Marathon 1 Redux

[ravenshining]

Ah, so Perseus's problem is fixed in 1.3... and since I'm using Infinity-style resources, I have to use MML to set level music, thus triggering the bug. So, the solution would for 1.3 to become the new stable- alas, this will require a programmer's attention.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at trying to fix Radix's complaint about the overflowing HUD graphics. The overflow I've fixed, but I EDIT fixed all my issues. I forgot to specify the "index" attribute of the "ammo" element, thus A1 ignored the line rather than tossing out the entire script as it often does when there's a syntax error. And the weird distorted alien weapon shape was the result of an errant "store pixels in column order" flag ticked in the shapesfile.

So, the HUD will be completely fixed for tomorrow's upload, as will be the water scenery names in the glade files, amongst many other changes.

[ravenshining]

Version 0.0.3a is up!
http://simplici7y.com/items/marathon-1-redux

Bigger Guns Nearby is now fleshed out to my satisfaction. There's an office area, it's harder to avoid the macerators, there are more railings (which required some fun trickery to get to work right with monster paths), teleporting ammo and aliens in appropriate locations, more doors, minor terminal updates, and the cut

Spoiler:

flamethrower,
which is in a room with BOBs

which I've scripted not to betray.

I've begun work on G4 Sunbathing - and reverted to the non-juggernaut version while I work on the architecture. A cut hallway has been restored, a gate added to the relay to prevent people from pole-vaulting with the shock staff past the puzzles, three pattern buffers added at least one of which ought eventually to become a terminal once written, several cargo airlocks added around the perimeter to enhance that "loading dock" feel, two walls that were in place to limit viewing distance have been removed, and I've added some depth and decoration to the seas.

As mentioned above, the HUD and the water scenery for weland have been fixed. Also, the hunters are no longer weak to fusion, but they are weak to S'pht bolts and the shock staff. The shock staff is now more accurate with four rounds per battery pack, and the SMG less accurate with 18 bullets and 4 grenades.

[Flowers]

When I try to launch M1 Redux Aleph One says that the map, images, shapes and sounds are not correctly installed even though they're clearly there. I suppose I'm the only one with this issue. Any idea how I can fix this?

[General-RADIX]

When I try to launch M1 Redux Aleph One says that the map, images, shapes and sounds are not correctly installed even though they're clearly there. I suppose I'm the only one with this issue. Any idea how I can fix this?

I just ran into this issue, too.

[ravenshining]

Oh dear. Maybe it's trying to read the prefs from v.0.0.2a, and because the folder name is different it's unhappy... Have you tried trashing your preferences file? I have it set to save it as "Marathon Redux Preferences" wherever Aleph One stores it's preferences by default, e.g. for Linux in ~/.alephone/

I just had a look in the .zip, there are a few leftover OS9 things from accessing the folder via Basillisk II but that shouldn't affect anything unless the Mac version of A1 doesn't like that Redux Images.imgA is MacBinary encoded and yet still has a resource fork. Also the readme is in the wrong place, nested in a folder with the same name as the root Redux folder, but that shouldn't hurt either. I tried trashing my own preferences, and that causes A1 to complain about there being no default preferences, but it starts fine.

[HelviusRufus]

As above, mine doesn't start either. Windows10.

select scenario.png (9.22 KiB) Viewed 18549 times

shapesimagessounds.png (5.77 KiB) Viewed 18549 times

Tried:
deleting preferences file
leaving AO in folder and replacing all the other stuff with the 003 versions.

PS the 002 works fine but you need a rocket launcher lying around in the vacuum area;
the pistol just won't off the jugg.

[ravenshining]

Weird. I have no idea what's going on, even a fresh unzip, and my .alephone and /usr/local/share/AlephOne folders temporarily displaced to make sure it wasn't loading anything from one of those, it still runs just fine. I really wish that error message could be more specific, it's caused me no end of trouble in the past since it doesn't tell you which file is missing/bad and it is also triggered if there is no theme plugin while saying nothing about theme plugins.

On the off chance the file was corrupted in upload, my local copy shows as 111,287,525 bytes on a 8GB vfat filesystem, and should unzip to something that looks like this:

About the 0.0.2a juggernauts in vacuum, use the fusion pistol, there's one near the recharge. Plenty of batteries will teleport in as you deplete yours in that version. Also, rather than duck and cover, jump off and try to get it fighting with the S'pht while you take out the troopers and hunters.

[Wrkncacnter]

If you delete the overhead_map section of the mml, the prahblum goes away.

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out why (because I'm too lazy to understand why).

[ravenshining]

If you delete the overhead_map section of the mml, the prahblum goes away.

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out why (because I'm too lazy to understand why).

What.

Perhaps I'm again relying on features supported or bugs fixed in the latest build, that do not work in the stable? Anyway, that makes sense, because an error in the Marathon.mml file will cause Aleph One to not know where to find the relevant files. I suppose I shall move all the unnecessary elements into a separate script for 0.0.4a.

Here's the section from the 0.0.2a Marathon.mml:

Code: Select all

<overhead_map>
  <color index="6" red="0" green="1" blue="0"/>
  <color index="19" red="1" green=".5" blue="0"/>
  <color index="20" red="0" green="1" blue="0"/>
  <color index="21" red="1" green="0" blue="1"/>
</overhead_map>

And here's 0.0.3a:

Code: Select all

<overhead_map mode="0">
  <assign_live monster="20" type="0"/>
  <assign_live monster="36" type="0"/>
  <assign_live monster="37" type="0"/>
  <projectiles="on"/>
  <color index="6" red="0" green="1" blue="0"/>
  <color index="10" red=".5" green="0" blue=".5"/>
  <color index="19" red="1" green=".5" blue="0"/>
  <color index="20" red="0" green="1" blue="0"/>
  <color index="21" red="1" green="0" blue="1"/>
</overhead_map>

The differences are non-critical at this point, the assign_live_monster elements are mildly important, but I left in the mode="0" (which does nothing) for convenience as I change it to 2 while making terminal maps, and the projectiles="on" is pure whimsy.

I've added a warning to the Simplici7y page, but because of my limited bandwidth here in the jungle I will be unable to upload a fix until Monday.

[Wrkncacnter]

<projectiles="on"/> is the prahblum.

[Flowers]

<projectiles="on"/> is the prahblum.

Yup. Just removed projectiles="on" from MML from a fresh zip and it loaded up. Ty for tech support. Now time to actually play it, I haven't played the previous versions of Redux so I'm jumping in for the first time.

[ravenshining]

Ah. The option wasn't working anyway, perhaps my syntax was off and the latest has better error handling than stable.

Do let me know what you think, Flowers! It is not very polished or complete at this point, but the more feedback I get, the better this will be!

Meanwhile, here's a revised Scripts folder with the overhead map fixed, and organised as it will be going forward: several elements moved into a Rules.mml and the animated textures element moved into Textures.mml.

[Flowers]

Do let me know what you think, Flowers! It is not very polished or complete at this point, but the more feedback I get, the better this will be!

I only played the first level and a bit of the second level. I sort of just expected some new 3D scenery and some new geography outside windows but I was quite impressed by the amount of work put in. I like how you made Bigger Guns Nearby loop around so you could use the health station again after falling down the rabbit hole. That's a personal favorite of mine, when a map can reuse itself. I also like the new use of pictures in terminals.

I attempted to play G4 Sunbathing but AO crashed after using an oxygen station. I play quite a bit of Marathon and AO crashing is very, very rare, so that incident is a bit suspicious. However, I will complete the level tomorrow.

One thing I would suggest (If you did not already have this in mind) is to have more secondary terminals scattered around throughout levels. The lore in Marathon is what makes the series special to me, and I think you could potentially add little tidbits that would help make the Marathon feel more like a real ship ontop of the architecture improvements. For example, take the terminal at the end of Bigger Guns Nearby discussing doors. Maybe on a different level you could walk into a room and there'd be a janitor's log written down on a terminal? Who knows.

But overall though, I am a fan of what you're doing here. Do you plan on remaking every level or will you be cutting some? To be honest, you could probably cut the entire "Durandal" chapter and I wouldn't complain, although I'd be interested in seeing if you could salvage 'Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap'...

[ravenshining]

Cutting? I plan on adding levels. I'm glad you appreciated my hard work!

It could be that you've experienced the same bug as Perseus Spartacus, which can be avoided if you a) run the latest unstable build of Aleph one, or possibly b) Start a new game, close it, and then start a new game again: I read on another thread that it only happens the first time A1 loads the map.

Did you happen to notice the new messages already added? There's a new unfinished state to the final terminal telling you to go back and get the AR if you skipped it, and a new finished state to the first terminal with manual entries for the pistol and AR. On G4, there are three new pattern buffers, at least one of which will become a new terminal in a future version; also, there will be at least one alternate version of G4 in a "you have done poorly" timeline that may involve you being ordered about by Durandal instead of Leela, going something like:

Spoiler:

Before she succumbed to the S'pht virus, Leela made plans to send a distress signal to Earth. I have calculated this to be pure folly, but I have some other work for you here. The Pfhor have been using this as a staging area for troops, supplies, and captives. I need you to take out their armoured platforms and disable the airlocks. While you're here, you can send the message if you wish - I don't care. Just don't suffocate in the act, I have more plans for you.

Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap sounds like a fun challenge. I shall slate it for work after G4.

[Flippant Sol]

Question, would you be willing add the examplary standard levels, so that Redux feels like a more complete package, even if you plan on making additions? This is just so that we test that all of your teleports function correctly.
Have you thought about adding water/liquid levels to Marathon 1, since M1R runs on M1A1 which in turn is M2 code? Speaking of which, how do you turn off the static liquids?
Oh, and are you done, like DONE-DONE with your shapes? Because I'd like to xBR it if possible.

[Flowers]

Cutting? I plan on adding levels. I'm glad you appreciated my hard work!

It could be that you've experienced the same bug as Perseus Spartacus, which can be avoided if you a) run the latest unstable build of Aleph one, or possibly b) Start a new game, close it, and then start a new game again: I read on another thread that it only happens the first time A1 loads the map.

I tried playing G4 Sunbathing again today but it crashed once more. Where could I acquire the latest unstable build of AO?

Did you happen to notice the new messages already added? There's a new unfinished state to the final terminal telling you to go back and get the AR if you skipped it, and a new finished state to the first terminal with manual entries for the pistol and AR.

I actually missed it first time around, but I went back and read it. Nice touch there!

[Pfhorrest]

http://pfhorums.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=39075

Aleph One 1.3a1 thread.

[ravenshining]

Question, would you be willing add the examplary standard levels, so that Redux feels like a more complete package, even if you plan on making additions? This is just so that we test that all of your teleports function correctly.

I prefer to focus on one at a time so that I can do it right, if you want more levels faster anyone is certainly welcome to help! Interested mappers may use the attached conversion key or better yet compile Weland with the included glade files so that object names are correct, then open up an M1A1 map file and get to it! All the textures are the same as M1A1 except there are a few new ones (not all of which are yet present), some PID ones are now new ones or Deimos textures, the Jjaro collection is present with a bunch of extras intended for colony missions, and levels that take place on the Marathon will need their landscape switched to Moon.

Have you thought about adding water/liquid levels to Marathon 1, since M1R runs on M1A1 which in turn is M2 code? Speaking of which, how do you turn off the static liquids?

Have you not played though this yet? Because you cannot now finish Bigger Guns Nearby without diving into sewage. But, yes, there is water in the water (Never Burn Money, The Rose, G4, Bob-B-Q, A Good Way to Die) and Jjaro (Colony Moon) collections for use in future levels. I'm not sure what you mean by static liquids.

Oh, and are you done, like DONE-DONE with your shapes? Because I'd like to xBR it if possible.

Not yet, but I'm glad you asked! The Juggernaut has a few new frames you can xBR, as well as it's Major variant CLUT. The Drinnol has three CLUTs now and I do plan on using all three. The Enforcer has five CLUTs, Hunter four, and Trooper four, but I don't know if I will be using them or not yet. I haven't even started work on the Marine or VacBob collections yet, the latter of which will be entirely replaced with shotgun- and flamethrower- wielding humans ('Cause I got a shotgun, and you ain't got one)

[HelviusRufus]

Wrkncacnter wrote:
<projectiles="on"/> is the prahblum.

Yup. Just removed projectiles="on" from MML from a fresh zip and it loaded up.

This worked for me too.

If you delete the overhead_map section of the mml, the prahblum goes away.

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out why

Not knowing anything about this I would hazard a guess that when it reads a failing command it stops whereas if it simply ignored the failing command and continued on all would be well.
Hey! If politicians can pontificate on things they know nothing about, so can I.

[ravenshining]

After pulling another all-nighter in the rush to get some new content along with the fix to the startup bug out to you all, version 0.0.4a is up on Simplici7y!
http://simplici7y.com/items/marathon-1-redux

While helping out Pfhorrest with Eternal, I realised that his scenario also uses the shock staff and trooper gun, so I've ported in those two from Tacticus's HD Eternal weapons (with the staff heavily edited for proportion, colour, glow, and transparency), so now All of M1R's weapons are in HD (minus the SMG reload). If I could get Pfhorrest's permission to use your Marine sprites for those two weapons that would save me a lot of work!

Lots of geometry updates to G4. Generally, I've been adding polygons to vary the "roof" height and re-lighting the outdoor areas to match the new backdrop, but I've also added a bridge to Icarus Crater, rounded out and added windows to the satellite relay, and messed about with jump pads, teleporting enemies & items, and ceiling heights.

Because the intervening levels between BGN and G4S are not present, I plopped a few items on the beginning jump pad so you start with 2X shields, two pistols, the fusion pistol, and a trooper rifle (which no longer disappears after use, instead the troopers drop magazines.) As usual there's more fine tuning of the weapons.

Most importantly, there are now a few illustrations for the terminals, and I've used them to

Spoiler:

tie in an interchange between Tycho and Durandal that helps address the ninety-two year problem.

The first image also incorporates actual data calculated about the Marathon universe's version of the Tau Ceti system- and yes it actually came out to it being 7 degrees Celsius down on the colony!

Finally, there's now a list of things I'd welcome help on, which has also been posted to the top of this thread.

[Pfhorrest]

While helping out Pfhorrest with Eternal, I realised that his scenario also uses the shock staff and trooper gun, so I've ported in those two from Tacticus's HD Eternal weapons (with the staff heavily edited for proportion, colour, glow, and transparency), so now All of M1R's weapons are in HD (minus the SMG reload). If I could get Pfhorrest's permission to use your Marine sprites for those two weapons that would save me a lot of work!

No problem at all! Those marines are President People's creations FYI, so credit should go to him.

I haven't checked out M1R yet, so I'm curious what trooper gun graphics you were using before? AFAIK Eternal is the only scenario that has used that weapon thus far. (Our old shock staff was partially based on the Evil shock staff, with modifications).

[ravenshining]

Thanks! I hadn't gotten so far as to create my own trooper gun, I was just using the SMG with the sight lopped off as a stand-in graphic. The staff, on the other hand, I did put some effort in to creating, and so I modified Tacticus's quite a bit to fit.

The physics are very different, much less powerful.

[General-RADIX]

Finally, there's now a list of things I'd welcome help on, which has also been posted to the top of this thread.

I'd like to volunteer for terminal-writing duty once you have an outline for the new stuff. (And still leaving art offers open in case no one else steps up)

[Flowers]

Is there any specific criteria you're looking for when it comes to the colony levels?

[HelviusRufus]

May be just something wrong with my set-up, but 004 freezes my whole computer (Windows 10 and 7, AO 20150620 and 20150907) after a few minutes, you can't even switch to another session. Eventually the AlephOne is not responding message window comes up and control is regained.
BGN works fine, I really like it (and that is the jugg I was talking about earlier, the one you can see from the final room).
The freezing occurs whether you scratch start or enter G4 from BGN.
Also if you go immediately to the arena after a scratch start, all these escape pods are blocking the way. Once, before it froze, I went back up by the lift, then back down again and they had changed to passable barrels or tubes.
I unzip into a folder and then put an AO in that folder and run it from there.