About Fallout tactics's Engine

D

Denver

First time out of the vault
Hey people !

I've received few months ago an email from Micro Forte who explained me that they dont want to give me the source code of FFT (I can understand, a little... :p) so I plan to rebuild the fallout tactics engine by myself (as the FIFE for fallout 1&2).

I have ideas of how it works but i'm not sure so maybe you could give me indications if you have ideas ?
 
Well, try to contact other persons from MicroForte... Perhaps they will find your intention useful enough to share some or even all sources. After all, quite a time passed already, i doubt they still have any "now-how" in those sources... =)
 
All I can really say is "good luck". Even companies that are technically out of business are horridly protective of their engine source code. I know the Baldur's Gate community has been trying to get the source code for the Infinity Engine for ages. The last rumor I heard (which was admittedly quite awhile ago), the "owner" had been tracked down and wanted $30,000 for it, even though it was abandoned a looooong time ago.
 
I've received few months ago an email from Micro Forte who explained me that they dont want to give me the source code of FFT (I can understand, a little... :p) so I plan to rebuild the fallout tactics engine by myself (as the FIFE for fallout 1&2).
Click to expand...

Why not just use the FIFE engine?

By yourself I'm going to have to be a little negative here and say that you'll never manage it in any reasonable timescale.

Can I ask quite what you want to do with the FOT engine?

Do you want to change some of the things?

Couldn't you hack the code in the same way that Timeslip has? (if he is using the original FO source code then excuse my ignorance)
 
The thing is that i like the REAL TIME mode of fallout tactics and the fact that there is no grid anymore and i want to work with it.
And i'm not sure the FIFE engine permits me to do that (maybe the real time mode but i will have to deal with the grid)
 
FOT Engine

I must admit that the RT/TB FOT option is quite superior to the other FOs, mostly because you can play the "original" and the "new".... Also, FOT have multiple lvs and crouch/prone/stand stances. As I said, with a little work, it will be quite superior to the other FOs engines.
 
Yeah maybe i could study the fife engine as a beginning.
the problem is that i only know C++ not LUA
 
FIFE offers Python scripting support now Denver. In case you're familiar with C++, getting used to Python will be quite easy.
 
Re: FOT Engine

Robert Czarwolski said:
I must admit that the RT/TB FOT option is quite superior to the other FOs,
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You have to be joking both were gimped to make allowances for the 'other mode' plus being able to switch between them in game was too exploitable.
 
I agree. Both are pretty bad when compared to pure RT or pure TB. I found FT gameplay in both modes weird and glitchy.
 
Sorrow said:
...weird and glitchy.
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I've always had the same opinion on the FOT options. On the turn-based mode (which I used sparingly because it was a mockery of the old FO turn based system) the enemies always seemed to take extra turns, have extra action points, and it took away from what I thought the developers were trying to make with this spin-off. Real time mode not so much. I do, however, like the artistic value of the FOT engine, despite most of the items, characteristics and mannerisms being quite incorrect for the Fallout universe.

What exactly are you going to do with the FOT engine, Denver?
 
Extra turns would be down to sequence, you get the same effect in the rpgs. FOT was a fairly honest game, unlike some real time games where the enemies can shoot the gonads off a fly from a thousand paces, with a spud gun, blindfolded, standing on their hands, using their feet to aim and pull the trigger. :)
 
requiem_for_a_starfury said:
Extra turns would be down to sequence, you get the same effect in the rpgs.
Click to expand...

I found these bugs to be prevalent in the unpatched version of FOT, and only when I would switch the fighting mode from "real time" to "turn based" in mid combat to try it out, this is probably why I experienced what I did. I had been a little timid to use it originally as for one I wanted to try out the RT on FOT as I considered that setting the one the developers styled the game for and secondly because I didn't want to trivialize something that Fallout made so revolutionary on a game that was clearly alienating itself from the originals.

FOT was a fairly honest game, unlike some real time games where the enemies can shoot the gonads off a fly from a thousand paces, with a spud gun, blindfolded, standing on their hands, using their feet to aim and pull the trigger.
Click to expand...

Very illustrative, I love it. :)
 
The Guardian said:
I had been a little timid to use it originally as for one I wanted to try out the RT on FOT as I considered that setting the one the developers styled the game for and secondly because I didn't want to trivialize something that Fallout made so revolutionary on a game that was clearly alienating itself from the originals.
Click to expand...
Actually the game was intended to have TB combat only and the real time was added later. http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Tactics:_Brotherhood_of_Steel#Quotes
 
requiem_for_a_starfury said:
Actually the game was intended to have TB combat only and the real time was added later.
Click to expand...

Very interesting, thank you requiem.

Ignore my opinion then, at any rate!
 
Getting back toward the source (of this post), I saw some posts for a new game called Shelter described as "using Tactics assets with a modified .exe". Sounds hopelessly ambitious, but if you could make it work, would you leap right past the need for source code?

Not that source wouldn't be nice to have. I imagine it might make the Shelter team's work easier.

Posted in News here, here, and here.
 
The main issues with Shelter I can see from a modders perspective are:
1. The Shelter programmer mentioned that he does not plan to release the sourcecode of the project, therefore it will be hard to change any aspects later.
2. AFAIR the plans for Shelter are to create a game with it, not an engine suited for other projects as well. This might not be a problem if you want to just change some aspects of Shelter but in case you want to build a total conversion on this engine, you would need to hope that the Shelter developers release an editor tool and / or a kind of modding SDK.
 
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