R.I.P. Total Tactical Warfare

As most of you have probably noticed, there haven't been any updates lately. This is because I've stopped working on TTW and have kindof lost interest in game development. Working on TTW was a great learning experience and I don't regret any minute of it. The best lesson I learned was is that if something seems really hard to code, just start programming and you'll be surprised how easy it is in the end :) At the moment I'm learning web development and after that I'm going to write an app for the iPhone for my bachelors thesis. I'll probably do some more game dev somewhere down the road...just not anytime soon.

Ambient Sounds and New Voice Acting!

Maestrodeclure has finished up the audio for the game. It now includes brand new ambient sounds which I have integrated into all the maps. So listen closely, you might hear some insects or frogs! He also recruited two voice actors to help out. All the soldier comments have been redone and new ones have been added. The objective messages are also said out loud from now on.

Try out the latest game version here.

Happy New Year!

We've decided to celebrate the new year by releasing a new game version. It features brand new menu music by maestrodeclure!














Other improvements include:

• Fixed a bug that froze the game when picking up weapons
• When picking up sniper rifles the scope button is shown automatically
• The move to area objective now works properly
• A bug that caused only one song to be played during a mission has been fixed

You can get the latest game and map editor versions here

Updated Version!

There were some bugs in the last version. Maestrodeclure helped me pinpoint them and I went ahead and fixed em.

Changes include:
* A bug causing the game to slow down has been fixed
* A bug which caused too much memory to be used has been fixed
* 3D sound works now
* New loading screens have been added

You can get the latest game and map editor versions here

New Game Version available for Download!

A new version of Total Tactical Warfare can be found in the downloads section!

Changes include:

• New grass, trees and rocks
  
• Maps are now more detailed
• Improved mission objectives
  
• Ability to pick up weapons
• In game music
  
• Brand new sound effects

The map editor has also been updated and can be downloaded here.

Picking up Weapons

I've added support for picking up weapons. This is great for trying out enemy weapons or stocking up on ammo!

When soldiers die, they leave behind a backpack containing their weapon and ammunition. Other soldiers can then take the weapon, or if they are using the same weapon they can stock up on ammo. Moving the mouse cursor over a backpack reveals what weapon it contains and right clicking it orders the soldier to take the weapon.

Touching up the Maps

I recently purchased Treemagik G3 and PlantLife. Those applications generate low poly trees, plants and rocks, so they are ideal for touching up the game maps. Treemagik is great, but PlantLife is a bit buggy and doesn't have as many options as Treemagik.

I started off with the Canyon map, you can see the before and after shots below.

New Game Version + Map Editor

I improved some things since the last version:

• Music and sound should now be enabled by default
• Increased the base speed of the soldiers and lessened the effect training has on movement speed
• Fixed a bug in the Search and Destroy map

Get the new game version here: http://www.mediafire.com/?ermwtjrgtfq


















I've also decided to release the TTW Map Editor. It allows the easy creation of maps and missions for Total Tactical Warfare. So if any of you create a nice map I'll be sure to include it in the next release :)

Here's the link: http://www.mediafire.com/?tft4oigmjuw

Note: If the game or map editor fail to run, try installing the DirectX 9 Redistributable November 2007

Public Release

In order to get more feedback about the game we decided to make a public release. The current version features:

- Single player gameplay
- Army customization including weapons, armor and training
- 3 different missions
- High score list

You can get the setup files here: http://www.mediafire.com/?ytmjt4qzzw0


For the game to work you'll need DirectX 9 Redistributable November 2007 or newer:
http://www.mediafire.com/?cjkj2ztfidm
or
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1a2393c0-1b2f-428e-bd79-02df977d17b8&displaylang=en
(The normal DirectX 9 won't work, you need this one)

New Main Menu!

I've reimplemented the main menu using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). The problem with the old menu was that it was very slow and sluggish. The new one renders using DirectX, which makes it lightning fast. WPF also allows the use of styles and other effects to make the menu look better.

Insurgent Models & Props!

Timbo made two more insurgent skins. Have a look at them in the screenshots below.













































Llamalord, Timbo and myself also added some more props: aircon, generator and satellite dish(skinned by timbo) and water tank(modeled by llamalord & skinned by me).

New Models & Skins!

It's been a month since the last update and a lot of things have happened during that time. Some new guys have joined the team and they've been hard at work making new content.

llamalord made some very nice low poly roadblocks, which I skinned.























Timbo skinned some models I made a long time ago, but never got around to skinning.























He also made some new skins for the American soldiers, complete with different skin colours.























Doomlord has been working on the first map for the campaign and I have been optimizing and debugging code.

Mission Assistant!

The last few days I've been busy making a Mission Assistant. With the assistant mission designers will be able to tell the story and help the player. It will be very useful for making a tutorial mission. The assistant supports a portrait, text wrapping and multiple messages per objective. Check it out in the top right of the screen shot!

Campaign!

I've been busy working on the campaign for TTW. It'll be called "Summer Offensive" and will have the following storyline: "Enemy forces have launches a surprise offensive. Due to recent troop level reductions we are stretched to the limit. We need to hold back the enemy at any cost, or the whole country will be lost."

The campaign will start like this: "Winter is coming to an end. At this time enemy activity usually increases, but so far everything has been quiet. You have been tasked with some recon missions."

The first mission of the campaign is called Canyon and will have the following briefing: "The canyon to the north is an area that is usually very dangerous, since it offers good ambush and hiding positions. If we can't find any enemy units there, they might have given up the fight altogether. Scout the area and return immediately if you spot any opposing forces."

Objectives!

After a long pause I've started working on Total Tactical Warfare again. My plan is to make a single player campaign. To make the missions interesting they need to have different objectives. This is what I've been working on the last couple of days.

There are 5 different types of objectives:

• Kill all Enemies
• Secure Area (Units in area and all enemies in area have been killed)
• Move to Area (i.e. Extraction point)
• Hold Area (for a certain time, until reinforcements arrive)
• Assassinate Unit

Objectives can be placed and configured in the Map Editor. If no objective is placed, the default "Kill all Enemies" one is loaded. Some objectives will have to be completed in order. Each objective gets an order number. For example an objective with number 2 will only be able to be completed once all objectives with number 1 have been completed.

The yellow box in the screenshot is an objective.



















I also added an objective menu and a message system to let the player know when objectives have been updated.

Vehicles!

The last few days I've been working on vehicles. I started off with basic movement code. It uses Truevision3D's built in physics, but that didn't make it easy. I needed to do a lot of tweaking and testing until it looked right.

The movement code is just the start, there's still a lot left to do, like collision detection, weapons...

Visibility System

The player can now only see enemies which are visible to friendly units. All other enemy units are hidden. I've also added a new eye button to enable and disable the soldier "sight lines". The video shows the button and the visibility system in action. The jittering in the video only happens when recording, i still have to find out why.

 

All soldiers now also have a hearing distance, so if enemies come from behind and get too close they will be heard. I also improved the training system and the soldier collision code.

New Test Version

I've uploaded a new test version of Total Tactical Warfare. It includes all the updates since the last test version.

Changes:
- MG's and sniper rifles
- weight effects
- improved soldier behavior
- campaign support
- new training system
- high scores
- new sound system

Here's a link to the download:
TTW.zip (36MB)

For it to work you'll need the .net Framework 2.0 and DirectX 9.

It would be great if you could try it and tell me what you think :)

Scriptable AI

I've added some new objects to the map editor that will allow mission designers to control what the computer player does.

The objects include: AIPlayer, AISquad, AISoldier, AIWaypoint

The picture shows the new objects in the map editor.














When the game loads soldiers and waypoints are assigned to a squad. When the game starts the squad follows the waypoints until the last waypoint is reached.

Waypoints have a number of properties:
- radius (squad inside radius has reached the waypoint)
- squad ID (squad that will move along this waypoint)
- waypoint number (0,1,2... determines the order in which waypoints are moved along. The squad will stop moving at last waypoint)
- TimeToRemainAtWaypoint (time the squad waits at the waypoint before continueing to next waypoint)

- StanceOnArrive (Prone, Crouch, Standing)
- StanceOnLeave (Prone, Crouch, Standing)

- MoveIntoBuilding (True, False)
- BuildingLevel (0,1,...)

The video shows soldiers following waypoints and acting according to the properties.

High Scores

I've added a High Score list to the main menu. High Scores are added and shown if you complete a map or a campaign with a good score. The High Scores add replay value to the missions. They also allow you to compare your skills with other players.