality, your mod will be the greatest of them all.

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I realy enyed playing the demo! It has this cool retro feeling!

 

I loved the idea, that you even used the crappy KI of Dark Forces. Overall it has the right Dark Forces feeling in it, even that you have improved the levels slightly.

 

What I don't like (but I think it is an engine problem) is the thing with doors and switches. Some times in Talay it was realy hard to open the doors. I would like it more, if you could just walk in front of the door, then click use so that the door opens.

 

The music was superb! I loved the original soundtrack and the various remakes, but the one used in the demo is for sure the best remake so far!

 

I love the demo and I can't wait for the finished product!

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overall really nice!

And a great improvement to the first demo. I liked almost all the new features.

And there were just a few bugs ... like kyle repeating that he has "to get to the other side of that channel" over and over again. :D

 

I just hope that it won't take you another 2 years to get it all done. j/k :p

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Originally posted by Fracman

I'm very happy you like the demo :)

 

About the IR goggles... part of the functionality had been removed by Raven in JA (perhaps by error, or because the goggles were not needed anymore there in favour to Force Sight).

We tried a lot, included we've been asking Raven,

but we could not get it working.

Only a shader trick worked half, so we decided to keep it out actually.

 

Perhaps we might have used the Force Sight, but its not light amplifying, only making walls transparent to force related things.

 

Same goes for some other stuff in the demo. Limitations of SP engine due to the lack of coding...

In MP we'll have other limitations,

so basically it will be a new engine for us....

 

So you're going to drop support for the JK series and start from scratch?

 

Whoa!

 

Seriously though, despite limitations, you'll have more options in the MP version. If nothing else you can borrow the code from JK2 and import it into the JA MP engine.

 

Force Sight is nice, but it doesn't illuminate anything. The saber only illuminates some surfaces (none in JK2). I miss the old lighting effects of DF/JK/MotS. But stuff like the Field Light I would think would be possible. Just make an item that casts a white saber-like glow on an area in front of you, or around you (like a flashlight).

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Originally posted by Benevolence

The audio problems with the Talay cutscene are a known issue. It's not a problem wuth the ROQ file itself but rather seems to be an issue with JA. If you play it again you'll notice that if the sound get garbled again it won't happen in the same place twice. I've never known it to get so bad the sound would stop though. It seems to be an issue in JA that we don't have control over.

 

We used our own voice talent for Talay. We intermixed the new stuff we did with what was in the original DF.

 

I figure you gotta do what you gotta do. It just sounded like Kyle got himself a cold in the rain. Understandable.

Kyle's gravely voice from the later games probably came from all the dust, smoke and other noxious fumes he inhaled on these early missions. ; )

 

Jan isn't too enthusiastic either in parts (I'm not saying voice acting for game mods is easy, mind you).

 

And one more nitpick you're gonna hate me for.. isn't it "Uh Noe At" rather than "An oh at"? Then again maybe that's just how Jan speaks. ; )

 

Overall good job and thanks for the replies.

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congratulation ... and suggestions

 

very good job especially the level design (with rain , darkness, atmosphere in general...) , impressive!

 

 

sugestion n°1 : during the cutscene with kyle and mon mothma.

the camera could move more around the characters , and mon mothma could walk and made demonstrative movements interacting with the hologram and interacting whith kyle.

the camera could make travelling , and more movements, for the narative and psychological interest.

 

sugestion n°2 : the colors of talay city

try anothers colors for the sky, perhaps a little more grey and blue, to make sense with the city grey color.

the visual will be better, with a more realistic light on the architecture. i have search that on photoshop and i have posted modified screenshot to a member of your team.

 

sugestion n°3 : dianogas

dianogas can be more dangerous if they hide in the water and appears suddenly where you dont wait them : very near to you or behind you...

that could give more suspense each time the player see the creature.

 

 

these are only sugestions , you have made a great job and one of the best mod i ever played. thank you again!!!

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Originally posted by Kurgan

So you're going to drop support for the JK series and start from scratch?

 

Whoa!

 

Seriously though, despite limitations, you'll have more options in the MP version. If nothing else you can borrow the code from JK2 and import it into the JA MP engine.

 

I think they meant that the multiplayer version is so different that it'll be like working in a completely different engine.

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