I am currently in the process of making a 19 level mission pack set for Descent 2 (6 secret). Yes, I got the Descent bug again and I felt that Descent 3 levels are a bit too complicated for me to make Single Player, so I'd revert to what I do best, Descent 2 mission campaigns!
Although my request is aimed at Sirius and Darkhorse, anyone who has talent can apply to help and pitch in. What I'm looking for are these:
- Robot Polymodel designers. (I'm looking for 7 new robots, 1 of which will be boss, email me for details.)
- Briefing Graphic Designers (email me for details)
- Story Designer (I have a basic outline of the story, but I'd rather have a master storyteller fill in the details for me. Might want to work with the Briefing graphic designer on this. Again, email me for details.)
- Midi creator (I only need four songs, email me for details)
- New Weapon Creator (This position is optional, it'd be nice to have new weapons in this set, but I can live without, but if someone is willing and able to submit a hog with some new weapons, then email me!)
And that's about it. The levels will be made by me, but the rest, I'll need a little help on. Let's make this level pack a success people!
EMAIL: darkflamewolf@yahoo.com
EDIT: Oh and if you are wondering if I'm trustworthy and able to even finish a ambitious set like this, then you've clearly never heard of Bahagad Outbreak and Lost Levels both 10 level and 25 level mission campaigns respectively. Both can be found at planetdescent.com. Check them out if you're interested.
Should be able to assist with all graphical and 3D components. I can't remember where I put the .mid software though. I'm pretty sure Sirius can do the rest.
First off, would anyone be interested in a set like this? 19 levels, new robots, music, etc? I'm making it regardless, but I want some sort of opinion on the response to it.
Well, here is some more information on my project, the levels will be in a three set formation. Meaning, of the 19 levels, the first 18 will be grouped in sets of 3.
2 of the three levels will be required to play through, and the third will be the secret level. Example: Two water levels and a third secret water level, etc.
The first level of a set will always have the secret exit leading to the middle 'third' optional level. The second level of the set will always have a boss.
The final level will be of no group and will simply have a final boss and a bunch of boss robots. (It may sound hard, but I'll be sure to make it fair)
In terms of the grouping, here it is:
Levels 1, 2, secret - Metal/Space Station-ish levels
Levels 3, 4, secret - Water/Cave levels
Levels 5, 6, secret - Lava/Cave levels
Levels 7, 8, secret - Ice/Cave levels
Levels 9, 10, secret - Lava/Cave/Alien/Reddish levels
Levels 11, 12, secret - Water/Cave/Alien/Greenish levels
Level 13 - Unknown at this time.
It will be using all the Descent 2 robots including 7 new robots. Due to story, all the new robots will be of similar design. The first initial robot of the seven that you meet will be its most basic design. But as you meet the others and eventually the final boss, you'll see adjustments, improvements and modifications to this original design, giving the 'virus' that 'produced' these robots an almost evolutionary quality.
Finally, I've recently played Resident Evil 4 (haven't we all?) and I liked the type of gameplay presented where you JUST had 'enough' ammo to make it through the level and no more. I plan to test, test and test some more with the entire set to make sure that carries into my campaign. That you 'just' have enough ammo to make it through and no more. Making you think about how you are using your weapons and energy, esp. in the later levels where I will be stricter with the fuel centers and sometimes not including them at all. So the pacing of the weapons will be slower too, so you won't encounter your first mega missile until level 8, or your first fusion cannon until level 8. Forcing you to work with what you have and not your favorite standby.
Furthermore, because of the above quality of my levels, it may not be as swell to play it in coop because of the lack of weapons. But I have a solution to that. Each level at the start will have a control panel that will be obvious to see in single player, but will have absolutely NO USE to the single player if blown. Because, it will trigger a far off wall to disappear with another panel behind it. Only by having another player at that spot where the wall disappears and shooting that panel, could you access the stash of weapons that will materialize in the entry room of each level. For example, level 1 will only have 2 laser upgrades, 1 vulcan cannon and maybe 2 ammo packs for it. 1 4-pack concussion. 2 single homers. 1 pack of prox. bombs and 1 guided missile.
That is not even close to handling 4 coop players. So the stash at the start will probably have 6 laser upgrades. 2 vulcan cannons with 6 ammo packs. 3 4-pack concussions. 6 single homers. 2 packs of prox. and 4 guided missiles. In this way, everyone has a chance of pitching in the help the fight. (and yes, I shall include the locations of all these panels for coop play in the txt file that will accompany this set, so those who want to play coop, you better read it!)
As always, each level will be multiplayer/anarchy compatible and ctf compatible.
So, what do you think?
EDIT: Shows what I get for over-thinking things. So, what if people read the txt, found out the location of these coop panels and simply used guided missiles on them? True, it could happen. But thing is, I am only including 1 single guided missile in the levels that have the secret exit. NO OTHER levels will have any guided missiles because only the secret exits must be opened by guided missile. So even if they use it up on the coop panel, they lose access to the secret level. If instead they use it on the secret level, they probably will get most of what they would have gotten in the stash, so its not really an issue. lol
Yeah, that could also work. Of course, to be utterly foolproof, you'd need to either have no smart mines or put the trigger some distance behind a grate or people would use that.
But ... no, I have no simple answer for how far a guided missile can travel (haven't needed to try it myself); all I know is that most reasonably-sized levels are too large to completely cross with a guided missile. (e.g. D2 level 2 and above)
lordie, I almost forgot D2 had mines! Its like none of the custom mission campaigns made by other people have those mines. They are seldom used. But in actuality, they could be downright awesome to use!
But yeah, there aren't often seen in user maps. Frankly, I'm not too sure what their point is (To waste energy? To make you cautious at each door?), but they are available.
Can't really be helped though Diedal. My computer refuses to run it correctly, so I must be limited to the original Descent 2. Like that ever stopped me though! Look at Bahagad Outbreak and Lost Levels! LOL
But seriously, my campaign is getting a bit hindered. I feel a lot of pressure to make these levels good so I'm on my second iteration of level 1. I kept a good deal of it intact. But I'm going back through and revising many areas. It'll be slow going and I'd be surprised if I made a release by Christmas. So don't hope much. I'll probably be done early next year.
Update: NO work done whatsoever for the past two weeks! And probably not for the next. Why? Because I just made a massive change in my life. I moved from Sunny Califonia up north to Washington state! Yep, big move for me. And I had to pack up my computer early. It'll be a while until I unpack my OWN computer and get back to work on the level set. So, the due date for its release will be pushed back even further. But I won't quit and I won't give up! Wish me luck starting a new life up here in Washington!
I might be able to do something along the line of Midi music, I have three really good compositions sitting on my midi piano, and an idea for another one, but I can't record them into Acid Music Studio without problems. If I could get some help with that, I could do the other one. All three of them are alternative - New Age Rock. People say they're really good. In the range of 2 - 3 minutes each. The one thing that might be a problem would be that they'll be only one track - Mixed Music. Still, I'd like to see them used for something Descent.
P.S. I do some pretty good creative writing too. I could possibly do the story?
Yeah, this is like....very old. Sirius, Darkhorse and I have stopped contact (for some odd reason called life) and this never was picked back up. It started off pretty awesome though. I had 3 1/2 levels done before it crapped out.
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