Lost Dragons - Total Modification Alpha

[SavageCDN 231]

Wow somehow I've missed this being released in the past.. looks great and nice to see some more sci-fi futuristic stuff. Downloading now to check it out.. do the mechs suffer from the same issues as the @WAP mod ones (difficulty with movement and getting AI to drive them properly)?

[sonsalt6 105]

Updated mod 0.1.99 available at withSIX. Download now by clicking:

[HorribleGoat 1473]

Wow somehow I've missed this being released in the past.. looks great and nice to see some more sci-fi futuristic stuff. Downloading now to check it out.. do the mechs suffer from the same issues as the @WAP mod ones (difficulty with movement and getting AI to drive them properly)?

Currently I don't think AI can use the walkers as the leg unit remote control mechanism is not yet automated but have to be used via the user action menu. When that works I would believe AI can drive them. That is our goal anyway.

Our walker differs from the others I've seen by its structure. All walkers Except the Spider Wanzer in Arma 2 have been made from a tank class unit where ours is combination of a man (the legs) and a tank (the torso) thus the walking will behave much like walking with any man in Arma. The current version has basic forward and backward movement but more will come. The driver of the walker actually takes remote control of the "man" legs while driving.

Also Big thanks to Foxhound and Sonsalt6!

[Gaulc21 10]

how does one connect the walker peices?

[zachgibson22 3]

Awesome stuff guys! I love the futuristic approach so much!!! I really wanted to do something almost exactly like this(Just MORE futuristic) haha!

If you need help with things like weapons(Looks like you've only got a couple :P) I would absolutely love to help out! Even if it was just couple guns at least!! PLEASE email me zachgibson22@gmail.com

Here is some of my work on Deviantart http://zachgibson22.deviantart.com/gallery/43569332/GUNZ

Also here are some models i did for the JTAC/ATLAS mod! (This has more than just weapons)

http://imgur.com/a/wFVyK

I'm not as active in Arma anymore but I still have a passion for modeling and I'm actually going to school for it now(All images are from me being self taught).

But back in the day I wrote one of the bigger Arma3 weapon modding guides for weapon importation so I KIND of know what's needed ;)

(http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?154474-Zachs-Full-on-guide-to-Custom-Weapons!)

FYI, Now I absolutely hate the process of importing to Arma though because of how much I did it back then. That's probably why i grew away from Arma lol. (So Obviously I'd rather just crank out the models.)

I still love modeling though and would love to make some original futuristic guns! So PLEASE email me if you want another modeler! Don't message me on here because I probably won't be back on for another month or few.

And if you don't message me, Good Luck on this endeavor, And We all look forward to this amazing idea!

....just need to update Arma and test it!

[HorribleGoat 1473]

how does one connect the walker peices?

You just need to put the legs on the map! The torso should appear automagically when the map starts!

The readme file has more detailed explanation.

@zachgibson22

We're pretty much self taught here too! Great that you have opportunity to go to a school to study all this too. You have some talent there.

Pretty much anyone can do stuff that fits LoDR scifi environment so model away! I have some stuff sketched up but not in enough organized way to make any requests so if you come up with cool stuff Im happy to take a look and process 'em when time allows. I'll throw you an email when I get a chance.

[zachgibson22 3]

Awesome I'll think up some ideas. Also I read on another thread about your plans on things like solar farms, comms towers, ect. Have you already done things like these?

Lastly, I just want to get clear up the setting. Like what the current technology is. Are there lasers yet? Holograms/and that sort of holographic stuff? It's on earth? (If not you totally need a new beautiful sky map with planets in the distance!!! Or if it is on earth, the mood should be shattered!) Has the area been occupied recently? ie was it abandoned? Overcome by nature/the jungle? Can land vehicles hover?

I'll think up some concepts and run them by you? ALSO, is it just you working on this?!

EDIT: Nvm I saw your grav bike idea.

[HorribleGoat 1473]

Awesome I'll think up some ideas. Also I read on another thread about your plans on things like solar farms, comms towers, ect. Have you already done things like these?

Lastly, I just want to get clear up the setting. Like what the current technology is. Are there lasers yet? Holograms/and that sort of holographic stuff? It's on earth? (If not you totally need a new beautiful sky map with planets in the distance!!! Or if it is on earth, the mood should be shattered!) Has the area been occupied recently? ie was it abandoned? Overcome by nature/the jungle? Can land vehicles hover?

I'll think up some concepts and run them by you? ALSO, is it just you working on this?!

EDIT: Nvm I saw your grav bike idea.

We are a team of three with 2 modelers and 1 coder. Graphics production has been divided so that Im making the Opfor side and my brother works on the Blufor and we both work on the rest. Both sides cover the Opfor/Blufor salvage companies players start with and the Old war sides that have fought on the map in the past.

The setting is not on earth. New Eden is a lush jungle covered world and there just about anything is possible. We have tried to maintain a bit crude and functional look in our tech, especially with the military vehicles and steered away from the flashy light tech.

Couple of laser concepts on trial and but high energy weapons are mainly kept as vehicle weapons. We do want to make them, but it depends on how we can implement them in Arma since the current weapons are all ballistic. We do have stayed away from plasma weapons though. Lasers, railguns other beam weapons maybe, more conventional missiles and ballistics are all in.

Hovering vehicles will be done and the most largest space craft might have some sort of energy shielding. Shields have been on the table but not decided yet.

Hologram and such also yes, no reason not to. The map will be almost completely dark in the beginning since almost all power sources will be offline. Different events may trigger power to come online though.

The planet itself is long abandoned and partly covered with battlefield where Old War relics wait to be found, some in bad shape, some in better.

I've also been tinkering with new foliage and have some plants already made as you can see in our pictures, new sky textures are definitely something that the map needs but I've had no time to decide what it should look like, latest visions have had asteroids in it. Since I'm also our map builder I do have pretty strong concept built in my head for it, again time constraints have kept me from making it real just yet. :D

Since we have already divided the military tech to keep the design consistent we don't currently need those, but structures/ nature/ civilian things I could take a look at. Also we do think our mod as a platform anyone can build scifi* mods on (*or anything else), so even if we don't put in something in the main mod doesn't mean it couldn't be optional addon.

[zachgibson22 3]

We are a team of three with 2 modelers and 1 coder. Graphics production has been divided so that Im making the Opfor side and my brother works on the Blufor and we both work on the rest. Both sides cover the Opfor/Blufor salvage companies players start with and the Old war sides that have fought on the map in the past.

I've also been tinkering with new foliage and have some plants already made as you can see in our pictures, new sky textures are definitely something that the map needs but I've had no time to decide what it should look like, latest visions have had asteroids in it. Since I'm also our map builder I do have pretty strong concept built in my head for it, again time constraints have kept me from making it real just yet. :D

Since we have already divided the military tech to keep the design consistent we don't currently need those, but structures/ nature/ civilian things I could take a look at. Also we do think our mod as a platform anyone can build scifi* mods on (*or anything else), so even if we don't put in something in the main mod doesn't mean it couldn't be optional addon.

Alright Cool, Well you guys seem to be doing pretty good with just the 3 of you!

I understand the time restraints though, So much to do for just a couple poeple

After I read solar fields you got me thinking about them, then we actually started modeling one in class today ironically. So I started thinking what they might look like in the future and came up with was an areal one might look like.(as well as other ground ones)

You don't need to use this! But the concept was basically helium balloons keep it up and it has small solar panels on the outside, charging cells which store the power for later. Then once charged they are received or the balloon comes down(idk lol)

Maybe the cells glow so they can be seen during the night too.

http://imgur.com/a/gu8iK

Anyway if you have any of the weapons actually drawn out I'd be happy to model them for you.

[J. Schmidt 10]

@HorribleGoat Wow only three people working on this with you, and you've done a fantastic job so far, I'll be willing to help with creating structures if you'd like. I'd also be willing to help with some interior work of the vehicles, e.g. computers, lighting, living area(s) and etc.

@Zachgibson22 those are some great drawings you've created, those would be really cool to see in the mod.

Edited January 7, 2015 by JSF 82nd Reaper

[HorribleGoat 1473]

@Zachgibson22 You have good idea there and I did get a vision from it! Floating solar panels would be awesome and in my vision they float by some arcane technology and they float only during daytime and retreat back to their docks by night. This would be pretty cool element to utilize day and night cycle in Arma. This might definitely be something that would fit the mod!

Since you and JSF 82nd Reaper are so enthusiastic I will try to make time to draw up some example concepts and write up some more in depth explanation for what we are planning and what kind models we could use. For now if you cant wait I can say that civilian vehicles, common furniture and interior objects come in mind. I think functionality is the key design element we have tried to maintain meaning that things look like they could work and all the pieces have some meaning and imaginary function in the object.

I'll post up guidelines as soon as I can!

[zachgibson22 3]

Awesome I can;t wait!

I will say that I am JUST switching to from 3ds Max to Maya, but holy cow, only after 4 days of having it I love it, just need to get used to all the tools!

Also I will say that the last car I made turned out like shit... lol. Also I like making little random objects more :P.

Another idea, just to throw out there. I got while making this flying solar thing. Was a though of "What if it had rockets on it face down?" Now I'm sure you guys have all sorts of ideas for things that are going to take lots of time, this is just a thought doesn't need to be done! But what if it had some sort of rockets, couldn't move much, but could be controlled by like that UAV interface/backpack? Imagine like a satellite shooting a laser from space. Except much closer and shoots rockets and isn't a satelitte. Haha Anyway, just another concept that would probably take a great amount of programming cause I'm sure you need more of that. :D

Also I'm not sure if you saw those few scopes I've already made, although they're modern I'm sure you could easily adjust them for more of this current time. I just them for another mod but they're mine so you can use them too if you feel you need to!

http://i.imgur.com/bhjmLpR.jpg

[HorribleGoat 1473]

Floating weapons platforms have been on the table with a maybe tag and might be added later. They would be cool I admit, but would they actually have been useful, that is what has kept me from making and even trying one out. Since ground based weapons are just as effective against airborne targets and may even be shielded with bunkers and what not. Would floating platform be too vulnerable to have actual use. Though maybe I have been thinking too big, but smaller units would count as UAVs I think and there will be plenty of those.

I did also dream of a beam weapon implementation just before I woke up. I did already suggest it to our coder and we'll see if we've found a feasible solution. :D Had I only more hours in a day.

[zachgibson22 3]

Yep yep, all good points. That beam weapon would be cool. If you've played Planetary Annihilation, the SSX(?) space station would be a good reference. Just need more timeeee!

[HorribleGoat 1473]

Lost Dragons made to the MANW finalists! To celebrate I made a little video of the dropship development progress

ModDB video link

And also loaded up a new picture of the V2 map layout the new year brought with it. Something in the old one began to irk me so I decided to redo the whole thing.

I like it more now so success.

I've also started a (hopfully) monthly news post at ModDB (NEWSLINK) where I aim to write up what we've been up to with the mod.

Progress is sometimes slow, life, work, etc get in the way of modding.. :D But thats how it goes right.

[HorribleGoat 1473]

I've been working on the new map and things are coming together quite nicely. First iteration of jungle generation has been placed in with around 150k trees and a bit under 2 million bushes. The first random pass had around 10 million objects and we had these huge trees just everywhere, would have been amazingly thick forest if we had the 20m tall, 5m wide trees packed up just couple of meters apart.. :D That first pass never made it in game.. would have been fun to see though.

The urban areas are also shaping up nicely and I got some shots out of my first attempt to change the environment lighting. Night and dawn are already looking pretty nice:

Not bad at all I think, needs more variety with the foliage though to become excellent. More pics at ModDB

Edited February 9, 2015 by HorribleGoat

[Valken 622]

Awesome. I am waiting for the next update. Question about the Urban areas. Are you going to make another Eastern EU or Mediterranean theme area or a more westernized metropolis like London, Paris, New York, Frankfurt, Shanghai, Tokyo or Hong Kong?

An anime type Mega-Tokyo city would be incredible to play in.

[haleks 8212]

Amazing screenshots; this terrain looks like it could be one of the best jungle maps out there!

[HorribleGoat 1473]

Awesome. I am waiting for the next update. Question about the Urban areas. Are you going to make another Eastern EU or Mediterranean theme area or a more westernized metropolis like London, Paris, New York, Frankfurt, Shanghai, Tokyo or Hong Kong?

An anime type Mega-Tokyo city would be incredible to play in.

Id say we're going for a lot more futuristic urban outlook than what we have today. Some influence from sci-fi anime for sure and from other games and scifi movies too but we hope to achieve unique design. Tall sleekish buildings, lots of landing pads (as aerial transportation was the main way to go around on the planet) walkways, bridges that sort of things.

Im working on a more elaborate mock up of the structural outlook of the massive Dragon complex and hope to present it soon(ish) We flew around it yesterday to get a bit of feel of the layout and it was pretty fun. I'll post more pics when the urbanization is a bit more complete. The complex itself is built around the development of the Dragon warships and will have more industrial look with power plants, factories, storage units, laboratories and of course high amount of defence structures. There will be designated living areas too, but most of the complex will be dedicated for construction.

Other areas are also under development, though not yet present on the map. For starters there will be a couple of civilian settlements on the coast and all kinds of research and military outposts in the jungle. We are also exploring ways to take the map to "higher levels" with floating high/low altitude platforms and such but can't yet make any promises on this.

On another note, the urban areas are going to be very challenging for the AI to navigate in and it will be a huge part of the work to address that but im getting ahead of myself here. :D First have to get the buildings modeled up.

Amazing screenshots; this terrain looks like it could be one of the best jungle maps out there!

Thanks! Much appreciated as thats what we aim for!

[Valken 622]

Great to hear. I think you can also test map sections by making a VR edition (polygons) with no textures and just drop the models onto the world map, and run waypoint or AI navigation checks to make sure the AI works without issues. It would help you spot issues when modeling the urban areas, buildings, obstacles and layouts. You can also test one of the better AI mods such as VCOM AI or Group Link 5 to see if the terrain will snag the AI.

Its a lot of work, but at least you narrow down or limit to what can work before going full blow artistic on it. You can always add closed off buildings as background art to get the look and feel you want.

A world inspired by Shirow Masamune and Oshii Mamoru would be so incredible.

I'm looking forward to the huge forests. Feels like it is out of Pandora from the Avatar movie. A great sci-fi inspiration in any case.

I tested the current version and its pretty good but there are some compatibility issues when loading up other A3 unit mods along. If I try to insert any LoD unit with the Aegis, either side, I get a missing backpack or Aegis message, then the editor would not be able to preview the mission. If I delete that unit, but load up the android or player unit without Aegis, it works.

If you need any testing help, let us know. Would definitely help you guys troubleshoot.

Edited February 10, 2015 by Valken

[HorribleGoat 1473]

Oh yeah the Aegis is still higly wip and I kinda forgot it in. It was mostly bashed together as proof of concept, but the mechanics are still way off useful. Sorry about that. :9

[CyclonicTuna 87]

Really interested to see how this one is going to turn out. Regardless, I'm really glad to see something refreshing like this. Everything seems to be survival or zombie's or a combination of those two lately. This has that BF2142 vibe, love it :)

[haleks 8212]

Agreed with CyclonicTuna, it is refreshing to see such an original project! ;)

[HorribleGoat 1473]

Thanks guys! Hope we can provide some more to play with soon!

We've decided to release the 0.2.0 when the new map is in good enough condition to make the preliminary "Treasure Hunt" mission features on it and I'm sifting focus on the map+asset development for now to get it going. Can't say any dates yet, but Im as eager to get it running as you are. :D

Arma and VR engine provides quite versatile platform for all kinds of game modes and after you get past the initial learning curve modding it is really fun and Im hoping to see more unique projects spring to life eventually. Survival games and mods seem to have become the trend now and I too like them. There are just so many though that I for one have run into the problem of choosing which one to start investing my limited time in. :D

I must say that we too have explored certain survivalish gameplay aspects such as the suit integrity that players would have to maintain in order to stay safe from radiation and other environment hazards but we are still in the process of judging if such features will fit the gameplay we want to make. They might spice up the game, but we don't intend them to be the main focus.

Edited February 11, 2015 by HorribleGoat

[Valken 622]

Another thing I noticed is that on my setup, the models or textures appears to be lacking "depth" shadows? It may be textures that lacks shadows baked in as details. Otherwise still a great job.