CEONSS

So I didn't make much progress with the power node part of the Onslaught Specials package. However, there are a few other classes I'd like to share, which I have moved to a separate package, OnslaughtSpecialsLite. This includes classes you may already know from the first incarnation of the Onslaught Specials package, as well as a few new ones. For example, there's a triggerable weapon base and also an actor that redirects a trigger event based on whether sides are swapped or not. New ScriptedTrigger actions include one that can heal nodes and cores and a check for a node's ownership.

See this Unreal Wiki page for documentation of the provided classes.

So essentially there's an upcoming 3rd OnslaughtSpecials package which will contain new and more substantial innovations but it's still quite some ways away so this one's purpose is just to push something out to tide ppl over and let them experiment with while waiting for OS3? Man, now I'm curious to know what goals you've set for yourself with OS3... movable versions of ONS assets (nodes, cores, lockers & turrets) perhaps ? Also, built-in toggleable nodes' health on radar (and Map tab) in a fashion much like the method you used for node names' displays would also help get rid of the need for forking the standard package again to achieve that, as I did with that OS2_RNH fork; you'd probly get better performance too, what with the server having to send that info only to the players having that feature enabled, and not on every tick either (about every 20-30 sounds smarter). Anyway, I'll look into this one's code, see if I can try out (or break) some stuff with it.

Completely preliminarily though, if that ForcedDirVolume is made to push oncoming things away from it but not turn 'em around, wouldn't that cause, say, an approaching redeemer missile fired almost straight at it to be stuck in a lengthy loop until it slowly moves outside its boundaries and then past it, thereby unduly consuming server resources until that process completes? Probably a usage concern rather than an implementation one, but just wondering...

Damaging cores in any non-standard manner - much less healing 'em - I predict might also become a pretty thorny issue for any mapper daring enough to try it; tread veeeery carefully there, folks .

ACTION_DamagePowerNode

It does remind me of some ONS maps from UT3, where if you control certain nodes, some kind of damage to an enemy node is triggered.

Onslaught Specials 2 isn't actually finished yet. There is no way to use it to its full potential, because the link designer can only link things, but not toggle or configure all the other features. As a result, you can use them for official setups, but not for custom ones. That is GUI work, though. And I don't quite like GUI work - especially when it needs to be paired with replication logic for everything. (My Screenshot Sender mod is also stuck because of that.)

Regarding node health on the minimap - I never got back any source code for that modification, so I guess I'll have to reinvent it myself.

"ONS maps from UT3" - that's where many of the Onslaught Specials ideas come from. The ForcedDirVolume and standalone/countdown nodes are a UT3 Warfare invention as well.

The ForcedDirVolume actually also turns the guided Redeemer around to fly away on its own. You have no movement control over your vehicle (the Redeemer is a vehicle as well) while in such a volume.

Wormbo wrote:Onslaught Specials 2 isn't actually finished yet. There is no way to use it to its full potential, because the link designer can only link things, but not toggle or configure all the other features. As a result, you can use them for official setups, but not for custom ones. That is GUI work, though. And I don't quite like GUI work - especially when it needs to be paired with replication logic for everything.[...]

So, wait. OnslaughtSpecials2 has been out for - *checks UT Cache Manager dates* - nearly 2 years now, but the work you're doing is still for OS2 :s? I mean, unless you're planning to release it as 2.5 or something, wouldn't that affect naming consistency in terms of map resources? At any rate, a custom made link designer that could incorporate all the special kind of nodes in OS2 into an extended ONSPowerLinkOfficialSetup actor (assuming I'm understanding it right here) does sound intriguing, so I'm gonna keep an eye out for that and hopefully mappers out there will too.

Wormbo wrote:[...](My Screenshot Sender mod is also stuck because of that.)[...]

I was under the impression that the OnslaughtSpecials packages were meant to provide additional mapping tools and features to expand maps' gameplay potential. This sounds more like a security measure for server admins running it as a ServerActor - and a quite worryingly invasive one at that too. Even if the association here is accidental and the SS sender you're developing isn't meant to be included in an OnslaughtSpecials package but elsewhere, do you think it's a good idea to make something like that for usage cases outside the strict adherence framework of clan match anticheat tools? People playing in such tiers are usually willing to abide by that degree of scrutiny, but CEONSS is after all merely a casual, open and public ONS server. Anyway, I hope I'm getting something wrong here :/.

Wormbo wrote:[...]Regarding node health on the minimap - I never got back any source code for that modification, so I guess I'll have to reinvent it myself.[...]

Umm, I'd made a thread about it in the Creative Corner forum (here) about a year ago, explaining what my goal was, where I got the idea and code from, what trouble I was having implementing it, and, finally, offering the result once I managed it, don't you remember? It's all there.

Wormbo wrote:[...]"ONS maps from UT3" - that's where many of the Onslaught Specials ideas come from. The ForcedDirVolume and standalone/countdown nodes are a UT3 Warfare invention as well.[...]

Heh, I remember a period where everyone seemed to be rushing to port ideas and gameplay elements from UT3's Warfare over to ONS as fast as they could: UT3 versions of 2k4's vecs, the EONS bunch, the tripod walker, UT3 versions of 2k4's weaps (with sounds and all), the grapple gun, many of the features Crusha started working on which ended up in OS1 - including extensive (un)triggering logic - the node labels, the locust hoverboards, jumpboots and modular armour pieces, whole maps (Floodgate, Avalanche, Downtown, Suspense), lately now Crusha's whole UT3 orb package. It always kinda struck me as odd, this unofficial race to grab and drag over more and more ideas from a game that was proving more and more unpopular as time went by and straying from the core essence and truth that made any previous UT successful up until that iteration. Ah well, can't begrudge coders for wanting to try their hand in such challenges anyway, not to mention we did get a few neat things from that after all, so that whole campaign wasn't a wash either . Still, going forward and to wrap up this minirant, I'd advise folks to be a bit more critical, thoughtful and game-design-driven when considering what else to adapt to ONS from Warfare that would actually fit this gamemode's character so as to increase their work's potential impact and effect as much as possible for everyone's benefit.

Wormbo wrote:[...]The ForcedDirVolume actually also turns the guided Redeemer around to fly away on its own. You have no movement control over your vehicle (the Redeemer is a vehicle as well) while in such a volume.

Ah, okay then, got it, thanks for clarifying. Also, the Redeemer is a vehicle? I thought it was either a projectile or a pawn when guided by hand :s.

Keep up the good work.

Naming issues - I don't see a problem with that. I could always name it Onslaught Specials 3. The number really only is a version indicator.

Screenshot Sender is not part of Onslaught Specials but just happened to get stuck at a similar problem: GUI is a purely clientside thing, but must update and be synchronized with configuration on the server side. That means a lot of replication back and forth while keeping the GUI up-to-date. For the Screenshot Sender that would be e.g. player states and screenshot profiles, while for Onslaught Specials it's the powerlink setups and associated map options.

Node health - erm, sorry. Must have forgot about that one. I'll add it to the "main code branch", but make it configurable in some way.

UT3 porting - I agree that Warfare lived off too many feature-related maps. Many of them have a countdown node and there's always the orb in there somewhere by default. Porting stuff just for the sake if porting it doesn't make must sense, especially if the outcome doesn't actually fit the target game. However, things like the ForcedDirVolume are totally different. That volume in particular allows you to seal off a map area without having flying/hovering vehicles crash into an invisible barrier. Being able to create more elaborate scripting for a map without having to code it yourself also is a big advantage.

Vehicles are Pawns. But you are right, in UT2004, the Redeemer is not a vehicle. I must have confused that with UT3, where the guided redeemer missile takes advantage of the vehicle features like a remote turret.