Q&A 6 - Now with PICTURES
Posted 1 decade ago by Fortress Forever Team
Welcome to Week 6 of our community Q&As, where you ask the questions and the devs answer them!
This week is full of a lot of questions that even we don't really know the answers to. We try to keep you guys in the know for development of new features, but a lot of things are still in the early planning stages. Saying anything definitively about many of the subjects covered today would be a mistake to say the least!
As always, feel free to drop down to our forums and ask a question yourself - we love to hear them, and while we don't answer every single question posted we certainly read them!
Special thanks to our correspondent Shadow00Caster for his fine photography featured in this week's Q&A.
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Question 1 (Dinosaur Gas, Hirohito):
When will FF comply with the Half-Life logging standard so programs like HLStatsX can work with the mod? Has there been any progress on the stats system?
Answer 1:
FF is currently focusing on upgrading to the Orange Box for a future patch. If we decide to implement the logging standards required by HLStatsX it would be after the OB conversion. Patch 2.2 is a possibility, but of course we are looking at our own solutions for stat tracking (as we have since before the public release) that would render a third party plugin like HLStatsX unnecessary for Fortress Forever.
The Orange Box upgrade brings a lot of new prospects to the mod, and stats are something that we'll be looking at.
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Question 2 (Firefox11):
AvD dustbowl style maps will get a fixed time limit, like 22/23 minutes just like in TFC to avoid 60 minute long rounds on some servers or shorter rounds than usual? Also, are there any plans on increasing the last CP point value to 50 to match TFC's?
Reasoning behind that: 5 points to Defense per minute = 110/115 points for a complete hold in 23 minutes rounds, but Offense only gets 30*3 = 90 points total for all three CPs. If the last CP is worth 50, a last second capture ends in a tie, since Defense did resist the whole timer but Offense captured just in time. (Also, I think this is more fair that Offense winning, Defense is harder and they held the HQ...)
ff_dustbowl
Answer 2:
The devs are currently discussing how we should handle scoring and the round timer for AvD maps. We have not reached a decision as of now.
Update by Nezumi: We're going the TFC route where the lua forces the round to end after a fixed time limit. Right now, Dustbowl and Anticitizen are both at 25 minutes, although either may be balanced up or down before release. The scoring is set up so the defenders get the same amount of points for holding until the end that the attackers would get for capping all 3 points. So no more confusion.
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Question 3 (chilledsanity)
What's the new ETA for bots coming out?
Answer 3
As many of you know, Dr. Evil is working on the bots. They'll be released in a future FF patch when he thinks they're ready for primetime. And if you're wondering about it... sorry guys, but bots don't have any chance of making 2.1.
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Question 4 (Firefox11):
Will the Pyro get a way of increasing burn level without having to use all three weapons?
Burn Level 2 in action!
Answer 4:
This is something that's been debated a good bit in the beta and dev forums. There are many possible ideas being tossed around, but unfortunately none of them will be implemented for 2.1.
Despite what a lot of people think, we do look at the Ideas & Suggestions forum. Some of us read it obsessively.
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Question 5 (Kubedawg):
Are there any new options or menus being added to the Fortress Options selection while in Fortress Forever?
Answer 5:
Short answer, not in 2.1.
As for 2.2 and beyond, we have a lot of ideas. We've faced more than a few questions this week where we couldn't really tell you guys very much, so I hope this will make up for it.
One of the ideas being kicked around is to create a folder for storing all of your customizations for FF - custom weapon models, custom background image, etc. Swapping out files is so 1998, so instead we're looking to let you choose your models from a list.
Exactly how complex this feature will be or when it will be implemented, we don't know. Patch 2.2 will probably be our most ambitious patch yet and really improve on the user friendliness and customization of the mod.
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And now, an interview with the ever lovable squeek.!
Ihmhi: The first question I always ask - how did you get to be on the dev team?
squeek.: Busted my way in basically. I got invited to the beta team by 4est, and just took it upon myself to get started on a training mode. Then AfterShok invited me to the dev team after I actually succeeded (surprisingly) in doing some cool stuff with Lua and whatnot.
Ihmhi: So Lua was your primary focus as a dev? You're well known (infamously, by some people's considerations) for your FF maps.
squeek.: I guess I was the only non-dev doing new stuff with Lua. Lua certainly wasn't my biggest focus when I joined the team, but it is a big part of making a training mode, so I guess by extention is was a big part of my initial focus. Now, I am doing a whole bunch of different things, though.
Ihmhi: As an aside, I'd like to state that so far 100% of the devs interviewed have taken a minute or two to carefully write out their answer. I'm looking forward to jon's interview solely because he will disregard that consideration entirely.
squeek.: rofl
squeek.: expect a lot of PEE PEE in jon's interview
Ihmhi: Well, I expect jon to say random and funny things like that, but I don't want to question him because I'm pretty sure he can shoot me from a couple hundred yards out.
squeek.: haha
Ihmhi: On the mapping front, there's a running joke that your maps are the ones that killed FF. (Personally, squeek_dm is one of the most fun maps in FF, and I have a boner for myth). As a mapper, what's your opinion on that?
ff_myth - Ihmhi (and many others) have a boner for this
squeek.: It's definitely true. My only rival is Darkness24713 with his controversial masterpiece: emulation_r3
Ihmhi: I love that map. It was hard to beat but I eventually figured it out.
squeek.: ;)
Ihmhi: The first person I interviewed was Pon, who is a Lua coder. Before he came along, you had an insane workload for many community, beta, and dev mappers. I personally owe you a lot for the Lua coding you've done from me, and I'm sure there's many mappers that can say the same. What I'd like to hear (and I'm sure many of the people you've helped as well) is why you've been so eager to help out with Lua coding for maps which is, frankly, a huge pain in the ass. Is it because of the challenge, the personal rewards for creating something that works from scratch, benevolence, etc.?
squeek.: Hm... I guess it was kind of my way of giving back to people that had helped either me or the community. Lua was completely new to me before FF, so I guess it also was a challenge-type thing, but mostly it was just helping out those who helped others. By the way, I owe a lot to Pon and others (A1win, Crazycarl, etc), who provided working examples of Lua before I even knew how to add backpacks in pitfall.
Ihmhi: Fuck! I forgot about A1win for a sec there. A1win helped me out a lot too. I hate how we have this awesome talent in our community and they tend to disappear and come back again and again (A1win, Nezumi, Sh4x, etc.).
Ihmhi: I think we have let a bit of our community who was talented sort of go unnoticed, but recently the devs have been grabbing up talented people in the forums (some who've applied, some who haven't). Do you feel this is a change in the "meh, recruiting" habit of the FF Team, or was it just a burst of additions out of necessity?
squeek.: I'm relatively new to the team, but before the huge influx of new dev members, the dev team (or lack of one) was very restrictive about a lot of things (like adding new devs). That has changed quite a bit recently, though, and we've been adding new devs like mad. We had the need for new dev members for a while, so once we got the access to we went a bit crazy.
Ihmhi: Yeah, but everyone has been pulling their weight for the most part, haven't they? I think that active and constant recruiting is necessary to deal with the attrition of devs mod teams often face.
Ihmhi: Speaking of dev attrition, could you ever envision yourself not having time to dedicate yourself to dev work on FF like you do now?
squeek.: Well, I'm starting school in a bit and will likely get a part time job as well... but I don't see myself going away completely for quite a while--I still have a lot to work on.
Ihmhi: Ah, so you're one of those people who actually finish projects they've started. Basically, the polar opposite of me.
squeek.: Not always, but I'd like to this time.
Ihmhi: Good to hear. So, I'm going to go Barbara Walters on your ass and ask a Serious Business question. You and some of the beta testers have been at odds on more than one occasion on nearly every thing we've done, and you almost always stick to your guns. Do you believe such an intense rivalry is conductive or harmful to the beta testing and development of a game?
squeek.: I like to think I'm not completely stubborn, and I doubt my position very often. It just so happens that this time things seemed to have worked out. Everyone basically is in agreement about the general balance of the game at this point, and it feels good. After all the headbutting in the beta this time around, I think we might have finally stumbled upon a good way of going about things. The process (this time) might have been ugly, but the end result is quite impressive.
Ihmhi: So you're saying that conflict is actually good for mods? I agree with you on that particularly matter - if everyone was amiable and followed along without questioning anything, we'd never have anything interesting get done.
squeek.: I think compromise is important. Legitimate conflict isn't that great, but having people with differing viewpoints working together is something we need to keep.
Ihmhi: I'll be drawn and quartered by the community if I don't ask this - when training will out? I know the generic joke response is "when it's done", but anything you can let slip to give them an idea of what you've done so far would be really nice.
squeek.: Training is a massive undertaking. With a game as complex and deep as FF, it's really difficult to get something I'm happy with. I've gone through a couple revisions and multiple ways of teaching concepts, and there will likely be even more major changes I'll make along the way. However, I've been doing some other things besides working on training in preparation for 2.1. After 2.1, I'm going back into the training workshop and am going to hammer (puns are hilarious) this thing out once and for all.
Ihmhi: As a newbie mapper I understand that there are physical limitations to maps - a maxiumum amount of brushes (the basic building blocks of map geometry you can have), models, displacements, etc. Simple yes/no question leading to another - will training be completely single player?
squeek.: Simple questions aren't something I do. I'm not totally sure whether or not training will be multiplayer. It's possible, but I'm still undecided. As of right now, I'm only working on it as though it were single-player only.
Ihmhi: Since it's going to be single-player, wouldn't spanning it across multiple maps make the possibilities as infinite as you'd like them to be? I think that might be best considering the scope of the game.
squeek.: Sure, that's always been an option. Whether or not it's necessary is yet to be determined. Infinite possibilities are tough to handle, and those possibilities were the primary reasons why the prior training mode attempts never saw the light of day.
Ihmhi: Ah, one of those "don't know where to start" situations. That's starting any project, and it's daunting to pick where to begin for many people.
Ihmhi: So, two final questions for you.
Ihmhi: The first was related to me via Clem - I randomly asked him to give me a question that you would find difficult to answer, and it is (paraphrased): "What is your opinions of fountain pens, and what chance do they have of getting into FF?"
squeek.: Fountain pens are cool. They write good. They are also already in FF, you just haven't found them.
Ihmhi: Well, I guess I'm not looking hard enough. Well, the last question is this. Clem hasn't done his interview yet, so here's your opportunity to return the favor. Insert any question you'd like for me to ask Clem and I'll make sure he answers it. d:
squeek.: Who are you?
squeek.: :)
squeek.: make sure to include the smiley
Ihmhi: Haha, I will, I will.
Ihmhi: Well thanks for talkin' with me and lettin' the community get an insight into what you do!
squeek.: no problem chief
Discuss on the forums →
View all news posts This week is full of a lot of questions that even we don't really know the answers to. We try to keep you guys in the know for development of new features, but a lot of things are still in the early planning stages. Saying anything definitively about many of the subjects covered today would be a mistake to say the least!
As always, feel free to drop down to our forums and ask a question yourself - we love to hear them, and while we don't answer every single question posted we certainly read them!
Special thanks to our correspondent Shadow00Caster for his fine photography featured in this week's Q&A.
Question 1 (Dinosaur Gas, Hirohito):
When will FF comply with the Half-Life logging standard so programs like HLStatsX can work with the mod? Has there been any progress on the stats system?
Answer 1:
FF is currently focusing on upgrading to the Orange Box for a future patch. If we decide to implement the logging standards required by HLStatsX it would be after the OB conversion. Patch 2.2 is a possibility, but of course we are looking at our own solutions for stat tracking (as we have since before the public release) that would render a third party plugin like HLStatsX unnecessary for Fortress Forever.
The Orange Box upgrade brings a lot of new prospects to the mod, and stats are something that we'll be looking at.
Question 2 (Firefox11):
AvD dustbowl style maps will get a fixed time limit, like 22/23 minutes just like in TFC to avoid 60 minute long rounds on some servers or shorter rounds than usual? Also, are there any plans on increasing the last CP point value to 50 to match TFC's?
Reasoning behind that: 5 points to Defense per minute = 110/115 points for a complete hold in 23 minutes rounds, but Offense only gets 30*3 = 90 points total for all three CPs. If the last CP is worth 50, a last second capture ends in a tie, since Defense did resist the whole timer but Offense captured just in time. (Also, I think this is more fair that Offense winning, Defense is harder and they held the HQ...)
Answer 2:
The devs are currently discussing how we should handle scoring and the round timer for AvD maps. We have not reached a decision as of now.
Update by Nezumi: We're going the TFC route where the lua forces the round to end after a fixed time limit. Right now, Dustbowl and Anticitizen are both at 25 minutes, although either may be balanced up or down before release. The scoring is set up so the defenders get the same amount of points for holding until the end that the attackers would get for capping all 3 points. So no more confusion.
Question 3 (chilledsanity)
What's the new ETA for bots coming out?
Answer 3
As many of you know, Dr. Evil is working on the bots. They'll be released in a future FF patch when he thinks they're ready for primetime. And if you're wondering about it... sorry guys, but bots don't have any chance of making 2.1.
Question 4 (Firefox11):
Will the Pyro get a way of increasing burn level without having to use all three weapons?
Answer 4:
This is something that's been debated a good bit in the beta and dev forums. There are many possible ideas being tossed around, but unfortunately none of them will be implemented for 2.1.
Despite what a lot of people think, we do look at the Ideas & Suggestions forum. Some of us read it obsessively.
Question 5 (Kubedawg):
Are there any new options or menus being added to the Fortress Options selection while in Fortress Forever?
Answer 5:
Short answer, not in 2.1.
As for 2.2 and beyond, we have a lot of ideas. We've faced more than a few questions this week where we couldn't really tell you guys very much, so I hope this will make up for it.
One of the ideas being kicked around is to create a folder for storing all of your customizations for FF - custom weapon models, custom background image, etc. Swapping out files is so 1998, so instead we're looking to let you choose your models from a list.
Exactly how complex this feature will be or when it will be implemented, we don't know. Patch 2.2 will probably be our most ambitious patch yet and really improve on the user friendliness and customization of the mod.
And now, an interview with the ever lovable squeek.!
Ihmhi: The first question I always ask - how did you get to be on the dev team?
squeek.: Busted my way in basically. I got invited to the beta team by 4est, and just took it upon myself to get started on a training mode. Then AfterShok invited me to the dev team after I actually succeeded (surprisingly) in doing some cool stuff with Lua and whatnot.
Ihmhi: So Lua was your primary focus as a dev? You're well known (infamously, by some people's considerations) for your FF maps.
squeek.: I guess I was the only non-dev doing new stuff with Lua. Lua certainly wasn't my biggest focus when I joined the team, but it is a big part of making a training mode, so I guess by extention is was a big part of my initial focus. Now, I am doing a whole bunch of different things, though.
Ihmhi: As an aside, I'd like to state that so far 100% of the devs interviewed have taken a minute or two to carefully write out their answer. I'm looking forward to jon's interview solely because he will disregard that consideration entirely.
squeek.: rofl
squeek.: expect a lot of PEE PEE in jon's interview
Ihmhi: Well, I expect jon to say random and funny things like that, but I don't want to question him because I'm pretty sure he can shoot me from a couple hundred yards out.
squeek.: haha
Ihmhi: On the mapping front, there's a running joke that your maps are the ones that killed FF. (Personally, squeek_dm is one of the most fun maps in FF, and I have a boner for myth). As a mapper, what's your opinion on that?
squeek.: It's definitely true. My only rival is Darkness24713 with his controversial masterpiece: emulation_r3
Ihmhi: I love that map. It was hard to beat but I eventually figured it out.
squeek.: ;)
Ihmhi: The first person I interviewed was Pon, who is a Lua coder. Before he came along, you had an insane workload for many community, beta, and dev mappers. I personally owe you a lot for the Lua coding you've done from me, and I'm sure there's many mappers that can say the same. What I'd like to hear (and I'm sure many of the people you've helped as well) is why you've been so eager to help out with Lua coding for maps which is, frankly, a huge pain in the ass. Is it because of the challenge, the personal rewards for creating something that works from scratch, benevolence, etc.?
squeek.: Hm... I guess it was kind of my way of giving back to people that had helped either me or the community. Lua was completely new to me before FF, so I guess it also was a challenge-type thing, but mostly it was just helping out those who helped others. By the way, I owe a lot to Pon and others (A1win, Crazycarl, etc), who provided working examples of Lua before I even knew how to add backpacks in pitfall.
Ihmhi: Fuck! I forgot about A1win for a sec there. A1win helped me out a lot too. I hate how we have this awesome talent in our community and they tend to disappear and come back again and again (A1win, Nezumi, Sh4x, etc.).
Ihmhi: I think we have let a bit of our community who was talented sort of go unnoticed, but recently the devs have been grabbing up talented people in the forums (some who've applied, some who haven't). Do you feel this is a change in the "meh, recruiting" habit of the FF Team, or was it just a burst of additions out of necessity?
squeek.: I'm relatively new to the team, but before the huge influx of new dev members, the dev team (or lack of one) was very restrictive about a lot of things (like adding new devs). That has changed quite a bit recently, though, and we've been adding new devs like mad. We had the need for new dev members for a while, so once we got the access to we went a bit crazy.
Ihmhi: Yeah, but everyone has been pulling their weight for the most part, haven't they? I think that active and constant recruiting is necessary to deal with the attrition of devs mod teams often face.
Ihmhi: Speaking of dev attrition, could you ever envision yourself not having time to dedicate yourself to dev work on FF like you do now?
squeek.: Well, I'm starting school in a bit and will likely get a part time job as well... but I don't see myself going away completely for quite a while--I still have a lot to work on.
Ihmhi: Ah, so you're one of those people who actually finish projects they've started. Basically, the polar opposite of me.
squeek.: Not always, but I'd like to this time.
Ihmhi: Good to hear. So, I'm going to go Barbara Walters on your ass and ask a Serious Business question. You and some of the beta testers have been at odds on more than one occasion on nearly every thing we've done, and you almost always stick to your guns. Do you believe such an intense rivalry is conductive or harmful to the beta testing and development of a game?
squeek.: I like to think I'm not completely stubborn, and I doubt my position very often. It just so happens that this time things seemed to have worked out. Everyone basically is in agreement about the general balance of the game at this point, and it feels good. After all the headbutting in the beta this time around, I think we might have finally stumbled upon a good way of going about things. The process (this time) might have been ugly, but the end result is quite impressive.
Ihmhi: So you're saying that conflict is actually good for mods? I agree with you on that particularly matter - if everyone was amiable and followed along without questioning anything, we'd never have anything interesting get done.
squeek.: I think compromise is important. Legitimate conflict isn't that great, but having people with differing viewpoints working together is something we need to keep.
Ihmhi: I'll be drawn and quartered by the community if I don't ask this - when training will out? I know the generic joke response is "when it's done", but anything you can let slip to give them an idea of what you've done so far would be really nice.
squeek.: Training is a massive undertaking. With a game as complex and deep as FF, it's really difficult to get something I'm happy with. I've gone through a couple revisions and multiple ways of teaching concepts, and there will likely be even more major changes I'll make along the way. However, I've been doing some other things besides working on training in preparation for 2.1. After 2.1, I'm going back into the training workshop and am going to hammer (puns are hilarious) this thing out once and for all.
Ihmhi: As a newbie mapper I understand that there are physical limitations to maps - a maxiumum amount of brushes (the basic building blocks of map geometry you can have), models, displacements, etc. Simple yes/no question leading to another - will training be completely single player?
squeek.: Simple questions aren't something I do. I'm not totally sure whether or not training will be multiplayer. It's possible, but I'm still undecided. As of right now, I'm only working on it as though it were single-player only.
Ihmhi: Since it's going to be single-player, wouldn't spanning it across multiple maps make the possibilities as infinite as you'd like them to be? I think that might be best considering the scope of the game.
squeek.: Sure, that's always been an option. Whether or not it's necessary is yet to be determined. Infinite possibilities are tough to handle, and those possibilities were the primary reasons why the prior training mode attempts never saw the light of day.
Ihmhi: Ah, one of those "don't know where to start" situations. That's starting any project, and it's daunting to pick where to begin for many people.
Ihmhi: So, two final questions for you.
Ihmhi: The first was related to me via Clem - I randomly asked him to give me a question that you would find difficult to answer, and it is (paraphrased): "What is your opinions of fountain pens, and what chance do they have of getting into FF?"
squeek.: Fountain pens are cool. They write good. They are also already in FF, you just haven't found them.
Ihmhi: Well, I guess I'm not looking hard enough. Well, the last question is this. Clem hasn't done his interview yet, so here's your opportunity to return the favor. Insert any question you'd like for me to ask Clem and I'll make sure he answers it. d:
squeek.: Who are you?
squeek.: :)
squeek.: make sure to include the smiley
Ihmhi: Haha, I will, I will.
Ihmhi: Well thanks for talkin' with me and lettin' the community get an insight into what you do!
squeek.: no problem chief