Jabba's Ship level Progress

[hhunter6]

OK so i decided to move my updates to its own thread. So I have been slowly and steadily going over the map and have quite enjoyed the process. everything is going pretty good. who ever did this map first did an awesome job. I hope I can make him or her proud by finishing it. my first issue is with trying to add textures to the pipes, that seems to be mostly what needs to be textured. the texture pipe i've selected won't show up when i do test runs in the level. any thoughts? my next question is about enemies. I know no imperieals will be in this leve so thats not a concern. So i'm going to go with a majority of aliens as enemies, ie rodians, weequays, Trandoshan. not sure if mercenaries should be used? Open to suggestions on that. and if i'm not mistaken the Gamorreans that Hapslash did i will include as well. any other suggestions? this is where i stand so far.

[Forceboat]

Only problem - Rodians, Weequays and mercenaries were not in Dark Forces.

However, Grans, Trandoshans, Gamorreans, Dianogas, and Kell Dragons were. I looked up the Dark Forces FAQ list, and here's how many of each were in there related to difficulty setting in the original game:

 

-Trandoshans (2 on EASY; 6 on MEDIUM; 15 on HARD)

-Grans (31 on EASY; 45 on MEDIUM; 66 on HARD)

-Gamorreans (30 on EASY; 41 on MEDIUM; 50 on HARD)

-Kell Dragons (2 on EASY; 5 on MEDIUM; 10 on HARD)

-Dianogas ( 2 on EASY and MEDIUM; 3 on HARD)

 

So, that means a model of the Kell Dragon needs to be made, unfortunately, and there hasn't been one made yet. I can't remember right now, but there may have been some sketches of it in the extras pack, but that must be as far as anyone got.

[hhunter6]

Only problem - Rodians, Weequays and mercenaries were not in Dark Forces.

However, Grans, Trandoshans, Gamorreans, Dianogas, and Kell Dragons were. I looked up the Dark Forces FAQ list, and here's how many of each were in there related to difficulty setting in the original game:

 

-Trandoshans (2 on EASY; 6 on MEDIUM; 15 on HARD)

-Grans (31 on EASY; 45 on MEDIUM; 66 on HARD)

-Gamorreans (30 on EASY; 41 on MEDIUM; 50 on HARD)

-Kell Dragons (2 on EASY; 5 on MEDIUM; 10 on HARD)

-Dianogas ( 2 on EASY and MEDIUM; 3 on HARD)

 

So, that means a model of the Kell Dragon needs to be made, unfortunately, and there hasn't been one made yet. I can't remember right now, but there may have been some sketches of it in the extras pack, but that must be as far as anyone got.

 

OK cool, were there kell dragons on jabbas ship? as far as enemies i think that we should at least include the rodians. but then again maybe not, they were in JK after all. but that can be worked out later. Thanks for the info though, it will help later down the road.

[Forceboat]

Yes, there were Kell Dragons on Jabba's ship. Formally, the mission was known as Mission X: Jabba's Revenge.

[hhunter6]

Yes, there were Kell Dragons on Jabba's ship. Formally, the mission was known as Mission X: Jabba's Revenge.

 

ah ok we'll i'll focaus on what i have to work with, and if the dragon comes around then it can be added later.

[Inyri]

Probably the hardest part of making a kell dragon would be finding someone willing to animate it. Find that, and the rest are minor worries.

[Forceboat]

Hey hhhunter,

 

I double-checked the extras pack, and the team did include an original sketch of the Kell Dragon Justin Chin himself drew of it from his website, monsterrocket.com. There's probably other pics to go on, but I thought I would mention that one.

[jedimike2234]

this is good news.im glad that you are going to continue the level.

the way i remember the level from dark forces was you were captured at the end of the nar shadda level,then you see a cutscene,kyle is flanked by a pair of Gamorreans,taking to a hologram of jabba,after the little chat they throw you into a pit.which is how the untextured level starts.

you face the kell dragon with only your fists,no weapons.

after you defeat that one a wall opens into another area,and i think in easy there was just another one. and in higher difficulties there were 2 more.but there were grans and trandoshans with weapons in this area,i think.

personally i dont have a problem with Rodians, Weequays and mercenaries showing up in the levels.

the point was to try to get jan and get back to your ship.

the untextured level had the feel of a ship,the original level to me almost didnt have that ship feel.the way i remember it.

[hhunter6]

Well i'm not modeler, haven't fully tackeled that area as of yet. so someone may have to model the dragon. i know if DF2 there is a level with those bad boys in there. pretty scary back in the day. so we'll cross that road when we get there. i'll pretty much stick to the basic Enemies but i do believe i'll include the rodians, maybe the weequays who knows. Was the bowcaster a weapon in DF? Probably a stupid question but better to ask than not at all.

[Inyri]

Well i'm not modeler, haven't fully tackeled that area as of yet. so someone may have to model the dragon. i know if DF2 there is a level with those bad boys in there. pretty scary back in the day. so we'll cross that road when we get there.

Finding a modeler for the kell dragon will be infinitely simpler than finding an animator; I wouldn't worry about that part.

i'll pretty much stick to the basic Enemies but i do believe i'll include the rodians, maybe the weequays who knows. Was the bowcaster a weapon in DF? Probably a stupid question but better to ask than not at all.

I don't think so, but don't quote me on that. I think it had the fusion cutter instead.

[Forceboat]

No, the bowcaster was never part of the weapons in Dark Forces. All of the weapons are there in the mod except for one- the Assault Cannon, and I know of a certain person who just posted before me who has been working on one , and it looks great, she has been doing a wonderful job on it, and I hope she releases it sometime.

[Forceboat]

the point was to try to get jan and get back to your ship.

 

And that is something that, unfortunately, will require using the default Raven model of Jan for this map. Unless you can sweet-talk Infinity Blade out of his "retirement" for his Dark Forces Jan model he was working on five years ago:

 

Dark Forces Jan

[DarkStarMojo]

The original Dark Forces weapons were (in order):

 

Fists

Bryar Pistol

Stormtrooper Rifle

Thermal Detonators

Jeron Fusion Cutter

Imperial Repeater Rifle

I.M. Mines (A.K.A. Sequencer Charges)

Packard Mortar Gun

Stouker Concussion Rifle

Dark Trooper Assault Cannon

 

Forceboat, there is an assault cannon model already in DFMod. It simply needs textures made for it and it's good to go. But I'd love to see what this person is working on. If it is better, we just might use it. Oh, and make sure you check your PMs.

 

Hhunter6, check your PMs as well. You both have a very important message waiting for you but mum is the word right now. That means sssh!

[hhunter6]

ok so here some screens of what I have been up to. i wasn't able to work on it on saterday due to my running in the DC marathon. anywho sunday i was pretty productive for the most part, however i ran into a few issues. 1. pipe textures, i've tried every trick i know and i could not get the applied textures to show up in game. does anyone have any advice? this is pretty much the only thing left for me to texture. 2. Enemy npcs will not spawn. I tried doin ga few tests and after i compiled the map and did a test run, nothing. so I'm at a loss here. I plan on doing some research today and see what I can come up with but if anyone has adivce please throw it my way.

 

images deleted

[DarkStarMojo]

Make sure when choosing textures for pipes and grates that the textures you want to use aren't missing any shader files. If a shader is missing (or written incorrectly) it won't show up in-game even if it shows up in the editor (that's one of the drawbacks of editing idtech3 games - something that, thankfully, was corrected for idtech4). The easiest way to check if the texture you're using is missing its shader is, once you've loaded the level, bring down the console. There should be an error message in there saying something along the lines of "could not find shader _".

 

Fixing the specific error might be more difficult (I'd have to take a look at the specific texture to see what's wrong with its corresponding shader). As a general rule, I try to avoid using textures with lights when making pipes and such. There are some good pipe textures in the narshada textures directory that I think would work quite well in jabba's ship and shouldn't have any corresponding shader files to worry about (I know they show up in game when I use them).

 

As for enemies not appearing, it could be anything. I'd have to look at the .map file to know what (if anything you've done wrong). You might, however, want to try spawning your entities bit by bit using triggers rather than all at once when the level loads (that can cause weird errors or prevent your map from running at all.)

[hhunter6]

Ok so I owe an update. I have about 90% of the map textured! there are a few tweaks and fixes that I need to do and that should be about it. After that I will send it to DarkStarMojo and forceboat so they can take a look at it and give me their advice/opinons. After that will start will adding enemies and so forth. here are a few screens for the meantime

 

r/s

hhunter6

[Forceboat]

Oh, my god. That looks beautiful. I am honored. Can't wait to hear from you.

[hhunter6]

OK well this weekend was very productive. I ran into a few hickups along the way but I've got most of them worked out. I started laying the ground work for adding pick ups/powerups. However now I'm in the process of resizing some wall textures and that is pretty much it. i'm am working on the garbage pit and can't really get the water working right now but I'll get it taken care of. In anyevent hopefully in the next week or so i'll get started on adding the appropiate lifts and npc's. It will be a slow week due to some school course i need to finish but after that headache is out of the way its game on! till then here are a few more screens for you all.

[DarkStarMojo]

I like the glass "windows" you've added to the floor. Really lets the player see all the pipes and mechanical detailing without a lot of grates getting in the way.

 

To everyone I've contacted about joining the team, sorry I have been able to respond to emails lately. It's been a busy week at school and I'll be pretty busy for the rest of the month. I'll try to make the time to respond to everyone no later than this weekend.

[hhunter6]

Hello again. well I've just finished two classes and have finally had some time to get back into this level. I'm currently working on adding the lifts, and key/locked doors. I was able to get a copy of the original DF game and started playing the Jabba level. After a few run throughs I noticed that more rooms will need to be added, not many but a few. After platforms and such are done then I'll get them done. Thens it's on to enemies and power pickups and such.

[Forceboat]

Sounds good, hhunter. If I only knew how to model, then you would have a Kell Dragon to stick in there. Guess that will be up to another team member to help you on, when the time comes. But it sounds like you are coming along well on it. I can't wait to see the results!

[Ham Yoyo]

Looks great. You are doing a huge service to me and many other Star Wars fans that have been following this mod since 2002. Keep up the good work.

[hhunter6]

Sounds good, hhunter. If I only knew how to model, then you would have a Kell Dragon to stick in there. Guess that will be up to another team member to help you on, when the time comes. But it sounds like you are coming along well on it. I can't wait to see the results!

 

well you could always grab some tutorials and give it a try. I'm taking my time on this level so I'm in no real rush for the dragon. i have a few ideas of how to make up for the dragons at this point but I agree that they need to be in the level.

[hhunter6]

Well heres an update for everyone. After a few unexpected setbacks I'm back on track. I've finished adding/resizing the textures. All lifts seem to be working correctly, All I have to do is add the bar area and then the cell block area. I've been adding some NPC's as well and have them working quite well. After i some more work tonight I'll post some screens for you as well.

[Ham Yoyo]

Cool.