1.33.8e /imagefolio/gallery/FPS/Unreal_Tournament_2004/tn_Shot00015.jpg ==Copyright (C) 2004 Michael 'AlphaOne' Ploujnikov You may freely distribute this archive, as long as it remains PERFECTLY intact. If you wish to create a modification based upon the code contained within the AlphaCoop.u and AlphaCoopMeshes.u packages then you may contact me first. You may not sell, broadcast, or otherwise market this mod without permission. You may advertise and encourage the use of this mod as much as you see fit. This modification is provided completely as is. You run this modification completely at your own risk. I accept no liability for loss or damage (to your equipment or sanity) due to the installation/use of this modification. ==What is AlphaCoop? When you take some invasion fun, coop teamwork, monster hunt gameplay, unreal1 nostalgia and mix it with some AlphaOne you get -- '''AlphaCoop''' ===Compared to normal coop: * In AlphaCoop the levels are not really linked together in some kind of a story. * It has much more monsters per level. I don't desire this anymore. * AlphaCoop attempts to be more about teamwork, which means it is nearly impossible to pass the missions alone. ===Testing: '''Suspended''' I am conducting my testing at '''24.225.94.146'''. If you want to join, you are more than welcome to. Just be patient because I restart the '''server''' a lot. Check the download links to get the latest version of the mod. Please, '''make''' sure to leave some comments after you have played. Public Teamspeak is also available on the same ip. ==Updates (In completely reverse-chronological order) @@08 MAR 04 Uh oh! I'm starting to neglect this mod. Not good. Anyways, I decided to officially start using version numbers. Format as follows (thanks to elmuerte): .. Obviously the first official version would be: ''''1.33.7b'''' @@02 MAR 04 Just gonna show you what are the current additional properties of the monster pawns that I've coded: [http://yucc.yorku.ca/~plouj/AlphaCoop/Screenshots/AC_MonsterProperties.jpg?bleh AC_Monster > Properties] @@28 FEB 04 I fixed the player spawns so that its easier to define 'goups'. Instead of adding the adjacent player spawns to the main one, all you do is increase the main spawn's radius so that the game calculates the adjacent ones. Great simplification for the mappers at no performance or functionaly cost:) I made monsters which are placed in UEd drop pickups specified by the mapper! I added a teamTag property to the monsters so that the mappers can define what monsters area /not allowed to fight. Only monsters with the same tag will not fight * '''Downloads''' updated. * Thats just great. I get a GPF: Assertion Failure when I call Canvas.("Test",XL,YL); @@27 FEB 04 This is when crap hits the fan. Luckily I have an umbrella! (This has nothing to do with this mod other than the fact that it slows down my progress) * changed the progress indicator, which still looks UGLY! * fixed the bot's PRI * fixed the scoreboard to draw only one team * '''Downloads''' updated @@25 FEB 04 School is killing me. @@23 FEB 04 * '''downloads''' updated. * I've added a progress indicator, which shows with a percentage value, how much of the level has been completed. Note that you don't have to reach 100% to win the level, since some objectives are optional;) * I'm thinking of reducing the player speed(s) to make the gameplay more like Unreal1, and more focused on the monsters. The slower u move the more detail u will notice. Also, less speed means that the monsters will be harder to beat, which lets me use less monsters for performance considerations. * I've been thinking that reducing the # of monsters is a generally good idea because it's just good. I really have to have to fight 1000 repetitive monsters - I think that is where games like Serious Sam, and Pain Killer failed. I'd rather have more focus on individual monster. @@22 FEB 04 Maybe I should make an arena game type too. Just like MonsterHunt. I found it quite fun recently. At least I can actually map an arena type of thing! * wow this mod has been '''in development for''' ''''40'''' days. And most of them I actually '''did something''' for it - my 1st time. @@21 FEB 04 I've been going to sleep late this week. As a result I'm so tired that all I can do is stare at the monitor and chat to people. @@19 FEB 04 This week I found some cool mutators which work great with my mod. They are all made by Pfhoenix. What a great guy he is! :p You can get them here: [http://mep.beyondunreal.com MEP], go to Projects > Inactive. Download: * radar2003 * dropitall * haloshield, if you want the game to be a little easier @@18 FEB 04 '''Screenshots''' folder updated, with all the monster shots. I think... @@ 17 FEB 04 '''downloads''' updated. Oh my! TEH DEMO is addictive...and hackable! Anyways, I finally separated the meshes from the code, so no it will be x10 easier to upload files (speed wise). @@ 10 FEB 04 * The game '''server''' has been restarted with the latest packages. * '''downloads''' have been updated * I have finally worked on the map. It is much more playable and enjoyable now. There is a variety of monsters, the player spawn points work properly. There is enough ammo. I've added some cool things, such as fish in the water, and warlords in addition to the stone titans in the final area. I have also fixed the pathway down to the bottom of the last area. Now you can either walk down, or jump in the pool. AND you can walk back up too! The files should be uploaded to both the file and the game '''server'''s so get ready to download and have some fun! @@ 9 FEB 04 * I changed the way that the MonsterCount is scaled based on the number of players. Now, it is only changed once, when the spawn point was activated, or when it was spawned (if bInitialized is initially true). * Yay! The AC_RoundRobin (RR) seems to work. It is well triggered by 4 monster spawners, when all the monsters are dead. The last time the RR is triggered it triggers 4 movers which are the huge gates that open a path to the next area! * I changed the gate meshes to something that has slightly better collision. @@ 8 FEB 04 Oh my gosh! I was looking at some of my monster spawner class, and it looked like I wrote it while I drunk or something. Not that I drink or anything. @@ 7 FEB 04 * I coded a round robin, to trigger the doors in my level, when triggered by a number of monster spawners. It does not work properly so far. * I fixed a crash which was caused by wrong monster types spawning in one place. As of today, I've fixed up some problems, and trimmed some options that are given to the mapper. I've also implemented the damage based scoring thingy. * '''downloads''' have been updated, again, and the '''server''' has been restarted. * I'm thinking of whether I should multiply the monster's health by the log of their skill as WELL as by the player count. * I'm also thinking of scaling the actual monster's skill based on player count. @@ 5 FEB 04 This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. @@ 3 FEB 04 * '''downloads''' and the '''server''' is updated * I've coded it so that you score by damaging monsters instead of killing them. Each 10 health that u take away from one monsters, gives u 1 point. Every 100 points u gain a life. You start with 3 lives. * aaand there is something messed up: online the # of lives is always zero. Plus, the game doesn't end when the last person dies. @@ 2 FEB 04 * I've had a small but important talk with Pfhoenix about the game's balance, and I have made some decisions. I'm going to 'trim' some of the features out of the monster spawners to keep the gameplay rather constant. Also, I'm going to make scoring based on damage dealt rather then kills. * I'm going to divide the map into 'arenas' by means of simple gates. That would reduce lag, made the game more fun, easier to play (don't need to walk too far), and more logical. @@ 1 FEB 04 * wow, it's February! * With great thanks to MWGemini, I can now host beta games of AlphaCoop on '''24.225.94.146''' !!!! @@ 31 JAN 04 * I rushed, and I just copy+pasted Satore's monster pawn class, which made a lot of problems in online play. Now its all back to normal. * '''Downloads''' updated. Woo! I finally uploaded the files (23MB total). That includes the zip, and all files separate. * YES! I finally added those cool options to [http://www.yucc.yorku.ca/~plouj/AlphaCoop/Screenshots/MonsterSpawnerProperties.jpg?bleh Monster Spawners]. @@ 28 JAN 04 * Yesterday, Satore was nice enough to send me both the code AND the .3d files for the monsters. * I'm gonna export the textures today, and try to fix the alpha problem where the textures are SUPPOSED to be transparent. * No, I didn't fix the textures. I just barely put all the monsters in to my package so far. I don't even know if it works in game. All, I know is that it compiles. * I'm still waiting for Satore to send me the StoneTitan rock meshes. I unable to export those from his package, or from UT1 using WOTGreal. @@ 27 JAN 04 * Okey, I got a reply from Satore - the guy who actually exported the monsters. I think he agreed. He replied: "Ok, ok. What should I do?" to "Will you allow me to use your monsters' models and code?". @@ 26 JAN 04 * Still waiting for their reply. It appears that 3 people have released the same mod (satoreMonsterPack) so I emailed all of them. * I removed the ScaleActor from the map because it has done its job. @@ 25 JAN 04 * I found someone who imported the other monster models into UT2003!! @@ 23 JAN 04 * Fixed so that the bots spawn with different characters now. * Its fun watching the bots fight the monsters, while I camp on a side! * '''Downloads''' updated, again * Map's general layout is finished * Testing revealed scoring imbalance * I decided to automate the choosing of spawn points, a little * Added some more monsters in the forest @@ 23 JAN 04 * '''Downloads''' updated * I finally got bots to behave nicely (they stopped crashing the game) when I add them. I copied half of the invasion.uc code. Tomorrow, I'll try to clean it up and trim the useless stuff. * I have to make them load different characters now. * Fixed some monster spawns so that they don't flood your CPU with monster actors :) * I got permission from NozzeM to use his Unreal1 exported/imported art. I hope he got permission from Epic;) @@ 20 JAN 04 * '''Downloads''' updated * I added another option to the monster spawns - bUnnoticedSpawning. What it does it is look for the most unnoticed spawn point (out of the list of associated nav. points), and spawns the monster there. The code was 'ripped' from the invasion gametype ;) With this installed, there are two ways that monsters spawn now. with bUnnoticedSpawning=true, they spawn once per spawn interval. When its false, monsters spawn as many as there are available nav. points, per interval. * I also fixed up my map ** Improved the bridge logic. ** The gameplay is insane now. Monsters keep coming and coming, and the performance is much better. Instead of spawning all monsters at once (slow) I spawn little by little, which is much more CPU friendly, and gives a proper feeling of monster attack. * Latest testing identified the following problems: ** ALL spawn points need weapon bases and some health. ** I'm not sure ''which'' guns to actually include in the weapon bases. So far, only RL, shock rifle, and flack cannon. I might have to make some variety from point to point. ** The first lift needs a way to move back up without defeating its purpose ** I need to make it much harder to advance to the next point without defeating the current 'bunch' of monsters. ** Multiplying the # of monsters by player count tends to slow things down - should be turned off for huge areas like TEH VALLEY. @@ 17 JAN 04 * '''Downloads''' updated ** Fixed MORE monster spawning bugs. I have learned that SetTimer(0,true) effectively turns OFF your timers (as well as SetTimer(0,false)). ** The bridge and the lifts work a little bit. @@ 16 JAN 04 * '''downloads''' updated ** Fixed some monster spawning bugs @@ 14 JAN 04 * Thats when I started working on the first lines of code. ==Map Design ===Requirements * fun * cooperative - humans vs monsters. Good example: Monster Hunt for UT1 ** humans are traversing though the level from start to finish encoutering, and fighting unreal1 monsters * The original Unreal feeling * good use of monster spawners - for example: don't spawn too many too difficult monsters * try to keep the monster count generally lower, not just for the performance reasons, but also because may repetative monsters kill the gaming experience. I know that from playing games such as SeriousSam and Painkiller. * everything in the map 'should' have a purpose * players should have a sense of progress as they get further in the level * appropriate weapon spawns for each area * good combinations of monsters. There is no reason to put every single type of monster in one area. No almost every time, except for pupae, is not good. * fun ===Good to have * hidden areas, secrets, easter eggs, you know:) * things that reward teamwork - do as much as possible with ued ===I could care less about * story * graphics * linking with other maps ==Features (so far) * triggerable monster spawn points * most of the unreal1 monsters * Triggerable player spawn points * damage based scoring ** 10 health taken away gives you one point * limited lives ** Start with 3 lives ** Earn a life for each 100 points gained * roundRobin trigger * Progress indicator - based on the completed objectives ==Next steps * change player physics values - slow them down to someting similar like Unreal1. I still want to leave double jumping ang such:) * work on monsters ** revive some of the Unreal1 monster code: *** patrolling behaviour *** defending behaviour *** hunting/freelancing behaviour * write a mapping document * when UT2004 comes out I'll make use of the spawn protection for now use haloshield mut ==My Plans I want to make this game teamwork oriented and not repetative. ==Requirements * UT2003 version 2225 * Epic Bonus pack (the one with invasion;)) ==Screenshots You can find some unedited screenshots [http://yucc.yorku.ca/~plouj/AlphaCoop/Screenshots/ here]. ==Downloads ===Main [http://yucc.yorku.ca/~plouj/AlphaCoop/ AlphaCoop files folder] ===Mutators to go with this mod [http://mep.beyondunreal.com click here], go to Projects >> Inactive. * radar2003 * dropitall * haloshield, if you want the game to be a little easier ==Contact Me You are more than welcome to send me comments suggestions, either here, or to my email: thematrixhunter@yahoo.com

Alpha Coop Beta 1 (9.09MB)