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If monster skins are replaced with well done skins, and/or the sounds too, does this bother anyone - do you prefer the original even if the replacements are as good or better? What I mean is, you still recognize what is now not even a Grunt or Ogre, is still a Grunt or Ogre and the 'illusion' of something new doesn' come across well.
I could've written that much better but I think you get my point. Thougths? there is bound to be some complaints no matter what you decide to do, so don't worry about it (unless someone as cool as Vondur speaks up and then you should sit up straight and give it your full attention).
My first suggestion, redux the skins that could use an improvement, like the Morphs in Disolution of Eternity. Shambler once had a colorful discription for them, but it would take some time to find it. Also, some custom monsters like Willy the Spider could benefit from a new skin. Another candidate, the Zombie. Second suggestion, look up Kenneth Scott. He has been a pro for sometime now, but he started out as Quake skin hobbiest. He made a ton of skins, mostly player skins, and his work is exceptional. Hell, he did better work inside the limits of the Quake format and pallette then you will see on almost any custom Q3 arena or Unreal Tournament model. Look this guy up for some true inspiration. I'm not sure what you mean by 'illusion of something new' :/
New skins can be cool. Minor changes aren't really a problem, e.g. if you have an industrial symbol/logo stenciled on all the crates in your SP base map then adding the same symbol to the enforcer's backpack would work. Radically reskinning a monster so that e.g. an ogre looks like a cybernetic toad warrior can be iffy, since there's so much familiarity built up around the monsters by now it's more likely to be viewed negatively. This is especially true if the monster's behaviour and characteristics remain unchanged. Changing sounds has more impact on gameplay IMO because they continue to convey information even when a monster isn't visible. They're not just for fun, they serve a purpose: Idle sounds are basically gameplay dependent ambient sounds - they provide atmosphere but also clue you in as to the presence of a monster. Sight sounds are to alert you to the fact that you have become the target of a monster's aggression and will remain so until one of you dies. They also let you know exactly which level of badness is imminent. Pain sounds provide rapid feedback as to the effectiveness of your own attacks. Death sounds confirm that the odds have just increased in your favour, even in situations where you can't see why. Every Quake player immediately recognises most or all of the monster sounds and most likely makes gameplay decisions based on them, exclusively in some situations. Do not fuck with these things without a very good reason. Having said that, new content is always worth trying, if it's up to scratch. But I'd recommend not simply redressing existing monsters because of the confusion this can lead to and instead make a new monster based on one of their models. If you can't do the qc ( and gods know I can't :P ) get someone else to make the neccessary additions. If you're inlcuding new skins and sounds you'll need to release a pak file anyway, so why not just go for a new monster? Have any of us actually taken the time to thank Metlslime for providing the latest reincarnation of the QBoard? Because we should.
Have any of us actually taken the time to thank Metlslime for providing the latest reincarnation of the QBoard? Because we should.
I once saved my half Thai half-sister from a burning building, and she said, "You saved me. I owe you my life. How can I repay you." I said to her, "One day I will call upon you to become the concubine to a man named Fitzgibbons. It is the least I can do." 99% of the problems with new skins are when they are SHITE or they DON'T FIT IN TO QUAKE NOR WITH THE OTHER MONSTERS.
Avoid those two things and you should be fine. Unfortunately 99% of new skins don't actually avoid those two things =/. Not much point making a new skin for a Quake monster unless:
a) It is a new "class" of monster, like a DeathKnight that has a new attack or something. b) The map has a very distinctive setting (like Snowy Norse-Medieval) and you want to give the monsters a themed skin to match the new location. Of course, you also need to apply Shambler's clause (above). Buy Soultrap, then get yourself to a spellmaker and concoct a version that can be cast on a target and lasts for 60 seconds. And beef up yer Enchant as much as you can. Soul gems are much quicker than wandering around waiting for your 1337 magical crap to recharge naturally.
Two other spells to buy: Mark and Recall. (I wish I'd thought of that when I went to do a little favour for Mr. Varro.) If you've found Creeper, and you're bowling over smugglers on a regular basis, visit the lad with about eight or ten doses of skooma, as you get 'em, and you'll be able to afford boffo gear in no time. Oh, and Phait's thinking of the Wizard's Staff. Lovely bit of kit. There's one at the top of the Forgotten Galleries at Maelkashishi; just backtrack from the Daedric arrows. Having a good Blunt Weapon skill makes it even more useful. Sorry, I'm wrong about where I got my Wizard's Staff. I found it in a shrine east of Ald'Ruhn called Ramimilk, along with a shitload of other magical crap. It was a Daedric Longbow I found in the Forgotten Galleries. Sorry.
there is some good advice up above, particularly Kell's nuanced views, but the most important thing to keep in mind is to do what you want to do and accomplish the goals that you set out to accomplish. There is enough room for both the old school refining of Quake's motifs and the off beat but original work of a [Kona] or Manke. You'll catch flak from the gatekeepers no matter which way you turn, and if you are new to texture/skin art, your first batch of work is likely to be less than optimal, but don't let that stop you from a) creating and progressing in your abilaties, and b) displaying your work. Keep at it!
Realy impressed by the Floyd Logo, in fact, can't see anything else since I morphed it into the soldier.mdl Great job Metslime!
Sorry the Quake Costum Monsters toppic isn't further explaining things about making new monsters. There was a Fawn, but the conversation stopped. Made four new monsters now for Q1, but still haven't found the Replacing monsters goes easy, but I would like to add new monsters. Experience learned me this isn't an easy job. Milkshape has the oppertunity to explode monsters, which I intended to do with Floyd. But for some java-reason it didn't work. If you've found Creeper, and you're bowling over smugglers on a regular basis, visit the lad with about eight or ten doses of skooma, as you get 'em, and you'll be able to afford boffo gear in no time.
oh I see Alledgedly, Blowout is out.
For those that don't recall it being announced a year or two back, it basically looked like it was going to be an updated version of Abuse. The early shots of it looked cool and distinctive, with chunky character models in an id-esque style, robust looking boiler-room style geometry, but most noticably - subdued greyscale textures on everything with only occasional splashes of colour. Unfortunately the look must have been too radical for somebody (probably a marketing drone at a publisher) and in some more screens released later it looked like monster design and colour pallette was heading towards the Serious Sam school of absolute gayness. It was a great disappointment to see this happen. But, it might still be good to play... So, has anyone seen it? Played it? Was it any good? In case anyone was thinking "wtf that's been out ages," yes, I'm aware that it came out in the US ages ago (at least on XBox, not sure about PC), but there is supposedly a UK PC release now, and I don't recall the XBox version ever making it to the UK.
(Also, I just found some of the later batches of screenshots and they were nowhere near as luminous as I remembered them. Still far more coloury than the first lot were though. Don't mind me, I'll just sit here quietly and rock back and forth while dribbling a bit) After a brief look, I have come to the following conclusions:
1) As a fan of sidescroller shooters, that looks like it might be a fun game. 2) I can't find any evidence that it was ever out on the PC in the US. 3) I might just have to buy it for my GameCube. Imagine when games will introduce elastics and similiar mobility (i.e. bendable hollow 'plastic' piping) in games... what might you see in gameplay using such physics?
madfox
lsd or dob ? also have u made the music for it aswell? makes me wonder why u make such ugly maps, if u have some art education sry for being so straightforward
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