So impressive how you were able to make the otherwise very tedious village looting so immersive!
Users who are viewing this thread
Thanks everyone!
It's still devilishly simple really, all it is is moving the player forward and animating the bird to the front of the camera. Enemy AI will even try to shoot you out of the sky!
The raven model/animation was made by CWE team, so credits to them as well!
Ah yes, I was hoping nobody would notice... That's actually the Lady owner of the village. Unlike most troops ladies have their clothing set by a script, which I haven't copied over yet. Got her with a nice jav throw, though.fladin said:Very impressive
That half-naked women killed me
Drone!DtheHun said:I love your drone. The animation, control, camera follow, the whole thing looks damn good!
(the real time pillaging is also great)
It's still devilishly simple really, all it is is moving the player forward and animating the bird to the front of the camera. Enemy AI will even try to shoot you out of the sky! The raven model/animation was made by CWE team, so credits to them as well!
Ruthven said:Thanks everyone!
Ah yes, I was hoping nobody would notice... That's actually the Lady owner of the village. Unlike most troops ladies have their clothing set by a script, which I haven't copied over yet. Got her with a nice jav throw, though.fladin said:Very impressive
That half-naked women killed me
Drone!DtheHun said:I love your drone. The animation, control, camera follow, the whole thing looks damn good!
(the real time pillaging is also great)
The raven model/animation was made by CWE team, so credits to them as well!
All very cool!
Is the bird vertex animated, swiftly switching between different meshes or rigged?
(Sorry, don't mean to distract from the point of your post, but that's the first time I've seen that bird and it looks pretty awesome too!)
You're in luck! At the time CWE made the birds (there is also a pigeon) it did require WSE; luckily the necessary operations have since been added to Native! (Thanks to Viking Conquest I believe.)Mr.Milker said:
My implementation does use WSE operations to switch between the flying raven and the player character (if the player is mounted), but you could easily use a workaround.
The original CWE code also uses a wse operation to align dead birds to the ground, but it's not really necessary.
@Mandible: Yes, it's vertex animation. prop_instance_deform_xxx operations
Here are the raven triggers if they're useful - just note that you'll almost definitely have to adapt things based on your mod, and this is still including the WSE operations I use (though I put comments on them.)
Apart from this, you will need from the CWE pack the animated scene props (search "woron" or "golub" to find it in BRF) as well as the particle systems/sceneprop/destroy script code.
I should also mention that nowhere does this stop the player from using their weapons while flying (despite being invisible.) Using a crossbow like a bird fighter-jet is quite the experience.
It's all fun and games until you accidentally stab your own raven with your lance... But of course you could force the player into an animation/unequip etc etc.Mission Templates:
Code:
raven_triggers = [
#Init: Spawn raven scene prop, set player as raven if they were in ravenmode when they left the last scene
#Note: This also animates the scene prop using a cycle loop - move it/adapt to flying code for things like gliding, variable wingbeats, etc
(ti_after_mission_start, 0, ti_once,[],[
(try_begin),
(neq, "$ravenmode", 1),
(assign, "$ravenmode", 0), #Reset if killed (2)
(else_try),
(eq, "$ravenmode", 1),
(get_player_agent_no, ":player"),
(agent_get_position, pos20, ":player"),
(set_spawn_position, pos20),
(try_for_range, ":inventory_slot", 0, 9),
(agent_get_item_slot, ":item_id", ":player", ":inventory_slot"),
(troop_add_item, "trp_raven", ":item_id"),
(troop_set_inventory_slot, "trp_raven", ":inventory_slot", ":item_id"),
(try_end),
(agent_set_no_dynamics, ":player", 1),
(troop_get_type, ":plyrskn", "$g_player_troop"),
(troop_set_type, "trp_raven", ":plyrskn"),
(troop_set_name, "trp_raven", "@{playername}"),
(spawn_agent, "trp_raven"),
(assign, "$player_char", reg0), #NEW:
(agent_set_team, "$player_char", 0),
(try_begin),
(agent_get_horse, ":horse", ":player"),
(gt, ":horse", -1),
(agent_set_horse, ":player", -1), # WSE operation!
(agent_set_horse, "$player_char", ":horse"), # WSE operation!
(try_end),
(position_move_z, pos20, 1000), #increase 3 to 10
(agent_set_position, ":player", pos20),
(agent_set_visibility, ":player", 0),
(mission_disable_talk),
(troop_equip_items, "trp_raven"),
(assign, "$ravenmode", 1),
(try_end),
(try_begin),
(get_scene_boundaries, pos11,pos12),
(position_get_x, ":xpos", pos12), #x max
(val_div, ":xpos", 2),
(init_position, pos20),
(position_set_x, pos20, ":xpos"),
(position_set_y, pos20, ":xpos"), #use middle of X for X and Y value because square terrain
(position_move_z, pos20, 15000), #move z pos 150m up
(set_spawn_position, pos20),
(spawn_scene_prop, "spr_explorer_raven"),
(prop_instance_deform_in_cycle_loop, reg0, 0, 25, 1300),
(try_end),
]),
#Switch between raven/player
(0, 0, 3, [
(neq, "$ravenmode", 2),
(key_clicked, key_m),
],
[
(set_fixed_point_multiplier, 100),
(get_player_agent_no, ":player"),
(try_begin),
(eq, "$ravenmode", 0),
# (assign, "$player_char", ":player"),
(agent_get_position, pos20, ":player"),
#(set_player_troop, "trp_raven"),
# (position_set_z, pos20, 3000*100), #bigge
(set_spawn_position, pos20),
(try_for_range, ":inventory_slot", 0, 9),
(agent_get_item_slot, ":item_id", ":player", ":inventory_slot"),
(troop_add_item, "trp_raven", ":item_id"),
(troop_set_inventory_slot, "trp_raven", ":inventory_slot", ":item_id"),
(try_end),
(agent_set_no_dynamics, ":player", 1),
(troop_get_type, ":plyrskn", "$g_player_troop"),
(troop_set_type, "trp_raven", ":plyrskn"),
(troop_set_name, "trp_raven", "@{playername}"),
(spawn_agent, "trp_raven"),
(assign, "$player_char", reg0), #NEW:
(agent_set_team, "$player_char", 0),
(try_begin),
(agent_get_horse, ":horse", ":player"),
(gt, ":horse", -1),
(agent_set_horse, ":player", -1), # WSE operation!
(agent_set_horse, "$player_char", ":horse"), # WSE operation!
(try_end),
(position_move_z, pos20, 1000), #increase 3 to 10
(agent_set_position, ":player", pos20),
(agent_set_visibility, ":player", 0),
(mission_disable_talk),
(troop_equip_items, "trp_raven"),
(assign, "$ravenmode", 1),
(else_try),
(eq, "$ravenmode", 1),
(agent_get_position, pos20, "$player_char"),
(agent_set_visibility, "$player_char", 0),
(try_begin),
(agent_get_horse, ":horse", "$player_char"),
(gt, ":horse", -1),
(agent_set_horse, "$player_char", -1), # WSE operation!
(agent_set_horse, ":player", ":horse"), # WSE operation!
(try_end),
(agent_fade_out, "$player_char"),
(position_move_y, pos20, 155), #avoid old player/horse
(agent_set_position, ":player", pos20),
(agent_set_visibility, ":player", 1),
(agent_set_no_dynamics, ":player", 0),
(mission_enable_talk),
(assign, "$ravenmode", 0),
(try_end),
]),
#Animating the bird while NPC/dead - original CWE code
(0, 0, 0, [
(this_or_next|eq, "$ravenmode", 0),
(eq, "$ravenmode", 2),
],
[
(scene_prop_get_num_instances, ":var2", "spr_explorer_raven"),
(ge, ":var2", 1),
(assign, ":var1", "spr_explorer_raven"),
(try_for_range, ":var3", 0, ":var2"),
(scene_prop_get_instance, ":var4", ":var1", ":var3"),
(try_begin),
(scene_prop_slot_eq, ":var4", 41, 0),
(try_begin),
(try_begin),
(scene_prop_get_slot, ":var5", ":var4", 44),
(ge, ":var5", 0),
(prop_instance_get_position, pos1, ":var5"),
(else_try),
# (get_player_agent_no, ":player"),
# (agent_get_position, pos1, ":player"), #use player pos as origin - doesnt worq but thats ok
(prop_instance_get_starting_position, pos1, ":var4"),
(try_end),
(try_begin),
(prop_instance_get_position, pos2, ":var4"),
(get_distance_between_positions, ":var6", pos2, pos1),
(le, ":var6", 200),
(try_begin),
(neg|scene_prop_slot_eq, ":var4", 45, 1),
(position_move_z, pos2, 700),
(try_end),
(position_move_x, 2, 4000),
(prop_instance_set_position, ":var4", pos2),
(prop_instance_enable_physics, ":var4", 1),
(try_end),
(assign, ":var7", 1),
(try_begin),
(prop_instance_is_animating, ":var8", ":var4"),
(eq, ":var8", 1),
(assign, ":var7", 0),
(prop_instance_get_position, pos3, ":var4"),
(prop_instance_get_animation_target_position, 2, ":var4"),
(get_distance_between_positions, ":var9", pos2, pos3),
(le, ":var9", 50),
(assign, ":var7", 1),
(try_end),
(eq, ":var7", 1),
(scene_prop_get_slot, ":var10", ":var4", 38),
(scene_prop_get_slot, ":var11", ":var4", 39),
(val_add, ":var10", 30),
(position_rotate_z, pos1, ":var10"),
(position_move_x, 1, 4000),
(try_begin),
(neg|scene_prop_slot_eq, ":var4", 45, 1),
(store_add, ":var12", 700, ":var11"),
(else_try),
(assign, ":var12", ":var11"),
(try_end),
(position_move_z, pos1, ":var12"),
(try_begin),
(position_get_distance_to_terrain, ":var13", pos1),
(store_div, ":var14", 700, 2),
(this_or_next|ge, 0, ":var13"),
(ge, ":var14", ":var13"),
(position_set_z_to_ground_level, pos1),
(position_move_z, pos1, ":var12"),
(try_end),
(prop_instance_get_position, pos2, ":var4"),
(get_distance_between_positions, ":var15", pos2, pos1),
(val_div, ":var15", 9),
(prop_instance_animate_to_position, ":var4", pos1, ":var15"),
(try_begin),
(ge, ":var10", 360),
(assign, ":var10", 0),
(store_random_in_range, ":var11", 0, 16),
(val_mul, ":var11", 80),
(scene_prop_set_slot, ":var4", 39, ":var11"),
(try_end),
(scene_prop_set_slot, ":var4", 38, ":var10"),
(try_end),
(else_try),
(scene_prop_slot_eq, ":var4", 41, 1),
(set_fixed_point_multiplier, 100),
(position_set_x, pos0, 2500),
(position_set_y, pos0, 80),
(position_set_z, pos0, 0),
(prop_instance_dynamics_set_properties, ":var4", 0),
(position_set_x, pos0, 0),
(position_set_y, pos0, 0),
(position_set_z, pos0, -800),
(prop_instance_dynamics_set_omega, ":var4", 0),
(try_begin),
(prop_instance_get_position, pos1, ":var4"),
(particle_system_burst, "psys_hit_bird_blood", pos1, 1),
(particle_system_burst, "psys_hit_bird_feathers", pos1, 1),
(position_get_distance_to_ground_level, ":var15", pos1),
(le, ":var15", 100),
(position_get_rotation_around_z, ":var10", pos1),
#(position_align_to_ground, pos1, 1, 1), #WSE operation!
(position_rotate_x, pos1, -90),
(position_rotate_z, pos1, ":var10"),
(prop_instance_enable_physics, ":var4", 0),
(prop_instance_set_position, ":var4", pos1),
(position_move_z, pos1, -1),
(prop_instance_animate_to_position, ":var4", pos1, 100000000),
(scene_prop_set_slot, ":var4", 41, 2),
(scene_prop_get_slot, ":var16", ":var4", 43),
(prop_instance_deform_to_time, ":var4", ":var16"),
(try_end),
(try_end),
(try_end),
]),
#Animating the bird while flying
(0, 0, 0,
[
(eq, "$ravenmode", 1),
],
[
(set_fixed_point_multiplier, 100),
(assign, ":var1", "spr_explorer_raven"),
(scene_prop_get_num_instances, ":var2", ":var1"),
(ge, ":var2", 1),
(mission_cam_get_position, pos20),
(get_player_agent_no, ":player"),
(agent_get_position, pos21, ":player"),
(position_copy_rotation, pos21, pos20),
(try_begin),
(game_key_is_down, 0), #move forward
(position_move_y, pos21, 42),
(else_try),
(this_or_next|game_key_is_down, 1), #move backward
(game_key_is_down, 23), #order 1 = Hold Position
(position_move_y, pos21, 1),
(position_move_z, pos21, 9),
(else_try),
(position_move_y, pos21, 25),
(try_end),
(try_begin),
(game_key_is_down, 2), #move left
(position_move_x, pos21, 15),
(else_try),
(game_key_is_down, 3), #move right
(position_move_x, pos21, -15),
(try_end),
(agent_set_position, ":player", pos21),
(try_for_range, ":var3", 0, ":var2"),
(scene_prop_get_instance, ":var4", ":var1", ":var3"),
(mission_cam_get_position, pos20),
(position_move_y, pos20, 400),
(position_move_z, pos20, -80),
(position_rotate_x, pos20, 5),
(prop_instance_set_position, ":var4", pos20),
(try_begin),
(game_key_is_down, 0), #move forward
(position_rotate_x, pos20, -15),
(position_move_y, pos20, 200),
(else_try),
(this_or_next|game_key_is_down, 1), #move backward
(game_key_is_down, 23), #order 1 = Hold Position
(position_rotate_x, pos20, 35),
(try_end),
(try_begin),
(game_key_is_down, 2), #move left
(position_rotate_y, pos20, 45),
(else_try),
(game_key_is_down, 3), #move right
(position_rotate_y, pos20, -45),
(try_end),
(prop_instance_animate_to_position, ":var4", pos20, 15),
(try_end),
]),
(0, 0, 3, #Check if raven collides with any scene prop
[
(eq, "$ravenmode", 1),
(scene_prop_get_instance, ":raven", "spr_explorer_raven"),
(position_get_distance_to_terrain, ":ground", pos20),
(this_or_next|le, ":ground", 0),
(prop_instance_intersects_with_prop_instance, ":raven", -1),
],
[
#(display_message,"@Bang!"),
(play_sound, "snd_mp_arrow_hit_target"),
(get_player_agent_no, ":player"),
(agent_get_position, pos20, "$player_char"),
(agent_set_visibility, "$player_char", 0),
(try_begin),
(agent_get_horse, ":horse", "$player_char"),
(gt, ":horse", -1),
(agent_set_horse, "$player_char", -1), # WSE operation!
(agent_set_horse, ":player", ":horse"), # WSE operation!
(try_end),
(agent_fade_out, "$player_char"),
(position_move_x, pos20, 55), #avoid old player/horse
(agent_set_position, ":player", pos20),
(agent_set_visibility, ":player", 1),
(agent_set_no_dynamics, ":player", 0),
(assign, "$ravenmode", 0),
]),
]There's only one condition for using this: Send it back if you make any nifty improvements! And if anyone makes any more animated bird meshes I would love to have them. (Eagles?
)
Nice work Ruthven!!
Wow, great stuff!
Insane this is actually possible in the engine.
I very much liked that npc's could lead your way.
Is this just a project you want to play around with or will there be actual gameplay in the future?
I would expect making the gameplay sandboxy similar to native would be extremely hard.
Such a feature would probably lend itself more to a quest driven roleplaying game.
Good luck anyways!
Insane this is actually possible in the engine.
I very much liked that npc's could lead your way.
Is this just a project you want to play around with or will there be actual gameplay in the future?
I would expect making the gameplay sandboxy similar to native would be extremely hard.
Such a feature would probably lend itself more to a quest driven roleplaying game.
Good luck anyways!
I just want this to appear in my new replies.
Fantastic work!
Fantastic work!
Not that I would expect any less from such a prestigious forum vet as Ruthven.
I have been on these forums since 2008, and tried countless mods, but I can safely say that this is one of the most innovative mods I ever happened to stumble on. Heck, the ModDb page even shows up on my suggested articles while surfing the mobile browser. Keep it up!
Easter Cow said:Nice work Ruthven!!
Mr.Milker said:
Thanks, folks.BNS Marko said:
Thank you! I appreciate the sentiment - but most of my "prestige" is really totally undeserved.SupaNinjaMan said:
Fake it 'til you make it!Hey, thank you! You really should give yourself some credit as well, then. I never would have started this project without your town scenes - in fact they were probably one of the biggest factors in its inspiration. I wanted to bring those scenes from the background to the forefront of the game. There have been some great comments already from people saying stuff like "I've played M&B for a long time, and only now am actually appreciating the scenes for themselves." Also I believe many of the "Skyrim" comparisons are directly your fault!The Bowman said:
Not to mention - your towns/castles are easily the best places to take screenshots.
Now all I need are some Rhodok towns... *cough cough*
Yesterday, I posted a new article on the moddb page: https://www.moddb.com/mods/explorer1/features/explorer-alpha-features-preview
I won't copy/paste the whole thing, but basically it goes over some of the new Alpha features; sieges, village raids, and the flying raven. Check out the article for more in-depth, but basically:
-In Sieges, you have to decide where to setup your "Siege Camp" - this is where you will wait while coming up with battle plans/building equipment. Where you place your camp also becomes your/reinforcements spawn point during the assault - so finding the right place to camp is essential for success. You still can't choose where the ladders/towers are headed unfortunately, but if you study the castles you'll typically find out where the "weak point" is. For towns it is quite self-evident, as they have a distinct front and back.
You can also move your siege camp (except during assault) with currently no penalty - maybe in the future it will reset build times or cost morale or something, to encourage players to "get it right the first time" so to speak.
The village raids and raven can be seen in the video I posted - it's in the OP. And I'll also post it again, why not?
Some big screenshots: (ignore the FPS... that's from the anti-aliasing)
In other news, Explorer is also now using some different skybox/shaders - still Sebastian's work, but now it uses just one skydome+texture, and adjusts itself based on sun/sky settings. What does this mean exactly? Real-time day/night cycles! After the alpha is out and patched up, I'll start working on this - for now we are using the new skybox etc, but everything is still static. The time scale won't be a super fast one - the shadowmap unfortunately doesn't update (though the lighting itself does) so it's not really feasible to go from sunrise-sunset in one scene - right now I am thinking about 15 real minutes will be equivalent to 1 hour in-game, so it will be a subtle effect.
You can read Sebastian's own post about it here: https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,208694.msg8316987.html#msg8316987
Amazing as usual, Ruthven!
I'm not sure if you've explained it before, but what is currently the 'goal' for the player? So aside from roaming around, hiring, raiding, and besieging places, what do you see as the primary objective for the player / character?
In vanilla M&B, it is usual to conquer Calradia. Do you see Explorer! expanding towards that end, or right now, the goal is simply the name of the mod, to be an Explorer!
Thanks again for such innovative work!
I'm not sure if you've explained it before, but what is currently the 'goal' for the player? So aside from roaming around, hiring, raiding, and besieging places, what do you see as the primary objective for the player / character?
In vanilla M&B, it is usual to conquer Calradia. Do you see Explorer! expanding towards that end, or right now, the goal is simply the name of the mod, to be an Explorer!
Thanks again for such innovative work!
Absolutely amazing!!
Thanks for your efforts!
Thanks for your efforts!
Thank you!OldGreyBeard said:Absolutely amazing!!
Thanks for your efforts!
That's... A great question. Ultimately, I wanted to recreate the classic MB experience in a kind of open-world setting, replacing "game menu gameplay" with tangible, visible, playable experiences. Everything else is just finding out how to work with this framework instead of being totally hindered by it. Clearly, I love this game, but I always found Native to be rather bloated with features that end up being fairly insignificant, or are very unintuitive.Khamukkamu said:Amazing as usual, Ruthven!
I'm not sure if you've explained it before, but what is currently the 'goal' for the player? So aside from roaming around, hiring, raiding, and besieging places, what do you see as the primary objective for the player / character?
In vanilla M&B, it is usual to conquer Calradia. Do you see Explorer! expanding towards that end, or right now, the goal is simply the name of the mod, to be an Explorer!
Thanks again for such innovative work!
On a higher level, I wanted to use a player-driven world instead of a simulated one. Basically the companion-NPC is a good summation: When you ask their name, they become a "real" character. Similarly, I want the whole world to kind of fill in its own details around the player's unique slice of experience, from the characters they meet to the entire economy and geopolitics. That doesn't mean the player has control over when and how things happen, simply that it is reactive to their choices. The kind of 'next' idea from there was to be able to tune those events to simulate narratives, by introducing characters, creating antagonists for the player, punishing them when they are too comfortable, and bringing them back up after being beaten down, etc...
Another layer that is
If this idea comes to fruition, I would likely add some features to the death system: when the player dies you could choose to continue as the same character, continue as a companion, or start a new character in the same world. I think with the scale of the world, it would be an amazing feeling to play a decent game with one faction, lead a big army, win campaigns and land etc etc... Then die, and start again in a whole new area, build your way up... And eventually start meeting your old companions, old rivals, the remains of your empire and the political situation you left behind...
..But of course that is just the sort of unachievable dream scenario. Realistically, this mod won't get that far - me or bannerlord, one would break first.
In the meantime, goals are mostly roleplay-based. I want players to be able to properly join factions as a merchant/manhunter/bandit etc etc, as both a leader or even just a sort of freelancer scenario where you are an ordinary partymember. This seems to be more than satisfactory for most people.
On the subject of conquering calradia: I think I am going to make campaigns in Explorer drastically more decisive. One of the caveats of Explorer is that every time you have to retrace your steps you will die a little inside.
If campaigns were as stagnant as Native, the game would take years to finish. Instead, campaigns will be very all-out. Remember that all the Native factions have been divided into 3: I think in general I want a single campaign to spell the end for one of the minor factions. This relates a bit to the above about reactive gameplay; the player should get to be present for the most major events (whether they are a participant or not) and we can sweep the rest under the rug so to speak, and thus the player can always be moving forward. I want a full game to necessitate visiting every faction, but not every single location. I don't think I mentioned this before either, but I am planning to have all named NPCs be deadly to other named NPCs. There won't be any dialogue behind it for the Alpha, but functionally it's still there. This should make a big difference for campaigns: One major battle could break an entire faction apart. You'll also have to worry a bit more about your companions, especially as the stakes are raised and you face more powerful enemy NPCs.
Like any mod, game, artwork or other endeavour, the state and quality of the finished product is a fight against time more than anything. I can't say how much farther the project will actually go - in all likelihood I will try to pass it on, and focus on, well, other projects...
tl;dr: walking simulator
Great job man, I wanted to ask though, any news on the build which is at works at the moment? Also, a slight request, would it be possible to implement a facial textures mod in the game, as well as some armour OSP packs since the adventure this time is much more personal with your character since you get to see him/her at all times? Thanks, definitely one of the best mods out there for me personally.
Revverie
Wow just discovered this, I'm really eager to play the Soon™ full version of the game, it already looks amazing! How are things doing btw?
578 said:
Funny you should ask.578 said:
You can download the newest version (ExplorerAlpha) here:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/explorer1/downloads/explorer-alpha
There are some cool new features, but also some broken/half-implemented stuff. I'll update the OP later, I'm too lazy to write all the changes now.
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking.578 said:
Are there specific OSPs you want me to add?Ruthven said:578 said:Funny you should ask.578 said:
You can download the newest version (ExplorerAlpha) here:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/explorer1/downloads/explorer-alpha
There are some cool new features, but also some broken/half-implemented stuff. I'll update the OP later, I'm too lazy to write all the changes now.
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking.578 said:
Thank you for the link, I am going to download it now. Looks like no sleep for me. I am not talking about any specific OSP, whatever you like. Just you know to spice up things a little when it comes to visuals, warband armors etc are very dull. There are surely a lot of good armor packs out there! Regarding faces, the face mod most mods use is pretty standard, I miss its name now but it's everywhere.
Edit: Ok I have tried the newest version but something seems off that was not in the last one. WSE Gives me an error at the start that a dll is missing, I can launch the game but I see a lot of areas being extremely dark, textures seem strange on hair (like very low quality set) and the animations play weird. I will try to see if I can fix it somehow, I am on steam.
