I just got back from 8 days in the Cordillera Hauyhaush in Peru. 75% of the time while I was trudging along the trails my brain was teeming with plans for a sequel to my old MotS mod Art of the Lightsaber. Most of the ideas have been there for at least 5 years but somehow while trekking they started converging into actual plans. This time around I really intend to carry them out, but I need some help from the community since I've been out of the JK editing scene for over 5 years.
Here's a quick overview: give players precise control over the way they move, interact and fight (with a lightsaber) within the game environment. JK's original movement system is pretty ridiculous - run around at ultrasonic speeds and jump to impossible heights in order to get up on top of objects; saber fighting is clumsy and slow and entails mostly strafing and jumping; and Force powers are just a bunch of predefined tricks that require no skill in order to use (just assign a hotkey). What I intend to do is provide an interface that allows players to use just a few basic buttons to perform a wide array of moves and attacks. This will be done by differentiating between short button taps, presses, double clicks, and by using button combos (a la fighting games) to perform more complex moves. A few examples:
Hold down Jump = jump and reach up (in order to grab a ledge)
Tap Jump = knees-to-chest hop (avoiding a saber swing)
Hold down Jump while running = leap forward (to clear a gap)
Tap Jump while running = dive roll
Tap Crouch = duck (avoiding a saber swing)
Tap Crouch + direction = dodge roll
Hold down Fwd = walk forward
Tap Fwd = single step (approaching a target while dueling)
Left click = left-to-right saber swing
Right click = right-to-left saber swing
Double left click = spin and swing left-to-right
Left + right click together = vertical up-to-down swing
For Force powers, there will be one Force hotkey that when held down will modify the response of the other buttons. For instance, Force + jump = Force jump (duh), Force + double tap Fwd button = Force pull, Force + [certain button combo] = Force grip, etc.
I have some technical ideas as to how I'm going to implement all this, but they make some assumptions which might prove incorrect. That's why I'd like to hear the thoughts of the experienced editors around here. Basically the idea is to disable all standard JK buttons - directions, jump, crouch, weapons etc. - and create several new hotkeys for those features, allowing me to manually control their behavior based on duration and tap sequences. Movement will be done by manually applying thrust to the player model, modifying physic flags and playing an appropriate animation. One central cog (the player cog) will receive messages from each hotkey (bin cog) when it is tapped, held down or released, and will determine which move to perform based on other buttons currently or recently pressed.
The next step once this system is cogged will be to re-create all player animations in the game, but one step at a time
Your thoughts?
Here's a quick overview: give players precise control over the way they move, interact and fight (with a lightsaber) within the game environment. JK's original movement system is pretty ridiculous - run around at ultrasonic speeds and jump to impossible heights in order to get up on top of objects; saber fighting is clumsy and slow and entails mostly strafing and jumping; and Force powers are just a bunch of predefined tricks that require no skill in order to use (just assign a hotkey). What I intend to do is provide an interface that allows players to use just a few basic buttons to perform a wide array of moves and attacks. This will be done by differentiating between short button taps, presses, double clicks, and by using button combos (a la fighting games) to perform more complex moves. A few examples:
Hold down Jump = jump and reach up (in order to grab a ledge)
Tap Jump = knees-to-chest hop (avoiding a saber swing)
Hold down Jump while running = leap forward (to clear a gap)
Tap Jump while running = dive roll
Tap Crouch = duck (avoiding a saber swing)
Tap Crouch + direction = dodge roll
Hold down Fwd = walk forward
Tap Fwd = single step (approaching a target while dueling)
Left click = left-to-right saber swing
Right click = right-to-left saber swing
Double left click = spin and swing left-to-right
Left + right click together = vertical up-to-down swing
For Force powers, there will be one Force hotkey that when held down will modify the response of the other buttons. For instance, Force + jump = Force jump (duh), Force + double tap Fwd button = Force pull, Force + [certain button combo] = Force grip, etc.
I have some technical ideas as to how I'm going to implement all this, but they make some assumptions which might prove incorrect. That's why I'd like to hear the thoughts of the experienced editors around here. Basically the idea is to disable all standard JK buttons - directions, jump, crouch, weapons etc. - and create several new hotkeys for those features, allowing me to manually control their behavior based on duration and tap sequences. Movement will be done by manually applying thrust to the player model, modifying physic flags and playing an appropriate animation. One central cog (the player cog) will receive messages from each hotkey (bin cog) when it is tapped, held down or released, and will determine which move to perform based on other buttons currently or recently pressed.
The next step once this system is cogged will be to re-create all player animations in the game, but one step at a time
Your thoughts?
Dreams of a dreamer from afar to a fardreamer.
