Monster Mine Layer (Updated)

[legacy-4TX4]

Update: Alpha 0.2 released, see http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums...d.php?t=512251

The basic idea is very simple: instead of spider mines the ML fires canisters that contain various Invasion monster classes, and maybe some custom monsters as well (i.e. Satore pack, Zombies of Nightmare etc.).

New!08/06 It also fires ordinary spider mines, in case you simply wanna blow stuff up!

New! 08/06 The stronger a monster is, the more 'ammo' it costs. Say your starting ammo is 60, max ammo is 180 (60 per pickup), and the max number of active mines and/or darts (see below) is 6, then relatively weak monsters like pupae or flies would cost 10 ammo, and powerful ones like queens & stone titans (assuming you use the SMP addon) 120-180. This would of course have to be done carefully to get the balance just right.

New! 08/06 Monster types are selected by holding down Alt, and scrolling with the mouse wheel through a menu that appears on (say) the top left side of the screen. The classes are listed along with ammo costs, and could be color coded for additional convenience.

Primary fires a monster mine just like it would fire a spider mine. When someone approaches the mine, out pop the monsters (actually they could appear through little "portals", which kinda resemble a warp flash) and attack him. The monsters will also attack anyone else who gets near or shoots (at) them. This includes their "owner", and if he gets fragged he'll get an especially humiliating death message, and loses a point.

Alt fire controls the monsters with a laser beam like the original does. In this mode they won't attack you, so whenever one of your own mosters gets too close, just point him somewhere else with alt. Of course it may actually be someone else's monster, in which case it's ...TIME TO START RUNNING!! Or fragging. Whichever you prefer.

Alt fire, pressed down + prim fires small homing darts. These projectiles remain stuck in whatever body part they hit, and send out a signal that attracts monsters (how many depends on moster size) which are spawned the moment someone is darted. The monster(s) keeps attacking until either it or its/their target is killed. Needless to say, you can hit people multiple times (up to a tbd max), and have a bit of a laugh as they're chased around the map by a gaggle of assorted monsters, perhaps triggering monster mines in the process. The darts could be animated with a blinking/flashing sequence (different color for each monster class), and sonar-like sound effects could be added as a finishing touch of sorts.

When you die your monsters vanish -- or they could just keep roaming out of control, attacking both players and each other, unless someone quickly grabs their former "master's" weapon and thereby becomes their new "owner". He can then direct them around with the laser beam.

Obviously, there would have to be a limit to the number of active monsters, don't wanna crash anyone's PC after all... MMLs would simply refuse to fire when max is reached (when too many players are using them), and there would be a max amount of active mines per player (6?), which, when exceeded, would automatically remove the first mine / monster, then the second one etc., as happens with spider mines. Ideally this kind of stuff would be configurable via a menu.

For an added bloody & chaotic twist, you could have a mute that randomly makes the monsters explode when killed, the type of explosion being related to the monster's size/strength.

A lot of stock material could be used for this weapon, which should make the job significantly easier. Basically a weapon (ML?) would have to be (re-)skinned, monster canisters either custom modelled or some suitable existing object skinned, custom animated darts made, and everything coded together (hardest part). Needless to say, this could be a cooperative project if so desired / required.

[legacy-4TX4]

I'm giving this a little BUMP 'cause IMO it's a relatively straightforward yet potentially very fun(ny) mod. It would bring back some of the gay chaotic goodness of UT's classic Bad News mutator.

[legacy-mbProZak]

Cool Idea....

[legacy-4TX4]

YES! Finally someone agrees!

[legacy-Mr._Black_Mage]

Ya that sounds pretty cool i renember playing a similer mod for ut99 but it would be cool to summon the monsters especialy f you could summon any monster like the boss monsters from fhi i think

[legacy-4TX4]

Updated the original post (added homing dart feature & some more info on ammo pickups), so here's another BUMP.

[legacy-mbProZak]

I'm surprised no one has offered help on this idea

If I had the skills I would jump on it....

[legacy-Zidane77]

A general idea of coding wise, is On Fire Spawn - Spawn the Pawns.

[legacy-4TX4]

Originally posted by mbProZak
I'm surprised no one has offered help on this idea

If I had the skills I would jump on it....

Well, thanks anyway. Feedback keeps the thread alive, if nothing else.

Originally posted by Zidane77
A general idea of coding wise, is On Fire Spawn - Spawn the Pawns.

Hm? Not sure what you mean here, but then again I'm no coder so that's hardly surprising...

Anyway, made some more edits to the original post. Just minor ones, really, like the flashing dart feature.

[legacy-~Mr.Crow]

Thats an awsome idea I would love to make it but sadly I dont know how but im trying to learn.

[legacy-awaw]

That would be great :up:

[legacy-The_WILDCARD]

I like it to......its cool man!

[legacy-Mahalis]

Is anyone still interested in this? I've started working on it, but probably won't finish unless someone actually wants to see it made. :noob:

[legacy-q03]

Originally posted by Mahalis
Is anyone still interested in this? I've started working on it, but probably won't finish unless someone actually wants to see it made. :noob:

I would like to see it made.

I have a suggestion for the monsters generated. Make it so that the untrigered mines can be charged up with the link gun(like Spider Steroids).

A normal mine launched by the gun would spawn a weak monster that can easly be killed but if you link to it the mine would summon a larger/stronger monster. A fully charged mine would summon something that could rivel a Leviathan.

[legacy-4TX4]

Still interested? Hell yeah! Let me know if you need help with beta testing or whatever.

Love the steroids idea, btw. :up:

[legacy-Nuclear Man]

Originally posted by 4TX4
The basic idea is very simple: instead of spider mines the ML fires canisters that contain various Invasion monster classes...

Alright!! Monster in a can!!

[legacy-mbProZak]

Please keep working on it:cry:

[legacy-awaw]

Originally posted by mbProZak
Please keep working on it :cry:

+1

[legacy-n3x15]

Hmmm... Maybe a simple modification to the Car Launcher...

[legacy-4TX4]

Hm, yeah, that's actually a pretty good idea! :up: Shouldn't be too difficult to convert the car launcher into a simple monster launcher. Maybe bits of its code could also be used for the more complex mine layer. Personally I'd like to see something with all the features mentioned in the first post, but just launching all kinds of monsters (including custom ones) at people would be kinda cool too. Total frickin' pandemonium...

[legacy-Urb]

Hey does anybody know how to convert this 2k3 weapon to 2k4,
, not to be confussed with the Zencoders benelli

http://lz3.fragism.com/

[Sarge-David]

sounds fun

[legacy-Compiler50]

I'd like to play with this mod.... but also get someone server to use it.

[legacy-Mahalis]

v0.2 alpha now available here.

[legacy-[WGS]Gatlin]

Good Idea, I thought It would like to air out a bit after being on the bottom of the topic (where I found it), I would really like to see this beta'd, even final'd, but I'm willing to settle on what is given to me.