The Pfhorums

Marathon : Freedom chapter one released.
I have uploaded a Windows and an OS X version to Simplici7y. If people feel they do not belong there, I will remove them.
Download, play, comment.

I don't feel like explaining this. Here you can geddit, anyway:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=a86a474...be6ba49b5870170

Here's the trailer. It took me the whole ******* day to get it up there, I had to recompress, reformat and mess around with it so much to get it to work. It took longer time to make it work on YouTube than to MAKE IT to begin with. I'm sorry if it's a bit impossible to make out what's going on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_ris6Pe5Gs

M1
Juggernaut
Looker
Hunter
Marine
Trooper
Fighter
MADD
Hulk
BoB
Enforcer
Wasp
Compiler

M2/?
Juggernaut
Tick
Hunter
Marine
Trooper
Fighter
Defender
Yeti
BoB
VacBoB
Enforcer
Drone
Compiler
Cyborg

Gameplay changes F.A.Q. - things that differ from Marathon

Energy Rechargers - No difference, except that only character with Shields, such as Compilers, Defenders and special Marines, may use them, and only to their Shield's maximum capacity. Hence, having a 2x Shield will only use 2/3 or a 3x recharger. Shields absorb damage like a health bar.
Terminals - No real change. Displayed as a small on screen window. No pictures.
Pattern Buffers - Ah, now here's where things might get confusing. Pattern Buffers no longer saves progress, instead, they offer a change to respawn without losing a life. This is useful when you can only carry one weapon. Detours to a Pattern Buffer will allow you the right tools for the job, even changing class completely. It's about as logical as the original function, so don't start
Health - Health is no longer displayed as a bar, since that no longer applies. The number of shots required for a kill is calculated through other algorithms than simple Health - Damage. Rest assured though, most weapons are QUITE effective, even the weakest.
Doors - Some doors open automatically upon approach. Should they close, just hang on and it will buzz you through in the next cycle. Other doors require button toggling, power restoration, or a simple Action key press.
Force fields - Don't touch these. Seriously! You'll be sorry! Make SURE they are inactive before crossing them. It is easy to tell since they are no longer visible. How does a force field look? You'll figure it out.
Force Fields come in a variety of flavors. They can stun, burn, explode, electrocute, disintegrate or do pretty much anything to you. Color is key for determining type. Maybe, with high enough resistance, you could pass through? I wouldn't recommend it.
Shotguns - Most shotguns have limited range. VERY limited range. That means that you have to be close enough to hit, but you'll do whopping damage. The beloved WSTE-M5 finally revolves in your hand. Yup. I programmed it. A whole script just for the WSTM's rotation.
Disintegration damage - The Rubicon Enforcer's rifle, which I call the "Skeaarnen Rifle" (try to guess why), does disintegration damage. It is basically a very nasty sniper weapon. A single shot is usually enough. I couldn't replicate the actual disintegration effect from Rubicon, so instead, victims erupt in a cloud of plasma fire, vaporized. All that's left of the hapless sucker is a pile of florescent goo...
Height - There is little to no height. All levels are flat, due to the perspective. Ever tried to aim vertically with an orthographic camera diagonally mounted behind you? It's close to impossible. So it had to go. At least that simplifies AI programming.
FPS hack - There is an unconfirmed rumor of an FPS hack which lets you play the game in first person mode. The game was never designed to be played this way, and it doesn't look very good. It's hella scary, though. Those fighters rush you pretty fast from around tight corners. Uh, I've heard.
Strafing - Strafing is not supported. Remember why PiD was so scary?
Ammo - Ammo is infinite. But reload times may be longer to compensate. Except for grenades. You run out of those.
Manual reload - is supported. No need to waste that clip. But with infinite ammo, maybe you will anyway.
Story - Not so much. Each level is selectable from the main menu. You play that scenario and then you are returned to the main menu.
Each level so far is based somewhere in the original trilogy's story arc. You can play and revisit your favorite battles over and over, any way you like. Well, any way supported.
SMAWs - Wasn't gonna include them. Didn't make sense with the one-weapon-limitation. Thanks to the Pattern Buffer Redesign system, I might start bringing them in.

And there was Wrkncacnter saying that no new content was being made for Aleph One

*Might* this be a mod for Neverwinter Nights?

Huh, now that you say that, it DOES look like a mod for NWN.

At first it looked like a top down view of Marathon:Ressurection.

If this IS a NWN mod, it looks like W'rks turn based Marathon may be reincarnated in a much more stable form!

I shall watch this with interest.

But... I don't have NWN!

ukimalefu wrote:But... I don't have NWN!

Then you shan't be disappointed, because this is not a mod of anything. It's scratch-built for everyone's pleasure. Everyone except Linux users. Still sorry about that.
So that there won't be any sad faces; yes, it is top down. No, it is not turn based, although, that seems like a really neat idea.
No, it is not an RPG of such, although you can kit and gear your character extensively, and level up.
As of RIGHT NOW, you can play as either a Pfhor, being able to kit it as a fighter of every flavor, or a M1-style trooper. (Enforcer in the works.)
And wield staff, projectile staff, N-cannon, Trooper weapons (M1 and M2), Scattergun, Rubicon alien weapon.
Or you can play as a human, this sentence is fucked up, sorry.
As a human, which will exist in male and female form, you can now don more stuff than the Pfhor, and wield .44 MMC A1, .44 MMC A1 x 2, .45 MMC, MA-75B, WSTE-M5, WSTE-M5 x 2. Weapons are relatively easy to make and add, and I plan to include as much as I can.

This disjoined message is due to me doing a bunch of stuff at the same time, and I cannot concentrate. I might have said a bit too much. Supposed to be a secret after all.

Very, very interesting and impressive stuff here. I'm excited to see how this will develop!

My motion tracker problem was solved in the core. The guy who programs the dim3 engine added core support for it, so it's pretty easy to use.

infestedsmith wrote:Very, very interesting and impressive stuff here. I'm excited to see how this will develop!

My motion tracker problem was solved in the core. The guy who programs the dim3 engine added core support for it, so it's pretty easy to use.

OK, thanks anyway. I don't know if I'd NEED it for a topdown game. Just slide next to a wall and you'll see what's going down next door. It would just be a cool, Marathony effect.

Shadowbreaker wrote:And there was Wrkncacnter saying that no new content was being made for Aleph One

What?

W wrote:What?

Content.

Please read the "stuff I need help with" section in my first post. Work is going great and I want to show off what I've done so far.

CubicCircle wrote:...
6, if someone could direct me to a free screen capture application for OS X, that has movie recording capabilities without extremely low frame rate and which records sound as well, I will be able to make a preview movie for you. I would really like to.
...

I don't have a Mac to play with, but this and that might be what you're after.

CubicCircle wrote:2, still would be nice to have those female BoB sounds, but I *might* have some excellent placeholders of dubious legal nature

Loren Petrich made some Tinas complete with sounds patch which may be what you want. I believe they are there for incorporation into various projects.

Cathunter

Effigy, these files are from what I can tell not OS X compatible. Much of them are uncompiled, and I cannot build them. Thanks anyway.

Cathunter, those sounds are just the regular Zartman sounds up-pitched. It would be nice to have them made by an actual WOMAN. My placeholders work fine, though. I might also compliment them with the archer death sounds from EMR. Those are hysterical. Not ha-ha hysterical, AAAAARRRGHH!!! hysterical.
The source of my current placeholders, *cough* DI *cough*, I cannot omit.

CubicCircle wrote:6, if someone could direct me to a free screen capture application for OS X, that has movie recording capabilities without extremely low frame rate and which records sound as well, I will be able to make a preview movie for you. I would really like to.

SnapsProX, from Ambrosia Software, is the best screen recorder out there for Macs. It does pretty much everything you could want. It's not free, but there's a down-loadable demo which I've used before, but I can't remember how limited it is.

I also did a quick Google search and found another, cheaper, Shareware program called Snapper. It records sound, too. I think the only limitation on the demo is that you have to restart between recordings.

Elderman wrote:SnapsProX,
...
for Macs. It does pretty much everything you could want.
...
I can't remember how limited it is.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox Download Free Trial link wrote:Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later

After 100 uses, the trial will place a watermark on any image captured

Yes, SP X costs money. It used to be good, but they don't update it anymore and I wouldn't recommend it even if you wanted to pony up the $70.

I searched for free screen recorders a while back and never found any, but Windows doesn't have any either, does it? Anyway, you won't get around paying money for screen recording, but you might want to try ScreenRecord ($16) and xGrab ($6?!?). I tried ScreenRecord 1.x a long time ago and thought it was good, and I don't know anything about the other one, but they're the highest rated capture utilities on VersionTracker.

I think Snapper looks good. I mean, I'm not gonna record that many movies as to make a simple restart all that cumbersome. I wish I were in a position to explore these alternatives right now, but sadly I am not. I will do so ASAP.
You will be happy to hear that I am working on a playable, albeit incomplete and possibly buggy, demo. It's just gonna feature a basic supply of stuff for now.
If I could just get a hold of those fonts... They'd look great for menus and in-game signs. Honestly, I can't even get a hold of the original Courier font! It's all Courier New or whatnot.

Iritscen wrote:...
Windows doesn't have any either, does it?
...

CamStudio is the only one I'm aware of, I've never used it, though.

CubicCircle wrote:If I could just get a hold of those fonts... They'd look great for menus and in-game signs. Honestly, I can't even get a hold of the original Courier font! It's all Courier New or whatnot.

There's a thread about the Marathon fonts on the story board from 2004. In a post there, someone suggests copy pasting letters from the online sample on a commercial font page. You can buy the fonts themselves at font sites like fonts.com. I also found a little bit of information on the story site faqs.

There's a font that looks a bit like Modula Tall, called Chingolo Pro. The link I found to it called it a free font, but of course I can't say for certain. As you know, it's illegal to redistribute commercial fonts like Modula Tall, Bank Gothic, and Courier.

I'm sending you a message with more info.

Iritscen wrote:Yes, SP X costs money. It used to be good, but they don't update it anymore and I wouldn't recommend it even if you wanted to pony up the $70.

I searched for free screen recorders a while back and never found any, but Windows doesn't have any either, does it? Anyway, you won't get around paying money for screen recording, but you might want to try ScreenRecord ($16) and xGrab ($6?!?). I tried ScreenRecord 1.x a long time ago and thought it was good, and I don't know anything about the other one, but they're the highest rated capture utilities on VersionTracker.

If you guys still need OS X Recorded , I'm available! I have snapz pro x bought 70? . I can record with good quality and fps Also, I might have Snapz Pro X Resetter that resets the days and the times you've used it. So if anyone needs anything to be recorded, contact me!

Pool wrote:If you guys still need OS X Recorded , I'm available! I have snapz pro x bought 70? . I can record with good quality and fps Also, I might have Snapz Pro X Resetter that resets the days and the times you've used it. So if anyone needs anything to be recorded, contact me!

Oh, I do! I have a nice little video planned out. But maybe I'll just skip right ahead to a playable demo. Would still be nice to have a demonstrative and titillating short film to show though. Maybe people who have recording software can record off the demo once I make it, and send me teh filmz? That'd work.

Sounds good to me. Do you have an eta for the demo?

effigy wrote:Sounds good to me. Do you have an eta for the demo?

It can be quite, quite soon, depending on how complete I want it to be.

InfestedSmith, or Alexander. May I call you Alexander? Anywhoo, another question for you; how did you solve platforms? Not doors, but the kind that the player can ride and that can crush him? Due to the flat, mock-2D design of my game, I don't really need them, but I still want to hear how it can be done.