Unique mod project in progress
I've been quietly working on a unique mod idea. It's a mix between squad based tactical combat and Syndicate, with some RTS elements thrown in (such as the command system).
Every player controls a squad of soldiers, any number from 2 to 8. Each squad member is one of a limited number of classes, each class having varying health, shields, weapon, running speed, and sight radius. Players pick their squad based on the server set number of points allowed (each class worth a different number of points).
The player interface is entirely mouse-cursor based. Camera control is done via keyboard keybinds and mouse (holding down the right mouse button allows free rotation of the camera).
The command system allows three types of command handling - immediate, queued, and inline commanding. Immediate is what you'd expect - give the order, it's followed immediately. Queued sets up a list of commands for the squad member to follow. Inline tells the squad member to add the command to whatever it is doing currently, for concurrent processing. Currently, the Select, Move, Guard, Attack, and Cancel commands are all functional.
The command system also includes a smart list builder, which, every time the cursor moves, builds a list of valid commands given what squad members are selected, what's under the cursor, and what keybinds are being held. The list of commands is presented via the cursor image itself, and cycling through the command list changes the cursor to reflect what command is selected. The commands are ordered by guessed importance (the builder can't possibly know what you really want to do most at the moment) and prioritizes the order of the commands in the list, so that the cursor attempts to reflect the most likely command of choice (a process that I'm still tweaking values for).
As for gameplay, I'm currently working on getting a Deathmatch gametype working with this; I figure I'm about 50% done with core functionality (not to include interesting levels or anything beyond kill-everybody-else). Even though there's a ways to go before it's remotely releasable, right now you can select via starting menu your squad, you can order them around and attack a spawned group of enemies to get a feel of how the interface feels. If anyone is interested in checking this out, let me know.. I'm posting to gauge potential interest in a mod like this and get feedback on what people expect versus what the mod delivers right now.
Every player controls a squad of soldiers, any number from 2 to 8. Each squad member is one of a limited number of classes, each class having varying health, shields, weapon, running speed, and sight radius. Players pick their squad based on the server set number of points allowed (each class worth a different number of points).
The player interface is entirely mouse-cursor based. Camera control is done via keyboard keybinds and mouse (holding down the right mouse button allows free rotation of the camera).
The command system allows three types of command handling - immediate, queued, and inline commanding. Immediate is what you'd expect - give the order, it's followed immediately. Queued sets up a list of commands for the squad member to follow. Inline tells the squad member to add the command to whatever it is doing currently, for concurrent processing. Currently, the Select, Move, Guard, Attack, and Cancel commands are all functional.
The command system also includes a smart list builder, which, every time the cursor moves, builds a list of valid commands given what squad members are selected, what's under the cursor, and what keybinds are being held. The list of commands is presented via the cursor image itself, and cycling through the command list changes the cursor to reflect what command is selected. The commands are ordered by guessed importance (the builder can't possibly know what you really want to do most at the moment) and prioritizes the order of the commands in the list, so that the cursor attempts to reflect the most likely command of choice (a process that I'm still tweaking values for).
As for gameplay, I'm currently working on getting a Deathmatch gametype working with this; I figure I'm about 50% done with core functionality (not to include interesting levels or anything beyond kill-everybody-else). Even though there's a ways to go before it's remotely releasable, right now you can select via starting menu your squad, you can order them around and attack a spawned group of enemies to get a feel of how the interface feels. If anyone is interested in checking this out, let me know.. I'm posting to gauge potential interest in a mod like this and get feedback on what people expect versus what the mod delivers right now.
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