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    Scavenger

    roburky 18 years ago
    Edit:
    This mod has been renamed and released, and can be found in this thread.


    -----

    A long time ago now, I was having a go with making a mod for Notrium. I lost a lot of my progress in an accident, with the last backup a long way behind. I never really got back into it after that. I've got some free time at the moment, so I'm having another go.



    The concept is you are a cybernetically enhanced being trying to survive on alien world for reasons not yet decided. It's essentially my remix of the Notrium concept.

    Current download address:
    <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.03.zip">http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.03.zip</a><!-- m -->

    Biggest changes are the return of the hunger bar, and LASER EYES. The hunger drain is very slow, so you have plenty of time to get your bearings and start hunting the slug-beasts for food. The laser eyes need to be constructed, but I think they're going to change the dynamic of the game. Let me know how you think the laser eyes change how the mod plays.

    Complete change log from 0.03:

    Miscellaneous:
    - Hunger bar is back (referred to as sustenance bar). Slug meat will replenish it.
    - The wrecks now all have different ambient sounds.
    - The music has been changed. It also happens to be a smaller file size, making the whole mod easier to download.

    Items:
    - New items found at crash sites: weapon chassis, electromagnet, food ration, propellant unit
    - Food rations are available as an option to satisfy hunger. You start with a couple to make the early game easier, but ones available to find are limited (just like original Notrium, I guess).
    - The projectile weapon is buildable, using the weapon chassis, propellant unit, and multi-metal.
    - Projectile weapon rate of fire increased slightly.
    - The player now has an ocular filter item, which is equipped to the head slot. When you have nanites, the filter is automatically equipped, and the red glow in front of the player is in effect. When you run out of nanites, it is automatically unequipped.
    - The nanite link and the nanite cell can be combined to make an energy converter.
    - The energy converter can be combined with your ocular filter to make Laser Eyes. This is an auto-equipped organ like the ocular filter, and allows you to shoot lasers from your eyes at any time using the right mouse button.

    Creatures:
    - New mini versions of the insects are spread about the world. Unlike the larger ones, they will not attack.
    - Insects leave a little trail.
    - Insects have fiery blood.
    - Blue plants give the same effects whether they die from attacking or being attacked. They also have nanite particles for 'blood'.
    - Blue plants are now more common around springs.
    - Mosquito drone will now properly 'fly'.
    - Mosquito drone's weapon has been tweaked in all areas.

    Previous versions:

    Scavenger 0.02
    <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.02.zip">http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.02.zip</a><!-- m -->

    Change log from 0.02:
    - Mosquito drone: A new creature that lies dormant near crash sites, waiting for a nanite-powered creature to approach. This machine will feed on your nanite reserve.
    - The nanite reserve will now self-replicate at a rate according to the size of the bar. The more nanites you have, the faster they will replicate.
    - Using a nanite cell will now leave you with a dead cell.
    - A nanite link item will appear near crash sites. This item can be used to refill a dead cell with nanites, at the cost of emptying your nanite reserve.
    - The crash sites will occasionally release a spark.
    - The electric blue plants are back, but with a twist. They're still useful, but they're also dangerous.
    - All electric attacks will reduce hydration. Can't think of an explanation yet. But I think it's interesting for all themed attacks to have a secondary effect.

    Scavenger 0.01
    <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.01.zip">http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.01.zip</a><!-- m -->

    First thing I've done is simplify it by quite a bit. Loading up Notrium again, I found I couldn't play my own game - it was too hard. I also remembered that in my last attempt at continuing it, I had run into some trouble with the massive amount of player effects I had going at once. So I've removed a few of the survival mechanics.

    Anyway, I've just reached a point where everything I had begun to fiddle with has reached a playable point, so before I start adding new stuff, I'm going to upload what I have, to see if anyone wants to give some feedback.

    Current things to see and do (version 0.01):
    - The world is filled with alien creatures. Timid brown slugs, jittery fire-spitting insects, and mammoth-like electric blue slugs that act as a hive for symbiotic spawnflies. None of them are agressive (except maybe the spawnflies), but they will all react to your presence. Making the AI and visual effects for these creatures was a lot of fun.
    - You have a hydration bar, which can be refilled from the strange glowing springs dotted around the map. You don't have a hunger bar as I just removed it to simplify things a bit.
    - You still have a body temperature bar, which works like it does in Notrium. There are cooling units to be found which can lower it, and fires which can warm it.
    - In place of an energy bar, you have a nanite reserve. As long as you have at least some amount of nanites, they will self-replicate and refill your reserve. If you run out, the bar will not replenish. If you can find a nanite cell, however, you can add a few nanites to your reserve and they will begin to replicate.
    - You won't find nanite cells or cooling units lying just anywhere. Objects of technology will only be found near crash sites.
    - Fires, likewise, are currently only found near recent craters.
    - You start with a projectile weapon. The plan is for this to be upgradable, but I haven't gotten around to redoing that. The only creature it is really effective against is the brown slugs.
    - If you kill a brown slug, you will get some slug meat. Take it to a fire and cook it, and you will refill your hydration bar. It used to fill your hunger bar, until I removed that. I may change the descriptions of this process so it makes a bit more sense.
    - Why would you use the slug meat to hydrate yourself when you can use the springs? There is a reason, but it won't really make itself apparent until I've added more to the game to make it worth playing for longer.
    - As a cyborg, you have the ability to use artificial organs to improve yourself. The first artificial organ in the game is the self-repair organ, which you start with. If your body is damaged or weak, you can plug the self-repair organ into your body, and it will begin expending your nanites on healing you.
    #
    Idiota 18 years ago
    Welcome back, roburky. It's been over a year... You were here before I was, which makes it extra good to have you back.

    Hmm... The mod... I have uninstalled Notrium at some point, and I don't feel like installing it again at the moment, so that'll have to wait. (I have to make a report about a book, and I am distracted enough as it is.)
    #
    speedblade 18 years ago
    *can't breath* *dies* *goes to god roburky's heaven.*

    *comes back as an angel* This is what I dreamed what Notrium two would be like.

    EDIT: I can't stop praising roburky, he's like ville's jesus (son)

    Sorry for being so offtopic
    #
    Admiral 18 years ago
    Wow, thats really inventive and I really like those fountains.
    It's a really good start
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    MageKing17 18 years ago
    I (surprisingly) still have Notrium installed, so I'll give it a go later. Good to see something being done.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    New version up.

    <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.02.zip">http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.02.zip</a><!-- m -->

    Change log from 0.02:
    - Mosquito drone: A new creature that lies dormant near crash sites, waiting for a nanite-powered creature to approach. This machine will feed on your nanite reserve.
    - The nanite reserve will now self-replicate at a rate according to the size of the bar. The more nanites you have, the faster they will replicate.
    - Using a nanite cell will now leave you with a dead cell.
    - A nanite link item will appear near crash sites. This item can be used to refill a dead cell with nanites, at the cost of emptying your nanite reserve.
    - The crash sites will occasionally release a spark.
    - The electric blue plants are back, but with a twist. They're still useful, but they're also dangerous.
    - All electric attacks will reduce hydration. Can't think of an explanation yet. But I think it's interesting for all themed attacks to have a secondary effect.
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    I've been putting off trying this, but merely the descriptions of those updates have me curious! I'm going to try it out right now.
    #
    Admiral 18 years ago
    I really like the update, especially the fact that your nanites increase faster the more you have, it really helps
    Are you planning any more areas?
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "Tom Paris" said:
    I really like the update, especially the fact that your nanites increase faster the more you have, it really helps
    Not to mention it's realistic. Although, for total realism, you'd need to represent that the nanites need to consume resources in order to multiply.
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    ModSlayer 18 years ago
    COOL! (Well *looks COOL*) *remarks again* COOL! (I think...)
    heheh....Wow im bored....Might aswell download this....(COOL! (HEHEH IM HAVING FUN....opps capslock ops: ))

    EDIT: Wow 11Mb...I guess ill downlloadit tommarow
    (Yay I got a half-day of school tommarow) Man ive really got to llearn how to spell tommarow...(damn! ops: )
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    Most of the size comes from the music file, which I'll think I'll remove from the next zip file. It's really big, actually very quiet in game, and I haven't asked for permission to use it yet, anyway.

    There will be more areas, but I want to get the other aspects of the game expanded first. There's no point having a bigger area to explore if there's still nothing to do.

    How easy are you findng survival at the moment? How long can you go on with the tools you have? How are you dealing with the various creatures? Anybody tried assaulting a blue slug?
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    Okay, finally got around to playing and I have some things to say.

    If I'm at full hydration, in less than half a minute it'll be empty. That's too quick, in my opinion. A similar problem with temperature, although not as bad.

    The nanite-draining enemy takes away far too many nanites. I accidentally walked into one and my full nanite bar was almost instantly drained. That, combined with the high inaccuracy and low refire rate of your only weapon, make surviving consist of hanging around a spring and avoiding all enemies.
    #
    Anonymous1157 18 years ago
    He had a cheat item in the old version I have that allowed you to live forever by pressing W whenever you were low on health.

    I should reinstall Notrium.
    #
    Redemption 18 years ago
    ModSlayer's back...

    I'll try playing this later because this laptop can't take Notrium.

    Looks good.
    #
    Madgamer 18 years ago
    The most original idea I heard from just one person (which of course, is the maker). I'll try this whenever my parents aren't looking cause as soon as school started they hugely limited my playing time despite my name. I'm still currently into Doom however
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    Thanks, Mageking.

    Yeh, I 've realised that removing the hunger bar means hanging around a spring is all that's needed for survival. I liked the slug hunting for survival I had when I first started this, so I'm going to put the hunger bar back in, but with a slow drain. I wanted the springs to be very important for life, and their positioning to be something the player has to think about, but I may lower the hydration drain, especially if the game becomes more complex.

    A single nanite-draining enemy should not empty your reserve entirely by itself. If you fight back, then yes, your nanite reserve will likely be empty. As nanites replenish so quickly, unless your reserve is completely drained, there is no lasting effect from this creature's special attack.
    What I'm aiming for with that creature is for there to be a decision made every time you approach a wreck on how you're going to deal with them. Do you need to preserve your nanite reserve at the cost of your health? Or do you want to remove it quickly and use a nanite cell to recharge your nanites after the fight?

    The single weapon in the game is unsuitable for fighting any of the agressive creatures, I know. More weapons are on the to-do list.
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "roburky" said:
    The single weapon in the game is unsuitable for fighting any of the agressive creatures, I know. More weapons are on the to-do list.
    This alone would solve the problem. You see, my current strategy is to start running and fire off a single shot. If that shot hits, I don't have to worry, because they tend to die. If it misses, however, I can't usually get enough distance between them and myself, so my nanite bar drops to zero and I can't risk using a nanite cell because he's still nearby (so if I use the cell, he'll just drain it away). A more accurate weapon would solve the problem entirely.
    #
    Anonymous1157 18 years ago
    Actually, the weapon is pretty accurate. The problem I'm having with it is that the bullet and it's reload is a little slow, and I was bad at aiming as quickly as I'm making myself aim to begin with.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    so my nanite bar drops to zero and I can't risk using a nanite cell because he's still nearby

    This shouldn't happen, if everything's working properly.

    The mosquito drone doesn't just drain your nanites. It requires them to live. As soon as your nanite bar reaches zero, it will explode.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    I'd like for it to be possible to run away from the mosquito drone as well. So if you can run out of its weapon range, the link is broken, it has no nanites, and it crashes. I can't see a way to do that, though.
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "roburky" said:
    so my nanite bar drops to zero and I can't risk using a nanite cell because he's still nearby

    This shouldn't happen, if everything's working properly.

    The mosquito drone doesn't just drain your nanites. It requires them to live. As soon as your nanite bar reaches zero, it will explode.
    I wonder if we're even talking about the same enemy, because it sure as hell doesn't die unless I shoot it.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    There should only be one nanite-draining enemy. The sphere thing that appears when you walk up to a spaceship wreck, it glows purple and flies in a circle around you.

    Can you check what happens when you meet one and don't use your gun at all? Or if you fire your gun in the opposite direction? It should die after a short amount of time, or die instantly when your nanite reserve hits 0.
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "roburky" said:
    There should only be one nanite-draining enemy. The sphere thing that appears when you walk up to a spaceship wreck, it glows purple and flies in a circle around you.

    Can you check what happens when you meet one and don't use your gun at all? Or if you fire your gun in the opposite direction? It should die after a short amount of time, or die instantly when your nanite reserve hits 0.
    If I don't fire my gun, it runs into me, drains me of nanites, and stays alive. If I fire my gun and miss, it does the same thing. If I fire my gun and hit, it dies, and I get to keep using nanites.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    So it just keeps firing at you until you die?
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "roburky" said:
    So it just keeps firing at you until you die?
    No, it drains me of nanites and then is past me and has to turn around, during which time I run the f*** away, until I die of hunger and dehydration and lack of heat.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    Ok. Can you try standing still? I want to make sure the blowing up conditions are working for you, becauser they are in mine. I checked the 0.02 data, and it is set to die after 5 seconds. And the script for it to die when the player's nanite reserve reaches 0 is there in the timed block.

    Alternatively, you could try emptying your nanite reserve, then running around a crash site. They should explode immediately.

    Edit: I've just had a play about. I found that if the drone manages to stay very close to you, then it can indeed drain you of nanites by itself. I also found a situation where two drones launched together survived longer than 5 seconds. They were off screen for most of the time, I'm guessing that's the reason why.
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "roburky" said:
    Edit: I've just had a play about. I found that if the drone manages to stay very close to you, then it can indeed drain you of nanites by itself. I also found a situation where two drones launched together survived longer than 5 seconds. They were off screen for most of the time, I'm guessing that's the reason why.
    Sounds like somebody didn't do enough playtesting.

    Two drones launched together... you know, it might've been. It was nighttime then, so it was hard to see.

    You could set them to always calculate AI, that should make them work properly off-screen.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    You could set them to always calculate AI, that should make them work properly off-screen.

    How is that done? I think it may have been introduced after I first began on this, so may not be in the helpful notes on the .dat files.

    Anyway, I'm experimenting with making the drone's weapon more predictable.
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "Notes.txt" said:
    //Creature specialties in creatures.dat:
    0=has bar parameter0 from bars.dat with minimum parameter1 and maximum parameter2 and current value of parameter3 (if any bar reaches minimum, dies)
    1=weapon class parameter0 damage is multiplied by parameter1
    2=carries light parameter0 size parameter1 transparency parameter2, attached to (parameter3, 0=hands, 1=legs, 2=head)
    3=force this creature's AI to be calculated always
    4=prevent collision detection for this creature, parameter0 (1=prevent plot_object collision detection), parameter1 (1=prevent creature collision detection), parameter2 (1=prevent bullet collision detection), parameter3 (1=prevent prop collision detection)
    5=force this creature's AI to be never calculated (prefer setting this as the first specialty, use this for every creature that doesn't need AI)
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    Aha, mine only went up to 2. The others looks useful, also.
    #
    speedblade 18 years ago
    I've killed that giant blue slug thing, all I had to do as face the thing, press and hold left or right to dodge those electy thingys, and fire at it at the same time.... easy
    #
    Madgamer 18 years ago
    Some stuff i want to talk about:

    For now there's only 2 weapons in the game that drains nanites. Later on I'll know you'll make more advanced weapons like SMG. However instead of following the traditional path of just naming shotgun and assault rifle why not make them look more text-flavorly like Para-something (forgot) or the classic boomstick?

    In the start the chances are you'll get killed too early. So many spiders are around and by the time you use your healing item, you find out your nanites are gone and you have to find them but have too low HP. Also hydration drains way to fast in my opinion. Maybe you could get some items like gourds and increase your max hydration so you can travel further. Same with nanites by increasing their max capacity AND increasing the rate nanites are formed (not by a whole lot). Don't do it for HP, you already have a good healing item.

    If swimming will ever be implemented then make the hydration bar drain slower. Hotter climates should drain faster. Something along the lines I'm thinking of.

    Make big badass boss enemies you'll eventually have to kill during the storyline. Obviously for this you would need a strategy to kill the boss so why not makes traps such as trip mines while you're at it?

    Second projectile weapon you can get does not make so much of a difference between the first one. All I know is it can fire faster but why would you want it faster? It already drains your nanites like crazy so all in all not a good idea.

    Once you get hang of the game for some reason it starts to get too easy. No explanation for this

    Lv. up system would be a nice touch if you don't mind. Just don't do anything like raise max HP, hydration, or nanites (weight increase are O.K. though). Every lv the player will recieve some set of skill points he'll later spend to get some skills. 10% faster movement, Night sense, whatever.

    Other than that, I really don't have anything left. I'd like to see how this would develop. Maybe if you're persistent this'll turn like Doom. If not, it'll fall down in a heap of beta mod trashpile.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    Thanks for playing and giving feedback.

    The weapons are mostly going to be wierd scifi stuff. There will be other projectile weapons, but the next implemented one will be lasers from your eyes. Cos you're a cyborg, and all cyborgs must be able to shoot lasers from their eyes.

    The insects are not supposed to be a great threat. They should simply be an annoyance that raises your temperature bar. When I come to adding in new areas, I can balance the starting area by deciding what creatures are present in it.

    I hadn't realised the projectile upgrade was actually in the game. It's a leftover from the detailed upgrade system I was building when I lost most of my work. It took forever to code, and left it very difficult to alter the properties of the weapon, so I decided I'd use a different method when I came to it this time.

    There will be no 'level up' system. I really dislike that kind of thing. You will not get stronger because of some abstract numbers going up. Your abilities will increase when you manage to build artificial organs for your body, new weapons, and so on.
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "roburky" said:
    Cos you're a cyborg, and all cyborgs must be able to shoot lasers from their eyes.
    QFT

    "roburky" said:
    There will be no 'level up' system. I really dislike that kind of thing. You will not get stronger because of some abstract numbers going up. Your abilities will increase when you manage to build artificial organs for your body, new weapons, and so on.
    Excellent. I would, however, like a basic nod to "abstract numbers" levelling systems, in something like if you fire off weapons a lot, your character slowly gets better aim. After all, firing off round after round, you'll eventually get better at directing where they go, correct?
    #
    Anonymous1157 18 years ago
    "MageKing17" said:
    "roburky" said:
    There will be no 'level up' system. I really dislike that kind of thing. You will not get stronger because of some abstract numbers going up. Your abilities will increase when you manage to build artificial organs for your body, new weapons, and so on.
    Excellent. I would, however, like a basic nod to "abstract numbers" levelling systems, in something like if you fire off weapons a lot, your character slowly gets better aim. After all, firing off round after round, you'll eventually get better at directing where they go, correct?
    True. But, we don't want it to look like Runescape, do we? Things like your ability to aim a weapon are okay, but don't make a level-up bar for every little detail.
    #
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