SWBFII: Metal Gear Solid 1

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Benoz
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SWBFII: Metal Gear Solid 1

Post by Benoz »

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Over the last month I've been working on the recreation of the Cargo Port level of Metal Gear Solid 1 (1998). The main goal of this project was to challenge myself on how far I could modify the game with my current modding knowledge. During the very fun process and with some great help from the community I've not only managed to get to a point where I'm really satisfied with the result, but I've also learned a lot about various modding parts such as rigging, modeling, UV-mapping, scripting, and ZE work and animation.

CHARACTER
The first step was to bring Solid Snake into the game. This was my first character rig for SWBFII.
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HUD AND CAMERA
The next step was to recreate the HUD and Camera View of the PS1 game. It took me a while to draw every weapon icon, adjust the positions and fade effects, and make it compatible with every image resolution. I also added some of the basic MGS weapons: Ration, Cigarettes, Cardboard Box, Famas, Socom, Grenades, Stealth, Nikita Rocket Launcher.
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Here's a short video of the Cardboard Box: https://i.imgur.com/V8s7rpx.mp4

MODELING
After the HUD and weapon mechanics were done I started to recreate every asset of the Cargo Port level from scratch. I'm fairly new to Softimage so I saw this as a great practice. While most of the models were easy to make due to their simple forms, others were more challenging. I also learned a lot about Texture Projection. Fortunately I found all ingame textures of the PS1 game online, so all that was left to do was organize the texture chunks and create proper UV-maps.
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LEVEL CREATION
Once I finished creating every asset I built the level in 4 different layers in Softimage: Floor, Walls, Objects and Ceiling. Then I placed everything in ZeroEditor, added the necessary water and light effects and some extra props for the elevator animation. Creating barriers and planning definitely was my least favorite part.
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SCRIPTING
I created some minor scripts for the project and loaded them from external files to not fill up my main LUA with a lot of code. The scripts include the CodecCall handler, Elevator handler, Teleport handler with fading, GameOver audio handler and the Detection System. The Detection System was pretty tricky but eventually turned out perfectly. Whenever an enemy hits the player, the iconic MGS music starts and the enemies pursue you. Only when you've escaped their fire for more than 6 seconds, the "alert state" returns to a "normal state", with the enemies returning to their original goal and the music fading.

All in all, this is the end result:


WIP
I am currently working on the elevator teleport and above-ground base to give the player an area to try out different weapons. Once I polished the projects some more I'm happy to release the source code for anyone interested.
Last edited by Benoz on Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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suLac
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Re: SWBFII: Metal Gear Solid 1

Post by suLac »

This looks really interesting ... great work mate :D
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Re: SWBFII: Metal Gear Solid 1

Post by Teancum »

Watched the video you posted the other day. This is incredibly impressive stuff! I loved MGS1 back in the day.
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Re: SWBFII: Metal Gear Solid 1

Post by AQT »

Amazing work, Benoz! :thumbs: I wouldn't have been able to tell this was SWBF2 if it weren't for the Victory/Defeat screen.
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Re: SWBFII: Metal Gear Solid 1

Post by Benoz »

Thank you guys. The outside area of Shadow Moses Island is already under construction :D
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Benoz
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Re: SWBFII: Metal Gear Solid 1

Post by Benoz »

After a long time I'm happy to announce that I finished the level of Shadow Moses Island Heliport.

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Level
I built the whole level as one scene in Softimage and split it at export into several smaller objects, for example grounds according to their foley type, props, walls and other elements. It was a bit tricky to match every collision with the camera so it still looks good, but I'm happy with the final result.

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Game Mechanics
For this level I created some new game mechanics such as the surveillance cameras. Those autofire an invisible ray to simulate player detection. Same with the large searchlights. Those are animated and pan over the heliport, similar to the original game. I added a new weapon for the player, the Chaff. Grenade. With this grenade the player is able to temporarely knock out cameras and sneak past them.

To Do
There's still a few parts missing: Weapon pickups, patroling enemy troops, storyline and Codec calls to name a few things. Altough there's still a lot of work to do, I wanted to share the progress I've already made. So enjoy watching this showcase video of Shadow Moses Island heliport.

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Re: SWBFII: Metal Gear Solid 1

Post by Teancum »

Looks absolutely fantastic. This is my #1 upcoming mod by a longshot. I loved MGS1 back in the day, and I'm super impressed by what you've been able to faithfully recreate in SWBF2.
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