Off Topic Productions

Thought I'd revive this thread. I think some sort of a checklist is in order, so we can tick things off and see progress (that's always motivating). It also helps to know *exactly* what needs to be done.

This just popped into my head as I was getting ready for bed, so I'm not going to make the checklist right now, but I thought I'd post the bump, anyway.

Original post edited: How to finish A2 in 8 easy (read: NOT) steps!

Jonas and I decided that we should stop wasting our time, sitting on our hands and waiting for the last two maps to be completed.

Therefore, we're just going to go ahead and start compiling Alpha 2. We're going to temporarily replace the New Server Complex and Old Server Complex with simple buttons that, when pressed, act as if you've actually completed the level.

This will allow us to get a ton of work done and just plug the NSC an OSC in when they are finished.

A truly excellent idea.

Jonas, my online time hasn't coincided with you for a bit, I should be around tomorrow night, and then from about 6pm your time on Sunday. But if you want to update my ToDo list I can get things done while you're offline. I would have started cleaning maps and such, but I just want to make sure you haven't already done it.

I haven't, I'll add it to your to-do list. I appreciate the help

What has changed since the last alpha. Could we get a new alpha out so we have everything up to date for the odd bit of testing?

Yeah, I'll probably whip one up after the 15th (my last hard exam), just so we have something newer to work with.

I'll have 3 days off plus 2 days weekend around my birthday on the 16th, so I expect to cram in some TNM work then. We can update the alpha afterwards.

sounds good. Hopefully I'll have a replacement hard drive by then.

Here's the to-do list for tomorrow's Alpha 1.5.0 release in order of required effort / severity:

1. Set up Goat City and the Goat Templae? with enemies and objectives.
2. Eliminate all TODO's from the mission scripts for M20 and M21.
3. Link up DXI and the Slums with a cinematic.
4. Make the ATM in the Downtown district disabled in the beginning.
5. Give everything a run-through to see if it works.
6. Make the subway ticket use the right models and skins.

Colour Code:

Jonas
Shane
Trestkon

Okay guys. It's time to start putting together mission 22.

This scares me a bit.

Why? Because as soon as we copy over the maps from M20, we'll need to fix every geometrical error twice. And that means rebuilding the map twice. The thought of that freaks me out a little, but it's not the end of the world.

Still, I'd like to be as pre-emptive as possible. So... I need you guys to help me do quality checks of each map in M22. This will take a while, so let's start right away.

Chris (ZP) is already recreating the lobby in the WorldCorp HQ to get rid of some inefficient brushwork and an annoyingly persistent BSP error. There are 5 BSP errors reported in the BugTracker including that one, the other four are in WC level 2 (which actually won't be in M22), the WC Sublevel, the corporate district sewers, and the last one is about DXI, which isn't a part of M20, and so irrelevant to this post. While ZP fixes all of those, I propose we check the levels in this order:

20_FCSlums
20_VoodooShop
20_FCCorporate
20_PDXHQ01
20_PDXHQ02
20_WeaponShop
20_WCFloor4
20_FCDowntown (man, this is gonna be a bitch)
20_LlamaTemple
20_GoatCity
20_GoatTemplae
20_DXO

And then, assuming ZP has finished them in the mean time:
20_WCFloor1
20_WCSublevel
20_FCCorpSewers

The good thing about testing this is that triggers, NPC's, items, and in some cases decoration, can be completely ignored. What's important is that every nook and cranny of each map is examined for BSP errors and other problems. BSP holes isn't the only thing I want to handle here, lighting is also important. For example, I just went over the slums and placed some ambient lighting to get rid of the pitch black surfaces.

As each level gets approved, I will copy them over to M22 and set them up as necessary. That'll be the fun part. Testing will be boring. That's why I need the help of you guys.

http://tnm.offtopicproductions.com/team ... _06_06.rar

Excellent. It so happens that I have tomorrow off, so I'll be able to go through some stuff.

Jonas, I went through 20_FCSlums and I had a couple places that I saw were too dark:

- From where you spawn, if you head west past the gate, the strip of land at the top of the hill and before the second firewall-controlled gate is very dark, might benefit from a flickering stree lamp

- At the Helicopter Facility, the alleys to the left and right of the buildings are dark

- From Glottis, the weapons dealer > head South > head East > at the "T" intersection, the left "arm" of the alley is too dark (unless there was going to be some sort of secret entrance hiddent there)

That's all I could find right now, although I did find a quirk when the patrol bot you first see in the garage area walked along the top of the wall surrounding the area:

Master_Kale wrote:That's all I could find right now, although I did find a quirk when the patrol bot you first see in the garage area walked along the top of the wall surrounding the area

That is by far the most interesting bug in a while. Pray tell: Did it spot you? Is it pissed at you or is it still just trying to patrol?