In many FPS these days, there is some indicator whether you hit someone or not, be it a change in your cross hair, a noise, or some other visual clue. FAS will not be much different from these other games.
As DysPatch states in this thread, "we plan on having a nice helmet thud or flesh break if you hit someone in the head" and continues with, "I wouldn't mind a cross hair flash for hit recognition. Its been brewing in my mind for sometime." However, adds that it would be something for after the initial release of FA.
Not everyone though shares the same philosophy as DysPatch. Naoto points out that, "hit indicators are borderline cheating." Citing examples from play test, Naota recalls when damage was displayed on the HUD, saying "[it] was one of the most frustrating parts of the game until we went out of our way to remove the damage indicator from testing." These on screen indicators showed when you hit someone, allowing players to "fire their machine gun into the darkness/undergrowth/water/solid walls/prone players/window ledges far away and have the UI feedback tell them to keep shooting because they're hitting someone."
And as Naota said, "As awesome as it might be, bullets are not one of the five senses."
Showing posts with label Naota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Naota. Show all posts
27 April 2010
10 March 2010
What the Orange Box Means To You
FAS is moving to the Orange Box engine, but what does it mean to you?
According to Naota in a post on the FAS Forums, these improvements include:
According to Naota in a post on the FAS Forums, these improvements include:
- Phong shader masks in texture alpha channels.
- Newer vertex lighting and prediction code.
- Orange Box graphics settings (real-time shadows on dynamic lights, user-controlled motion blur, and improved HDR among them)
- Steamworks compatibility (stats tracked on Steamfriends, persistent achievements, automatic updates, easy FAS downloads from the Steam store)
09 January 2010
The Best and The Rest
Naota has made a great post on what makes FAS, FAS as well as what makes it unique from other games out now. In summarization, FAS stands out from the rest because of:
Guns... copious amounts of guns
A Genuinely Balanced Skill System
A Unique Loadout System
Reinforcement-based Victory Conditions
Reloading that makes logical sense
The Firearms Menkey
Ludicrous amounts of other interesting mechanics
To find out more, you can view Naota's post in the FAS Forums.
Guns... copious amounts of guns
A Genuinely Balanced Skill System
A Unique Loadout System
Reinforcement-based Victory Conditions
Reloading that makes logical sense
The Firearms Menkey
Ludicrous amounts of other interesting mechanics
To find out more, you can view Naota's post in the FAS Forums.
02 September 2009
Little Big Models
Schmung has updated his developer's blog with information about the technical side of the design process as an artist for FAS. While there is a lot of big flashy stuff that makes the main page, such as his gorgeous M79 skin, other aspects of his work are not as appreciated. Prop models for example are necessary for FAS but don't attract as much attention as weapon models.
Prop models are models in maps such as the deuce and land rover. Much of Schmung's work lately has been with making level of detail models of many of these props. Level of Detail models are models that replace the more detailed models the farther you get away.
"The version you see up-close might be 7000 or so triangles," Schmung said but, "view it from a distance and what you are actually seeing is a model with 700 triangles." (Schmung made it a point that these numbers are made up to illustrate how LoD works.) This also applies to textures as well.
These level of detail models are for all models in FAS, not just models in maps. When you select a lower texture quality in a Source game, what you are doing is selecting the maximum level of detail of the textures. For example, "when you set your model and texture settings to low, typically you will only see the last LOD even if you are right next to it," DysPatch said.
Though while this system has obvious benefits for low end PCs, Naota points out that it isn't always a clear benefit. "We really could save a good 10-20% of our overall weapon texture footprint by doing away with these absurd view model mipmaps," Naota said. He continues with stating that his first person texture models do not have mipmaps because it saves a lot of disk space and it ensures that the texture will always look right.
Prop models are models in maps such as the deuce and land rover. Much of Schmung's work lately has been with making level of detail models of many of these props. Level of Detail models are models that replace the more detailed models the farther you get away.
"The version you see up-close might be 7000 or so triangles," Schmung said but, "view it from a distance and what you are actually seeing is a model with 700 triangles." (Schmung made it a point that these numbers are made up to illustrate how LoD works.) This also applies to textures as well.
These level of detail models are for all models in FAS, not just models in maps. When you select a lower texture quality in a Source game, what you are doing is selecting the maximum level of detail of the textures. For example, "when you set your model and texture settings to low, typically you will only see the last LOD even if you are right next to it," DysPatch said.
Though while this system has obvious benefits for low end PCs, Naota points out that it isn't always a clear benefit. "We really could save a good 10-20% of our overall weapon texture footprint by doing away with these absurd view model mipmaps," Naota said. He continues with stating that his first person texture models do not have mipmaps because it saves a lot of disk space and it ensures that the texture will always look right.
13 August 2009
Could You Spot It In A Parade?
You may have noticed that the Sako 95 doesn't exactly look like your standard Sako 95. This isn't due to lack of experinced modelers, but according to Naota it was, "a personal vendetta against generic weapons attempting to further their lack of aestheic appeal by completely knocking off their parent firearm." All changes with the Sako 95 are intentional and included:
-Aftermarket pistol grip
-Black Valmet plastic magazines (as opposed to olive/dried snot green)
-The blatantly AK-47-esque upper and lower hand guards of the Rk. 95 have been removed entirely, replaced with an adjustable vertical grip attached to a custom rail system.
-The front sight assembly at the end of the gas tube is that of the Sako Rk. 62, rather than the Rk. 95, and includes a bracket for a carry strap on the left side.
-The flash hider is the distinctive Sako Rk. 62/76 version which features a bayonet lug, rather than the fully cylindrical Rk. 95 version.
-Attachment mount plates can be found on the left side of the weapon.
-Aftermarket pistol grip
-Black Valmet plastic magazines (as opposed to olive/dried snot green)
-The blatantly AK-47-esque upper and lower hand guards of the Rk. 95 have been removed entirely, replaced with an adjustable vertical grip attached to a custom rail system.
-The front sight assembly at the end of the gas tube is that of the Sako Rk. 62, rather than the Rk. 95, and includes a bracket for a carry strap on the left side.
-The flash hider is the distinctive Sako Rk. 62/76 version which features a bayonet lug, rather than the fully cylindrical Rk. 95 version.
-Attachment mount plates can be found on the left side of the weapon.
03 July 2009
Why FAS Is Great
Naota has posted a good piece of propaganda in the FAS Input Forum describing some key differences between CSS and FAS and why FAS is better because of these differences. Instead of butchering his prose the entire post can be found here.
The reason that everyone uses [the M4, AK47, Desert Eagle and AWM] in CSS isn't that they're popular, but rather that CSS popularized them by making them plainly the best all-purpose weapons in the game by a large margin. They're used so often because the weapon balance is quite terrible and you have guns like this which are clearly superior to mostly everything else in their category, and their incredibly silly money/equipment system does little to nothing to restrict you from using them every time or getting creative. For example, why would you ever pick the CSS Steyr Scout over the AWM aside from willingly handicapping yourself? They're nearly the same in every respect, only one will always kill you no matter where it hits while the other does pathetic damage unless it's a headshot. Compare this to the M82 and M24 in FAS - one is heavy, can't scope while moving, restricts you to maybe a pistol as a sidearm and no armour whatsoever, does much better when bipodded, and can kill players incredibly easily on semi-automatic, while the other is light, bolt-action, mobile, highly damaging but not fatal, and is easy enough on the credits to allow you to use a SMG or even a cheap rifle as your backup. Each rifle has its own set of circumstances where it excels and neither is made redundant by the other, so you see both used all the time.
Because there's no clear distinction of absolute superiority and every gun fills its own little role in the overall gameplay, you won't get hundreds upon hundreds of players flocking to the newest weapon. The weapon balance lets everyone find guns that are their own personal favourite and compete with them without being overshadowed by the baseline AK-47/M4A1. In fact, the AK and M4 are actually some of the least popular weapons in FA because they're so tired and overused (and other ARs do far more interesting things). The only thing that might draw players to a new weapon besides the novelty factor is that it could fill an empty gap in their personal style of play, in which case we're doing our job wonderfully. It's as simple as that.
It puts a smile on my face to think that some day soon, a semi-hardcore CSS junkie is going to give FAS a try, like what he sees, then run out there with Full Medium (no bandages), a glock, and an AK thinking he's going to be king of the world just like in the days of Counter-yore... only to have an enemy sprint-jump over a sandbag he's inching out from and render him a veritable humanoid imitation of swiss cheese with the FAMAS, plant a claymore on his head, heal with medic, then prone off lobbing M79 shells and constantly battlecrying. It will be akin to pitching a denizen of the 1700's thrashing and wailing into this present day as things beyond the scope of his rational perception flood all about in a nightmarish future-hellscape of wondrous complexity and depth.
The reason that everyone uses [the M4, AK47, Desert Eagle and AWM] in CSS isn't that they're popular, but rather that CSS popularized them by making them plainly the best all-purpose weapons in the game by a large margin. They're used so often because the weapon balance is quite terrible and you have guns like this which are clearly superior to mostly everything else in their category, and their incredibly silly money/equipment system does little to nothing to restrict you from using them every time or getting creative. For example, why would you ever pick the CSS Steyr Scout over the AWM aside from willingly handicapping yourself? They're nearly the same in every respect, only one will always kill you no matter where it hits while the other does pathetic damage unless it's a headshot. Compare this to the M82 and M24 in FAS - one is heavy, can't scope while moving, restricts you to maybe a pistol as a sidearm and no armour whatsoever, does much better when bipodded, and can kill players incredibly easily on semi-automatic, while the other is light, bolt-action, mobile, highly damaging but not fatal, and is easy enough on the credits to allow you to use a SMG or even a cheap rifle as your backup. Each rifle has its own set of circumstances where it excels and neither is made redundant by the other, so you see both used all the time.
Because there's no clear distinction of absolute superiority and every gun fills its own little role in the overall gameplay, you won't get hundreds upon hundreds of players flocking to the newest weapon. The weapon balance lets everyone find guns that are their own personal favourite and compete with them without being overshadowed by the baseline AK-47/M4A1. In fact, the AK and M4 are actually some of the least popular weapons in FA because they're so tired and overused (and other ARs do far more interesting things). The only thing that might draw players to a new weapon besides the novelty factor is that it could fill an empty gap in their personal style of play, in which case we're doing our job wonderfully. It's as simple as that.
It puts a smile on my face to think that some day soon, a semi-hardcore CSS junkie is going to give FAS a try, like what he sees, then run out there with Full Medium (no bandages), a glock, and an AK thinking he's going to be king of the world just like in the days of Counter-yore... only to have an enemy sprint-jump over a sandbag he's inching out from and render him a veritable humanoid imitation of swiss cheese with the FAMAS, plant a claymore on his head, heal with medic, then prone off lobbing M79 shells and constantly battlecrying. It will be akin to pitching a denizen of the 1700's thrashing and wailing into this present day as things beyond the scope of his rational perception flood all about in a nightmarish future-hellscape of wondrous complexity and depth.
02 July 2009
M82 Balance
While the M82 can draw criticism from some that is just a AWP/AWM from CS/CSS, one of the key differences is that while you can move and fire, you are most likely not able to hit anything according to StealthSilver.
Of course with the ease of making scripts for HL2 and related mods, one may be concerned that someone could easily make a script that stops the players movement before they fire, negating the movement penalty while still keeping mobility. Naota, however, explains this is not the case, "the physics for player movement in FAS include friction/intertia, so any script which instantly stops a player's movement input won't be able to scope in at the same time." He continues on, saying that even if you were able to compile a script that allowed quick scoping, the delay between each shot would be so great it would be more effective to use another weapon.
Of course with the ease of making scripts for HL2 and related mods, one may be concerned that someone could easily make a script that stops the players movement before they fire, negating the movement penalty while still keeping mobility. Naota, however, explains this is not the case, "the physics for player movement in FAS include friction/intertia, so any script which instantly stops a player's movement input won't be able to scope in at the same time." He continues on, saying that even if you were able to compile a script that allowed quick scoping, the delay between each shot would be so great it would be more effective to use another weapon.
15 June 2009
The Best For Last
The Sako, M60 and M82, some of the last weapons to be featured in a FAS update may be featured in the next two weeks or so, according to Inveramsay. Animations and skinning are at various stages on each models Hitman said. Naota confirms that the reason for the delays - at least for the Sako - is that it has very dull textures that are hard to make remarkable.
28 March 2009
Boom, Headshot
In the 15 March 2009 news post, Naota talks about the M24's as well as the M82's damage mechanics in FAS. The M24 "does around 340 damage to the head including the helmet mitigation amount" he begins. This high damage makes a head shot a guaranteed kill almost all the time, even when shooting though some objects in game. The lowest damage he has seen the M24 do was 74 damage after firing though a very large model. While many weapons have noticeable penetration fall off, the M24's "penetration falloff is also pretty lenient." Naota uses an anecdote that a head shot thorough a barrier of sheet metal did 304 damage.
The M82 is the M24 on steroids. "A single chest shot will do 96 damage to medium armour and instantly kill anyone wearing light," Naota states and continues, "head shots clock in around 890ish damage." Balancing this power, the M82 has some restrictions on it that make it harder to use than the other sniper rifles. Besides it's high credit cost, the M82 will "unscopes whenever you move, has huge kick and a slow ROF, and is notably inaccurate when standing." However, using the bipod negates many of these downsides as well as increasing it's rate of fire to that of the 3.0 SVD.
The M82 is the M24 on steroids. "A single chest shot will do 96 damage to medium armour and instantly kill anyone wearing light," Naota states and continues, "head shots clock in around 890ish damage." Balancing this power, the M82 has some restrictions on it that make it harder to use than the other sniper rifles. Besides it's high credit cost, the M82 will "unscopes whenever you move, has huge kick and a slow ROF, and is notably inaccurate when standing." However, using the bipod negates many of these downsides as well as increasing it's rate of fire to that of the 3.0 SVD.
15 March 2009
FAS News (15 MARCH 2009)
FAS's bi-weekly update showcases three weapons, the M24 SWS, M14 w/aimpoint and the DV-2 combat knife.
The M24 sniper rifle is FAS's light sniper rifle modeled and textured by Naota. The M24 is a 17 credits which is more expensive than most other weapons, but still leaves enough cedits for an AR or SMG backup or a lot of armor and a pistol. The M24 has a slow rate of fire, but guarantees instant kills via head shot and the bipod allows players to sacrifice mobility for a higher rate of fire.
FAS's bipod system as Naota describes is, "the most intuitive and fluid I've ever seen in an FPS." The bipod code allows players to deploy on just "about anything that's the right distance and angle from your gun." This includes other players as well as on a wall looking straight up.
The M14 rifle, modeled and textured by Dekier, is another battle rifle similar to the G3. At 11 credits, it lacks the full auto feature of the G3, but makes up for it with an aim point allowing for easier ranged combat.
Finally is the DV-2 - modeled by Naota and textured by Dr.Hubbler - the Russian equivalent to the US KA-BAR knife. The FAS Team chose the DV-2 to add more diversity to the arsenal.
Finally, for those wondering about the weapon cost (10 credit MP5 vs 11 credit M14) DysPatch commented that the weapon page will be revised over spring break.
The M24 sniper rifle is FAS's light sniper rifle modeled and textured by Naota. The M24 is a 17 credits which is more expensive than most other weapons, but still leaves enough cedits for an AR or SMG backup or a lot of armor and a pistol. The M24 has a slow rate of fire, but guarantees instant kills via head shot and the bipod allows players to sacrifice mobility for a higher rate of fire.
FAS's bipod system as Naota describes is, "the most intuitive and fluid I've ever seen in an FPS." The bipod code allows players to deploy on just "about anything that's the right distance and angle from your gun." This includes other players as well as on a wall looking straight up.
The M14 rifle, modeled and textured by Dekier, is another battle rifle similar to the G3. At 11 credits, it lacks the full auto feature of the G3, but makes up for it with an aim point allowing for easier ranged combat.
Finally is the DV-2 - modeled by Naota and textured by Dr.Hubbler - the Russian equivalent to the US KA-BAR knife. The FAS Team chose the DV-2 to add more diversity to the arsenal.
Finally, for those wondering about the weapon cost (10 credit MP5 vs 11 credit M14) DysPatch commented that the weapon page will be revised over spring break.10 February 2009
Call Of Grenade
In the FAS Input forum, Naota explains FAS's grenade mechanics. Currently, as Naota explains it "you click once to pull the pin and arm them and either release immediately to toss it, or hold it down to 'cook off' the fuse (5 seconds), which is typically required if you want your grenade to actually kill the people you're throwing it at before they run for cover." He continues stating that right now, you can not adjust the power behind the throw of the grenade, however as the alt fire key of the grenade is not in use there may be "lower/higher power toss at least by RC 1.1."
Naota also says that there is a small issue with the physics of the grenades in that "they've got some very peculiar tendencies, the least of which being that somehow they're presumably so heavy that the player can't climb a ladder with one on his head."
Naota also says that there is a small issue with the physics of the grenades in that "they've got some very peculiar tendencies, the least of which being that somehow they're presumably so heavy that the player can't climb a ladder with one on his head."
24 January 2009
Bot What About Bots?
At the Firearms: Source page on ModDB, Naota responds to a person asking about bot support in FAS.
Naota begins with, "Though there's no official bot support planned, nor can I at all guarantee that FAS will even support them if a third party takes an interest and programs them to use our mod-specific functions." He continues on stating that because the FA:S code is built from scratch, he is unsure how existing bot scrips for other HL2 games and mods would work with FAS.
Naota looks toward the community for bot support for FAS, but does state that the FAS Team may help if "anything not too extensive is needed mod-side to make such an endeavor possible".
He finishes with restating that there will be no bot support for RC1 and has not be planned for any future versions, with the caveat that most bots are third party endeavors.
Naota begins with, "Though there's no official bot support planned, nor can I at all guarantee that FAS will even support them if a third party takes an interest and programs them to use our mod-specific functions." He continues on stating that because the FA:S code is built from scratch, he is unsure how existing bot scrips for other HL2 games and mods would work with FAS.
Naota looks toward the community for bot support for FAS, but does state that the FAS Team may help if "anything not too extensive is needed mod-side to make such an endeavor possible".
He finishes with restating that there will be no bot support for RC1 and has not be planned for any future versions, with the caveat that most bots are third party endeavors.
10 October 2008
Naota Talks About Weapons
In a FAS Forums post, Naota talks about a few of the weapons in FAS.
He begins with the comparison between the OTS-33 and the MAC11. While both weapons have similar damage and credit cost - the MAC11 is one credit more - the similarities end there. The OTS-33 has a high rate of fire - 900 RPM - but a lower magazine size. The MAC11 is almost on the other end of the spectrum with a lower rate of fire, but almost double the magazine size.
Naota also speculates that the MAC11 may receive a suppressor in the future, but the same feature will most likely be not available for the OTS-33. However Naota says "the OTs-33 has a built-in attachment rail for things like LAMs, laser sights."
Naota finnishes with stating he has "just about finished modelling the M24."
He begins with the comparison between the OTS-33 and the MAC11. While both weapons have similar damage and credit cost - the MAC11 is one credit more - the similarities end there. The OTS-33 has a high rate of fire - 900 RPM - but a lower magazine size. The MAC11 is almost on the other end of the spectrum with a lower rate of fire, but almost double the magazine size.
Naota also speculates that the MAC11 may receive a suppressor in the future, but the same feature will most likely be not available for the OTS-33. However Naota says "the OTs-33 has a built-in attachment rail for things like LAMs, laser sights."
Naota finnishes with stating he has "just about finished modelling the M24."
07 September 2008
FAS News (7 SEP 2008)
FAS is showcasing the newest weapon in the FAS arsenal, the OTs-33 "Pernach". The OTs-33 is the first Russian pistol ever included in any version of FA. It modeled and animated by Naota and animated by thisismyname09.
The OTs-33 is a select fire pistol, with single shot and automatic fire options. It has a 18+1 round magazine and an amazing cheep cost of only four credits (subject to change). Hitman describes the weapon as "a mix between an M11 and the 92FS, but with a smaller mag and better accuracy on semi-auto than the submachinegun category." The OTs-33 is also slightly weaker than the 92FS due to the weaker round it employs.
At only four credits the price can't be beat, especially when compared to the 93R of older versions of FA. The 93R was also a select fire pistol, but only single shot and three round burst and cost around five credits, depending on the version. Hitman also mentioned that the OTs-33 has "an integral accessory rail underneath the barrel." It seems odd that he would mention something about the weapon that wouldn't have any feature in the game; perhaps he is hinting to something.
This is not the last weapon to be added to FAS's arsenal. Hitman states that an ever more obscure weapon will be showcased in the future; a weapon so obscure that it has never been included in any game, ever (to the best of the FAS Team's knowledge).
As always, the FAS Team is always looking for help. Animators and skinners are in most demand, but the FAS Team will also take on modelers, sound artist, and mappers. Lastly, the FAS Alpha Testing team is full. Applications to be a tester will be turned down at the moment, but Hitman expects they'll be able to open up new rounds of testing very soon.
The OTs-33 is a select fire pistol, with single shot and automatic fire options. It has a 18+1 round magazine and an amazing cheep cost of only four credits (subject to change). Hitman describes the weapon as "a mix between an M11 and the 92FS, but with a smaller mag and better accuracy on semi-auto than the submachinegun category." The OTs-33 is also slightly weaker than the 92FS due to the weaker round it employs.At only four credits the price can't be beat, especially when compared to the 93R of older versions of FA. The 93R was also a select fire pistol, but only single shot and three round burst and cost around five credits, depending on the version. Hitman also mentioned that the OTs-33 has "an integral accessory rail underneath the barrel." It seems odd that he would mention something about the weapon that wouldn't have any feature in the game; perhaps he is hinting to something.
This is not the last weapon to be added to FAS's arsenal. Hitman states that an ever more obscure weapon will be showcased in the future; a weapon so obscure that it has never been included in any game, ever (to the best of the FAS Team's knowledge).As always, the FAS Team is always looking for help. Animators and skinners are in most demand, but the FAS Team will also take on modelers, sound artist, and mappers. Lastly, the FAS Alpha Testing team is full. Applications to be a tester will be turned down at the moment, but Hitman expects they'll be able to open up new rounds of testing very soon.
21 August 2008
Medic HUD
The 20 AUG 2008 News post had a lot of information, but some of the most interesting information was only conveyed though screen shots. One of the most notable is the medic HUD.
The medic HUD in FAS displays a lot of information. The color of the symbol above the player's head, as well as the targeting text is green, showing that they are in good health. You could assume the green indicates the person is a medic, but Naota explains here, "the green has nothing to do with indicating fellow medics." The green targeting text and the color of the symbol is tied in with the target's health, turning yellow and red the more damage the player takes which StandingCow confirmed in this post.
Near the bottom of the screen is more statical information displaying their exact numeric health, if they are bleeding and if they can be treated. Lacking from past RC's is information about their leg being broken, or if it is possible to administer adrenaline to them.
In another screen shot, we can that medics receive points based on how much health they treat. Previous RCs gave a flat 1/2 point per treatment and you could only treat a person once a life. The fact that points based on how much a medic actually heals, not how many times, seem to indicate that medics can treat people multiple times in FAS.
The medic HUD in FAS displays a lot of information. The color of the symbol above the player's head, as well as the targeting text is green, showing that they are in good health. You could assume the green indicates the person is a medic, but Naota explains here, "the green has nothing to do with indicating fellow medics." The green targeting text and the color of the symbol is tied in with the target's health, turning yellow and red the more damage the player takes which StandingCow confirmed in this post.
Near the bottom of the screen is more statical information displaying their exact numeric health, if they are bleeding and if they can be treated. Lacking from past RC's is information about their leg being broken, or if it is possible to administer adrenaline to them.
In another screen shot, we can that medics receive points based on how much health they treat. Previous RCs gave a flat 1/2 point per treatment and you could only treat a person once a life. The fact that points based on how much a medic actually heals, not how many times, seem to indicate that medics can treat people multiple times in FAS.
20 August 2008
I C U
The 20 AUG 2008 News post had a lot of information, but some of the most interesting information was only conveyed though screen shots. One of the most notable are player's rank displayed over their model.
This screen shot is the best example of player's rank over their models. The player in front of the person taking the screen shot is the lowest rank "Private". Also note that you can see the ranks though the map's geometry, as highlighted in the circled area. StandingCow wrote in the FAS News Forum that the icons "also lets you see who on your team is a medic or who has leadership" and "you won't see icon's over enemy players." The icons change color from green to red depending on how damaged the player is which he explained here.
The following is medic icon in detail.
This symbol could possibly be the leadership symbol, but it is to small to make out.
According to Naota, "the overhead icons is not tied to any particular skill, just to save people from any misconceptions. They are also toggleable via client-side cvar if they're not to your liking." which he said in response to this question.
This screen shot is the best example of player's rank over their models. The player in front of the person taking the screen shot is the lowest rank "Private". Also note that you can see the ranks though the map's geometry, as highlighted in the circled area. StandingCow wrote in the FAS News Forum that the icons "also lets you see who on your team is a medic or who has leadership" and "you won't see icon's over enemy players." The icons change color from green to red depending on how damaged the player is which he explained here.
The following is medic icon in detail.
This symbol could possibly be the leadership symbol, but it is to small to make out.
According to Naota, "the overhead icons is not tied to any particular skill, just to save people from any misconceptions. They are also toggleable via client-side cvar if they're not to your liking." which he said in response to this question.
27 July 2008
Naota's New Weapon
Recently, team member Naota's posts in this thread have alluded to the presence of a new weapon. It does not currently have a finished model nor, we assume, fire animation or sounds, but it does exist.
The thread originated as a question about the Pancor Jackhammer being in the official release. Team member Hitman had this to say:
"
The Jackhammer is not confirmed as an official weapon for the game. You'll notice we took the link to the weapons page off the main menu, as our list is being heavily revised. If it appeared on there before, please ignore that, as it's not an accurate indication of what is being worked on for RC1 at this point.
"
Our very own Grunt postulated that the Saiga-12K, of which many of us have fond memories, or a Streetsweeper may take its place. While there have been no confirmations or denials as the the Saiga, Streetsweeper or Jackhammer's status, there have been hints of a new, as yet unknown weapon. According to Naota's post here, he is no longer modeling either a Saiga or Streetsweeper, due to unknown difficulties in constructing the unknown weapon. This trouble is so great as to cause him incredible stress, and if he were to continue without finding a better technique, the model might be ruined.
According to Pork Fried Squirrel, another team member and tester, Naota is just lazy.
Team member Inveramsay tells us this about our upcoming new toy:
"
when this nifty little device of death sees the light of the greater public you will lol, I promise.
It's quite amazing dicipline testers and team have for not uttering a word about this object of pure doom clocking in at a very reasonable amount of credits.
"
I managed to get a hold of Naota on IRC, and the only clue he would give me (after much prodding and guessing on my part) is that it is, indeed, a shotgun.
That's all I have for now. More to come, and hopefully an update soon.
-Z
The thread originated as a question about the Pancor Jackhammer being in the official release. Team member Hitman had this to say:
"
The Jackhammer is not confirmed as an official weapon for the game. You'll notice we took the link to the weapons page off the main menu, as our list is being heavily revised. If it appeared on there before, please ignore that, as it's not an accurate indication of what is being worked on for RC1 at this point.
"
Our very own Grunt postulated that the Saiga-12K, of which many of us have fond memories, or a Streetsweeper may take its place. While there have been no confirmations or denials as the the Saiga, Streetsweeper or Jackhammer's status, there have been hints of a new, as yet unknown weapon. According to Naota's post here, he is no longer modeling either a Saiga or Streetsweeper, due to unknown difficulties in constructing the unknown weapon. This trouble is so great as to cause him incredible stress, and if he were to continue without finding a better technique, the model might be ruined.
According to Pork Fried Squirrel, another team member and tester, Naota is just lazy.
Team member Inveramsay tells us this about our upcoming new toy:
"
when this nifty little device of death sees the light of the greater public you will lol, I promise.
It's quite amazing dicipline testers and team have for not uttering a word about this object of pure doom clocking in at a very reasonable amount of credits.
"
I managed to get a hold of Naota on IRC, and the only clue he would give me (after much prodding and guessing on my part) is that it is, indeed, a shotgun.
That's all I have for now. More to come, and hopefully an update soon.
-Z
27 June 2008
It's not Orange Juice, it's Tang.
FAS uses a 90 degree Field of view (FOV) by default, even though it's not on the Orange Box Engine. FOV is more realistic than the default 75 degree FOV that is standard in HL2.
Source
Source
02 June 2008
More Than One Knife
Consider the following:
Hitman said in the FA:S Forums on the 1 June 2008 News thread "Yes. If you kill someone with a melee weapon or a silenced weapon, and you have stealth, the kill notice is "hidden". The person who died only sees that an enemy killed them (their name shows up as [stealth]), but they can't tell who it was. Nobody else on their team will see the message at all." (Bold is mine).
Hitman eludes to more than one melee weapon by not specifically stating knife in his post. If the knife was the only melee weapon, wouldn't it be more logical to say "with the knife or silenced weapons"? And "a melee weapon" applies more than one instead of "the melee weapon" if the knife was the only melee weapon.
StandingCow said in a thread in the General Section of the FA:S Forums "... and I am sitting here wondering if he will catch that hitman didn't say knife".
StandingCow confirms that we are supposed to realize that Hitman specifically chosen to say "melee weapon" not "knife".
Naota said in a thread in the FA:S Idea forum suggesting more than one knife "Mere words cannot describe how much I support this idea. I follow after it with a will. A terrible, sadistic will. Even if I have to model the larger, meaner knife myself, I will see that such a beautiful tool of murder falls into your hands, good sir!"
Furthermore, Naota detailed the benefit of a second knife (or melee weapon) in the same thread, "A second knife would definitely be an asset to Stealth players, seeing as our current knife has a very short range and isn't reliable at stealth-killing because it takes two hits even with all the trimmings, which usually equates to at least a full clip of ammo dumped into your face (maybe half if you crept up from behind a moving player). Something slow and large or just longer that complimented the double knife damage from Stealth would be perfect because its secondary swing would take something like 1-2.5 seconds to lift up before the (stealth only) killing blow, though the range would be much longer to guarantee that the attack could actually hit through buggy interp or lag. That would make CQC instagibs really difficult while making stealthy kills from behind worth a player's while and filling up that infamous leftover credit or two."
Lastly, in the same thread, thisismyname09 edits a post concerning two knifes, to which DsyPatch replies, "lol lemme guess, you that this was in one of the sekrat forums."
The thread in the Idea forum tells us that Naota thinks idea of a second knife would be a welcomed addition. He even goes so far to outline how it would function, its benefits to the stealth ability and game play as a whole. This is followed by thisismyname09's edited post, to which DsyPatch comments that thisismyname09's post was intended for the Testing/Developer Forum. This could only mean that the idea has all ready been talked about.
The thread in the Idea forum is two months old. If thisismyname09 was going to talk about it in the Testing/Developer forum it would be safe to say they have all ready talked about adding in a second melee weapon before the thread in the Idea forum was posted. This would give the FA:S Team over two months to create and implement a second knife - or melee weapon - for FA:S.
It is important to note that even with the above, melee weapon could actually be something besides a knife. A rifle butt, pistol whip, or bayonet would also be considered melee weapons as well. However, if you consider the above, it would be a safe bet that FA:S has a second knife in its arsenal by the time it is released.
Hitman said in the FA:S Forums on the 1 June 2008 News thread "Yes. If you kill someone with a melee weapon or a silenced weapon, and you have stealth, the kill notice is "hidden". The person who died only sees that an enemy killed them (their name shows up as [stealth]), but they can't tell who it was. Nobody else on their team will see the message at all." (Bold is mine).
Hitman eludes to more than one melee weapon by not specifically stating knife in his post. If the knife was the only melee weapon, wouldn't it be more logical to say "with the knife or silenced weapons"? And "a melee weapon" applies more than one instead of "the melee weapon" if the knife was the only melee weapon.
StandingCow said in a thread in the General Section of the FA:S Forums "... and I am sitting here wondering if he will catch that hitman didn't say knife".
StandingCow confirms that we are supposed to realize that Hitman specifically chosen to say "melee weapon" not "knife".
Naota said in a thread in the FA:S Idea forum suggesting more than one knife "Mere words cannot describe how much I support this idea. I follow after it with a will. A terrible, sadistic will. Even if I have to model the larger, meaner knife myself, I will see that such a beautiful tool of murder falls into your hands, good sir!"
Furthermore, Naota detailed the benefit of a second knife (or melee weapon) in the same thread, "A second knife would definitely be an asset to Stealth players, seeing as our current knife has a very short range and isn't reliable at stealth-killing because it takes two hits even with all the trimmings, which usually equates to at least a full clip of ammo dumped into your face (maybe half if you crept up from behind a moving player). Something slow and large or just longer that complimented the double knife damage from Stealth would be perfect because its secondary swing would take something like 1-2.5 seconds to lift up before the (stealth only) killing blow, though the range would be much longer to guarantee that the attack could actually hit through buggy interp or lag. That would make CQC instagibs really difficult while making stealthy kills from behind worth a player's while and filling up that infamous leftover credit or two."
Lastly, in the same thread, thisismyname09 edits a post concerning two knifes, to which DsyPatch replies, "lol lemme guess, you that this was in one of the sekrat forums."
The thread in the Idea forum tells us that Naota thinks idea of a second knife would be a welcomed addition. He even goes so far to outline how it would function, its benefits to the stealth ability and game play as a whole. This is followed by thisismyname09's edited post, to which DsyPatch comments that thisismyname09's post was intended for the Testing/Developer Forum. This could only mean that the idea has all ready been talked about.
The thread in the Idea forum is two months old. If thisismyname09 was going to talk about it in the Testing/Developer forum it would be safe to say they have all ready talked about adding in a second melee weapon before the thread in the Idea forum was posted. This would give the FA:S Team over two months to create and implement a second knife - or melee weapon - for FA:S.
It is important to note that even with the above, melee weapon could actually be something besides a knife. A rifle butt, pistol whip, or bayonet would also be considered melee weapons as well. However, if you consider the above, it would be a safe bet that FA:S has a second knife in its arsenal by the time it is released.
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