UT 2k3/2k4 RainbowSix mute would like some testers

HELP! FragOps ate my default gametypes!!!

Meow,

I'm excited to see you progressing on a Chinook. That'll be a jaw-dropping site to see in the game, that's for sure.

I meant to mention in the past that I have tried your maps, and they are very well crafted. I didn't mean to overlook mentioning them in the past, and I'll probably give more specific feedback later, but I have a major headache on my hands that needs addressing first...


Last night I installed FragOps, TacOps: Crossfire, and SAS. I haven't tried a single one of these in the past due to having INF "spoil" most first person shooters for me. My primary purpose in installing the above mods was to expand the range of maps available to me for my YARM experiences.

Earlier today, I started up UT2004 as usual. I scrolled through the gametypes, selected one entitled something like "FragOps Missions," and was immediately disappointed to see that the YARM mutators didn't load, and (apparently) everything on the screen was just how the FragOps team intended. Tried it for 5 minutes, got nauseous (no insult intended), forfeited the match, and noticed that the background GUI had a dark-green theme to it that wasn't there before I started the new gametype.

So I quite the game, restarted UT2004, and for a second everything looked normal, but the background behind the "normal" content was STILL dark-green. Went to select the gametype, and lo and behold, Death Match, Team Death Match and the like were GONE. The only gametypes still available were the "Special" ones that were put in by other mods. YARM's was listed so I tried YARM Domination, and it worked perfectly fine, but...

I want to UNDO what FragOps did! Any advice on how I can restore the default gametypes? I came very close to start deleting everything related to FragOps, but stopped in case that ended up doing more harm than good.

Eagerly awaiting a reply!

Meow

What Modelling program do you use to model the guns?

Meow,

Yeah, I couldn't find any open forums for FragOps either. I wish that I would've known about having separate directories for mods; I've done that since day 1 with Operation Flashpoint, but never thought that it was "so" easy to do for UT2004. I assumed that when mods are installed into their own directories for UT2004 that there was something "extra special" going on in the coding to get them to work. I don't ever fuss with anything that requires too much brainpower in regards to coding, so I never even thought about it. Now do I wish I had! For example, I'd love to get rid of everything dealing with Halo, as I never really had much interest in it when it first came out (super-linear gameplay and the story never struck me as anything special). Had I put that stuff in its own directory all I'd have to do is delete it, but now I'll have to comb through and the time involved in doing that...!

I'll reinstall UT2004 over the top and hope that takes care of it. I don't want to have to delete the stuff that I poured so much time into setting up (such as the maps).

I deeply appreciate your asking me which INF maps are my favorites. The bulk of my answer will be taken up by missions which were centered on objective-based missions. My favorite maps of all time have to be Tuscany and Tuscany Night. The Training map was great, as it provided a TON of opportunities to utilize INF's fantastic ballistics system (although the bot pathing left a lot to be desired as the bots really never took advantage of climbing the ladders to utilize the tops of the structures). TexasBank is a must-have, especially the upgraded version. LondonWentham and LondonWenthamNgt were deeply immersive and were tension filled due to the great bot-pathing; disarming the bombs in the subway station was nail-biting, and just "clearing" the park was a nightmare as the environment never allowed you to feel safe--its only competition on this level was Bastillestation (as linear as it was, it was realistic so its confinement in regards to strategy was believable), although LondonCity runs very close behind (the bots weren't the best at defending inside the main facility). Farmland. Chasm (the facility was brilliantly designed, but the canyon itself left a lot for me to desire). Iraq is must-play and DEEPLY immersive map. As is Silo (a bit too claustrophobic though) and Skopje (a later upgrade improved it significantly). Mostar with its variable crash sites was terrific two-thirds of the time (the one-third it sucked is when the copter crashed in the walled-in lot behind a cluster of buildings; enemy AI didn't now how to get there and put pressure on the operation. Arab Outpost was a well designed environment for MOUT-type ops. Atoll was a very unique environment that felt too small, with bot-pathing that was too predictable. Otherwise I liked its ambiance a lot. Sleepytown had about the only believable midwestern USA-feeling map. There's one map that I can't recall the title of right now that was great. It had a broken down keep surrounded by a large thick wall high on top of a hill. Attackers were spawned a ways away and had to assault the compound (which had a trailer and hay bales) to get inside the keep to reach the objective. If you remember this one, an updated version GREATLY elevated its appearance, going so far as to have the well crafted evergreens SWAYING by the breeze. Angelheart's stuff was always visually brilliant and yet just as frustrating due to their lack of threadbare support of bots. There was a map with a house that had moving boxes allover the place, and a moving truck outside that was great for small matches. Can't remember its title now (maybe "MovingOut"?).

I hope this list helps. It's a tough one because there were so many well executed endeavors. More might come back to me later. But, if I HAD TO pick just one map at this point, it would be LondonWenthemNgt with its subway, park, and whatnot. It just felt alive in so many ways.

Meow,

How unfortunate that you can't have a go at LondonWentham! A groundbreaking map on so many different levels... I'd have to FIND my one external HD that has my 3GB's worth of INF files on it in order to get it to you. Maybe you could put up a request for someone who's still VERY active in the community to give you a hand with getting it?

I promise you, you'll never forget the experience. Especially clearing out that park. It's elevated by about two stories, and you can either get up there from the street directly outside the subway station, or go up the main drag that's not too far from the enemy's spawn point, slug your way up that hill, turn right and cut across the footbridge to those waiting for you. If you go up from the subway's street, the foliage is so thick and the shadows so dark that the enemy has a terrific advantage over you. And as you work doing your thing the reinforcements will be trying to cross over that footbridge I mentioned earlier. Tough environment.

I'm eager to get my mitts on your next release. Sorry to hear that the scoped AK won't be in it, but the special map sounds like fun.

I just finished reinstalling UT2004. I'll fire it up tomorrow.

Good night!

Great, the P90 looks awesome! We all can wait for the AK in a future release, we´re sure its going to kick some serious arses... Nice new chopper, but don´t forget to fix the Mil Mi-4, I mean, it has rocket lauchers but can´t shoot! (it would be useful for a anti-tank attack from above ;D

Bout the maps, Kyle indicated exactly most of the maps I would suggest so.. =)

Meow,

Or you could release both AKs...

I mean, why leave good work in the dustbin of history?

Oh, and I think that the name of the small map with the house & boxes is entitled "MovingDay." Pretty sure on that one now.

Back to work I go-go.

Have a great day All...

Well, the lense support seems a little too thick, if you could make it thinner, and move the view (or pawn camera) closer to the lense (enough to not clip the model, or a lil higher) we could benefit more from the kobra sight, just my 2cc

Some pics to clarify my suggestion:





And as Kyle said, we could have both ak107 with and without sights (it has single, burst and full auto mode too, just to make it different of the average AK74)

great news to see it in this release ;D (keep up the great work, man)

I don't think it's the model so much as UT2k4's FOV. It tends to distort things that are closer to the screen. It happened with most UT based games. It's a stylistic choice of the engine makers I think.

UT2k4 based Raven SHield vs Stalker's Perspective with mega mod pack AK103

UT2k4 tends to stretch out and enlarge as it approaches the screen where as Stalker keeps everything "even" which makes the weapon look fat and stocky.

Lib,
Nice that you're able to supply those reference shots.

Chuckus,
Insightful analysis of how the games differ from one another in regards to how distortion is managed by two different engines. It sort of reminds me how I explain the differences between maps and their functionality to my Geography students, although I don't know why distortion is "needed" at all in regards to a first person shooter.

If memory serves me correct from my advanced drawing courses the human eye does "curve" what's perceived in regards to the outside world. Kind of strange to think that our very senses make it impossible to experience the world in its utterly "true" state.

Uh-oh. This is starting to sound like a philosophy class...!

meowcat said:

I tweaked the Kobra Sight model so it tapers a bit towards the rear and is lower. I am in the process of making a few last minute checks of settings and then I should be able to upload the next version. I aiming to have it posted in about two hours. I have both AK74 and AK107 models both with and without the Kobra Sight. For now though only the AK107 will have the sight installed.

Click to expand...

Oh GREAT! That´s perfect, I´m just tickering to put my virtual hands on these new beauties lol
I´m sure those adjusts will fit just right! Don´t forget to put a tutorial of the new parkour movements on the readme.txt ;D
Spread the tactical luv

Meow,

For all of the ten minutes I tested out the Jurassic Rage mod. I liked some of the weapon and bot models and one more thing even more so than the other two...

When the player spawned, he was immediately surrounded by 4-5 AI comrades who did a commendable job of keeping up with the player and watching the perimeters. It struck me on the way home tonight that this might be a feature that could be added to YARM, and hopefully not require a ton of coding...

Here's what I'm imagining: a mutator option entitled "YARM Comrades." Its features could be adjusted via the GUI, and be setup along the lines of something like this:
The mut's window would display a line that states "Number of bot teammates currently assigned to the mission: ##" The numbers that would appear would be half -1 (for the player's position) of whatever max the player assigned in the standard UT2004 UI. There would then be a series of statements with a box that one could check. When a box is selected, the other statements would ghost out. The statements would read...
[ ] Assign bots to form an element of FOUR.
[ ] Assign bots to form an element of SIX.
[ ] Assign bots to form a squad of NINE.
[ ] Assign bots to form a squad of TWELVE.

If not enough bots were assigned in UT2004's standard bot-assignment window, the affected statement would appear in red text. If the mouse cursor was floated over the red text, a Help balloon would appear, informing the player that if he wants more comrades that he/she needs to increase the bot total in the appropriate window.

Upon the first spawn, the player would have the assigned number of bots rush to his location. They would stay with the player unless commanded to do otherwise. Preferably, by default, they'd roughly maintain a circular perimeter with the player at its center, and not be fanatical about it like in OFP or ArmA, where too often the element's/squad's rigid-formation demands gets them needlessly killed. Unless operating within tight enclosures and/or responding in a defensive manner, they'd stay spread out so that a single frag doesn't take all of them out.

Of course this is starting to sound increasingly complicated, but maybe it's simpler than the Band of Brothers-inspired control scheme I mentioned earlier? See? I'm taking it easy on you!


I'm wondering if you're open to a gametype suggestion? I've been mulling over a concept that I believe would be a lot of fun, would be flexible and strongly emulate the objective-style missions that INF so glowingly featured, and (I'd imagine) wouldn't require a ton of coding. The fundamental premise is this: Secure Until Extraction. Spawn points for each side would be within close proximity to each other to simulate a squad of soldiers working together to get a task done. One side would be tasked with securing a randomly placed objective which would cycle through a series of available items worth securing: a downed/stranded vehicle that has a valuable item inside, a limping crewmember, several crewmembers, immobilized crewmen/infantry, a downed high-tech Raptor, a busted up briefcase with who-knows-what-inside, etc. ...

The Securing team would need to protect the item(s) till extraction arrived either by air (Chinook/HH-60 Pave Hawk) or by land (MRAP Cougar or Stryker). The player could establish the exact amount of time it would take for the extraction to appear, or setup a random time frame of a min. of 5 min. to an hour (a REAL glutton for punishment I guess).

The player could define the maximum number of respawns before his unit is totally wiped out.

The opposing force's task would be to STOP the extraction by eliminating all of the enemies or by destroying the extraction vehicle. Their task is NOT to destroy the item(s) or personnel, but rather to secure them themselves. The team in possession of the item(s) for the longest period and that secures successful extraction wins.

Basically, this replaces the glowing circles with something more immersive and less abstract!

Wow. I am "so" creative!

Yummy!

I'm tired to the bone, but there's no way that I'm going to bed till I give it a try.

Thanks for all of your hard work Meow!

Feedback later...!

Meow,

Here's my review of your latest (and superb) build. This is a quick one for me, as I'm literally racing against myself from being so tired.

Deeply Appreciated
Forgive me in advance if I repeat anything that you may have mentioned in the Read Me. Time is such a premium for me I didn't read it yet. Yeah, a sin, I know...

*Working fire modes! Suddenly the M16A4 is even more effective at 50 m. + than ever before.

*AKs! Thank you oh thank you! Reminds me (almost) of my glory days in INF with the AKMSU. The model and skinning looks GREAT.

*The FN P90! Truly a terrifying weapon that I was nervous to wield myself. The model and skinning looks GREAT.

*Every hit effect seems enhanced and more robust without being excessive. There's more dust from rounds slamming into surfaces and the hit effects on the player with the gradually reddened screen is perfect. You just KNOW you're in trouble now when your screen's getting gored up with your own blood.

*Tracers have been removed. Or so it seems. Am I correct on this observation, or just delirious? If so, a big improvement that really ratchets the tension and avoids having tracer rounds magically appearing out of the midst of THICK terrain as in the last build.

*I am not a fan of third person views. BUT...you may yet convert me. Looks good and is certainly intense!



May Need Attention
1. I've yet to see a bot use a hand grenade. This was a serious issue in INF as well, and I don't know if it has to do with the bots' coding or what. Do I need to have the bots' skill level set to a specific setting or are they just not using them because they don't know how? The game would be ratcheted up to new levels if this issue could be addressed.

2. Firing Modes: we need a small graphic on the screen informing us what it's set to. In real life, if we forgot, our muscle memory would do a subconscious check against the switch's position, but we don't have that luxury in virtual world, so it would be a BIG help if we had a HUD indicator.

3. Stamina Effects: I wrote about this in an INF thread. You already brought to reality my desired "blood on screen when hit" indicator and, if possible, it'd be great to NOT have to rely on a HUD to know what one's stamina was by what's happening on the screen. My previous suggestion, and the one I'm still sticking with, is that as one's body gets ever more exhausted, the colors on the screen become ever more desaturated, approaching a near-gray state when COMPLETELY out of energy reserves.

4. Bullet Snaps from Passing Rounds: Yes, badly needed. It's the ONLY thing I miss from the MCM-SLX mod for Operation Flashpoint, ArmA and Combat Mission: Shock Force.

5. This one's related to the bots not using grenades, but isn't an issue yet since grenade launchers have yet to be mounted to assault rifles. In INF, the bots didn't use their GLs because they didn't know how. From all of the threads that I visited over the years, it certainly sounded like it was possible to fix, but just was never attempted. This took a chunk of immersion out of INF for me, so if you do implement GLs I wish you the best of luck with the bots getting to use them. Few things look lamer than seeing bots with GLs and not once using them.

6. I can't recall if bots' vision is blocked by smoke in this build; if not, please do what you can to be effective against bots. This was another INF limitation that kept wiggling me out of the game.

7. If possible, make it easier to alter the following features in YARM Weapons mutator: Remove all crosshairs, Disable smoke trails on ALL grenade types, and Disable glow effects for ALL grenade types. I keep finding myself drawn back to the YARM Weapons mut, but those trails and glows are driving me cookoo!

8. I can't recall if I was having any issues with the latest build regarding the consistency of all of one's teammates showing up wearing the correct and identical camouflage. This was a serious issue for me in the last build, but maybe that was due to my using the BloodLossLite mut? I'm not using that mut during this wave of testing, by the way. I'd like to supply you with the most accurate feedback possible.

9. Oh, my mind's taffy now. I can't recall if ricochets are modeled in this build. I think I saw them at work. Not sure. If not, I'm sure you know where I'm heading by mentioning it now...

10. Weapon Systems: please, if at all possible add...
*FN SCAR in any and all variants.

*HK 416 and/or HK 417 in any and all variants.

*AKMSU - preferably "tricked out" with Cobra sight, ammo drum, and one of those fancy rail systems I've seen released for AKs. For what it's worth, I'd take a plain ol' AKMSU with ammo drum just because it was my weapon of preference for INF, and I miss it!

*AKM with GP-25.

*DSA-58OSW: a greatly truncated FN FAL tricked out with all of the bells and whistles. I've yet to see this thing in any title, and it's hard to imagine just how devastating this thing would have to be in CQB. Body armor? What body armor?!

*Tavor TAR-21: While it has made appearances in various titles, I've yet to see the full-sized assault rifle version. Any of the variants will do, of course, but I'm interested in seeing what the Bid Daddy can do.

*SAR-21 RIS: Here's another system I've yet to see in a game. There might be a good reason for that, I don't know. I've just been intrigued by it and so here it is...

*SIG SG-550 and/or SG-551LB (LB=Long Barrel; this lengthened carbine, I believe, will allow a GL to be mounted whereas the regular SG-551 carbine is too short to fit it).

*FAMAS G2 Commando and/or FAMAS-FELIN: While we've seen the FAMAS in other titles, I've yet to see the Commando or FELIN variants. So perhaps we could draw in more players by offering them something a little bit different?

*FN F2000: I'm a bit wary to mention this thing, as it seems like it's used in every "ultra slick" shooter out there. It looks good, but I know very little about it. Avoid it if it's not a system that's drooled after for its CAPABILITIES and not for its looks.


Are you planning on supplying different grenade types for grenade launchers? INF supplied a generous range of these things, which is something that would be nice to see again...


Time for bed. BIG time! Meow, if every single one of your updates is up to this caliber, you'll probably be able to release it as a commercial title before Blackfoot Studios does.

Thanks again for all of your hard work. Incredible stuff.