Battlezone Forums

Hello -

While I'm sure many of you experiment with Fraps, Dxtory* - working screen recording software's (MSI's Predator* seems to have gamma issues w/ BZII on my machine) -- I'm looking to collect the best moments to produce a quality press push for BZONE.

About me - I remember circling Europa on a 56k Modem at a 28.8k connection against only a handful that was left on servers bought out by Sega during the launch of the Dreamcast -- this is very real, BZONE online play died with those servers, and I was far too young to remember their name. (gah, drawing a blank, throw me a bone) I remember playing the demo for Battlezone II - being completely awed - and *poof* life moved on. Since DaGamerFromHell became Psyringe.

Several years back when the opportunity presented itself - I snagged Battlezone II in a package with Heavy Gear II & the god awful Dark Reign 2. Played BZII for some time (before public beta releases) but the game never lived up. Down the line, FE hits modding communities pretty hard, BZII hits some press when compared to games like Savage, KUF in some cases, (or maybe that was me looking for it) - I convince some local Gaming Centers to pick the game up, but players were not engaged - learning curve I imagine - lack of variety maybe - ease of play compared to games like Battlefield (2142 at the time).

SO last week, I was preparing a list of games - a series I'm working into an online magazine, all a decade or older, videos about oldschool videogames. BZII gets installed, I download the latest patch as usual preparing the tools - and I would like to say that the Battlezone II v1.3.6.3 Public Beta blew my goddamned mind (I'm sure many features implemented beforehand since my last play). Non-the-less, good f*cking job.

I played a couple of games, not understanding the variants very well. I played the Greenheart variant against a bot for over 10 hours experimenting with base builds, and understood that you guys are doing proper work. I'm snagging the BZ1 mod next - excited for the adaptation and the 5 AI opponents at once - the nostalgia. At first, with the way it's portrayed, the EPIC mod seemed as only a graphic upgrade -- it took a longer search to actually find out that it adds *alot* more, and I think that features of mods should be marked in the "Big List Of Mods", even if just a handful, this might help flow players back into your network. I literally looked into EPIC as a graphic upgrade days later for video features, I would have downloaded it get-go had I known it possessed more. This Forum is the hottest place for Battlezone at the moment, it's dominating the SEO. ...scaring users away with fixes...?

I'm a video editor in the Live Music Scene, Dubstep primarily (skrillex, excision, flux p, insomniac, triad dragons, etc.), expanding to Video Games & Short Films, special effects my specialty. I'm already approaching an oldschool revival video(s) for this as is, anything you guys want to feed me regardless would be fantastic. I wont have enough time to get great coverage of all mods, only the most popular, updated, compatible, and functional. Any help you guys can provide, informational or media wise would be fantastic - credited how you choose if used - I've already collected almost 100 gigs of HD gameplay coverage. I'm a 3D modeler & animator as well, should the idea for graphics implementation from that angle come into play. (C4D, Maya, Blender)

Oh,
http://www.incisionmagazine.com
http://www.incisionmedia.com

I'll participate on the forums during my coverage of this game, I plan to sequential release with other titles, so we have time as the project evolves.
Pleasure.
-Psy

** LATEST UPDATES **
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While in the process of collecting footage of the game - specific appealing mechanics & camera pans for audiences to enjoy over a narrative - I got in touch with General Black Dragon. We have a very special idea in the works, a potential Total Conversion Mod called "Storm Attack" for Battlezone II: Combat Commander - updated to the Latest Community Beta.

OF COURSE! There's still a video showcasing the game & all mods for it still on the way, including some of your support, but I made a slight detour and discovered a pipeline to port a higher res game into a nearly dead engine. Imagery should provide more insight later. Some more difficult tricks of the mod engine/coding will greatly appreciate community support!

Just a few videos of Bz2 I've made:

http://youtu.be/HiZh4INgP8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8zqUhdgmSM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33pODPxytHM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOxhLu8d4CM

and -- since you had said you loved BZ2 and were a 3d modeller/animator

Just thought I'd post this here (And no, those are NOT BZC units)

Thanks! I'll look into all the video media you have provided! If you could provide an email as well for contact on usage that would be fantastic!

I have basic videos of base building if you want those too. All I care about is credit where credit is due.

Credit is No Issue what-so-ever. I'd be down to go as far as linking to other videos or channels on the video itself if the contributions are large, gamertag/name/email (preferred) credit at the very least on any usage. I'm very excited with all the contributions sent my way so far - keep in mind it will take time as there is more to the project at hand - but I will review all material sent my way. I will post an update soon on my *fix post with more details as to how to approach crediting and any other issues that arise that need to be consolidated.

As for the 3D work mentioned in the first post - I was primarily speaking of indi work. High definition versions that could be animated into a custom piece of work - not so much the in-game models which are very low poly. An HD Saber, for instance, could be invaluable.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1767

Also, if you want to check something story-related for the videos that you're not sure on, consult the site in my signature. It's not complete at the moment but it hopefully will be soon. Perhaps somebody else will start making edits soon...

I have the model they used for the promo art somewhere, but I think it might be a smidge mangled.

You want to talk to Nostromo to find anything that looks like the stock game but is render quality.

What sort of Gamma issues are you getting?
And god I wish I had a Dxtory.

There is one big thing about BZ2 which is probably why it still has players and modders. There has never been a true FPS/RTS hybrid since.

I can give you a lot of information of modding that has gone on in the past if you are interested. I am working with a small team on a big BZ2 mod right now, but its going a bit slow.

CP2 <- This mod started as a big movement with the entire community but it died pretty quickly due to basic squabbling, it was restarted several times and now is being worked on with a core team of AHadley, Jayden, and myself.

It is far to late for me to be awake right now, oh dear, so I will have to actually engage in proper discussion after work and other duties.

Suddenly I want to see BZMag going again.

While the video will still be produced & released, I have gotten involved with the modding, more in private to understand the do's and dont's / can's/cant's. General Black Dragon & I will be porting a popular strategy game into the BZII Game engine (porting similar to BZC), but from a higher polycount. I estimate a closed beta at 2 months, and a first look within weeks. Please let me know if you would like to be involved. Thanks!

Well that's a heck of a way to start modding.

What are you porting, if I might ask?

I will take my hat off (and might even eat it) to you, sir, if you can do such thing in a good way in that timeframe.

I've got experience in modding - I actually started out in Strategy mods, scripting maps etc on Dark Reign 1 and similar, even created a few of my own BZ1 maps. I hopped around a bit, tinkered in renegade, jedi knight, a few other games but nothing too serious. Then I moved to the delightful world of XBOX 1 modding - where I did some halo modifications and custom map types, but inspired by CE, not a creator for. I had an xbox with a modchip, which I then could clone to non-modded xboxes for game testing. Then I stopped modding for a bit, especially when Dota & Battlefield 2142 came around.

But if I told you just how spectacular our mod port is, it would ruin all the fun, especially since today I confirmed two different methods of importing models (the vertex way, and the pain in the ass assigning animations to the tip of bones way as a backup way hooray). I couldn't be sure, the game is considerably different and I needed viable solution before I spent too much time converting incorrectly. I told the General that we should wait until game imagery before announcing any sort of features or what it's all about. What's better is I thought we would get into trouble earlier in the process for using some game models, but I seriously don't think we will at all. Could turn out to be corporately praiseworthy after research, if we take the time & see it done right. I'll only tell people what the mod is if they get seriously directly involved, as we all live day lives and could use all the help we can get - otherwise you gotta wait until announcement! lolz

Well, I do like to see new stuff for BZ2 once in a while. If a beta tester is needed at some point, I can do some poking around in my spare time.. of what little I can grab as of late.