The Alpha Commander

I also thought you can't choose, but actually you can. Click on the commander picture - not the one in the main menu, but the little one in lobby, when you joined the server.

So I'm guess in this case you forgot? It's been a couple of months now and the thread is much older than that so.....yeah, what's going on with rigs?

Mike

Was that really two months ago? ... and the original question was posed in mid July?

Talk about swept under the rug.

Mike - No real information. At this time, we're pretty happy with the Alpha, though that doesn't mean we won't revisit him. You're gonna start seeing a bunch of other commands show up in the not distant future, and once we have a selection of commanders to look at for each of the base four rig types, it's be a good time to talk about it more in detail. Regarding the Alpha himself, however, I wouldn't count on him changing, at least not for now. I'm sure we'll see a "modded" one in short order, regardless.

And Nano, remember what I said about histrionics? Seriously, get over yourself. Swept under the rug. Good grief.

So basically you've decided to no pursue a system that has more variety built into it and are sticking with the Rigid skeletons?

Remember, the visuals of the Alpha was only a portion of my concerns

Mike

Modding tools couldn't come sooner, eh?

Apologies. I saw this thread pop up again and brought back a lot of forgotten feelings.
... little on edge.

I'm actually getting a little worried on that front as well to be honest, I'd love to do a Day1 Mod for PA, but I need time to do it and the clock is ticking.

Mike

That's not really realistic, and never has been. You can certainly do a lot of planning for it, but we've said for a long time now that we're unlikely to release the server until launch. Other than client UI and informational style scripting, you'll need what the server provides via script to meaningfully modify the game.

However, to modify the asset itself, you pretty much could do that yourself already. Most of the information is already there, and exposed in the client to modify just the model for something. Obviously, you can't modify any details about it, but I've manually changed models in our engine myself. Heck, we even include papatran.exe already in the build. (I may be missing a step here, but I don't think so)

If Steve is ok with it, I'll even ask the artist who did the original Alpha model, and the one currently in game, to post what he made. I'll try and remember in the morning.

I get the idea about not having the server available, but at the same time if we don't get much in details about how modding will work it'll be that much harder to get mods out sooner. I gues this means that the talk about working with modders pre-release turned out to not be feasible and/or poor wording then?

Also this raises the question of what is the point is behind the Modder Application in light of this, if we can't actually "mod" until after release what purpose do the applications serve then?

Mike

As always, Mike, it's the fine line between providing as much real information as we can, without promising things we're not sure we can deliver, at least in a timely fashion.

For modding, we expect a fairly extensive suite of mod tools (edit: Mod tools = API calls and hooks into the server) to be available at launch. There's a good chance that before launch, we'll provide information here on the forums as to what you can expect - we've had one engineer working on nothing but server modding for over a month now. And that's not the only work that's ever been done on it, just the last big batch of work focused on nothing but that.

Once we have that far enough along, I expect we'll be able to start to document more about the server modding, so as you said, the modding community can start to prepare for release. I don't have an exact timeline, but this falls under the category of "something we consider hugely important to the game".

So then I'm still curious on the point behind the Modder Application in light of this, if we can't actually "mod" until on/after release what purpose do the applications serve then?

Based on what was originally said the application makes sense, but now it doesn't really.

Mike

Well, in that case, it really is a matter of "we have our reasons for asking for those applications". Just the time frame in which we're using them is a little different than originally anticipated.

Will there be official Modders and non-official modders??
I'm sort of curious too as to why i posted an application. (i know you just said "we have our reasons" but damn curisoity is getting the better of me.. lol
Was it to help you guys get an idea of the skills of some of your modders and an idea of the areas of the game they wish to change/modify.

Then it's less of an application and more of a questionnaire, which is fun but still claiing it an application is kinda misleading.

But what is the purpose post release when anyone can mod anyways? Like I said, the Application make sense in the context of 'working with modders pre-release', even in the context of the potential for having a system for monetizing mods it doesn't really make sense because as talked about here, it's the final product that's being reviewed for eligibility, not the concept/team.

I'm just trying to make sense of all this here because it frankly very confusing and changes aren't being well communicated.

Mike

If I was in a position to provide more details about the reason for the application process, I would guys. I know it's confusing, and the main reason for it is it's something we can't discuss right now. I hope, once we're able to go into a bit more detail, it will be clear why. Don't mean to be vague, but as transparent as we do attempt to be, there are some things we need to keep to ourselves until we're ready.

As soon as we're able to provide more explanation around the original purpose of the application, I trust it will make sense. But it has no bearing on the simple question of "can I mod?" Everyone will be able to mod if they choose to.

I guess at this point all I can say is that I hope it'll be worth all the confusion.

Mike

I'm sure some people won't think so. But it was an idea we had, and ultimately, we think it will be a good one.

Interesting thread. I think the discussion is good if a bit painful for everyone involved. Compromise is never easy or perfect even if it is necessary.


What are the things below the guns on the Delta and Alpha Commanders? I never noticed them before and now I am noticing they are on all the commanders as well. Maybe they are weight distribution stabilizers.



Here's some pretty good resume art for the Alpha Commander by Matthew Renolds:

I like how the weapon arm is closer to the concept art, but it lacks the cool red power cell of the delta commander.

I really like the ape design for the commander on the left shown below. That should be cool to see animated with him lifting one arm to lathe. He will probably need to have his uber cannon turret mounted on his back, so he can kite, move and shoot:

Thanks for sharing that with us Mike. Has there been any updates on him since you last checked?

Will this guy make the cut? I have a hunch he won't. I kind of see him as a pre-concept of the alpha commander.

In this early photo most of the concept Commanders don't have shield arms like they do now:

I hope the commander from the kickstarter does make it into the game... regardless if he was a rough model. lol.