Cowboy Shootout 1.2

It's been a while since I worked on, and posted anything about my “Cowboy Shootout” game, so I am considering this “Cowboy Shootout” 1.2.

My previous WIP post on my “Cowboy Shootout” game can be found at the following link:

https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/213105

My game is basically about cowboys, some shootouts, trying to survive, escaping from the bad guys, and the story-line will make sense at the end.

I took time off from working on the game over the last few months because I was waiting to find a better way to make better enemy character models, and I found the solution in Fuse 1.3 and FBX2GG (and I highly recommend them). You can find information on FBX2GG in the forum at - https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/215728 and you can purchase it at this website - http://gamegurutools.co.uk/

I have recently added enemy character models made with Fuse 1.3 and FBX2GG, and I also purchased several items at the GG store. I have been busy recently adding entities, models, decals, scripts, and extra levels to the game. I also look forward to adding more items from the GG store in the near future.

I am adding several more pictures of my new models, which you can see below.

I am also sharing a link to a video of the improved version of level 2 - https://youtu.be/ZoixzTQCAwQ

I hope to release a revised version of levels 1 and 2 as a free download in the near future.

Some of the items that I have added to my game are as follows:

(1) water decals for the water in the town wells
(2) barrels of water
(3) new enemy character models
(4) new friendly character models (unarmed)
(5) animal models and various critters
(6) the new invisible wall entity that uses the invisible_wall.lua script
(7) Survival script (in level 3 you need to survive in a desert region)

I will be adding more entities, scripts, and other various items in more levels in the near future.

Update - 29th August, 2016
(original post 3rd August, 2016)

Story-line update:

The story line is going to be that a dishonest man is trying to steal peoples land to sell it at high prices to wealthy investors, and to the rail road companies, so he can make a fortune. He thinks you over heard his schemes, so he sent gunslingers after you to shoot you, and you ran for your life. Eventually you try to set things right.

I have been trying to make my game better, and here are some pictures of some of the items I bought from the GG store and put in the game.

1. Barrel of water
2. Crow
3. Farm animals (horses and cows)
4. Horse to ride
5. Water for the well (borrowed from the barrel of water)

I just purchased the "Damage" script from Acid at the GG store (and it works great)... so there's no where to run... You can't run away by simply running to the valley across town, or to the valley across the way... I put gun sounds on the damage script so it seems like guys on the hill shoot you, so you can't escape by merely turning around and running away back where you came from. You need to shoot your way out or find another way to survive.

Here is a new cowboy model in level 2 of the game with buildings made by Disturbing 13.

Here is a few pictures from the improved level 2 with some nice western buildings from Disturbing 13.

Here are a few items I added to level 1 of the game, such as characters made with Fuse and FBX2GG, and some other items I purchased at the GG store.

Items added from the GG store are as follows:

1. Horse (by Erat)
2. Bail of hay (by Codecrusher)
3. water in the big tin bucket (from the barrel of water model and decal made by Lafette)
4. Out house toilet and door (by Kiber007)

The last 2 pictures are of the western town in the level, with a view from both ends of the town. The first is the view as you enter the town, and the 2nd is the view as you are leaving the town.

Here are some pictures of some nice items that I added to Level 3 of the game so far.

1. Friendly characters (which I made with Mixamo Fuse and FBX2GG)
2. Horses (by Dagored)
3. Cows (by Dagored)
4. Flying crow (Lafette)
5. Bail of hay (by Codecrusher)
6. Snake2 (by Dagored)
7. Scorpion (by Gtox)

Level 3 will also be using Moshroom's survival script, so you will need to walk across a big desert area, and find water and food to survive.

You can find Moshroom's survival script in the GG store at this link - https://www.tgcstore.net/product/26905

Here is another nice item that you will need to find in level 3 to ride off into the sunset.

This horse has a saddle and it's ready to ride... I purchased it in the GG store and it was made by Erat. You can find it in the GG store at the following link - https://www.tgcstore.net/product/26084

Here are some more pictures of enemy characters from level 4. These are more cowboy characters that I made with Mixamo Fuse 1.3 and converted them to work in GG with FBX2GG.

This seems to be progressing quite decently. Even though it's in the old wild west (where it's baron desert), I still think you should include more natural debris and foliage into the environment. You could get some inspiration from Red Dead Redemption and Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.

Keep up the progress and good work

That's a good suggestion Landman... I'll try that...

I might need to do some research to find some video's on Youtube of those games you mentioned, and to see what good plants, foliage, and debris should look like.

It might look good to have some tumble weed, cactus, and some dry grass.

I did put some trees in level 3, but I'm thinking about having apple trees and a farmers garden of corn, since it has a survival script and the player will need to find food and water.

Here are some pictures of level 1 of the game with some extra foliage and rocks on the ground.

Awesome! Getting there. Okay, I'm no pro and I don't mean to sound harsh either. If you think of natural terrain, do most mountains/hills form walls. If you could give your hills or more varied/natural height, that'd give it a more believable feel. Sorry, I'm just trying to give my pointers. No hard feelings.

Here is some more ground level foliage and rocks for level 2.

I'm currently taking some time off due to kidney stone problems, but now that I'm medicated, I guess I'm not in my right mind anyway...

I originally didn't care about making the mountains and hills look perfect because this game was going to be a gift for my young nephew who is 8 to 10 years old...

However, I think this has become more than a mere child's game, and I will consider making things a little more realistic.

Thanks for the great suggestions... I might need to put your name in my games credits for level design consulting.

I'm currently doing research into the types of mountains and terrain in the south western US, and I'm trying to get more practice with the terrain tools in GG to help make things look more realistic.

I love how GG's terrain tool is easy to use.

I've gotta take a look at this when I get home! My phone doesn't do this any justice and I am anxious to see what you've done. My latest project involves a western theme in more than one level. From what I've seen though, nice work!

I think it looks great.

Looks pretty good except, like was mentioned, the terrain, but you obviously realize that! I live in Arizona and the Southwestern (Sonoran) Desert actually should be pretty easy to recreate in GG. If you are going for the Monument Valley kind of terrain, though, it will be very time consuming. I know, because I've done it! I may just drive down to Tombstone in a couple weeks and get some pictures. The buildings there now are pretty much all recreations, but they give the general feel of the old west. I think I'd like to have my own for reference/texturing. I'd be happy to share what I get!

Jerry - I would love to see any pictures you get if you want to share them.

I am currently looking at a lot of pictures from west Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.

I also liked the look of the hills and mountains in the game Desperado's 2 - Coopers revenge.

I'd be happy to share them! Tombstone is THE place, of course, when talking old west! I havent been there in over 40 yrs. It was just kind of a whim last night when I thought of it, but I have the first week of September off and no plans, and it's only about 170 miles away. I could go, take pictures, have lunch, take pictures, and be home for dinner, lol. Looking forward to it. In the meantime perhaps I'll just take some pics of the desert around Phoenix this weekend. I do recommend looking up monument valley or even sedona, az. Classic old west terrains there, hollywood style!

Hey! No need for credits We're a little family here on this corner of the interwebs. AND I shouldn't come here after I've had a few glasses of wine But overall, I really like how the environment has improved. Nice work! The idea of you making a game for your nephew is amazing Now! You've got all those funny sliders to play with in GG, adjust the overall color to make it a tiny bit more saturated... a tiny bit.

Sorry, I'm comparing this to Call of Juarez, which I shouldn't, but it's still the best Western we've got. And it will be.

When you say this is a "man child" project, think of it as something that is for you and your nephew. It'll be a gift to both of you, so pour your heart into it and I swear it'll be amazing! Don't rush it, make it for his 11th bday if need be.

By then just think, your son will be like. "Look at this mother *$(#n game that was made for me".

And drink more water.... please.

Hey Jerry, I checked out some pictures of the monument valley and Sedona, and it looks very similar to one of the sky box pictures with the rusty colored mesa's in the back ground. I have a picture of the back ground with some of my cowboy character models. Some of the pictures looked at were very similar to what I was trying to make. I got the height perspective a little short.

Hey Landman, thanks for the kind words... and yes I'm drinking a lot more water these days.

Yep, that's Monument Valley! Classic background for countless movies. Makes a nice background for a game, too! I made an entire map like that once. I was trying to go for the Sedona look, but as things went on they kinda blended with Monument Valley.



Out of the whole level, that's my best screenshot. I made it in an earlier beta of Reloaded, and it doesn't look the same anymore. Haven't gotten back to it, but I want to use it (or something similar) in what I'm working on. It took a long time to carve the whole map like that, though! Also, we had a terrain editing ability then that we have no more.

Just got back from a short drive out to Lost Dutchman State Park. I made the mistake of bringing the dog; being 105F today, he petered out in less than 5 minutes on the trail, so I put him back in the truck and left it running with the AC on. For a $7 park entrance fee, I enjoyed a whole 10-15 minutes, lol. I did manage to get a few pics. Photobucket:


http://s40.photobucket.com/user/cableguy3399/slideshow/Lost%20Dutchman%20State%20Park


I'll go back out one of these days without the dog. It's less than a 30 minute drive. I didn't even know that park was there 'til running across it on the drive, lol. I've only lived here a little over 30 years!

Wow! Thanks Jerry... Those were great pictures... I loved the screen shot of the mountains you made.

I saw a cowboy movie a long time ago, where a guy got cornered in a slim canyon or chasm that was similar to my first level, but today I took that map and did a "save as" and put another name on it so I could keep 1 version of the old map, and then took another map to revise the mountains to see if I could get it to look a little better.

Here are the pictures.

Thanks! This whole little project of mine (and yours) rekindled an interest in this part of the country. I've lived here for over thirty years, but most of the places I've been to were when I was a child living in the midwest, lol. I've especially had an interest in the Anasazi (who will play a somewhat significant role in the story line of my game). A massive civilization that literally disappeared over night approximately 100 yrs before Columbus arrived in the Americas.


EDIT: I've done a little research on the Anasazi. A little more modern research, lol. What I knew previously was based on information I had seen back in the 70's and perhaps 80's, most of which was sensationalized. Some interesting puzzles still remain, but it kinda blows my planned story out of the water. I will have to come up with something else. If the whole thing remained a mystery, then I felt open to speculation, especially in a video game. I have no desire to denigrate anyone's actual history, although I wish my story was true and the likely facts not. My original story had an archaeologist researching their disappearance, his assistant getting kidnapped by an evil organization while trying to steal his research, going to chase her down in the pueblos/cliff dwellings, discovering a time travel device (that's how they disappeared in MY story), and ending up in the old west, where the "evil organization" (name to be determined, perhaps Monsanto ) had set up shop in order to control the future. In the meantime, the Anasazi were living peacefully in an era free of the rest of mankind (with the dinosaurs). Anyway, the whole story had pretty much every element of sci-fi, and until I come up with another story, I will simply work on building the landscapes! I will start my own WIP thread when I come up with something; Len the Man, I am not hijacking your thread, just in case I give that impression, lol! I do promise to deliver links to Tombstone/OK Corral/Boot Hill Cemetery pictures in the first week of September!


EDIT #2: After a little thought, I'm gonna stick with my original story. After all, doesn't Hollywood (and all movie/TV producers) pretty much butcher history for entertainment purposes? Something about "artistic license"? I'm gonna do it!

Jerry I was thinking just that, re: Hollywood. Go with it but if it really concerns you why not create a fictional civilization? You have your plot pretty much worked out and I think that a fictional civilization could also work. As you say it is sci-fi and without a little research (google lol) most gamers will not know who the Anasazi were. Myself included.

I have been working marathon days of level designing for nearly 12 hours or more per day until my head hurt.

I'm currently working with someone to help make this a really nice game.

Here are some current pictures of the progress...

Other progress cannot be seen so easily, such as more sound zones and trigger zones... I recently found some great free scripts here on the forum to turn music and sounds on and make them loop, and another script to stop the music and sounds... thanks to the great work of Moshroom @ https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/213857

I may have to break my promise, the washing machine broke and I needed to get it replaced. They delivered it today, which was the day I had planned to go down to Tombstone. I have the whole week off, but have other obligations the rest of the week. I may be able to shuffle some things around still, but we'll see.

No problem Jerry... I very much appreciate all that you have done already.

I have looked at a lot of pictures and a lot of old western movies recently to see a great diversity of hills and mountains in the western U.S.

I'm working on this project with another guy from the forum, and soon we will be posting a video of a couple of levels .

I think things are looking good.

Looks like one to watch!

Here is the video of levels 1 and 2... It was done by someone I'm working with, who is also here on the forum (Milanko89). I gave all the enemy characters default scripts so you could simply get a feel for walking around in the level. Some things might still be changed a little bit, at some time in the future, but this is what I have for now. I'm still working on level 3 and 4, and I have more ideas for more levels.

https://vimeo.com/183198471 - Password = cowboy

I'm really looking forward to this!

Thanks for the kind words Jerry...

I'm trying to make this a good quality game...

In my opinion, GG is very good software, and considering what is also available here on the forums, in the GG store, and the quality characters that can be made with Fuse & FBX2GG, I think I can make a very nice game.

I have been working on improving my first 2 levels, and I have put in a few more civilian models that will be walking around in the town... I have also been chasing down a few errors and problems with scripts.

Here are a few pictures of my civilian models that I made with Fuse and FBX2GG, and put in level 1.

I spent the last few weeks trying to get a tumble weed to make its way across the street in the western town levels of the game, and I finally got something to work... I simply added a trap_wall script from smallg, and tweaked the speed and trigger range. This also helped me acquire a little scripting experience, and knowledge of scripting.

smallg's trap_wall script - https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/207801?page=10#msg2531534

smallg's lists of scripts - https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/207801

I recently added some check points to the levels of the game, so if you get half way through a level and die, you don't need to go all the way back to the start, but instead you can start again at the half way check point. This should make the game more fun and easy to play.

I also added some trigger points to spawn some extra enemy characters to chase you through a level. I'm learning more about scripts, the more I look at the LUA files and experiment with the scripts.

I think the game is becoming a great game. Even I am getting more eager to see what it will be like in the end.

Looks like you are working realy hard on this,looks great.

Dave

Thanks for the kind words granada...

I'm trying very hard to make this a high quality game. I'm also working with another guy from the forums who goes by the name Milanko89.

The game is shaping up in many ways, and it's looking like it will turn out to be a nice quality product.

Hello all,

I thought I would comment on here as well since I am helping with the project. Lenny has done a really good job on the project so far, and I am looking forward to making this a real great game. We are currently working on putting together the story.

Milan

This week I put in some decals in some of my levels to make it look like dust blowing in the wind... These decals are free in the forum by Devcore35 and AlgoStep company. It is actually the decal named “smoke lava” from decal pack #4. See this link - https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/212818

Here is a video of some of the dust blowing in the wind - https://vimeo.com/188477550

Password is - cowboy

Looking good!

Thanks again for the kind words Jerry...

This week, I have been checking out a few different things.

One thing I was checking out was Devcore35's decals like the rain decals, and stormy decals with lightning. I was thinking about one level where you have a shootout in a rain storm. I think the rain decals are in decal pack #3. There's lot's of nice stuff there. https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/212122

I have also started working on a large level with a wide open area, where, depending on which path a player goes, they can go to different towns with different kinds of wild situations in each different town.

I also checked out the Multi – Launcher, which can help a player launch different chapters (or levels) of the game. This looks very interesting and I'm wondering if I might need to use this also. You can find it at the following links:

https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/209790

http://www.gamegurufiles.co.uk/applications.html

This week I have been working on a big level with some mountains in it. It took a lot of time to make a few big mountains. I also had to try some different paint for the mountains to see which would like right with the back-ground.

I also tried using some fog decals from Devcor35 to make some clouds at the top of one of the mountains. You can check out the pictures below.

I have been working on a few things over the last week or 2.

1. I have continued working on my giant level... I continued to work on the mountains, and I have been putting in some random rocks, boulders, and plants (see pictures below)... It still needs more work (it's a work in progress).

2. I have also begun work on a level with a saloon (see picture below). It's a work in progress also.

I also tried making my own sign for the saloon with a little help from some suggestions on the forum. You can see the saloon pictures below.

I have continued to work on the game level with the saloon. I am hoping that the EBE (easy building editor) will be done soon so I can make some buildings that are easier to make.

I am posting some pictures of the saloon level...

As you can see from the pictures, I made some signs for the front of the buildings that I made by adding some new textures to some old sign models. I also made some new whiskey bottles by adding textures on some old bottle models, and even put new textures on another whiskey bottle model.

It's great tweaking and making your own assets and seeing them in your own game isn't it

Cheers.