Quote:
Originally Posted by Admiral Von Gerlach
Hi there
good luck with your trip. looks very good all of the developments i have been very busy with work of my own but wanted to keep in touch. Drop me a line when you have time to chat about possible future plans. I caution agaisnt over expansion some mod makers and amateur developers get grand ideas that can kill a wonderful solid project like this..so be cautious. they will be happy to give lots of advice and jump on board of your effort but often bring more problems than you can ever anticipate. You have done so well I believe because you patiently did top quality work and step by step kept it real.
Not trying to denigrate possible plans that I am not aware of..I get very cautious when I see someone like you giving precedence to others when you have clearly earned to the right be one of the most remarkable mod makers I have ever seen in 20 years of work in the field.
Keep command of your own ship and your own course plotted and you will bring her into port. I am sure of this.  |
Thank you for your words. But rest assured that I am retaining overall control over the mod - the assistance I speak of is about purely technical issues, and not creative direction.
You make good points about overreach; this is a crucial issue with a project like WOTK. In fact, overreach/practicality are on my mind every day! I want the mod to be transformative, but I also want to avoid "mission creep" and a dead mod that withers bc of unrealistic goals. "Avoid overreach" is like a voice in the back of my head...lol..in fact, I have been analyzing the failures of a professional game in progress "Star Citizen" and taking it as a warning lesson. I sincerely feel I have an advantage over "Star Citizen" (and other failed professional projects). Consider the following:
-I do not have to build a game engine myself. The developers of SH4 already took care of that for me.
-All software tools needed to implement my goals already exist. S3ditor, pack3d, and wings3d are well-enough developed for me to do what I want. Thanks to their creators who came before me!
-Several crucial components of the project are already done or well advanced. RMS Lusitania is complete; all interface artwork has been collected; uniforms are approximately 90% complete; 3d modeling of playable units roughly 35% complete.
-The mod is subdivided into "Core Goals" vs "Reach Goals" to prevent overreach.
Core Goals:
1) North Atlantic/North Sea Dynamic Campaign
2) Mediterranean Dynamic Campaign
3) 10-15 Historical Single Missions
4) Reasonable roster of WWI player and NPC units
5) WWI Uniforms for Crew (again-90% achieved)
6) WWI Decorations
7) WWI interface and movies
8) Basic changes to submarine interior
9) Basic destructible shore targets
10) Basic revamp to plants, plus few biological units
11) Essential scripted events in dynamic campaign (Lusitania's May 1915 voyage, Jutland, etc)
Reach Goals:
1) Austrian Campaign
2) British North Atlantic/North Sea Campaign, with medals etc
3) Interiors for Mittel-U and small (UB-I) boats
4) Animations for Germaniawerft and MAN Diesel Engines
5) New crew animations
6) American Campaign (based on the attacks off US East Coast in 1917-1918)
7) Playable Surface Units
8) Unique Ship Names
9) Role-playing elements/backstory for crew (within SH4 limits)
10) Extensive destructible land areas, with many cities
11) Substantial plant/animal life throughout oceans, with ship/ocean life interaction
12) Numerous historical events scripted into dynamic campaigns
13) Extensive ship and shore human characters, with new animations and behaviors
By the way - to any lurking SC fanatics who disagree with me, & still believe Star Citizen is coming out as planned, please do not discuss it here. If you attempt to divert the discussion, I WILL ask a mod to delete posts.