New Developer Diaries of V1

[Rambo]

Developer Diaries!

Droideka & Smod

Spoiler

Droideka & Smod

So, with V1 getting closer and closer, we're going to keep annoying you guys with previews of new things. If everything goes to plan, we'll all be playing V1 this very summer! Unfortunately we can't give you an accurate release date yet.

Droideka

In a previous diary we've already mentioned some changes to droideka. Well anyway, we've got something else to show you! One of our coders, Serath, has implemented a new HUD for droidekas. Shield and ammo values can now be properly read out from the HUD. Here is a short video that shows it to you ingame:

As you can see the shield values properly update and are way easier to read now. The blue bar on the left of the ammo bar on Droideka's HUD shows the availability of the Discharge ability and disappears when it is unavailable. Additionally, when hit by pulse grenades, the ammo displayed in the HUD will turn negative in order to show the player for how long his ammo will be disabled.

On the subject of Droidekas, they are now able to open the throne and fed room doors on Mb2_Dotf.

ShowPlayerID

Another coder, ZwM, added a new command, /showplayerID. This is a command all players can use to view the players on the server. Unlike the serverstatus command, showplayerID actually shows the correct client slots for the players. Here's how it looks in your console:

Smod

ZwM also implemented some other changes that server admins may like. First of all, you can create your own smod accounts now. There are up to 16 configurable smod IDs in the server config file, that you can alter. Each of these 16 accounts can have different settings. Here's an example as to how it would look in your server.cfg:

seta g_smodAdminPassword_1 "welovedotf"
seta g_smodConfig_1 "4095" // Access to all Smod Commands

seta g_smodAdminPassword_2 "iamagreatjedi"
seta g_smodConfig_2 "197" // Access to Kick, Tempban, Ban, and Map

Logging into smod now works slightly different: /smod login <account ID> <password>
So for instance to log into the second account, do /smod login 2 iamagreatjedi

One of the useful things about this is, you could also add an smod account with no admin commands enabled at all (smodconfig set to 0). This account would be able to log into smod and be able to speak to the admins privately. I suppose clans and such might find this useful.

We've also enabled auto-renaming by default. This means that two players with the same name will now get renamed by the server. This used to be configurable before. Smod commands being logged is also enabled by default now.

Inactivity

There are also some minor changes to inactivity settings. The current g_inactivity cvar has been removed and replaced with two cvars:

• g_InactivitySpec "30" - time in seconds until (inactive) player is moved to spectator.
• g_InactivityKick "180" - time in seconds until (inactive) player is kicked from the server.

The values above are just examples of course, the server owner can set this to their own liking. This might come in handy for server admins who want AFK players to be moved to spectator, instead of having them get kicked. And of course, you'll still get a warning message from the server before you get kicked or moved to spectator.



A new sample server.cfg will be provided with the release, so I highly recommend server admins use that. You'll be able to read the new smod bitvalues in the MBII_Readme file once the release is out.

That's all for now guys!

Soldiers, Wookies, Duels!

Spoiler

Soldiers, Wookiees, Duels!

Hey guys, here is another diary with a few new things. It's been a couple of weeks since the last diary, so we thought it was time to post another one.

Soldier changes

We've made some changes to the Soldier class. The rally ability lacked a useful mechanic in it and we think the following changes will make it more interesting to use:

• Rally gives boosts to Soldiers who assemble at the commander now: a small amount of bonus HP and a slight speed increase, lasting for 20 seconds.
• Soldier's close combat ability has been buffed (Level 2): Soldier now has the commander-like speed (for all weapons) & commander-like getup.

This makes the rally a more interesting ability and should increase its usability. The speed increase, gained thanks to the close combat ability, stacks with the rally boost. This means that for a short moment (20 seconds), soldiers can become very fast. The ability might come in handy with coordinated team attacks.

New Duel Maps

So far we have added 5 new duel maps. Most of the duel maps well made using the existing maps, from which we took the interesting parts, improved the layout and turned them into proper duel maps. Fortunately there isn't much effort involved with creating duel maps, which allowed us to create these new maps in quite a short amount of time. Yay, you can now practice your lightsaber skills on 5 new maps!

Mb2_Duel_Boc: the main hangar of the current Battle Over Coruscant map.

Mb2_Duel_Datacore: based on the datacore area of Republic Cruiser.

Mb2_Duel_Detention: a fresh new map made by Mace.

Mb2_Duel_Korriban: the "final" SP map scene. FA is set to the dark side ending (Kyle VS Jaden).

Mb2_Duel_SDestroyer: main hangar area of the SDestroyer map.

Wookiee Rage

We have also made some changes to the Wookiee Fury ability. As we want to utilize Wookiee in a more aggressive style, instead of the defensive style as of currently, we have implemented a few changes as follows:

• Getting hurt no longer gives you Fury Points.
• Dealing damage to enemies is what gives you Fury Points now.
• Fury level 2 gives you the shoulder barge attack, even when Fury isn't activated.
• The barge move cooldown has been doubled outside of Fury.

A reminder: we could still use a couple beta testers. See this thread if you haven't seen it already.

Dxun map, new loading screens, team-kill menu

Spoiler

Progress!

Since it has been quite some time since our last release, we decided to start showing some progress. The idea is to show short developer diaries every few weeks to show you that MB2 development is not dead. As usual, the work you will get to see is most likely still a work in progress.

Dxun

You may remember Dxun from KOTOR or simply from Star Wars lore. Dxun is a moon orbiting the planet Onderon. It's known for it's jungle enviroment. Snodog has been working on this map, which originally was intended for the Conquest gametype. Unfortunatly the Conquest gamemode has been delayed for the time being.





The teams EbonHawk (rebels) attack the Mercenaries (imperials) to destroy the weapon caches. There are several different routes leading to the objective. Areas differ from both wide open areas and closequarter and narrow areas (such as the caves). Hopefully this will keep gameplay interesting.





The objective is destroying the two weapon crates. Imperials spawn in this area. The weapon crates are protected by a shield which has to be shut down before the rebel team can destroy them. You can do this by hacking the console that is right next to the two weapon crates, or by hacking the console from another corridor.

Loading screens

Starushka has been working on some new high quality loading screens to replace the old and dull ones that we have right now. Click on the image to view them in full size and higher quality.





As you can see the layout is changed compared to the current design. The images have a way higher resolution compared to the older images. Space has been freed up to show a larger map image aswell.





In a future diary we'll announce another neat little feature for the loading screens. Most of the loading screens are done, but these are all we're showing you for now!

Teamkill Menu

Our coder DCM has also made a neat little addition which the lazy players will certainly like. Currently to punish or forgive a teamkiller, you need to write !punish or !forgive in chat to (for)give TK points. He implemented a menu that shows up after you get teamkilled.



As you can see it's pretty straightforward. Press F1 to punish and F2 to forgive. After doing so the menu closes again. Alternatively you can close the menu by pressing F3, which will result in the same thing as doing nothing with the current system (which will automatically deal 50% of the points from punishing). The current methods of simply writing !p or !f in chat will also stay functional.

In case you're unable to view the images (they're uploaded on imgur) I've also uploaded them on tinypic.
Dxun: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
Loading screens: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
TK Menu: 1

That's it for now! We'll try and show you some more progress within a few weeks. Hopefully sooner, but no promises. If you have any feedback please let us know!

Lunarbase, Tracking Darts

Spoiler

Progress on V1!

It's been (too) long since you've heard from the team so I decided to put a short diary together. Many of us have been inactive but we're trying to turn this around now. Fortunately we've had a few new developers and also a few old ones returning. We're however still looking for testers and developers, so if you think you have what it takes, feel free to apply.

As always, keep in mind that whatever we show you is WIP and isn't guaranteed to be released.

Lunarbase

There was an idea brought up in beta for an additional corridor connecting the middle of the tunnel to the imp side of the gen corridor. It's essentially a large corridor that goes under the outside area. It's unlocked by hacking the secondary objective (green dot on image below).

Here's a (rough) image to show you what I'm talking about. The green route is the new one.

Here are a few screenshots to show you the current state. Note that it is far from finished, and is still going to change, as it still needs some extra detail. Development on this started about a week ago, so I haven't exactly had much time yet.

I've also made the vents slightly more accessible for wookiees, and fixed the other side door showing up as green (unlocked).As for the new route, we'll see how it works out in public.

Gameplay

There are some changes in the gameplay area too:

- Pseudo-Q3 removed inside close IDR. Kept outside of it.
Stassin implemented this. So what this comes down to, is that blocking while swinging in IDR doesn't work anymore. Outside of IDR, this should still work.

- The projectile rifle now deals damage against the droideka's shield (instead of hull).

- Rockets and grenade damage has been increased against breakables and NPCs (2x and 3x respectively).
These numbers might still change, but this is what we've got them at in beta.

- Updated westar m5: clip reload system and level 2 added.
Level 2 adds walking accuracy. It costs 6 points.

Tracker Darts

This is a feature our coder Serath implemented a while ago. Tracker darts update their color based on the health of their target: [1,25] - red, [26,50] - orange, [51,75] - yellow, [76,100]. Here's a video demonstrating this:

A few bugfixes

Although we're good at creating bugs, we also try to fix them. Here are a few issues we've fixed in beta:

- Changing class in Full Authentic mode while alive no longer (instantly) kills you.
One of our new coders ZwM fixed this. You can select another class while alive and you'll get changed to that the next round.

- Fixed a bug where scoping in/out with low-clip resulted in flickering.

- Fixed an exploit that let the players write multiple-line messages into chat.

Development

Currently we're just trying to iron out some vital gameplay changes and fix remaining bugs.
We've caught some new bugs in beta that we're trying to fix before we release to you guys. A few examples of current bugs: the /tell command shows the text to people other than the sender & recipient, when spec hud is hidden it will reveal itself after spectating droidekas, and up until recently selecting the clonetrooper class crashed the client. These are just a few examples, but there are just many things preventing us from releasing right now.

If you have questions or comments, let us know!
Alternative image urls:
Lunar: #1 - #2 - #3 - #4

Smuggler Map!

Spoiler

Introduction

Hello there,
I am Hexodious, the newest addition to the MovieBattles II development team. I have been a part of the beta for a while now and decided to help further by creating maps for this amazing mod. I would like to show you something I have been working on recently, a new map that you may have seen on the {BG}Events server as I've been testing it with a few people there.

MB2_Smuggler

This map is different than anything you can currently find in Movie Battles 2. It has been specifically designed for smaller amounts of players (10-12) and competitive match-play. The map features tight combat areas and varying degrees of cover with multiple routes. Unlike a traditional MB2 map, a single round here should last only for 2-3 minutes due to its smaller size. This is ideal for smaller servers with a lower population and instant action. A layout of the map can be seen in the images below.

Objectives

Imperials
The map is set in one of Boba Fett's hideouts. Boba Fett has some sensitive information about the routes Smugglers are taking to transport weapons around for the Rebels, and he has been selling this information to the Empire. His objective is to defend this information and kill the intruders. Alternatively he can blow up their ship.

Rebels
The Smugglers have ties to the Rebels and have been transporting cargo across the galaxy. But Boba has been selling information about their flight paths to the Empire. The objective is simple, fly in get the information and fly out as quick as possible.

Dual Objectives
That's right, this map introduces dual objectives! Imperials can decide whether they want to defend the datapad and play the defensive role, or rather take the offensive approach and try to plant a bomb on the Rebel ship. After planting a bomb they need to hold the area for a few seconds, until the bomb explodes.

In the case you decide to play as a Rebel, you once again take the offensive role, but can choose the preferred objective. One of the options is to steal the datapad and then quickly return it to your ship and escape the area. The other option is to defuse the bomb that has been planted by Imperials.

Gameplay

As the map still is not finished, all the textures are currently placeholder. The focus lies in the gameplay at the moment and adjusting the objectives. Obviously, the textures will be ultimately replaced with better ones. In the case you would like to watch how the map is being made live, you can tune into www.twitch.tv/hexodious_.

We may see the V1 version this summer, but for now, I'll keep you guys up-to-date with new developer diaries.

[Wipe]

Cool

[Tobi]

whoa, i had no idea the dev dairies even existed. Good to see the progress and new features. Also they are aiming for a summer release which is awesome! cant wait to get my hands on it. Thanks for the update Rambo!!

[KnightFist]

Sweet!

[AOD_AgentGibbs]

looks good so far minus the deka proj relationship

[Emiyuu]

Soldier+ET combos are going to be ridiculously strong