The [FGS] Clan

Moved back to atlanta and should be getting a job here pretty soon. I finally have computer/internet/SDK access, but have had to start everything from scratch. Yes, I do still intend to release a mod ,however after a year of thinking and brainstorming it will be much less drastic than previously planned, so I am not sure if it would even be considered a mod per se, more of an altercation of the game settings with a few item tweaks.

The biggest differences in my editing versus standard DXMP are going to be the way items spawn, a few item changes, and the way maps are made to be more tactical and SP style and less arcade like the standard "spawn here, grab all the guns, all skills maxed, go kill" form the servers currently run. A few specifics in the works at the moment, FEEDBACK appreciated:

- Skill wise I decided against the kill/reward system similar to ATDM or Call of Duty style and instead decided to lock all skills at Advanced. No, this is not a personal vendetta against the perfect aim of snipers, it is to give the game a more real and less arcade feel. Perfect aim, no recoil, etc will be attainable through other means that are explained below, and of course you will reach master via the Targeting aug, allowing it to finally give Ballistics Protection a run for its money. The advanced setting will also increase reliability of lockpicks and multitools All augmentations will remain at the top upgraded level.

- Unused-in-MP items such as alcohol, food and armor will be implemented. The food/alcohol will be edited to cause decent healing/bio recovery to make them worth picking up and the drunken status will be nerfed to just a few seconds to not interrupt gameplay. Examples of recovery would be (HP/BE): Soda - 15/30, Wine/Liquor/40oz - 50/25, Soy Food - 30/30. As well as recovery and protection items, others will be given special effects to make them more useful. Tech goggles will add a Enhanced Vision effect rather than Night Vision, and cigarettes will be made to work like suits and will increase accuracy and reduce recoil for a given amount of time (Sniper rifle will go to master in accuracy, but not damage, basically.)

- Also as far as unused items go, I want to implement weapon mods into multiplayer. When you find a mod, using it will instantly upgrade all guns that can take that mod. They will be in limited supply and take work to find/acquire, but will be well worth it. This is another way to get the sniper rifle to move less using the scope. It will also, I believe, add a great deal of fun to the gameplay since you will be able to equip the pistols with scopes, most of the other guns with laser sights, and the assault rifle and sniper with a silencer.

- Items such as medkits, biocells, lockpicks and food will be normal, as in you grab one, and another respawns in its place ~20 seconds later. However, ALL weapons, grenades, and weapon mods will be changed in the way they spawn. They will begin on the map in their set place, and when picked up, will not respawn until the carrier has died or let the item disappear after leaving it on the ground for 4 seconds after discarding. This will ensure that people cannot camp in one area and load up on mods and grenades. It will also will make the game more challenging and force players to work more as a team since some places their may be several grenades that your team must share, or someone may come across a weapon/mod they don't need that you want on another part of the map.

- The inventory system will be changed as well. The standard three slots for weapons will remain, however instead of pre-determined slots for utilities and grenades, slots 4-8 will be free slots for any other item mentioned above. I will leave the 9 and 0 spot for the medkit and biocell though, so I don't have to listen to all you lazy players bitching about your binds not working with my game.

- The map setup will not be as simple as the default MP maps DX has. Most maps will be larger, but not too large or ornate as to cause severe lag. More thought will go into locked doors, security, and other non-fighting aspects. An example to illustrate how I am approaching my map-making logic is that not all Repair Bots will be behind a keypad-locked door. Some will be behind pickable doors, others only accessible via hacking security panels, and some simply out in the open in areas that take a while to get to from the spawn point. Also, I plan on every map I make having a highly desired area or goal only able to be found with a specific password on a keypad or security panel, making hacking or tooling useless. The info will be on a datacube with a random string just like on Command_Post.

So there you have it, my plan. It is just coming out of pre-production stages, so let me know any ideas, issues, or suggested changes and I will consider before getting to far ahead on the process. This of course will still be many months, but I trust DX won't be dead by the time all of this comes to fruition ;)

Great idea, can't comment on everything except...

No, this is not a personal vendetta against the perfect aim of snipers, it is to give the game a more real and less arcade feel.

Headshots from sniper rifle are still one hit kill? Because that would still be a more real feel.

Good idea, really. As Masta said, can't really comment on everything (Lazy people)


Well, I was working on a new gametype called "Advance game" that is AG but I was thinking a different name for it.. because AG already exists.. anyway.. this isn't about the name anyway.. my point was to make the sniper have 1 hit kill, no matter where it hit, except hand or legs. If the legs or hand have like 85% health, it's a one hit kill. I wanted something like that because sniper-rifles are really like that. I mean hell, headshot kill only is useless. I was thinking to make a custom model with the holder of the weapon being more slower. So that it doesn't get too unfair when we use the sniper rifle. I suggest that you can use this idea, but not with the model though.. because mainly I think that I am not going to make it, or gonna fail it.

THOUGH YOU CAN EXPECT IT AT SOME "OTHER" MODIFICATION THAT IS BEING WORKED ON FOR MONTHS

Something else I forgot to mention is that I want to edit the Scrambler Grenade to take over a turret for you when thrown. I think that would be *loving* awesome.

Mastakilla:
I will do some testing and make sure that sniper is still one-hit-headshot-kill on Advanced. If it isn't I will just up the sniper damage to make it like master. Since you won't have perfectly steady aim when looking through the scope, I wouldn't be so much of an *metabolic end product way out* to make it to where you have to hit em twice

DJ:
Are you crazy?! As if the Sniper wasn't deadly enough already! If you make your own maps for that you may as well have it like scoutz with just the sniper cause no one will use anything else, and I doubt being slower will make it any less effective. But thats just me, I thinks its a fun idea.

Speaking of slow, the advanced system will also make heavy weapons slow you down more, which will help noobs get used to something other than GEP. Of course, even on my largest maps I plan on only having a few GEPs anyways. I'm really excited, I think the drop system will make the game much more of a challenge and get people to experiment with other weapons. Powerful weapons will be severely limited on my maps, and will take more effort to find. Here's a rough estimate on the availability of the weapons that will be attainable one of my larger maps (about 4 times the size of CMD):

Weapons
Crowbar: 15-20
Combat Knife: 10-15
Prod Charger: 10-15
Pistol: 10-15
Sawed-Off Shotgun: 10-12
Mini-Crossbow: 10-12
Throwing Knives: 10-12
Assault Shotgun: 8-10
Assault Rifle: 8-10
Flamethrower: 4-6
Sniper Rifle: 4-6
GEP Gun: 2-4
Plasma Rifle: 1-2
Dragon Tooth Sword: 1-2

Grenades
Gas: 10-20
EMP: 10-15
LAM: 4-8
Scrambler: 2-4

Weapon Mods
Range: 5-10
Recoil: 5-10
Accuracy: 5-10
Reload: 5-10
Laser: 4-6
Scope: 2-4
Silencer: 2-4

The Clip Mod won't be used as all weapons will stay at maximum clip size by default.

I like some of your ideas alot, I particularly like the added health boost with the food and drink items, I always thought that the benefits from these items was always far too small. I can see some of these ideas put into other mods if you are successful, please keep us up to date with any progress that you make, good luck.

Perhaps you could mod the clip modification to allow you to carry more ammo around

... That's a weird sentense.

Glad to see so many positive responses. I am quite excited myself. Been busting ass on the map, a couple hours a day. Still learning of course so don't expect miracles, but within a week or so I should have a layout version of my map (meaning just the rooms and metabolic end product, but most of the items, movers, and decor won't be there.) That may happen sooner even since it is easy metabolic end product to do. So hopefully you guys will like the ideas I'm having with the pyramid.

It's gonna kick so much ass! When the first map is done, I will begin editing the code how I want to. I just want to get a map out first since that is one of the big changes. I always thought most of the non-FGS maps out there suck or are too linear so I'm thinking this will be a huge improvement. Perhaps, if you agree that my map is decent, you would maybe test it on your servers?