My last upload...might be a lengthy read

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JackGriffin
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My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by JackGriffin »

I hadn't intended to post again but I'm migrating computers and this folder was sitting there staring at me. Might as well share it.

OK, this might be a long read so just bear with me.

The TL/DR is this is a gametype. It's not quite done but I'm out. Finish it if you want but know there are legal issues if you do so.

Alright, here we go....Unreal Tournament BattleGrounds is a total replacement gametype mod for use in any DM map. Core gameplay is very much like PUBG/Fortnite in that players spawn with a collapsing zone that forces them together until only one person remains.The game runs on a hybrid of LastManStanding and Deathmatch in that you only get a single life per game. If you die then you are out. The weapons are forced to be real world machine guns, pistols, rifles, melee weapons, grenades, etc. You'll need to find and grab health pickups, manage ammo and reloading, and avoid venturing into the collapsing zone or you take damage.

The game is about 85% done. I stopped working on it because BlueHole (the owner of PUBG) started suing everyone and I got an email over my YT videos that previewed the mod. Thank God I hadn't released it yet or I'd have been in serious trouble. I put a LOT of work into this though and I don't want it to just be lost. I'm posting the source code as well as the compiled current version but the zip is passworded. Don't download it unless I know you and trust you, otherwise you aren't getting the password. The game runs, it works online with a few minor issues and it's really close to an early beta release.

The rest of this pertains to coders as they will likely be the people interested in using parts of this game. It's going to be a bit scattershot but here's a rundown of things included in UTBG:

- I used the CSWeapons as a base but went through one by one redoing them to fit this gametpye. I fixed animation errors, reloading problems, ammo usage, etc. They are in pretty good shape and would export nicely out to be used in another game *cough Heston cough* There are various guns from pistols all the way up to heavy machine guns and very powerful sniper rifles. Each has pros and cons though and the weapons you elect to carry will decide how well you do in the match.
- In PUBG there are texture sprays for some of the testing groups that are scattered around the map. I created a system in this mod that selects random areas and puts graffiti on the walls to mimic these. The system has a ton of uses otherwise, you could place decals and textures all over your map if you wanted now. Clan tags, random pictures, porn, blood sprays, whatever. It's all created at map loading so the players will only see the results: pictures in random places. I took care to properly orient the pictures as well as make sure they weren't too high or low on the wall. Everything should render into the normal visual field of play.
- There are random airdrops in PUBG and I added those into this. The mod has a really cool check routine to find an area large enough to mimic a plane flying over and dropping a crate. The players have to get to the crate, get the loot, but not get killed by others trying to get it. Everything is risk/reward. The parachute and crate spawns, drops down to the map, then emits red smoke to mark it's location. Bust it open to attain the top tier weapons inside.
- There is an extensive rewrite to HUD and scoreboard to fit the mod. Pertinent information is on-screen at all times.
- Custom announcer package. I actually paid a couple of pro voice guys to do the end-game stuff. It's really good, some of them are funny too.
- The collapsing zone...I'll hit on that at the end. It's extensive.
- Grenades included are smoke (that actually works like real smoke), incendiary (really burns stuff), FlashBang, and explosive.
- Health pickups are all custom and done in the style of PUBG.
- Armor upgrades include various levels of helmets and vests. Good helmets prevent headshots ;)
- Killed players drop a PUBG style crate.
- I included the Frying Pan from PUBG. Having it on your person can literally save your life by deflecting a bullet even if it's not equipped.
- A ton of other small, neat things. I'm just tired of typing now. You get the idea....

A note about the collapsing zone: When you use this mod on a DM map it iterates through the playerstarts and finds the two that are furthest apart. Then it uses that number and converts it to a proper drawscale for the collapsing zone (CZ) that will ensure that all playerstarts begin inside the zone. It adds a small bit too so that the playerstarts on the extreme ends still can spawn and move a few moments but they will need to begin traveling towards the center, which is marked in the HUD compass. The CZ drawscale then begins to decline and the effect is that the zone collapses into itself. This forces the action as the players will need to eventually come together or die to taking damage outside the zone.
I got really REALLY close to getting this perfect but I could never overcome the zone disappearing from view if you look at certain angles. Ferali and I talked at length and he assures me it can be solved but I just couldn't ever get it. Aside from that the CZ works flawlessly. I tested it in maps where the drawscale went over 1000X and the playerstarts were at opposite ends of a map that used the entire editor grid. It still collapsed just like it needed to. If someone could fix that final problem this could be a hellaciously fun way to play DM/LMS maps even if you didn't use anything else from this mod.

OK, fuck it. I'm tired and this is taking too long to type. The zip will stay posted for 30 days here: https://ufile.io/cpcro Remember, it's passworded and I'm not handing it out to just anyone. I avoided getting my ass sued once and I'm not interested in doing that again. If I know you and trust you then you are welcome to take and use anything in this mod you want, just don't use the PUBG inspired textures. There's a whole lot here for someone to take apart and use on their projects and that's why I didn't want it to get lost to time.

Peace out guys. Don't reply to me via PM's, I won't read them as I never log in here. If you want the password then email/call me. If we don't email then don't waste your time. I'm not taking a legal hit so you can rush this onto a server in it's current state. That being said if you have questions then email me and I'll always reply. I only did a glancing explanation of this mod but it's really hard to tell and not just show. I can't post the videos though :(

Peace out guys. Take care of UT. I had a good time.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
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Barbie
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by Barbie »

Doing unpaid work and no permission to publish it? :lol2:
No thanks.
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by papercoffee »

It's funny that BlueHole is suing people for recreating that gametype when they clearly stole it from Shoot-Mania and just added Day-Z elements.
The Gametype Battle Royal (with some kind of collapsing zone) is already in so many other titles...
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PrinceOfFunky
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by PrinceOfFunky »

You could have put a simple password :(
"Your stuff is known to be buggy and unfinished/not properly tested"
JackGriffin
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by JackGriffin »

Let me explain a little further so you guys don't think I'm being an asshole. I didn't 'emulate' PUBG, I flat copied it. I made all the textures as replicas, the gameplay is a carbon copy as far as I could make it. If you look at in-game screenshots versus shots from PUBG you'd go "Oh yeah, this isn't 'like' at all, this is 'copied'." And fair enough to them, it's their IP. I just figured since it's an homage and there was no money involved I'd be OK. Hell, I posted updates to them thinking they'd be happy people were so involved.

Honestly I don't think it was guys like me that triggered the crackdown. There was app makers posting clones to make money off the genre and BH had every right to get pissed off:
https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/04/0 ... iolations/
Once Fortnite started demolishing PUBG in player count then they went after them too:
https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/29/pubgs ... ilarities/

I understand they can't very well hammer some people and not others. That's fine, I get it. That's why the password is added. Guys I trust to strip out what they want to use won't screw me over by using the PUBG asset clones I made. There's some cool ideas in there that haven't been done in UT games at all. Who has ever made a collapsing zone? Single elimination games where the rounds go quickly and it all works as it should. Real, working helmets that have different levels of protection. There's about 10 things I made that I've never seen or that I did correctly that hadn't ever been done to where it felt right (you should see the smoke grenade). That's the part that's interesting, not the game itself. I'm not posting this to share UTBG, I posted it to share the odds and ends that are included in case someone wants to do something else with them. The weapons are a great example. I reworked everything to make proper reloading, shared ammo usage, damage that makes sense, proper fire rates, fixed models...all those would make a nice base to a real world gun game type.

Anyway I get the negativity. I don't mean to sound glib but I really don't care if anyone like this format or not. I'm not hanging myself out for liability just so I don't get negative feedback. The guys I aimed this at have seen it and will decide on their own if they want to use the assets. If you just want to post negative-Nancy then save yourself the time. It's not going to change the format.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by Dr.Flay »

Your decision is understandable due to the nature of the tribute it was intended to be.
If it was just another generic version of the Battle Royalle mode, they would not have a legal case, just as they do not against most of the developers they are threatening.
"Prior art" exists, so no Judge can uphold the claim.
Day-Z and H1-Z1 were the previous places to play the same game mode, and "prior art" is available by the truck load all over youtube.
Then we have the makers of the original films. If the case were successful it would allow the copyright holders for the films to sue the makers of every variant.

However as it is a replication of the PUBG theme, that is something they can take to court and win.
Some games companies welcome community made tributes in other engines. Running With Scissors are a good example.
Epic are protective but often just look away and ignore it.

Maybe rather than complaining about having to finish someone elses work, people should see it as the opportunity it could be.
Perhaps someone would like to remake a Fortnite inspired variation instead, and then worry about Epic instead.
If they can't sue Epic for a format they did not create, they can't sue for a mod based on Epics game.
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by Feralidragon »

To be absolutely blunt, whoever wants to have a good BR experience can just play Fornite.
Of course, for UT99'ers, there's a good chance many players do not have a machine to even run it, but that thing is just in its own level even apart from other BR games, including PUBG.

They are just doing everything right to the very last detail, game and community-wise, completely converting the full potential of the game, there's just no possible comparison, and even I have admittedly become something close to a fanboy of that game.
The only game I ever felt inclined in spending a little bit of money on, and I completely still suck at it 6 months later, it's that good.

Doing the same gametype for UT or Unreal, is just not going to work very well: it either ends too quickly, or it becomes a bore to play, or frustrating to join in since you will have to wait until the current game ends, since you cannot really have 100 players in a map, not usually, and I am not seeing anyone spending potentially thousands of dollars to have multiple servers with matchmaking.

Not that doing something with a similar premise wouldn't work, but it would need to be heavily UT-fied, something that made it stood apart from others by retaining what makes UT what it is. I have my own ideas as well of how something like that would look like, but it's not something I intend to pursue either.

But anything like a direct clone won't cut it, and it's always bound to attract legal issues, especially from PUBG which is desperate enough to have started suing Epic, then have withdrawn said lawsuit and starting to copy Fortnite in return instead, and doing it in the most horrible way possible, because they're unable to learn what they're doing wrong in all of this.
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by Install »

Is there any reason, apart from craving for attention, to post about a mod/code you aren't going to share with anyone you don't trust anyways..in a public forum?

This shouldn't be in "Coding/Scripting" tbh..

Oh by the way here is the UT v436 native source code
Link deleted

I am not going to share this with anyone I don't trust though- also you need to sign a NDA with Epic Games before.

:omfg:

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JackGriffin
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by JackGriffin »

See what I mean paper? This is why the community is dead.

Look single-post guy, I've spent years giving away every single thing I've ever done. The source included in everything I post. Tell you what, do me a favor and host that link on your personal website. Let's see how cavalier you are then. What? You won't? Color me surprised.

It's easy to hide behind a forum name isn't it? You didn't even try to create something one percent unique either. Now I know you are both dumb and uncreative. Not sure which is worse.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
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esnesi
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by esnesi »

Mail sended.
Hope you doing well.
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Gustavo6046
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by Gustavo6046 »

JackGriffin wrote:Let me explain a little further so you guys don't think I'm being an asshole.
JackGriffin wrote:Now I know you are both dumb and uncreative. Not sure which is worse.
Uh, I don't want to insult anyone or anything, but technically, isn't calling someone "dumb" being an asshole?

Just asking.
"Everyone is an idea man. Everybody thinks they have a revolutionary new game concept that no one else has ever thought of. Having cool ideas will rarely get you anywhere in the games industry. You have to be able to implement your ideas or provide some useful skill. Never join a project whose idea man or leader has no obvious development skills. Never join a project that only has a web designer. You have your own ideas. Focus on them carefully and in small chunks and you will be able to develop cool projects."

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papercoffee
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by papercoffee »

Gustavo6046 wrote: Just asking.
You are already on his ignore list ...don't push it.
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by EvilGrins »

Install wrote:Is there any reason, apart from craving for attention, to post about a mod/code you aren't going to share with anyone you don't trust anyways..in a public forum?
Let me take this one.

*ahem*

Because he knows we'd want to play it, of course.
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papercoffee
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by papercoffee »

That guy is banned.
Whoever go to the trouble of using a proxy and sign up at our forum, just to troll a person he has a aversion to, is not welcome here.
Come here and talk with your real Nickname and your real IP you coward.
JackGriffin
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Re: My last upload...might be a lengthy read

Post by JackGriffin »

ISense, I sent you the password. Since you play a lot of PUBG let me know how you think that might have gone had I been able to finish it. Was I even close? I really think it would have been a fun mod. Be warned that the rounds run way too fast since I needed them to be super fast for testing. It's not going to properly play as you have it but you'll see what it could be. I think there are still some spam text messages that tell you certain things are happening that I needed to keep an eye on. I never got to any sort of polish aside from weapon balancing. Be sure to finish the rounds though, one of the guys who did voice work is freaking amazing. It's worth listening to.

@EG: dude you could not be more right. In many ways this was going to be my crowning achievement, something I thought could bring some real interest into UT even if it was riding on the coattails of something else. I was legit sad that I couldn't finish it. Still, the bits and parts are worth looking at. If I were a little less lazy I'd strip the PUBG stuff out and post the mod openly. Does someone want to do that for me? I'd be up for that. I don't have the first thing UT installed on my new computer, I don't even have photoshop now.

EDIT: paper, I'm sorry buddy. I'm going to stop replying. Never meant to cause issues, just wanted to share as I always have. It's just that this time required more care than I've ever needed to use. Good luck everybody, and if you play ARK then stop by my server and say hello.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
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