A small side project

by **RedHotChiliDog** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 5:48 am

Just to let you guys know that I am in very good spirits because of the recent revival of the game and currently working on a small side project while I am debugging the campaign mission 6 crash bug.

I have some catching-up to do since I have been away from scripting for a while and I figured that developing a new mission would get me the exposure to some of the more advanced features that I will need to finish the MQB 4.0 script.

Currently expanding on the story of my "When Genesis Becomes Genocide" script. When I first wrote this back in the Summer of 2002 I released only part of the story since that part was enough to make a logically complete mission in and of itself. Just thought now would be a good time to expand on this story and release a new script.

The previous script was very loosely based on a story from the old Startrek 25th Anniversary game called "Love's Labor Jeopardized". I originally placed the mission in the TNG timeline with the use of a lot of TNG ship mods. This time I want to create a TOS version of the story placing it in the same timeframe of the Klingon Academy game and using stock models so that everyone will have easy access to the mission.

The new script will incorporate a lot of the same features as the original script as well as expanding the story by adding story elements from a couple of other scripts that I have written. This was my original intent on expanding the script but never got around to it until now. When I first started scripting, I wrote small scripts with each script incorporating a new gameplay feature that I have learned to code. A few of my scripts were written as independent stories with the intent of using these scripts later to present a bigger story. Now that the game has a second life I am excited to get a chance to complete this mission the way I originally wanted to.

I have laid out some final details in preparing the direction and dialog of the new story and just started writing code tonight. I am hoping to get enough time with nights and weekends so that I can release this sometime in February. Completion of this will give me plenty of reexposure to the scripting language to tackle the daunting feature list for MQB 4.0.

by **John** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:14 pm

Cool, can't wait!

by **Dater** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:30 pm

I am so excited! If you need any beta tester please think of me

by **Gordon Finlay** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:00 am

So, wild idea I'll just throw out there... For a long time, I've been wanting to do a co-op mission (that is, a singleplayer style mission playable in multiplayer). Any chance you have a mission in your campaign that would work in this kind of format?

I've been needing something good to sink my programming teeth into (and Kahless knows this programming class I'm in isn't doing it). What do you think?

by **RedHotChiliDog** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:44 am

[quote="Dater"]I am so excited! If you need any beta tester please think of me ]

I am excited about this too! Been a long time. Thanks for the testing offer. I will definitely contact you when the script is in a beta status.

by **RedHotChiliDog** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:51 am

Gordon Finlay wrote:So, wild idea I'll just throw out there... For a long time, I've been wanting to do a co-op mission (that is, a singleplayer style mission playable in multiplayer). Any chance you have a mission in your campaign that would work in this kind of format?

I've been needing something good to sink my programming teeth into (and Kahless knows this programming class I'm in isn't doing it). What do you think?

I have a couple of ideas in mind. One of the scripts would make an excellent co-op with some rebalancing for two players. "Target of Opportunity" is a script where the player crosses the enemy border to preemptively strike an invasion force. In fact I plan on using elements of this one as part of the small project that I am currently working on right now but feel free to use it or any of my other scripts if you wish. The script should be available from my download page and source code should be included in all of the downloads.

Another script you may want to try is the reversed version of "There will be no peace!". In the reversed version the Enterprise and the Excelsior are trying to destroy the Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked. This would also require rebalancing with perhaps a larger Klingon ship but may make for a simple co-op and single play experience.

Again, feel free to use whatever you like but I would suggest maybe one of those two scripts since they are among the first that I wrote and are fairly simple in gameplay mechanics.

Also I cannot wait to see whatever you come up with. The idea you have is very good and we can definitely use some good co-op missions in this game. Let me know if you have any questions!

by **Gordon Finlay** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 9:31 pm

That's like the SFC mission, right? I think I remember it. Seems definitely implementable.

by **RedHotChiliDog** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 4:14 am

Gordon Finlay wrote:That's like the SFC mission, right? I think I remember it. Seems definitely implementable.

Yes, I am sure SFC probably had that mission as I got the inspiration from an old Starfleet Battles boardgame scenario which SFC is based on. At the time I wrote that mission it seemed like an easy enough thing to do as a beginner with the scripting language. Looking at it now, it seems to be fairly ideal as a cooperative effort as well as technically feasible.

by **RedHotChiliDog** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:29 am

Quick status on my scripting project here.

Had a tough week with work and oncall but was surprised in the amount of progress I was actually able to make on the script. Got much of the first several solar system events put together and working on the fourth system now. Will have some polishing to do after that. Also surprised at how quickly this is all coming back to me. Having a good bit of fun with this and can't wait to get it finalized.

When first mentioning this I was hoping to get this out by the 21st for a beta, but looks like it will most likely end-up being closer to the 28th when I can get it polished enough for a quick beta.

by **Dater** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:51 pm

Great! Im glad you are having fun!

by **RedHotChiliDog** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 5:35 am

Have not been able to work on stuff for the last couple of weeks since my 8800 GTX took a dive. Finally got a chance to get my machine back up and running with a new GPU and getting back to work on my project

by **Dater** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:12 am

That is good news! How long did your 8800 GTX last? Did you overclock it?

by **RedHotChiliDog** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 3:18 am

I did not overclock the card though I never really used it to it's full potential anyway. I think it was somewhere around 4 or so years old. Got it when they were the top-end Nvidia card at the time and paid about $500 for it.

Got a more modest card this time around. Wanted something with the entire feature set so I went with the 400 series of card. Though I do not need to process high-end resolutions so I went with the budget card of the 400 series. Got a Galaxy GTS 450 that was factory overclocked so it would perform better than the reference card. So far it seems to be chewing through the games I play really well and only had to pay $119 this time around.