Dune mod for Mount&Blade Warband (tryout)

[Davidu]

a Dune mod for Mount&Blade Warband

 

experiencing problems with my website where the screenshots are stored. sorry for that.

 
I decided to modify a bit the first post so people reading this first would find it easier to understand what this is all about.

So, I am trying to do a full mod of Mound&Blade Warband in order to redo and possibly go beyond Cryo's Dune game. The work is going steady but a bit slow because I'm working alone and I still have to got to work and have a life :D I'll keep you posted on how the whole thing is going. Don't expect miracles.


UPDATES:
 
 
7th August 2013
 

56. new cursor DONE

55. Dusty day skydome DONE

54. Clear day skydome DONE

53. Clear night skydome DONE
49. new UI design WIP
48. new font WIP
 
 
Full changelog:

56. new cursor DONE 7th August 2013

55. Dusty day skydome DONE 7th August 2013

54. Clear day skydome DONE 7th August 2013

53. Clear night skydome DONE 7th August 2013

52. Pyon sun hat DONE 19th june 2013
51. name for the mod: The Desert Dancer from arabic Ar-rāqiṣ meaning the dancer; more info here DONE 21st april 2013
50. energy shield (credits Lumos) DONE 19th june 2013
49. new UI design WIP
48. new font WIP
47. new battle HUD DONE 21st april 2013
46. new environment textures (ground, desert and spice) DONE 21st april 2013
45. added player party world map icon as a quad atv. DONE 9th april 2013
44. added custom Arrakeen world map icon (inspired by Cryo's Dune). DONE 9th april 2013
43. Sardaukar Maula Pistol DONE 19th june 2013
42. fixed Harkonnen Gladius scabbard animation. DONE 12th march 2013
41. inserting script for attacking people in towns, villages and taverns (start brawl script). DONE 28th april 2013
40. fixed error on castles lacking villages (prosperity calculation script). DONE 12th march 2013
39. switched Botanical Station back to "castle" status and under Harkonnen control. DONE 12th march 2013
38. fixed an indictment code for lords in game (credits Zsar) DONE 12th march 2013
37. added code for "crouch animation fix" and "pistol" (credits Xenoargh) DONE 12th march 2013
36. added world map with faction borders (credits Rubik). DONE 12th march 2013
35. convert some villages into spice refineries. DELAYED
34. add harvesters as world map party. DELAYED
33. add sandworms as world map party. DELAYED
32. added Atreides Kindjal. DONE 19th february 2013
31. added Sardaukar Khukuri (needs reworking). DONE 19th february 2013
30. added Fremen Crysknife (needs reworking). DONE 19th february 2013
29. added Harkonnen Gladius. DONE 19th february 2013
28. added Harkonnen Infantry Helmet (urban paint scheme). DONE 19th february 2013
27. interiors. DELAYED
26. Harkonnen faction custom items. WIP
25. Corrino faction custom items. DELAYED
24. Smuggler faction cutom items. DELAYED
23. Fremen faction custom items. WIP
22. place Arrakeen and Chartag spaceports. WIP
21. redo start game to point to Arrakeen and Chartag spaceports. DONE 19th february 2013
20. fix the lords' pesonal banners. WIP
19. new model for the world map banner. DONE 18th august 2012
18. create "fort" map icon. DONE 27th august 2012
17. introduce Guild faction. DELAYED 
16. introduce Corrino faction. DONE 10th august 2012
15. introduce Atreides faction. DELAYED
14. created "discoverable" map icons for the Fremen and Smuggler factions. DONE 10th august 2012
13. place all settlements on the map. DONE 2nd september 2012
12. introduce Smuggler faction. DONE 27th august 2012
11. introduce Harkonnen faction. DONE 2nd september 2012
10. finish world map. DONE 19th february 2013
9. fix recruit ment problem (high-tier troops). DONE 6th august 2012
8. experiment with new armor. DONE 6th august 2012
7. fix lords' world map flags. DONE 6th august 2012
6. fix flags. DONE 6th august 2012
5. add recruit option in town (besides mercs). NOT STARTED YET
4. fix the lords' clothes. DONE 6th august 2012
3. fix the city guards so they appear according to their faction. DONE 10th august 2012
2. have Gurney Halleck as arena tournament master. AXED 10th april 2013
1. fix the start sequence: start from Arrakeen or Chartag spaceport. DONE 6th august 2012

 
Initail post:

Hey guys,

I started playing around with the SDK from Warband... and for the time I had on my hands and my absolute lack of knowledge of Python code I managed to add a new faction to the game (Fremen) add a "Sietch Tabr" place on the map using some "bandit cave" icon that really looks like a Dune1 sietch and put that sietch under fremen control:
 

 
There's still a lot I don't know how to do. The official tutorials fall short exactly on how to add a menu and scene (interior) to a place on the world map (town, village, castle). With some help from the modding community there I might be able to do a lot more, just they're a bit slow to answer or, in my case, the questions a too much of a noob to be worth answering.
 
 
If any of you want to try this out go to http://forums.taleworlds.com . If any of you have experience with the Python code you'd be very helpful. I'm still trying to figure out why some things work and why others won't. Just be warned that the tutorials haven't been updated since 2008.

 
Credits:
Lumos for the energy shield code;
Zsar for the lord indictment fix;
Rubik for the world map borders code;
Xenoargh for the pistol and crouch codes;
Gutekfiutek for some awesome textures I used as base for new ones;
HokieBT, Swyter, SheriffTheAvenger, MadVader and Slawomir of Aaarrghh for the "attack people in town" script.

[MrFlibble]

Hah, this sounds very cool! Nice job, and a nice idea!

[Davidu]

Thanks. I managed to make the town menu work and assign a scene (interior) for the tavern. The tavern itself is not furnished, haha, but still... There's a lot of coding to decifre. If only I had more time to spend on this :P

[Davidu]

Ok, since I can't code while at work, though I have some time free right now, I'm sketching the rough plans for the most common locations on the map:
fremen sietch, peon village, smuggler outpost and military fort. Tell me what you think, what's missing, etc.

 

Fremen sietch:

 

fremen sietch - each entrance is guarded. it has a public area for travelers mostly and trading. though the fremen are isolationists it is knows for them to trade with the smuggler, to have contacts with the Ixians and the Guild (trading spice for concealment). obviously the player will need a good rating with the fremen in order to enter. this is done by helping them against bandits, harkonnen patrols or doing some quests (random map encounters). then there's the private area with the living quarters, production, etc. you need a bigger standing to go in there. third is the sacred area with the ritual room&cemetery, windtrap&reservoir and maybe a garden.

 

 

Smuggler outpost:

 

 

smuggler outpost - also 3 areas, all gates guarded. public area for trading, private area for living and a "sensitive" area (as in hidden or "off limits" for the landing pad). as long as you don't have a bad standing with the smuggler the public area should be always open. the rest come in time by helping the smugglers or doing quests for them.

 

 

Peon Village:

 

 

peon village - you can enter any time, no standing needed. dosen't have much to offer.

 

 

Fort:

 

 

military fort - for both atreides and harkonnen. you need a standing with that faction to enter. if neutral you don't get in. if you have a bad standing (enemy) they will attack you.

 

 

As you see i am thinking of expanding the classic Mount&Blade Warband characters: merchants (misc items, spice, water, weapons, armor, transportation), mechanic (repair and rig your ride - orni or car), doctor, bartender. There's some tutorials for that so this should not be such a problem. The only thing i need is time

 

 

I have not decided yet if to go with a Dune1 story mode (Atreides vs Harkonnen), a canon historical mode (you're Paul and you arrive on Arrakis, bla bla bla and Harkonnen attack and you strike back with the fremen and emperor comes etc etc) or a simple sandbox style (just like Warband) of going around trading, fighting, etc. Actually all that depends on my abilities to code.

 

 

Any feedback is apreciated

[MrFlibble]

Although I've had very limited playing experience with Mount & Blade, I'd say it seems a very good choice for a Dune mod. For the story, I think it'd be better to have a free open-world playing style, especially if the player will have the opportunities to join various factions and Houses etc. and advance through them. OTOH, this will probably require a lot of work. Do you intend to make models and such stuff yourself, or are you going to recruit modellers and other people in your team?

Oh, and also, do you think it is going to be possible to implement functional 'thopters in the game? ;)

[Davidu]

Well, I'll need help with animations. Or texturing. I didn't get that far yet. Most other modelling maybe I'll be able to deal with. Still, if people want to join in, I can't stop them, can I? :D

Though actually I'd need programmers. Once I get it to a more decent stage I'll post it on the modding forums on Taleworlds. Right now I'm just asking things around. People wouldn't join a noob as their project manager, would they?

I'm good with AutoCAD, 3DsMAX and Rhino, and SketchUP. And this Python language isn't that hermetic. But I need a lot of time to crack it, and I don't have that much time. Also I'm doing all this on a graphic-boardless laptop. So it's all slow software rendering for me... M&B with shittiest graphics :)

About the ornis: I think I can implement them at least for travelling. I don't think orni-dogfights would be much of a success: limited space in scenes, what kind of weaponry would you have? Rochets, lasers, machine gun? I think Frank Herbert kinda' left some loopholes with this. Also with cars. How can you attack a car with a knife? How can you use laser or other weapons if it has shields?

Also, I don't have any of the books with me. :( So I'll have to ask you guys for a lot of stuff concerning in-depth data.

Having an open game would be great. Imagine arriving at the Arrakeen spaceport roughly 1 year before the Atreides come. So, live and trade under the Harkonnen and then change of regime with the Atreides and then Harkonnens attack and take over, and then, after some time (not too much though, I don't want to bore people to death) the fremen attack the Harkonnen and the Emperor comes. I mean it should be like seeing the whole first book just played before your eyes. BUT that means a lot of coding. So it will be a LONG time before that would ever be ready :)

Some questions now: how exactly is Chartag presented in the books? Kinda' "soviet-style" prefab-apartment buildings type of town? Is it bigger or smaller than Arrakeen? Does it have a spaceport?

[Davidu]

I managed to add a proper interior to the Sietch's tavern (!) and placed a few people around... including weapons dealer Otheym and bartender Korba Also Otheym can sell you a krysknife for 1 dinar. Currently the krysknife is a faster and deadlier dagger. I will try to model and implement a nice krysknife, though I think I'm gonna' make it more of a gladius/short sword class rather than a knife. In M&B knives can't block an attack. And that would totally suck if you're ambushed by Harkonnens.

 

you can notice a dagger at Otheym's side - that's the krysknife i tweaked out of a dagger

 

 

poor old Korba having to sell out drinks. i will model him closer to Mark Zug's painting of a bald boney dark man

 

 

and there it is, a krysknife with the symbolical price of 1 dinar. faster and deadlier than other daggers

 

That's all for today, hopefully I will come back soon with more stuff.

[MrFlibble]

Also Otheym can sell you a krysknife for 1 dinar.

What a treacherous dog!

Some questions now: how exactly is Chartag presented in the books? Kinda' "soviet-style" prefab-apartment buildings type of town? Is it bigger or smaller than Arrakeen? Does it have a spaceport?

Some quick searching came up with this:

Jessica stood in the center of the hall. She moved in a slow turn, looking up and around at shadowed carvings, crannies and deeply recessed windows. This giant anachronism of a room reminded her of the Sisters' Hall at her Bene Gesserit school. But at the school the effect had been of warmth. Here, all was bleak stone.

Some architect had reached far back into history for these buttressed walls and dark hangings, she thought. The arched ceiling stood two stories above her with great crossbeams she felt sure had been shipped here to Arrakis across space at monstrous cost. No planet of this system grew trees to make such beams -- unless the beams were imitation wood.

She thought not.

This had been the government mansion in the days of the Old Empire. Costs had been of less importance then. It had been before the Harkonnens and their new megalopolis of Carthag -- a cheap and brassy place some two hundred kilometers northeast across the Broken Land. Leto had been wise to choose this place for his seat of government. The name, Arrakeen, had a good sound, filled with tradition. And this was a smaller city, easier to sterilize and defend.

Apparently it's the only passage in the book that gives any sort of description. Also, there was a Guild Bank at Carthag, that might be a useful piece of info.

[Davidu]

So Chartag is bigger but duller. Guild bank you say... good :) So I should make Arrakeen smaller but more detailed. More hidden stuff. I really don't want Carthag to be more appealing than Arrakeen. This also means Carthag also has a spaceport.

Also on the Dune map there are two more towns/cities: Arsunt and Tsimpo. Is there any info on them? Or just normal industrial (spice mining) stuff? Also, I bet there's no map of the rest of the planet (Palmaries of the South), right? Well, before that I will try to gear up Otheym and Korba to look more fremen :) M&B has some very nice leather outfits that might work as stillsuits until I (or someone else) models some real stillsuit :) Also I will attempt to model a krys. Wish me luck! :)

[MrFlibble]

Hmm, somehow I don't recall any extensive descriptions of populated areas on Arrakis. It's said that Arrakeen was more luxurious that the cheap Carthag, but all sorts of villages and garrison towns are barely described IIRC. I guess that if you go with some medieval oriental style (mudbrick buildings and somesuch) mixed with occasional technology here and there that'll do.

There's a brief description of a spice silo somewhere in the book, where it's said that the silo was elevated above ground (I think some actual grain silos are designed that way).

[Davidu]

Yeah, I was thinking the same way.

I got into some trouble with the krys. I modelled something, but damn! I really suck at organic forms. Anyway, I didn't manage to texture it so it dosen't appear in-game. I think I should do my best with the map & places before I go into modelling. Like making the whole frame for the rest of the game. Not to much time for this and most of the time I'm lurking on the TaleWrolds forum trying to find out how to do some basic stuff. :)

[Davidu]

Ok, some more news: I manage to fix the faction, now Stilgar is the fremen leader, he owns Sietch Tabr and the nearby villages (by default). They also got a banner (not a custom one, but still) and a new troop: the Fremen Youngster. They're fast as hell, and deadly I'll post a screenshot later.

So the sietch is protected by 230 Fremen Youngsters and you can also recruit them in the villages. As far as M&B goes this is great. I will have to tweak it so you'll be able to recruit fremen in the sietch and not in the vllages. They've got leather outifit (to resemble the stillsuit) and a krysknife (M&B modified dagger).

Next I will have to add more types of fremen troops: from Youngster to Fedaykin on the meele tree and from Youngster to Sniper (or something similar) on the ranged tree.

--------------------

 

--------------------

 

 

 

And here you are, a bit of artwork - the flags of the biggest factions on Arrakis:

 

 

Atreides | Corrino | Fremen | Harkonnen | Smuggler | CHOAM | Spacing Guild

 

Edited April 10, 2013 by Davidu

[MrFlibble]

Nice going! Did you do the banner art yourself? Very impressive!

[Davidu]

Thanks. Yes I did them today at work after the client left. I also managed to get them into a DDS texture file and into the flags in the BRF file (textured meshes and animatons file). What I didn't manage was to correctly set the fremen flag. Not today though... it's 2 am already. Enough done for one day :)

PS. the eagle I got it from the google search, the lion is Peugeot 1970's emblem, harkonnen griffin is also googled, the fremen one is photoshoped from a painting, the smugglers are photoshoped from a picture of a jackall, CHOAM is inspired by zazzers or brazzer.com ( I don't remember now) and the guild was easy to make :)

---------------

So now we've got a working upgradeable troop tree: Fremen Youngster - Fremen Tribesman - Fremen Warrior - Fremen Fedaykin. They just have different perks, otherwise look the same. Minor visual differences: Younsgters have no helmet and have a "young" face, tribesmen and warriors have leather helmet and "adult" face and the fedaykin have a black hood and "older" face.

Also Stilgar went up to be the fremen leader and he's patrolling around or spending time in Sietch Tabr ( that is now currently copied after Shiraz).

To do for now:

1. fix the start sequence so you can start in Sietch Tabr also with or without (preferably) the starting quest.

2. fix the arena. Gurney Halleck should be there haha.

3. fix the Vaegir guards around the city. I dunno why some Vaegir troops pop up where Fremen Warrirors should be.

4. fix Stilgar's clothes so he doesn't look naked anymore (!!!).

5. add recruit option in the town. eventually recruit whatever troop you have money for.

5.b. fix recruit option to start with the lowest rank. (I have to decide exactly how will I do this).

6. fix the fremen flag

Edited July 19, 2012 by Davidu

[Davidu]

New pictures from the game:

Fremen Warrior

(I tweaked the normal leather armor to make t closer to desert camoflauge. i overdid it, too saturated. when i'll have more time i'll try to desaturate it.)

 

Fremen Banner on someone's shield.

(the Vaegir troops aren't supposed to be here. but they're useful to check the banner)

 

Two Fedaykin take on 10 looters (the lowest ranking bandits/rebels)

 

The Fedaykin have a different hood/helmet than the normal troops.

 

Also I'll move the "to do" list to the first post in the thread.

[Davidu]

Ok, I ran into some problem with the programming code. The whole Mount&Blade Warband is in Python language. Which seems to be quite flexible and nice. All went quite ok from tutorial to tutorial but now I got to a problem I cannot fix. I am trying to add a specific banner to a specific lord: meaning I am trying to give Stilgar the fremen banner. But it doesn't work.

If any of you know Python (and have time to get into this mess) gimme a bit shout over here :D

I still wait (and hope) that I'll get some comprehensive answers from the Taleworlds modding forum.

[Davidu]

I did it! I finally fixed the banners

[MrFlibble]

That looks pretty nice :)

However, I was thinking, is it possible to implement harsh weather conditions of Dune in the game? That desert looks somewhat... friendly, while I've always felt that the Fremen way of life is filled with the feeling of danger that comes from the outside - be it the Harkonnens or the unforgiving desert sun. The only safe place is inside: inside your sietch, inside your stillsuit and/or stilltent. BTW, the latter is a very physical aspect of Fremen hostility to outsiders and the outside world in general - on a mundane basis of an individual's survival as well as on the cultural level of their whole society.

In other words, I would like it in a Dune game that the harshness, unfriendliness of the desert could be felt by the player. Basic survival (maybe make characters take damage if without stillsuits in the desert?), but also things like desert storms and such. Is it possible, at lest in theory, to do that with Mount & Blade?

[Davidu]

I haven't touched the world map yet but I will, pretty soon :) M&B has some rain/fog weather effects so I think it is possible to code a sandstorm. That should be for much later hahah.

I was thinking of implementing a resource called "water" (:D) that when you run out of in your inventory you're screwed. Technically it would work the same as the food. And the consumption rate should change if you're in a town/sietch/village, if you have a stillsuit or not, etc. I want to discourage long desert walks. Even without the sandworms (ex. you're walking between Chartag and Arrekeen).

M&B is quite versatile: the guys managed to code destroyable objects in the game. And now the Napoleonian Wars for M&B features destroyable houses & such. Some guys changed the world map to a galaxy map :) There's a Battlestar galactica MOD and also a Star Wars one, so, yes, a lot of things can be implemented. I don't know how to do that yet, but I figure that if I manage to make a nice Dune world map (northern hemisphere), place all locations, set the whole framework properly, I might be able to get people interested to help with both the coding and the artwork.

Right now I'm a bit busy with other stuff (office/work) but in a week I will be able to get down to it.

[MrFlibble]

M&B is quite versatile: the guys managed to code destroyable objects in the game. And now the Napoleonian Wars for M&B features destroyable houses & such. Some guys changed the world map to a galaxy map :) There's a Battlestar galactica MOD and also a Star Wars one, so, yes, a lot of things can be implemented. I don't know how to do that yet, but I figure that if I manage to make a nice Dune world map (northern hemisphere), place all locations, set the whole framework properly, I might be able to get people interested to help with both the coding and the artwork.

That sounds like a very powerful tool for tailoring a game world to suit your needs :)

BTW, have you tried any other Dune and/or modding communities for possible additions to your project? I'm certain that with such potential, it's bound to get substantial popularity, and when done to any playable extent, guaranteed to gain a considerable audience :)

Unless, of course, the Herbert Limited Partnership comes around with a cease & desist "suggestion". They did that before, you know.

[Davidu]

I didn't go around to ask people. First I need to learn to mod Mount&Blade. It would be odd that after I invite lots of people in I am the least experienced.

There is a multiplayer mod for Dune in Mount&Blade already: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,131210.0.html and it looks decent. Maybe I'll ask them about some models if they're willing to share.

My plan is this: get the world map done, place all the locations (M&B style) set all the factions, name all the items, etc. And when that is done, I can ask people to help with 3d models, textures, extra coding, etc. But right now I'm still in the "learning to get around" period.

As for the Herbert Ltd., if they say anything, I'll change all the names, and make an unofficial patch to "localize" it in the duniverse. Btw, second life is HUGE! It can bring in serious money.

[MrFlibble]

Wow, that MP mod is simply awesome looking :)

I agree that it's good to have something to show before requesting any help, yet I'd say that you have already something to build upon, as opposed to raw mod ideas that people sometimes come up with and expect others to join in and do (all) the work.

On the other hand, you should of course take a close look at the possibilities of the modding in Mount and Blade to make sure you set realistic, achievable goals. This is an important part of project management, especially if you plan to recruit other people.

The guy in the MP mod thread has mentioned other Dune projects that have ceased development. I think it would be a good idea to find them and check them out, just to know what had been already done in this direction, and ensure your mod has something new in it. Novelty value is not to be overlooked in any circumstances. Doing that may also help finding new people for the project, or at least someone who can provide useful advice.

[Davidu]

The other mod I found for M&B was this one: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,85174.msg2195709.html#msg2195709 and it died quite fast.

I am not getting ahead of myself (again). A few years ago I was trying to redo Dune (1) in Half-Life. I had a lot of fun with doig some maps and they looked decent, and I even sort of retextured some soldier to act as a guard, change the GUI, but that was it. And then I decided to switch to TES: Morrowind. And there it died.

So I'm playing it safe this time. Maybe in 1-2 weeks I'll have that stuff ready. Depends on how much free time I've got :)

[Davidu]

Ok, I finished modelling the map. It was hard, but I did it I still have to texture it properly and maybe invent a new rock texture.

I will have to create the Harkonnen and Smuggler factions, delete the old M&B kingdoms and place the new locations on the world map. Also I have to finish properly texturing the map and I have to be careful to let passageways between cliffs and mountains.

All the little white dots are actualy the names of the settlements currently on the map. I need a beer after this.

[MrFlibble]

Pretty cool, nice going! :D