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Part 1
Many of you reading this are probably hoping that I'm going to tell you what the mod is about, what features it has, and what makes it different from the others out there in my weekly diary. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's not what this is about. What it IS about is giving the general public (that's you) an insight into the process, from beginning to end, of making a mod.
What DOES go on behind the scenes when making a mod, eh? Well, pretty much the same as when making a commercial game, just with a lot less stress involved. Deadlines are relaxed and far from strict, team relations are strong, and it is great fun too. But what about BMR in particular? Well, all that applies, and in addition my whole team is dedicated and skilled. But enough boasting.
About one month ago, my thoughts first turned to making a mod. I had been involved with MHL (Matrix Half-Life), Armed Forces, DS Wargames and one other abandoned project since the beginning of the summer of 1999, so my experience was quite broad. I had a plot in mind for some time, but the main problem I was faced with as that of gathering the team together. An old friend from MHL, Shade, was very interested in helping out, and he did so with some panache. He put up our first site, and helped with many cool ideas, all of which are going to be included. Thanks to his efforts, we were able to gather some fine individuals to help develop the mod even further. Immacula, Xatrix and Karmaknight all joined up early on, and with their help some early concept models were bashed out very quickly, along with some new ideas for the MP mapset.
With the added help from a good friend at school, I was able to set out the plot for the SP game, including 3 of the 4 paths, and the freeform levels, too (what you see in the 'about' section of the webpage is not even an eighth of the story, in both depth and length). We also came up with a multitude of great ideas for both the MP and SP games. The team had a meeting a few weeks ago, and we agreed on a set of objectives to work towards over the next month or so; the aim being to get an alpha of the MP game out privately, to test ideas and concepts.
Unfortunately, it was at this point that we hit trouble. Shade and I had some problems (I refuse to go into the details out of respect for him….I still regard him as a friend), and he chose to leave the team as a result. We were well on the way towards an alpha, but this was a serious setback.
On the upside, Xatrix is fluent in html, so we were able to get this new site up really quickly, and that is where we are now. More recently, a new character modeller called [KOF]Lorders has joined, and an extra coder has appeared at the same university as Karmaknight. A new MP mapper, Soldier101, has also started some work. Finally, say hello to MaxPain, an old friend who is damn good at skinning and textures. All we need now is a musician to complete the team.
As we stand, our team is the most talented group I've ever worked with, and without a doubt they are the most eager too. Hell, I'm frightened that they'll overwork themselves! I mean, and alpha within a month of startup! It's like a dream!
Well, those were the trials and tribulations of the first month of development of the best, most original and downright ambitious mode ever created. That's the idea, anyway.
