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Devlog January Round-Up; Internal Situation for 2017

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by Geti, Jan 20, 2017.

  1. Geti

    Geti Please avoid PMing me (poke a mod instead) THD Team Administrator Global Moderator

    Messages:
    3,730
    Hey Folks,

    Been a bit of a slow month as everyone gets back into the swing of things. No build just yet - that'll probably come in a fortnight to welcome in February. Here's our planned course and an update on the current internal situation:
    • We're aiming to get the official modded server out ASAP - the actual number of mods on it might be minimal to start with but we'll work on improving it once it's up based on your feedback :) The plan is for the server to have a list of mod configurations that it will cycle through, changing each day. For all compatible (kag-like) configurations, we'll include the Player Heads mod so people can have custom heads.
    • There'll be 3 new TDM maps in the next build, since the TDM lineup gets stale pretty fast. They make minor use of mechanisms for timing and area control. A few TDM maps that had bugs where the mechanisms would collapse have been fixed too. The cauldron map has been tweaked so you can't dig into the water, and uses mechanisms for timing. You can see a few of them on twitter.
    • Cameron has been looking for the cause of issues introduced by the new APIClient, with mixed success. There's been no huge breakthrough though, which is why we're not rushing a new build out immediately.
    • This has been a hard few months for THD internally - money has been tighter than usual. On the KAG-Team side, this means:
      • I (Geti) won't be around full-time because the money just isn't there to cover my full-time attention. The current plan is to do one week on KAG, one week off.
      • Lucas (Furai) may be around a little less community-wise for similar reasons, but should still be on support as often as usual. I'm not aware of any concrete schedule changes though.
      • MM might be around a little more this year as he's anxious to help keep the game afloat - this might mean the more hairy parts of the engine get the attention they've been needing. He's also tossed around the idea of small paid content packs and head packs, so we'll see what happens.
      • We're not looking at taking any new interns because we cannot afford to pay them :( I figure putting this somewhere public might help avoid more awkward emails this month for folks looking for industry experience.
    • The Butcher Team are still working on the level editor release, there's a public beta available here and support available here. They're feeling worn out from release so be sure to give the editor a look and send them some blood-stained love!
    • Community-side:
      • The Oceania Open tournament is underway and getting good coverage. There's vods of each match over here.
      • Mcrifel has opened the thread for MLK 3 - quite the ambitious tournament, good hosts on board and more or less guaranteed to be a good time!
      • Monkey_Feats posted his work in progress Map Maker Mode, a "proper" map editor with a gui and helpful superpowers for making and testing maps.
    That's more or less it. Please let me know what you think of these round-up posts keeping you in the loop; is it worth doing them?

    As always, have fun!
    Max
     
  2. makmoud98

    makmoud98 You are already DEAD Forum Moderator Staff Alumni Tester

    Messages:
    586
    will have the playerheads mod ready and the website back up and running either tomorrow or saturday
     
    Biurza, Noburu, Magmus and 4 others like this.
  3. epsilon

    epsilon Assonist THD Team Forum Moderator Donator Tester
    1. Gather Oceania
    2. KAG World Cup 2018

    Messages:
    506
    What does he mean by 'content packs'? I hope it won't be some sort of 'pay-to-win' thing.
    I don't mind the idea of head packs since it's only cosmetic.
     
    PUNK123 likes this.
  4. Geti

    Geti Please avoid PMing me (poke a mod instead) THD Team Administrator Global Moderator

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    3,730
    Tomorrow is Saturday for me, but I get what you mean ;) no rush, as I've mentioned elsewhere next week is "off" THD stuff for me, so that'd depend on Furai.

    Folks have been scared we're going to go pay2win since classic got gold accounts :) We won't, don't worry. The plan was something like "expansion packs" but I honestly can't see how that'd work with servers just being able to host anything we make using the normal systems as a mod. I think it's honestly something he hasn't thought through too much :) The main thing suggested was a first-party Zombies mode.
     
    makmoud98 and epsilon like this.
  5. franek123

    franek123 The architect of the royal castle. Donator Tester

    Messages:
    514
    Just make golden weapons by changing colours make them 20$ for each class and some rich ppl will buy it for sure. Ez money.

    Edit 1: Seriously tho. I don't think making some customisable cosmetics is that much work. With your experience it would take you no more than 2 days to make knight skin with different shield or builder with diffrent pickaxe and it would be perfect way to keep some group of players play the game (so its alive) and also make money so can work on it not for free.

    Edit 2: since we will be having official modded servers can't we have official skins pack made by comunity? We have lots of experienced artists in KAG community. I'm sure they would like to cooperate. I know you may be sceptical about using community work to gain money but if that's what people would want, why not do it?
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2017
  6. mcrifel

    mcrifel Haxor Staff Alumni Tester
    1. MIST

    Messages:
    582
    I'd totally pay for any content or head packs. I think that is a great idea!
     
    Eluded likes this.
  7. 8x

    8x Elimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité Forum Moderator Staff Alumni Tester
    1. The Young Blood Collective - [YB]

    Messages:
    1,325
    Geti tweaking TDM maps, that's awesome this far in development :D :D
     
    Biurza, Eluded and epsilon like this.
  8. SirDangalang

    SirDangalang Lvl. 128 MissingNo. Donator

    Messages:
    235
    Sorry to hear about the financial struggles, working at a company with simular issues I know it can be rough ::(:

    But hey potential kag DLC? Shut up and take my money!!! ::P::heart:
     
    FuzzyBlueBaron and Geti like this.
  9. Eluded

    Eluded Haxor Official Server Admin

    Messages:
    132
    @Geti could the new TDM maps possibly be vetted by some TDM players before they are released? @Cohen @Guardian_of_Irael @AJFaas @AndZH
    I would be happy to do this and maybe some of the people I tagged would too (or others).

    Also there's a really annoying trampoline bug in the map "kodysch_Upshoot". Basically the top left trampoline glitches out and starts bouncing on the top right trampoline, making it hard to move around the map. I can send a screenshot if needed but it happens 100% of the time so it's definitely reproducible. Can that be fixed?
     
  10. FoxyLady

    FoxyLady Haxor Staff Alumni

    Messages:
    193
    Maybe for new content you guys could add new classes that are balanced and can only be unlocked through dlc. Different clothing sprites for existing classes could be a thing as well. I'm looking forward to new heads as well.
     
  11. franek123

    franek123 The architect of the royal castle. Donator Tester

    Messages:
    514
    Pls no
     
  12. Nicuwins

    Nicuwins Bison Rider

    Messages:
    63
    No. New classes and this shit are bad for the game. Im not against DLCs but they shouldnt take a big part of the game. Head DLCs are okay and really cool and i would buy these DLCs.
     
  13. Noburu

    Noburu Dirty, DRUNK, Hillbilly Forum Moderator Donator Tester

    Messages:
    1,809
    I dont play kag anymore (for years now), but ill still buy some content packs to throw you guys some money. KAG was some of the best gaming experiences I ever had and I have made some good friends through KAG. ACTION CLAN FOR LIFE!!!
     
    FuzzyBlueBaron, Gurin, Yagger and 3 others like this.
  14. platy1knight

    platy1knight Haxor Tester

    Messages:
    143
    I fully support this idea , and willing to pay to this game since its ''the test of time game'' for me:thumbs_up:
     
  15. Geti

    Geti Please avoid PMing me (poke a mod instead) THD Team Administrator Global Moderator

    Messages:
    3,730
    Definitely agree about the cosmetic side of stuff being the way to go rather than splitting up the player base with dlcs. We saw how that went with gold servers in classic even if there was a simple technical way to do it.

    About using community content for it - nah. On the modded server maybe but I'm not planning on selling access to modded content. It'd be proper quality assets ;) I think if we go that route we'll try heads first, if folks like those then we'll look at different skins for each class.

    About the tdm maps - sure, I'll upload them here next week and you can give me your opinions. I've tried to keep them as hassle free as possible. There's only one gimmick map and the gimmick is that it slowly floods towards the middle "forced combat" area, which is simple to understand and doesn't facilitate camping or locking yourself in somewhere stupid.

    I've fixed a few "bugs" with the 1st party maps but haven't touched the community ones, could be a good idea. I was just going to remove that map with all the tramps since the whole idea of that map hinges on old trampoline mechanics, but maybe it can be salvaged some way.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2017
  16. Vamist

    Vamist THD Team THD Team Tester

    Messages:
    544
    You know what I would pay for

    The single player campaign that was said to come out sometime after mechanics where introduced (Which when done would give you hats :L)
    Like so, I don't mind paying for custom heads, weapons/shields in game, As long as they look good, then its fine.
     
    bru-jaz, epsilon and Biurza like this.
  17. 8x

    8x Elimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité Forum Moderator Staff Alumni Tester
    1. The Young Blood Collective - [YB]

    Messages:
    1,325
    My sprites for The Waste Kind were cool, even with custom emots::(:
    Also, an annoying question that whose answer I don't know despite being a tester: what happened to that single player campaign? where did the work Skinney did lead to?
     
  18. Geti

    Geti Please avoid PMing me (poke a mod instead) THD Team Administrator Global Moderator

    Messages:
    3,730
    Real life stuff came up for Skinney, who was the one working on single player stuff. I think the scope got a bit "real" as well - KAG isn't a game that's fun to write AI for due to the messy, changing terrain and the timing-based combat. Builder AI even less fun to think about. Couple that with having to write a story, make a bunch of maps, figure out UI for it, balance and iterate on that... It's not trivial work, and it's not necessarily replayable like anything multiplayer is.

    Also "said to come out" is the line people still use for zombies and the overworld. Folks holding every idea we vocalise as a hand-on-heart promise of delivery is why we try to talk less about ideas these days, fwiw. I'm trying to be open here, don't make me regret it :)
     
  19. JackMcDaniels

    JackMcDaniels Haxor

    Messages:
    190
    :right:KAG 2 with overworld, new classes, bosses and survival features like protecting your base against enemies (but no hunger mechanics) etc:left:

    Or a new game that is essentially KAG 2 with a different name with all of the above :up:

    Getting a bit carried away :rollseyes: also not sure how cosmetics would work as player heads are already customizable and for free so it doesn't leave a whole lot to work with, plus decreased uniformity might make the game feel a little confusing as every player on both team's would look a bit different but i could be wrong about that since that isn't the case for heads.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2017
  20. BarsukEughen555

    BarsukEughen555 Ballista Bolt Thrower

    Messages:
    434
    when is the russian skinpack coming out?
    i wanted to throw molotovs instead of firearrows, fight with vodka bottle and build with glass shards instead of stone
     
    Geti and Eluded like this.