http://www.svencoop.com/changelog_5.0_p ... 140926.php
Here's the notable features
So going past the fact that Sven is going to be released on steam for free, breathing tons of new life into it, and the fact that the team got the license from valve to use the GoldSrc engine, you may ask what is so special about AngelScript. Well this is what it would allow mappers to do
- -Sven Co-op is now its' own independent game distributed on Steam, free of charge.
--Includes 3 packages: A game package for players, a tool package for dedicated server operators, and an SDK package for content developers.
--Includes use of the Steam game hub platform and community features. (workshop functionality to be included in a future release)
-Sven Co-op now uses a customized GoldSrc engine under licence from Valve.
--Gives us the opportunity to improve upon common limitations in the GoldSrc engine.
--Maps can now be up to ~1000x larger! (131,072 units away from zero instead of just 4,096)
--Mappers: See the engine changes section for more details and technical information.
-New scripting engine using AngelScript:
--New entity: trigger_script
--A map script can be loaded by specifying a file in the map's configuration using key map_script.
--Scripts can be triggered one off or periodically (thinking).
--Alternative script files can be used, and shared across maps.
--Store persistent data reliably with SQLite back-end storage.
--Entire server modifications can be designed, along with SQLite and MySQL storage for server-specific scripts.
--Watch out in future change logs as many more updates will come with this!
-New inventory system by using the new entity item_inventory, which is an item that a player holds on to for trigger rules and/or side-effects. Some example possibilities:
--A key item must be carried by a player to a locked door, rather than it instantly becoming unlocked for rushers to wait by.
--A bomb defuse kit has to be brought to a bomb to defuse it, or it explodes and you all die.
--A gas mask can protect a player from nerve gas, but only lasts 2 minutes.
--Did someone say Capture the Flag??
-New models for all weapon pick-ups and third person view models to match the high quality first person models.
-New preliminary A.I. pathing entities for better control on where NPC's move around a map.
-Player weapons/ammunition can now be carried across map changes. (if a map wants to do this)
Sounds like it opens up a ton of possibilities with what you can do when making a map, which leads me to the other fun things they added regarding NPCs, like scaling! Now you can have a gnome or a gargantua the size of a headcrab, hiding in a vent. Or perhaps you'd instead like to have stukabats the size of apaches?Map Scripting
Angelscript will allow mappers to change almost every aspect of the game. It's possible to create game entities, implement new styles of gameplay, trigger events, process and control NPCs, and much more. Each map will have the potential to be a "mod within a mod" allowing for the ultimate level of customization.
Server Plugins
In v5.0, we will be bundling our own server administration toolset. A set of official plugins will be provided, but you can write your own using Angelscript. If you've ever used AdminMod or AMX Mod X, the transition should be pretty easy to follow. While it will be experimental at launch, we will eventually be recommending Server Administrators switch over to this new toolset as we stabilize on functionality and features. Sven Co-op's server administration toolset will have more integration points with the game, which should allow for the creation of more interesting and useful plugins.
![Image](http://www.svencoop.com/images/npc_scale1.jpg)
![Image](http://www.svencoop.com/images/npc_scale2.jpg)
And finally, the team has changed game entities to allow customized damage values for each NPC or weapon, which allows for things like
-Attack waves / tower defense (difficulty increases each wave)
-Boss monsters
-Class based weapons – Players of a certain class might spawn with the same weapon as their team mate, but have a higher degree of accuracy and/or damage.
-Tech trees - Individual players can research upgrades that increase or decrease damage and health.
So yea, I'm pretty damn excited for the release of this. In the mean time it looks like I need to relearn how to map for Half Life.