DoW

Is the EPIC mod still be worked on[?]

"Your ship has been disrupted for a routine check......"

Yes! An update with new pictures will be posted this Friday.

-Gtrout

Good question and very timely too:

About 9 months ago we came to the conclusion:
The Dark Currents platform as a Chessboard/ Roleplaying type game isn't very practical for a series of missions that are story based.
A story orientated mission based platform isn't appropriate for the role playing game

We then decided to split the project with Gtrout to continue on with Dark Currents while I was to do the story based missions together with Hot4Darmat. (Hot4 doing the story and sound work and me scripting)

My plate is overloaded: I simply cannot do the whole story based mission package with some 12 to 15 full sized mission scripts AND in addition to that, lots of basic modifications and function scripting that would be necessary. (For example a feature to allow hiring wingmen with a GUI and several additional wingmen handler scripts including skill based pricing which leads to the implimentation of a monetary system and on and on). On top of that, there is some moddeling with lots of ship modding, and balancing necessary too.

I would love to do DoW because the story is great and Hot4 is a fantastic story teller.

Unfortunatly I just can't do a whole game by myself (even if the engine itself is 'borrowed' from EOC).







Iwar2 Multiplayer Fan Site

Major Tom is right: The will is still there, and so much groundwork has been done, but the scripting work, GUI stuff, economics and modelling is, from what I'm led to understand, just too daunting for one person who has a life, a job, etc (I don't write code, so I can't claim to truly understand). The Epic: Dogs of War mod needs help from you, the members of the community of fans. Anyone who wants to play this cool Middle States campaign is invited to step up and help MT out. If we can't get a few more volunteers to help, then unfortunately, we're going to have to declare it folded, and bid farewell to Patrick Nolan, salvage pilot-turned-mercenary, as we watch the intro cutscene movie once again dabbing the tears as they roll down our cheeks.

--
Hot4Darmat

So Dark Currents will eventually be released? And does it basically add a whole lot of cool stuff to the free form play? I actually bought X2 and finished the story in under a week. Was dissapointed to say the least. I thought, WOW! a game that in a way has the things that I was hoping EoC could have, but I was dissapointed. Amazing how 4 years later I still go back to playing EoC over the few space sims that have came out since. I usually download the demo before I buy the game. I did that with Freelancer and the lack of joystick support made me pass on it. I bought X2 the day it came out with higher expectations than it had. I browse their forum still because I am hoping after a few more patches(maybe 10 or more) or an expansion will make me load it back up. With the enormous amount of people that play that game, it makes me think that an I-War 3 would blow people away! And what is it about EoC that makes people like me, continue to load it up and play for hours on end 4 years later?

"Your ship has been disrupted for a routine check......"

I understand that overloaded part. There are times I feel like the woman in "The Piano" with the rope wrapped around one foot...

Yes, Dark Currents continues. But in much smaller scale. I am pushing very hard to get a basic feature set ready for testing by the end of April. Once that gets stable, new features will be added every two months or so. The real key to progress has been to chop features wholesale.

But don't lament Patrick Nolan yet! Many ideas from Hot4Darmat's story are working into the game mechanisms. Joining factions, like the Golliger's privateers and Droznic prirate clan is possible. And carries benefits and dangers. Destroyable station modules, such as command towers that can be blasted to attempt to kill faction leaders. Using distress calls or skirmishing scouts to draw defenders away from a station.

The split was a good idea when it seemed possible to do both. Maybe it is not. Things like skill and monetary system are designed into Dark Currents. Perhaps after all the features are out and stable, it might be possible to revisit the story. Adjust it to fit dark currents. Adjust dark currents a bit to accommidate the story.

Well, I have been doing too much talking and not enough coding. So I am back to making life difficult for criminal branded mercenary types, hehehehe.



-Gtrout