Freedom Reborn Archive

Since the threads are all currently on holiday atm I thought I might as well post here. I guess it can be deleted when the threads come back :)

I've downloaded the public beta of liberty bay and I'm very impressed. I've only noticed a few errors so far. For exampl, commissioner goodman's head. Aperently it doesn't have a main object and thus crashed the game. I managed to sucessfully skip that CS by pressing escape and so avoided the problem.

In addition the ganster interrogate CS after the attack on the police station finishes a bit early. The gansters last line "he can be found at the gym 'round the corner" is played only as a sound file and not displayed as text.

Oh, I got the pinstipe bug again. I killed him and the mission didn't complete. Looking at your code isn't the issue with the function name not beiong set up to effect pinstripes morph but the first pinstripe. Now I undertand you need this so you can still win the mission is pinstripe revets to his first form (it's on a timer I think?) but couldn't you use getobjject name or whatever it is to find out the name of the object pinstripe morphs into ( or do you know that already?) and then setup an interrogation cs for the morph of pinstripe after doc brings down his defenses. But I'm probably just staing the obvious.

This mod is amazing. Great fun to play and incredible quality.
I'm going to finish the 3rd mission right now!

Thx for your marvelous work

Lunarman

The crashing head issue has already been fixed by a patch already available.  The announcement was flushed shortly after being made.

I wasn't sure before why those cutscene quite early, but after having someone else point out an error in one, I now have an idea where to look.

And it's NOT public beta.  It's the second full release, although the first one was still pretty buggy.  This one I'm actually proud of.

QuoteOh, I got the pinstipe bug again. I killed him and the mission didn't complete. Looking at your code isn't the issue with the function name not beiong set up to effect pinstripes morph but the first pinstripe. Now I undertand you need this so you can still win the mission is pinstripe revets to his first form (it's on a timer I think?) but couldn't you use getobjject name or whatever it is to find out the name of the object pinstripe morphs into ( or do you know that already?) and then setup an interrogation cs for the morph of pinstripe after doc brings down his defenses. But I'm probably just staing the obvious.

I fixed that problem!  It no longer happens on my computer at all.  And no, you're wrong about the problem. I already have code set to catch all that, but the problem is that it's hard to catch exactly when the transformation takes place.  My guess is that your computer runs slower than mine, so the transformation takes longer.  Hence, when the new interrogation gets set up, the transformation hasn't finished yet, so there's no object to set up.

Find this line:  RegTimer('setupstuff',.2,0,'')

And increase the number a bit.  See if that fixes it.  That line is to allow time for the transformation to complete.

excellent. nice job cat!

Does that mean that increasing the time works?  I'll do that to the next issue anyways.

Alright, the alpha for Mission 4a is now ready for download by all team members.

I'll try to pm most of you, but if I miss anyone, let me know.

The pm will contain links to a new alpha page and future location of a beta page. All alphas and beta will go to those two places in the future.  That way, I don't have to go pming everybody next time, I can just make the announcement and wait for the list of all the dumb mistakes I made.  :rolleyes:

I forgot to add the "y" in the word "liberty" the link I sent out.

Where do you want the feedback posted?

And btw... how do I enter a code to end a level? A certain villain I was fighting fell without allowing me to interrogate him.

There are no interrogations in this level.  Nada.  None.

Tell me what was going on.  You may only think you are done.

Post feedback, here if you will.

Ok, minor spoilers




I used the device on Pinstripe... I dont know if the effect is permanent or not since latter on he was defending quite nicely (except of course whenever he turns his back). My heroes pounded him into the ground and an arrow continued pointing to his original position while he lay unconcious. The level did not end... I ran around, mopped up some extra goons and saved the game in case I can go back and do something.

Feedback:

You have really improved the cutscenes and Vol's heads are a thing of beauty.
I like the improvements on Doc Astounding, I can tell his energy recharges a little faster which makes him more useful.
Goo is also very nicely balanced now.

Nitpicking:
Im not too fond of Jesters marble bomb. Why not give it one or two cost and a couple of detrimental effects (stun, knockback) instead of an endless rain of scenery chewing shrapnel? Perhaps her 0 cost could be a pop-gun type thing... punch style damage with a slight chance of stun.
My original goo hero file had a bouncing ball of goo projectile that was great for hitting multiple thugs and stunning one or two from time to time. Might recomend giving him a nice chained projectile if you figure you want to give him one more power at some point.

Oh.  Wrong mission.  I thought you were giving feedback on the new mission, not one of the Issue One missions.  You need to be more specific next time.  I was expecting Alpha reports.

And there is on interrogation in 4a towards the beginning that I forgot.

QuoteIm not too fond of Jesters marble bomb. Why not give it one or two cost and a couple of detrimental effects (stun, knockback) instead of an endless rain of scenery chewing shrapnel?

I like it.  It's useful, it's different, but you have to use it right, instead of just indiscriminantly tossing it every which away.  You DO realize that it doesn't effect your own guys, right?

QuoteMy heroes pounded him into the ground and an arrow continued pointing to his original position while he lay unconcious. The level did not end... I ran around, mopped up some extra goons and saved the game in case I can go back and do something.

Look above a few posts for a possible fix.  It is working on my end, but your computer may be running a tad bit slower, which would result in the interrogation not working.

EDIT:  Skip_Mission() will complete all objectives and win the mission for all missions in the mod.  Use it wisely.  Even if you haven't installed the new alpha, you will be able to save at the base afterwards.

The alpha, however, will not have a base, so you'll have to save before.

In other news, I just finished scripting 4b.  Now I have to test it and bugfix, but hopefully it all goes quickly and I can release that alpha too.

Right I've played through as much as I can of the 4a mission and I'm liking it.

Here are my notes, sry if they're a bit harsh/brief:

No voices yet
No music

BRIEFING:
there should be an angry face when rogue says Grr
There is a text files mistake Goo says "one says vanquised anymore" missing out the "no"

MISSION:
There are little text mistakes all the way through, for example mentor in the speech after saving the mayor
The textures for Hawk's head's background and the extras on his body are pink
I love the way mentor is in this mission (Crossovers FTW! :) )
after the speech with mentor it is not clear why you are going to the building except that the arrow tells you to
Hawk and coppertop should have teleporting fx instead of just dissappearing.
I didn't see this becuase none of my heroes died, but is there a hero fall CS if any of the heroes fall?
How does mentor know hawks name? They don't mention what they're called. Are they allied with the dinosaur thugs and why?
I got stuck here, I can't seem to disable the traps without warning hawk, at least I always lose the mission a few secs after I'm spotted. How do I avoid being spotted?
There should be a CS for why you lose instead of just cutting straight to the debriefing screen.
Do I still have to protect the mayor when I'm killing telephone booths?
There should be less dino assassins in the first brawl to defend the mayor as I used all my heroic revivals and the health can and still had more of the mission to do. A little to hard perhaps.
What are the groups of dino thugs in the alleyways doing? Are they just cannon fodder?
The conversation after Hawk and CT dissappear doesn't make sense, there must be a few lines missing. There is something about disguises and camoflague, is that how I avoid getting spotted?

overall, a well balence and thought out mission. The script is great as usual and I loved playing as mentor, his portrait is great :). Although I would say that docs moves are very high in energy cost and relativly useless against the dino thugs so perhaps there should be some kind of scientific thing he can do to help, like cause them rage using a special high pitched noise or something similar. Maybe you could restrict it to only 5 times if it's too good.

Nice work, I can't wait to test the next mission :)

I hope my feedback is useful

Lunarman

P.s. Have you found an actor to play mentor? If his part isn't a long one and he doesn't join LB permenantly then I'm sure I can find time to voice his few lines. I  am quite proud of my mentor impression, lol

Good feedback.  I like feedback.   And I've never found you to be too harsh, Lunarman.  In fact, your comments are usually among the most helpful of my testers.

QuoteNo voices yet
No music

It's an alpha, so I'm not worried about those yet.  Although I did include a voicepack for the Dino Thugs, one I'm going to replace.

QuoteBRIEFING:
there should be an angry face when rogue says Grr
There is a text files mistake Goo says "one says vanquised anymore" missing out the "no"

MISSION:
There are little text mistakes all the way through, for example mentor in the speech after saving the mayor

Good.  I'll look into these.  The Mentor one I knew about, I just forgot to fix it before the release.

QuoteThe textures for Hawk's head's background and the extras on his body are pink

It's the whole .dds issue again.  Unfortunately, there's something wrong with the Hawk skin and most of it won't convert.  Maybe Unko can look into it.

QuoteHawk and coppertop should have teleporting fx instead of just dissappearing.

They're walking back into the building not teleporting.  I can make this more clear, though.

Quoteafter the speech with mentor it is not clear why you are going to the building except that the arrow tells you to
I didn't see this becuase none of my heroes died, but is there a hero fall CS if any of the heroes fall?
How does mentor know hawks name? They don't mention what they're called. Are they allied with the dinosaur thugs and why?
The conversation after Hawk and CT dissappear doesn't make sense, there must be a few lines missing. There is something about disguises and camoflague, is that how I avoid getting spotted?

I'll look into clarifying that stuff.

QuoteI got stuck here, I can't seem to disable the traps without warning hawk, at least I always lose the mission a few secs after I'm spotted. How do I avoid being spotted?

You got two characters who can jump on roofs, both of who have knockback powers.  I suggest you take advantage of them.  You also know which character you need to take out, so concentrate on him.

QuoteThere should be a CS for why you lose instead of just cutting straight to the debriefing screen.

There is one, but I set up up wrong.

QuoteDo I still have to protect the mayor when I'm killing telephone booths?

yes, Mentor does say so.  You know those thugs hiding out behind the buildings?  Periodically, one group will start heading for the Mayor.  You can, however, take them out before they get the chance, but you don't have to.

QuoteThere should be less dino assassins in the first brawl to defend the mayor as I used all my heroic revivals and the health can and still had more of the mission to do. A little to hard perhaps.

I can do it without using any cans or heroic revivals.  Keep trying.  There is also another health canister and a new heroic canister behind some of the buildings.  I can add some more cans if needed.

QuoteP.s. Have you found an actor to play mentor? If his part isn't a long one and he doesn't join LB permenantly then I'm sure I can find time to voice his few lines. I  am quite proud of my mentor impression, lol

Go ahead and send me a recording of your impersonation.  If it's good enough, I'll let you do the part.  And he leaves after this, although he does reappear later.

Right, about taking out the dino thugs before the trap is sprung. I'm either really bad at FF or I'm experiencing some sort of bug. Currently I've been moving across the rooftops with Dr and Rogue, I left Goo back to defend the mayor. Then I use mentor to flip the dino thug I need to kill over his head and then pound him with attacks while rogue holds off the other thugs. ATM I can't launch an attack without being spotted. Even using Dr.A's toss from the roof involves him coming down to ground level to get in range.
Mentor's tractor beam gives me a few more seconds to kill the thug but not nearly enough time to stop him before he reaches the phone box. Also, the thug can still warn hawk even with the phone booth destroyed.

Looking at the script I see you're using a fn that calls when the move completes. From my experience with this it seems to call at weird times, like when the move is stopped due to stun or a state. Have you thought about using a marker or a fn that calls when the thug reaches an alive telephone booth? I would also consider lowering the priority although this might make it too easy. I've used PRI_MED-1 before which causes them to run for the goal but occasionally stop and attack any attackers nearby. This would make it feasible (for me at least) to kill them. On a side note the Hawk speech that's supposed to play when he's alerted, doesn't.

Any more hints?

Thankyou
Lunarman

I tried to add a spoiler alert to thread, as a precaution for people who may look here for general information on the mod. But I am not sure that is working properly right now. It may still be a good idea to use the spoiler tags in some posts...

QuoteAny more hints?

Yes, but this one deserves the spoiler tags.  So. . .

[spoiler]
It's not necessary to actually guard the mayor while taking down the phone booths.  The easy way is to ignore the building when that option first comes up and go and take out all the thugs waiting to attack the mayor.  The phone booth guards won't be there yet, so you can take them out and have all your characters available for the booths.

I could change the fn that calls when the move is over to be triggered by a regMarkerEnter.  That should take care of any wierdness.

I had thought of him running to the booth, that but would give you less than a second to chase him off.  Having him run a building is better.  I've also angled the trigger thug, so you should be able to stand on the building without alerting him.

Try to draw off some of the other thugs first.

If you have too much trouble, I'll add in a cutscene with a five second delay while the thugs looks for the panic button.  KO him before he finds it, and you're in good shape.
[/spoiler]

It seems Lunarman made an accurate test.
And like him ,I can't avoid to be spotted.
I can't wait for 4b (and a little patch to avoid thug alert)

It was amusing to run after the mayor pursued by the dino gang.
(After working on Hawk and Coppertop,I admit I'd like to individualize that honorable man.)

Since he's likely to only appear here, there seems no need to worry about that.

I'll have 4b out by the end of the week, maybe ever today or tomorrow, and will try to have 4a fixed up a bit when I do so.

Hey Cat, you gonna send out the scripts soon?  I don't have the connection speed quite yet to download the full mod, and I don't know if you want me to do any other voices, or what.  And now that I know what format to send them in, I won't feel hideously stupid this time around.

When I have them I will. Truth be told, Grendal only finished up to Mission 4.  I have nothing past that.  I could fill in as writer myself, but I'd rather find someone of Grendal's talent.  I'm going to be editing and changing things anyways, so a bit of my writing ability and style will make it in the final product anyways.

Scripting on 4b is pretty much done, I'm happy to say.  It's a VERY short mission with one main, but somewhat complicated, script.  It's basically a highly tweaked version of the script from the Sky King suit missions.  Don't worry, I removed the frustrating part.  If interrupted, doc can pick up right where he left off.

How I just have to play with Hawk and Coppertop's abilities and AIs.  I'm also going to re-jigger 4a a bit.  Expect something tomorrow most likely, or the day after.  I hope I'm able to keep up this pace for a bit, because it's been a while since Issue 1 came out.

Im glad to be back and Cat....Once I get FF back up on this machine....I'll start testing again.

How much of the beta is done? Just Issue one?

None.

Issue One's in full release, and parts of Issue Two are in alpha, so there is no Beta at the moment.  Rest assured, I will let you know when the Issue Two Beta is ready for testing.

Oh yeah, before I forget.

That Odyseus skin is gone.  Lost Caput.  Detourne_me game me the bad new.

So we're going to need a new one.

Oh, no!  That was a really cool one, too! :(

Yeah, it was.  I've been trying to get it back for a couple of months, actually.

Quote from: catwhowalksbyhimself on February 10, 2007, 06:07:56 PM
Oh yeah, before I forget.

That Odyseus skin is gone.  Lost Caput.  Detourne_me game me the bad new.

So we're going to need a new one.

Ugh, that is one of the skins that has most moved me in a long time, it was awesome and then some.

BTW have had some trouble while playtesting, mostly stuff already addressed but there's some unique stuff too. I'll post more about it when I am sober.

Yes please do.  And make sure you specify which missions.  Mission 4 stuff is what I'm hoping it is (because the previous 3 should be pretty much bug free right now, except for the Pinstripe bug, and I have a way of cheating around that.)

I think I might be able to whip up an Odysseus skin. And Cat, do you have any save files for the end of Issue 1/beginning of Issue 2? I'm encountering a problem in mission 3 where the game just unexpectedly exits, booting me back to the desktop.

EDIT: By the way, have you seen kurtee's video for the first cutscene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyYN1p_AAZU&mode=related&search=) using his skXCamera2 mod?

Certainly.  For playtesting purposes, I keep save files of all the missions.

Is there an error message when the game boots you to the desktop?

QuoteEDIT: By the way, have you seen kurtee's video for the first cutscene using his skXCamera2 mod?

Yeah, he asked my permission before posting it.

Hey, I haven't had time to try this yet but I saw the Hawk thing... Do you actually need to convert those to dds, because the tgas on Hawk have always worked for me. If there is a problem, I think I have the original pds files, and I should be able to convert them now, for you.

Of course that'll be moot once Volsung does up a new mesh/skin for him.

They won't convert to .dds.  All the converter that I have insist that there's something wrong with most of the .tgas.  They work fine for hero files.

There's a more serious error along those lines for white lighting.  If you could get those to me in .dds, I'd appreciate it.  The other two, as you said, won't matter for long.

I know what the problem is, actually. It's happened a couple times. I tend to drop my tgas to 256 colours, to save a bit of filespace. Occasionally this causes problems (a couple meshes won't display them in FFvsTR, and the converting thing sometimes).

I'll convert them myself and send them over.

you know there's a photoshop plugin that let's you save direct to DDS. That should solve the issue if the tgas won't convert. I think you can find it by google searching.

Yes, and I have that now.
I had a different version of photoshop when I made those skins, and the plugin wouldn't work for some reason. But thank you, anyhow.

I still don't convert to dds unless I have to, since I find the quality lacking.

Mission 4b alpha is done.

Before I release it, I'm going to go back over 4a, and probably try to fix the Pinstripe problem in 3 once and for all.  (Basically, instead of trying to actually fix the problem, catch it when it happens and put up a new, pre-interrogatable version of Pinstripe.  Easy enough to do.)

I'll need someone to test the Pinstripe fix for me, since I'd rather not run through that mission again.  If you have a save file right before that fight starts, it will be compatible with the fix, so let me know and I'll get it to you.

I do believe I've got a save file there so you can send it to me

Lunarman

I'm sry Catwho. I've just loaded my save file and it loads at the exact same time pinstripe dies so iut's not gonna work. I'm going on holiday for a few days now as well otherwise I'd play through the mission again. You're going to have to ask someone else

sorry

Lunarman

Mission 4 Alpha 2, including both an improved 4a and the all-new 4b are now available at the alpha page.

Great!
(Arg i'm overworked this days ,I didn't played  it yet)

O.k, I've played the end of 4A and 4B. Here's my notes:

4A:

I started from after the hawk and coppertop CS (was anything important called there?)
Dino batters no longer attack
I really like the new dino gun powers
No text when spotted
Mayor should talk a bit instead of just walking around being attacked and ignoring it
The red arrow on the door should dissappear fi we've finsihed with it after the H&C cs
The mission never completed

4b: How did they get into the building? I'm guessing something in the end 4A CS shows them going through the door, right?
White L's melee needs a string as it's name drawn from the powers dat at the moment.
I didn't realize how small a map would be really needed. Should I cover up the rest of that map with fog except for the room and the corridor off it?

Hope those help

Lunarman


Nice work as always :)

First of all, you need to start 4a over.  That's the reason why you're having many of your problems.  Different versions are NOT save-game compatible unless I say otherwise.  In this case they most definitely aren't.

QuoteThe red arrow on the door should dissappear fi we've finsihed with it after the H&C cs

No, it shouldn't.  Your goal is still to go through that door.  Once the booths are down, you'll be able to do it.

QuoteThe mission never completed

See above.  You never entered the door.

Quote4b: How did they get into the building? I'm guessing something in the end 4A CS shows them going through the door, right?

See above

According to Unko's designs.The wicked duo is in progress
[spoiler](http://volsung.free.fr/LB/Duo.jpg).
Hawk weaponry will be retractable.I'll have to fix the wings on Hawk arms[/spoiler]

Nice!

Man, that helmet is PERFECT!
And I really like the big claws you gave him. I can't wait to see them skinned... these guy's are going to look sweet.

I believe I found a few bugs in Issue One. First, that feature that allows high Energy cost powers to be overpowered is not working. Also, as soon as I finished mission one, I bought Mass Control for Doc Astounding, but I couldn't use it somehow. The option to activate it wasn't present on the menu. I'll play more later and see if I find more problems.

Anyway, regardless of these problems I mentioned, I'm liking the mod a lot. The presentation is fantastic, and the characters are very likeable (specially Goo). I got kinda scared when I first played mission one and saw a dozen+ of thugs swarming over me, but furtunatelly the good Doc can hold his own pretty well, at least against mundane enemies. Can't wait 'til the other issues are released.

i havent been here in a hwile but did u guys fix the start page in the alpha???

Nymph:  You don't have access to the Alpha. When the next Beta's out, you can get that.

I also have no idea what you mean by "start page."

the graphic for the starting screen is always like "woah"   almost as if its over stretched and i have tried everything to fix it but   "no"    :(

Looks perfect to me.  And I've never heard anyone else complain about it.  Sounds like a problem on your end.

probably ill get someone to look at it maybe the image needs resizing or just my screen needs to get fixed but ok thanks.

Maybe your screen's at an unusual resolution?

Don't know, and while I'd like to help you, I have no idea where to even start.

Quote from: guts on February 20, 2007, 04:29:43 PM
I believe I found a few bugs in Issue One. First, that feature that allows high Energy cost powers to be overpowered is not working. Also, as soon as I finished mission one, I bought Mass Control for Doc Astounding, but I couldn't use it somehow. The option to activate it wasn't present on the menu. I'll play more later and see if I find more problems.

Anyway, regardless of these problems I mentioned, I'm liking the mod a lot. The presentation is fantastic, and the characters are very likeable (specially Goo). I got kinda scared when I first played mission one and saw a dozen+ of thugs swarming over me, but furtunatelly the good Doc can hold his own pretty well, at least against mundane enemies. Can't wait 'til the other issues are released.

Oh, just fixed it. Apparently, I had to change the Data Folder in the FFX Control Center. It would be nice if you people added a manual explaining this sort of thing. After all, there might be other n00bs like myself out there that ain't got a clue about this sort of thing and might be having the same kind of "problem".

Not really.  I don't want the overpowered feature on.  If you want to turn it on, fine, but I have no need to support that feature, as I chose to disable it on purpose.

As for Doc's power, the FFX Control Centre shouldn't be needed.  Key word is shouldn't, I have been wrong before.

Anyway, glad you're enjoying this.  Hopefully Issue 2 won't take too long.

Oh, by the way, I still can't use Doc Astounding's Mass Control attribute in the campaing for some reason; which is quite strange, really, since I made a custom character with this same attribute and used it in Liberty Bay's Rumble Room and it worked.

Edit: In Mission 3 Mass Control started working once again. However, I still can't use it in Mission 2 despiste having bought it at the end of Mission 1. Is it intentional that a character's new powers only manifest themselves a mission after having been bought or is it a bug indeed?

No it works fine to me.

Just make sure you're using the latest version of Issue 1 without using save files from any previous versions.  That would cause issues.

I also need someone to test a fix for the still-broken end of Mission 3.

This is not really a bug; it's just a silly thing I came across I thought I'd share it.

During the last mission (of the first issue), if you scroll all the way up, you'll notice two lampposts in the water.

Like I said, it's not a problem you should stress over, but I just thought I'd let you know (if you doesn't know it already, that is).

SpareTime is so rare!
Coppertop is in progress
[spoiler](http://volsung.free.fr/Reborn/CoppertopWip.jpg)[/spoiler]
Not satisfied yet.

That looks really cool! :thumbup:

he looks really cool.....can i add a suggestion?

if you made his boots the same copper color and maybe a ring of copper around the gloves he might have a
'more balanced look'.

Plus I LUV how he has red hair! :)

Thanks^^I needed to read that since I had some dissatisfaction.I guess I'll let loose on the talking head.
He's based on Unko's design,but your remark is judicious

(http://volsung.free.fr/Reborn/CoppertopWip2.jpg)
Still struggling with squiggles :doh:

I like the head of the second and the suit of the third, with the silver top of the first.

 :lol: I edited it yesterday and begun The hawk

I'm sloooow
But I continue!
(http://volsung.free.fr/Reborn/Hawk.jpg)

Outstanding work! This mod is getting quite stunning.


On a totally unrelated side-note, Hawk's design somewhat reminds me of Knights of the Zodiac. :0

It's based on Unko's design^^
(By the way, if there was only one Knight of Zodiac fan here, it would be me^^
hint hint hint!(http://volsung.free.fr/FM2002/Pegasus0.jpg)(http://volsung.free.fr/FM2002/ZeRealBrushing.jpg))

Coppertop still looks a bit plain.

I think if the boots and gloves were also same copper color as his hat, that would spice things up considerably.

The Hawk is amazing!!

Ok i'll update coppertop tonight

hawk looks so damn good it makes my eyes bleed if i stare at it too long.











and i agree about coppertops boots and gloves. :)

héhé
Like this?
(http://volsung.free.fr/Reborn/CoppertopWip3.jpg)

Yes, a vast improvement.

oh yes, much better

This is my new favorite thread. I love the work you are doing, Volsung.

Quote from: Volsung on March 18, 2007, 05:37:26 PM
It's based on Unko's design^^
(By the way, if there was only one Knight of Zodiac fan here, it would be me^^
hint hint hint!(http://volsung.free.fr/FM2002/Pegasus0.jpg)(http://volsung.free.fr/FM2002/ZeRealBrushing.jpg))

Are those seeing release? I grew up watching the cartoon in Mexico under the name Caballeros del Zodiaco or yeah, zodiak knights. Mostly refered to as Saint Seya in english though.

finally you modified coppertop like i suggested but i like it both ways :)

Hawk looks awesome! :)

I used to watch that show also only for the shortest time though. :P

Beautiful!  CT looks a bit more like gold than copper, though.

Quote from: Gremlin on March 26, 2007, 11:28:03 PM
Beautiful!  CT looks a bit more like gold than copper, though.

True that. But it's better keep it this way; otherwise, duracell is gonna sue somebody. :0

Well, maybe I should have made hawk and coppertop mesh by stretching irrationnal meshes.
It wouild have spare me time instead of making all the models from scratch.

I hope my infidelity with timmverse project does not slow down liberty bay?Those models are just substitution,aren't they?

Well, yes, I already have skins, although they aren't as good as your custom meshes.  You actually volunteered them.

Anyway, by all means play with your Timmniverse meshes and make everyone happy.

Oh, cat... I forgot to ask...
Did you want me to make new portraits when you get these guys in game?

That's up to you.
They look similar enough that this may not be necessary.

Well, Mission 5 looks to be basically working.  After a bit more testing to make sure, I'll release it as an alpha.

It's a bit of an experimental mission, being highly random in nature.  The Dinosaur will be in a different building every time.

I'm still hoping to add a side-plot secondary mission involving The Rogue cleaning up the neighborhood, with perhaps an exploration of the relationship between him and Jester if she is also present.  This side-plot would be have a regular linear flow.

Sweet buddy.

Geez... I haven't even beaten that Pinstripe mission. I should probably... get to that soon.

I have a possible fix for that bug, and I haven't found anyone willing to test it.  Would you do it, Unko?  It will work with any save files before Pinstripe appears, as long as its a savefile from the FFX 3.2 version.

Sure, I'm game. Send me a link and I'll try it this long weekend.

Cat,
I know it was back in April, but did your fix for the Pinstripe thing work?  I have been playing this thing today, having a great time, but I've had the same trouble knocking him out but being unable to progress.

Hey Cat^^
How's Liberty Bay?^^

Back in progress, I'm happy to say. I have the script for the rest of Issue 2 and am working on finishing up Mission 5 and adding two new heroes into the mix.

Glad to hear it! It seems that little by little Liberty Bay vanished.
But your recent scripting questions made me think that your motivation and spare time were back!
I'll try to settle Hawk and Coppertop between two timmverse models.
I still want to help and I don't want to restrict myself on those two baddies only!

Liberty Bay got huge potentiel, and FFVTTR is still, in my opinion, the game that offers the most in terms of modding and creation.

Volsung, if you are really pent up with a frustrated need to mesh and skin, I'd say the Dinosaur is the perfect candidate to be redone. I always felt his dino form was really weak, especially when you compare the lousy skin to the loading picture I drew for it. Just throwing that out there. I'm sure you could make him look amazing.

I'll rush on it right now If I were not in holidays far away from my 3ds max^^

You know I'm always motivated to stick to your designs and to add some unique meshes to the mod.
That would be great if at last I'd do MORE than just a preview pic...

Ips is ready to learn biped rigging for my Timmverse meshes.(and to work on animation and export aswell)
If, with him and Ackbar we keep a good rate on the timmverse,I'd be able to work on Libert Bay without guilt.

I'll be glad to make a unique dinosaur.(Guess what guys? I think i'll make a fourth skinning attempt on Coppertop^^)

Just a thought...

What if...

I mixed a simplified version of those familiar heads
(http://volsung.free.fr/Reborn/WholePack.jpg)
With our 'in action' models?
Same keyframes, but new aspect.

Every time I see those heads my jaw drops!

wow

The heads are nice, but putting them onto the actual meshes would be too much effort for too little result.  Plus, you run into permission issues with the various mod authors.

Well, I finally put in the secondary mission/objective and dialogue in for Mission 5.  The mission's done, barring bug fixes and perhaps some additional dialogue, which I'll worry about later.

I haven't been here in a while, so I apologize if this has already been answered elsewhere (but if so, I couldn't find the answer anywhere)...

How is this mod coming along so far? :)

Haven't worked on it in a while, but have recently reinstalled FFvTTR and restored the LB folder in progress.

I'm think of releasing the alpha I have publicly as a way of getting more feedback on it.  Mission 4a and 4b are working and winnable and 5 may or may not be.

i had a bug with the pinstripe mission, i wasnt able to complete it after defeating him. I could just run around on the map, killing thugs. is there something i havent done? or is this a known bug? :o

That should have been fixed in the last update.

Thanks for the info. :)

There seems to be only one Issue available for download at the Liberty Bay downloads page (http://libertybay.freedomforceforever.com/mod.htm).  Does that one Issue contain all the missions, or is there an updated page I need to download from instead? :huh:

Only one issue has ever been released, although updates have been added to it.

Issue two, as I stated, is in a state of partial completion.

Well, I finally redownloaded this after my early abortive attempt to get the mod to work.  So, I unpack the thing over a copy of my FFX directory, and load it up.  I get the exact same error as last time.  The error doesn't really matter that much, as I fixed it, and then got ANOTHER error.......well, I just about gave up then and there....man am I glad I didn't!

It turns out that my freaking IZARC, my zip program, didn't want to unpack the mod.  It would unzip the first two layers of folders, and then leave all the subfolders and their contends out.  So, (and let this be a measure of how much I love the ideas we created together for Liberty Bay) I went through and unloaded EVERY SINGLE LAST FILE BY HAND.  Bah.  Anyway, it was totally worth it.

I just want to let all of y'all who worked on this after people like me brainstormed and bailed know how much I enjoyed it.  Liberty Bay felt like I was playing the original Freedom Force campaign for the first time.  I had so much fun just playing the first part, and when I got the Rogue at last...well, I was just about excited enough to jump up and down.  The art is great, the voices are fantastic, the dialog is clever and snappy, and the story is even more fun to play through than it was to dream up.  Great job guys, I can't say enough about it! 

I do have one question though....why has Issue #2 not been finished?  Haha, and what will it take to see it finished?  I'm willing to do anything I can to help!

As to your questions.

1.  Laziness. Although to be honest, I'm trying some more complicated things this time around.  Trust me, you don't even want to look at the code behind missions 4b and 5.

2.  I just starting getting work done on it.  Lunarman just finished a map for Mission 6, the last of Issue 2, and as soon as I can find my play disk  (I know I had that thing a few weeks ago) things will be on their way again.

Awesome Cat, I'm glad to hear it's not just in limbo.  I'm serious about my offer to help.  I'm afraid that, even with my DCUG experience, I'm still not good for much, but whatever skills I have are yours for the asking.  I could probably make a map or two, if you need any composed of standard pieces. 

It was just really gratifying to see a character of my own creation brought to life like that, not to mention seeing all these other characters who I grew to love in our LB discussions, and I definitely don't want the ride to end.

Quote from: BentonGrey on March 16, 2008, 12:50:03 PM
It turns out that my freaking IZARC, my zip program, didn't want to unpack the mod.  It would unzip the first two layers of folders, and then leave all the subfolders and their contends out.  So, (and let this be a measure of how much I love the ideas we created together for Liberty Bay) I went through and unloaded EVERY SINGLE LAST FILE BY HAND. 

I had  the same problem; upgrading to a recent version solved the issue (documented in IZArc and specific to the .zip format).

Cat, great to hear! :)

My one concern is getting back in touch with the voice actors.  The ones connected to here should not pose a problem, but I definitely don't want to lose The Rogue's voice actor.  He's just about perfect.

Thanks Ep!  I'll download a new version.

Cat, I would like to encourage you to go ahead with it, even if you can't get in touch with your voice actors.  If all else fails, I'd rather have another voice, or even NO voice than no story. :D

Oh, don't worry.  I'll keep plugging along.  But I'd really like to keep the high standard I tried to set with Issue One.

Good to hear Cat, and I don't blame you, the first one was pretty impressive.

Well, I'm still in for writing and voice work.  Plus, theatre buddies means access to a multitude of talented actors who'd love to try voice acting, so we can actually get even MORE variety instead of just recycling people.

Oooh, that's nice.

You already know the voices we'll need for Issue 2.  Feel free to get some of those buddies to try out some lines and send them to me.

Quote from: Gremlin on March 20, 2008, 12:09:11 AM
Plus, theatre buddies means access to a multitude of talented actors who'd love to try voice acting, so we can actually get even MORE variety instead of just recycling people.

Once liberty bay acting done, that multitude wouldn't mind making some voice acting for other mods ?
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff133/onionethan/onion_Emoticons/092_.gif) 

Maybe.  I'll talk to some folks...what characters still need actors, and what types of voices do they need?

Quote from: Gremlin on March 21, 2008, 12:04:25 AM
Maybe.  I'll talk to some folks...what characters still need actors, and what types of voices do they need?

I was asking for C4 mod but I think he pm'd you. So I won't pollute Cat's thread anymore
:wub: Aaah Liberty Bay..

Okay, I'm bustling along the script, but I've run into a few character snags.  Well, one, really: Ulysses.

I'm a horrible uneducated illiterate hog and I've never read the Odyssey or the Illiad.  I don't know my classical greek epics.  So sue me.  I need to know what this guy is like so I can write his dialogue.  Considering he's a classical Greek hero, he's probably got a fair amount of hubris, but he was a relatively nice guy compared to, say, Heracles, so temper his arrogance with decency.  I don't know how calm he is under pressure, how he reacts to danger, or anything like that, though.  How does he lead: arrogant confidence, or quiet, stoic strength?  How does he spend his free time: boasting about his conquests, talking about his family, laughing at anything, or what have you?  What gods did he primarily revere and pray to and why?  And for future reference, did he and Hermes ever do anything together?

Any information people can give me would be fantastic.

Oh, some thoughts.
a) What mesh and skin are we using for Ulysses?  I think I remember something about the old one getting deleted.
b) Now that we have NifSkope, is there any way we could put a cadaceus on the Mercury mesh, if only for a couple of ranged animations?  Heck, could we maybe put a toga skirt dealie on him as well?  I don't think we'd need sleeves, or a full toga over the body or anything like that.  But a little toga-y would be snazzy.

Mercury... if somebody could mesh a cadaceus I could skope it on... I could also just give him Blitzkrieg's staff, if need be. Might look weird in some animations. A skirt is doable, thanks to tommyboy. I could even do it a quick skin in a week.

As for Ulysses, you can always use wikipedia I guess.

Quote from: Gremlin on March 27, 2008, 09:49:37 PM
Okay, I'm bustling along the script, but I've run into a few character snags.  Well, one, really: Ulysses (...)
I need to know what this guy is like so I can write his dialogue.

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/The-Odyssey-Character-Analyses-Odysseus.id-99,pageNum-70.html is lacking some non-negligible elements; for example, the scheming aspect is downplayed, IMO, and the Iliad is almost ignored. (Speaking of scheming, Ulysses was rumoured to be the illegitimate son of that master liar, Mercury.) Still, it certainly defines the character of Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans) far better than any attempt I'd make.

And, if you ever feel like it (no hurry), both the Iliad and the Odyssey can be very enjoyable, with my preference going to the latter. Speaking of the books themselves, if you want to get inspiration for some figures of speech, both can be perused at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134

In mod, he will be protrayed as a master strategist and tactician, so keep that in mind.

The possible connection to Mercury is not something I knew about, although I do believe he recieves a message from Mercury at some point.

I was the one entrusted with the task of working on the Odysseus skin.

Did anybody save the information in the original thread?  I remember the board got shut down after the first one was started, and I was interested in what the whole mod was going to be.  I remember there were some greek gods, and an entity called Cosmos or something that wanted to eat the universe or something.  And Energy Man and Nemesis were big players...but I can't recall much else.  I really need to know the characters especially, since I have to pester my actor friends about it (and everyone I talked to said they'd love to help! :thumbup:).

Also, what was Microcosm's origin?  I wrote something about him being from another dimension that accidentally "fell" into ours, but Unkoman's skin cast him in an almost Superman-like light, as the last survivor of a tiny subdimension.  He's not on the website yet, so I'm a tad confuzzled.

I was thinking about EM and N the other day, and was wondering just how big their role was.  I kind of had this idea: on a cosmic scale, everything balances out somehow, while at the level of regular people, fate and destiny are relative.  Think of Time Master.  He was a regular guy, then became a cosmic level player, and suddenly he needs a counter-balance, which in the long run comes from Entropy.  Without Entropy, Freedom Force would only have been able to hold him off for so long until he won.  Thematically they're polar, too: TM wants to stop the universe in its tracks, Entropy wants to run it into the ground.  What if that was the same for EM and N as well?  They're two sides of the same coin, and no matter what happens they're always going to cancel each other out in the long run.  Since they're both the same guy (if I recall correctly), they have two options: combine into a single neutral ultra-powerful entity, or both die.  The balance must be maintained now that they're in the "big leagues."  Think of it like relativity versus quantum mechanics: on the huge scale, objects cannot choose their motions or behaviors, the follow rigid laws; on the small scale, everything is chance and probability and, depending on how philosophical you want to get, choice.  That's how people and cosmic players work.

Other questions that came to mind:
-Why did Odysseus travel foward in time?  Who or what moved him here?
-What powers does he get?
-Could Goo drop the Loner attribute?  I think it would be better to handle his antisocial tendencies through writing and free up his attribute slots for other superpowers.  If he was a showstalking nighttime vigilante then I wouldn't have a problem, but his powerset doesn't seem conductive to it.  Not to mention it's strange to have such a central character in a team game suffer when he works with other characters.  Unless we had a bunch of Goo solo missions or somesuch.
-When's the first time we fight Grendel himself, and what powers does he have?

I'm fairly sure that I was the one who suggested Ulysses, so I'll be happy to fill in the blanks.  I had some plans for the Greek gods, and an explaniation for why they were going by their Roman names, but that's all a little fuzzy.  I do remember Microcosom's origin can be found on Unko's site.

I'll give my thoughts on Ulysses tomorrow, it's late and I'm a bit too tired to remember the details at the moment.

Yes, the origin of MicroCosm on my site is copied directly from that old thread. The same for all Liberty Bay heroes I've done, except Mighty Mercury, Hawk, and CopperTop.

Grendel, I believe, has powers similar to Mentor's, but more violent. I think we were even going with the theory that the jewels on their head were a focus for their mental abilities? Or was that just something I made up?

As for Goo... I think it would be great if you could purchase some kind of cancellation of his loner attribute. That way he's got a very useful upgrade.

Energy Man and Nemesis do combine and turn into Cosmos. I am pretty sure that is the deal, by the end. And they fight the Greek Gods? Or did the team fight both villains? Lots of fighting, I dunno.

Quote from: UnkoMan on March 29, 2008, 11:20:07 PM
As for Goo... I think it would be great if you could purchase some kind of cancellation of his loner attribute. That way he's got a very useful upgrade.

It would need a bit of coding (for example, Loner isn't currently a removable attribute), but it should be trivial; just ask if you want me to do it. However, instead of simply removing the attribute and losing the Loner bonus, I suggest removing only the penalty – this way, the character better keeps his personality and the player who buys the attribute is rewarded without being punished too.

Quote-Why did Odysseus travel foward in time?  Who or what moved him here?

The Greek deities did.  Everything that happens in the mod until the end is a manipulation by them to bring Energy Man And Negativity (I'm renaming Nemesis.  Never did like that name) out into the forefront and test their abilities.

Quote-What powers does he get?

Greek heroes basically had exagerated abilties.  Ulysses was mentioned as being unusually strong and he'll be fairly tough.  He's also a tactician and a leader and that will be reflected in his attributes and powers.

Quote
-Could Goo drop the Loner attribute?  I think it would be better to handle his antisocial tendencies through writing and free up his attribute slots for other superpowers.  If he was a showstalking nighttime vigilante then I wouldn't have a problem, but his powerset doesn't seem conductive to it.  Not to mention it's strange to have such a central character in a team game suffer when he works with other characters.  Unless we had a bunch of Goo solo missions or somesuch.

It's really too late and go changing him now.  IF that suggestion had been made earlier, I might take it, but to force everyone to restart and replay the whole thing AGAIN just because I went and messed with the characters.  Well, I wouldn't want to do so.

Quote-When's the first time we fight Grendel himself, and what powers does he have?

Not until near the end.  As was said, an evil Mentor.  At least that's what I'm planning for now.

As for Microcosm, his origin has been changed.  He is now a resident of an alternate dimension, a scientist testing a shrinking suit intended to allow for teleportation by slipping through the cracks in time and space.  His calculations are off and he slips into a hole leading to the LB dimension instead.  Doc helps him correct his calculations, allowing him to teleport safely, but he is not sure how to get back to his home dimension.

I have an idea for a short mod that has him and doc sliding through several different dimensions looking for Microcosm's home and teaming up with many alternate version of familiar characters in the process.  As a result, he would no longer be there for LB2, although I doubt that mod will ever get made.

Okay, here's what I've got for Ulysses.  I'm afraid I didn't make notes, and the loss of the original thread is quite a loss indeed.  My memory is abysmal at best. :P

Ulysses steps into the LB universe out of the mists of time.  His last memories are of his final voyage.  Growing bored of his beloved Ithaca and missing the life of adventure, he convinced his aging crew to sail to the ends of the earth.  The last man alive on the ship, after sailing beyond the Pillars of Hercules, the man once known as Odysseus sailed into Hades itself, down the River Styx.  Forces beyond his ken have brought him to this day and time, and returned him to his prime.  Now he seeks to join his faithful wife Penelope in the paradise of Elysium.

He possesses his fabled bow, his strong sword, maybe a shield, and his devious mind.  It was Odysseus who came up with the gambit of the Trojan horse, outsmarted the Cyclops, and succeeded through guile and wits where his contemporaries succeeded through strength and skill.

If I remember correctly, we had discussed a split in the other dimensional world of Olympus (heralded by Pan's incursion in FF1), and represented by unknown forces bringing Odysseus to combat the coming storm.  He's eventually joined by Mercury, also using his Roman name to differentiate himself from the newly antagonistic rule of Zeus.  At least, that's how I remember it.  Cat, I imagine your memory is sharper than mine, having dealt with this all more recently, and plus I'm sure you have your own ideas of how all this ties together.  I'd love to discuss it with you, though.

Okies, this is pretty helpful, thanks.

As I recall it, there were missions of ascending scale until we bumped into the gods who were trying to stop Cosmos...EM and Nemesis merged into one being and fought him off?  I think?  Or is Unko right and they BECAME Cosmos?  I'm pretty sure Cosmos was an external threat.  What did he want to do?  Eat the universe?

I had an idea, since that's still far off from being written, that Cosmos could want to jump-start the universe into going Big Bang again, then absorbing all the energy into himself, or maybe transferring his consciousness into the universe as it restarted and becoming a being of near-infinite power composed of the energy of an entire universe.  Or something like that.  Maybe he's not evil, per se, he just doesn't comprehend this whole "universe has life in it" thing.  EM and N, with their whole neutrality and balance schtick, could combine into a new being and stop him because destroying the universe would definitely ruin its cosmic balance.

Cat, can I get a list of all the characters in the mod and a real brief description of each?  I can hardly recall any of the other ones (Energy Man, Nemesis, Floro and Pyre just from Unko's site, Mercury, the vampire guy, the cop guy...bleh.  BLEH).  And who do we have voices for?  Just the ones already recorded?

I was going through the characters I could remember and wrote a short character development thing for each; let me know what you think.  Some new bits I threw in for fleshing out depth in the future.  This has everyone from the website and Unko's skins page (which really needs to be added to the main site soon).  If any of this is contradictory to anything else, then the other stuff takes precidence; I just wanted to get all the characters on the same page and through in some depth, underlying motivations, and the like.  I really should've done this earlier, I think it'll make my writing much better.  Any extra ideas to add on, please feel free to do so; a lot of these characters need even more depth and history and humanity.

Goo: Funny, sarcastic, annoying at times.  Starts off hesitant to be in the group, later gets mroe into it when he realizes he'd be lost without them.  Uses humor to make light of the crazy world he's in because if he'd never be able to come to terms with the weirdness of it all.  Kind of scared underneath everything (also part of the reason he's a loner at first); grows out of it and comes to terms with it.  Fights crime at first because it seems like the natural thing to do, but starts to question it once he realizes just how scared of everything he is (I'd love to write some dialogue between him and Grendel where Grendel's being all psychoanalytical with Goo and he's so spot-on and it's just breaking the poor guy...it would be horrifying and dramatic and rock so hardcore), and he realizes he's actually a good guy.

Doc Astounding: Hyper-focused on the details, but sometimes loses sight of the big picture.  Or focuses on the big picture and overlooks details.  A tad absent-minded, but ceaselessly honest.  He'd die for his allies, or anyone, really.  Lives his life in service of others with very little thought for himself.  Rather detached from everything and everyone due to his logical outlook; very awkward around people.  Never really had the time for a girlfriend; might even be gay and not realize it, although that wouldn't ever be mentioned or brought up, just something to keep in mind while writing him, like Albus Dumbledore.

White Lightning: Calm and collected on the surface, a raging sea of emotional chaos underneath.  Anything that comes through is filtered by her tremendous self-control, so the most she'll normally show is a small smile.  Only thing she'll ever fully reveal is fury--and when she gets mad, she gets MAD.  Hates when she isn't in control of situation, especially when someone is forcefully wrenching control away from her.  Despises tyranny in all its forms for that reason.  Very accepting of others, except when they want to get in her way.  Takes tremendous joy in other peoples' happiness.

Microcosm: Bewildered to the extreme.  Endlessly fascinated by everything.  It's all new to him: the culture, the landscape, the people.  He loves to learn, which is a wonderful blend with DA's desire to teach.  Very passionate and excited about everything that he does; sees his science almost as an art (great foil to DA's dispassionate, straight-faced approach to science and life).  Easily excited.

Floro: Quiet, reserved.  A passionate environmentalist (obviously).  Once he opens up to you, you find a caring, tender soul who would do anything for the people he cares about.  Very optimistic about the human spirit and condition, and strives to do as much good as he possibly can.  Thinks that nobody is completely evil, and everyone deserves a second chance.

Iron Hide: Strong silent type.  Kind of cynical, but in that kind of hopeful existentialist sort of way.  Treats everyone with a kind of dispassionate affection.  You'd think he didn't like you at first, but then you realize that's just how he is.  Honest, but avoids conflict with people he cares about.  Goes ballistic when his friends are hurt, but only when they're really hurt; he knows most of his super-buddies can hold their own.

Jester: Joking, carefree; like Goo, uses it to hide how terrified she is because of the world around her.  Hopefully they can bond over this and become relatively close friends.  Of course, she's crazy about the Rogue, so nothing romantic would happen between them; Goo realizes this as he matures over time and stops being such a chauvinist pig towards her.  Part of what scares her about adventuring is just how much she loves it; she never longed for action before, and now it seems she can't get enough of it.  She's always itching to throw on her tights (*rimshot*) and beat some baddies down.  She's been told for her whole life that she has to be cautious and dependable and boring, and she loves how much she breaks the status quo.  Rogue is probably a little worried by how much she changes when she goes superheroing.

Rogue: Always trying to prove himself.  He compares himself to his favorite literary legends, especially Robin Hood, and he always finds himself coming up short.  Sets a high bar that he never reaches because he can't.  Very self-critical.  Focuses WAY too much on the little things and constantly finds himself missing the big picture (which he gets mad at himself for afterwards).  Enjoys being a hero, and loses himself in the action, though; it's the only time he isn't critiqueing himself.  Cares for Jester a great deal, but as he's too focused on his own perfection, misses out on the fact that she's in love with him.  Also kind of socially awkward, like the Doc, but not as bad.

Pyre: A young girl still trying to figure out where she is in the world.  Kind of whiny, but underneath is as limp as a wet noodle; easily persuaded to take any particular course of action.  Not stupid, just not very independent.  Will gradually grow into a strong-willed, passionate and caring young woman who lives for righteousness, hates evil, and appreciates the good that happens around her by regular people every day.

Odysseus: This is after The Odyssey, when his hubris has died down a bit.  But only a little.  He thrives on conflict, loves to win, and enjoys a good fight.  Relatively arrogant still, but has this nasty habit of boasting about how great he is and then actually being as awesome as he claims.  Always wants to push himself harder and farther, always almost-but-not-quite pushing himself past his limits.  Can be selfish at times.  Will sometimes butt heads with the controlling leadership of Doc, but works his way up be on equal leadership status with him.  Knows his teammates' very well so he can keep track of their strengths and weaknesses when he needs to use them.

Mighty Mercury: If you thought Odysseus was arrogant, you haven't met Mercury.  He feels very entitled to everything.  If he wants something, he'll take it, although only through deception; a god of trade, he despises theft.  Only the nudging of Reynolds' on his subconscious prevents him from turning into a lavish hedonist...along with the hidden message of the gods.  Loves adventure and fun.  Cares little for other people, unless he personally likes them.  Something of a womanizer.

Coppertop: Loves finally being at the top of the pile.  Dumb as a brick, naturally, and a huge bully, thus a huge coward.  After living for so long at the feet of everyone around him, he finally has the ability to put them into their place, so he does it whenever he can.  Terribly lazy, although hyperactive; he has a lot of energy, but he hates expending too much of it.  Highly sadistic to normal people, but greatly admires Hawk; fiercely loyal to him, he'll kill anybody who badmouths the only friend he's ever had.  Very talkative.

Hawk: Like Coppertop, loves finally being on top.  Feels a sense of entitlement due to his smug superiority.  Nothing gives him more satisfaction than smashing somebody's hope of success at the last second.  He wants to be important, he wants people to acknowledge his self-evident superiority.  Very manipulative and shrewd, and he never lets his guard down; he's learned by now that the only way to the top is through hard work, and he isn't going to slack off and lose everything he's gained so far when he's still such a long way from his goal.  Hates Coppertop because he sees him as the idiotic weakling everyone used to think he was, but manages to convince the crook they're equal partners.  Hates that Coppertop admires him so much, but understands his neccessity.  Longs for the day he has a self-powering suit and can just kill the guy in his sleep.

Dinosaur: Ambitious and crafty.  He has a lot of power and doesn't mind tossing it around.  Cruel to the extreme.  Sees himself as someone above his feeble humanity, better than the peons underneath him.  Enjoys finally having the power to back up his arrogance, and as a result, his arrogance has increased dramatically.  Loses track of things easily; it's easy for things to get out of control.  He loses his cool more and more as a result of his loss of control until it's completely shot to all heck.

Rat King: An angry, bitter monster-man who hates the surface world for what it's done to him and his family.  Will never rest until his father's murder is avenged, and sees the entire human race as the murderers.  Violently xenophobic.  He doesn't even like touching human-made objects and treats them as if they were coated in acid.  Coldly cruel and efficient; he'd rather kill a hundred men instantly than torture a dozen slowly, and his desire to cause as much damage as possible is one of the reasons he's such a threat; the other reason is that he's so damn good at it.

Comissioner Goodman: Uptight, bossy, controlling, but not just to be in control.  Firmly believes that vigilanteism is the last step towards anarchy, and doesn't want the citizens to take the law into their own hands.  Cares a great deal about Liberty Bay and its people, and doesn't want the superheroes taking any authority away from the police, where he sees it belongs.  Is especially worried about supervillains, since whenever the good guys show up on the scene, the bad guys are sure to follow.

Chief Brenner: A cop who broke long ago and sees in Liberty, Inc. a newfound source of hope.  Where Goodman sees anarchy, Brenner sees citizens who are finally taking a stand against corruption and evil.  While he would prefer it if they were a part of the police force, as long as somebody is willing to fight the good fight, he'll help.  He's starting to grow a spine again, with Liberty Inc to bolster his courage, and he's slowly turning into the bright-eyed young beat cop he used to be, convinced that one man can make all the difference in the world.

Big Ben: Very patient and cautious due to his longer lifespan.  Tries to be the voice of reason.  Dislikes barging into conflicts unprepared; sees them as little better than suicide.  Sometimes this can be a problem; he tends not to have much of a sense of urgency.  Doesn't like getting close to people, since he's seen too many of his good friends die.  Loves to explore new things, because things stay where they are.  You can age a day every century and the Himalayas will never lose their majesty.  Very big-picture, very optimistic; he's seen a lot of good done in his lifetime, and has seen a lot of change that has outlasted the people that brought it about.

Black Hole: The Black Hole is a criminal because of the mysterious influence of his Singularity Rod, which is gradually transforming him from a curious scientist into a cold, calculated criminal.  He is hardly aware of his transformation, but others have seen him change from a jovial man into a dispassionate, callous monster.  Eventually, once the Rod has completely engulfed him, he will have transformed into a living singularity with complete control over his mass, angular momentum, and electric charge (3 independent internal properties of a black hole).  The entity living in the Rod wants this to occur, because as Cheung draws power from the device he's also pulling on the cosmic entity within it, becoming its willling host.  Once the transformation is complete, Cheung will be gone, and only the Black Hole will remain, now on a cosmic entity level of power.  If the Rod were removed from Cheung long enough, he would feel horrified at his transformation, but would long to have the Rod back, now that he's grown so addicted to its power.  Which choice he makes depends on how the mod goes...

Cobra King: He's lived his entire life in devotion to his craft, and he's an expert at what he does.  He is entirely defined by his position as the head assassin of the Society of Serpents, and there is nothing else to him; if expelled from the Society, he would have no purpose, no meaning, no value in his own eyes.  He lives for the Society, and puts it above all else, although his underlings are meaningless to him.  The High Council is effectively god to him, and he strives his hardest to please them as best he can.

Energy Man: Johnny Volts is scared and confused, but he knows he has but one purpose: do good.  Altruistic to a fault, completely selfless and caring.  He's fun to be around most of the time, except when he's being such a boy scout.  There's a part of him that feels empty, though, and he's never known what it is, but he senses it's something dark and sinister.  And what really scares him is how much he wants to reach out and grab it, find out what it is, just how far it wants to go, and revel in it.  He always keeps in mind his own potential (*rimshot*) for evil, and always pushes himself away from it.

Nemesis: Unlike Energy Man, Nemesis knows exactly what he is: the anti-Energy Man.  They will always oppose each other, always cancel each other out.  There can be no victory, only a delay in their inevitable death by each others' hand.  They have no fate, no destiny, they simply are.  Nemesis is everything Energy Man hates because he must be.  It is his only purpose.  And he hates that he'll never win.  He hates that he is doomed to negation each and every time, because he exists solely as an opposite.  It drives him mad with fury that the universe is so cruel as to deprive him even of the dark hope of his victory.  He does know that EM isn't aware of this universal balancing act, however, and dangles tantalizing hints as to their destiny whenever he can, longing for the day he can reveal everything and finally crush the do-gooder's irritatingly optimistic spirit.

Grendel: He longs for a return to the Domain.  In a society where rank is everything, this once-great leader is now less than nothing, a rankless peon on an abandoned planet left with the impossible task of dominating it single-handedly.  He will always push on, however.  He always strives as hard as he can, without a second's thought for mercy, because he wants so badly to be reaccepted by his beloved Lord Dominion, his Master, Lord, and near-god.  He venerates the Lord Dominion, which makes his exile that much harder.  He doesn't like taking life unneccessarily, after all, what good is a planet if everyone on it is dead?  But his definition of "unneccessarily" is very different from anyone else's.  If it will make the heroes run away, it is neccessary.  If it will distract the heroes, it is neccessary.  He will never send his troops into a suicide battle, however; he's far more intelligent than that.  He's very proud of his race and their accomplishments, and compared to other species he is proud, but among his own race he will be forever humbled by his chastisement at the hands of the Lord Dominion.

Lord Darkholme: His primary drive now is his hunger.  Before his revenge, before his hedonism, there is the hunger, a ceaseless, tireless yearning for the life force of human beings.  The only thing that truely sates his need is to kill with his ability, but even then, the feeling of peace is temporary, and he is driven again to feed.  He sees people as cattle, fit only for his consumption.  He's something of a connaisseur; he prefers superpowers for the strange new abilities they give him when he feeds.  Funnily enough, he's kind of always seen people like food, except before he wanted their money and now he wants their life, so his powers haven't really changed him, just made him worse.  Since he cares so little for people, he finds his purpose in material goods; wealth, lavish living, and the like.  A hedonist in every sense of the word.  He easily takes great offense at even the tinest slight, and has a strong sense of arrogant pride he labels "honor."

You've honestly put a lot more thought into these characters than I have, and I have no real objections.  I do have a few notes however.

Neither Black Hole or Cobra King are featured in this mod.  Black Hole will likely make a guest appearance as part of the huge supervillain team.  Both would be in LB2, and Black Hole would probably be one of the plyable characters in the villain mod.

I'm not using Lord Darkholme, as nice as that skin is, but am sticking to the original The Count, who is more of a refined, arrogant aristrocrat.  Count looks mostly human, just a tad pale, and in outdated clothes.  He's probably a bit like Rogue, who looks to the past rather than the present.  In fact, the sub-group Medieval (consisting of The Jester, The Rogue, The Bard, and the Shepherd--Mercury's host post-LB using just the power of the staff) lead by the Rogue fights him a lot.  They might appear in a 1 mission minimod.

I'll pm you more about the characters and story details later.  And don't worry, must is still changeable.

Wow, that was a great read. I'm really looking forward to playing more of LB, and it inspires me to do something with my own mod...

I'm available for mapping and any voices you might want. I'm young, english and male, but can do quite a few accents. Just pm me.
At a push I might be able to persuade my sister to do a small part. But one with more than a mission of lines would likely be a no-no from her.

Nice work!

Thanks, Cat and Lunarman.  I love character work.  I've really enjoyed working on these guys; it's been very illuminating.

Quote from: catwhowalksbyhimselfNeither Black Hole or Cobra King are featured in this mod.  Black Hole will likely make a guest appearance as part of the huge supervillain team.  Both would be in LB2, and Black Hole would probably be one of the plyable characters in the villain mod.

Okay.  If BH does show up, now we have a blurb to put into his string.  I'd really like to get this made...if we get enough momentum going, I would love to try a second one.  But no worrying about it now!  A villain mod would also be cool, and so would that one you mentioned earlier about DA and Microcosm (or is it MicroCosm?) going on an adventure through dimensions.  I'd love to mess around with that, especially if we could toss in some evil versions of classic characters, since I love those guys to death.

QuoteI'm not using Lord Darkholme, as nice as that skin is, but am sticking to the original The Count, who is more of a refined, arrogant aristrocrat.  Count looks mostly human, just a tad pale, and in outdated clothes.  He's probably a bit like Rogue, who looks to the past rather than the present.  In fact, the sub-group Medieval (consisting of The Jester, The Rogue, The Bard, and the Shepherd--Mercury's host post-LB using just the power of the staff) lead by the Rogue fights him a lot.  They might appear in a 1 mission minimod.

Who is the Count, exactly?  Still vampiric?  If so, I can probably keep the mindset and backstory.  I've always figured the Thirst is the primary drive in anything a vampire does, and everything else is window dressing.

QuoteI'll pm you more about the characters and story details later.  And don't worry, must is still changeable.

Cool, can't wait!  I'm getting super excited about this all over again. I've been spending all my slacking off time writing up little character short stories.  It's helped a lot.

Which brings me to the next bit.  So, Grendel was exiled from the Domain for not being able to secure Earth.  I was pondering more his specific backstory, and I noticed some discrepencies: Freedom Force happens.  Grendel is scapegoated, causing his exile.  Then he kidnaps White Lightning, and then crashes on Earth.  How does that work?

How about this.  Grendel gets scapegoated for letting Earth fall to Freedom Force, which isn't a problem in and of itself, but now there are all these pesky rebellions popping up all over the place now that people are hearing about these guys who fought off the Domain.  Grendel, exiled, has a small squad of mercenary Domain in his control (who might make for interesting sub-bosses, like the Shi'ar Imperial Guard or somesuch).  He intercepted a signal from Zzzvvzsz  asking for a peace conference.  Grendel knew the Domain would ignore such a plea, but he saw a valuable opportunity.  He forged a reply, and sent his crew down as fake diplomats, but once the conference was under way he ambushed them and killed everyone--except Whhltgg, who he captured as his personal slave.  He figures he'll break her spirit and deliver her to his Lord Dominion, and take sadistic glee in the process, too.

Now, here's where things get fuzzy.  He comes to Earth for some reason, White Lightning overloads the ship in a massive surge of energy, bing bang boom, Earth, hominid form, etc.  Now, the question is WHY.  Why is he near Earth?  Is there a new opportunity there?  Maybe there's a rumor along the spacevine that some phenominally powerful energy signature (Energy Man/Nemesis, perhaps?) is there, and he's hired to scout?

The current origin for Grendel (Unko's stuff is the original version for those characters mostly, not the one I typically have adapted for the mod) is that, after ending the rebellion, he is sent to Earth to conquer it covertly, which he does by starting up his own gang with Dominion-style weaponry.  You may feel free to tweak this somewhat.

Okay...hmm.  I do kind of like the element of exile; it makes him more desperate.  What if he was being threatened with exile?  Or...OR.  He and Praetor (lets have some other fellows in the upper echelons, shall we?) are constantly at each other's throats, trying to prove themselves superior and gain the favor of their Lord Dominion (I use possessive pronouns in front of his name because it adds a feeling of veneration, and Lord Dominion would totally want to be revered).  He wants to succeed too usurp Praetor's position at the top of the pack, maybe?

That would fit.

Oooh, sweet.  Now I have an excuse to delve into the lovely world of DOMAIN POLITICS!

How much is there in FF canon concerning the Domain?  They weren't in FFvTTR...what about the comics?

What I'm imagining is something like Rome or Egypt, where the ruler is viewed as a god, and everyone vies for his favor.  Probably extremely xenophobic.  Praetor is one of the highest of LD's minions, one of his personal military advisors.  As such, he's shrewd, cunning, and excellent at making people underestimate him.  I see that as his major strength over Grendel, who's too proud to ever try to conceal himself.  Without the threat of exile, he wouldn't have that element of humility, but that definitely doesn't lead to hubris, since he's smart enough to never needlessly boast.  Maybe he volunteered for the job.  Yeah, Praetor got blamed for it all falling apart last time, and Grendel finally sees the opportunity to prove himself to his Lord Dominion and usurp Praetor's prestigious position!  (Aliteration not intended.)

Just my 2 cents:

Quote from: Gremlin on March 31, 2008, 12:17:35 AM
Odysseus: This is after The Odyssey, when his hubris has died down a bit.  But only a little.  He thrives on conflict, loves to win, and enjoys a good fight.  Relatively arrogant still, but has this nasty habit of boasting about how great he is and then actually being as awesome as he claims.  Always wants to push himself harder and farther, always almost-but-not-quite pushing himself past his limits.  Can be selfish at times.  Will sometimes butt heads with the controlling leadership of Doc, but works his way up be on equal leadership status with him.  Knows his teammates' very well so he can keep track of their strengths and weaknesses when he needs to use them.

Mighty Mercury: If you thought Odysseus was arrogant, you haven't met Mercury.  He feels very entitled to everything.  If he wants something, he'll take it, although only through deception; a god of trade, he despises theft.  Only the nudging of Reynolds' on his subconscious prevents him from turning into a lavish hedonist...along with the hidden message of the gods.  Loves adventure and fun.  Cares little for other people, unless he personally likes them.  Something of a womanizer.

Odysseus is, from what I remember of the books, dead on. Kudos! Hermes too, except on one point, if you really want to follow the traditional mythology: His chief attributes, apart from being the messenger of the gods (with Iris), was the being god of trade and thieving. Which should tell us something about the opinion the Ancients had of merchants. ;)

Thanks! :thumbup:

Well, looking perusing Wikipedia, Mercury was a god of trade while Hermes was a god of theft.  There were slight differences when he was assimilated into the Roman religion.

It'd be interesting to touch on that, actually...hmm.  I can see him mentioning how he used to be a theif, until the Romans started praying to him instead of the Greeks...

Quote from: Gremlin on March 31, 2008, 08:39:47 PM
Well, looking perusing Wikipedia, Mercury was a god of trade while Hermes was a god of theft.  There were slight differences when he was assimilated into the Roman religion.

While there are indeed differences between the two Pantheons' versions, of the couple of books I have at hand on the subject, one mentions that Hermes was among other things (I certainly forgot that he was the god of sheperds) the patron of both thieves and merchants, while the other signals that Mercury was the tutelar deity of thieves. The former does reference syncretism between the Greek model and an old Roman merchant god, though. Anyway, the list of attributes for any major divinity changed according to epoch and region (e.g. the Artemis of continental Greece – a virgin huntress– vs. the version adored in Ephesus – a polymastic fertility goddess), so you've got license to pick what suits you.

QuoteIt'd be interesting to touch on that, actually...hmm.  I can see him mentioning how he used to be a theif, until the Romans started praying to him instead of the Greeks...

I like your thinking. :D

Quote from: Epimethee on March 31, 2008, 09:56:05 PM

Quote from: Gremlin on March 31, 2008, 08:39:47 PM
Well, looking perusing Wikipedia, Mercury was a god of trade while Hermes was a god of theft.  There were slight differences when he was assimilated into the Roman religion.

While there are indeed differences between the two Pantheons' versions, of the couple of books I have at hand on the subject, one mentions that Hermes was among other things (I certainly forgot that he was the god of sheperds) the patron of both thieves and merchants, while the other signals that Mercury was the tutelar deity of thieves. The former does reference syncretism between the Greek model and an old Roman merchant god, though. Anyway, the list of attributes for any major divinity changed according to epoch and region (e.g. the Artemis of continental Greece – a virgin huntress– vs. the version adored in Ephesus – a polymastic fertility goddess), so you've got license to pick what suits you.

Artemis?  Kill-you-when-you-catch-me-bathing Artemis?  HA!  That's amusing.

Plus there's this whole "writing like we're in the 60's" thing going for us.  Who needs accuracy?

Quote

QuoteIt'd be interesting to touch on that, actually...hmm.  I can see him mentioning how he used to be a theif, until the Romans started praying to him instead of the Greeks...

I like your thinking. :D

  Thanks!  I've always loved making mythical gods a function of the people who believe in them.  Got a lot of mileage in my D&D campaign with that.  Hey, that could also explain why he's so weak now and needs a mortal host!  The mythic gods don't exist much any more; they're abstracts, stories and myths that don't have substance.  Mercury needs a host; who else would actually believe in his power?  Maybe that's the other gods' plan?  Push through the divide from fiction to reality?

Thought of something awesome.  Instead of Johnny, Energy Man/Nemesis's civilian name should be Jules [Something].  Since, you know, a joule is the SI unit of energy.

As part of my attempt to work on the mod again, I've starting playing through Issue 2.  I've now added Jester as a main character, and not just a recruitable as before.

Anyway, I just underestimated myself.  I left the mayor alone for just a few minutes, even though I knew I had coded dino thugs to periodically spawn and go after him, and what do you know, the guy wandered right away from my team and what should have been simply if I had left a guy with him turned into a losing attempt to catch up.  And the mayor went down.  And the mission didn't fail.

If I had to beat myself, at least I caught a new bug while doing it!

I'll also be adding Floro as a recruitable soon.  I really should add Microcosm first, but he's going to be a little more work.  He has at least one, and probably two, new attributes that I have to code up.

Okies.  You want me to throw in a "let's meet Floro!" script dealie, or will he just be recruitable ala Iron Ox?

And what are Microcosm's powers in-game?

QuoteOkies.  You want me to throw in a "let's meet Floro!" script dealie, or will he just be recruitable ala Iron Ox?

If you can do it within the current plan, sure go ahead, if you want to.

I've now got him in game and he ended up a bit different.  He is a combination Acid-based ranged fighter with various effects with all attacks and a healer.

Microcosm is a combination technology-based type with shrinking based skills.  He will gain two new attributes, Energy Containment, which lets him store Energy X cannisters for later use, and an as-yet-unamed one that will cause Energy X to effect him half as much as it does everyone else (being from a different universe and all)  He will also be able to summon giant amoebas.

I may change my mind on some of this.  I'm going to take a look at Unkoman's hero file and will likely incorporate ideas from it.  I'm planning on working on him next anyway.  I'm also going to go back to Unko's version, as far as the mesh goes, although the large size mesh hexed for me will be used for cutscenes where he appears full-sized.

Okies, I'll throw it in pre-Microcosm.

How about "Dimensional Visitor" or "Extradimensional Physiology?"

And that amoeba thing is awesome. :thumbup:

Hey, you know what would be cool?  If he's normally male_basic size, then when he shrinks down to male_tiny he stays on that little hoverpad; skope all the ranged forms into regular, I mean.  That way he could still zip around super fast and it would look cooler.

Howdy guys!  I've been thinking about LB lately, and I was just wondering if anything was going on with it.  I can't wait to play with these characters some more, and I'd love to see Issue 2!

Quote from: BentonGrey on December 16, 2008, 02:46:19 PM
Howdy guys!  I've been thinking about LB lately, and I was just wondering if anything was going on with it.  I can't wait to play with these characters some more, and I'd love to see Issue 2!

Me too. :cool:

Haven't done anything with it in months.  Hit a couple of bugs, got lazy and distracted by other things, and never got back to it.

I'd be willing to hand it over to another programmer either partially or fully, or you can bug me back into it, I suppose.

I could also make the current version of issue 2 public if need be, but it's hardly in a fully playable state.

Curses!  I wish I could script, because if so I'd be willing to take this on after releasing DCUG, before I moved on to the next set of campaigns.  I WOULD be willing to do anything else I can, including playtesting or whatever else, after January 10th.

I have the beginnings of the shooting script for the next section...I think level 6 and after? Like Cat, got lazy and distracted.

I'd be willing to help. I don't know how, but the idea is great and I'd like to see it become a reality.

I was wondering what had happened to this mod as well....you gotta keep goin' with it Cat! :thumbup: