Warhammer Dark Omen Forum

Hello Community!

I am the new member of the Dark Omen fan club! I've amazed that so much work has been done already to keep this wonderful game alive. After reading some of the topic on the forum I decided to dive in and attempt to create Dark Omen replica. Called the project Dark Omen Reborn! The goal is to use UE4 as the base engine, importing as much as possible from the original DO files. Thankfully there are many tools and source codes already written to help me started and even some members of the community are still active!

Below is the motivational screenshot of the first level terrain imported into UE4 already. Therre are many things to be done yet, but that's only the start!

[attachment=1]

Wow! Extremely exciting times ahead thanks - I've downloaded the UE4 Editor (similar to Unity) & busy working through the tutorials, to hopefully be of some assistance. All are welcome to join in the fun and finally achieve a shared dream.

Dark Omen Reborn!

Join https://darkomen.slack.com/ (https://darkomen.slack.com/) to start collaborating by sending me your email address, so I can send an invitation.

:)

Tutorials ->
https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Videos/ (https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Videos/)

https://www.youtube.com/user/UnrealDevelopmentKit/playlists (https://www.youtube.com/user/UnrealDevelopmentKit/playlists)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6pRgMhzCt8&t=0s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6pRgMhzCt8&t=0s)

UE4? Sounds like a serious business this time.

I have problem to join https://darkomen.slack.com/ as it asks for @btinternet.com email address which I do not have...
I tried to register one at https://signin1.bt.com/login/emailloginform but during registration it requires BT billing account which I do not have.  :-\

Can I sign up using my gmail account somehow?
EDITED:
I learned from help guide that I need to be invited first. So my gmail - evgensharov31@gmail.com

Hiya, I will sign you up via your email address when I return home and have changed my post above, to request email to allow signup.

See you shortly to join in the fun!

Thanks

:)  

Yeah, I encourage everyone to join! We are progressing rapidly  8)
[attachment=1]

Wow this sounds awesome... where can I read more about the objective of this initiative, Olly?

I've emailed/invited you to join in the fun and read about it more.

:)

Noice! I will have a look! Thanks, mate!

Devast3d has been investigating Lighting (.LIT and .SHD) and has kindly made a Dark Omen Light Editor ->
[attachment=2]

and a Texture replacer to help see lights effects more clearly

https://github.com/devast3d/LitEditor/blob/master/LitEditor/bin/Release/LitEditor.exe

[attachment=1]
"it's second light only in B1_05 with only light flag enabled by changing attenuation from 0 to ~0.09 in 6 steps"

However, we have the following questions to answer, that I am hoping to send to original Dark Omen LitEditor Paul B

1. Flags confirmation
- bit1: if shadow
- bit2: if light
- bit3/4: if 3 then directional, if 4 true point, if 0 point
- bit5: affects furn
- bit6: affects base

2. What is Point light? And the difference versus TruePoint?

3. What is the meaning of the float value after the flags? Seems some kind of attenuation
- how it affects all 3 types of light
- it affects light, does it also affect shadows?

4. Is scene ambient light is (0.3, 0.3, 0.3)?

5. If you recall general lighting formula?
- how color>1 fits in there?

6. How shadows are produced?
- raytracing? shadowmapping? something else?
- we suspect that SHD file is used in producing shadows. How?
- how do you managed to created shadows from point lights?
- seems they're substracted from the lights, do you remember formulas?

7. How do you properly read normals from m3d file? using vertex normals gives strange results sometimes"

Latest results regarding lighting import.
[attachment=1]

Fantastic!

:)

looks good,cant wait to play best game ever on a newer engine

looking good, I'm a programmer/3d artist, I'd like to be a part of the
cinematic or programming side of things, I started something
a while ago with a sequel in mind using DirectX 9 but DirectX 9 is a little old
now I think.

if I can help at all let me know,
sound_of_solos@hotmail.com

dougie

Welcome and invite sent

:)

thanks

Brief update on the latest achievements.
- App for reading BTB files. Mostly for visualization purposes. One important feature is constructing walkability texture for a level. More work has to be done here.
- Using walk map simple pathfinding was added. It's in the beginning, but can already calc pathes around the level (currently using classic A*, may change in the future). A LOT of work is still required here.
- Also simple app for reading sprite file (based on previous work). Mostly for converting sprites into modern format. The reason - create some squads for imporving pathfinding.

Are source and download of that BTB and SPR Ui tools available somewhere?

Hi Ghabry
I guess you can find them here https://blackdogs.atlassian.net/wiki/display/DOR/Relevant+links
If you do not have access to drive just push request

Ghabry,

Sources for everything could be found on my github account https://github.com/devast3d
Specifically BtbEditor is here https://github.com/devast3d/BtbEditor, compiled version is here https://github.com/devast3d/BtbEditor/tree/master/BtbUI/bin/Release
Feel free to do anything with it :)

BTW, I'm currently working on adding steering behaviors for the unit. Finished first (normally working) version today :)
(https://media.giphy.com/media/3oKIPdtBsph8OFXxHq/giphy.gif)

Thanks, the new BTB Editor could be convenient compared to Robs legacy one. Did you figure out anything new about BTB during the last years? Same question applies to PRJ.

Nope, I've written it mostly for preparing pathfinding. It could be used as the full substitution, however, I don't have time to make it so. The only new thing I've discovered is proper usage if LIT files.
p.s. Let's not flood this thread with off-topic. We can discuss this either in slack or another thread :)

The May was very fruitful for DOReborn project.
Unit pathfinding is probably the biggest feature added this month. Along with improved movement it takes into account all walkable terrain on the level now.
The Level got deployment zone which does not affect gameplay yet. Also, some basic HUD elements and unit commands were implemented.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVSD0X6uJi0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVSD0X6uJi0)

Last but not least is implementation of unit charge maneuver
https://youtu.be/4FoUhetTn_M (https://youtu.be/4FoUhetTn_M)

There are some minor bugs here and there but with such almighty developer as devast3d they are doomed to be fixed

It's certainly progressing well and I would urge anyone interested in game development and all Dark Omen fans to join in the fun, as great learning!

:)

Last update includes in-game cursor and some HUD elements:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsKNwYb39qM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsKNwYb39qM)

Also, the project was migrated to latest UE 4.16 version

Added unit banner.
Movement were enhanced with beacons and unit makes reform maneuver on-the-go now.
https://youtu.be/hbax4jsewuk

HUD was enhanced with mini-banners which pop up when units leave the screen
DOReborn: HUD enhancement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpEGwbmv0rY#)

Movement revamp, collisions and more

Earlier this month, it was decided to go through complete code refactoring due to downsides of unit movement, i.e. drifting, stucking and other issues made movement look and feel not right. It was a tough decision and took 3 weeks of programming efforts but it was definitely worth it. Now, movement looks very spot on to the original Dark Omen's one and somewhat even surpassed it (more fluid, no way to repro DO "dancing bug").
Numerous playtests helped to succefully discovered precise movement speed formula used by units in Dark Omen. New map with tick marks for testing helped greatly to achieve this.
Another playtest sessions helped to find unit formation dependency in DO which has already been succesfully added to current build version of DOReborn
Next steps are implementation of proper unit collision which will allow to proceed with implementation of melee combat mechanic.

The video below demostrates mentioned updates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtoPrg4tS7M (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtoPrg4tS7M)

you may learn more at DOReborn remake project site:
https://blackdogs.atlassian.net/wiki/display/DOR/Dark+Omen+REBORN (https://blackdogs.atlassian.net/wiki/display/DOR/Dark+Omen+REBORN)

Excellent and really cool to see them from that camera angle!

melee slots and models allocation in combat

It's been awhile since the last update on the DOR progress and some might have thought that the project was abandoned but it is not. On the contrary, the project has nearly reached its very important milestone - the combat mechanic implementation which appeared to be quite a complex issue right from the start. Units allocation in melee raised many questions: how many unit's models should get into melee contact, how to arrange them porperly, how to arrange all of these in multi-units combat, etc.

Current result you may see in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsFkx-sp-F4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsFkx-sp-F4)

There are still many issues to solve left but I'm presonally very exited and eagerly looking forward for DOR combat implementation

Very exciting time as looks and feels like Dark Omen and can't wait for the combat phase.

Melee combat and 3D portraits

Hi everyone,


After half a year (geez.. time goes by too fast) overdue update on DO Reborn project is here. Some real-life things had happened and not a pleasant ones but let's skip the details, since "It's personal" as Morgan Bernhardt used to say. Good things are that the life and the project keep moving on regardless.

In the meantime, early version of melee combat mechanic has been implemented with following features:
- combat score (only wound points are taken into account)
- strike priority (3 groups: first strike (charge), normal, last strike (weapon type))
- charge bonus (temporary boosts unit strength, strike priority and combat score in the first round)
- wounds resolution changed from unit based to model based

In addition, user interface got battlefield map view which displays unit information when hovering with cursor over its banner.

Last but not least, we welcome Dougie who is working on 3D character portraits.Thanks to previous community knowledge he figured out how to re-implement portraits in UE4. More details about this can be learned in this thread of DO fan-forum.
http://forum.dark-omen.org/3d-scenery-models/portrait-meshes-t1227.60.html (http://forum.dark-omen.org/3d-scenery-models/portrait-meshes-t1227.60.html)

Future plans is to finalize melee combat and continue with implementation of the ranged one.


P.S.
Somewhat dated video of melee combat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz4V93P68uw&list=PL1apQs-sIMj697UC4UhVmjadcjg8VZG4O (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz4V93P68uw&list=PL1apQs-sIMj697UC4UhVmjadcjg8VZG4O)

post from DO Reborn web-page with screenshots:
https://blackdogs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOR/blog/2018/05/20/639139841/Melee+combat+and+3D+portraits (https://blackdogs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOR/blog/2018/05/20/639139841/Melee+combat+and+3D+portraits)

Nice progress report and can confirm the latest version is working really well.

[attachment=1]

[attachment=2]

:)

DOR 2nd Anniversary

Greetings everyone!

Today is a great day for our small community as DOR project turned 2 years! Personally for me this anniversary means a lot because of two things:

Firstly, it is amazing to realize that a hobby remake project of once great but forsaken franchise managed to live that long. Without a doubt, most credit for this goes to @d3vasted who managed to program and fine-tune DOR single-handedly. His programming skills, dedication and determination are amazing and you just know that any kind of project is bound to succeed when it is in hands of such person.

Secondly, this hobby project gives me a hope that one day I will able to devote all my working hours(and even more than that) to what I truly love - video-games. Time will tell, but for now I am just enjoying and proud to be a part of DOR project.

List of what has been developed since the last update in May:

• Melee combat (models allocation is till in progress due to my slacking in RL)
• Ranged units: bows, xbows and artillery (cannon, catapult, steam tank, mortar)
• Ranged combat: projectiles type, AOE damage, etc
• Line of sight: affects both unit visibility and shooting
• Unit static 3D portraits (i.e. not animated)
• Sound effects for everything mentioned above
• Damage types
• Models different animations: flying death, burning, etc.
• Unit deployment phase, with drag and drop units mini-inventory
• Main menu with quit and new game options
• and many many other fixes and tweaks

Happy Anniversary! Great project and great people to work with, all welcome anytime.

:)

a video that demonstrates latest progress
https://youtu.be/IpTLK5144Qo

Excellent Progress!

:)

This looks awesome!

Love how the cannon ball goes through those goblins.

I am so glad this is still being worked on it looks amazing! Combat and projectiles look so darn smooth and the overall visuals look great. I am also happy to see the love for this old game still alive it really was a gem. Thanks for all the work! so far looks like it has paid off because what you have already is far better than I could have imagined. I can't wait to see what you guys are gonna do next.

Greetings to all Dark omen fans!

News (along with demonstration video) about latest DO Reborn development is finally here:
https://blackdogs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOR/blog/2019/04/29/1458044958/Latest+features+and+nearest+plans

Thanks for your time and stay tuned!

Awesome!

:)

Hi guys,
I have just tried a demo of Dark Omen Reborn and I can only say this: It is awesome! It really feels like good old Dark Omen, no questions. While I completed the battle, I noticed a few minor bugs or things that I think might be bugs - something that does not work exactly like DO. I can report them if your interested. Also, I am ready to test other game episodes as they appear - hope you have strength and patience left to make second step now that this incredible initial step is done :)

Hi Cuthalion,

We are glad that you like it.
This is very first alpha build and yes there are quite a bunch of things that we also don't feel they work as they should be.

We are very interested in any feedback and especially from veteran players. Please, use the link below to report them and thanks in advance for your input
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AqP-xpSXXLNETlxdXeTcAiiTwKzqItFamPqDKZH31Ds/edit?usp=drivesdk


P.S.
"hope have strength and patience"
From what I see, Devasted is just warming up

Agreed, it is totally amazing and a real dream come true! I've messaged all the veterans the following message to join in the fun.

:)


We have it! Devast3d and ably assisted by Evgen have completed the Dark Omen Reborn Demo using the Unreal engine. Dark Omen has never looked so good and we are urging fans to come and join in the fun and build upon their success.http://forum.dark-omen.org/general-suggestions/dark-omen-reborn-t1393.0.html (http://forum.dark-omen.org/general-suggestions/dark-omen-reborn-t1393.0.html)

They should feel immensely proud of their achievements, as it really looks and feels just like the original Dark Omen. So the possibilities are endless to extend Dark Omen further than ever before but we need more help please.

:)

This looks awesome! Good job guys!

Will report anything i find.

Question: As far as computer regiments behaviour - timing, place, other functions - did you decode CTL files where it is used or did you create it from scratch?
Thank you.

I decided to go from scratch because it's faster. Waypoints are taken from BTB file.

Interesting, could you elaborate on the AI behaviour a bit? How enemy units decide "what they should do"? Has this logic to be reprogrammed for each melee/ranged unit on each map or is it something that can be applied to all maps?

In CTL files, "AI" logic was not de facto AI, it was a set of scripts that defined behaviour of each unit on one map.
Melee unit scripts (cavalry, infantry, chariots) were pretty straightforward:
1) Waiting for a certain even to get teleported to a certain place on the map.
   The event can be: timer, player unit within a certain range, certain unit alive/dead etc. Sometimes unit is not teleported but stands at a certain place on the map, waiting for event trigger.
2) Basically hunt nearest player unit, or if none can be seen, patrol between waypoints.

Archers had more complicated "AI". I cannot really call it an AI. It was basically instruction to go to a certain predefined waypoint, and shoot everyone from there. 2-3 waypoints were set up, archers moved between them, if they suffered damage etc...Every ctl map had to have its own set of scripts for each archer regiment.

Mages also had a pre-programmed behavour that defined their spells and moves on one map. Everything except event handlers should have been reprogrammed for any map.

This was very clumsy and not modding-friendly. On the other hand, all existing mods - at least mine - are bound to CTL files and will be completely broken otherwise.

Thank you very much again, for the UE demo of Dark Omen looks really promising.

I'm using Behavior Trees - https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/Engine/AI/BehaviorTrees/QuickStart/index.html

They are applied to the unit type and work the same on different levels. Waypoints are just parameters. Scripting manually is too much work.

Thanks!

Hi guys. I created an account to give some feedback and ask for an invite to the dark omen slack channel so i can continue to help with suggestions. Gotta say though i played the demo and am pretty chuffed as a old time fan of the series, (SOTHR) being in my opinion superior in depth of story, but DO being nicer in its more modern graphics and controls at the time. So i have some feedback and some questions. One thing i think would be really nice to implement, if you are going down the route of remaking the whole game from the bottom up, would be to allow for multi unit control at once, so rather that click, select each unit to tell them what to do, having the ability to box drag and select units you like to attack one or more enemy regiments would help modernize the game for the better and feel less clunky. Second, maybe more sprite animations for combat just to make it more fluid, if at all possible. Im not sure how much of the original game you are updating and importing into the UE4 engine, seems to me you have managed to keep the actual real time warhammer engine they created intact which for anyone who knows game design and table top is what makes these games so great and timeless. So feel free to knock back any of the above comments. And i think this is nothing short of an amazing effort and really hope to see it continue.

Im actually working on a table top fantasy RPG influned by the warhammeer fantasy battle system, and run a social media outfit to support it. Would you be interested in taking someone into help with promotion of DOR?

Hi and welcome, agree with your suggestions as already been discussed and planned. Everything is possible but devast3d is on a well earned break for awhile.

To progress this project really requires additional veteran developers for devast3d to delegate to. It's still astounding how far it already is.

:)

Yea it is very impressive. And no rush, in understand how trying and time consuming it is to be a creator so i get it. I wish i knew some other devs to jump in on the project

I think that a good way to make Dark Omen work without a full fledged remake, is creating a wrapper so it can read the game's files.


Kinda like what Kex engine does

Hi sounds good and will investigate Kex engine. Is the proposed wrapper the same as Dege's dgvoodoo2?

Kex Engine is what Nightdive uses for their remasters, recently the Quake 1 remaster.

AFAICT, Kex is akin to SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer).