AR :: November 2012 Update

[Apocalypse Rising Team]

Welcome to this November/Movember update comrades! We're celebrating this month of growing charitable facial hair by dedicating this update to the man with the most face fuzz in Red Alert 2!

You guessed it; it's General Vladimir!

Anyway, here's what those scoundrels on the AR team have been doing recently:

- OWA grew a moustache for charity (pictures to follow), he's also been working on the Conscript model.
- dtrngd has been working on optimizing the base buildings so that they don't lag the game out. He's currently working on a quick fix using LOD, but they will be VIS'd later.
- danpaul88 has been working on some Conquest mode scripts. This is essentially a Battlefield-style mode where teams compete to control points on the map. Captured points means more score for your team. The first team to reach the target score wins!
- ChAoS has been working on the weapon hand rigs. Check them out in this update!
- Ric has been working on the internals for the Air Force Command HQ. We've got a great idea on what we're going to do with this structure and it should prove to be one of the most exciting interiors yet!
- Dawnblaze has been working on updating BogdanV's spy plane model and getting it ready to unwrap.
- Romanov has been modelling a Javelin missile launcher for the Guardian GI

Tester Recruitment Open!

The wait is over ladies and gentlemen! We are now hiring testers to playtest all three of BHP's games; AR, APB and TSR

 

Either fire an email off to bluehellproductions@gmail.com or pm either Chronojam, One Winged Angel or Wallywood on the forums and tell us why you think you'd make an awesome tester! Good luck to you all!

Soviet Conscript

But this guy was done! Why are you re-making him again?!

The short answer? He was literally too short. This meant his neck bent in the wrong place which looked pretty weird. Also some new references were found and the model was corrected to fit them.

One Winged Angel has been making these updates, since this is his pet project. This is the best version of the conscript yet and should prove to be the final model.

 

Please Note: On the second image the shoulder pads have been removed because they clip through the arms, however this will be remedied when the character is rigged, since the arms will fold down instead of being stuck in a T pose. Also, the coat hasn't been modelled over the legs yet. This is still very much a work in progress.

Javelin Launcher

Romanov has been modelling a Javelin launcher for the Guardian GI. w were originally going to go with an AT4, then an SMAW, but now we've finally settled on the Javelin launcher; partly due to the GGI's weapon in rules.ini being called JavelinMissile.

He's made a great start on this and the model is about ready to unwrap now!

 

ACHQ Update

Ric has been working on the interior for the Air Force Command HQ! This structure will be where you'll need to go if you want to fly a Harrier or get para-dropped out of a plane (USA only). The structure will have several rooms above ground, along with a large underground basement where the Harriers will be built. There will be four elevators which will correspond to the four landing pads; so that when you build a Harrier, it will be brought up to the ground level from the basement.

Here are a few pictures!

 

ChAoS's rigging progress

ChAoS has been rigging up the weapons in first person view with a little help from Eggman891. these use the new hand rig that was going to be in APB until the project was put on hold for some reason. These new weapon poses will preally help to define AR as it's own game and pull it away from Renegade even more!

Kudos to ChAoS for taking on this job because it's tricky to get right and he's doing a great job!

Take a look at the rigs for the MP5, the Beretta and the Electric Drill!

 

You may be wondering about the HUD that is shown in those screenshots. It is a HUD made by Deathlink6.0 of the RenegadeX team, but has been modified by Soulhunter to work with Scripts 4.0 and therefore AR. We plan to tweak it for our own use later on, but thanks goes out to the authors of this cool HUD for the awesome work they have done! Hopefully they approve of its inclusion in AR!

Forum Skin

The new forum skin has been given to the testers for bug checking. After the bugs have been squashed it should be rolled out for everyone to use!

Here's a reminder of what you'll get when this is rolled out!

 

Random RA2 Corner

Some video goodness right here!

 

Battlefield 2 at it's worst best

 

These guys love Battleships

 

Here's a video with some neat cosplay in it. (Fun fact, the Red Engineer that is at the beginning of the video is OWA!)

End

Drop by next month for some more good stuff!

[triattack]

nice new blog

[Nodlied]

A nice blog indeed. Can't wait to test out that new Airforce Command HQ.

[Killing_You]

Damn. Testing's out and I cannot connect to any online server. All I have is web browsing; no gaming whatsoever

 

Unless I can solo test. It's be good for spotting any bugs with buildings, maps, etc..

[Nodlied]

Unless I can solo test. It's be good for spotting any bugs with buildings, maps, etc..

Testing isn't only about online testing sessions.

Offline testing is always apreciated. So if you want to be a tester, why don't you apply?

[Killing_You]

I will.

[Guest SgtSavage67]

I applied! Testing is my forte.

[Killing_You]

IF my tester application goes through, what's the status on the sidebar purchase icons? Because I will be able to supply you recreations of the RA2 icons using AR screenshots. I'm already doing something similar for Westwood Wars MK I.

[danpaul88]

We currently use the original RA2 icons, which look rather pixellated when blown up to sidebar icon size. I believe one of the recent new hires is supposed to be creating new icons based on the originals but at the correct resolution for the sidebar... not sure how far along that process is but I seem to recall seeing at least one 'new' icon.

[Killing_You]

Actually, one of the recent updates had a picture of the sidebar icons. I don't know it that's the final version or not, but it looks like the vehicle on a red/blue radial background. Cool, but unRA2listic. I'll do my best anyway to see how it compares, though.

[Guest C0de_man]

Can we apply for testing for next year? Right now my gfx card is broken and i dont know if il get one before new years, so i dont wanna seem like an asshole for applying but not showing up.

[OWA]

Can we apply for testing for next year? Right now my gfx card is broken and i dont know if il get one before new years, so i dont wanna seem like an asshole for applying but not showing up.

We judge our testers on how active they are, so as long as you are actively part of the community and willing to test, we will consider you. Also, we don't know when we'll next be hiring.

 

If your computer can handle APB, then you should be fine to test. If it isn't then you can always read up on what the other testers have been doing and give your two pence.

[Guest C0de_man]

I just cant test this month (probably), thats all, otherwise id be happy to help out.

[Guest BigOz]

We judge our testers on how active they are, so as long as you are actively part of the community and willing to test, we will consider you. Also, we don't know when we'll next be hiring.

 

If your computer can handle APB, then you should be fine to test. If it isn't then you can always read up on what the other testers have been doing and give your two pence.

 

Well... that sucks.. seeing as I'm willing to test, but am not part of the community...

[danpaul88]

It's never too late to get involved! This isn't like RenForums, we don't bite

[Guest BigOz]

Kinda hard to get involved when you don't know.. how... don'[t think spamming and flooding counts as being part of the group... and I've never liked playing APB/RA1 anyways, so I don't enjoy that either D:.

[OWA]

Kinda hard to get involved when you don't know.. how... don'[t think spamming and flooding counts as being part of the group... and I've never liked playing APB/RA1 anyways, so I don't enjoy that either D:.

 

Checking the forums and occasionally posting does count as being part of the community.

[Guest C0de_man]

... and I've never liked playing APB/RA1 anyways, so I don't enjoy that either D:.

 

:lol: Why the shit are you here then?

 

I dont mean to diss you, but seriously why come to this place if not for APB.

 

EDIT: another thing, which community are you dudes refering to?

The way i experianced it there are 2 commuinties, the devs and the players.

What i mean is that many regulars i play with dont have a forum account and i see so very few devs playing regularly, the big exception being oxi here, but he is more of mp-gaming sort of to be technical here.

What is the point of developing a game and not playing it, just currious here.

Edited December 4, 2012 by C0de_man

[Guest Retaliation]

Well the site is called Bluehellproductions.com for a reason. We also have AR and Reborn in development here.

[Guest C0de_man]

Well it just seems to most people care about APB, not so much about the others.

To be fairly honest with APB people have something they can play and as consequence comment and suggest on and even experiment on. I mean the general discussion is right now exclusively about APB.

With AR and reborn we have nothing other than what devs show and tell us. Kudos for one_winged_angel always putting so much effort in the blogs, but its just not the same as really being able to actually experiance the game.

I could get the same with any commercial game, except most commercial games dont take 10 years to be released.

Not that im blaming anyone here, i know you dudes try to make a proper release and all, but i just cant be exited for this and so cant many others.

Personally i think its a huge mistake wating for years to do a proper release, APB didnt need it and it was quite a hit in its time despite a 1000 stupid imbalances and issues.

Besides, seeing as AR, reborn and APB share the same engine and devs, seeing how many stupid issues APB has and how development goes, i simply cant see how AR and reborn are supposed to be so much different from APB.

Also APB still has very long ways to go to come somewhat close to RA and decently playable, atleast for the average gamer crowd.

It just seems to me as if there is camp of players and devs. Its been years since i have seen most of the devs playing APB and with AR and reborn you have to be a tester or dev to be part of anything. I dont really see how this could be called community for anything than APB.

[Guest SirJustin]

Applied last night, I have been waiting since the last rolecall, as I was just not around the home to apply that time around. Can't wait to see who and how many of us make it so we can all work together to build a greater and more sound development on all three fronts.

 

To add, the conscript looks almost nonhuman, and he looks very much menacing, although this was probably the aim. (I find this from the triangular mouth piece and the eye slits) Otherwise even unfinished he looks great!

 

The airfield model (air force command HQ) looks great. How easy will it be for enemies to rush in? In a sense of lift speed vs stairs, if they took one option while the defenders took the other, would there be much of a difference in time to reach the bottom?

 

The new models for how the weapons are held are coming along, its great to be free of the limits of renegade. This will allow for dual wields? And also to be able to do more things with the weapons and have larger/different models as well I can imagine.

 

As for the javelin, it looks quite nice. I was wondering what the launch speed of the missile was? Perhaps for reference law vs red eye are quite different all together.

[Killing_You]

This will allow for dual wields?

 

If so, this rigging needs to be applied to APB. Reborn may need it, too, but I don't know for sure.

[danpaul88]

Personally i think its a huge mistake wating for years to do a proper release, APB didnt need it and it was quite a hit in its time despite a 1000 stupid imbalances and issues.

Besides, seeing as AR, reborn and APB share the same engine and devs, seeing how many stupid issues APB has and how development goes, i simply cant see how AR and reborn are supposed to be so much different from APB.

 

So, you think we should just release *anything* simply to have a release out there? Hope you like games with no infantry units.... seriously, the reason we haven't released it is because we don't have enough assets ingame TO release it. It would be like releasing an FPS with no guns...

 

 

As for not seeing how they would be different... I think all the current and previous testers would agree AR is very different to APB... it has veterancy, weakpoints and deployment for a start and those are only a few of the major differences.

[OWA]

Well it just seems to most people care about APB, not so much about the others.

To be fairly honest with APB people have something they can play and as consequence comment and suggest on and even experiment on. I mean the general discussion is right now exclusively about APB.

With AR and reborn we have nothing other than what devs show and tell us. Kudos for one_winged_angel always putting so much effort in the blogs, but its just not the same as really being able to actually experiance the game.

I could get the same with any commercial game, except most commercial games dont take 10 years to be released.

Not that im blaming anyone here, i know you dudes try to make a proper release and all, but i just cant be exited for this and so cant many others.

Personally i think its a huge mistake wating for years to do a proper release, APB didnt need it and it was quite a hit in its time despite a 1000 stupid imbalances and issues.

Besides, seeing as AR, reborn and APB share the same engine and devs, seeing how many stupid issues APB has and how development goes, i simply cant see how AR and reborn are supposed to be so much different from APB.

Also APB still has very long ways to go to come somewhat close to RA and decently playable, atleast for the average gamer crowd.

It just seems to me as if there is camp of players and devs. Its been years since i have seen most of the devs playing APB and with AR and reborn you have to be a tester or dev to be part of anything. I dont really see how this could be called community for anything than APB.

There's more to talk about in terms of APB because as you said, it is released. However, I always welcome questions on AR and am fairly transparent with my answers. We don't choose to take ages to release our games, we are limited on the time we can spend on developing the games due to work, school and other commitments; we do try our best.

 

Although we are all Bluehell Productions, there is a three way split in our team. This way we don't end up making 3 clone copies of APB that play the same. AR is pretty different from APB in the sense that the buildings are a lot larger, the combat is a lot faster, the weakpoint system is much more complex than the MCT system, the veterancy system spices up the gameplay and tech buildings place more focus on engineers. There's a lot more reasons AR is different from APB, but I'll spare you the list for now.

 

While it's true that the devs and players don't mingle too much outside of the forums, there are places such as the IRC channel and Teamspeak server where the community can interact with each other as a whole.

 

Applied last night, I have been waiting since the last rolecall, as I was just not around the home to apply that time around. Can't wait to see who and how many of us make it so we can all work together to build a greater and more sound development on all three fronts.

 

To add, the conscript looks almost nonhuman, and he looks very much menacing, although this was probably the aim. (I find this from the triangular mouth piece and the eye slits) Otherwise even unfinished he looks great!

 

The airfield model (air force command HQ) looks great. How easy will it be for enemies to rush in? In a sense of lift speed vs stairs, if they took one option while the defenders took the other, would there be much of a difference in time to reach the bottom?

 

The new models for how the weapons are held are coming along, its great to be free of the limits of renegade. This will allow for dual wields? And also to be able to do more things with the weapons and have larger/different models as well I can imagine.

 

As for the javelin, it looks quite nice. I was wondering what the launch speed of the missile was? Perhaps for reference law vs red eye are quite different all together.

Hopefully, the way we've designed the building will give a fairly equal time for both routes.

 

The old rig allows for dual wielding, the problem is getting it to display correctly in third person. With enough research I suppose an extra pose could be created for it. The same goes for other weapons.

 

The missile travels fairly quickly at the moment. It hasn't proven itself to be unbalanced just yet.

[Guest APB_ICE]

We currently use the original RA2 icons, which look rather pixellated when blown up to sidebar icon size. I believe one of the recent new hires is supposed to be creating new icons based on the originals but at the correct resolution for the sidebar... not sure how far along that process is but I seem to recall seeing at least one 'new' icon.

Which reminds me: APB could really use some better icons, like improved versions of the .9935 icons. The current icons look nothing like the original RA1 icons, and this takes away from the nostalgia that APB is supposed to represent. The .9935 icons, on the other hand, were nearly-perfect recreations of the originals, and for this reason, I feel that they look far better than the current icons.

 

Here are some examples:

 

And their RA1 counterparts for comparison:

Edited December 6, 2012 by APB_ICE

[Killing_You]

We currently use the original RA2 icons, which look rather pixellated when blown up to sidebar icon size. I believe one of the recent new hires is supposed to be creating new icons based on the originals but at the correct resolution for the sidebar... not sure how far along that process is but I seem to recall seeing at least one 'new' icon.

Which reminds me: APB could really use some better icons, like improved versions of the .9935 icons. The current icons look nothing like the original RA1 icons, and this takes away from the nostalgia that APB is supposed to represent. The .9935 icons, on the other hand, were nearly-perfect recreations of the originals, and for this reason, I feel that they look far better than the current icons.

 

Here are some examples:

 

And their RA1 counterparts for comparison:

 

Of course, those icons use older models/textures, and so remakes of them would be better. In addition, many of them do not have camo options.

 

Westwood Wars has already taken the liberty of porting the RA1 icons to APB, but they're getting remade altogether, by me, using modern screenshots. I'm posting the topic right now

[Guest SgtSavage67]

I'm sorry, the mechanic looks like he's holding a spoon. There, I said it.

[danpaul88]

Of course he is, what else would you hold whilst running to the ice cream truck?

[Guest Retaliation]

A geiger counter for one thing.

[Byamarro]

... and I've never liked playing APB/RA1 anyways, so I don't enjoy that either D:.

 

:lol: Why the shit are you here then?

 

I dont mean to diss you, but seriously why come to this place if not for APB.

 

EDIT: another thing, which community are you dudes refering to?

The way i experianced it there are 2 commuinties, the devs and the players.

What i mean is that many regulars i play with dont have a forum account and i see so very few devs playing regularly, the big exception being oxi here, but he is more of mp-gaming sort of to be technical here.

What is the point of developing a game and not playing it, just currious here.

 

I came here only for AR. And I'm BHP Staff now.