Special Forces: Source

[Army_Of_One]

Dawn breaks over the lumber mill. The area is relatively quiet after the evening of inactivity.

The few employees that had been present over night were dispatched without hesitation.

Now, the few automated functions of the facility are warming up for a full day's work. But no one remains to tend the business at hand.

Hidden, well within the compound’s borders, the privately funded militia... or terrorists depending on which side you speak with... has started to build up their defensive perimeters.

They are fully aware that an elite special forces unit has taken a portion of the compound and is already establishing their foothold. The confrontation is approaching...

And then they receive word. A merc is in the facility. He doesn't join the special forces team, but offers to aid them for the right price. No matter. There is no time to worry about the roving soldier of fortune. Only enough time to prepare.

Special Forces Source is a new twist to a classic idea.

It will allow two official teams but a third independent group can choose to help either side they wish... The TOBP concept will allow teams to build up defenses and barricades before the round begins.

We are looking for Mapper, Modeler, and a skinning. So if you are interested in helping out. Come join our forum and post in the our Recruitment forum. and also if you would like to read planning page. You are more then welcome to.

[Jangalomph]

As many many have said, You probably won't gain many people without any current media. No matter how good the idea is.

[Army_Of_One]

True i forgot to add media here.

[Jangalomph]

There we go, Fairly decent things. You may get some one on the team from these things. Good luck

[Stormy]

The third group sounds like an interesting spin, but it might take some extensive playtesting and playing restrictions to make it really work well. For instance, what about friendly fire? Can both teams fire on the third team or is there a set option for which side they are helping, therefore cannot be shot from? Or is friendly fire going to be activated? Option 2 would be easy, but it would then not allow for the third team to be sneaky and switch sides mid match, which I think would be half the fun of having the team there.

As for your media, nice models but you guys SORELY need a mapper. Or some good concept art in the place of a decent mapper. The brushwork in all those shots so far is... uninspired, to say the least. I do like the idea though. I hope you find some decent artists.

[Army_Of_One]

Hey thanks for comment. Yeah, The Mercs. We are going have a bounty system, so the Mercs make money or whatever by killing certain players... say... the higher scoring players yield higher values.

and a hiring system. For a more reliable "paycheck" or "contract" a merc can be hired by one of the teams. The paycheck is a much larger sum then the bounty (say the total of the hiring team's bounties if the merc were able to kill that whole team one time), but a skilled killer might be able to rack up more money with the bounties and choose not to be hired.

so Basically, the idea is that if your team is really bad and you complete a side-task for some money, you can hire one of the mercs. Maybe even hire the one that your opponents already hired if they are willing to switch sides. Again, the ultimate point is not to make three even teams. Its to make two teams and a rouge element that has no real stake in capturing objectives.

A merc could simply play silent assassin if they want or they could accept a job with one of the teams. and thank you for your input.

[Gary]

Good luck guys, but I gotta say:
How are you going to do this job/money/bounty/skills/ranks system? Not the interface but the technical side... somehow code a system to create a "user" in a SQL database upon first game start and assign it the player's Steam ID to keep track of such information? Maybe use a scripted web interface to assign bounties and manage money or something?

The mapping seems pretty quake-like... which is a very bad thing unless your going for that kinda thing and I assume you guys are going for a far more realistic look. Mapping is one of the most important things(I never mastered it, though I can make pretty scene and interesting logic contraptions) as it must look, play and feel right or the whole experience can be ruined. I hope you find some talented mappers, or improve the skills of your current mapper(s).

Like I said, good luck. Not trying to discourage you guys, just trying to give you some advice and help. If you don't believe me, PM or add me on Steam for any questions you may have about mapping/programming/modeling/texturing(while I can't do all of these, I can still help with some aspects of them).

[Stormy]

That's kinda what I was thinking, how would you code it. And what incentive does the merc player have for things like teamswapping and espionage? Well, obviously the money, but how does that factor in. Perhaps each team gets money for certain objectives like capturing or holding points, and they can use that money to bid for mercs. What if the player playing as a merc is shit? Why would anyone want to waste their money on a shit merc? Is the merc team joinable for any player? Perhaps after a few minutes the top 5 players (based on kills or something) of the winning team can opt to become mercs. Then you can kind of pose an ethical choice of whether they keep helping their team or backstab them. This third team really opens up a myriad of possibilities. Like I said before, it'll take extensive playtesting, and you need much prettier maps. Count me in for playtesting by the way, I'd like to see how you handle these concepts.

[Gary]

Just found this on the VDC: Using a SQLite database with Source

This would require a decent web server to store all of the player's information and jobs/money/bounties.

[Army_Of_One]

Hey Gary, Good idea about using SQL database for keeping track on information. and Black_Stormy, Well.. what were planning on that, when you join game, You will pick which team you would want to join. and yeah, As Mercs you can do counter-intelligence type objective.

And yeah, we are going have optional objective for the teams to make money, to hire them. and we are planning have: Acquire enemy intelligence case, Battlefield Scout, Eliminate Enemy Informant, Sabotage, Espionage. and both you should join my forum. We could use your input/suggestions.

[Gary]

I've already read most of your forum actually. I didn't see anything there that I would comment on at this time.

[Stormy]

Just found this on the VDC: Using a SQLite database with Source

This would require a decent web server to store all of the player's information and jobs/money/bounties.

Well, not really decent, sql is just a big text file, any old server could do it, there wouldn't be that much data either, and you can always upgrade later. I had assumed that you could use steam for stat tracking. I don't know where I got that idea from though...

EDIT: I don't like to be the one to say tje mean things but I just had a surf through your forums and your mod has all the signatures of a 'mod with big ambitions that failed publicly'. The last post that looks promising is from june 2009, two years ago. Besides that there are a lot of very talented people in the recruitment forum (one dude was a zbrush pro), which tells me that you guys have tried to recruit from sites like freelancer or cgsociety, and then they drop off which tells me that they were under the impression that it was paid work, when it wasn't. You have little to no content on the rest pf the site. I realise that you also have a private staff forum, but you need to release a whole lot more info to recruit decent team members. I like the idea and I think it could go places but that website is soaked in the fetid stench of ideas men. Good luck with your project though, keep it updated.

[Gary]

Well, not really decent, sql is just a big text file, any old server could do it, there wouldn't be that much data either, and you can always upgrade later. I had assumed that you could use steam for stat tracking. I don't know where I got that idea from though...
[...]

By decent, I mean fulfills queries and such with a good amount of success. The game would start crapping it's self if it can't read/write the database.

I'm pretty sure Steam is mostly useless to modders once you get around the fact that it runs them.

[DonPunch]

What ever you do, don't use SQLite, use a static SQL protocal like MySQL or something. SQLite is fine for home made servers, but for real dedi boxes, you want a dedi sql server also.

Look into threaded queries also, it will save on performace.

The co-founder of Osiris Studios made his own plugin set which is now open source for GoldSource, that uses this kind of system.

link

But honestly, for Source you should just use an open source Gmod RP set and rip it up, then add creator in the credits.