Battlezone Remake? Calling all BZ Fans

[frozenfire]

Hi Guys...I'm kinda new here... and I'm here to share a little bit about what I'm currently doing, hoping to be able to get some support from the BZ Community.

I'm currently working for a Malaysian-based IT Company that has recently been involved in games development. So we're actually going to develop a game that is inspired by BZ. The IDEA have been approved, however, the project has yet to commence as the funding have not yet been disbursed and the team fully staffed. Therefore as a Game Designer for this team, my current task is to create prototypes and some pre-production stuff so that when the team comes in it will speed up things.  I won't go into lengthy details here.

Basically, What I'm thinking now is, is there anybody here that wants to help us create prototypes for this game, just on hobby basis. Benefit is that, this prototype will be released to the community here to play when done. However do take note that this will be a commercial game, therefore the full game cannot and will not be released here as it will get me into trouble

We'll be probably building the prototype on a different engine that our actual game, so chances are, the prototype can be made into another smaller free version of the game ( which should probably differ heavily from the actualy game in terms of content )

So I want to know what do you guys think. So far here are some work done. Apart from it, we quite a large portion of our design document all written up, so it's pretty much implementing it.


http://i103.imagethrust.com/images/3lCp/view-image/temp-bases.html


http://i119.imagethrust.com/images/3lCq/view-image/temp-chars.html


http://i111.imagethrust.com/images/3lCr/view-image/temp-crafts.html


http://i103.imagethrust.com/images/3lCs/view-image/temp-vehicles.html


http://i109.imagethrust.com/images/3lCt/view-image/temp-weapons.html

This game will be like BZ, just that it's more infantry focused, think BZ combine with BF2 ( or Quake Wars).
Most of the assets/models are not fully polished. They came straight from initial brainstorming session we had, which is what prototypes are all about.

I'm VERY excited about this project as it is inspired by BZ2. I'm actually a BIG fan of BZ2 since long time ago, sad thing is nobody plays BZ2 multiplayer over here, but the shocking truth that is that there are still ppl modding BZ2 until now ( which I've only came to find out only last year) . 

So post here if any of you are interested to participate in the prototype creation of this game.



p/s On the other hand.. is anyone remaking BZ2 ( exact thing ) on any freeware/demo engine? Neo-Axis looks like a good engine to get this done.

[Warfreak]

No one is trying to remake BZ2 because as it is, its still undergoing some patching and is still alive and well........... WE jsut make mods.

I really want to see where this goes....... An infantry FPS/RTS, that will be something..... (BTW, BZ2 is basically a Hovertank FPS/RTS)

Also, i dont know why but those models have a sort of C&C feel to them....

[Feared_1]

Sounds interesting...

Your company have a website?

[Avatar]

This is just IMHO, of course...

BZ/BZ2 is considered brilliant by those of us rabid fans still hanging in here, but neither was a commercial success really...

What the public seems to want is Quake-style simplicity for endless, repetative fragging and ownage...

I'm still waiting for a company to make a brilliant, educated, thinking game that I can switch my dependancy to...

-Av-

[Axeminister]

Those hover craft look like something I used to draw as a kid. So they are very interesting indeed. But UT2004 has a ship almost just like that. It is exciting to think there is another RTS/FPS Action game coming. Hope you get the help you need. I'm not technical enough to make ships, but I'm a big fan of BZ2, so keep progress reports coming.

[Feared_1]

Don't feel bad if some people feel a little skeptical of this new thing. We've all been told that something like this would be impossible. I think everyone who reads this would experience a little interest, but a little skepticism at the same time.

[EvolutionX]

the project sounds interezante, as long as the essence of battlezone is not lost, that is what it really makes interezante and addictive. Much Luck in your project.!!!! 

[Angstromicus]

The models look nice and I like the idea of having it more infantry based. Makes the vehicles in the game seem more powerful.

[Nielk1]

I just suggest jets instead of fans... Then you can do cool flame effects.

I always thought a 2 pivot VTOL like those in CnC would work amazingly well.
Put in some little rocket boosters inlaid around the outside of the engines to allow for very quick dodging or jumping when it is flying hugging the ground.

There I go, on about a shiny flying thing.

Things to try to get into your game:
Improved Tap System
More than one person in a vehicle
Co-Op play
And, more than one turret on one craft.
That's it, a few small BZ2 things and a few small improvements. All are really very common in games now though, so I guess I'm not that original.

What is your planned storyline? Or maybe just an outline?
This can help in suggestions since a storyline has major effects on ship design and use.

[bigbadbogie]

Bloomin hek mate - if i knew the first thing about making games i would be in in a flash!!!

a bz inspired game is what i live for

[anomaly]

This is just IMHO, of course...

BZ/BZ2 is considered brilliant by those of us rabid fans still hanging in here, but neither was a commercial success really...

What the public seems to want is Quake-style simplicity for endless, repetative fragging and ownage...

I'm still waiting for a company to make a brilliant, educated, thinking game that I can switch my dependancy to...

-Av-

Not all popular games these days are simple fps games that cater to twitch gamers.  There are plenty of other popular genres and they all contain games that have reached high levels of success.  An infantry based fps/rts could still easily enjoy moderate success as long as they put careful thought into core aspects of gameplay. 

For instance, if it is more infantry focused, large bases would probably be a bad idea as they could prove trouble some moving between buildings.  To compensate for the slower pace of soldiers (and the inability to quickly move around the map), you might want to add an easily accessible, use-anywhere satellite view for base building. 

[navbeacon]

This looks promising.

Remember that the BZ keyword is scrap.

[Nielk1]

Although you could call it biometal or scrap, you might have to change the name.

Go for biometal and scrap if you can.

[General BlackDragon]

Or call it Tubbaware

[Avatar]

Biometal is already used in real science, so I don't see that it's a term that would be considered legally bound to the game...

-Av-