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Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 19 Nov 2011, 04:25
by BenMillard
Ever since seeing TRON: Legacy I wanted to re-create the light cycle sequences from The Games. Various scenes from The Games and chase sequences from both movies make me think they have potential and would be worth testing out, too.

Get it here: TRON: Tribute Games

Screenshots
Image Image Image Image

The Games (so far)
  • Disc War: Find your opponent using the Light Cycles, then attack them with Rocket Launcher.
  • Light Cycles: Vehicle Mines self-destruct to create deadly trails. Vehicle Machine Guns help finish off combatants.
  • Tank Battle: These only fight in the first movie. This is a deathmatch with Tank Gun as the only weapon.
Inspiration
Obviously not affiliated with Disney in any way. It's a fan's tribute to the pair of well-known movies.

YouTube videos of the TRON: Evolution official game did provide some inspiration. Especially the multiplayer light cycle arenas in team-based Capture The Bit mode.

First Version
To test out the gameplay and see if this concept had any potential, I started by re-using Zooka Arena:
Image

Elypter and I felt the respawn experience meant a new arena will be needed quite early. Respawning players would need some temporary advantage and be protected from spawnkills, to help rejoin the action.

Re: TRON: Light Cycles (very early test)

Posted: 19 Nov 2011, 05:06
by Sektor
Cool. I also thought about making a TRON map but all I did was make some blue road tiles and they were originally for a Pac-Man map:

http://gtamp.com/GTA2/pac-man-tiles-bil-sty.7z
http://gtamp.com/images/blueroad.png

Re: TRON: Light Cycles (very early test)

Posted: 19 Nov 2011, 21:51
by Pyro
Finally a use for the Schimdt :P

Re: TRON: Light Cycles (very early test)

Posted: 20 Nov 2011, 11:00
by Sektor
Image
http://gtamp.com/maps/tron-arena.7z

TRON Arena:
I deleted most of the unused tiles from the STY file. The water holes flicker by design.

Re: TRON: Light Cycles (very early test)

Posted: 23 Nov 2011, 19:34
by BenMillard
Interesting stuff Sektor, although a bit too strong for my spatial awareness. :shock:

Quite a few people have been testing, including some 4-player games! The mines now act somewhat like the deadly trails in the movies, by exploding a couple of seconds after you lay them. This has proved very popular and tactical.

You still need the guns to finish players off. They can sometimes survive a mine but have heavy damage.

Next version will hopefully shift some more gameplay towards the North and make more playable areas. Hopefully will be out next week.

I'm visiting family for the rest of this week and am slightly in limbo between which computer to develop GTA2 on. Eventually it will all be on my Dell Inspiron 17R laptop.

Re: TRON: Light Cycles (beta tests)

Posted: 01 Dec 2011, 03:19
by BenMillard
No multiplayer testing for this new version as I'm migrating stuff from laptop, selling my car and finding new work. This update was only tested in single player but nothing complicated has changed:
  • Rebuilt the North end of the arena.
  • Moved the maze a little South and West.
  • West and East edges are now slightly more obstructed, so require a little bit of skill.
  • Fast Reload added to North, centre of maze and South.
  • Bikes now have weapon powerups beneath them, for when you start and respawn.
  • Weapons now give a bit more ammo. Respawn delay is the same.
  • Handling is slightly less sharp when you start to turn. Makes 3rd gear dodging a bit more predictable!
  • Lights added for Dusk mode, ambient level still high as they are draft versions.

Re: TRON: Light Cycles (beta tests)

Posted: 02 Dec 2011, 04:11
by BenMillard
More changes, tested in multiplayer with Elypter:
  • Spiral added to North-East, leading to Double Damage.
  • Opened up North and East sides a bit more.
  • 2x respawn with bikes and weapons added to West.
  • 2x respawn with bikes and weapons added to North.
  • 2x respawn retained at start point.
  • All 6 start bikes and weapons still respawn.
  • Grandstands with peds and safety fence added to North half.
Elypter made some suggestions and noticed some gameplay issues, which are on my list. (The e-mail one I update, not that blog one.)

These changes mean the whole level now gets used. Please try it out and let me know how it went. Screenshots and movies welcome!

Re: TRON: Light Cycles (beta tests)

Posted: 02 Dec 2011, 05:36
by Gustavob
I didn't get the chance to play this in multiplayer yet, but it seems to have a good gameplay and the design and concept are nice. Played this against Felipe right now, was quite fun! Nice job over there :mrgreen: !

Re: TRON: Light Cycles

Posted: 03 Dec 2011, 03:55
by BenMillard
Quite a lot more play testing has happened, with many lulz!

Image

Newest version has neater edges, ramps along entire North and West walls and 2 more bikes to help prevent those respawn points sometimes being empty. (That problem might be from copy-paste errors in script...will check somewhen.)
Took a couple of pretty screenshots from Epic GTA2 Map Editor but am too tired to artwork them now. [sm-01]

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 06 Dec 2011, 10:19
by BenMillard
And now, the moment you've all been waiting, for...TRON: Tank Battle! It's ready to download.

Image Image

I also added the first attempt at Disc War! It's the same as Light Cycles, only you can exit your bike and there are no bike weapons. Tested both in multiplayer by a few people already.

(EDIT) Right, I'm off to see parents and dentist, will probably return later on Wednesday. Please leave feedback, screenshots, movies and death threats! Will have my laptop with me.

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 21 Dec 2011, 03:01
by elypter
could you please post the gci bike handling from the first version? i wanted to use it for bff-meme.

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 21 Dec 2011, 06:01
by Sektor
http://gtamp.com/maps/tron-arena.7z uses the handling file from the first version of Ben's TRON map.

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 21 Dec 2011, 15:29
by elypter
that gci file looks strange:

Code: Select all

{ Generated by: CFG Studio 2.0.379 }
{ Generated on: 2011-11-19 03:33:12 }
{ File format: GTA2 nyc.gci }
{ }
{ Standard data: }
0
0
60
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f4.500
f0.900
f0.900
f1.750
f0.050
f0.350
f1.000
f0.400
f0.300
f0.615
f0.050
f0.090
f0.300
f0.400
f0.600
f0.250
f0.390
2
0
60
0
........
no descriptions like there should be like here:

Code: Select all

{**********************
Generated By : keith
Generated On Machine : DEATHSTAR
Generated on 14/9/1999 at 19:49
**********************}

{Romero}
0 {model}
0 {turbo}
50 {value}
0 {pad}
f16.500 {mass}
f1.000 {front drive bias}
f0.500 {front mass bias}
f1.750 {brake friction}
f0.145 {turn in}
f0.450 {turn ratio}
f1.250 {rear end stability}
f0.180 {handbrake slide value}
f0.152 {thrust}
f0.245 {max_speed}
f0.800 {anti strength}
f0.065 {skid threshhold}
f0.550 {gear1 multiplier}
f0.680 {gear2 multiplier}
f1.000 {gear3 multiplier}
f0.107 {gear2 speed}
f0.165 {gear3 speed}
...............

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 28 Dec 2011, 19:24
by BenMillard
GTA2 doesn't need them. Editing with the GTA2 Manager or with CFG Studio 2 means modders don't need the comments, either.

I've been testing a TRON: Light Jets mode. This is playable and included in the download. Refining it to a level I'm proud of will probably take a few months.

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 28 Dec 2011, 19:40
by elypter
will you make textures for it?

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 14 Mar 2012, 19:42
by BenMillard
I won't be able to make textures. New textures, if done well, will be the finishing touch and make these levels beautiful. I really hope someone will help with that, when the time comes. (It's at least months away.)

Sneak Peek
The story of how modders operate 'behind the scenes' is rarely told or seen by the community.

Respawn's stacks of architecture magazine cuttings is the most detail I've seen put online (sadly, they are no longer online). While brainstorming Curveshire and sourcing landscape ideas for the modders who were helping, I did almost everything digitally. I still sketched some stuff by hand, scanning some of it.

So here's a 'sneak peek' into the work I do before I even run a GTA2 modding program.

SPOILER ALERT!
Today, I watched TRON: Legacy and focussed on the ending sequence. My level, TRON: Light Jets, will interpret this part of the story to create what might be the world's first unofficial GTA2 team game RPG movie tie-in.

Below are the approximate timings I noted down during the movie. They cover the key events, locations and character interactions of the finale.

1:30:00 CLU’s Flight Deck.
1:32:30 CLU’s platform and podium.
1:33:20 Line of sight from Podium to Kevin Flynn’s Disc.
1:33:30 Gantry overlooking Flight Deck, filled with army.
1:34:00 Flight Deck is the ship! Bit like an aircraft carrier. Long end has open groove in floor.
1:35:00 Good views of the large-scale interior layout.
1:35:35 Line of sight from gantry down to a plane and service vehicle.
1:35:40 Lift top floor, 2 guards. (First contact.)
1:36:00 Administrator ‘nests’ at top floor. Lift doors close.
1:36:30 Kevin Flynn steals an aircraft.
1:36:55 Ramp from admin nest to Disc room.
1:37:00 Disc stolen. Alarm starts!
1:37:22 Lift doors open. A guard enters with Quorra!
1:37:30 Guard attacks Sam Flynn.
1:37:57 Run back to Disc room. Grab a digital ‘chute from a corridor locker.
1:38:00 Line of sight from Kevin Flynn on Flight Deck up to Sam Flynn jumping from Disc Room.
1:38:30 Entering the Light Jet.
1:39:30 CLU and guards jump from Disc Room, creating Light Jets during the fall.
1:40:15 Sam Flynn activates the rear turret and quickly engages.
1:40:30 First enemy is destroyed against towers.
1:40:30 Enemies leave a trail in front. Quorra shoots through it.
1:41:20 Weaving between towers, short and tall, thin and thick. Some in pairs close together.
1:42:00 Climb until stalled out, putting goodies behind baddies.
1:42:30 Rear turret is jammed!
1:43:30 CLU intercepted by TRON!
1:44:30 TRON lands in Simulation Ocean. Changes from red to blue.
1:45:00 Rough landing on Portal runway.
1:45:15 Textured floors, long stairs, overview of Portal beam.
1:45:30 CLU is already there!
1:47:15 Sam Flynn and Quorra are nearer to the beam. CLU is between them and Kevin Flynn.
1:47:20 Gantry starts to retract! Opens from the middle towards each end.
1:48:20 CLU jumps to the Portal beam side. His ship is approaching!
1:48:55 Sam Flynn releases two discs into the Portal beam, with himself and Quorra.
1:49:30 CLU narrowly fails to reach Sam Flynn and Quorra in the beam.
1:50:00 Re-integration between Kevin Flynn and CLU destroys the Portal.
1:50:15 Sam Flynn powers down the machine in Arcade basement.
1:51:00 Sam Flynn meets Alan in the gaming area of Arcade.
1:51:40 Arcade power is switched off. (But the lights actually stay on.)
1:52:00 Sam Flynn meets Quorra outside.
1:52:15 Sam Flynn and Quorra ride away from Arcade.
1:52:25 Sam Flynn and Quorra ride through forest.
1:52:35 Sam Flynn and Quorra ride over a bridge and see a sunrise. (It’s really long...maybe a viaduct?)
1:53:00 Quorra smiles. Movie ends.
1:53:15 Ending credits. (These could be made as textures, acknowledging contributors to the level you've just completed!)


At the moment, TRON: Light Jets starts in the same arena as the other TRON levels. It will need an all-new map file due to respawn points anyway. No idea when I'll start that, but now I know the 3 main settings to create.

Gameplay
Don't worry, we all know acting out a linear story is super lame in a video game. TRON: Light Jets will play a bit 'fast and loose' with the characters and precise interactions to avoid that.

It will be a team game, as we already know. My experiments allowing a passenger to control the turret of an Armed Land Roamer have had mixed success. I'm hoping to test and devise better solutions and work-arounds to the collision model and sprite size limitations. Elypter, Pyro, Sektor, Vike and other experimental modders might help me with that, over time? ;)

Respawn points will be on the gantry above the flight deck. This means you'll waste some time having to respawn. There is a lift with a door which will act as an important control point to balance the gameplay during the early stages of the level.

Quorra will ideally, be coded as a REFUGEE who you can lead to the big Light Jet. But I don't think the AI can be forced to jump off high edges? I guess she could be set to follow p1 and you would jump off the ledge onto a solid but invisible floor. Once she is on the same floor, you are both made invulnerable and REMOVE_BLOCK is applied. Hopefully you would both fall and both survive.

(There's a few innovative little tricks I hope to try, like that. If they don't work, or we find even better ones, the level can be closer to the movie.)

The level will support 1-6 players, eventually. There will be a maximum of two 'goodies' and everyone else will be 'baddies'. The teams will alternate so they are balanced with fewer players. Bots can be used to help even things out when there are only 1 or 2 players.

It feels like a breakthrough, to me. For this whole year I just couldn't imagine how to make this level play nicely; something more than a vehicle shooting gimmick. But now I'm optimistic. This really could become something cool. 8-)

What do you peeps think?

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 20 Mar 2012, 18:15
by AssainGuy
By today's play, I've tested with Ben and the douche Heri.
Ben is a pro, I'm a regular player and Heri is a lamer.

All the problems/bugs ive found (i dont know what got fixed by the time tough):
-The defensive arena is too far away from the spawn. And all the players spawn in the same place. You're a good coder, i guess you can make teams easily.
-The map is complicated!! I'm even afraid to go near that ghost train!
-Spawnkilling is easy. Very easy. All the players spawn at the same place, you just grab a rocket launcher and spawnkill them by the northern side.
-The attacking team can be trolling and laming easily. Tough the defenders going to be in a corner, waiting for them to get in, but that doesn't matter, because you open the door for a milisec, shoot then close it. In that small time, the defenders try to shoot a rocket, but the door allways closes. You should add a delay ;)
-A bug that you should solve: As being a gunner in the truck, if the truck is going fast, the car leaves the screen and i cannot see what i'm shooting.
-And an idea: The cars shouldn't have infinite ammo! You should add a reloading station ;)

I'm not criticizing your work. I loved the map tough. I would never think about making a map based on Tron. Great idea, and interesting team based gameplay!

;D keep on the good work!

Basic Objectives are Working!

Posted: 21 Mar 2012, 01:06
by BenMillard
Thanks for the feedback, I agree with those points at this early stage. It's also a long, long way from looking as awesome as the movie:
Image
(Screen capture from the movie, found on the TRON Wikia)


Worked all evening on it and fixed a couple of them. Tested with Elypter and it is now a playable level, with objectives basically working from start to finish.

An unexpected and very cool situation can emerge while fighting in the vehicles. I was the blue player and I decided to abandon my heavily damaged car, rather than die in the explosion. I swam* through the Simulation Ocean while Elypter, for the orange team, tried to gun me down. He got me and while I respawned, he flew ahead to The Portal and created an ambush.

Remaining Work
There's a few missing features:
  • Respawning any vehicles which get destroyed.
  • Make the vehicles invulnerable while inside of the mother ship (Rectifier).
  • Create the free fall effect from the windows high up in the docked Command Ship down to the flight deck.
Let the 'Baddies' Win?
If the orange players get to The Portal first, I guess there should be a timer so if they control it for long enough, CLU actually wins and gets to infect the real world? At the moment there is no way for Orange to win. Hmm.

* Well, I actually ran over the surface. But let's use some imagination, it's only GTA2.

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 21 Mar 2012, 06:16
by AssainGuy
Nice! Cant wait to test it ;)

Re: TRON: Tribute Games

Posted: 22 Mar 2012, 00:47
by BenMillard
Elypter and are testing the updated code to make the jets respawn and make them invulnerable while inside the big ship (called the Rectifier).

Vehicle respawn code crashes if the car drowns. Luckily that never happens in this level, now I've fixed the water.