Ninja Turtles Mod

[Loco]

Nothing new around here Benton ? I look forward to see more of your Ninja Turtles Mods

[BentonGrey]

Howdy La Faucheuse, and thanks for your interest! The latest developments are as follows:

I've got some really wonderful finished Krang and The Fly skins and skopes. I've been working on building their characters with Winter's expert advice. There is a new and improved Splinter skope/skin in the works, though I haven't heard any news on that in the last few weeks. Freedom Reborn, the central site for Freedom Force content, has had some technical troubles lately, so it hasn't been accessible. I think a lot of the creators are more or less bidding their time until the site comes back up.

I've also got a map issue that I need to solve, but I've been working on other projects for the last few weeks. This week is my spring break, though, so hopefully I can figure that one out. The original plan was to release the current set of missions ( 3-8 ) once I had a skin for Splinter. Seeing as that is taking longer than I anticipated, maybe I'll go ahead and finish the next arc of missions, which would introduce Krang.

So, sorry for my silence folks, but between teaching my classes this semester and a few other projects, (a couple of secret projects, a Project Superpowers mod, and expanding my DC Universe mod) it's been a pretty buys time.

[BentonGrey]

Howdy folks! It seems that I've once again allowed time to slip by me without updating this thread. I'm afraid troubles with my thesis and other sundries have made my summer much busier than I intended, but I do come bearing some good news. The excellent skinner Daglob has finished the textures for a new and improved Splinter skope. The skope still isn't perfect, but it's about as good as we can get at the moment, I think. Ideally, I'll be able to persuade a mesher to create a unique Splinter mesh eventually, but for the moment, I have to say that the team has done a pretty great job. You can see the Radical Rat here:
http://z15.invisionfree.com/Trinity_...dpost&p=760513

So, where is the mod right now? With the inclusion of Splinter, I'm ready to release missions 1-6, except for a map problem which I can hopefully fix this week. Since I have a finished Krang I could conceivably go ahead and finish out the first story arc, but the mesher who had offered to create the Technodrome for me has not been able to manage it, so I'd have to write around actually seeing the fortress. I'm tempted to put off doing the last two missions until I can find a way to include it. Either way, I'm getting back to work on this, so hopefully I'll have more to show y'all soon and a release of some sort in the next few weeks.

[BentonGrey]

Amazing! It's always darkest before the dawn. Check out this shot of a work-in-progress Technodrome!

http://freedomreborn.net/forums/inde...8195#msg738195

:EDIT: And an even more finished version complete with a scale comparison: http://freedomreborn.net/forums/inde...8215#msg738215

[BentonGrey]

Howdy to all of those who are interested, check out a shell-tastic preview of the third mission at my site:
http://bentongrey.wordpress.com/2011...stic-previews/

Raphael meets Casey Jones...need I say more?


:EDIT: What's this? The Turtles vs. Shredder!


The next preview is up at the Greylands!

[Loco]

that Looks Good Benton !! nice technodrome too

[oldmanwinters]

Check out his most recent preview!
http://bentongrey.wordpress.com/2011...eview-part-ii/

As someone who's playtested the first 7-or-so missions, I can say that it provides a totally unique experience for a TMNT video game! Pretty soon he'll have a complete Mod based on the plot of the first season of the Classic Toon (with more surprises to come later on down the road!).

[Loco]

awesome news OldmanWinters how can I play it like you ? can't wait

[BentonGrey]

Good news Loco, your wait is over! My Ninja Turtles mod has been released in full! You'll find it here:
http://bentongrey.wordpress.com/turt...ht-with-honor/

This mod has 9, count them, 9 missions, which will take our half-shelled-heroes from their first encounter with the Foot Clan up to their discovery of a strange and sinister secret hidden below the streets of New York! Along the way you’ll take command of the green teens as they battle the deadly Foot Clan, face the mechanical menace of Baxter Stockman’s Mousers, struggle against the mutated might of Bebop and Rocksteady, and even cross blades with the mysterious Shredder!

Krang and Baxter aren’t featured as opponents in the campaign itself yet, but they are both included, and you can play as or against them in the Dangeroom if you want to test their metal!

This mod also features the first contribution to the FF community by newcomer Adam Winters. He has really increased the quality and comprehensiveness of this mod by creating three new voice packs with samples pulled from the original Turtles cartoon. He’s created packs for Splinter, April, and Shredder, bringing the memorable and excellent voice work of that classic show to life in Freedom Force, and bringing a lot more personality to their respective characters within the game.

We are also lucky enough to get some custom mission music from the multi-talented ow_tiobe_sb! Now we have some music made especially for the levels of this mod.

So, what are you waiting for? Take a walk down memory lane, and see if you can keep from smiling when you load this mod and hear a familiar song on the main menu. Take some time to remember why you loved the Turtles way back when, and why you should definitely still love them now!





Now stay tuned for more Ninja Turtles adventures! The next installment will take the Turtles into the Technodrome to face the cruel alien warlord Krang, but that won't be the end! Future story arcs should pit the green machine against a wide array of villains, including the Rat King, Leatherhead, and more!

:EDIT: I've also got a ModDB page now: http://www.moddb.com/mods/ninja-turtles-turtle-power

[BentonGrey]

Even though this major release has been finished, work on the mod continues unabated. Check out this new rock soldier skope! He doesn't have a skin yet, but I have to say, I think the model looks pretty darn good:
http://freedomreborn.net/forums/inde...9072#msg739072

[BentonGrey]

And the hits just keep on coming! I am super excited because one of the great skinners of the FF community agreed to skin one of my absolute favorite characters! Meet the Rat King:
http://freedomreborn.net/forums/inde...9122#msg739122

This skin is mostly finished, but it will be put on a slightly more detailed skope that has a crossbow and a few other little touches. We also recently saw the creation of a rat mesh, which means that everybody's favorite ruler of all rodentia is all set to terrorize the Turtles in the next story arc!

[oldmanwinters]

Wow, that Rat King really took me by surprise! And I'm glad the Rock Soldiers are in the WIP stage. I really think you need them to come into play sometime during the next 3 missions of your Mod. They would provide a new challenge as the turtles try to stop Krang from opening the portal to Dimension X!

[BentonGrey]

Yeah, me too! I thought that my request was a long shot, but the amazing artist, Podmark, really came through for me.

That's precisely my plan JJ, and I'm betting that I can find a skinner for the rock soldiers. Keep your fingers crossed!

[BentonGrey]

And the Rat King is finished! This is a beautiful skin and a really nice skope that I was extremely lucky to get. So, check out the ruler of all rodentia!

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by BentonGrey

And the Rat King is finished! This is a beautiful skin and a really nice skope that I was extremely lucky to get. So, check out the ruler of all rodentia!

I can't wait to see how you work the Rat King and his minions into future campaign missions! I guess he needs a Hero file first though? Hopefully, you give him those Soda Pop Bombs!

[BentonGrey]

Ohh, he's DEFINITELY going to get the soda-pop grenades. I don't think there is an FX that will match perfectly, but at the very least they'll be labeled that way!

It's a shame I didn't have him a little earlier, or I would have put him in mission #9 as a cameo, or at least had some of his rats battling mousers at one point.

Yep, I'll put together a herofile for him this week and send it your way so you can try him out and see what you think. I have a few vague ideas for his missions, but there isn't anything concrete, though it almost goes without saying that, IF I get a Leatherhead skope/skin, I am definitely going to do a Leatherhead meets the Rat King mission! If you've got any ideas Winters, and anyone else reading this as well, let me know!

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by BentonGrey

Yep, I'll put together a herofile for him this week and send it your way so you can try him out and see what you think. I have a few vague ideas for his missions, but there isn't anything concrete, though it almost goes without saying that, IF I get a Leatherhead skope/skin, I am definitely going to do a Leatherhead meets the Rat King mission! If you've got any ideas Winters, and anyone else reading this as well, let me know!

Well, the obvious choice is to have him brainwash Splinter and pit him against the turtles. You could probably adapt most of his debut episode from the classic toon, "Enter the Rat King" where he abducts April (just because he loves TV news reporters, lol) and the whole crew has to scour the sewers to find his lair. Although, I admit I'm also partial to his portrayal in Archie TMNTA#11.

Another possibility is to play up his desire to control humans as easily as he controls rats like in "Wererats from Channel Six." You could possibly use a "Rat Man" type character as a means to suggest he starts turning people into rats and sending them loose on the city for a crime spree (to get more cheese or something). Then you could give Splinter a chance to redeem himself and overcome the Rat King's mind control powers (in the toon it was tied to his "Magic Flute").

I imagine Old Toon Rat King as a former mad scientist who never got his grant from the academy due to his weirdness or uncouth appearance. Thus, he has decided to seek asylum with the only creatures he can control and who accept him for who he is ... the rats. And he plots to find a way to control humans as easily as he does the rats.

Or, you know, there's always his first appearance in the Mirage comics, which is pretty cool as well!

EDIT:

Originally Posted by BentonGrey

Ohh, he's DEFINITELY going to get the soda-pop grenades. I don't think there is an FX that will match perfectly, but at the very least they'll be labeled that way!

It's a shame I didn't have him a little earlier, or I would have put him in mission #9 as a cameo, or at least had some of his rats battling mousers at one point.

It's not too late to add that cutscene for a future release!

Heck, I'd still like to see if you can't throw together a more extensive opening cutscene that shows some of the events that are now only text-based, like the turtles rescuing April from the thugs, ala that scene in "Turtle Tracks."

[Xav]

But why make it a cutscene? Why not have you actually rescue April from the thugs? Though you would need someone to make up human Bebop and Rocksteady skins.

[BentonGrey]

Ehh, Xav, the answer is sort of complicated, but I'll give a brief account of my reasoning. 1) At the time I didn't have a sewer map (though I found one for the Splinter mission). 2) I didn't really want to try to do the whole backstory thing and introduction to the Turtles that their saving April would have lead into. 3) It would be more of the same as the rest of the mission, in terms of beating on thugs. 4) Getting skins made is pretty tough, and I certainly couldn't be sure of getting a set of human Bebop and Rocksteady skins.

So, it really comes down to this being the easiest way for me to tell the story. I figure that most players will be pretty familiar with the basic concept, and with a game it is usually better to drop your players in the middle of the action. It's possible I'll revisit it at some point, but I'd rather keep the story moving forward.

Good ideas Winters! I'm definitely going to bring in some elements from the Archie version of the character, and my vague ideas are mostly about adapting some of the broad strokes of his cartoon appearances. I want to do a slightly more serious version, something like the Archie comics character, but with the larger role and higher profile of the 'toon character.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by BentonGrey

So, it really comes down to this being the easiest way for me to tell the story. I figure that most players will be pretty familiar with the basic concept, and with a game it is usually better to drop your players in the middle of the action. It's possible I'll revisit it at some point, but I'd rather keep the story moving forward.

I do like the first and second missions the way they are. It just feels right. Saving April from the thugs in the sewers would probably be too simplistic a mission. And then it would make the 2nd mission feel a little repetitive.

But if not an opening cutscene, is it possible to do a series of still pictures at the beginning? I could volunteer to draw and color them for you if you could insert them!

Originally Posted by BentonGrey

Good ideas Winters! I'm definitely going to bring in some elements from the Archie version of the character, and my vague ideas are mostly about adapting some of the broad strokes of his cartoon appearances. I want to do a slightly more serious version, something like the Archie comics character, but with the larger role and higher profile of the 'toon character.

I think the Archie tone is the best way to go, even if his character was so underdeveloped in the series. I think he only appeared in that one issue and in the Future Shark Trilogy.