WC: Hostile Frontier Dev Diaries #2
Entry 2 of Kevin's Wing Commander: Hostile Frontier Developer Diaries
This time I'll be focusing on progress in the other areas of the project, as well as showing off some more eyecandy and giving away some of the plot. Enjoy...
1. Releases
Hostile Frontier will be released in two parts: The demo chapter, and then the main campaign. The demo will be released on the WCSaga Prologue, and the full version will be released on the WCSaga full version.
Since Saga is on a code fork right now, I'll have to get things up to speed once Saga releases. Therefore, I'll be providing a patch which will ensure compatibility with WCSaga once it is released, that is, if I release before Saga does.
2. Backgrounds
One of the other things that I've been doing is designing the system backgrounds. The green background in the screenshots from my previous entry were from the Ilios system. Here are some more shots of Ilios as well as some of the other backgrounds I've been working on.
Ilios:
Landreich (WIP, needs an earth-like planet):
Simulator:
3. Capships
I recently finished converting the Wake-class and the Exeter-class. I also tried to do some high-polyization to the Wake-class model, e.g. recesses for the windows and bulkheads at the back, cylinders for the engines, and modelled bumps on the "bumpy thing" on the top. The modified model also has a changeable nameplate, so it can have "FRLS Independence" or "FRLS Magna Carta" written on it without having to create a new model. Thanks again to the Standoff team for the Wake-class and Exeter-class models.
4. Main Character/Plot
Jonathan "Rider" Darrel was born in the Dardania district of the Ilios system.
Jonathan's mother was a freelance merchant, trying to make her fair share of money. Working under notorious entrepreneur Jason E. Barrow, she did several important cargo runs for Barrow's company, and some of these runs made enough money to pay for a brand new fighter. These runs were fully legal, but they were highly profitable, since the cargo was taken where it was desperately needed. Later on, Barrow found out that her husband had been her personal escort. This made Barrow lose trust in Jonathan's mother, and her profits were slowly draining ever since. She then accepted a high-paying run of Brilliance, and at that time, Johnathan's father and mother had divorced. Jonathan's mother had completed her run, but she was arrested for smuggling, fined 800,000 credits, and sentenced to four years in a prison cell.
Jonathan's father was in the Landreich navy and fought in the Second Battle of Hell Hole, taking down numerous Kilrathi bombers and miraculously surviving an ejection when the dogfighting was two minutes to it's conclusion. One of his academy friends, who was piloting a smuggler ship, tractored him in and brought him back to Landreich. After that incident, he decided to step down from the Navy and join the Landreich Militia, being a personal escort for Johnathan's mother on several lucrative runs. Jonathan's mother and father divorced because his mother accepted a run of Brilliance from one of the businessmen of Zachary Banfeld's "Guild" and his father detested of that organization because of its supposed pirate activities.
Jonathan decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and entered Flight School at the beginning of the Battle of Earth, and graduated after Kilrah had been destroyed by the Temblor Bomb. During his training, he earned the callsign of "Rider" because he always uses the tactic of "Riding the enemy's tail 'till he's dead."
At the time Rider gets assigned to the FRLS Independence, his father will be teaching at the Saarbrücken Flight Academy in Newburg, and his mother will be released from prison in two months. Rider is an eager rookie who can't wait for some action, but he is only just about to experience the true horrors of war.
5. Lighting Settings
These are the lighting settings that I use with WCSaga/WCHF. I'm trying to approximate the look of the pre-rendered lighting in WC3, as well as make it shiny. It shouldn't be too dark.
Code:
-fov 0.65 -ogl_spec 80 -spec_tube 8.0 -spec_point 9.0 -spec_static 2.8 -ambient_factor 130
To use these settings, copy them, open the launcher, and paste them into the "Custom Flags" box under the "Features" tab.
6. Cockpits
I've added a few cockpits to WCHF, and I'm really pleased with the results so far. The cockpits greatly increase the immersion and enjoyment of the game, however, they can be problematic if they obstruct too much of your view. For gameplay balance, I'm placing the cockpit camera viewpoint so that the cockpits are visible and so that they don't obstruct your view.
Here is the Hornet cockpit. I used black on the screens because I'm not a very good artist, and some of the default HUD gauges fit into the black areas. In the future, I'll replace some of the black areas with HUD screen textures. Thanks again to the Standoff team for this great model.
Here is the (WIP) Scimitar cockpit. I had to model this one myself, and it was very challenging because I have to consider the side and back views as well as the front view. It still needs to be textured, but it's a start.
NOTE: In the second screenshot, I was very close to an exploding fighter, and I wanted to seize the moment.
7. Other changes
Since the previous dev diary update, I've teamed up with another modder to work on two of his mods, one of them is a FreeSpace mod/campaign called Twist of Fate, and the other is an unnamed mod for WCSaga which involves an alternate WC storyline beginning after the destruction of K'Tithrak Mang.
Among these things, I've been working on tweaking the shield/hull hitpoints of the fighters to better match the gameplay of WC1. For hull hitpoints, I am adding up the armor and multiplying by 16, and for the shield hitpoints, I am adding up the fore/aft shields and multiplying by 32.
With those stats, the Hornet can take about two or three hits from a Dralthi VII before its shields are gone.
Gun and shield energy also drains/recharges quicker, just like in the old WC games.
8. What needs to be done/We're hiring!
Missions need to be scripted and completed, and cockpit models need to be textured and imported into the game. If you would like to join the team (It's just me right now) then please post in this thread or send me a PM. Different conditions apply to different positions. Also, I'm not really looking for professionals, but I'm looking for people with considerable modding experience.