MechWarrior 2: Resource Forum

hello all, I think this is my first post in actuality on this website though I did reg a long time ago.
My name is Nynx, and I'm from over at Mech3.org
recently I downloaded and tried the MechVM mod; and I was completely blown away by the awesomness of
it. as i played my favorite mechwarrior of all time; MW2:Mercs, I was reminded of a long ago project I had
imagined back in 2007; that of a 2D mechwarrior game.

recent advances in my own coding and art skills within the past year have actually made this a possibility.
SO i present to your fine community the idea; of a top-down reimagining of Mechwarrior2:Mercs.

Much like the MechVM idea, I will be using the GUI elements from the splash screens for menus; and
most if not all original missions will be implemented.

As for mechs, I want to include the entire roster of 3025 mechs for starters, base variants only.
What this means is i need 2d, top-down sprites of each mech, and this is where you guys come in.
as quoted from my Mech3.org post

"if anyone would like to contribute a mech sprite, feel free with the following stipulations:

1) scale: the above 'atlas' sprite is going to be the max size in terms of scale, as the atlas was the biggest in 3025

2) image size, drop your sprite in a 96x96 pixel png, with the mech centered and I can work it from there

3) no color schemes, only use 2-3 grays and black for outlines

4) very important: your name! append your name to the file; so mine would be AS7_D_Atlas_Nynx.png that way I can give credit where credit is due

submit to my mech3.org name as a PM, no deadline right now - or my Mech2.org acct for you Mech2 guys
but here the mechs I have completed:
CPLT-C1 Catapult
AS7-D Atlas
ZEU-6S Zeus
enjoy the challenge, hope to see some sprites ^^_ "

and in terms of Seen/Unseen; i'd rather go with the project phoenix looks just to avoid any baloney (:P)

Hello Nynx,

Welcome to mech2.org!

Your project looks like a big undertaking, so let me give you some advice. First of, it seems to be replicating work already done in MegaMek. Would it be possible to implement your project as a MegaMek map pack?

Secondly, using a fixed resolution of 96x96 for line art strikes me as a bad choice. Line art will look bad if you need to scale the graphics to fit different screen resolutions. Would it be possible to use vector graphics instead? If you still want to use bitmaps, do not use line art. There must be a library for using vector graphics with Java somewhere.

Anyway, wishing you luck, fun and success with your project.

thanks for the tips ^^_

as for the megamek angle; I love that game to death, but its not welcoming to friends who only have a
mild curiosity in battletech, this 2D project would be a real-time, top-down shooter.

as for screen resolution; I'll be the first to admit, I'm not some wunderkind programmer, at this moment
being able to scale resolution in java is out of my reach
and to make matters worse, the menus are hardwired for a fixed resolution mainly because java may have
nice layout managers that work with scaling...however, game menus rarely look nice when
shoe-horned into these managers

I will take a look into vectorizing the sprites, see what i can do on that front

almost like megamek ill call making the Dragon and grand dragon!

oh were are my manners hello and welcome to mech2.org enjoy your stay and hope and goodluck on finishing your 2D game
but just wondering will you be able to move arms and torso twist along with jumpjets and cause your mech to fall from hits that are too powerful?

at this moment, no -_- but my cousin and i are working towards that by playing around with 2D
points and what not. While he's fleshing out the engine I've been working on menus; current goal
is to get it so players can sign in with a name (like classic Mw2:Mercs) and get contracts. As for
making the dragon; go for it!