Author Topic: Starcore v4 Revival & Completion (Read 61601 times)

Starcore · « **on:** February 03, 2009, 07:57:35 PM »

Yes I want to get the Starcore v4 Pack out the door and into your hot hands!

I stopped working on the Starcore v4 Pack a little over a year ago due to a range of issues ranging from personal health issues (I have Diabetes and it gets worse at times), family issues (my wife was diagnosed last year with MS), having to focus on keeping my job during layers of layoffs and I admit I lost some faith that people wanted it when I saw the Stock tournys failing and an understandable shift to DSL activities.

I think many would still like the Starcore V4 pack released.

To make that happen I have gotten RA2 installed and patched on my current home and work PCs. I have resurrected the Starcore V4 Alpha 2 pack and found various parts of my additional work and I am tracking down emails and submissions people have sent.

I am going pull together what I had near done for an Alpha 3 with some additional teams.

I will need your help to review what is wrong with the current Starcore V4 Alpha 2 and will need testers for Starcore V4 Alpha 3 when it comes out.

I will need discussions here of what new bots and designs should be worked into the mix. (Like I recall working on new versions of Overhead Hammer bots HW-Jabberwocky and MW-Bandersnatch and bots like Slaying Mantis look promising) and which ones still need changing.

I have seen other BOTM submissions that may be excellent additions to the pack if people would like to see it happen.

What do you all think? I am not wanting to give people false hopes but with help and support this might just happen.

Anyone out there want this?

Willing to help? (Splash Art, Music, Arenas, Bonus Features, New bots replacements or teams, Testers)

Starcore

Sage · « **Reply #1 on:** February 03, 2009, 08:13:10 PM »

Im a tester for sure! and i would love to help with splash art and new bots. an i thought you had a jabberwocky? i remember you even wrote a poem about it.

Scrap Daddy · « **Reply #2 on:** February 03, 2009, 08:20:12 PM »

YES!!!

Ive been waiting so looong for this! I have a few bots done. Should I post them like the old thread or just send? I have Mutiny II, Emergency Launch and 1337 SPEEK 2.0(maybe) done.

by the way I'm willing for testing of anything.

Starcore · « **Reply #3 on:** February 03, 2009, 08:48:17 PM »

Quote from: Sage;28097

Im a tester for sure! and i would love to help with splash art and new bots. an i thought you had a jabberwocky? i remember you even wrote a poem about it.

I have done a few versions of Jabberwocky but seeing some nice new innovations that might be better.

Also supporting current efforts.

If you would rather I didn't consider latest creations...

Starcore

DuckRA2 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 03, 2009, 09:11:10 PM »

I can make an arena maybe, like one with some flames, sumo style... just not to complicated, and I could help with the bots, but i don't know, I would do a bot but not a whole team

SpyGuy · « **Reply #5 on:** February 03, 2009, 09:13:29 PM »

Starcore, sign me up. Testing and artwork, plus suggestions on bots. DSL is fun, but Stock still rocks!

Is there a new arena in the works, or are we still working on redoing the garage workshop? I kinda liked the way Mad was doing the loft and the secret Hall of Fame above the ceiling ....

kill343gs · « **Reply #6 on:** February 03, 2009, 09:33:11 PM »

I can help with art, but I;m not really good enough at building anymore to make competitive bots.

Madiaba · « **Reply #7 on:** February 03, 2009, 11:53:27 PM »

You know it would be very easy to tweak the garage now and finish it for your pack, SC. Trophy room, plaques,... as long I've got the skinners to help, NP.

R0B0SH4RK · « **Reply #8 on:** February 04, 2009, 12:08:30 AM »

I can build some stuff for you. Mabye if you post a list of the bots that you would like/need to be updated, and let us work from there. I'd be happy to help with such a large project.

Naryar · « **Reply #9 on:** February 04, 2009, 12:37:24 AM »

Well, if you could post the bots you need to be built/updated... My Stock building skills are quite average, but i still could work on one bot.

EDIT: uuuh i just noticed R0B0's post after posting mine.

System32 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 04, 2009, 02:21:05 AM »

Boy, I could help with some of the bots.

Starcore · « **Reply #11 on:** February 04, 2009, 02:34:20 AM »

Of those that tried out the Starcore V4 Alpha 2, was there any glaring errors?

Any bots that seriously needed a makeover?

Those that have not tried Starcore V4 Alpha 2 but want to test and help out the link was posted elsewhere not long ago. Will post here if needed.

Starcore

Reier · « **Reply #12 on:** February 04, 2009, 08:23:30 AM »

Well, I can't really build very good compared to some other builders on GTM, but I'd be glad to help out anyway I can.

Scrap Daddy · « **Reply #13 on:** February 04, 2009, 02:38:57 PM »

Here are the bots that need updating IMO:

Spin Doctors- None
Alien Invasion- None...maybe Predator could use tweaking. Spinners aren't out enough.
PIT-Poptart, Ultraviolet, Vortex(inf rebuilt it right??), VR Rino, BoP. RPB is good I think.
SECOM-Sentinel observer. Rest are well done by Lugica.
3 Billy Goats Gruff- Mainly Gruffy but they all could be done over. The MW could use some wedges.
Launch Team-Obital Vehicle I think was rebuilt by Inf again and 3-2-1 Blastoff could use some ai fixing.
JabberWocky-Bandersnatch, Jabberwock and Slithy Tove.
Sheep Squad- None
Sky NET- T-400, and T-800(rebuilt by Starcore). Mini-Hunter needs ai fixing.
Borg Collective- Borg Drone, maybe Gravitic mine. I'm pretty sure you did Locutus over.
Eye of the Storm-Jupiter,Tsunami could be given DSA I think, Tidal Wave
Grave Diggers- Reaper(maybe).
King Arthur's Court- Castle Guard(you rebuilt it a VS right?, Lancealot(built by Trov?), Black Knight
Atlantis-Tentacle Attack, Kraken(by inf), Ancient Leviathan(perhaps Vice or Frag Beetle?)
Acme Moving Men-Caution: Hazardous Contents, Express Delivery, Nailgun
Rust Factory-Acrid, Vox. Vox could be made a bit better I think.
Grandpa's Shed- All exept Shedenator.
ACAMS Cleaning Service-Sweeper, StreetSweeper(rebuilt by ACAMS already). The LW is as good as its going to get.
Spam-All
1337 Speekers- 1337 Breakdown, Speek, Alpha. Bann3d I'm not sure about.
Infestation-Scabies. The rest are good but could be fixed a tiny bit.
C2 Robotics- All exept Rhino(maybe needs to be rebuilt too)
EHB- Octomini Extreme and Little Darling could be better.
Carnival Mayhem- All
XORB-All
Mythbots- Sorry sage but they need to be done again or at least fix the axes. Orcus and Osirus aren't even invertable. Loki and Anulbis could stay though.
Ultimatum-Zenith and Synergy are pretty good. Others need to be built
Emergency-All
Anti Wedge- Wedge Wacker HW.
Bees- All exept Bee Keeper
Spinners of doom- None
Past-Present-Future- Rebuilt by Inf, just needs to be incorporated.
SpaceStation- All
Mafia- Rebuilt by Lugica just need to be put in.
Karnage-None

Starcore · « **Reply #14 on:** February 04, 2009, 05:05:14 PM »

Scrap Daddy - Thank you very much for the review and if you feel those are 'glaring errors' and the bots that "seriously needed a makeover' then we have alot of work ahead of us.

Some comments to your comments: Some of the rebuilds that were shown were never sent (mostly from Lugica and inf) so while I am hunting emails to confirm, in some cases unless we can get them to come back and send or resend we may need to consider them lost.

I do believe every bot is either Plastic because that is the max its design could handle (Tempus Fugit is Plastic for example) or it is DSA. It will be hard to detect and confirm in some cases because I hex edited the armor to DSA where needed (per approval from these forums) and when doing so the Reflect Detect does not work.

Some of the teams you listed as "All" needing rebuild are not going to happen unless someone steps up to do them. There are cases where the bot is a valid design for when it was made and its theme and yes there are other ways to build but unless its an embarassment people are more likely to want to make new teams or focus on glaring errors then rebuild for rebulding sake.

Many of the original builders are gone and I do not have the time to remake bots that are just in need of opinion based tweaking. I have upgraded their AI, I have upgraded their armor. I have asked people that have bots they want to rebuild to get involved. In some cases the replacement is not necessarily better.

So again I thank you for your top to bottom review. I know you did not want to scare me off from getting this finished so I ask again...

What are the glaring problems in Star Core V4 Alpha 2 (as in broken bots or broken AI)?

And if people see bots or a team that they feel are in need of a make over which bots are you volunteering to make better?

Starcore

P.S. Yes I still want to include the greatly enhanced garage. And I am still interested in inlcuding a better bot lab height control slider/graphic. I still want the Zero Weight Smartzones from ACAMS. And are there any other suggestions for improving the Stock Experience?

Trovaner · « **Reply #15 on:** February 04, 2009, 06:14:22 PM »

I'd love to continue alpha and beta testing for you. I'm really interested in this pack and I can't wait until its released.

As I promised in the past, I can fix the DSA reflection maps as soon as I get the most recent version of all the bots so that you don't need to repeat updates.

Do you still have the height slider graphic (and gib) that I sent you because it looks like I deleted my old one (so if you could send it back to me that would be great). I also have a more updated version that is on my other computer that I think would be better for the pack. I could also make some rectangle and circle slider charts if your interested. If anyone has any other ideas that require messing with the gibs feel free to mention them because I have a really good understanding of how to mod them.

I still don't really like my remake of The Troll because it is way too unstable. If anyone want to update it, feel free because I don't think I'll have enough time to fix it.

Sage · « **Reply #16 on:** February 04, 2009, 07:49:49 PM »

Quote from: Scrap Daddy;28157

Here are the bots that need updating IMO:

Spin Doctors- Spin Doctor needs to be changed to an SnS

3 Billy Goats Gruff- Didn't i remake these? and didnt the MW win the tag team championship? and the MW does have wedges. needs a new LW though.

Mythbots- I sent rebuilds of these after the originals. They Weren't included in beta 2, but are better.

no AI things, except spin doctor. and some smartzones, like 321 blastoff.

Somebody · « **Reply #17 on:** February 04, 2009, 08:31:09 PM »

I think that Fatal Incision (Team Emergency), needs wedges. And I could do some testing.

Clickbeetle · « **Reply #18 on:** February 04, 2009, 10:17:28 PM »

Glaring Problems:

Alien Queen and Mome Rath tumble out of control in the Combat Arena. I think this could be fixed by decreasing their range, so they don't spin their weapons right away. Let them settle down before spinning.

Spin Doctor and one other bot... it's either Hurricane, Whirlpool, or Cyclone... don't sit-and-spin when they're supposed to.

Staring Problems:

Scrap Daddy pretty much covered it. Though I think the new Epic is a questionable improvement over the old one.

As for lightweight smart zones, I would recommend Madiaba's. I use them for BBEANS and they're great.

And I'd also be willing to test it... though I'm sure you'll have no shortage of testers!

Starcore · « **Reply #19 on:** February 05, 2009, 12:56:15 AM »

Its been awhile but as I recall the ACAMS Smart Zones were zero weight fine tunings of Madiaba's (his were .1 KG as I recall). Not much of a difference but could make the handicap difference for someone like you Click that design right to the edge.

I am pretty sure I didn't make Spin Doctor a Sit'n'Spin AI till after Starcore V4 Alpha 2 went out the door. Will check on that. Will check Hurricane, Whirlpool and Cyclone for whether they are or are not SnS and whether they would be better off being SnS.

I remember that Mome Rath was tumbling in some arenas but I didn't remember that the updated Alien Queen tumbled out of control on any arenas. And yes shortening the range is one of the best solutions I have found to let a bot settle in before things get hairy. Will check them both.

Let me know if you would like to submit Slaying Mantis or any of your other bots to help enhance the pack?

Starcore