I total agree with you. With the new setting, the replayability is so much higher than the original game. By the way, I read somewhere in a review that a cracked up teammate (assuming he is unarmed) can commit suicide by electrocute himself with a live wire somewhere (as seen in the trailer), has anyone ever seen that happen when they are playing? Or is that just another goody in the beta version that didn't make it at the end?

Nope, it's in. If you have a cracked up teammate with no weapon near a fusebox, he'll use it to commit suicide. However, there are some weird things with the suicide thing. The default one is the heart attack, but NPCs will get a different animation if they have a pistol or a MP5. On the other hand, with the shotgun, the flamethrower and all the other weapons, they won't use their weapon but just get a heart attack. The weirdest thing is that I remember seeing a screenshot where a NPC was kneeling with his shotgun under his chin to commit suicide. Why this animation is not in the final game is beyond me...

yeah, a lot of things were taken away in the game. I would really like to see the other walker, and those ruptures in those screenshot (beta version) in the game. And in the beta trailer (the link provided by you), at one point, a thing (which is being fried) who looked just like a human, except with the claw arm was shown. It would have been really cool to have 2 variations of an infected NPC.

In fact, there are at least one variation of infected NPCs, but it's tough to see it as a default one is used for 90% of the burst-outs. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have access to the former versions of the Things, but I could be wrong. It depends of what is in the level editor (he may also have the source code but he's not 100% sure it's usable). I tried tweaking some other things in the existing levels and made one of my friends who had already played the game -*test*-('") them : it sure seems tough for him as he didn't have all the knowledge I have on the game dynamics, and several bugs happened, so I have to work again on the levels. I'm also kind of stuck on some levels, as there is not a lot of room for changes, here's an example : In level 2A, you meet Carter (engineer) and Cruz (soldier). I managed to make both of them "infectable" and much less trusting that in the normal level. I also turned off the "mission fail " when one or both of them dies. I also made Cruz an engineer too so that if only one NPC survives level 2A, the player can still continue the game. However, if Carter is killed or loses trust in the player before repairing a fuse box, the player is stuck. Same thing goes with the second repair box and the following level : if Carter and Cruz are dead, you cannot repair the fuse box allowing the player to meet with Pace, so the game is screwed. Another problem : in level 2B, if one of your men has a random burst out and he's outside the room where Pierce is, you will be stuck, as you cannot kill him because the door is locked and the only way to open the door is to... kill him. :roll: There are a lot of stuff like that unfortunately... The only solution I see is to incorporate a read-me with all the infos such as : - Level 2a : you have to have Cruz and/or Carter with you when you finish the level. - Level 2B : You have to get Carter and/or Cruz alive to the Fuse box of the hut where Pierce is in order not to get stuck. If one or both of your men burst out, you have to kill them BEFORE going to see Pierce with the three blood -*test*-('") kits. It seems to me like a lot of information and I'm not sure people will like to play in a game where they can easily get stuck with no solution. If I could make the fuse boxes which can be repaired only by an enginner also repairable by the player, it would be ok, but I've checked the game files and it's impossible. :? I'll probably have to figure it out and I'll also issue with the read-me of the modified levels a lot of help so that the player has a better understanding of the dynamics of the game. :)

Can you describe a little bit about the other variation of the infected NPC? I got to pay more attention to that next time I play the game. Personally, I wouldn't mind playing the game that can get stuck with no solution. The original game offer plenty of those if/when the engineer dies and I have to restart the level again. If I got stuck in level 2, I will commit suicide in the cold and restart again. (But that was just me.) Speaking of getting stuck, on the level where you have to disable the laser/IR beam with the switches, I remember the first time I tried that level, I kept trying different combinations and got them wrong , then I have to look for the FAQ online and finally got the combination and got through. Then afterward I freed Fisk and he would tell me the combation to disable the beam in a cutscene when we get back to the area with the elevator. But the thing is how can I get to Fisk first without get past the laser beams?

It's basically a difference of texture in the face : I think it is visible with Parnevik on level 5B, get him to burst-out and his head is a little different (no antennas and more of a tortured face). It's just a little thing, though. For level 6, here is the solution that the developers wanted : you find Falchek and Dixon, get them to open the security room to have weapons, and you then go in the room where there is the save terminal. In this room, you find a computer telling you that there are the laser beams and there is a code to deactivate it. Use the camera-turrets and zoom on the cells where Stanmore, a Thing and Fisk are. Then, go into the NPCs menu and tell Falchek to go and open the cell with Fisk. As they are from the base, they can go through the laser beams without setting the alarm off. Once this is done, Falchek and Fisk (assuming they have survived) will come back to the room where you are. You then proceed to the rest of the level, Fisk gives you the code and you deactivate the laser beams. I think I just got the code by trying several combinations. :wink: This is an example, though, of a gameplay mechanics barely used in the game, which is the "go to" command. If I can use the level editor, I think I'll try a lot of things with it. For example, in a level, you could send your NPCs to various parts of the base like, let's say, send them to the generator so that no Thing can destroy it. That could be interesting, but of course it's better to wait for the level editor to see if this is possible.

Thanks Gary. I never thought of using that Goto command to solve that. I tried some combinations and each time I got killed by those 3 soldiers came out of that elevators. One time I deliberately let that big walker thing/rupture fight those 3 soldiers (through a lot of trapping of that thing in a room) and it took a good 5 to7 minutes for that thing to kill all of them, those soldiers heath was set very high, (I guess for the purpose of "getting the combination wrong and the player is dead meat". And then the game was screwed, because even though the soldiers were killed, the alarm cannot be deactiviated and that door (to the prison) cannot be opened anymore. I hope getting the level editor will become a reality someday. Even if The Thing movie remake came out good, it's not likely there will be another Thing video game.

You're right about the soldiers, their health must be set very high so that the player is sure to die. I found a way by modifying the chase cam to get a "almost-fps" view. I think I'll take some screenshots of the game with the mod so you guys (well, basically only you WGT1 ^^) can check it out.

Here are some of the screenies (nothing spectacular, I'll add more with more NPCs/Burstouts later :wink: ). The new "FPS" view : Watterson, a NPC who had to die in the normal version of the game and that you can now have with you (until the end of the level of course). Pace bursting out in level 3B, he couldn't before. Austin, a character that you normally do not see except in cutscenes. Dixon bursting-out in level 6, normally he couldn't and this should end the level... but it doesn't anymore. :wink:

Nice work Gary, I don't remember seeing that Austin at all. Was he the guy that was trying to lure Blake into the room with toxic gas? That FPS view, does it mean a player can now play through the game in that view? Your work on tweaking the fear&trust system alone is a major enhancement to the game; and combined with no scripted burstout, I think a lot of people will want to replay the game for that. The only thing is a lot of fans (for the game) probably are not aware of your ongoing project because they are not aware of the existence of this fine site delicated to the Movie and most things related to it. I can't remember reading how many game reviews that gave a big thumb down on the flaws of the trust&fear system and scripted burstout of the original game(and rightfully so, I might add). But those reviewers would have nothing bad to write about if the original game shipped with the mods you created.

Yep, Austin is the one luring you in the room with toxic gas and you can play in the fps view. Well, there will be some bugs in my mod version, like the player getting stuck because his engineers are all dead but there is no mission failed, a door that you can't normally open which is accessible or things like that... On the other hand, I think people who have already played/finished the game will love this version as the game is much more random. I played again level 4A recently, where Pace and Williams had scripted burst-outs and could not be normally infected, and the ending was pretty cool : I -*test*-('")ed both of them, thinking Williams would burst-out, but he was ok Pace was in fact the one infected... I love it when stuff like that happens. :wink: I still have to work on a lot of things before making the mod public, or I could offer "unfinished" (like 0.5 or something) version of the mod.

This is a crazy thread Gary. I got your e-mail about a week back and will definitely add anything and everything about your project on tweaking the video game to the site. Just keep me posted and good luck with this. T

No problem about that Todd, I'll be happy to contribute to this site with my mod (if I find it good enough). Where else could one find a Thing mod other than on Outpost 31 ? :wink:

Some more captures Some of us are not what they appear to be... ... And Pace is one of them !

Whoa, are those three team members (excluding William and Pace)from the very first level? sure do look like them. Great work, Gary!