Aftermath: Battalia Requiem (tjoz return to modding)

[tjoz]

As a lot of people know that Aftermath now spans two games, below is focused on Aftermath: Battalia Requiem. Unlike other mods out there, Battalia Requiem is not a standard mod, it is pretty much a complete rebuild of Legacy. I havent been active in either community for a while as I took time off from things but now that I back into modding I mainly working on Battalia Requiem. Every now and then I be doing some things for Starforce for BC. Main focus is Battalia Requiem for me at the moment.

The official announcement of Battalia Requiem is hopefully out by the end of the month (technical problems) but for now I can start working on the promo for the release. Aftermath: Battalia Requiem was originally slated for a November 2010 release but since unexpected things happened and release will be some time in 2011. There may be a small chance I can have it ready this year but I wont be pushing for it.

Below is your first official shot into how Aftermath: Battalia Requiem looks like:

[Barihawk]

I was wondering when this was going to be announced.

Tim, if you need any balancing or resizing gruntwork done, I can do it for you. I'll let you or whomever do the hardpointing but it would be nice to contribute a bit.

[tjoz]

I will probably need balancing as BR is a complete rebuild of both Legacy and Aftermath. Pretty much all existing content has been ripped out bar physics. The weapons, a new set is coming in to match up to the non-linear battle system that the game now has. Battles are more hectic, knife-edged and less predictable. Plus big fear element as torps can now be fired at particular parts of the ships 

[deadthunder2_0]

other than not having modeled on torp tubes- Nice

[Bones]

  look closer ;) they are modeled in even on P81 model (this is stock Legacy model which is simply revised Rick Knox aka P81 model)

[tjoz]

Everything is where it should on the Intrepid, just no phaser strips up the front. Those werent modelled in.

As the graphics engine was updated, several maps now display more advanced lighting techniques with Des Neros bearing most of the benefits. Des Neros already had a self manipulated light source but now it has all new effects. The type of lighting effects are very similar to those seen in the new Star Trek movie. Many of these type effects are more consistent throughout all the systems that make up the Berratta Verge.

[Bones]

Stunning  :eek really this looks awesome dude

[tjoz]

Here is a quick shot of the Terrans before their major overhaul begins. Currently working out some new treatments for the race and try to develop them further than just Federation ships with yellow paint on them. I want to give them an identity of their own by giving them some uniqueness that the Federation dont have apart from alternate artillery and yellow paint on them. One being some of the shared ships (Federation/Terran) will have different class names. Proxima family being one of them. The Terrans will have the Philadelphia variant of the class (this was a planned 3rd version of the class but will make it the sole Proxima themed class for the Terrans). It loosely follows canon principles for the Terrans as by the time the TNG/DS9 era came around, the Terran fleet was aging and not top of the line compared to its enemies as it was in the past so bringing in the Philadelphia varient of the Proxima family stays within that ideal. Its an older ship but weaponry beyond its prime. This also allows a back story of 'stolen ships' that the Terrans have taken from other races, it is something that is more apparent in the later era's as the Terrans lose their balance of power and become more vulnerable; hence the idea of stealing ships from other races to bolster their fleets. It adds an element of desperation for the Terrans as they try to reclaim their standing within the galaxy.

[deadthunder2_0]

just a suggestion, but why not name the ships after infamous people- Hitler, George III, Hades etc.

[Darkthunder]

just a suggestion, but why not name the ships after infamous people- Hitler, George III, Hades etc.

Going by the concept of the Mirror Universe, where "Good People = Bad", and "Bad People = Potentially Good", who is to say that Hitler was the ruthless/genocidal leader in the Mirror Universe, that he was in ours? For all we know, in the Mirror Universe, it could've been Roosevelt and Churchill who were the aggressors

[tjoz]

Pretty much all Terran ships in Aftermath already follow darker naming conventions (bar the last 3 that were put in and Enterprise). You have some like Genocide, Renegade, Katana, Ryuujin, Onuris etc. The Terran Aftermath ships follow naming conventions like weapons, gods of war, acts of loss/deceit, natural disaster zones and the like. The last 3 Terrans ships brought into Aftermath were never followed up on like the first set were.

[tjoz]

Something a little different today, some beta footage of the AM dev engine being tested by Dagger/Rusty. This is test footage of the AM Engine applied to an existing Aftermath install. The engine is being stress tested in various forms of Legacy (stock, existing Aftermath installs, Battalia Requiem and other mods) and over a wide variety of systems ranging from laptops, low end, mid range and high end. Also testing are XP, Vista and Windows 7 compatiability testing. Daggers footage is from a Windows 7 machine.

[tjoz]

Today I started working on my transition screens for Battalia Requiem. These are also more known as loading screens. Something I have been wanting to do for last couple years is build a more seamless transition process. The guys who worked on previous Aftermath releases know of it too and some of the ideas that were being thrown around for it. The transition screens are an area of Legacy that very little thought gets put into it as mainly no one really knows what to do with them. Even with Aftermath we really didnt know what to do with them.

Below is the first concept of Battalia Requiem's transition screens. I want this area to focus on the region where the game is set: the Berratta Verge. Some of the ideas I have for it have come from other games and also some real things like Vegas and K-pop/J-pop. With games like Mass Effect, the main worlds are all different and have their own distinct look the ones I most interested in are Illium and Omega from Mass Effect 2. The transition screens for Battalia Requiem I want to set up in sort of like a travel brochure for each system but with that 'Vegas glitz' like look to it. With the K-pop references, the music videos of alot of the K-pop artists are very slick and high impact. Over the coming months I want to build a working prototype. The look also mimics the interface so everything must tie together. Below is a text sample that I want to use:

[Bones]

Damn, your mod makes me want to get another copy of Legacy all of this sounds like a true improvement (dunno how modding scene in Legacy looks like now as I got rid of my copy few months ago but this one is the best so far)

Good choice to base systems upon ME2, region like the Citadel would be extremely cool of course with different base, any chance you could base any region upon Omega 4 graveyard / Collectors base ??? would be even better ;)

[tjoz]

Legacy modding is still going. You still got 2-3 TC mods still going (UUM and Aftermath, not sure on the New Gen mods). Only thing now is everyone is now separate. It may sound doom and gloom but its a chance for everyone to grow completely on their own as the dominance factor is gone. Depending on where you go in the community now, each of the TC's flourish without having another TC mod in the same medium. I think the biggest difference now for me anyway is I now actually enjoy and like modding Legacy. Before it was borderline seething hatred 

Even now with Battalia Requiem still in its early stages, the 3 TC's look so different to each other it really is like 3 different games.

Ive based alot of Battalia Requiem off both Mass Effect 2 and Darksiders. The basic system outline is very similar to Mass Effect 2 and the systems themselves once they are fleshed out all have their own distinct feel to them. I would like to bring in a Citadel like system or even a Flotilla type environment. The Omega 4 region that is something that would be a major draw card to the game but depending how well I go we will see. I do know one system I have in concept stage; if I can pull it off it is insane.

[tjoz]

More concept work for today, currently Im in the process of a new logo. Still havent got far with the ensignia bit but the text I playing around with a few options. The Berratta Verge text is one sample, the Battalia Requiem sample below is another. I playing around with 2 distinct concepts; fire and ice. The Berratta Verge text fits in the fire concept and the Aftermath text fits in with the ice concept but the Battalia Requiem text is something different. I have two samples below:





Posted Image

The first sample was the first one made as I was only playing around with things. The second one was when I was trying to apply an ice like effect to it and ended up coming with something else. The second one now fits in within the games concept: Heaven vs Hell. The first one though fits in with one of the concepts for the interface; a carbon fiber/red cybernetic highlights type interface (for anyone thats played Mass Effect 2, the Geth network thing but red and more sparse). A more darker styled interface

The problem with Battalia Requiem now is finalizing concepts and bringing them together.

[tjoz]

Something that gets brought up alot with Battalia Requiem are the treatments ships and races get. These treatments are what also give Battalia Requiem its unique look. Some ships have a glass like effect to them (Romulan Gryphon) while others have a metal-hull effect (Klingon D7). Below is a treatment for the Constellation class that gives it a 'bronzed/aged hull' look. These treaments also take full advantage of the environments they are in, reflective capabilities. Another unique one are 'dual appearance' ships such as the Proxima family (Proxima, Refit and Philadelphia), the ships in darker environments have that evil and sinister look to them but in lighter environments they have that 'ship from the heavens' look. The ships looks interact with whatever environment they are in. Gone is the 'everything looks like plastic' look and that matte/flat look many have done before. The AM ships are more 'realistic' in terms of battle damage and aging effects. I dont want the AM ships looking like they just came out the spray booth.

[Lionus]

Constellation-class!  :drool: Hmm.. perhaps I should try hunting down Legacy PC version as well..

[tjoz]

Might show the new Akira and the Philadelphia varient of the Proxima family soon  But for now, letting people know of another game concept for Battalia Requiem.

The Glorified Battle Sequence Concept (aka Kill Shot/Power Move)

Another concept that is on the table for Battalia Requiem is a gameplay element called a 'Glorified Battle Sequence' or GBS for short. This concept comes from games like Darksiders where on an enemies defeat, a finisher sequence plays out on an enemies death. The GBS is a replacement for the sub-system targeting feature of Legacy. Battalia Requiem's focus is gameplay, offer the most intense game style on offer to any ST mod or game. The idea behind it was to finally do something with Legacy's sub system targeting feature; a feature of the game that has been constantly slammed by modders and players since the game released. It is something I want to try and do something with by replacing it with something else.

How does the concept works?

The GBS sequence starts the same way as the existing sub-system targeting feature works; require a full target lock on an enemy and enter the sub-system targeting ability of Legacy. This is where the similarity ends. Once you get a full target lock and enter the GBS sequence, the game slows down for a short time to allow the player to have free targeting capabilites on an enemy ship to provide a 'kill shot' type experience. As the game slows down to allow the player to chose a specific part of the ship, the player can either fire their phasers or torps at that particular spot of the ship at a higher damage rate. A power move. Once the shot has been fired and either an impact or miss happens the game then returns to normal speed.

Will this occur anywhere else?

This style of gameplay was considered for the death of a ship but with the amount of ships that can be seen on screen at any given time (upwards of 500), it was decided to keep it as a 'event' type element; hence replacement for the sub system targeting feature. The game slowing concept is also up for consideration for near-misses to add more feel to the battle experience.

[tjoz]

Now its time to show the final for the new logo and text treatment. It has elements from all the concepts and progress and here is how it now looks. Its a very different look for the entire Aftermath brand and also one that fits in with the new interface that is being designed. The interface is based off a K-pop music video; about as far removed from Star Trek as you could possibly get for inspiration