[Dark Eldar] Status as of 5/24/2007

[alf]

I'll be assigning tasks to ppl from the community that volunteer to do them.. as they complete a task I'll update this master list.

The old Dark Eldar thread is now closed (since I need to update the first post on a regular basis)

you can view the dark eldar website at:
http://darkeldar.xv15mods.com

DARK ELDAR MOD DESIGN DOC.

A. Coding
-Not yet Dark Crusade compatible.
-Techtree needs to be a bit redone, to fit in with the DC style.
-Rampage (vehicle) is not yet coded properly
-AE coding base is very good, some adjustment is needed for DC
-Nearly no OE coding (Tim’s department).

B. Art
1. Icons: Most are still placeholders. Once everything is modelled and textured, we can take proper screenshots and make decent icons.

2. GUI: Completely done

3. Buildings: Several artwork done. Dr. Grim and I were doing some more, yet his time became sparser so that was on hold. The idea was to have every DE building (except the Thermo Plasma Generator) mobile and floating. The HQ was supposed to be a landed dark eldar cruiser.

The only (modelled) definite building is the listening post + upgraded versions.

4. Units:
Davisbe did some armypainter work for certain units. I’m not sure which ones, you should check with him. All animated units should be rigged.

Haemonculus
Function: Builder
Modeled: Yes
Textured: Yes. (Only the upgraded weapon lacks textures.)
Animated: Yes, almost every animation is there.

Wych
Function: Fast Meelee unit
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: yes, almost every animation is there

Archon
Function: Primary Commander, Dark Retinue Leader (command Squad)
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: yes, almost every animation is there

Incubus
Function: Dark Retinue member
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: 50% animated

Incubi Master of Blades
Function: Dark Retinue member
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: 50% animated

Dracon
Function: Secondary Commander
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Mandrake
Function: Infiltration meelee, sabotage
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Raven Fighter Plane
Function: used for bombardment animations
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Scourge
Function: Heavy Ranged Infantry
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Warrior
Function: Basic Infantry
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Talos
Function: Siege
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Reaver Jetbike Squadron
Function: fast attack
Modeled: yes
Textured: no
Animated: no

Raider
Function: Troop Transport
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Rampage
Function: Heavy Assault
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Ravager
Function: Gunboat
Modeled: yes
Textured: no
Animated: no

Warp Beast Predator Pack
Function: Relic Unit
Modeled: Yes
Textured: yes (Dr. Grimm has it)
Animated: no

Hellion
Function: Tyco's thoughts: I’m thinking about leaving this unit out, the hoverboards look very odd when in squad
Modeled: yes
Textured: yes
Animated: no

Grotesques (+combat grotesques upgrade)
Function: Meat shields, morale damage dealers, melee tanks.
Modeled: 2 models available
Textured: no
Animated: no


5. FX: Some barrowed from other races, yet almost none available.

6. SoundFX: Some soundwork is done, yet not available for all units. The quality isn’t always that great.

[Tempe]

i'll get onto brother mattias about the icpns fpr ypu

[thudmeizer]

Wow...

So essentially the newly formed DE team needs:

o A small handful of textured units to do
o Rigs and Animators needed
o Buildings need to be addressed.
o Someone like Tyco who knows Dark Eldar like as if they breath to live would help to ensure it stays faithful to TT.

Alright, lets get a plan now and move ahead with this.

[The_Guardman]

Well, I know a lot of the fluff, so if you need help on the matter, just ask
As initial observation, Homuncoli does not fill the builder role well, they should be on par with the IG sub-commanders or the harlequins as efficency. As builders, I see them leading a human slaves unit, or opening portals. Anyway, as for Tau, DEs have no much room for fixed installations and such, so I suggest to keep building at minimum (maybe using Homuncoli with portals FX to directly build units).

Also, having the Archon as "DE CS" can be good, but it should be very well balanced. An Archon in itself is, from fluff and TT, a force to rekon, on par and often able to single hand the mightiest Chaos Lords and Ork Warboss. With retinue, people need a Daemon Prince to stop them. And not always manage to do it!
So, keep this in mind when setting its stats and those of the weaker Archon (that is still a very good fighter).

Warp Beast as "Relic unit"... Donnow. I think something bigger should be here, maybe the Archon himself. While the Beast can be made on par or better than Kroothound, they shoul not go more behind or over those magnitude level. Possesed should be dealt with Whytchs or Archon, or any of the many DE fast (and hard) hitting units.

[AshaD]

Well like I said my forté is testing. I've done a few personal maps but like the one I started for you its proving to be difficult with the revised tools. Plus the fact I had to start again as tha map size I chose to begin with is too small.

I could have a go at making a tech tree if you wanted but i'd need to know what tyco's plans were for unit placement (tier wise) and what sort of upgrades he's looking for.

I still believe the warp beast should remain the uber unit. It's just too goddamn sexy to not be. I'd like to see the archaon to be another necron lord style commander. With the adaptability function.

[Phantom Fox]

Warp Beast as "Relic unit"... Donnow. I think something bigger should be here, maybe the Archon himself. While the Beast can be made on par or better than Kroothound, they shoul not go more behind or over those magnitude level. Possesed should be dealt with Whytchs or Archon, or any of the many DE fast (and hard) hitting units.

Are you sure you are thinking of the Warp Beast Predator and not just the basic Warp Beasts?

http://dawnofwar.filefront.com/screenshots/News/30909/1

It is a unit that is not part of the Tabletop army, so I was not sure if you realized. Sorry if you did.

[thudmeizer]

As far as I remember, that WarpBeast was going to be the DE's Tier4 uber. It could be a Tier3 unit. I had mentioned it would be cool to have the option for the user to create a max 3 of them and each one that gets created gets a unique power or personality. Nice little coding, texturing, and fx job but since its not been done before then .

[Steve08]

Maybe you should use as many Dark Eldar units as possible from the Dark Eldar WH40k army list thing, which I can provide a link to if needed.

Except the special characters, of course. =P

[alf]

We're only using whats been done by the original Dark Eldar Team.. and adding the remaining Buildings..

My original post states what is complete.. or the state of completeness it is in.. for the most part.. it looks Like we need Riggers and Animators, Texture artists and Building modellers, Objec Editor Guru, FX & Sound artist, and a Coder and maybe a building concept artist..

so you see the postiions needed are many.. the way this will work is you post in this thread what you'd like to do.. if you can pass a simple test or have already proven yourself.. then you will be assigned that item on the list.. once you complete that item the list will be updated..

This will be a community driven project and will go at the pace the community wants to help it along.. My Primary focus will be Tau till they are complete.

[thudmeizer]

There was alot of people on the original DE forums who wanted to help out with concepts, fluff, soundfx.. This needs to be explored ASAP.

Lets get this moving DoW community!

[The_Guardman]

It is a unit that is not part of the Tabletop army, so I was not sure if you realized. Sorry if you did.

Maybe I missed a size comparison. Normal Warp Beasts are large as a big dog, so I supposed it is just a bit larger. From your post, I suppose it is something more on squiggoth size...

But, this do not change my opinion. DEs relyng on something non-eldarish as relic unit is crappy exactly as Tau relyng on Gnarloc as relic unit. If you do not know, warp beasts are semi-daemonic entities, living the most of theire life in the warp. When a warp breach open in the older webway sectors, the DEs collect them. Warp Beasts need souls as nutrishment to remain stable in our reality, similar to summoned daemons.
A giant Warp beast is'nt something that happen to be carried around by a Cabal all the days, plus it is not much in line with the DE "pirates" style of fighting. So, it ruin the race feeling.

[Phantom Fox]

I am not going to pretend to know much, but essentially I believe the Warp Beast Predator was selected due to the fact that the army is in sore need of an update. The DE are lacking anything comparable to most of the other possible Relic Units. Most of the units I have heard suggested (not just in this thread, but from when the unit was first introduced) are generally more suitable for other rolls.

And though having a Warp Beast that size is a bit of a stretch, Dark Crusade already has many stretches (IE: The Number of Dreadnoughts it is possible to go through, all Chaos Factions including Emporer's Children summoning the Bloodthirster, Orks being more skilled at range than melee). Though if one were looking to justify it, perhaps the fact that the Dark Eldar using it are strong enough to hold out to tier 4 (I believe their attacks are usually fast) show that they have a considerably more powerful force.

Of course I am sure someone from the Mod team (or former members) could elaborate more than I could. I am just a newb to 40K for the most part anyway.

[Gorb]

This is looking good. I'm all for the Warp Predator Relic Unit. DE don't have much else in their Codex to choose from, unless you start adding in special characters like Vect.

Although Vect would be pretty impressive, imo. Pumped up Archon on a Raider, well, that sounds fluffy to me

I'm here to volunteer my services as an AE coder. I can start off by tweaking the tech tree, and then I can move into the AE work properly, if you like. If at all possible, would anyone be able to host the existing tech tree on Savefile or something, because then I'd have an idea of what the mod originally planned to look like.

[Worsle]

From what I remember of the origonal plans it would be the relic unit of sorts though you would get 2-4 of them as they would not be on par with the others. It is a bit of a stretch but the DE where always going to be a stretch for a relic as they are a raiding army after all and the model did look great.

It is very nice to see this army is being helped in this way too.

[MonkeysHumpFish]

IS it possible to get a beta ??? im sooooo keen right now

[Jianaran]

I would love to help with mapping. I have no real experience, but have completed all the tutorials and would love to try a real mode.

[AshaD]

Well i'm going to attempt to learn animating so if that goes well we'll see where that leads us.

[Kaveman]

I'm am sooo tempted to sign up for this, the dark eldar mod has had a hard time during it's development after all, unfortunately I've still got tonnes of tyranid mod work that needs doing, PLUS absolutely loads of animating for splinterfleetMOD. But if I manage to get that out of the way nice and quickly in a month or two I'll help out with rigging and animation of the models .

[Tyconius]

Thanks for the offers you guys. Seems like some people have questions regarding the techtree (mainly the units), I will elaborate on that. Don't forget, we're already two years in development, it's not like making the techtree consisted of rushed decisions.

Haemonculus: Yes originally, it was supposed to be a commander unit comparable to the chaos sorcerer, yet there had been some problems with the builder units (slaves). Most of our concept designs for the slaves reveiled that they would be too similar to grotesques. So we went for a different approach. The haemonculus is what you might call the engineer in the dark eldar society, in every aspect. They manipulate both the flesh & mind (grotesques) as to actual materials like wraithbone and iron (talos). And since the plan is to involve movable portals as buildings, it would seem more fitting that an actual intelligent being would create them, instead of mindless slaves.

As for building animations, all buildings (except the HQ = landed kabalite corsair) would be brought in via the haemonculus' portable webway device. The plan was to have buildings that are actually more like vehicles, and after an upgrade they would be movable (like the Monolith), due to the raiding style of the army. In the animation itself, you see the haemon tapping her wrist on the mobile webway device, and guiding the building thru the mobile webway gate. Fluffwise, I don't see any problem with that. Dark Eldar and Eldar in general were a very advanced race, and it would seem only logical that they would have such technologies at their disposal.

Archon+Command Squad = Dark Retinue: The Archon itself is very powerful and is only available at T3. The squad members themselves (incubi and incubi blademaster (cc only)) at T4. This is to buffer the other races, since DE don't have a lot of elite units available. It seemed a lot of fun to have an elite command squad running around and kicking ass

Warp Beast Predator: Love it or hate it, the model and Dr. Grim's textures are awesome. It was really hard to find a good Relic Unit since DE don't have anything near it. So we came along with the idea of a captured warp beast, a larger variant of the normal ones (hey even daemons differ in size and appearance!), battlehardend and trained in the wycharena's, and "augmented" by a Haemonculus to be a (durable )monster in battle, since we all know that DE lack armor. The would top the height of a SM, yet would be longer. A pack of 3 would even out against a Bloodthirster statswise.

Honestly, I don't think it would be wise to make a lot of changes to the techtree, since work is already in progress, and time isn't on our side.

Hope this clears some things up.

[The_Guardman]

Tnx for the exensive replies. You have cleared my dubt, and in fact now the idea seem more clear in my mind. And I like it

Anyway, if you need a fluff hand, I'm here to be PM'd to death

[Liger]

If you need any extra hands, then I'm here too. I play Dark Eldar in TT, and I've been really interested in this mod, as the models look fantastic, and I like the direction it's taking on the units too. I have some experience in Attribute Editor, and should also be able to help out in testing if you need it (for balance or unit roles, etc.)

Anyway, I'm really happy to see this project back on its feet. I must admit, I was sceptical about the Haemonculus builder at first, but you've set my fears at rest Tyco. The idea of the Warp Beast predators seems fantastic, I really like the model, and the pack should look brilliant.

One question I have is about the mysterious "Rampage"? What is it? Description says heavy assault - is it some sort of Drednaught type thing?

Anyway, I'll be watching this project with keen interest, and I'm ready to help out in any way I can.

[MonkeysHumpFish]

hmm ill ask again, since i havnt seen it anywhere to not ask, but can we get a beta of it???

[Tyconius]

The rampage appeared in a GW rulebook some years ago, it's a modified raider with one powerful main gun, used for extra firepower.

At this stage, we're still talking alpha. Alf will propably decide whether when it's appropriate to think about betatesting. Besides, it will be a good idea to first ask other mod teams for some good betatesters, since lot's of guys apply for betatesting just to get to play the mod earlier then the rest and don't provide feedback.

[stryer]

Kavey -dont worry about splinterfleetMOd animating anymore...I should be done this month completley with animating.

[Kaveman]

Fair dos! That'll save me some time!

[PwrArmerdZombie]

I can help you in the fluff department, been playing DE for 6 years. Just let me know

PAZ

[thudmeizer]

Community..

We're still looking for Dark Eldar enthusiasts and talented 2d, 3d, fx, sound/music experts and coders to assist over here: http://darkeldar.xv15mods.com/

There really is NOT alot to do and plenty has been done over the last 2years so lets get the dream of Dark Eldar to be realized!

[lunarwolf]

is this still alive?

[thudmeizer]

As mentioned in my message just above yours.. go to the DE website and offer your assistance. I've already sent between 2-3 returning DE elite 3d members back to the project now under Alf's control so its up to Alf to get things moving there BUT remember he needs your help for ideas on that DE site to get things moving. Alf is getting the Tau mod complete so he needs some more people to assist.

[Gorb]

Well, I signed up to the website, but I can't get on. Alf says he fixed it, but it's still not working for me.

I'm stuck, and I really want to help

[thudmeizer]

How do you mean? Get on? U mean register there? If so.. yeaa I better speak with Alf on that. DarkEldar has some work to be done to make significant headway.

[thudmeizer]

Update..

Alf refreshed the cache on the DarkEldar site..

Everyone who would like to help this incredible project be reborn again and see its completion.. PLEASE get to these forums! Let us know if there is a problem!

[alf]

I have looked at it many times.. I just went through and manually activated all the user accounts.. + tweaked things a bit.. please delete your cache and try again..
http://darkeldar.xv15mods.com

[Gorb]

Aha! Thanks for that!

Gorb is registered and ready to help!

[Natus_Rex]

Where are you guys with this? Can't wait to see what you've got. Any tidbits you can tell us about?

[alf]

I currently Have lots of concepts for buildings.. (I'll post them soon) and Buildings are being modeled.. At the moment I'm real busy with work so things have to take a backseat for the moment..

[chenxihao]

Do the warp beasts come in a single squad or as 3 separate units? A relic squad would be unique; although, having three separate mini relic units that can act on their own would offer a unique method of using the relic unit(s).

[Deunan]

I have an old account on the DE site, yet I forgot the password

and the problem is, that whenever I try to make it email a new one,
I receive no email .

Otherwise, it's greatto hear, that the dark eldar are still alive and kicking.

And I wanted to ask, will you be also adding some map scenery?

[thudmeizer]

And I wanted to ask, will you be also adding some map scenery?

The DE team have a custom map artist who is passionate about DE objects and maps so YES!

[Stargorger]

I would love to help and contribute, but I have no idea how to register on your site: the link doesn't appear in the news file, and it won't let me get to the forums page.

I know this is kind of a secondary priority for the DE mod, but you will need it eventually: I would love to do some voice/voice acting for the guys. I could upload it to you in sound bits and see what you think, although e-mail may be easier.

I would also like to be able to post some concept art for buildings, and be able to discuss BO, tech-trees, upgrades, etc...

[thudmeizer]

PM Alf on relicnews here OR PM me and I'll let Alf know asap. Alf is busy with finishing the GREAT TAU mod but Dark Eldar work continues.

[Deunan]

The DE team have a custom map artist who is passionate about DE objects and maps so YES!

Would it somehow be possible to first release a pack of the map scenery, so that De maps might spring up, even before the mod comes out fully?


Just asking

[Stargorger]

Alright! And now for a semi-update.

Pending Alf's approval of some scripts and sound files, I will be doing voicework for the Dark Eldar mod. As per Thud's suggestion, Later this afternoon I will edit this post and submit some "preview" files for the community, to guage your reaction. Some are multiple versions of the same line: this is so you guys can see which ones you like better and which ones you think fit the race more.

On a whole I tried to go with a energetic, corrupt kind of feel: sort of like a mixture of Chaos and the Eldar. (And then adding in the love of pain bit.) As I've beenr ecording them, I've been going off a list of scripts I drew up, rather than going on a unit-by-unit basis, which means that a lot of them are currently just "generic" sounds: IE, the generic "Attack" sound, and so on. Only a few are character-specific, and I will post one to see what you think.

They will be up later this afternoon around 4:00 PM EST. Hope you like them!

[Stargorger]

As promised, here are the sound files. They're all saved as mpgs, so I hope that works for everyone. Again, these are mostly generic sounds. The last one is a select sound for the Grotesques. Enjoy!

(Attack 01)
http://www.savefile.com/files/951491

(Attack 03a)
http://www.savefile.com/files/951492

(Attack 03b)
http://www.savefile.com/files/951493

(Attack 07)
http://www.savefile.com/files/951494

(Select 01)
http://www.savefile.com/files/951495

(Select 05)
http://www.savefile.com/files/951496

[mdcertainty]

@Stargorger
Thanks for the sound samples. I like "Attack07" the most. The others are okay imho.

[Stargorger]

Cool. Glad you like them. Yes, more feedback like that is exactly what I need. I want to find an overall flavor that goes well with the race, so any suggestions are mui mui welcome.

[Deunan]

I probably like attack one the most (07 the least ), but would it be possible to let the sound run trough some effects a bit?

To slightly mask the gender and make it typical eldar aloof.

[Stargorger]

Yes, to an extent. To mask the gender? Eh... perhaps. Although, since most of the units in the DE mod are going to be male... I don't see how that makes too much of a difference. I'm not going to be doing the voices for the Haemonculi or Whychs, I don't think. And even in the tt, most of the other figures are male.

As to scrambling the voice... yes, I can play around with that a bit. I'm hesitant to make it too synthetic though, for fear of them sounding like Khorne Berserkers. But I will look into it. As to aloof... as far as I've seen in the books, the Dark Eldar aren't really aloof: arrogant, of course, and proud, of course, but that's more on an individual level. Dark Eldar don't really seem to think little about the other races, probably because they don't think about them at all. If anything, they're just viewed as flesh to torment. I can try, but I think "bored" would be a better word ;-)

Thanks for the input!

[thudmeizer]

Very much appreciate the voice work, SG! Bravo.. so very much look to this part of the project!

[Deunan]

Yes, to an extent. To mask the gender? Eh... perhaps. Although, since most of the units in the DE mod are going to be male... I don't see how that makes too much of a difference. I'm not going to be doing the voices for the Haemonculi or Whychs, I don't think. And even in the tt, most of the other figures are male.

If you listen to most of the male voices of eldar, you can see that they're somewhat gender ambiguous - this is best seen among Fire dragons, where it's almost impossible to tell weather they are male or female.

It's more a shift towards the supposed panzyness of eldar. Their gender differences are suposed to be less clear than human ones - like elves.