ATLAS: Sci-Fi Mod

[malcom86 33]

I may even bring in the Aliens as 8ft tall great big huge things with their own custom defined RTMs and what have you.

I'm very curious to see this part, as I hope you will find a good scripter who can create an appropriate working AI for them. What I think about for them is a very similar (if not the same) AI given to Raptors in Jurassic Arma mod. But I somehow found it lacking: if AI control them, they are not that good attacking players and using tactics.

An appropriate AI would improve amazingly how scary they would be^^ Do you know the Alien in Alien: Isolation, at hard difficulty ? I mean THAT scary :D !!!

[zeealex 2029]

Camo and General Infantry Variants:

Camo Silverbacks (3 red stripes):

GIs:

More info later ;)

I'm very curious to see this part, as I hope you will find a good scripter who can create an appropriate working AI for them. What I think about for them is a very similar (if not the same) AI given to Raptors in Jurassic Arma mod. But I somehow found it lacking: if AI control them, they are not that good attacking players and using tactics.

An appropriate AI would improve amazingly how scary they would be^^ Do you know the Alien in Alien: Isolation, at hard difficulty ? I mean THAT scary !!!

It would be very interesting to try as well, I probably wouldn't be able to code in an entirely new AI that learns from the player, but i would make sure they use some kind of tactic. The aliens, which I'm calling Aresians for now, are fairly primitive, but intelligent territorial creatures who communicate telepathically, They don't have any tongues. But They communicate on a frequency detectable by radios, and the radios of the soldiers, almost become geiger tubes, their mouths are purely for eating.

I'll be revealing more on them when I've finished conjuring up the ideas of factions, notable people, groups and other ideas, when i've done that i'll update the thread and people can feed back as and when ;)

Edited December 15, 2014 by zeealex

[malcom86 33]

I'll be revealing more on them when I've finished conjuring up the ideas of factions, notable people, groups and other ideas, when i've done that i'll update the thread and people can feed back as and when ;)

Really sounds like a huge project. As I'm sure this will take some time to see the light I look forward to see what's in your mind...will your F3males mod be part of it too ? :)

Edited December 17, 2014 by Malcom86

[zeealex 2029]

Really sounds like a huge project. As I'm sure this will take some time to see the light I look forward to see what's in your mind...will your F3males mod be part of it too ?

yeah, I'm kind of hoping it's a good, long and challenging undertaking, but so long as people enjoy it at the end, that's all I really care for. It's one of three long term projects that I'm taking up, FEMAL3, ATLAS and another one which I'm not putting up until it's in a presentable state. All of them will technically be within each other.

FEMAL3 will be part of the mod yeah, they'll have their own armour sets, but they won't be much different to the male sets, just smaller, less groin protection and better contoured for a female body.

I'm very nearly finished with the faction ideas, I just need to figure out a decent synopsis now I've imported the camo versions, and they actually look pretty cool, just need to adjust the diffued colour, as it's washing out the _co texture.

[nickobus 16]

Loving the work, reminds me of Interstellar Marines. Keep it up~

Also, not sure if it matters, but just wanted to inform you that there is another ATLAS Mod, granted they are different things, just wanted to point out in the event of fear of any possible confusion.

[zeealex 2029]

thanks! :D

Yeah, I saw that yesterday, this is a working title, so it might change by the time of release ;)

in other news, progress has been made on the heavy unit's helmet:

I reckon another 2-3 hours the model will be done, then it's just the texturing and import left

[malcom86 33]

That heavy helmet looks scary...I'm curious to see how you will work on the visor :D

Just an idea I had, if possible: what about adding Thermal vision function to the helmet ? Very futuristic...and awesome !!!!

[zeealex 2029]

That heavy helmet looks scary...I'm curious to see how you will work on the visor :D

Just an idea I had, if possible: what about adding Thermal vision function to the helmet ? Very futuristic...and awesome !!!!

Yay! I'm glad you said that, its meant to look much more intimidating than the medium armour. I'll try to make both visors emissive, add a custom HUD, the heavies will have an alpha overlay when in first person that naturally limits their view. Much like a tank. And I will probably have an IR/NV/TRM option for all helmets, and I need to remove the nvg proxy.

I'm hoping I can add manual target tagging to the HUD's functionality.

I'll give the full details in the info document at the minute.

[zeealex 2029]

Updated the first post the spoiler below contains its contents:

ATLAS: Ascension (working title)

A new Sci fi Total conversion.

What is going on:

The year is 2318, following several expansions of research into interstellar transport and several breakthroughs in weapons and armour technology, The people of planet earth decide to make their exodus to planets similar to their own, since the year 2170, the human population across the galaxy has grown exponentially, with the estimates now at roughly 1.2 trillion.

While the human race colonizes and expands, a new threat is uncovered, an extra terrestrial race known among the others of the galaxy, as the Vulkartai, a dangerous and territorial race, their people have been growing more and more restless and reports of attacks on some human colonies have come in. The IPDF, responsible for the protection of the human race and its allies, has decided to take action, an all in combined arms assault on the Vulkartai is about to begin. It is down to you, as a member of this assault, to command your squad to victory and protect your race from this new upcoming menace.

Who is involved:

IPDF: The Inter-Planetary Defence Force. The primary volunteer armed forces of the human race, they mainly defend human settlers and researchers as they move to and/or terraform planets in preparation for colonisation. Their secondary task is to provide assistance to allied species across the galaxy in peacekeeping efforts.

GST: Global Special Tactics. The ground based special forces of the IPDF, They are the spearhead of the Volunteer army, having completed years of specialized training, making them extensively knowledgeable in almost any warfare tactic. They are normally the first into a combat situation as part of the agreements in the Galactic Contribution Treaty. The GST divisions are the best trained and the best equipped ground forces available to the treaty planets.

There are 12 divisions of the GST, with roughly 10,000 members per division, they have normally been genetically enhanced to better accentuate their combat capability.

While each GST division has a speciality, all of them are combat ready as infantrymen when necessary.

GST-4: The primary Armoured division of the GST, with the best vehicles and crew available they support the infantry in their advances using superior tactics and fire-power to wear down and defeat their foes.

GST-12: More affectionately known as the 'Silverbacks' they are the cream of the crop. The first to go anywhere, it is their job to spearhead all operations, seek out viable routes for movement and supply, and they are in charge of protecting support groups and armies of other races, as and when they require it. The Silverbacks are the only division to have a mix of light, medium and heavy troop types based on their specialised role. They are also the best prepared for a change in environmental conditions. Making them perfect for harsher changes in climate and atmospheric conditions.

GST-12 can be identified by the 3 red stripes present on their armour.

The Volunteer Army: The general infantry of the IPDF responsible for the protection of human and allied race settlements across the galaxy, they are not as well equipped for hostile environments as the special tactics divisions; at most, they are equipped for oxygen deficient atmospheres. By the point of deployment of the general infantry, the target planet's atmosphere is almost suited to human life.

Render:

The Volunteer Navy: Equipped with large spacecraft, the volunteer navy engage in both combat and general transport roles across the galaxy, When in combat, they can orbit a planet and provide orbital strike packages to ground forces requiring a barrage of devastating fire-power, or conversely, they are capable of engaging in ship to ship combat, a common feat among quarrels with notorious pirates or insurgencies.

They are also partly responsible for the safe travels of civilians to and from human settlements, often providing escort through unsafe systems or providing the travel itself.

IPMC: Inter-Planetary Marine Corps, specialized in zero gravity, zero oxygen warfare, often employed during ship to ship boarding or during search and rescue operations on destroyed craft. They are also the second unit on the ground following the GST in global combat, and will normally provide the bulk of the fighting force if the atmospheric conditions are not suitable for the volunteer army.

The Vulkartai: A territorial race of creatures that communicate telepathically, very little is known about them, They are primitive technologically, but very intelligent, while human forces generally do not find them difficult, an elusive subspecies known as the Hamarkartai, tend to cause difficulty, as they can interfere with most radio frequencies and electrical systems, rendering them completely inoperable, this includes the small computers that regulate the oxygen exchange tanks in a soldier's armour system.

The Vulkartai were found to communicate on a UHF radio band, meaning their could be received via radio, while the communications are not understandable. The radio acts almost like a Geiger tube, the closer a Vulkartai is, the higher the frequency of their signature clicking noise is. However, at proximities closer than 2 meters, the sound received by the radio has been known to deafen and on rare occasions, brain damage users. So the proximity gauging technique must be used with care.

Concept:

Insurgents: Normally human, insurgents are normally high in numbers, but not well armed or equipped, they generally gravitate towards terraformed planets due to their lack of equipment suited for hostile environments

Soldier Classes:

Recon: A light unit, capable of faster travel and low detection, their exoskeleton system is tailored to low weight bearing and high running speed, while they can run fast, they are the most vulnerable class, they have very little armour and their personal defence weapons are not suited for standardized infantry combat.

Sniper: Similar to the Recon class, except their exoskeleton is modified to enable better handling of heavier sniper rifles.

Medium/Standard Infantry: A firm balance between the recon class and heavier classes, the medium class infantry are capable of medium range ground combat, unlike the Recon units, their exoskeleton is hidden under their armour, and their protection and armament are far more superior. Their exoskeleton is balanced between weight bearing and speed. Mostly, it is set up to provide a higher combat endurance rate. They can be equipped with a multitude of weapons ranging from light sub machine guns, to rocket launchers.

Heavy: The Heavy troops are almost literally armoured to the teeth, with incredibly heavy armour that cannot be penetrated easily by standard ammunition. They are usually equipped with heavy shoulder mounted .50 calibre chainguns, heavy anti-materiel rifles or AT/AA missile launchers. Due to their high armour, however, they cannot move quickly, and they cannot see as much of the battlefield. As a result they can be very vulnerable to close range or side-on attacks and as a result are normally protected by sentinel infantry.

Basic WIP Render:

Sentinels: a medium armoured, highly aware infantryman that protects tanks or heavy infantry from close quarters engagements as they advance. They are easily distinguished by their helmet, which has a very high field of view.

Screenshots:

Comments and Suggestions welcome!

[Valken 622]

Great work! Can't wait to try these out against conventional troops.

I wonder would it be hard to create energy based weapons? I guess the energy effects can be very pretty tracers with shader effects and use ballistics to give it that real damage feel.

[malcom86 33]

Comments and Suggestions welcome!

Interesting background so far, waiting for more before I give you some feedback :)

I would like to give also suggestions, but I prefer to see more of what you've thought^^

I'll just say somehow it seems more like a human "good" guys VS the "bad" aliens...humanity has "invaded" their territory anyway, so the aliens have their rights to attack human colonies IMO. It could be more like a struggle for survival, with the aliens not so "primitive" as they seems (if you get what I'm saying)...

[zeealex 2029]

Interesting background so far, waiting for more before I give you some feedback :)

I would like to give also suggestions, but I prefer to see more of what you've thought^^

I'll just say somehow it seems more like a human "good" guys VS the "bad" aliens...humanity has "invaded" their territory anyway, so the aliens have their rights to attack human colonies IMO. It could be more like a struggle for survival, with the aliens not so "primitive" as they seems (if you get what I'm saying)...

hmm, yeah, good point, it does seem slightly porpaganda-ey if that's even a thing. I'll definitely amend that so it's more "fair" so to speak, on a human side though, that would be their synopsis, from a general point of view it will be much more invasion vs defense=clash for survival.

thanks for that feedback, much appreciated! :D

Pretty much finished with the heavy helmet now, just got to get the armour sorted, but I'll import the helmet for now just to see what I looks like in RV, when the helmet's added onto the current medium armour it doesn't looks so daft compared to a render of it alone, but I'm definitely adding an emissive stage to this one's RVMAT, it looks friggen creepy with the eyes visible through the visor.

[zeealex 2029]

A very un-fleshed out and early render of the heavy torso, it needs A LOT of work and TLC before it's even close to finished, but it's starting to come together already. at the moment though, it's just looking like a modified medium armour set, it will look different when it's done, I just don't want too many clipping problems when it's imported.

it'll start making sense eventually.

[dcal 16]

This is looking great! Thank you for the frequent updates.

[zeealex 2029]

thanks dcal! :D

Heavy is in, complete with the strange behaviour when you combine a huge specular power and an emissive colour.

The emissive colour in action, does it look intimidating enough?

Needs some adjustments, and over time it will start to look and hopefully feel heavier, biggest thing I need to do right now is rescale it.

[RabidStoat 39]

Ooo nice! Can't wait to see what more you have up your sleeve

[zeealex 2029]

Thanks!

well, I think it's high time I gave these guys someone to fight, I'm going to start with the human insurgents, which are going to be Retextured CSAT guys and gear, gives their sci fi look some further use :P

They are going to be called "The Black Star Army" or simply "Black Stars"

This is their base look:

Eventually they will have their own oxygen masks for hostile environments as well as their own chest armour.

I've tweaked the armour values for the medium and Heavy GST vests, the heavy now needs roughly 2 STANAG mags unloaded into the chest before they die, or 2 12.7mm shots, I'm not sure as to whether adding leg geometry will also protect the legs, but they take damage to the arms and legs as normal.

[Shizweak 1]

Wow, that screenshot of the Heavy in the dark with his visor glowing looks awesome!

And after seeing what you did with the female models/heads, this is going to be one to watch :)

Good luck with the mod!

[ralfingerlp 14]

This one is on my watchlist, thanks for the updates!

[zeealex 2029]

Thanks guys! :D

revised the texture a bit, and added an RVMAT to the heavy Models, I've now got a colour in which to paint the gear in, as I kind of like the current colour the heavy has.

Now to work on the oxygen masks... and maybe some sort of spacecraft based building of some description.

[zeealex 2029]

okay, so as I was working on a new mask for the Blackstars, I came across an old p3d file that I'd abandoned some time ago as I couldn't configure it properly.

Well, now that I know a lot more than I did then, an old friend is making a return...

don't worry, the mask will be configured as an NVG and not as a head, I'm going to see about adding some NVG mounts to it, but currently it's working fine configured as glasses.

[malcom86 33]

okay, so as I was working on a new mask for the Blackstars, I came across an old p3d file that I'd abandoned some time ago as I couldn't configure it properly.

Well, now that I know a lot more than I did then, an old friend is making a return...

don't worry, the mask will be configured as an NVG and not as a head, I'm going to see about adding some NVG mounts to it, but currently it's working fine configured as glasses.

I would definitely use those masks from Diamond Back and make some variants. And why not, adding a variant for the silverback recon units ?

Those masks are awesome !!!! :rolleyes:

[zeealex 2029]

I would definitely use those masks from Diamond Back and make some variants. And why not, adding a variant for the silverback recon units ?

Those masks are awesome !!!! :rolleyes:

I'm very tempted indeed!

firstly though, does anyone know how to configure headgear to use night vision and thermal imaging? is it possible, or should I just create a blank/empty NVG instead?

[xidarkreaper 12]

I think I might need a new pair of pants.

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

don't worry, the mask will be configured as an NVG and not as a head, I'm going to see about adding some NVG mounts to it, but currently it's working fine configured as glasses.

That´s awesome... by the way, you should add some of the functionalities of TPW HUD scripts -> http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?164304-TPW-MODS-enhanced-realism-immersion-for-Arma-3-SP

They fit well a high tech gear like those you´re modelling, Zee!

Hope to see Femal3 aliens too lol

cheers!