Beast Wars PC Video Game Project

[mcshooterz]

I haven't done any real performance testing yet, but running on high detail with video/audio recording I am not experiencing any slow down. My computer is far from normal so the first public release will be in sense an open performance test.

[WorpeX]

Looks good! Whats that other character I see in the video? Inferno?

[mcshooterz]

So far we just have a Scorponok.

[mcshooterz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0HLZmsZ5T8

I could definitely use some help with character planning. Each character should have relatively unique firepower, abilities, advantages, and so forth; This is definitely not something technical, but someone who understands gameplay and balance could help with planning how each character could/should be played. If anyone has a bit of time on their hands let me know if you are interested.

[NaitoKage]

Wow, this project has gone alot further then I thought it would. I also like how similar to the toys some of the models are.

Well as for character firepower, advantages, and such..from the models you've demonstrated.

Scorponok:Scorponok as a design is a rather interesting character, Scorpions are tank like creatures but also skilled in stealth. I'd almost want to say having the character be a slow and heavy armor type, with advantage of using rockets which are high firepower, but Scorponok also has the unique feature of a Cyber bee which makes me want to say maybe not have him the slowest or strongest in armor or firepower. The Cyberbee could be used like many of the other accessories in shooting games, a beacon or radar device that shows within a certain range where enemies are. If you plan to do this more as a adventure rather then multiplayer shooter, then the Cyber bee could still have the same role, or be used as a remote control drone, to scout the area ahead. If you want a Maximal with similar functions, Depthcharge or Polarclaw/Grizzly1/Survive fit Scorponok's bill perfectly though I would probably either go the IDW route in Polarclaw's case with chest machine guns or replace the springloaded claw with a missile launcher.

Tigatron:While Tigers are strong dangerous creatures, Tigatron would probably fit the role of a more average soldier. Not really amazing in any fields, but on the other hand that's not a bad thing. He might not have the armor or firepower compared to Scorponok, but he'd have a heads up on him in terms of speed. Tigatron show wise had the unique ability to fire a cryofield ball that would freeze a target, though he only used it once. That could also be useful but should have a limit like a recharge since if it's used too much it'll break any game if it's spammed. A similar Predacon to Tigatron would probably be Tarantulus or Blackarachnia, and either using the web or venom ability could just be a copy of the freeze ability "immobilizing" the target. A Recharge time of 10 to 15 seconds would be fine since any longer and the player might not want to use it.

Razorclaw:I was surprised by this mold and really like it. Razorclaw hasn't really been in much of anything media wise, but in japan he was in BW Neo as Rockbuster. One of his more memorable scenes was due to his flat and low profile in beast mode, he was rather adapt at sneaking in tall grass or the like, then using his eyes as stalks to view a a target. Due to that, and his small size as a toy, I'd almost say he'd be a really good stealth character kinda like Rattrap. Maybe using his beast mode to hide behind debris or walls and disappear from radars when staying still or maybe moving slowly crouched in robot mode.

[mcshooterz]

Pretty good input; maybe I haven't used this forum to it's fullest. Also Polar Claw does happens to be development right now, along with a few other characters, they just take a lot of work to finish. Scorponok is planned to have his bee drone as a remote controlled entity much like the drones in Frontlines: Fuel of War.

The following is some notes from by balancing brain storming:

Strength - Effectiveness of Melee (Average Damage/sec 20 per point)
Firepower - Effectiveness of Ranged Weapons (Average Damage/sec 8 per point), Ammo Relative.
Endurance - Health (100 + 50 health per point). Health regenerates very slowly
Stamina - Energy (100 + 50 energy per point), Energy is used for jumping, sprinting, dodging, flying, or any activated abilities. Regenerates very quickly.
Resistance - Energon Resistance(50 + 25 Energon Resistance per point). Energon regenerates in beast mode.
Agility - Speed (200 + 50 speed per point), Jump height (30 + 10 height per point), Double Jump height(10 + 5 height per point)
Skill - Abilities (Standardized Abilities = 1 point, Each unique ability has it's own point value)
Maximum Stat value of 10, minimum of 1.
35 total points for normal Characters, 60 for Elite.
Standardized Free Abilities: Double Jump, Dodge, Sprint, Zoom Vision.
Examples of basic specialized combat classes: Flyer, Warrior, Soldier.
Flyer Example:
Strength - 2 Firepower - 4 Endurance - 3 Stamina - 8 Resistance - 5 Agility - 6 Skill - 7
Warrior Example:
Strength - 8 Firepower - 2 Endurance - 6 Stamina - 5 Resistance - 5 Agility - 7 Skill - 2
Soldier Example:
Strength - 3 Firepower - 9 Endurance - 8 Stamina - 4 Resistance - 5 Agility - 4 Skill - 2
Elite Example:
Strength - 10 Firepower - 9 Endurance - 9 Stamina - 8 Resistance - 10 Agility - 6 Skill - 8

Ability Ideas:
Flying: 6 points, Poison Melee: 1-2 points, Poison Resistance: 1 point, Recon Drone: 3 points, Triple Jump: 2 points, Grappling Hook: 4 points, Stealth Camoflage: 5 points, Radar Stealth: 2 points, Smart(Seeks) Mine: 6 points, Mine: 3 points, Special(poison, energon, ect...) Mine: 4 points, Undetectable to Mines: 2 points, Energy Shield: 3 points, Superior Radar: 2 points, Detection Vision: 4 points, Melee Combo: 2 points, Timed Explosive Charge: 2 points, Remote Explosive Charge: 5 points, Healing Beam: 6 points, Melee Stun: 4 points, Teleportation: 8 points, Leadership Aura: 4 points, Enhanced Zoom Vision: 1 point, Recharge Beam: 4 points, Attack Drone: 5 points, Hologram Decoy: 2 points, Berserk: 4 points, Freeze Blast: 3 points, Cyber Venom: 4 points

The Beast Mode will reflect, but can have it's own different abilities from the robot mode. As beast modes will not have ranged weapons, their melee damage will be determined by average of strength and firepower.

[WorpeX]

oooo other characters besides the shows!? If you add Manterror, i'll get on my knees and call you a god. !!!!

I'm loving the brain storming ideas. They all sound great. ^^

[Alak]

I don't know if you'll be able to create an online aspect of this game due to server costs, but one thing that caught my eye is how much better Elites are than the other classes. If this is a game that's offline and just for fun then it's no problem, but there will be balancing issues online. People will tend to favor Elite characters due to their overwhelming advantage.

[mcshooterz]

LAN and Individual people hosting online is a possibility, but yes I am not planning on getting any servers unless there is an actual demand. The Elite characters will be meant to be much like the hero characters in Star Wars Battlefront; only one Elite character on a team at a time, and you have to start playing as a normal character until you gain enough points to respawn as an Elite character, but once you die as an Elite character the next point leader will be able to spawn as an Elite. The currently planned Elites are Optimus Primal, Megatron, Rampage, Depth Charge, and Tigerhawk.

[mcshooterz]

Currently I do not have an equal for Tigerhawk in terms of an Elite Predacon. Primal has Megatron, Depth Charge has Rampage, but I could use some suggestions for the third Predacon Elite.

Also I could use some suggestions for good toy molds (not transmetal I or II) in terms of being a good design to be used to create a 3d game character.

[Alak]

Eh, maybe just take Tigerhawk out completely. He's a broken character in terms of balance. The fact that he was able to destroy a fully shielded Darksyde shows that if he was introduced earlier, the Beast Wars wouldn't have lasted as long as it did.

[WorpeX]

I agree with Alak, although I don't like Tigerhawk much to begin with. XD Keeping him as a cameo role would probably be best.

As for other characters to add... i'm not a huge fan of many non-transmetal maximals really. The ones from the show were the best ones I think. Perhaps Bonecrusher and Wolfang would be good though.

Predicons however! I can rattle off a bunch that I like! Manterror, Razorclaw, Snapper, Powerpinch, Skyshadow (Fuzor). All are great choices in my opinion!

[mcshooterz]

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3JKZIWHY

Here is a simple build, but it is playable. Nothing is in a finished state, and a lot of things don't really work yet. This is more of a test to see if anyone can run it. To play the beast wars game you have to choose "instant action" at the main menu, then in instant action options you have to choose "game type" as "Beast_Wars.BWGame". Default in the game is still the basic unreal death match that comes with UDK, so you have to choose the different game type.

[Alak]

Downloading now. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm running a Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop made in 2007 (XP). No modifications so it might not be up to par with your system requirements. Graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300. I'll be using Sony noise canceling headphones (it's only $55 so it's not the best quality either).

[Alak]

Sorry if this is a double post, but it's going to take some time and I don't to edit my previous one only to have someone post while I'm typing. Here's some screenshots of how it looks on my laptop:








My thoughts:

First of all, good choice putting in Polar Claw as a playable model. Secondly, the frame rate is terrible on my laptop. Even the mouse movement was slow at the main menu screen. That's most likely my computer, though, since my laptop wasn't designed for gaming. Those with desktops will probably fair better in this department. As my last two screenshots indicate, there's tearing and disappearances on the map even now and then. This definitely happens if you minimize the game and select another program like a web browser. It's sort of expected since you said this was an early build. I'm not sure how much you've included in the file, but I found no enemies to play against even if I select a number 5-11. Transformation works well and quick and you nailed the energy usage. Sounds are also good. You might want to include control instructions, however. I tapped away at random keys and here's what I got:

Up Arrow = run forward
Down Arrow = back pedal
Right Arrow = strafe right
Left Arrow = strafe left
Space Bar = jump
F key = jet pack
T key = conversation
Q key = transform
Esc = pause
Mouse = aim/look around
Left click = shoot
Right click = reload
Mouse wheel = zoom

Oh, and if anyone tries to go ahead with anything other than the Beast Wars files (i.e.- Team Deathmatch, Deck), then the game will crash. If you also look at the top left corner on my screenshots, you'll see two messages saying that lighting and paths need to be rebuilt. I think that's just a work in progress, or my laptop just failed at that part. Those who are planning on playing this need at least DirectX9c, but I think this game installs it if your computer doesn't have it already.