Ifafudafi
November 8th, 2010, 04:42 PM
No need for pictures this time. You guys know what to expect.
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The first thing I ever really did with Custom Edition was actually a campaign mod. Unlike ASCM, I just tossed in every tag I could find off the Halo Maps database with some tweaks to damage values and such. It was never finished and never released, as I ended up accidentally deleting pretty much every single tag I had, although I doubt it was much of a loss. After a year or so of not touching it, I came back and started playing with tags, but it wasn't until I started screwing around with the Plasma Grenade that I found my little niche in particle effects. Shortly afterwards, the series of Plasma Packs came out.
Unfortunately, almost nobody downloaded those tagpacks, so I was left with what people told me was great content which barely found its way into a couple of low-profile maps. I figured, "hey, wouldn't it be funny if I tried another campaign mod," and so, while I was working on Pack 3, I started handing weapons to Elites and Grunts and found that I had accidentally:
1. Introduced long-range combat into HCE
2. Caused everything to die in four to five shots
3. Added tons of polish to a game that really didn't have much
And so ASCM was born, and has, I believe, achieved modest popularity.
Now that it's over, I'll be leaving HCE to go work with an engine that hasn't been dead for years; probably UDK. I'll probably stick around Modacity (and might even post once or twice!) but for the most part, I'll likely end up quietly fading into the background until my next project, whatever it may be, starts to get somewhere. I hopped on the whole Halo ride a bit late, but it's been a fun one (despite the screaming kids). Just please, please, don't throw my tags into Blood Gulch and call it a mod. Learn from this stuff.
No, I'm not planning to finish out the HCE campaign. If more people knew/cared about the mod, I'd consider it, but it's way too low-profile to warrant anything other than what's been done here. Of course, if any of you guys want to take the tags and do so yourself, feel free.
Anyway, this was and is Another Stupid Campaign Mod. Play it, enjoy it, and get everybody you know do the same.
ADDITIONS/CHANGES IN THIS RELEASE
Weapons
-Plasma pistol nerfed immensely. Don't know how this slipped past everybody, but its primary fire was wrecking everything. Damage has been severely cut and fire rate has been capped. Charged shot unaffected.
-Battery life of all Plasma weapons reduced.
-Battle Rifle, Needler, and Impaler have new animations.
-Needler needles now appear properly during reload.
-Needler needles now do a little less damage to Elite shields.
-Pistol has a new model and skin.
-Pistol's autoaim radius and rate of fire have been increased. It's much more effective at closer ranges now, as intended.
-Battle Rifle's rate of fire decreased slightly.
-Plasma Burst's crosshair modified to better reflect its nature.
-Plasma Burst even further nerfed; less damage, slower rate of fire and fewer shots to overheat.
Units
-Hunters now take three Needler supercombines or two sniper shots/direct rocket hits/Impaler supercombines to kill. They're also more resilient against the Plasma Rifle.
-Steath Elite Majors now use Eviscerators in place of Plasma Spreads.
-Zealots (Elite commanders) wielding Plasma Rifles now wear the proper headgear.
-Zealot shields now cause Imapler needles to detonate on contact.
-Jackals with Plasma Beams have recieved a much-needed upgrade (better accuracy, higher RoF, etc.)
-Dead characters' dropped weapons contain far less extra ammo (ammo still in clip/battery unchanged.)
Particle Effects
-Elite/Cyborg shields now have lens flares. They're very sexy.
-Fuel Rod Gun's projectile trail redone to better match the effect set's overall style and to differentiate it from the new Wraith projectile.
-Hunter lights and effects now match the FRG particle set's color scheme.
-New vehicle explosion effects.
-Banshee weapons now use updated particle sets.
Known problems
-The SMG's sound will cut out and occasionally do weird things. This is just the way Halo CE handles looping sounds; there's nothing I can really do about it.
-The Pistol uses the old model/skin in third person. This is due to an issue with the new model which could not be fixed in time for scheduled release.
-Marines die very, very quickly in a50's interiors. Halfway due to higher damage ratios, halfway due to the way Bungie scripted those encounters. Can't change it without making them uber-powerful for the rest of the level.
Filefront (471 MB)
(http://www.filefront.com/17492118/ASCM_final.zip/)Halomaps links coming later
---
The first thing I ever really did with Custom Edition was actually a campaign mod. Unlike ASCM, I just tossed in every tag I could find off the Halo Maps database with some tweaks to damage values and such. It was never finished and never released, as I ended up accidentally deleting pretty much every single tag I had, although I doubt it was much of a loss. After a year or so of not touching it, I came back and started playing with tags, but it wasn't until I started screwing around with the Plasma Grenade that I found my little niche in particle effects. Shortly afterwards, the series of Plasma Packs came out.
Unfortunately, almost nobody downloaded those tagpacks, so I was left with what people told me was great content which barely found its way into a couple of low-profile maps. I figured, "hey, wouldn't it be funny if I tried another campaign mod," and so, while I was working on Pack 3, I started handing weapons to Elites and Grunts and found that I had accidentally:
1. Introduced long-range combat into HCE
2. Caused everything to die in four to five shots
3. Added tons of polish to a game that really didn't have much
And so ASCM was born, and has, I believe, achieved modest popularity.
Now that it's over, I'll be leaving HCE to go work with an engine that hasn't been dead for years; probably UDK. I'll probably stick around Modacity (and might even post once or twice!) but for the most part, I'll likely end up quietly fading into the background until my next project, whatever it may be, starts to get somewhere. I hopped on the whole Halo ride a bit late, but it's been a fun one (despite the screaming kids). Just please, please, don't throw my tags into Blood Gulch and call it a mod. Learn from this stuff.
No, I'm not planning to finish out the HCE campaign. If more people knew/cared about the mod, I'd consider it, but it's way too low-profile to warrant anything other than what's been done here. Of course, if any of you guys want to take the tags and do so yourself, feel free.
Anyway, this was and is Another Stupid Campaign Mod. Play it, enjoy it, and get everybody you know do the same.
ADDITIONS/CHANGES IN THIS RELEASE
Weapons
-Plasma pistol nerfed immensely. Don't know how this slipped past everybody, but its primary fire was wrecking everything. Damage has been severely cut and fire rate has been capped. Charged shot unaffected.
-Battery life of all Plasma weapons reduced.
-Battle Rifle, Needler, and Impaler have new animations.
-Needler needles now appear properly during reload.
-Needler needles now do a little less damage to Elite shields.
-Pistol has a new model and skin.
-Pistol's autoaim radius and rate of fire have been increased. It's much more effective at closer ranges now, as intended.
-Battle Rifle's rate of fire decreased slightly.
-Plasma Burst's crosshair modified to better reflect its nature.
-Plasma Burst even further nerfed; less damage, slower rate of fire and fewer shots to overheat.
Units
-Hunters now take three Needler supercombines or two sniper shots/direct rocket hits/Impaler supercombines to kill. They're also more resilient against the Plasma Rifle.
-Steath Elite Majors now use Eviscerators in place of Plasma Spreads.
-Zealots (Elite commanders) wielding Plasma Rifles now wear the proper headgear.
-Zealot shields now cause Imapler needles to detonate on contact.
-Jackals with Plasma Beams have recieved a much-needed upgrade (better accuracy, higher RoF, etc.)
-Dead characters' dropped weapons contain far less extra ammo (ammo still in clip/battery unchanged.)
Particle Effects
-Elite/Cyborg shields now have lens flares. They're very sexy.
-Fuel Rod Gun's projectile trail redone to better match the effect set's overall style and to differentiate it from the new Wraith projectile.
-Hunter lights and effects now match the FRG particle set's color scheme.
-New vehicle explosion effects.
-Banshee weapons now use updated particle sets.
Known problems
-The SMG's sound will cut out and occasionally do weird things. This is just the way Halo CE handles looping sounds; there's nothing I can really do about it.
-The Pistol uses the old model/skin in third person. This is due to an issue with the new model which could not be fixed in time for scheduled release.
-Marines die very, very quickly in a50's interiors. Halfway due to higher damage ratios, halfway due to the way Bungie scripted those encounters. Can't change it without making them uber-powerful for the rest of the level.
Filefront (471 MB)
(http://www.filefront.com/17492118/ASCM_final.zip/)Halomaps links coming later