Mod Ideas/Chameleon

Mod ideas for Any :: UT :: :: UT2003 :: – Chameleon

Description

This mutator will probably need to allow a console command that can be bound to a key, or be invoked by a pick-up (or still other ways).
The effect the mutator would have would be that the player's model would no longer be drawn with its skin but rather covered by the texture that is on a wall. The wall who's texture will cover the player's model would be different on other players machines. If you looked at the player from one angle the appropriate wall texture would be chosen and applied to the model. If you rotated around or he circled you the texture selection would change respective to the wall that this player was in front of from your view.

How to make this mod

hehehe right. I'd just do it wouldn't I??

CH3Z: okay, the [Valhalla Avatar Mod] may have some insight for this (scroll down to "MeshSkinAllowChange=<0|1|2>"). Or it may be possible to make this mutator work in conjuntion with that mod, but i think that violates the standard that mutators should work with any other mutators or combination of mutators, because that standard suggests that it should work alone as well.

Interested Scripters

If you are interested in developing this mod for any UnrealTournament game then add your name to the list. Once you start development you should indicate that below (and hopefully include a link to a journal page). Before you start development you should also check this section to see if anyone else has started.

• Jarronis, The Vampiric Unicorn
• (name in link form)

Gameplay Tweaking

Jarronis, The Vampiric Unicorn:

Well, to be honest, i still have no idea how to tweak this one, but i can tell some of my Experience and ideas.

The Chameleon effect especialy works great in dark Maps like Curse3, making it nearly impossible to aim at long distance, dark corners or camping freaks . Of course you have an better chance to hit an enemy, when he is moving, but when he is skilled, he can use the chameleon effect to fool you up and loose your track.

Since this is the "real" chameleon skill in my opinion there should be an anti-camper mechanism, 'cause i fear that too much people will simply sit aside a rock and wait for us damn Rush0rs to run in front of their guns. (okay i admit: I played too much Counterstrike).

CH3Z: What I had in mind was more like a pick-up to trigger the effect or maybe the guy with the flag takes on the effect or someway that only one person uses it at a time. Maybe even something that times out. But if it is otherwise, still, a good mutator should work well with any other mutator and should therefore work fine with anticamper mutators. This is nice cause the server admin can choose to use the anticamper or not, maybe the ppl that go there would get off on everyone camping out with this effect on. It leaves it in the hands of the user.

MythOpus: For the chameleon affect I like the idea of a pickup... or even a combo will work. However for the pickup, what do you have in mind to replace. Double damage, the shields or keg'o' health? or amybe even have it randomly spawn around the map ? * I'm making a pickup model as I speak *

Ch3z: I myself wouldn't have much of an idea of what form wuold be best suited for 2k3. Ut Classic doesn't have all that stuff. That's why I was mostly thinking of pick-ups. It would be kind of interesting if you had to jump into a pool to get the effect, or something new. But Jarronis will be along eventually to give his take on that. Did you go about causing the effect in the same way as Jarronis? I hope you both get a chance to compare notes before you put something out. You gonna set up a test server at the Testing Lab when you get something to look at? (Not that I would be able to see it – no hardware T&L)

Ohhh here's a thought, (more work though): How about making it so that the Server Admin can set it up to be a combo or pick-up or other way. Always nice to let the end user have some say.

Jarronis, The Vampiric Unicorn:

Well, i'm not much of a GUI-Coder I'm sure it's only a question of mutator GUI's to create a mass of options Users/Admins can turn on or off.

My personal Idea of this is a Arena-Like type... You getting "Chameleon-Points" for running around without getting fragged, so sitting in a corner does not allow to hide yourself for long. hm.. just an idea...

ch3z: Prolly right, gotta keep the feature-creep to a minimum or you'll never turn anything out that works smoothly.

Discussion

CH3Z: I just want to ask you to keep in mind that the journal kept for a mod here on this Wiki is best if you can keep it in a tone of tutorial. When the mod is finished, being as it is open source, the journal will be great for anyone who expands on the idea or fixes a "newly discovered feature" that SOME people might take as a "bug"

ZxAnPhOrIaN: That looks like it will be really hard to do. Also, it would be an adreniline combination.

CH3Z: Ya it would be an adreniline combination for UT2003 i suppose. Different in other games.

Foxpaw: It would be fairly difficult to generate a texture in real-time that mimicked what was behind it.. and if you did it would have the same effect as not drawing the pawn at all. You could probrably create a semblance of this effect by setting the players draw "style" to transparent and making the skin be just like highlights.. kind of like the invisibility overlay but less visible.

Jarronis, The Vampiric Unicorn: Maybe I'm wrong, but i thought it is the clue of this mod, that the Chameleon effect is not just like ordinary invisibility. My Ideo of this, that the players change their skin according to their background. For example, if you are in front of an stonewall, you have a stoneskin.

CH3Z: Exactly, Jarronis. You wouldn't have to "mimick" anything persay. Just sub the texture name that is on the wall beyond the Chameleon from the client for the texture name of the Chameleon's current skin. It would be an art of the Chameleon to keep him/herself positioned correctly for the effect to be effective, and to know when to stand still and when to move along. Takes more skill that way then just invisible no matter what. And hunters of the Chameleon would have to develope skills to hinder the Chameleon's opportunity to take full advantage of the effect. Nice to see your name in the interested list. I hope you can pull this off. I'm not gonna be able to do anything on it for a while. Keep us posted, eh?

Mosquito[l5]: I had this idea 6 months back when I was designing my FTN mod. It's actually a mod for Half-Life and I MAY move it to UT2003, or HL2 not sure. But my idea was that a person could purchase armor that could use this ability. and you guys explained it perfectly. I just have to figure out how to do it with the HL engine. Might be a lot harder.

Foxpaw: I don't know if there is a way to get the texture of a BSP surface from within UnrealScript. I may be wrong, but I can't see how it would be done unless maybe you implemented it natively - that's why I suggested invisibility.

Foxpaw: After looking on Jarronis' page I see that he may have found a way to do this after all. I stand corrected.

CH3Z: Yeah! He's gettin' it. Jarronis, The Vampiric Unicorn If anyone wants to follow this.

Jarronis, The Vampiric Unicorn: I released the "Testcode" for my Chameleon-Version. It works good, but I have no possibility to test it in network-play. If anyone would be so kind...

CH3Z: If I had UT2003 I sure would. Someone will soon i'm sure.

Mosquito[l5]: Tell me a time and I'll try to be there, or come to my IRC channel on Gamesnet: #Level-5. [Level 5 IRC]

Birelli: Doing network testing without even needing an internet connection is described in the "network debugging" section of Debugging Techniques. Of course there's nothing wrong with trying it out with another human being .

Mosquito[l5]: 2 words, Projectors and Scriptedtextures... We can rebuild him, we have the technology, faster, stronger, better.

MythOpus:

Mosquito: Holy crap, I hate it when I read a page and think, wait, I never said this, then I remember my evil page pirating twin, don't mind me....