ICEE
January 31st, 2009, 12:39 AM
Well, you probably guessed from the title. Sigma is back. We aren't just back with what we had last time either. You may not have even heard of us from our last public mentioning, but Sigma has been working hard at the ups and downs of map making for CE so that we can bring you enjoyable custom content that will provide interesting gameplay.
When we originally fell off the radar, we had left the community with little more than a leaked map full of hardly finished content. Well, we have changed in a big way. We have been working on a highly custom and unique collection of Halo CE multi-player maps, a whole arsenal of custom and Halo related weapons, and much more new content. We've gained members, and lost members, but overall we now have a great assortment of people that get the job done how it is needed. As we now finish off the final weapon skins, and hammer out the last gameplay details, we thought it was time to make ourselves known again.
Our current lineup of members is as follows:
M6dEEp
Donut
ICEE
Geo
Arbiter
Moses
Plague
Malloy
Invaderveex
(in no particular order)
Other contributors (who are either former members or friends of members) are:
Chains
Hayabusa
Selentic
Hunter
CLS grunt
Because of the range of skills our members have, we have little need for more people, but to make it an easier and faster process, we may be hiring any interested members of this community who can help us finally get this show on the road.
Now, to discuss the actuality of things that go on amongst the team:
Weaponry: Weapons are arguably the biggest part of gameplay, so we have accordingly spent a lot of time and efforts creating our weapon set in an attempt to achieve balance, and a certain level of visual quality. Our weapon set is as follows:
SMG: everyone knows and loves the smg. Our SMG has maintained the average halo gameplay applications, but has had a serious visual makeover in a halo 3 recon fashion.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/smg.jpg
Battle rifle: The mid-long range weapon is a vital part of halo gameplay, and we would be cruel bastards to take it away. The battle rifle is for the most part unchanged in usage, but has also had a visual makeover.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/battlerifle.jpg
Rocket launcher: Classic halo launcher. Scarce among maps
Assault rifle: The last of the cut and dry halo 3 copies. I promise. The assault rifle is a classic weapon, and has mostly been left the same.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/assaultrifle.jpg
Shotgun: Our shotgun may visually look similar to the halo series’ shotgun, but it has a much slower rate of fire with greater range than the halo 3 shotgun. We feel that it should be easier to use on an inferior netcode like halo CE’s. The slowed rate of fire comfortably balances the range boost though.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/shotgun.jpg
Sniper rifle: The sniper rifle has a completely different design. The scope is the only part which maintains a haloesque design, and will sport an ammo counter and compass. The gun’s design is bullpup, which seems like a nice change from the standard halo sniper.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/baret50cal.jpg
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/new_snper.jpg NEW
‘Griever’ grenade launcher: A human grenade launcher that functions with a revolving drum. It has 6 rounds loaded max, and it takes 4 shots to kill a man (but due to the blast radius it can be used on multiple targets with relative ease). The firing is fairly slow, and it is somewhat of a rarity in the maps. It can be reloaded one round at a time like the shotgun.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/griever.jpg
Brute spiker: You know it from halo 3. However, to make it different and valuable to gameplay, the spikes have ricocheting physics to make it deadly in tunnel areas. It is highly damaging to the flesh, but it takes several shots to lower the shields. This makes it a good counterpart to a plasma weapon.
Brute striker: a long range weapon. It is essentially a sniping weapon that takes good accuracy to kill with. Headshots are highly damaging, but body shots are much weaker. It is best to use when hiding in cover. A skilled user can defeat a battle rifle wielding spartan with relative ease at a long range, but it is not recommendable in short range.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/brutestriker.jpg
Brute reaver: A deadly brute pistol with the highest firepower of any nonexplosive and non laser weapon, excluding the sniper and shotgun. It takes 3 headshots to kill,
But UNLIKE the unbalanced pistol predecessor, it can’t be used at very long ranges due to projectile speed. The projectile starts out moving fast, but slows down around medium range, making it an unrealistic but balanced weapon. If you use it at long range, you will need to lead your shot quite a bit. The projectile is very visible, and the firing sound is loud, making it useless for stealth.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/5503/reaverir3.jpg
Spike grenade: unlike halo 3, our spike grenade is highly devastating. It isn’t a starting grenade, and is less common on the maps than frags. It produces a literal storm of spikes that screw over anyone caught indoors. It actually lands perpendicularly to any surface, and the spikes move at a high speed, bouncing several times before getting stuck. Use at own risk.
Plasma rifle: it has high shield damage and high stun, but takes several shots to bring down a person. It is recommendable that you switch to a different weapon to finish someone off.
Needler: The needles have become more difficult to dodge, making it a useful weapon once again.
Plasma pistol: Same ol charge and shoot shield cracker. It MAY end up sporting the vehicle stopping properties, if Arbie can get it working.
Other weapons that MAY be included, but we aint holding our breath for until they come together:
Athenian laser: Not the spartan laser, but a distant cousin. It is highly powerful and can easily take down a full vehicle with one shot. The weapon is useful against personnel too, however indoors it is entirely useless. Though the projectile does do minor damage, it is only an omen of what is to come. The projectile is a beacon, that sends coordinates to a satellite in space that will shoot down a highly destructive laser. A spartan will have plenty of time to clear the (rather large) blast radius, but when stuck to an unsuspecting vehicle or player, the mayhem can be catastrophic. If we can get this working perfectly, it will be a rare heavy weapon in our maps. The idea is possible, as the same basic principle was used in a modern combat (non sigma) map called (ambush?), in which a pair of binoculars could call in an air strike.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/athenianlaser.jpg
(you may recognize it as hunter's model with some minor edits for functionality)
Flamethrower: we have a nice flamer model, animations and skin, but unless we can work out some gameplay applications it isn’t going anywhere.
Equipment: Nuff said. We have a functional script, but it hasn’t been thoroughly tested yet. It works, but we have to make sure it will fit the gameplay, and be perfectly bugless. More details as it unfolds.
Shrapnel grenades: Not a grenade, but a function of the griever’s grenades. We've been in the process of making the grenades shoot flaming shrapnel, which will not deal damage when it hits, but will create small fires that will damage if touched, blocking tunnels and paths easily.
We also have a grifball side project:
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/hammer.jpg
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/sword.jpg
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/bomb.jpg
Though all you can see now is the weapon renders, we do have a functional grifball script. When we have all our ducks in a row, we will post more about it.
So that was a big load of words. Our bsps are where its really at though. Our bsp modelers work hard to make attractive landscapes that provide tactical and innovative gameplay, and we have been quite successful. Currently, our most promising map is called Downfall, and it will be our first release, though we do have several others in the works. And now for some pics (taken in downfall), because we’re not entirely full of crap when we talk about our work.
Please keep in mind that any and all screenshots posted here are of works in progress unless labeled otherwise.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2008-12-2822-08-27-90.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3019-28-21-20.jpg
Sigma's smg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-04-36-50.jpg
someone fires the striker, showing the bright red contrail
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-09-09-71.jpg
sigma's griever in action
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-10-43-07.jpg
Me firing on donut with the spiker
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-18-27-65.jpg
The unsuspecting sniper gets a surprise.
More gameplay pics will come soon
And some gameplayless images of downfall:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-20-24-35.jpg
View from red base
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-21-07-25.jpg
Scenic view of the landscape
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-20-50-90.jpg
As you can see, the entire thing is in a huge canyon. It feels quite nice when you run around in it. For gameplay's sake, there will be no way to get out into the area without using dev, and even with dev the player will be unable to fire back into the play area. The map may be getting an atmospheric makeover too. We've been toying with different times of day and such.
Because we’re really not into competing with other teams, or obsessing about our imperfections, we aren’t looking for criticism. We are just trying to make content that is FUN to use. We plan on releasing “classic” versions of all our maps, which will include the original weapon set and bipeds, though we design our maps for our content. Our weapon tags will be open source upon release. Please enjoy, more pics and stuff will be added later, including renders of the weapons we haven't shown.
When we originally fell off the radar, we had left the community with little more than a leaked map full of hardly finished content. Well, we have changed in a big way. We have been working on a highly custom and unique collection of Halo CE multi-player maps, a whole arsenal of custom and Halo related weapons, and much more new content. We've gained members, and lost members, but overall we now have a great assortment of people that get the job done how it is needed. As we now finish off the final weapon skins, and hammer out the last gameplay details, we thought it was time to make ourselves known again.
Our current lineup of members is as follows:
M6dEEp
Donut
ICEE
Geo
Arbiter
Moses
Plague
Malloy
Invaderveex
(in no particular order)
Other contributors (who are either former members or friends of members) are:
Chains
Hayabusa
Selentic
Hunter
CLS grunt
Because of the range of skills our members have, we have little need for more people, but to make it an easier and faster process, we may be hiring any interested members of this community who can help us finally get this show on the road.
Now, to discuss the actuality of things that go on amongst the team:
Weaponry: Weapons are arguably the biggest part of gameplay, so we have accordingly spent a lot of time and efforts creating our weapon set in an attempt to achieve balance, and a certain level of visual quality. Our weapon set is as follows:
SMG: everyone knows and loves the smg. Our SMG has maintained the average halo gameplay applications, but has had a serious visual makeover in a halo 3 recon fashion.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/smg.jpg
Battle rifle: The mid-long range weapon is a vital part of halo gameplay, and we would be cruel bastards to take it away. The battle rifle is for the most part unchanged in usage, but has also had a visual makeover.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/battlerifle.jpg
Rocket launcher: Classic halo launcher. Scarce among maps
Assault rifle: The last of the cut and dry halo 3 copies. I promise. The assault rifle is a classic weapon, and has mostly been left the same.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/assaultrifle.jpg
Shotgun: Our shotgun may visually look similar to the halo series’ shotgun, but it has a much slower rate of fire with greater range than the halo 3 shotgun. We feel that it should be easier to use on an inferior netcode like halo CE’s. The slowed rate of fire comfortably balances the range boost though.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/shotgun.jpg
Sniper rifle: The sniper rifle has a completely different design. The scope is the only part which maintains a haloesque design, and will sport an ammo counter and compass. The gun’s design is bullpup, which seems like a nice change from the standard halo sniper.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/baret50cal.jpg
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/new_snper.jpg NEW
‘Griever’ grenade launcher: A human grenade launcher that functions with a revolving drum. It has 6 rounds loaded max, and it takes 4 shots to kill a man (but due to the blast radius it can be used on multiple targets with relative ease). The firing is fairly slow, and it is somewhat of a rarity in the maps. It can be reloaded one round at a time like the shotgun.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/griever.jpg
Brute spiker: You know it from halo 3. However, to make it different and valuable to gameplay, the spikes have ricocheting physics to make it deadly in tunnel areas. It is highly damaging to the flesh, but it takes several shots to lower the shields. This makes it a good counterpart to a plasma weapon.
Brute striker: a long range weapon. It is essentially a sniping weapon that takes good accuracy to kill with. Headshots are highly damaging, but body shots are much weaker. It is best to use when hiding in cover. A skilled user can defeat a battle rifle wielding spartan with relative ease at a long range, but it is not recommendable in short range.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/brutestriker.jpg
Brute reaver: A deadly brute pistol with the highest firepower of any nonexplosive and non laser weapon, excluding the sniper and shotgun. It takes 3 headshots to kill,
But UNLIKE the unbalanced pistol predecessor, it can’t be used at very long ranges due to projectile speed. The projectile starts out moving fast, but slows down around medium range, making it an unrealistic but balanced weapon. If you use it at long range, you will need to lead your shot quite a bit. The projectile is very visible, and the firing sound is loud, making it useless for stealth.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/5503/reaverir3.jpg
Spike grenade: unlike halo 3, our spike grenade is highly devastating. It isn’t a starting grenade, and is less common on the maps than frags. It produces a literal storm of spikes that screw over anyone caught indoors. It actually lands perpendicularly to any surface, and the spikes move at a high speed, bouncing several times before getting stuck. Use at own risk.
Plasma rifle: it has high shield damage and high stun, but takes several shots to bring down a person. It is recommendable that you switch to a different weapon to finish someone off.
Needler: The needles have become more difficult to dodge, making it a useful weapon once again.
Plasma pistol: Same ol charge and shoot shield cracker. It MAY end up sporting the vehicle stopping properties, if Arbie can get it working.
Other weapons that MAY be included, but we aint holding our breath for until they come together:
Athenian laser: Not the spartan laser, but a distant cousin. It is highly powerful and can easily take down a full vehicle with one shot. The weapon is useful against personnel too, however indoors it is entirely useless. Though the projectile does do minor damage, it is only an omen of what is to come. The projectile is a beacon, that sends coordinates to a satellite in space that will shoot down a highly destructive laser. A spartan will have plenty of time to clear the (rather large) blast radius, but when stuck to an unsuspecting vehicle or player, the mayhem can be catastrophic. If we can get this working perfectly, it will be a rare heavy weapon in our maps. The idea is possible, as the same basic principle was used in a modern combat (non sigma) map called (ambush?), in which a pair of binoculars could call in an air strike.
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/athenianlaser.jpg
(you may recognize it as hunter's model with some minor edits for functionality)
Flamethrower: we have a nice flamer model, animations and skin, but unless we can work out some gameplay applications it isn’t going anywhere.
Equipment: Nuff said. We have a functional script, but it hasn’t been thoroughly tested yet. It works, but we have to make sure it will fit the gameplay, and be perfectly bugless. More details as it unfolds.
Shrapnel grenades: Not a grenade, but a function of the griever’s grenades. We've been in the process of making the grenades shoot flaming shrapnel, which will not deal damage when it hits, but will create small fires that will damage if touched, blocking tunnels and paths easily.
We also have a grifball side project:
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/hammer.jpg
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/sword.jpg
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww243/scottclark610/bomb.jpg
Though all you can see now is the weapon renders, we do have a functional grifball script. When we have all our ducks in a row, we will post more about it.
So that was a big load of words. Our bsps are where its really at though. Our bsp modelers work hard to make attractive landscapes that provide tactical and innovative gameplay, and we have been quite successful. Currently, our most promising map is called Downfall, and it will be our first release, though we do have several others in the works. And now for some pics (taken in downfall), because we’re not entirely full of crap when we talk about our work.
Please keep in mind that any and all screenshots posted here are of works in progress unless labeled otherwise.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2008-12-2822-08-27-90.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3019-28-21-20.jpg
Sigma's smg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-04-36-50.jpg
someone fires the striker, showing the bright red contrail
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-09-09-71.jpg
sigma's griever in action
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-10-43-07.jpg
Me firing on donut with the spiker
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-18-27-65.jpg
The unsuspecting sniper gets a surprise.
More gameplay pics will come soon
And some gameplayless images of downfall:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-20-24-35.jpg
View from red base
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-21-07-25.jpg
Scenic view of the landscape
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z295/iron_clad_photo/Public%20sigma%20images/haloce2009-01-3020-20-50-90.jpg
As you can see, the entire thing is in a huge canyon. It feels quite nice when you run around in it. For gameplay's sake, there will be no way to get out into the area without using dev, and even with dev the player will be unable to fire back into the play area. The map may be getting an atmospheric makeover too. We've been toying with different times of day and such.
Because we’re really not into competing with other teams, or obsessing about our imperfections, we aren’t looking for criticism. We are just trying to make content that is FUN to use. We plan on releasing “classic” versions of all our maps, which will include the original weapon set and bipeds, though we design our maps for our content. Our weapon tags will be open source upon release. Please enjoy, more pics and stuff will be added later, including renders of the weapons we haven't shown.