Do you believe that your eyes are deceiving you?

=(

Well, the trigger is the stock H3 one: http://images.wikia.com/halo/images/6/6e/FuelRodGun-scantransparent.png

Maybe I'll use the HR one, seems better to me.

@Echo77: The suggestions you pointed are doable, though I have to agree with R93_Sniper about the muzzle. I don't know why, but the H2/3 muzzle looks much better. The Needler one would look odd, and the Reach one is... meh (at least to me). Perhaps I could add something on the texture.

About the cowling, a turtle-like shell similiar to the Needler one could work, but I don't know if it should cover the lower parts (where there are the bolts, the circuits and the Covenant glyph) too.

About some displays, I have thought the same thing. I could add an holographic sight similiar to the one mounted on the Plasma Launcher.

And about the color, a lavander tint is doable, though I think it should be better to leave it different from the Needler color. Anyway, I'll make a test and post the result here, and you'll tell me if it is better or not.

For the technicals suggestions, like the size and the reflection of the needles that Greg079 suggested, there are no problems.

@xnx: Those needles detonate immediately on impact, I don't know if giving them a detonation delay could cause problems in terms of gameplay...

@50predator50: yes, the War Chieftain and the Stalker will be part of the tags that I'll release in my campaign mod

awesome to hear, but i was thinkin' green displays like the color in the h1 frg not blue like the plasma launcher. additionally maybe u could substitute a beefed up hr needle rifle barrel, if u match up the color palettes that is. lastly i think if u added a half second 'splosion delay, and upped the travel time, that would be best. (also i never really capitalize my name, but its fine)
Edited by greg079 on Oct 12, 2013 at 12:14 PM

Ok, I did some work on it:
first of all, I have added an holographic display, like greg079 suggested:



Then I have added the HR trigger. Moreover, I liked the Needle Rifle muzzle idea, so I turned the original muzzle into something similiar, though I have kept the upper purple piece, and the inner lights:



I have also enlarged the needles and added a glass shader on them (though you need to see the weapon in movement in order to notice the reflection...). And, finally, I made a test for the lavander tint color:



Note that this is just a Photoshop recolor, and not an in-game screenshot.

For the turtle shell, I have not decided yet to make it or not. If these changes are enough, I could leave the cowling untouched.

I have modified also the functionality of the bullet: now it travels faster, and has an explosion delay of 0.5 seconds.

Now it's looking a lot better and more of a unique weapon since you enlarged the needles and changed the shape some more. It looks great as is, but I'd support some well-thought-out changes.

awesome, simply awesome. only thing left is i didn't mean a little sight panel, i meant like the h1 frg heat meter and just lights n' junk, but now that i see it, i'd say i was wrong about the green. it contrasts against the blue and white lights and makes the gun less cohesive, my bad

Dick is a name so yeah.

Yes, Dick's Sporting Goods is a good example.

I don't think this is the good place to talk about bad words D: (What the...????)

@MEGAVKING: Destroyer50 is killer5000, not RangerDanger lol

@RangerDanger: I didn't ignore what you said, but I -for first- thought that the weapon needed something else. And don't forget that this weapon is designed taking inspiration from the concept art you found ;)

@greg079: No problem for the display color, turning it into a blue/azure tint is easy. As for some heat display, like the H1 one, that's not a bad idea, but -obviously- the meter should be attached to the ammo count, since there isn't a battery. Something like the ammo meter in the scope that the regular FRG has in H2/H3.

And which color do you think is best? Lavander, or the old one?

good to hear, and i liked the old one better (still wish it had a higher specularity, and a nice cubemap though)

Lavender!

I'm gonna agree with simon on this one and say Lavander.

Please return to the topic of the thread.

The majority wins, so... lavander approved. And same goes for the holographic ammo counter:





And don't worry about the cubemap, it is clearly noticeable in-game, if you move the weapon, but in the pictures you can't really distinguish it.

I have decided to work directly on the Spartan Laser, though. I don't have yet clear ideas about the Gravity Hammer, so I need more time.

@50predator50: the mod that I'm talking about is a revamp of the original campaign. It will include all the stuff I have shown here, and also something else. You can find the details in the 9th page and the 12th page for the details about the Covenant

Technically, by doing the weapon work, he already has begun work on the campaign. He also stated he was doing vehicles and enemies in the background. Since its a simple campaign mod, bsp isn't a worry of his.

As for OS, I think he said that he would avoid using it, but only because he doesn't want to bother learning the newer stuff. I could be wrong there so don't quote me there

What else are you working on?

That's partially true: I have not started any work on the campaign, but just on its tags. I'm also working on scripts in order to get something new (like the 3rd grenade method, or perhaps even vehicle boarding, if I get it work correctly). And about the BSP, I'm going to add an extra BSP in every short level, so they are a worry too.

About OS, as R93_Sniper said, I'm not going to use it. The reason is that OS creates some problems on my PC, and I also want to make my mod accessible to everyone.

No updates for the moment, guys, and I don't know when they will come out due to real life. Just be patient

Don't you think campaign revamps have been, er, tiresomely overdone? I mean we have CMT versions 1, 2, and 3, the halo 3 style revamp, etc. They're really just the same levels with (sometimes) prettier guns and bipeds, but the ai encounters usually go unchanged. Unless you heavily modify the encounters to add some variety I think all your hard work would be much better suited for a series of custom levels.

The last 5 sounds good! (c10, c20, c40, d20 and d40)

how are campaign mods overdone? the only complete campaign mods i can think of are cmt spv1 and the halo 3 revamped campaign by zigadirasu. As far as mods that don't cover the ENTIRE campaign go, you can add ASCM and the spv2 betas to the list I guess (even though most of spv2 beta levels arent even from cmt and are just efforts at replication) and a few random one level exclusive mods. In all honesty I think we have a LACK of campaign mod variety to choose from for CE. And given how time consuming and tiresome custom levels can be to create, especially by one person, a campaign mod would definitely be an efficient way for SOI to show off a wide variety his content without being pressured by an oversized workload for a one man mapping team.

Don't get me wrong, custom levels would be great, but not if it's just SOI working alone or with just a few people on that custom level. It would probably prove to be small and sub par to the amount of bang you'd get for your buck with a campaign mod.
Edited by Delicon20 on Oct 20, 2013 at 06:37 PM

They also happen to have the largest variety of characters (compared to the first 5 levels)
Edited by Dumb AI on Oct 20, 2013 at 07:49 PM

No idea how you're going to fit all this in without OS's extra tagspace features, or pulling off the boarding vehicle thing without OS, (I think teh_lag has already created vehicle boarding animations), the latest version of OS also allows you to have multiple grenades with ease, it's rather easy to use, you don't need to change much when using OS, you could leave most things alone and just use the features like the extra grenades and extra tagspace and just leave everything else be.

I worry though, that you're doing this massive project alone, remaking your own campaign, creating your own weapons, enemies, vehicles even, scripts too, most people on this Forum that have taken up large tasks on their own like this, are either never completed, or take years to finish.

About Campaign Revamp: I think they are a bit overdone, but I also think that doing a custom bsp would take way too long, why not merge MP bsps with campaign ones somehow? And then do some small custom bsps, or even use some of CMTs. Then you have old bsps, new bsps, and unused bsps for single player.
Edited by 50predator50 on Oct 21, 2013 at 02:59 AM

A Campaign Revamp would be best for him. Creating entirely custom maps with a campaign requires a lot of time and knowledge in scripting.

OS would be great! Really! I want to see some new types of grenades made by him and of course the other things such as better graphics, vehicle boarding, etc.

I haven't played Halo CE for months and I really can't wait to start playing it again with SOIs Campaign.

Maybe in the future I could make a custom campaign (dunno if real life could allow me to do that), but I have to agree with Delicon20 about the lack of good campaign mods. Except CMT, all the other campaign mods are just broken, incomplete or a simple tag replacement. Said that, I can't even compete with CMT, since, as you said, I'm a single person that works on this project. But I can guarantee that this mod won't be like the others: I'm trying my best to improve as many tags as possible, even the "useless" ones.

To answer to everyone (I'm too lazy to quote each person lol):

1) The mod will cover whole campaign. In each level I will add something new, so even the first ones will be fun to play

2) Tag space could be a problem, but if I'm not wrong, you can get extra space if you add more BSPs (that's how CMT added all those stuff in SPv2 without OS)

3) I was already going to use some MP BSPs for some levels. I'd prefer avoiding SPv2 extra BSPs in order to not copy their ideas, but of course, as I said before, the longer levels won't have more BSPs. For example, the Library is definitely too frustrating for enlarging it.
To be more precise, my intention is to add an extra BSP in:

-a10
-a30
-a50
-b30?
-b40?
-d20?
-d40

The choice for the "?" levels depends of the missions I'm going to add in that particular BSP. I'm not going to add a BSP in order to just make the level longer: in that BSP, there will be a different and unique mission, and even custom cinematics. In case I run out of ideas, we could discuss about how to make the level unique. Remember that the mod has not started yet, so you can give your help in order to get something unique, and not just a SOI Style Campaign.

4) Extra grenades are already available, though the method I used is a bit tricky. Anyway, you can use them as well as AIs can do it. The only thing is that the extra grenade is an "equipment" like the Bubble Shield.
Currently I have decided to add just an extra grenade, in particular they are:
-Frag grenade
-Plasma grenade
-Firebomb grenade

I didn't want to add the Spike grenade because it is basically a Plasma grenade that creates multiple bullets. On the other hand, the Frebomb grenade has a more unique functionality, and since it hasn't been used much in the H3 campaign, I wanted to put it in my mod.

5) Boarding is already possible: I didn't test it yet, but hobbet360 showed how to make it; and about the animations, in CMT SPv2 b30 there is a model_animations tag in which there are the boarding animations for each vehicle (Ghost back, Ghost front, Banshee and Wraith). I have just to compile them with the default cyborg animations, and the boarding will work perfectly.

6) I have also planned to add boost to the Covenant vehicles, but I don't know yet if it is a good idea. The reason is that I'd like to not use a damage_effect for it. Grunt_eater said that boost can be done using an overlay animation, but I have not tested it yet, and I don't know if he did the same. In case it won't work, I'll remove it.

7) AI encounters MUST be changed, or the mod will be boring. Said that, I'm not going to add Hunters and Brutes from the first level -it will create problems, and I'd like to add a Covenant race per level, like Bungie used to do-, but don't expect to find what you were used to, when you'll play the mod. Music change will also help, so the nostalgia will be completely destroyed (in a good way, though)

In conclusion, if you think that the mod will be boring, I'm open to suggestions in order to avoid this problem. For now, let's focus on the tags, and then we'll decide together how to organize them in the campaign. I trust in your help :)

The firebomb will be useful for area-denial tactics and for raging Elites.

im feeling heavily inclined to agree with dumb AI on that. Though i think hunters should be used sparsely through the campaign, as they're usually the beefier and more tactical enemies than the elites or grunts tend to be. Up to you, but a good blocking tactic with hunters seems to be a viable idea

I approve, and I'd also add that (since I have already tested it) firebomb grenades are even more dangerous than the regular ones, when AIs throw them, because if you are in an angle and a Brute throws a grenade on you, even if you dodge the explosion, the flames will block you in the angle, making you vulnerable.

And about the Hunters, don't forget that now there are also Brutes, Drones, Engineers and Drinols, so we have a larger variety of enemies to place in the campaign.

UPDATE:

I have worked on the Spartan Laser:



HOW IT IS MADE:

This Spartan Laser has a slightly modified barrel, that now has more space in the muzzle. A system of rails has been added, and the foregrip has a more comfortable shape. Other details like logos, bolts and a white tint complete the design:



The HR/H4 display is here again, but now it is behind the hatch:



PARTICLES:

Other than the fp-plane particles, I have used the Brute Plasma Pistol charging effect (thanks to CMT and RangerDanger for ripping it for me), while the firing effect is an energy twirl:





The HUD is still a placeholder, but I have managed to make a charging arrow like the H3 one:



It works greatly, but it won't turn red like the reticle, so I left it white.

SOUNDS:

Other than the H3 ones, the ready sound is the Reach one, and the firing sound is the H4 one.

I hope you liked it, tell me your impressions

The only thing that might have issues is the scope. Since the Spartan Laser is held atop your shoulder, having the optics mounted on top of the weapon doesn't seem like it would be particularly convenient.

maybe change the animation so it is tucked into the right armpit, but gripped with the left hand like usual?

I think the scope should be put on the side, like the optics on the Fuel Rod Cannon/Gun.

except hopefully less crappy

cept the h4 model for the spartan laser is actually just reach's model thrown into the game. So really, he's hating on Halo Reach.

PS, the side sight in h4/reach does look like utter crap though. What were you thinking Bungie? D:

PSPS, I know this is off topic, but I noticed your avatar quote is asking for a cats/dogs halo mod...you are aware that already exists right?


Edited by Delicon20 on Oct 24, 2013 at 09:37 PM