Soldat in 3d - two years later

[2sneaky]

Hey there! Just under two years ago I posted here about my idea of a next-gen soldat-styled game, with a video of my prototype in all its ugliness..

Its been a rocky road with three complete re-writes over two game engines, but the pre-alpha testing is just round the corner at last, and I would be very happy if any soldat veterans would like to help test and share their feedback!

Latest dev vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8FSPfZExQI

PreAlpha testing sign-up page (public test builds coming soon, message me on steam if you really cant wait and want an earlier build:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/SN2CP

[paintZoom]

wowowowowowo thats looking good!
hi im paint (public player one shots mainly)
im nowhere near "veteran" level of players but i would like to play your game and give some feedback

[duz]

Not even close to Soldat.
Soldat is not about a side view, jet and explosions. There's a lot more. That's why everyone fails trying to create something similar or a clone.
If you don't get that, forget this idea. You not gonna make a Soldat clone.

PS: Looks a good game.

[Michal Marcinkowski]

Hi,
Nice job. I like the look of it on this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJXCWT6L2fk
The one you posted is probably too dark, to a point where it is unplayable.
Keep it up .

[2sneaky]

wowowowowowo thats looking good!
hi im paint (public player one shots mainly)
im nowhere near "veteran" level of players but i would like to play your game and give some feedback

Really appreciate it, would love to have you as a tester, feel free to signup on the steam page I'll be posting builds there soon
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/SN2CP

Not even close to Soldat.
Soldat is not about a side view, jet and explosions. There's a lot more. That's why everyone fails trying to create something similar or a clone.
If you don't get that, forget this idea. You not gonna make a Soldat clone.

PS: Looks a good game.

Valid feedback, there is a hell of a lot more to making any game than its core mechanics, this is never going to be Soldat, and the idea isnt to clone soldat either; thus my description as a soldat-*styled* shooter - however I wont deny I have taken a lot of inspiration for control and mechanics from soldat. The game will not remain purely arena format either, the framework of the game has been developed so I can expand into single and co-op based mission format too. My game is very young in development by comparison as well, I am but one man making this after all! But with the feedback of players such as yourself the project could be shaped into something that while different, contains some of the spirit of the scrolling shooter that we all love.

Hi,
Nice job. I like the look of it on this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJXCWT6L2fk
The one you posted is probably too dark, to a point where it is unplayable.
Keep it up .

Really appreciate the kind words!
You are right, the cave in its current state is too dark for actual play, I darkened it additionally for the videos to boost the visibility of the explosions and such.
While I like the aesthetic of the desert level we soon found that the "flatness" enforced by the style of desert buildings (much space to build in, therefore no need to build many tall buildings) was limiting, and having 3d floating platforms breaks the suspension of disbelief hugely. Currently working on building a city-styled layout with skeletons of skyscrapers providing the level geometry, will see how it works out.
I'll keep it up, dont worry!

[homerofgods]

You could send me a build, I like to test and give feedback

[GymPolice]

Where are the backflips? That's how Soldat's movement has gotten so complexe!

The few bits of videos I saw on Youtube were fantastic and promising. I am looking forward to this actually

[duz]

My previous feedback was based on the "Latest dev vid". Ok, after checking the video mentioned by MM, it seems more interesting.
Looks like the bullets are a bit slow and the movement speed is always or almost the same. There's no speed gain by the friction and movements like back flips, cannon ball etc (Soldat movements - CHECK HERE), which would be really cool.
The kill log text looks weird with the cartoonish style (outline).

[2sneaky]

You could send me a build, I like to test and give feedback

I'll link the next build, should be uploading one today or tomorrow hopefully

Where are the backflips? That's how Soldat's movement has gotten so complexe!

The few bits of videos I saw on Youtube were fantastic and promising. I am looking forward to this actually

Really appreciate the kind words, glad you're looking forward to this too!
Its getting there, advanced movement mechanics is slow work in unreal4, its a lot of math, funkiness with network prediction, maya time, and fighting the built-in CM system. At the moment I have three functions working; slide, ledgeclimb and vault, but you can be sure its something I am continuing to develop! I'll try and get the backflipping working in basic form for the next build.

My previous feedback was based on the "Latest dev vid". Ok, after checking the video mentioned by MM, it seems more interesting.
Looks like the bullets are a bit slow and the movement speed is always or almost the same. There's no speed gain by the friction and movements like back flips, cannon ball etc (Soldat movements - CHECK HERE), which would be really cool.
The kill log text looks weird with the cartoonish style (outline).

Since the other video (desert one), I redid a lot of the movement to make it less sluggish, with smoother run accel + deaccel, and its something I see myself tinkering with all the way through alpha at least as I try to get it "right". The ballistics are slower than soldat and have more exagerated trajectories, but I would be interested to see what you think after playing a test build and giving them a try (I will link to a build here soon). In my testing, the exaggerated trajectories adds to the skillgap/satisfaction of predicting shots, and gave me more scope for making the guns feel "different" while having many of them (21 guns set up so far and I will add more). Rail-Weapons have no drop, fastest speed and penetrate walls very well(though the penetration does "glance" the shot, altering trajectory in X plane to prevent it being too OP) The snipers and military-themed weapons are more realistic in their speed/traj/penetration, with faster shots and a lesser curve, while the plasma weaponry is slow, no pene, and arcs a lot, in exchange for greater firerate.
The advanced movement; as I replied to the previous comment it is getting there one ability at a time, currently only at the climb, vault and slide stage, but it is being actively developed. Thanks for the link too, hadn't seen that post!
The killfeed I am not happy with either, It was done very early in dev when the game was going to be more sci-fi spaceshippey aesthetic, later hastily changed to the new font and outline setup and has sat there in the "to be worked on" pile for months. It does need more work.


To everyone, really appreciate the feedback and criticism, it is vital for me!
Ill post a build here when I next upload it.
All the best,
Sneak

[Bistoufly]

Another movement guide I made long ago for more inspiration:

https://forums.soldat.pl/index.php?topic=42878.0

I support your choice of slower projectiles with exaggerated trajectories.

Can't wait to try out your game!

[2sneaky]

Another movement guide I made long ago for more inspiration:

https://forums.soldat.pl/index.php?topic=42878.0

I support your choice of slower projectiles with exaggerated trajectories.

Can't wait to try out your game!

Appreciate the link, great guide!

Sorry I havent posted a build yet, I realised that unreal's default movement component wasnt up to it so I've been coding a replacement that allows this style of advanced movement to work with unreal's lag compensation system. It'll be worth it trust me!

[homerofgods]

We are quite used to waiting :p

[machina]

We are quite used to waiting :p

Hahaha, oh you xD