The Time Of Ending - A 40K defence mod - Version 0.1.1

[nathaniak]

http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/nathaniak/Untitled.jpg
Mod status: Suspended
Current version: 0.1.1
Expected time until next update: Ages
http://www.mediafire.com/?ug9nm1wyw9i8q

Ok. Due to issues in that distant realm known as Real Life, I can no longer allocate the time to work on this mod. I may continue to add new content every now and again, and will probably update it every few months to keep up with patches. I hope to continue with this mod fully when a good time appears.

--------------------------
-Legal-
--------------------------

This mod is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited.

Adeptus Astartes, Blood Angels, Bloodquest, Cadian, Catachan, the Chaos devices, Cityfight, the Chaos logo, Citadel, Citadel Device, Codex, Daemonhunters, Dark Angels,
Dark Eldar, 'Eavy Metal, Eldar, Eldar symbol devices, Eye of Terror, Fire Warrior, Forge World, Games Workshop, Games Workshop logo, Genestealer, Golden Demon, Gorkamorka,
Great Unclean One, Inquisitor, the Inquisitor logo, the Inquisitor device, Inquisitor:Conspiracies, Keeper of Secrets, Khorne, Kroot, Lord of Change, Necron, Nurgle, Ork,
Ork skull devices, Sisters of Battle, Slaanesh, Space Hulk, Space Marine, Space Marine chapters, Space Marine chapter logos, Tau, the Tau caste designations, Tyranid,
Tyrannid, Tzeentch, Ultramarines, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k Device, White Dwarf, the White Dwarf logo, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters,
vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Warhammer 40,000 universe are either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2010, variably registered
in the UK and other countries around the world. Used without permission. No challenge to their status intended. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.
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-Changelog-
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Version 0.1.1
General
-Fixed programming error that stopped custom maps from appearing
-Changed the appearance of the 'Campaign' button on the main menu

Version 0.1

General
-Added 'Desert Fort' map
-Added 'City' map (incomplete)
-Removed all heroes from the game

Tyranids
-Only hormagaunts, termagaunts and rippers available from base
-All above units deployed at no cost
-All above units with offensive AI

Eldar
-Removed all units from offensive HQ in preperation for armoured guard
-Changed offensive hq entity to small bunker

Orks
-Ony sluggas and shootas available from base
-All above units deployed at no cost
-All above units with offensive AI

-Space Marines
-Moved tactical marines and devastator marines to T3 in defensive HQ
-Removed all other space marine units from defensive HQ
-Added (from left to right) infantry squad, grenade launcher special weapons squad, plasma gun special weapons squad, conscripts and captain (WIP hero)

Chaos
-No changes

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-Other Information-
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Mod made using Cope's DOWII Toolbox V1.83
Mod packaged using Cope's DOWII Toolbox V1.83
Mod designed for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Chaos Rising V2.4.2.5229
Images edited using Paint.NET V3.5.5


What is The Time Of Ending?[/B]
The Time Of Ending is a defence mod set in the darkest days of the Imperium of Man, as the 41st Millenium draws to a close. From all sides, the greatest empires fall upon each other in a desperate battle for domination. From the galactic east, and the hive fleets of the Tyranids, to the Eye of Terror, where the pure Warp meets reality, in the west. In 744.M41, Taggarath, the Seer of Corrinto, predicted this time, where the light of the Emperor would fade from space, swallowed by an approching darkness, calling it the Time of Ending.

What will the gameplay style be like?
Firstly, races will have an attacker and a defender faction. The game will automatically place the right HQ on the battlefield. The defender will be able to select his forces from a variety of troops, whilst the attackers will be limited two or three selections of swarm troops (e.g. for tyranids; hormagaunts, termagaunts and ripper swarms). I will create scenarios with different levels of difficulty with multiple enemy bases. If I can get a defensive AI working well I will create scenarios where you have allies.

You will build troops with the intention of holding your base for as long as you can against hordes of enemies including the odd elite enemy if I can get it to work. I am probably going to cannibalise the victory point system to provide a countdown option.

Will you be using all races?
Yes, with a couple of exceptions. Firstly, due to my knowlage of the background, I feel that Space Marines and Eldar are not suited to a horde attack. As such, the Imperial Guard replace the SM, and mechanised IG (using SM vehicles, as some regiments do) replace the Eldar, both in the attacking race. If there is demand, I will release a version with SM and Eldar as offensive races. Secondly, there will be SM in the defensive Imperial army, but more 'fluffy' marines, alongside Guardsmen.

How will heroes and globals fit into this?
Actually, there will not be heroes deployed at the start in this mod. Instead, each race will get only a starting unit which will take the place of the hero. The defender will be able to deploy heroes from their base later into the game. You will only be able to use one hero at a time.
On globals, attackers will have abilities that spawn more elite enemies at the base, and I am planning to give each offence race a weak nuke as well. For defenders, I am still thinking about which abilities to add, but all races will probably have a global that deploys a turret, as well as a nuke of some sort, and maybe some reinforcement abilities.

Will you be adding custom maps for this mod?
Yep! For one, this mod will not really work on default maps, with both sides ending out as the attacker! I aim to have at least 5 maps in the first release, designed with defence in mind.

When will this mod be released?
Simply put, I'm not sure. You can probably expect some sort of release before the end of the month, but I cannot garuntee it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAEAYOzeWcg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8QJS3m_SHw

[Calgar]

Wow this sounds good, can't wait for a release...or maybe I can as it will give me time to get my laptop fixed as it is pretty much :tomb:

[DannyLee94]

Sounds good, care to go into some further description? It sounds like a cross between the Legendary Dark Crusade with DOW2's current gameplay, am i right in saying this?

Also, how similar will this mod be to the original DOW2 Vanilla campaign? will we be able to travel to different planets in the subsector, under attack?

Finally, would you go into more detail as to how the SMs will appear? as i dont really understand how they are not a main playable faction.


Thanks, looking good!


(BTW, any screenies on the way?)

[boneless1]

Will there be Imperial Guard :)?

[nathaniak]

To DannyLee94: The mod is currently for multiplayer mode. I do not currently have experience of editing the campaign aside from replacing wargear/squad entites. But if I do work out how in one of my forays into modding, I will implement it.
In regards to SM, essentially IG will replace SM, but SM 'fluffy' marines will be available to build for the IG defense faction. So as well as Guardsmen you will able to build a couple of SM units (probably tactical, scout and heavy bolter devastator)I did not include SM as an offensive faction because I thought that hordes of SM being cut down by squads of defenders would be unsuited to the GW representation of SM as elite, surgical strikers.
I have actually literally only just started working on the mod, so no screenshots at present. I hope to release some in a week or so, real life permitting, as well as eventually some sort of trailer via YouTube.
To Boneless1: Yes, IG will be playable as both an offensive and defensive faction, and an offensive 'armoured guard' (using SM vehicles, really hope they at least put in tanks for the modders in Retribution) with stormtroopers disembarking from Rhinos and Razorbacks supported by Predators.

I am currently developing the first map, so I can balance the game (and run it without all attckers, actually)

http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/nathaniak/WIP1.png
This is the defender's part of the first map I am working on. Lighting has not been baked yet - shadows will not be as dark in release version
News! In first version release, at least one offensive and one defensive races will be included, probably more. However, I can announce that the first offensive race is...
Tyranids!
And the first defensive race is...
Imperium! I'll have hopefully finished Eldar as well!

[Shuma]

Sounds awesome, i love Defense mods. Also, tanks shouldn't be that hard to make, at least imo the animations for the Space Marine tanks could be used for some Imperial Guard tanks. I'm just saying that in case another modeler appears, i don't plan to do anything Ig related until after Retribution comes out, i mean what if the IG get a whole lot of stuff in Retribution(they did get new stuff in Chaos Rising)? i'd just be wasting time. Besides, if i get more stuff to work with in Retribution the first thing i'd do for the IG is

Death Korps

[SargeX]

It looks and sounds great so far. Can't wait to see more. Keep it up.

[nathaniak]

Well, I'm touched. I am slightly (well, a lot, actually) nervous that I will not live up to your expectations.

[Shuma]

I think we all go through that nervous state when we start working on a mod. ;) Think about it this way, even on the off chance that you screw something up you can just update and fix it later.

[nathaniak]

Yep. On news, I have completed the first map (a desert map, images coming soon!) and I believe I have finished the Tyranid attacking HQ units (hormogaunts, termagaunts and ripper swarms). Seeing as there will be loads of them, I have changed costs and squad numbers. Now, on to the hard part - editing the AI file so they attack you en masse instead of a squad at a time.

EDIT
Ok. I have a (kind-of) working game! I have set up the Tyranids as an offensive race, and they work. I have squads of 'nids attacking on the map Desert Base into a position with plenty of cover to defend. I have recorded a video of it and will post it when it has finished uploading. It's hopelessly unbalanced - I lost all units within 3 minutes!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq4rfODNbMo

Sorry for the bad quality

[Bastonne1]

This sounds awesome. For the defense, the attacker should have to destroy barricades (like defender-controlled walls, things like that) to get to the defenders forces (it is a desert base, after all). Can't wait for Guard.

[nathaniak]

Good ideas Bastonne. Only problem is, for some reason, the enemy simply do not attack unless there is a direct route to your troops.
On news:
The second offensive race to be completed to a playable standard is...
Orks!
Just so you know, globals and heroes will prbably not be enabled in the first release unless you really want me to. Heroes will be purchased from the HQ like units. There will be a limit of one hero. When he goes down, it will get up by itself. I will probably use the same heroes as in the standard game, except for the Guard/SM faction, which will have two Guard heroes.

[Bastonne1]

on the direct path issue: perhaps make the direct path have mines to slow the enemy down? and then also have the un-mined path with barricades in the way?

ORKS! YES! the awesomest race in DoW 2 (and yes, I know not everyone agrees with me). WWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!

[Godlike_Power]

Edited Post-due to lack of reading properly *sigh*

So far so good. Keep up the good work.

[nathaniak]

Trailer Released! See first post!

EDITED 11th October:
IG are coming along well! See below for images on the four T1 squads!
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/nathaniak/PlasmaSpecialWeaponsSquad.png
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/nathaniak/InfantrySquad.png
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/nathaniak/GrenadeSpecialWeaponsSquad.png
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/nathaniak/Conscripts.png

[Squab66]

ah this looks like it will be fun could I recommend having chaos as a offensive race like 90% cultists 10% marines or something like that I look forward to beta testing

[nathaniak]

Yes, chaos is under construction.
One large problem. Closing the world-builder and then re-opening a saved map removes the ability to bake them. This happens because I renamed the starting location file by adding '_defence' so defense spawns a different HQ with different squads. However, after saving the world builder annoyingly seems to load the default game files instead of the mod game files which it does at first. So, desert base map done, one part-completed urban map in game, works but fails.

[Squab66]

ive got a small idea for defence global ability cost:75 global duration:60sec affect create a temporary barrier with grants a cover bonus to allies and reduces nearby enemy movement speed and is impassable

[nathaniak]

Version 0.1 released! Offensive reces are tyranids and coward orks (I am struggling to disable their retreat ability), while defensive races are Imperium (on SM). All other races should be as normal, although that will change, except offensive Eldar, who are WIP mech guard with no units available. There is no balance as of yet, and any feedback is appreciated. Finall, always set offensive races to expert difficulty!

[taka]

I have trouble loading the mod/specific maps (maybe im being a noob).

I've installed as per instructions, but I can't seem to find the two maps as specified. I load using the launcher and load up a local game - but then its just the usual stuff.

I've tried with copes launcher things aswell but no luck. :(

any ideas what im doing wrong?

[nathaniak]

Hmm, will investigate

EDIT: Seems to work fine for me. OK, do it manually. Open steam, and create a desktop shortcut for DOWII or CR. Right click on it/properties, and under 'target' try adding

-modname TOE

or

-modname "TOE"

or

-modname 'TOE'

The first one should work, but either the second or third (I wasn't sure, so I put both) are needed for certian operating systems (methinks you have Vista?)
The same principle applies to all mods, but you change TOE for the module name.

[taka]

nope: same as before, game loads and everything, but cant find the maps.

when it loads its the exact same as normal CR

also -modname 'TOE' crashes my game

maybe im doing it wrong some other way, here's what i do:

load it up with shortcut/exe provided
multiplayer -> local game
host
then can't find the maps :S

[ChaosUnDevided]

I don't know if you haven't put it in yet, but I can't seem to be able to play as the Imperial Guard. I'm pretty sure you have it working, as I took a look at your files (Sorry, I had to). and I saw that you had the guardsmen stuff loaded in, but when I try to play, I can't find them, and up in the change log, it said that you had them implemented.
Thanks in advance.

[nathaniak]

Hmm, Guard are only for defence (slot 1) at the moment - and you have to be SM

Taka - do you have a single space before -modname? You should, sorry if I did not make that clear, so as in

drive:c/stuff/file/steam/filename/more stuff/game number -modname TOE

If the mod is working, first sign you shall see is that when you go to MP, the place where the hero goes will be blank. You can't yet actually tell from the main menu if the mod is loaded (am working on that, though; expect a few changes as the versions go on)

[Squab66]

when i load it via steam with all of those command phrases it there are no new maps so i load a normal one as fc and there is no hero as there is supposed to be or global s and the same units available as normal

[nathaniak]

Did you scroll down right to the bottom of the menu?

[taka]

gah! no luck, tried it and still nothing

do you mind posting up a full list of instructions step by step? I keep getting the normal game

you have no idea how much i wanna play this!

[GADefence]

A hopeful idea - make it possible ot have mutiple people play defender, that way you could have 2 or 3 people vs 2 or 3 AI spawns. Would be nice to play with people. (Kinda like Killteam but with armies as opposed to heroes)

[ChaosUnDevided]

Still nothing. I tried to manually play it, but still no guard. In fact, the only two races that appear to be modified are the Eldar, and the Tyranids. Though it is amazingly fun to rush space marines with endless waves of gaunts. I'll try to reinstall the mod.
Keep up the good work.

[nathaniak]

That shouldn't be happening!:nervous:

GADefence: It should be quite simple to make maps where you have multiple attackers/defenders. An additional advantage would be that I can correspondingly scale up the numbers of enemy bases, so you can have a mix of enemies, or leave the ally slots empty and have 3x the number of enemies at you!

I'm just starting work on Chaos Offence. I have decided to get the offensive races working first, so I can nerf of buff the defensive races to balance them.

EDIT:
From now on, all versions of the mod will be available online, including a larger 'full file' version which should work if you're having no luck with the archive version, at http://www.mediafire.com/thetimeofending

[THJT-9]

I seem to be having the same problem as ChaosUnDevided and taka. SM is completely normal bar no heroes, and changes only appear on Eldar (havent checked the Tyranids yet) Will try downloading from the new link and see what happens. Also, I have no new maps or game modes.

EDIT: I can't get it to work with the new file either-Still no map or SM working.

[nathaniak]

OK, found the problem. It's, guess what, my fault. Yes, I know, :disgust:.
I copied the maps from the wrong folder. So, Version 0.1.1 should be out within an hour, with no bugs present. Remember Guard will only work on defence, and also remember that the element which allows that means any saving execpt auto-save immediatly makes maps un-bake-able, but I do have a new map WIP for V0.2, which should have offensive Chaos, and probably some changes to defensive Eldar as well.

If anyone that knows the fluff has any ideas about the defensive options please tell me.

[taka]

I managed to get it working :D

however, ive come across a problem which happened on several games, and that is that around after 11-15 minutes, the enemy stop spawning and nothing happens.

I was using SM, against tyranids

[ChaosUnDevided]

Taka, you have to sacrifice a squad. You move them out a certain distance and there will be a gigantic swarm of enemies just sitting there. It's like the AI forgot you were there.

[taka]

Nope - didn't happen.

i even managed to send my whole army to kill off their base - thats the only way to end the game. its as if the enemy ran out of resources and couldn't spawn or something.

[ChaosUnDevided]

Yeah, I just recently noticed what you meant by that. On other maps, they don't stop spawning, they just forget that you're there and build up near the middle.
Also, I got it working, its a real blast to play Guard. Thank you.

[nathaniak]

Ok, I'll try to sort out that problem - I think I know what causes it.

[nathaniak]

Ok. Due to issues in that distant realm known as Real Life, I can no longer allocate the time to work on this mod. I may continue to add new content every now and again, and will probably update it every few months to keep up with patches. I hope to continue with this mod fully when a good time appears.

[GAY_WEED_DAD_69]

Eh, is this supposed to not work?
Since when i launch it, every thing appears to be transparent, and skirmish doesen't work
Same with the imperial assault mod, any idea what causes this?

[nathaniak]

EDIT:
Try this:
http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?254918-Error-starting-game

Do you get this error with no mod active?

[GAY_WEED_DAD_69]

No, the game starts normally without your mod.
But when i try to run it, half of the models appear to be missing
so are textures, and i'm unable to play skirmish or anything.

[nathaniak]

Hmm, no idea what causes this. Did you try re-logging in to windows live and accepting the new terms.

[GAY_WEED_DAD_69]

Okay, so i turned shaders to low, turned off anti alias, and turned off shadows
now it's normal
I have no idea what causes it.