Deep Trouble Gold?

[John D.]

After listening to input from fans on my last mission Deep Trouble 2, I've been thinking. I have an outline of a new mission or two I've been playing around with, but I dont have any story together yet so I havent made any real progress with those beyond the outline of a few buildings. Several people have mentioned that there are crashing problems in certain areas of the 2nd level of Dt2. When I built the mission, I used many multibrushes and tore it apart and twisted it in various ways that I think have corrupted the .mis file. Unconnageo suggested a drastic but effective solution to correct various issues in the level, but I held off due to the delays it would have caused in it's initial release.

Since the level has otherwise been well received, what would everyone think of a revamped version? I would proably leave level 1 alone since nobody seems to be having any trouble with that one, but level 2 would likely need to be rebuilt from scratch (no multibrushes-NONE!) in order to insure the end product wouldnt have the same trouble the first did. This might also enable me to put in some stuff I wanted to include but couldnt. Perhaps I could incorporate Deep Trouble 1 also to make it a whole package (with some tweaks-OttoJ has made some cool mechanics with anim8or).

It's just an idea, I'm not sure I would want to go though it all-but my old dream of making a Mech level that is a match for Hidden Agenda seems to come close to success, I dont feel like stuggling to come up with a new story/FM right now when I have something good that could be polished more. What does everyone think? Would you like Deep Trouble Gold?

[Peter Smith]

Yes. I really enjoyed the existing DT2. If embellished and cleaned up, it would be better, I am sure. I would also go for including DT1 in a two mission package. That was a good one, too.

I can suggest one change to DT2. Make it possible to swim outside from the long pool to the small submarine garage without taking damage, and put more stuff to explore out there under water, maybe some hilly terrain, a cave or two, and some fish. That area has potential, but it is a wasteland now.

Give me a jingle for testing it.

[Huntress]

I like the sounds of Peter's suggies...I haven't been all through it yet as you might have seen in my previous post John D. but it seems like that would make it an even better game...more stuff, places to explore etc. Yea go for it if you want to do that is my vote Ta and Good Hunting!

[John D.]

Okay, I'm toying around with Dromed, rebuilding pt 2 from scratch. I'm taking it slow right now, just rebuilding the original areas (with adjustments here and there that will hopefully avoid overloads )
Any more suggestions on what you would like see in an updated version?
For that level and the rest in the DT series?

[John D.]

A discovery, I just got that old 'reverse poly error' in the temple corridor follwed by a crash-and I've only just begun! I think I have figured what was causing the problem-I had several supersized Targa columns in that area and they seemed to be causing the crashes, perhaps due to their complexity. Now I've removed those and replaced them with some of Sluggs pillars I borrowed from one of his demos. They are simpler looking but the crashes have vanished!

[Huntress]

Well that certainly sounds like a good beginning How about some moss arrows? Since there's so much running around and some very noisy floors and so many enemies (Part 2) and how about a few gas arrows for those special occasions for those characters you can't BJ (like in the Control Room?)? I'm not a super sneaker so a little help ILO reloads would be nice Thanks John D. for your efforts to make a great game even better! Ta and Good Hunting!

[ShadowWolf421]

Heya John!! Deep Trouble Gold? That sounds right up my alley

[John D.]

I havent done much so far, but I have rearranged a few things to make them look nicer.

[John D.]

Here's the Grand Temple Rebuilt, I'm keeping it pretty much the same but I've used some objects on the outside rather than solid brushes to try to make a slight reduction in polys.

[ShadowWolf421]

awesome!

[moghedian]

Looks great Keep up the good work !

[John D.]

Here's another shot of the chapel rebuilt, I may get a 2nd job soon so my Dromed time could be cut down, but I'm still making a little progress at a time.

[John D.]

Another question, if I'm insane enough to do it and time permits-would a rebuild of pt1 and the 1st half of DT2 sound good or should they remain the way they are?

[Huntress]

John D. have you gone mad????? IMHO I thought your other parts were just right and played fine...however it's your baby and your time so do with it as you will Ta and Good Hunting!

ps: Modifications look real sweet so far!

[John D.]

John D. have you gone mad????? IMHO I thought your other parts were just right and played fine...however it's your baby and your time so do with it as you will

Ok, I'll leave the other existing levels alone (with some minor cosmetic upgrades-I cant get animor to work to save my life, but lots of people are creating some very useful objects with it.).
I'm taking Christmas off, but I'll get back to work soon.

[John D.]

Dont have as much time now that I have some extra work, but I have gotten a little bit done in some of the main areas.

[Huntress]

Glad you found some extra work...I'm sure that's very helpful, as in eating/rent heh, heh! Take whatever time you need John D. as we have all the time in the world to wait for it to be finished Ta and Good Hunting!

[John D.]

Just been working on the subsection a little bit right now, slow going but it will look a lot better than the original. Not long ago I was drawing on a piece of paper one night at work on my lunch break, just a goofy sketch but it shows what Mother might look like in a more mobile land-based form. (Sadly impossible to make in the Dark Engine).

Pretty mean isnt it? Lucky for Garrett I cant make ai!

Now a cry for help....I just heard from a talented friend that a whole set of artwork she was preparing for me had went up in smoke due to technical troubles with her computer, and now she's too tied up in other stuff to be able to redo them. Do we have any master artists in the house? I was wanting to make some Mechanist posters, something akin to ww2 propaganda posters in order to add to the decoration and atmosphere in the level.

[John D.]

Well my part time position was just temporary so I have some of my spare time back. I've got a little bit of work done, plus I had the luck of securing a copy of Photoshop 8. It's insanely powerful and I'm only beginning to discover what I can do with it. A little example here shows the new banner I was able to create from a scanned logo.

[John D.]

New update, I've created an alpha file to test how things are going with the rebuilding in part 2. Apparently there are some conflicts of some sort with Dt1-it and the first part of pt 2 work fine but the last level crashes at startup. With pt1 cut out it works just fine, so this will probably end up as Deep Trouble 2 version 2 with Dt1 left out. Not really a big disappointment since this will help me keep the final version down in size (I've added new graphics, textures etc and plan on adding more).

Edit: I seem to be still having problems, if any authors have any ideas what's going wrong the thread is at http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=48967

Edit: thanks to R Soul I've discovered it has to do with the number of custom pallettes I've used, I'll have to shrink and reorganize but it's fixable-WHEW!