Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Moderators: GSH, VSMIT, Commando

User avatar
DuoRanger
Thunderbolt
Posts: 136
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2011 12:02 am
Location: in your mother's house

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by DuoRanger »

i heard that someone reported him on steam because of his "battlezone build" that came with a spyware


anyway, good luck for feed, i hope this time with the greenlight, and all people seeing the game alpha

i hope they manage to wrap up and end it
User avatar
jack775544
Thunderbolt
Posts: 125
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:41 am
Location: Australia

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by jack775544 »

DuoRanger wrote:So wehh

I was looking the Bionite's Greenlight page, when i saw this pearl here about a certain "PR0", page 3 to be exactly

Shadow Spork 10 de jul às 18:52
I don't know what this "Bionite" is, but it sounds disappointing. Meanwhile... at Link deleted - GSH the game lives on.
Does he ever give up?
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist" - Charles Baudelaire
User avatar
Nielk1
Flying Mauler
Posts: 2991
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Nielk1 »

Sigh... The only reason ppl come to them for BZ is because they are the only place that offers it (leaving alone the whole grey area of it being an illegal copy).
User avatar
Baconboy
Attila
Posts: 1063
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:49 pm
Location: On this forum, aren't I?
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Baconboy »

Meanwhile... at Link deleted - GSH the game lives on.
lol I don't dislike those guys like y'all do but that almost desperate plug made me laugh.
User avatar
Red Spot
Attila
Posts: 1629
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:14 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Red Spot »

Baconboy wrote:
Meanwhile... at Link deleted - GSH the game lives on.
lol I don't dislike those guys like y'all do but that almost desperate plug made me laugh.
I have no issue with 'those guys' (though to be honest a certain type of behaviour is not my cup of tea), I'd love this to succeed but at the same time I would not invest a cent in it until I see a properly working product .. a properly working 'full' product.
User avatar
Baconboy
Attila
Posts: 1063
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:49 pm
Location: On this forum, aren't I?
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Baconboy »

I would not invest a cent in it until I see a properly working product .. a properly working 'full' product.
Exactly. I'm not paying that much for that little.
User avatar
LtFEED
Thunderbolt
Posts: 195
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:37 pm

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by LtFEED »

New Extended Trailer for Venus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBujjIWL8hc

Were on our 3rd revision and rev 4 is coming soon.

Also, the Mars Maps are on their way!

screens coming soon.

Now that SIege is basically completed, we can continue into the RTS elements integration. We had to make sure we had a stable MP build before adding the RTS elements. Now that we have figured out how UDK works in a MP environment, we can really begin making this game a true BZ SS.

Having a basic siege game type was always part of the development process. For anyone that knows how difficult it is to code a MP game, you know why it took so long. ( I had to learn Uscript first).

-LtF
User avatar
blue banana
Sabre
Posts: 332
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:08 pm
Location: Banana Land, UTC−6:00 MDT
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by blue banana »

A twist on Lt. Simms' words:
"For an action trailer this sure was pretty lame."
RubiconAlpha
Rattler
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:37 am

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by RubiconAlpha »

I have yet to see anything that has the charm or feel of either of the Battlezone (PC) games. It has hover tanks and deployable gun turrets on distant planets. Beyond that, so far there's little to get this tank commander fan excited about. Sorry.
Last edited by RubiconAlpha on Sat Aug 23, 2014 7:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Zero Angel
Attila
Posts: 1536
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 12:54 am
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Zero Angel »

The trailer should be scrapped, and I say this because it's bad and I don't want it to negatively impact the success of your project.

You need to work with people who have some training in cinema and voice acting, even if they're undergrad art students. Storyboard the trailer if you have to. Make the exposition more concise, have the trailer play to the game's strengths, etc.

Also, if you're gonna use military jargon in your dialog then make sure you study it well. A small bit of sloppy dialogue informs the user to radio 'base actual'. But this is sloppy, because you're going down a bit of a rabbit hole as far as terminology is concerned, when you say 'actual' you're kind of delving into the realm of callsigns. In fact an actual should be attached to a callsign for a number of reasons:
1) Military groups (companies, platoons, etc) are given a unique callsign, to seperate them from another groups.
2) The field base would have its own callsign (e.g. archer charlie-six), a squad attached to that base and with its own radio (not the base radio) might have a callsign like archer charlie-six-lima.
3) Military elements typically can operate within radio range of similar military elements, or with a higher-ranked officer (or radio operator representing that officer) listening in. Using callsigns helps everyone to know who or what is being addressed.
4) The base is manned by a radio operator who represents that base's callsign. If you radio charlie-six or archer charlie-six, then you're radioing the base of the platoon/division you're attached to (archer). He should direct communications appropriately.
5) 'Actual' refers to the commander or authoritive/decision-making element of that group. If charlie-six is the base then charlie-six-actual would be the base commander -- assuming there's no other charlie six's within radio range you could probably get away with saying 'charlie-six instead of archer charlie-six).
6) It may not be appropriate or even feasible some times to get in touch with actual. If the CO is busy you'll have to speak to the radio operator and he can contact actual if the matter is urgent.
7) If a higher commanding officer gives charlie-six an order then he's giving an order to the entire base. E.g. to pack up, or to use the base's forces to assist in some task. In that case, said CO might contact charlie-six-actual so that charlie-six-actual can make decisions on the spot.

It just seems that there's a lot of nuance there that's not being obeyed. And it makes the dialogue sound awkward. So in that case, you should either go with using callsigns, or simply strip down the lingo a bit so that it's all easily accessible to your audience. If you do use a bit of lingo, then make sure you use it properly. The BZ2 campaign uses some fairly stripped-down lingo but it works because the BZ2 campaign uses it properly; immersiveness or suspension of disbelief is not broken.
Regulators
Regulate any stealin' of this biometal pool, we're damn good, too
But you can't be any geek off the street
Gotta be handy with the chains if you know what I mean
Earn your keep
User avatar
Baconboy
Attila
Posts: 1063
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:49 pm
Location: On this forum, aren't I?
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Baconboy »

The trailer should be scrapped, and I say this because it's bad and I don't want it to negatively impact the success of your project.
User avatar
Nielk1
Flying Mauler
Posts: 2991
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Nielk1 »

To call UScript coding for MP difficult is one thing, but suggesting anyone who has coded MP would know, you shoot yourself there a bit with the statement. Us programmers that have dealt with multiplayer situations (I in an experimental games class that made it all the more complex because we were dealing with large scale of players) find the statement a bit laughable. Coding something like that is easier than making a BZ2 MP mission DLL! You have massive utilities, an engine doing all the work, and all your core physics and movement and even AI is clearly stock to the UDK starter kits! Hell, from what I can tell UScript for MP Gamemodes on UDK are possibly on par with writing a game mode for Garrysmod, but even then in good you have to deal with limited user message communication funnels and all data being forced to strings.

And I speak of your game after trying it. You posted the alpha as a PUBLIC Kickstarter comment for god sakes!!! If you are going to do that at least password it and send the password to those backers who are supposed to have access. It's a glorified UDK DM gamemode with poor physics that I could decompile and fix a bunch of bugs with in just a few hours!

You've lost the Battlrzone community at this point, and that was all you had.

At this rate you are "going to need to get a job." (Yes, I know about that little quote of yours.)

I am disgusted with how you have squandered the work of some community members. Some of them are my friends and I feel ashamed for telling them to put Bionite ahead of everything but family and school. Did you ever even sign their contracts after they were returned? Does it even matter given it is all probably based on sale percentages and you can't even get ppl to get the game via one of your free offers?

Someone had to say this.
User avatar
Psyringe
Thunderbolt
Posts: 121
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2013 7:46 am
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Psyringe »

Ok... UnrealScript is a 3-5 day course. It only took me a week to pick it up while learning the rest of the UDK.

If you know Python, C++, Java, or UnityScript - UnrealScript follows all the same fundamentals. I know Java and a bit of C++, thus making a full understanding of UnrealScript a rather straightforward object oriented learning curve -- if you don't know these languages, it may take you a little longer and you should wait before asking to finance your videogame. I flowed through two 6 hour courses on it, the first covering the basics of how UnrealScript interacts with the Unreal Engine 3 (kismet, animation, textures, etc), and the second covering Weapons/Buildings/Objects/etc creation in all it's applications including Multiplayer, Archetypes, Properties, and Security -- most/all of which is handled by the engine. Think "Create in UnrealScript", "Hone in Editor", "Finalize Changes before Publish in UnrealScript". UDK handles the compiles. Cheese.

...of course, if I had $21,491 + iOS App revenue sitting around, I'd probably pick up a reference manual and consider purchasing a pre-built framework or two, as they exist and would make great references.

Shortly after my first UnrealScript course, I found a quick way of implementing "First-Person Strategy" without the inconvenience of using the plug and play Mobile version of Strategy on the UDN -- which I bet Platoon is trying to use right now, and why it will take 3+ months to enter Alpha - to quote Lt. Feed, 'Strategy will be in beta testing 60 days after early access'. The Unreal Development Network mobile strategy version comes with nuances they may not understand and would slow production down considering the practical example of 'how difficult it is to code a MP game'. If they knew what they were doing, strategy would have been part of the framework 3 years ago and built upon - not the other way around.

And no offense -- but in UDK it's not hard, at all. You have to know what your doing, and since all Lt. Feed understood is node based Kismet logic (which is largely intended for level-specific events), we absolutely cannot expect him to understand object oriented code - let alone how strategy will work in a FPS driven engine. He may not even know you can copy Kismet Nodes into a .txt document for the UnrealScript reference...

UDK isn't difficult, most design specialists can adopt it as quickly as I have and they would prefer to use external editors where available - because as a base creation tool it's weak and very heavy. By heavy I mean resource heavy, UDK will draw more than necessary when you use it's tools and it reflects in Bionites gameplay. The team blames "memory leaks", I blame poor development planning and workflow -- there's a right way to make great things happen in that engine. Generally speaking, UDK is better employed as an all-round compositing tool. I like the material/texture handler, it reminds me of Nuke.

By the end of next week I could begin porting assets from BZI and BZII to UDK comfortably if I chose to do so. Porting at a basic "Siege" level would take less than a month - and it would actually be functional. I've decided to study Unity as well - Unity 5 is appealing as a long term developer asset. So with three months and no financing, I could catch up with options. Less if I was dead set on UDK.

Three months.

Of course, I'd do it differently. It would be 100% free, for starters. Why it has taken almost 6 years is beyond me. Beyond me, into the atmosphere, past the moon, all the way to Venus I guess. Lt. Feed is a noobie developer. Just my opinion. Don't take money for what you can't do, period. Know the tools, know the production schedule, know the framework, THEN take crowdfunding money, THEN take iOS money, THEN make Pre-Sales. Bionite is Frictionless Vehicles and clunky Kismet execution with a price tag.

And yes, Lt. Feed posted publicly the latest revision of his game:
Posted Publicly on Kickstarter; https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/80 ... sts/937415
Is a Free Download Of Bionite Origins Alpha v.003; https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4knU4 ... sp=sharing

Que the confetti, blow on your party whistle, see it for yourself.

Anyway - this is just my 2 cents. UDK isn't hard, I think anyone interested in producing a videogame should check it out -- the fact it's free is very appealing. The fact Lt. Feed doesn't know UnrealScript explains a great deal to why he can't fix a handful of his bugs -- even just before I left Platoon he couldn't figure out why it took 30 seconds to respawn. Well, as it so turns out, the gametype he was employing ran a constantly refreshing 30 second respawn timer (like in Unreal Tournament) -- problem is, he didn't know about it until last month (after years) when I pointed out the top results of a Google search concerning UnrealScript. As a spectator - don't expect the big picture to get fixed.
User avatar
Nielk1
Flying Mauler
Posts: 2991
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by Nielk1 »

Really step 1 should be the concept and step 2 a bunch of prototypes of different ideas and elements and game modes and systems without any work done on art or style. Bionite literally did *everything* backwards.
User avatar
blue banana
Sabre
Posts: 332
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:08 pm
Location: Banana Land, UTC−6:00 MDT
Contact:

Re: Bionite: Origins needs Support!

Post by blue banana »

Bionite never had any concept besides "the BZ1 (notice there has never been anything about BZ2) spiritual successor", and being inspired by it. This is pretty much still the case. Of course, there isn't anything we can do now, so we need to deal with what we have, starting with being a developer better than EA.

Literally, I like Electronic Arts' reliability more than Platoon's- and that's saying something. EA is notorious for being "one of the worst worst game developers (in fact, worst companies) of all time", and you can Google why. Aside from the fact I hate Bionite with a passion, if I were some random guy who has been watching Bionite since Day 1 I wouldn't be too interested anymore, which I kinda am. Heck, their leader (LTFeed) has horrid grammar, and I don't care if it's his fifth language or his first. If he is making an English game, he should make his posts as good as he can, otherwise I lose interest as I do reading my old posts.

Lastly, speed up the development. 6+ years is a HUGE time for a game, and where Bionite stands today, I'm pretty sure Platoon has displayed several times over that they are pathetic developers, and cannot live up to their word(s).
Post Reply