Red Faction Revised

[slim wedge]

An overhaul patch/mod for the Red Faction 1 SP campaign.

Repository: https://github.com/GooberRF/rfrevised
Older discussion thread: #972531448424849459

Elevator pitch
Red Faction Revised is an overhaul patch for the Red Faction (1) single player campaign. It is to be released episodically and as a modification for the game. RF Revised is more than a balance patch and less than a full remake. RF Revised will include a set of modified levels, new assets, and modified table files.

• Remove universally recognized annoyances and/or shortcomings
• Resolve universally recognized balance issues
• Restore cut content where viable
• Expand use of Geo-Mod technology
• Bolster links to other games in the series and the wider universe as a whole
• Retain overall mood/feel of stock game

The project aims to keep overall scope manageable while satisfying the guiding principles listed above. RF Revised will not implement every desired change, and will determine whether to implement specific changes or concepts based on an evaluation of feasibility, reasonableness, and overall value towards realizing the project's core goals and guiding principles.

[cold zealot]

@slim wedge

Myself and Duke were talking

and heres what we said

[dark briar]

Just a random thought I had while we were having a conversation, since I realized that approach could open things up a bit while being cheaper to implement.

[cold zealot]

i for one think it would be a fun audio log

[slim wedge]

i like the idea, idk if radio messages are the best way to do them, but I like the idea in general

kinda like the audio logs in rfg/rfa

[cold zealot]

yup

[dark briar]

Yeah, exactly. One of the big issues we were having with Revised is that some of the stuff we'd like to implement for story is super hard or impossible for us to do for one reason or another, and has the potential to maybe bloat the campaign's flow.

So i thought, if we could add a lot of the extra stuff as logs, that would more or less solve the problem while being easier to do.

[slim wedge]

yeah its a great way to jam more story exposition into it without needing a zillion more maps and other assets

[cold zealot]

i want you to know this unbelievably happened because i don't like anime art

I want you to know how important our brains were here

[dark briar]

Yeah we started talking about anime art, Persona and SMT, Marvel and DC, movies in general, to video games, to Persona 2 specifically, and somehow ended up here.

[dark briar]

Yeah. And, like, we can keep some of the stuff, like tying the campaign into Kava/Sekt, or adding some additional maps/overhauling existing ones to expand upon areas of the game that are mediocre, or where it'd be neat. But it takes a large burden off of the shoulder's of everyone involved to keep the exposition somewhere a bit more optional... and it even rewards you exploring!

Restore the existing cut dialogue where we can and where it makes sense, use logs to flesh things out even further where it might not be that interesting for a player just wanting to play the campaign.

That way, it's not disruptive to the general RF1 flow, but you do have more of a reason to explore the maps and really get into the storyline that you never got to see as much of before if you want to.

[cold zealot]

Kava did good secrets that were either in-references to the game or just cool rewards for exploration

If we could somehow replicate that in RF Revised

but with an emphasis on the lore

[dark briar]

I think the Admin and Med Labs sections especially could be good places for this too.

There's some terminals you could easily make the player able to retrieve some logs from. And those promo character bios that fleshed out the characters? They could also be added as logs where it makes sense.

The only log I'm not so sure where it'd fit is Hendrix's log, which would actually do a lot of good to flesh out his character.

I like Hendrix a lot after reading his bio in his own words.

[cold zealot]

time to add a run map in admin

[dark briar]

Parker's log you could actually put in whatever room of the barracks Parker is likely assigned to.

Maybe make a "datapad" item for logs that are placed somewhere not on a terminal.

[cold zealot]

ohhhh like spookys jumpscare mansion

maybe not a solid example but as you uncover more of the monsters in the mansion you get more entires in a terminal about them

[dark briar]

Yeah doing something kinda similar.

I'm not sure how the Eos and Hendrix logs could fit, we'd have to figure that out. But Capek and Masako are easy.

So is Parker.

[cold zealot]

you can do that with goals and switch model for a terminal which has more info depending on which secrets you found

[dark briar]

That's a good idea. ^^

I also think it'd be easy to have Gryphon's log. You could put it in his office.

[cold zealot]

[dark briar]

So we'd just need to figure out a good way to implement the Eos and Hendrix logs, and then write new logs for some other stuff.

[cold zealot]

Eos you can do anywhere in L1 > L5 tbh

The Mines, Abandoned Mines and Barracks all work for exposition to her

[dark briar]

I have two ideas potentially for Hendrix, maybe.

1. Give the player a way to actually get into his office in Admin, and the player can collect the log there.
2. ||Hendrix drops it after his death by the hands of Masako.||

Ideally give it to the player sooner because I feel it could make the player feel more connected to Hendrix earlier on.

[cold zealot]

do the majority of it in admin

and do the last piece at the end in his death

[dark briar]

That's a pretty neat idea.

[cold zealot]

no offence but anyone reading this channel has played the game i don't need a spoiler

[slim wedge]

im thinking of an implementation I could do in Alpine as a new event

that would work similar to audio logs in RF:G

[dark briar]

Habit- ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[cold zealot]

XD

[dark briar]

I think that's a good idea. What is your idea that you're cooking implementation wise?

[cold zealot]

this would benefit any more custom campaigns we'd wanna do

so im in favour

[dark briar]

Do you remember how I added a door to Hendrix's office in the proof of concept demo I made for Hendrix Halls? Maybe give the player a way to override the security lock on the door and get in if they explore? Lol. idk.

(Go ahead Goober I was just finishing what I was typing a second ago)

[slim wedge]

It'd be very similar to RF:G audio logs. Pause the game, show a custom UI, etc.

sry in a game of cs atm lol

[cold zealot]

good side quest

[slim wedge]

would also have a gate event that could be used to run logic if a specific audio log has been found, etc.

this would require my new savegame format to work of course, but I needed to get that done eventually anyway for other reasons

[dark briar]

I'm glad my suggestion is practical and beneficial. Feels like it's been too long since I've had the ball rolling on any idea lol.

[cold zealot]

the only difference is in RFG and RFA you can view it in the menu

which probably isn't possible here

[slim wedge]

well not currently lol

[dark briar]

I'm thinking maybe you could somehow work it into the message log, or, something custom via a new hotkey or the menu?

[slim wedge]

would probably put 2 tabs on the message log window

radio messages and audio logs (or whatever they end up being called)

[cold zealot]

ohhh

thatd be neat

saves on the terminal logic

[dark briar]

There's a few possible names. You could call them Audio Logs, Data Logs, Journal Logs, whatever.

I think "Data Log" would be best because that is a flexible term that implies it could include any type of data.

So it doesn't strictly have to be audio.

[cold zealot]

But a narrated audio log would be fun

[dark briar]

Yeah, you can have both. But it would make it more flexible. One could be an audio log, one a personal journal entry in a datapad, and one some kind of system report log.

[cold zealot]

true

[dark briar]

You could even say that the message log is Parker's own datapad.

[slim wedge]

could have a flyer for the miner olympics

or a shift schedule

etc

[dark briar]

Exactly.

The lore potential is pretty big lol.

Especially if you can display textures in them.

[cold zealot]

can we leverage the kava campaign and its areas for a new level that allows us to join up more parts of the complex

[slim wedge]

ui is way easier to use now too, now that scroll wheel works in text areas :p

[dark briar]

Precisely. It's basically the perfect way to do it.

You could even add a few icons that tells the player what kind of file the log is.

(Or if we're mixing data in a log, what types of data is contained).

There's a lot of ways this can be done really neatly.

[cold zealot]

scope creep

😛

[dark briar]

No, I'm just saying that could be done if that's what Goober has in mind. I personally think it'd be better to have one type per log.

Mostly because we're not trying to make "email simulator 2075".

So setting up a log with one type of data would be a lot easier for him to implement, and for a modder to use.

[cold zealot]

fair 😂

i do so wish we could use a terminal and it brings up a fullscreen log and locks you in place so you have to press use again to move so that people don't accidentally walk away

😂

[dark briar]

But, if we go with one type per log, having a few icons like a speaker, a text icon/envelope, or an image icon/paperclip icon, could be a good way to let a player know at a glance what kind of log it is.

That way they can find what they're looking for easier.

That's all it'd really need too.

You don't even need filtering or proper search, I doubt that'd be needed.

[cold zealot]

I do love the idea of being able to find an audio log, or a write up log, or even just an in reference (like the miner olympics poster in kava) that gives more exposition to the overall situation and the people involved

and then be able to mark them off as actual things