Large S.T.A.L.K.E.R. inspired Island "NOVA ZONA"

[nikiforos 450]

Topic started : Nov 5 2012, 17:03

??

[meshcarver 12]

?? What's that man?

[nikiforos 450]

No I'm just curious if you released anything because I can't find anything to download. It has been a very long time since you introduced this mod so it feels strange that I can't find anything yet.

Of course I respect your work and don't take this the wrong way :)

[meshcarver 12]

Oh, no probs man... I thought it was pasted by accident or something.

Yes, it's been ages, but because of RL work/commitments etc I must've had literally only about 4-6 months tops of actual uninterrupted development time...

There's a longish post a ways back that goes into depressing detail about my situation if you'd like to find out...

Fyi, I won't be releasing anything until it's all finished as a complete map.

Edited January 22, 2015 by meshcarver

[PuFu 4600]

No I'm just curious if you released anything because I can't find anything to download. It has been a very long time since you introduced this mod so it feels strange that I can't find anything yet.

Of course I respect your work and don't take this the wrong way :)

i am still waiting for that something made by you nikiforos.

3 years to create an island from scratch, together with the its assets and content, for a single lad working full time creative job (as in not a 9-5 job), is nothing out of ordinary...

so to put it mildly...get a grip and get your act together...

[nikiforos 450]

@meshcarver I respect your job man no need to explain things :)

PS

Finally I got my first infraction :(

[haleks 8212]

Hi guys,

quickie reply as RL crap again getting in the way of NOVA ZONA dev time... :(

I didn't use any CC as I remember..? Just basically set the time to 1986, made it December at around 4pm (ish) and ramp the rain up and also added the FOG command thingy..? That's it for a lot of them... I don't even know if I'll be able to get this kind of look in the final map (absolute noob in that regard) but if I can do it in the editor, then SURELY I could replicate it in the final map settings..? Yes, no..?

Yes sure (well I think so); I was under the impression that some CC were involved - probably because I never realized most of the screenshots were taken with the same settings! ^^

[meshcarver 12]

Hi guys,

aye, what Pufu says is correct- for example, yesterday after a busy day I managed to squeeze in 2 hours Dev time on NOVA ZONA- and that was after I was burnt out from the day so you can imagine the difference in output if I won the lottery/found some gold coins in a field and was enabled to go full time on this.

This is how it is though- I know this situation is not unique to me but I have so many comments and emails making reference to the time it is taking that every now and then I feel like I must address the issue. I know people are only wanting to find out if they can get it in their hands faster because they are interested in what they see so I don't resent their comments/requests but it does get a bit difficult replying.

Bottom line is this: I have masses of motivation for NOVA ZONA- it's my absolute passion, but again, what I don't have is masses of funding and on the back of that comes time. That's as simple as I can phrase it.

Thanks for your post Pufu- it's good to know people understand the sheer volume of assets alone needed to create a new map.

[inlesco 233]

meshcarver, great progress on the map and its assets! I'd love to see in motion, even as a pre-alpha!

Btw, are you planning to release your map assets separately from the island, so people can enhance their own terrains?

[haleks 8212]

meshcarver, great progress on the map and its assets! I'd love to see in motion, even as a pre-alpha!

Btw, are you planning to release your map assets separately from the island, so people can enhance their own terrains?

It's maybe a bit early in the project to ask something like that? Besides, once Nova Zona is out, you can just set it as a dependency for your own terrain.

[meshcarver 12]

++ INCOMING TRANSCRIPTION OF SHORT URGENT DISTRESS CALL RECEIVED [13 OCTOBER 2015 11:51PM] FROM NORTH EASTERN WARD, NOVA ZONA... TRANSCRIPTION AS FOLLOWS:

"...OF US! ONLY MYSELF TEAM LEADER OSCAR DELTA LEFT- MOVING! MOVING MOVING MOVING! MORE THAN ONE- MOVING! REPEAT THEY ARE MOVING- HOW CAN? BEARING DOWN ON ME... THEY'RE DESIG!- I WA..."

TRANSCRIPTION ENDS // RECEIVED ALONGSIDE DISTRESS CALL WERE THREE CAPTURED IMAGES BELIEVED TO BE FROM TEAM LEADER OSCAR DELTA. OSCAR DELTA NOW ASSUMED DECEASED. MESSAGE ENDS ++

++ CAPTURE_01 ++

++ CAPTURE_02 ++

++ CAPTURE_03 ++

[tokyoindia 18]

:butbut: I'm not sleeping tonight.

[13islucky 10]

Great, living scarecrows. Thanks to you I'll probably spend quite some time here in GMT+0700 thinking of that.

P.S. Also, was that in-game? The rusted n' busted car gives me that impression.

[serjames 357]

Great stuff..... :@-)

[meshcarver 12]

++ YOUR TRAGIC PROGENITORS: THE DESIGNATORS ++

With the Designators, I wanted to create something that would be iconic of NOVA ZONA. Something that when you see it you should think "Hey, that's on NOVA ZONA isn't it?!"

I had them in mind a long time ago, but they also needed to fit the back story 100% and look striking too. I decided to go with the simple "less is more" approach, and after a long design process ended up preferring the stickman look..!

It's weird- they may not look like it, but it took a long full circle of design ideas to get back to the basic forms you see here...

In a nutshell, the Designators are locational markers (to designate a spot) placed at the area where bodies were found after the Event. The Event killed everyone and everything 2 minutes after it had started so there were no survivors- people had no time to pack, find each other or hide. There was utter panic and they fell where they where- huddled together in classrooms, standing in their homes as a family or caught out in the open running in blind terror.

Years later, when the Island Authority (Who continued to monitor Border Island from a distance) discovered the blight was slowly spreading, they mounted an operation to return and try to contain what they thought was spreading from the centre, in the location of what's now known as the Feeders.

They started to erect a huge containment structure like a vast wall and placed Designators at the locations of all the bodies they discovered across the landscape for research purposes and record.

Each Designator was structurally symbolic of the body found- there were female, male, military, Island Authority Personnel and infant Designator frames. In addition, each had its own label of the corpse's details attached.

When it became apparent that containment wasn't working and had zero chance for success, the Island Authority dropped everything and left Border Island for ever. It was soon after declared a no go area, or "New Zone"- and NOVA ZONA was born.

I'm currently working on ways to make the Designators not nice to be around. As it stands, my plan is to have these guys impossible to approach on risk of death...

If you get within a certain radius of them, then you'll start to deteriorate rapidly- vision will deteriorate and so will your health levels. If you don't evade them you will rapidly die from these effects.

Also, when you're looking at these, and lets say trying to get past at a distance then nothing will happen- just don't approach them. But, if you turn your back or lose sight of them- they could move closer to your position. You will know if there's movement in your vicinity if you hear a long low metallic scraping behind you...

It's early days with these guys, but hopefully someone in the Addons Configs and Scripting section section can help me with this side of things- I haven't got a clue..!

Anyway guys, I hope you like the idea of the Designators. I'm really happy with how they turned out- I stuck a few around a village randomly last night and went in with nothing but a torch light and it scared the s*&t out of me- and they're not even doing anything right now..! They look bloody freaky in a field at night lol... ;)

Thanks for your continued interest in NOVA ZONA- I know it's taking a while but I'm working on it.

Edited January 25, 2015 by meshcarver

[Defunkt 431]

That sounds (awesomely) terrifying, great work meshcarver. It's going to take a long time to bring this to fruition but as long your inspiration and execution remain at this level it's going to be well worth the wait.

[suds420 179]

Your work is amazing Meshcarver! However long it takes you will be well worth the wait. I once waited 6 years for a damn book to come out, this will be a breeze. Lol

[meshcarver 12]

[Fushko 59]

And now I'm hyped all over again

just thinking about all the spooky scenarios and situations that could be possible there, just wow

[inlesco 233]

Nice Slendermen you've got there, Mesh! Looking forward to teaching them a lesson once dispatched on NovaZona :D

[13islucky 10]

Great, that's even more unnerving than living scarecrows. And they move too?

[Sanya 97]

Music from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

[kilo1-1 1]

This looks to be an amazing project that you are working on, Mesh! I am a huge STALKER fan and I can't wait for this to be released. One question though. So in addition to making a new terrain and assets to your terrain, you are also making new custom AI entities to go along with it? Am I reading everything correct? If so, this is going to be extremely hard to wait for.

[das attorney 858]

They don't look scary to me! ;)

[meshcarver 12]

@ Inlesco- Cheers dude. Yeah, I might release the assets separately, but only after NOVA ZONA has had a good run all by itself as a package- otherwise I think it'd become "diluted" too quickly and would perhaps lose its appeal.

@ Pepe Hal- Aye, it is early days mate and not much dev time is the all important factor to consider when guesstimating a release date..!

@ TokyoIndia- Great stuff, wait until you see them creeping up behind you in the dark and rain with nothing but a torch... it is f&*^g unnerving to say the least..!

@13isLucky- Aye mate, all in game. I see now they look like scarecrows/slendermanish/stick people which is fine by me- freaky as hell..!!! :)

@serjames- Thanks man..!

@Defunkt- (Lol avatar) Yeah, they're pretty scary when you get too close and it will take a long time sadly...

@suds420- Cheers dude- it must have been a good book to wait that long..!

@FrankHH- Yeah man, with these they present an interesting dynamic indeed. I've been testing a few quick situations with them and goddamn they're hard to handle in numbers..! Even a single one will give you a jump..!

@Inlesco- Aye, they look like slendermen when you get them at night with a torch in a field or hidden in a bush... good luck on teaching them a lesson- they're made of metal..! ;)

@13isLucky- Aye.. they move... they mooooooooooove..!

@Shurka- Nice man, I am in love with the STALKER games..!

@Kilo1-1- Glad to hear you're looking forwards to this. Aye, these Designators will be AI Entities that you'll be able to place on the map but then it's down to you to deal with them...

@Das Attorney- Das Attorney is the man who is making this ALL happen.

After spending only a few hours on a script for the Designators he managed to make me actually jump and shout out in my chair to my embarrassment..!!! He has a lot of great ideas for their behaviour and potential so I'm picking his brains for all its worth..!!!

Really, it feels like an immense step to have some actual moving life given to NOVA ZONA in the form of the Designators and I can't thank you enough for your time and effort man and I incline in your general direction sir..! :)

In a nutshell, the Designators are entities that, if you find yourself in their vicinity, you will have to TRY to keep them in your sight- turn your back on them and they could start to approach you... muwahahahahahahaaaa..! :dead:

Edited January 26, 2015 by meshcarver