Replay System

[Blackspirit]

Hmm, now this I imagine would be very hard to implement, but how about a replay system.

You can choose at the start of the battle/during if you want to start a replay. It will then record movements/actions of people, and save it to a file. When you want to see it again, the engine would load up, add the characters/land generation seed, and play out the game.

Then you could replay it at anytime, even trade you replays on the internet.

 

[Worbah]

You should use Fraps. Takes pictures and/or vids when you want to.

 

[Blackspirit]

I was more thinking that when you win the battle, it shows a replay of it, so you can see it from any angle. Which with Fraps you can't do.

Coded replays would have small file size, even for the longer battles. Which is better for us modem users, if people on the net wanted to share they're experiences.

Dawn of War does it well, they're forums are chock full of replays

Might also help with bug reports. Find a bug, then you can send the replay.....

 

[armagan]

Good idea. Unfortunately replay feature requires quite a bit of work. I hope I can find the time to do it.

 

[Skipe]

Great idea though it would need pretty good computer.

 

[Blackspirit]

hehe, indeed it would probably eat up RAM pretty fast, although not too badly. I remember all those WW2 fighter sims used to have a record feature, although I think you could only record for like, 90 seconds.

It would be a huge feature, I'd rather see other features implemented over this one if given a choice, you could probably code 10 other small features in the time it would take to code replays.

 

[obj]

hope nobody gets offended by newbies dredging up old topics but i felt like tossing my two cents in on this topic in particular.

I would absolutely love to see a replay system that saved entire battles and allowed you to edit the footage. I reckon it'd be awesome if I could make little amateur video clips set to my favourite music (as one example) purely for my own gratification. I could also imagine there'd be great potential with online community for such a function.

That's all I really wanted to say. I understand that everything has its place in the development schedule and that this is somewhat of a luxury item in terms of priorities. Given that it's more of an indulgence than a meaningful addition to the game experience, I suppose the costs would probably outweigh the benefits for the developers. Perhaps this could be developed as or with a separate application by some of the unempl..*ahem* altruistic programmers out there in Inter Net land?

 

[JohnathanStrange]

I would absolutely love to see a replay system that saved entire battles and allowed you to edit the footage. I reckon it'd be awesome if I could make little amateur video clips set to my favourite music (as one example) purely for my own gratification. I could also imagine there'd be great potential with online community for such a function.

Here's a video that Nox did in back in April http://taleworlds.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1110&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=nox

I thought Nox did a very good job, but little attention was paid to his video then, and since many of the newer forum members don't seem to read posts earlier than the day they joined ( present company excluded, of course), practically no one has seen it. That's a shame. Nox's video could've been added to the M&B Homepage or posted as a forum sticky - as a compelling visual display of what M&B is like.

I've tried doing a video myself - but not as well as Nox's by any means - but if you are more talented (and who isn't?) than me - you might want to investigate fraps.com

At that time, and several other times, I suggested combat replays similar to Combat Mission, or an occasional slo-mo of a spectacular kill similar to Grand Theft Auto's slo-mos of insane stunts. You might find my suggestions somewhere in the forums. With the blizzard of suggestions made, they're not easy to find anyway.

There's also another video done as a tribute to Armagan's M&B by another fellow also that was also well-done but I can't recall his now just right off.

Anyway, Armagan's has his hands full right now, so making these videos may be an alternative for the truly dedicated.

 

[Janus]

Since this subject came up again in the Privy Council, I'm resurrecting this thread for it's discussion.

 

[Dryvus]

Instant replay was one of the first things I wished for when I started playing M&B.

 

[Ken Oh]

Hmmm, how were the screenshots on the M&B main page taken? It seems like they were from a different angle than first person.

 

[Titanx3]

hell yeah!

i would perfer a more freeform camara that allowed you to move it around, up down, whatever to view whatever you wanted

 

[Cymro]

Hmmm, how were the screenshots on the M&B main page taken? It seems like they were from a different angle than first person.

Edit Mode. You can press Ctrl+E (if its turned on in the options) and have a look around.

 

[jsb64]

i would like to watch myself fighting from another persons veiw

 

[thaimodz]

Few suggestions...

Tactical Replay : A map showing positions of all units on the field, who kills who, etc. Smallest Size. (Nice for reviewing whole divisions getting owned)
Full Replay : Largest size, can change angles, use slo-mo effects, export as movie, etc. The replay file would be properly coded to reduce file size, and a built-in replay player.

 

[Joza]

In my oppinion the suggestion is good but not important enough.

 

[Talus]

After seeing what people are doing with Halo 3's combat replays (playback in slo-mo, different camera angles, etc. -- posted videos all over the net), just imagine what could be done with full M&B battles.

(yes I bumped a very old thread, but it's a good idea (even armagan said so! ) and Halo's playback serves as good proof of concept)

 

[Blackwing]

Stop suggesting fraps, it's trash.
You can get a "free" version which records 30 seconds and fails to record sound, if i remember right.
Not only that, that half a minute will take up atleast 300 megs on your hdd.
AND you have to convert or encode the bloody video yourself - further annoyances
.
Fraps is,essentially, trash. Even if you pirate it.

 

[Merlkir]

GameCam produces better results and the lag it causes is minimal, I noticed near to none..

 

[t91camp]

In regards to a coded reply system, I would greatly appreciate something along the lines of the Total War series replays. You can select to save a replay at the end of the battle and, when viewing it, move around however you want with the camera while your guys do the orders that you gave them before and the enemy does what it did.

I can just imagine watching over and over those times when my M&B character gets accidentally owned by a couched lance, from all sorts of brutal angles...