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Post by Noob on Jun 19, 2021 22:22:53 GMT -5
Thanks for permitting guest posting. It's good for a public hearsay.
About the host, I don't think my current client machine is able to access the said compressed package. There is archive dot org, which is pretty much a host that preserves files as well as its normal web page archiving. Internet history as its service? Yes. Supported by donations rather than subscriptions? Yes. Giant file space in servers? Yes. Plus, you can categorize folders in the said item page. Account registration required in order to create item pages. Of all the file hosting services, I still think this one is a pretty good suggestion.
Anywhom, looking forward to the incoming developments as well as (youtube) tutorials on setting up a game session server. Maintaining a server, possibly switching modes periodically, would be helpful as a indicator for live love of the game.
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Post by Slingshot on Jun 20, 2021 12:15:30 GMT -5
Thank you for calling my attention to the dead link and for your suggestion of a good repository for the files. I was not aware that the link had expired. I have taken your advice and placed the latest version I have been working on in archive dot org. You can get it here . You can unzip the files to any directory, but it sounds like you want the ability to run a server, so I would reccomend extracting it to your C directory. This will allow you to utilize the "dedicated" shortcut in the skunks6-20-21/MGTGames/DHLI folder. You will also be able to use the mission editor using the "mapping" shortcut in the same folder if you would like to make your own missions. If you do want to put up a server, I would be happy to help you with the setup either through this forum or by email. My e-mail address is pbgslingshot@comcast.net. If you want to play your friends online before going through the trouble of setting up a server, just let me know and I will put up a server for you to join. Please make your request 24 hours in advance and I will activate it and leave it up for a day. Hope to speak to you again.
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Post by Noob on Jun 21, 2021 22:08:52 GMT -5
Well, looks like you will get more responses as it is natural as a update feedback. Strange that no one else is piping up since May? That's just 1 month ago!
Feedback. In D3D, I can see that the new model MAVs and parts, are whited out for some reason. The multiplayer is not working for obvious reasons. No main server nor broadcast to happen. I'm sure that there might need a broadcast operation to start in order to list any available servers made. Anyways, I'm just getting started to figure out the new stuff. Will let you know about it later. It will take a while.
Anyways, I am sorry to annoy you about a request/suggestion to provide more VGA display adapter (software render) compatibility, thru Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL), as incorporated by Unreal Tournament 99. This will bring Dark Horizons: Lore Invasion, into the cross platform multi-media library, which can run on many operating systems. No need to look and haggle with different video card semantics and so on. The Direct3D does work, as basic as it is, but I'm just pressing for the improvement idea. Maybe D3D needs an update? I don't want to start upping the operating system specification requirements though. It will probably help if the game engine will run in the first time, by D3D or SDL. I know it's asking for too much, but the compatibility bug is a part of my being. I admit that the GPU or video card, definitely improves on the performance. I am just afraid it will fail faster than any default VGA (and any later instances).
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Post by Slingshot on Jun 22, 2021 21:33:13 GMT -5
Yeah I agree it's strange none of the regulars have been posting. I've been adding content pretty regularly, and it would be nice to get feedback from them. As for D3D. I'm afraid I can't be of much help there. You see I didn't make the game, I just mod the editable scripts that MaxGaming Technologies released before they dropped support way back in 2007. Lore is built using the Torque Game Engine version 1.4 designed by Garage Games. All the graphics settings are compiled in the game engine itself. To make any changes I would need the source code for the engine so I can make changes, then recompile the engine. MaxGaming never released the source code to the public. They couldn't. It would have violated their licensing agreement with Garage Games. The profiles that are in the game reflect what was available when the game was made in 2005. Have you tried the openGL option? It's the default and all players use that with no problem. As for cross platform, back when Maxgaming supported Lore they had 3 versions of the game. Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Mac version is not compatible with modern Mac OS so it's useless. The Linux version could not be modded as the whole thing was compiled so script mods would not work (believe me, I tried). That leaves the Windows version which is very moddable in many areas and runs on any version of Windows, including Windows 10. Allot of the players are Mac users who still played up until recently. They just ran the Windows version using "Bootcamp" on their Mac's with no problems. In the case of Linux, I have personally tested the game with several flavors of Linux using the Windows version running with the latest version of WINE and it runs flawlessly. Now on to the server list. Yeah your right that there are no servers being run, and so none in the server list. I had a server that I ran for a few years, but the population of players became pretty non existant after garage games shutdown stat tracking and the players web site. Since it was costing me a pretty penny every month to run, and few players were using it, I shut it down. With that said, anyone with a copy of Lore can put up a server which will show on the server list. There are 2 ways to do this. The simplest way is with the "Host Server" button located on the server list page. When you push the button you will go to a screen where you can select the mission, the time limit, number of players, a password if you want one, etc,etc. It's a great option when you just want some matches with friends. The second option is for a long term server. This option requires a bit of expertise to set up, so I won't go into that right now. If anyone wants help setting one up, I would be glad to assist. In either case, you have to configure your internet gateway so that the game can communicate with Garage Games Master server. That's the server responsible for listing your host computer on the server list so anyone can join. This step is what most players find so daunting as it requires knowledge on how to open ports and point the gateway to the host computers IP address. You have to open ports 28000-28002 UDP and enter the IP address of the computer your using to host. Once again, I will help anyone who wants to do this. One nice thing about Lore is I can talk to anyone in real time in Multiplayer on the IRC. Anyway I hope that answers your questions. I don't find them annoying. In fact I enjoy them.
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Post by Noob on Jun 25, 2021 0:04:27 GMT -5
I was going to withhold my reply, but I didn't want to lose memory of them.
It's a shame that the vga or software render mode, could not get improved. I'm just more identified with SDL than D3D. It's been a while. Still, I guess a gpu switch for initial run, might just be it. I then would lowering the graphics settings and use the D3D graphics mode. Hey, vector and sprite graphics can be cool. Just see Spectre and other oldish militaristic games. Could get quite intense, despite the lack of depth elevation! We'll see.
I tried accessing the multiplayer room, but the connection is on (indefinite) hold. I don't know who's running the broadcast, but it would be cool to see it running again. The long term server obviously requires a 24/7 machine, lol.
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Oh, when I tried to render the game into window mode dimension, the game software crashes.
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Post by Slingshot on Jun 25, 2021 9:47:04 GMT -5
Are you saying you can't get into munltiplayer? I just tried it and it seems to be working fine. Are you entering a login name and password? They can be anything you like as the IRC server doesn't require registration, but the fields have to at least contain something before multiplayer can login. Also could you give me your computer specifications, operating system, and country your located in? This would help allot in addressing any problems your having. Thanks.
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Post by Noob on Jun 25, 2021 20:50:01 GMT -5
Opps, looks like I could go multiplayer after all. Sorry, my bad. The server listing and hosting capabilities are working too. I was also wrong about setting d3d and switching to vga mode. Another, sorry, my bad.
I didn't get to see the mav arena the last version I played. I really like the city maps. I think they are outskirts and inpass? I guess I could hope for bot AI adjustments, but it's really a advanced script.
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Post by Slingshot on Jun 26, 2021 11:03:10 GMT -5
Glad you were able to get into multiplayer and get your video settings worked out. Hopefully everything is displaying right for you now. Just so you know, the MAV arena is only available in multiplayer (it's always been there) as it's purpose is to pit you against other real players, not bots. I'm also happy to hear you liked Outskirts and Impass. I spent allot of time constructing those 2 missions. The AI for the bots have a hard time with city missions though. All the building models confuse the proximity sensors, so the bots tend to be less intuitive and active. As for improvements to the AI, I have made allot of changes to the scripts to make them better. When MaxGaming dropped support, the bots were little smarter than cows. They would stand around allot instead of actively searching for a target. Often times you could run right up to an enemy bot and it would never engage you. If they did engage, they would try to run away if their health fell below 40%. Allot of times they would stop, stand still and start shooting which made them an easy target. They aren't perfect now, but they do search, engage, and fight much better now.
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Post by Noob on Jun 26, 2021 20:03:37 GMT -5
I think that the music is mostly good. We all have our quirks. I listed down lore1.ogg, lore3.ogg, ArkhamBridge.ogg, GoldenSpade.ogg, SilentThunder_RustHeart.ogg, infiltrate.ogg, and RogueChariot_BronzeAnvil.ogg. Are some of my list new songs? Because if that statement is true, then I have to say they are great picks. They are in some degree, surpass the pattern design's quality of the original songs.
I really like the RogueChariot_BronzeAnvil.ogg, it sounds like some authentic ethnic Arabic/Farsi/Sufi/Sikhish (rap) song. I was just assuming, of course, lol. The rest of the non lore oggs seems to reference as well, or at least some regional theme, not forgetting the Cold War atmosphere! We don't get too much pondering audio anyways, to stay as classically canon as possible, if ever classically canon. I'm getting too off tangent here, but maybe some patterns from Nile's 'In Their Darkened Shrines, Part I: Hall of Saurian Entombment' and 'Ruins', would work.
ArkhamBridge.ogg might be a Batman theme, but it works as a climax or struggle/endurance thing. I really like the military (marketing recruiting effort, of course) gusto for lore1.ogg, too short though. lore3.ogg is another one as well, but in its own right. infiltrate.ogg sounds like some final fantasy song for some patterns, but I would know it probably rips off from some older inspiration.
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Have you got the window mode working? I tried, but no avail. Maybe it requires the hardware driver (gpu) activation?
Have you ever thought about expanding the map themes to other parts of the world, or universe? I mean, the game's story is based on the Cold War. I'm sure the listed regions are mentioned in this great game of chess. It can be used as a reflection lessons of war concept.
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Post by Slingshot on Jun 27, 2021 11:33:06 GMT -5
Glad you like some of the soundtracks I put in. The first one is from a video I did way back in 2007. You can find that here. The second, lore2 is the theme from the sci-fi movie Screamers. I had intended to use it as an intro when you would start the game, but I figured that would annoy players so i didn't implement it. The rest are from Mechwarrior 2. When you say window mode, do you mean switching from full screen to a window? if so, you can do that by pressing and holding down Alt then Enter. As for making maps for other parts of the world, yes I have thought about it, but it would require making allot more models of buildings and such and designing a new map for Comcent. At this late date it just didn't seem neccessary.
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Post by Noob on Jun 27, 2021 12:55:20 GMT -5
Mechwarrior 2 music huh? Sounds pretty advanced, even though it might be aged a bit. Which titles? MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat, MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy, and/or MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries?
Oh, ummm... when the new song starts, there's at a slight temporary delay in the gameplay sessions. I'm not sure if stopping input commands reduce the delay time period. I'm not sure if the delay occurs during operations outside the gameplay sessions.
I wish I could add in more feedback, but being just one person, it's going to take a while.
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Post by Slingshot on Jun 28, 2021 10:47:39 GMT -5
Mechwarrior 2:31st century combat. As for music playback, yeah it's always been a bit twitchy. Some computers have better results than others. About feedback. When I mentioned that the other players hadn't been around much and I could use their feedback, what I meant was their thoughts on the new weapons and MAV's. None of that has been tested in multiplayer. Since most of those guys have played in multiplayer for quite a while, they usally have allot to say about changes I have made. With that said ALL feeedback is valuable and I appreciate you providing yours. On the subject of multiplayer, I fired up a server over the weekend and found out that GarageGames Master server has moved, so the IP addresss the game tries to contact so it can list active game servers is no longer valid. I will be coming out with updated releases of both the original version and the Skunkworks vesion to address this issue in the next few weeks.
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Post by Noob on Jul 3, 2021 11:28:44 GMT -5
In addition, I see that the plasma from the Federated States faction, is a bit big. The shots fired were kind of interfering with my sight on the target. Maybe, in the next update, you can use projectile sprites/models similar to the Eastern Confederation. It wouldn't hurt the gameplay too much. Besides, the difference is a lower rate of fire for the Federated States.
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Post by Slingshot on Jul 3, 2021 11:58:51 GMT -5
I want to make sure we are talking about the same weapon. Are you reffering to the DK series plasma rifle's or something else? The EC don't have energy weapons, only ballistic weapons so there really is no comparison. Maybe you mean the auto cannons?
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Post by Noob on Jul 4, 2021 16:00:12 GMT -5
The auto cannons are okay, there's enough sight between the shots. The DK series plasma rifles have this big blot of blue. It's kind of hard to see, but that's my opinion.
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