Rescue Force (new squad)

[Banjo_oz]

Based on the Rapid Response Force by Igginator and The Fifth Horseman (great work, guys!), I wanted something that felt less "military" yet still kept the overall power armor "look".

Inspired by the comic 'Aliens: Havoc' and the game 'Dead Space', I decided on the "emergency rescue squad" vibe I already felt from Igginator and The Fifth Horseman's RRF boys, but wanted to tweak it some more with new "open face" bubble helmets, less "gung-ho" sergeant faces, and some minor accessory changes and colour alterations (e.g. weapon cowlings, sergeant's "belt", etc.).

Of course, they also needed a new logo (thanks, random clipart find!) and a new commanding officer (now you take orders from an advanced android Hobbit! :P)



I made these guys for personal use, but figured I might as well share them in case others liked them too. BIG thanks again to Igginator and The Fifth Horseman for their RRF squad, without which this wouldn't have been possible!

http://rapidshare.com/files/30167682...e_Force_v2.zip
OR
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U19N4WP7

UPDATED NOV 3rd... PLEASE RE-DOWNLOAD!

[mr curtis]

Nice work Banjo! This is a great squad.

One of the first concepts I did for the AAF had bubble helmets a bit like that, but I decided it wasn't military-looking enough. It perfectly suits a Rescue Force, though.

A couple of things I noticed:

• The main bionic eye addon needs the two yellow pixels removing as they are left over from the yellow visor of the AAF.
• Also the helmet addon and the scars that cover the helmet need adjusting/removing.
• The white paint decals for the legs don't show up on the white armour. Make them a different colour and you're there.
• You could also make the yellow hood-light addon a different colour to bring them out.

The aviator-style shades on that sergeant are an excellent touch!
Might I suggest replacing the sergeant bionic eye sprite with the shades (the bionic eye won't work with the shades anyway). Then any of the sergeant-heads could get them.
It would require you to adjust the layout.dat file slightly, but it would be totally worth it!

EDIT:
One last thing: Add an image to your original post to show these guys off in all their glory!

[Banjo_oz]

Thanks Mr Curtis... high praise indeed, but again I must say that Igginator and The Fifth Horseman did most of the work on recolouring... I just changed the helmets, logos, commander and added the decals, etc.

That also meant that because I used their work as a base, I didn't check the little things you found, such as the forgotten pixels, white decals, etc.! I'm still no expert on all the little "add ons" on the sprite sheet, so finidng each bit is a fun challenge... I'll check out what you spotted and fix 'em up ASAP, then repost with a preview image, too. So anyone thinking of downloading them... hold off until tomorrow and hopefully they'll be better!

The bionic eye replacement and other suggestions were great ideas... I'll see what I can do... I've never tried playing with the layout.dat yet, but will toy with it tomorrow and see about getting it to work as you suggested.

I just wish I could use the chapter display tool to easily check out different "looks" for these guys... but that utility crashes the same as the editor for me, sadly.

As I said, the moment I saw the recolour of the standard squad in white, I wanted to play with guys looking like this.

Thanks again!

[Igginator]

Ive taken your word and wait till tommorrow when its updated to download but its sounding really nice!
Also uploading it on Strategy informer means that it will be on the official mod lists.

[Banjo_oz]

As promised!

Much improved (I hope), since I tweaked it with other users in mind (rather than quick 'n' dirty own use).

Only thing I didn't "fix" was the bionic eye, which I left as-is for for now. I really like Mr Curtis' idea but haven't had time to examine layout.dat to implement it yet... maybe later, though, 'cos its a great idea! I didn't want to delay reposting for this one thing, though.

Colouring is now all fixed, overwatch lights changed to red, and a little fluff text is included in the package, too...

(note: the lack of "special shoulders" and such is deliberate... these guys ain't military!)

See first post for updated links!

[Jorgen]

Very impressive work.. the logo on the shield look really strange though, as it has been added with a copy/paste feature without the curve that the shield has. In general the red markers and logos on their armor might need a few more details and shading but you getting there.

[Banjo_oz]

Originally Posted by Jorgen

Very impressive work.. the logo on the shield look really strange though, as it has been added with a copy/paste feature without the curve that the shield has. In general the red markers and logos on their armor might need a few more details and shading but you getting there.

Drawn by hand, but I nearly left the shield alone precisely because I couldn't get the curve effect right (I found all the scratches made it too tricky for an amateur spriter like me!). While it does look "uncurved" to me, I decided my standards weren't that high in the end and changed it anyway. On reflection, I actually might just remove the scratches and fix it up that way... after all, these non-combat Rescue guys wouldn't have alien-clawed shields, would they?

I just used the RRF rank badges, etc. and I do find them a bit too "bright red saturated". I'd actually like to change them altogether, but that would mean playing with layout.dat, so might have to wait until I have more time.

[Niklas]

Super!!

Just one thing I would like to see is the normal soldier bubble head to be a bit more detailed...feel free to use this idea (see attached image).

I would really like to see this squad as a official part of the game. Are you willing to let us use it? If so, we might need to tweak some parts, like the commander image. You will be added to the credits of the game for this.

[Niklas]

Also, I would like to see the thing infront of the mouth of the bubble to stay for the sergeants. Just a cool detail, on need to remove it for the sergeants.

[Sulibor]

Looks great and it has unique "flavor". I hope this "chapter" will be part of fan created content included in 1.02 version of Alien Assault.

One thing Banjo: If you have problems with cross on the shield, why not live it plain white? I think it would look ok too.

[Omega2064]

I like the look of this alot. The helmet needs a little work at the bottom half. Otherwise looks great. Reminiscent of an astronauts helmet.

[Niklas]

I've taken the liberty to update this squad a bit, I've not yet tested it ingame. I will not release my modification until that has been done but here are the changes I've made:

• Polished the team logo.
• Modified the dead soldier sprites to the new AA V1.021 look.
• Changed the team logo on the radar background.
• Changed commander image to fit the AA universe.
• Tweaked the red cross on the Tactical Shield to be follow the actual shape of the shield.
• Added a semi transparent soldier head "behind" the glass of the helmet.

I hope Bagio has no problem with this, I will include the original documentation and give him all the credit for the source material.

[..Soot..]

Good tweaks on the squad, looking forward to the end result, especially the face-behind-the-glass.

These are like Templar knights of the future, I like the design for that reason.

[CATAFRACTO]

Originally Posted by ..Soot..

These are like Templar knights of the future, I like the design for that reason.

I hadn`t realized! Evocative...

Waiting for the mod's mod!

[Niklas]

Originally Posted by CATAFRACTO

the mod's mod!

[Sulibor]

Originally Posted by Niklas

I've taken the liberty to update this squad a bit, I've not yet tested it ingame. I will not release my modification until that has been done but here are the changes I've made:
....
I hope Bagio has no problem with this, I will include the original documentation and give him all the credit for the source material.

Will you release it in a new version of AA or as separate download?

[Niklas]

Seperate download, this is nothing that we could release as an official squad...unless Banjo gave us the approval (and then he would be credited in the game).

[Niklas]

So here it is, feel free to try it out and give feedback on it.

http://www.teardown.se/games/alienas... Force v21.zip (45kb)

[CATAFRACTO]

Got it! They look great! We'll have to test their habilities at Soot's Kladinsk campaign!

Thank you, Niklas.

[Niklas]

I tried them on my new campaign and they are brutal! No kills on 8 missions and killing like never seen before. Even survived 2-3 times in close combat. Almost thought I had some cheat enabled.