Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:35 am Post subject:
How long did this mod took completely to be finished?
Subject description: Wonder how long?
I'd like to ask Bittah-san about this. How many days and nights took you to finish the Dawn of Tiberium Age? Were there any hex edits involved or something? To be honest, I started to ask this question by myself when I started downloading this mod. QUICK_EDIT
I allow myself to answer too
This mod started afaik more than 8 years ago. Read this.
DTA is not yet finish enhanced mode still needs balancing and there are many great new features in progress for the next update.
many hex edits where done:
-32 facing SHP support
-different filenames (those which the game reads by default like mix, pal etc)
-waveclass error bugfix
-log file support
-back buffer in video memory (still continuously done by the launcher)
-new colors and names for multiplayer
-not glowing tiberium (in TS, tiberium is rendered with normal lighting even on dark maps, but not in DTA)
to name a few
damn. So I guess this really is a hard modding I bet if I were to do this in RA2 it will cause a big explosion in my head =))). Anyways, what does back buffer in video memory do? Fix the scroll speed? QUICK_EDIT
It's this hexfix It speeds up the game in general (for most systems).
Modding is no one day job. Especially not when it comes to a total conversion. That's why there are almost no finished total conversions done yet. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
Although I worked on a version which I ended up scrapping, I started over in 2006 and it took me somewhere over a year to release version 1.0 of DTA and then another half a year to get to version 1.08, which was the first version I'd really consider "stable".
So if you ignore the work I did before I started over, it took about 2 years to get to version 1.08, which still used buildings for terrain and also didn't have Enhanced mode yet.
If you were actually considering making DTA (or whatever you'd call it) for RA2, I doubt you could make it look right if you'd use the original graphics from TD and RA1 however.
RA2's cell size is far bigger than TS', meaning that buildings and units would look far too small if they'd use the original graphics and the terrain would turn out looking pixelerated or blurry if you'd convert it directly from TD. So this means that all graphics would have to be made from scratch and even if you have the skills to do that, you'd most likely still end up spending over more time to get it done than I have (creating your own buildings takes far longer than converting them after all).
One of the reasons why I decided to work on a project like DTA in the first place is because I have no 3D-modelling skills after all and by reusing the original graphics from TD and RA1 I'd be able to do most of the work myself and this is why I was able to get by without having required a "real" staff until started working on DTA 1.11; before the work on DTA 1.11 the staff I had were mainly people who had access to DTA's staff forum and who would occasionally do me some favors, as you can tell from the somewhat short lists of contributors in the change log until version 1.10.
Had I picked a project where I'd have had to rely on others to get anything done, the project would most likely have stranded even before the first release. Without having a high reputation or anything of high quality to show off first, competent modders generally won't just join your staff after all (since it would most likely be a waste of their time) and it took about 4 years to even acquire the staff DTA has now.
Gangster surely could pull off a RA2 to RA1 (and/or TD) total conversion and when that happens, DTA will probably die a miserable death
That aside I doubt DTA will ever truly be "finished" (polished, yes, but not finished), considering we always keep finding things to add or improve... I wonder if I'll still be working on this when I'm 60 xD _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Bittah at 60: DECADES AFTER DECADES! I've finally finished DTA! I can't wait to release it! *releases it* Ah everything's great..ah damn it I forgot to fix the range of SSM now everyone's gonna rant about it. One of these days. ONE OF THESE DAYS.
Lol so ontopic, never realized DTA was that old. At least 5 years old obviously since I've seen posts from 2007 about it. So we already have RA2 - RA1 TCs (It Came From Red Alert) but we're talking something like DTA that takes it exactly back to how it was.
I'd be amazed to see if someone could turn RA2 or TS into RA1 and take as far as DTA has gone (special lighting, theaters, enhanced mode, custom campaigns) _________________ Tiberium Uprising (a few missions for TS): http://www.ppmsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31029 QUICK_EDIT
In my personal opinion, DTA became truly enjoyable as a mod with 1.11. In versions before it multiplayer with/against other human players surely was great, but the singleplayer aspect was completely missing with there being no campaigns and the AI sucking In addition, while the classic mode (and versions earlier than 1.10) were balanced similarly to TD, 1.10's Enhanced Mode was horribly unbalanced. With 1.11 the quality of the mod has really skyrocketed IMO, with there being dozens more maps, a singleplayer campaign, a real, polished Enhanced Mode, the Comp Stomp mode, and the Launcher with integrated CnCNet support making it all more user-friendly, among other serious improvements.
I personally modded the previous versions by replacing the AI with my own, which made it lots of fun even in skirmish though. That same AI was opened to the public with 1.11. Overally, I've spent hundreds of hours with coding the AI, programming the Launcher and making both multiplayer and singleplayer maps/missions for DTA. _________________ CnCNet Client | CnCNet TS patches | More Quality-of-Life Improvements for RA Remastered
Last edited by ^Rampastein on Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:47 pm; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
After our recent conversation I actually was considering of creating an art pack for TDA or a mod based on TDA.
I am still not able to progress RAII, so I was thinking of getting rid of classic square-based artwork (which I can't mimic anyway) and replace stuff with isometric and TS-sized ones. _________________ Gangster is a Project Perfect Wuj (c)Aro QUICK_EDIT
I'd surely like to see that (especially if those graphics could work in combination with some of the existing terrain, such as the shores, rivers, trees, etc.) and if DTA's players won't be against it, I could probably make it into the mod's normal graphics instead of leaving it as a mod for DTA.
I find it a lot easier to work with graphics that have an isometric perspective than graphics that have TD's odd perspective as well; I don't have a clue how to design a tunnel that goes under cliffs with the current perspective for example. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Tunnels are actually pretty easy and can be done even now with a bit copy paste in FinalSun. Of course a few bits still show the bridge part, but when done with photoshop, the parts can be blended much better together.
So you have the artificial concrete entrance/exit, which has cliffs above and to the side of it.
Isn't the preview showing the way to go? Just blend the upper cliff better with the concrete and you're done.
You could also give the concrete an overhanging roof, which is then not only visible on all facings, but also serves to hide the tunnel entering unit below it (like the TS tunnel entrances which used an animation on a high render layer to hide entering units). _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
I guess I could give that a try some time.
Truthfully even the bridge is mixing TS' (45°) perspective with TD's (35°) however... _________________ QUICK_EDIT
you mean TS' 30° and TD's 38-45°. TD wasn't consistent and with the more steeper angle. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
TS definitely has 30°, not 45
TD as i said has many different angles. I guess WW just wanted to make it look good, not realistic. The warfactory and repairbay also have different camera angles. As shown on my quick render of the TD to TS transition.
. This is using around 45° (not sure, can't look at the file) in the beginning and 30° in the end. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
magic
-start 3dsmax
-make an approximate correct camera and light setup to match TD
-create a 3dmodel which comes as close as possible to the silhouette of the building
-adjust camera angle and 3dmodel several times to get the render silhouette match perfect the TD image silhouette (round areas of the cylinders and the boxes give great reference points for camera angle and 3dmodel position/shape etc)
-then use the TD image and project it as texture on the 3dmodel from the cameras view. This way the 3dmodel looks exactly like the TD one.
-then add a TS camera and lighting
-create an animation from the TD camera to the TS camera
-render the animation
here's an untextured one showing the model and the lighting
TD lighting
the lighting that you need, when you mirror the factory, so the exit is working in TS
btw, the darker frame in the end of the animation is the TS lighting for the mirrored warfactory. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
i'd never even used or heard of project texture by camera/view in 3dsmax before
edit:just seen images of models, nice
edit2: So is this a modifier and does the projected map give u a UVW map you can edit? (or more likely is it an option available through one of the already existing modifiers?) _________________ QUICK_EDIT
oh god, you ask questions. It's 2 years ago when i made this
Well it's actually quite simple
-select the whole model
-apply the texture on the model (a simple material with the texture in the diffuse map and 100% self-illumination, so there is no additional lighting added; the texture has already lighting)
-change view to the TD camera
-select UVW map modifier and set "Align to View" (named something like this IIRC; haven't access to 3dsmax for 8 months due to PC problems). Since you look through the camera the model perspective is matching the perspective of the texture.
-then move and scale the map canvas so the image silhouette fits perfect with the model
now you can leave the camera view and have the model textured with some kind of projection map technique. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
That's exactly why releasing this mod with just classic mode was my aim when I was still (mostly) working alone.
Even though DTA 1.10's enhanced mode was far from perfect, it still required a reasonable amount of "outsourcing" to get it done (I couldn't have made any of the new units myself for example), as you can tell by the highly increased amount of contributors compared to previous versions in the change log. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
I don't understand your question 1.11 (or more specifically 1.1122) is DTA's latest public version, so yeah... It "has" it, if that's what you meant :/ _________________ QUICK_EDIT
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How long did this mod took completely to be finished?
enhanced mode still needs balancing and there are many great new features in progress for the next update. 
. This is using around 45° 
TD lighting
the lighting that you need, when you mirror the factory, so the exit is working in TS
((
1.11 (or more specifically 1.1122) is DTA's latest public version, so yeah... It "has" it, if that's what you meant :/
