8 Reply by evgenidb (edited by evgenidb 2011-08-31 16:09:42)

  • Registered: 2011-07-31
  • Posts: 28

Re: New Modes (and Maps)

Updated the Bespin: Evacuation map with some sketches. I'll probably edit the entry for that map later.


Devs (and the rest, too), say what do you think!


Edit: And made a sketch for Coruscant - Galactic Museum for the (Team) Duel Modes. Although the entry for that map is rather... short...


P.S. Just to mention that Blue circles are the Imp. CPs, Red circles - Rebel CPs and the Green ones - neutral.

  • Dnamro
  • First Strike Team Leader
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  • Registered: 2007-05-29
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Re: New Modes (and Maps)

Lots of good ideas, but, unfortunately, there are too few active FS devs these days.   The team has to look at it's priorities and focus the scarce resources on what is most important for future releases.   After all, the older a game engine gets, the harder it is to retain and recruit mod developers that work solely for the love of the modding and Star Wars.

Also, every new world requires a lot of new objects to be created.  So, maps requiring a lot of new objects requires a lot of development time from the team.

Gamemodes are created or modified using the python scripting language.   The guides are what has been posted by others and looking at what other mod teams have done.   The BF2142 game engine is very similar to BF2, so there is a huge resource in the BF2 mod community for reference.

There is no course on how to mod BF2412.  If you want to see any of your ideas realized, then start reading the BF2editor forums, asking questions and learning how to mod like the all the other mod developers.

10 Reply by evgenidb (edited by evgenidb 2011-09-01 00:32:41)

  • Registered: 2011-07-31
  • Posts: 28

Re: New Modes (and Maps)

Well, I won't say do it right now. After all, there is a Hoth map being made and I'm sure the devs are pretty busy with it... The only thing I'm doing is throwing some ideas for maps and modes. If they have the resources and are willing to do some of them, I'll be happy. If not, it's still fine. But I know that it'll take a lot of time and even if the devs want to make all of them, they simply won't be able to.

About the example maps: they are just examples to illustrate the new proposed Modes. I never said that those maps can't be converted to the existing Modes.

Moreover, I also have ideas about maps with the already existing in the game Modes. I just hadn't written them yet and, frankly, I don't know when I'll have the time to write them down.




About the modding - I don't have the time to learn how to do it and my coding is not that great. I'm learning Python right now and playing with Pygame but I still have way too much to learn to handle modding.

About map making: Unfortunately I'm bad at modeling (not to mention texturing and rigging!). So, creating new objects is out of the question from me. I can just learn and play with the existing ones, but it'll require a lot of time to start off (learn what to do and how to do it) and make something decent - time I don't have at the moment. sad

  • Dnamro
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Re: New Modes (and Maps)

Well, I think you could be a good mapper.  It's a good place to start.  You don't need to know how to model to be a mapper.    Mappers need to be good designers, which you seem to be.  The dev team has looked at a few maps that were created by non team members for possible addition to the mod.   

As for as what is possible:

There are already some non team maps that have been created along your ideas:   pod racing and darthomor prison.

Advancement gameplay, is really too difficult for the game engine.   It might be possible to set the map rotation on the server to a specific map based on which team won on a specific map.  It would have to be done with python, and I don't even know if it's even possible.  But that would really be for a scheduled tournament event, not for regular players.

Survival mode.   I actually have tried to think of ways to add that type of gameplay in the BF2142 or BF2 game.   Someone did set up a map for play with bots that had one team defending the city of Karkland and the other team attacking.   The problem is that there is no way to set up the attacking team in waves of progressive difficulty.   That seems to be the key to making the mode fun.  Otherwise, it gets boring after about 10 minutes.

Prison break gameplay is possible.   Python script can be set to escape when a certain location is reached - that is done in escape from Hoth.    The ticket bleed could be set up so that chasers lose tickets over time.   A Python script could be made to set the chasers to lose a lot of tickets when a player successfully escapes.    The runners could start with only a knife but find pickup kits around the map, or pickup a kit from a fallen player/bot.

Knife/sword Duels would be boring after about 10 minutes.   BF2142/bf2 does not support decent hand to hand combat.   There was a fantasy mod for BF2 that had only one release.   You can also look at the swords in the BF2 pirates mod.   

What is also possible is a special player mode in singleplayer.   Such as a Jedi or bouty hunter (there are allready test kits in the current release version).   They are not currently used, but they are available for anyone that knows how to change kits on a map.   The jedi kit has an unfinished light sabre and some force powers.   The bounty hunter has a new weapon and a jet pack.   The kits can also be added as pickup kits to a map - which creates a camping problem in mp.