An update on the mod
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's time someone somewhere said something. We've had people on the forum mentioning waivering confidence and wondering at what's going on. So I shall explain.
First, what is.
The main texture artist is essentially Mit Gas. He's been stymied by RL projects for school, as I understand it. We have an artist who was recommended to us by Thudmeizer to help with textures. He may end up doing work for the buildings, some of which MrD has constructed, but have been textured for the most part already.
Darth Vaygr has had issues in RL which were very serious. While he hasn't told us (as far as I know) that they have caused him to drop out of the mod, he hasn't been heard from in a while. He was one of our coders. Hraefn, being the withered coder encased in the venerable dreadnaught of the 1k sons code-only mod, a man who helped bring this mod very far, has been swallowed up by work, and doesn't seem to be able to continue the coding. Mit Gas is going to start looking for new coders this weekend. Hopefully that will bear fruit. Thudmeizer is assisting us with AI, and he is still in contact with us.
Animationweis, I'm still here. We brought on 2 new animators, one named E-X, and the other who's name escapes me. E-X had to crunch for E3, but seems to be back involved again. He does some great stuff. I haven't been working as much as I'd like, since I had to put together a portfolio for a job hunt, and now that I've gotten exactly nowhere with that, I've basically got nothing else to do but work on this mod and play WoW. I'm sure you can see the difficulty *there*. But god willing and the creek don't rise, I will pull myself away from my warlock.
Modelingweis, MrD is around, but seems to be otherwise occupied. I didn't get the explanation, but he has not been active recently. However, chances of getting in contact with him are decent, since he's Mit Gas brother, and Mit is around. Also, MrD has probably done as much or more work for this mod as Mit Gas, and it's not entirely unrealistic to expect that he's done. Luckily, we're almost model-complete (unless we decide to redesign the architecture, but more on that later).
uh... levelweis, Taco is still around. He's having fun with his level. I don't know where the other mappers went off the top of my head.
Kman and arew among others show up browsing our forum occasionally but don't seem to say anything.
Second, What's done.
Modeling wise for troops we're basically complete. We have 1ksons, screamers, flamers (might need adjustment), termies, sorcerors, cabal sorcs, sorc lord, LoC, and dreadnaught. I don't recall if mit wanted chaos LRs or what. I know we don't have a spawn that we planned on putting in. Oh, and the cultist/builder replacement (thrall wizard) was modeled, but I don't recall if it's done or not.
Modeling Building wise (gebaude), we're either close or need to start over. We have this slate look, but MrD and Mit made noises about not liking the direction (it's a little too stargatey), and we may want to reconcept and try again. This is sort of C-drawer though, considering participation. At the very least, I suppose, we can finish out the style we have, release, and then redo the buildings later.
Animationweis, we're redoing the 1ksons, but supposedly they're done or close to done. Screamers are done. The termies have been shown walking, I don't know what state they're in. The dread is about 60%. It has 'infrastructure' anims done (meaning wandering around, aiming, shooting, weapon swaps, that crap), but it needs more hth, sync kills, and fidgets. The Sorc lord is pretty crazy. I'd say 80% on him. I want to add more casting animations and such. Part of the problem with him is I'm not sure if he needs extra animations for special powers or not. We'll see. Some of the casting animation can be adapted easily. He'll need testing, regardless. So 80%, but maybe lower, depending. Uh what else. The rest I think hasn't been touched yet. I started rigging the termie sorc, but there was confusion about who was assigned what. We'll sort it out. I have plenty to do in the mean-time anyway.
F/X wise, we're 25% of the way. We have inferno bolts and the dying effect for the sons. The problem, really, is that these effects are old, and the update to tools might require a remake. In addition, we need the stuff for the sorc lord, new spells, and the chaos spawn. Also the construction FX (like falling sand or something).
Code wise. This is probably the baddest of the news. We might have to start over. As far as we know we don't have an up-to-date working version of the game. My test mod is from 2 years ago. So that gives you an idea right there. It was feature complete for the original spec, but a couple new things snuck in (bolters on rhinos for example. Chaos spawns from bolts of change) and those weren't completed. Either way, since we're looking for new coders now, they'll probably have old stuff to work with, or if not what is basically starting over. Unless we can get ahold of what Hraefn had when he was updating the mod.
Third, what will be.
This mod will be completed. There has not been any dispute, regardless of attrition about that fact. Mit and Mrd provide a powerful driving force, and I'm still on the forum moderating it to within an inch of insanity (2.3 cm). There has been no discussion of stopping, the original mod members are still around, though there has been turnover. We have prospects for new people, and intend to deliver something creamy and delicious.
There is still life in the old girl yet. Keep in mind, the second expansion isn't even out yet. In alot of ways, we had to start over from the last one (see code, not having any), so, sadly, things aren't as far as we'd like. We've also taken units and animation back to the drawing board, so there's time lost there. We talk a big game, and want to deliver. Good tea takes time, etc. I appreciate your frustration, since it means that you're eager for the mod, and that beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. However, in keeping with our well known bad-boy image, I must say I hate you, and your entire filthy family.
Beta is a ways off. As before, beta will probably be open to anyone who seems to have a brain and use it (anything more substantial than a comatose marsupial level of cerebral activity), and likes our forums. Our forums, once again, are located at
http://www.thousand-sons.com/forums, and are treacherous. Read the FAQ and the rules. The liking-our-forums thing is a personality filter, and it's not really something I can explain. You'll see. It's not a suck-up thing. We can't stand suck-ups. But it makes more sense and is easier to get a community of people together for beta testing rather than just casting a net everywhere and praying for people who want more than an earlier release.
let's see.. what else...
Originally Posted by Deathbunny
An update on the mod
Still have a few in my hopper. ThousandSons *MUST* get to the beta stage in due course.. too much amazing stuff has already been done. Plus, dying to see these dudes being used by the Skirmish AI.. :omg:
