Thoughts on requiring a specific clientside mod?

It's fine to require a specific client mod. It opens up a lot more possibilities.
Total votes: 5 (100%)
It's a bad idea to require a specific client mod. Siege should always be 100% compatible with base jka client. (No votes)
Other (write in reply) (No votes)
Total votes: 5

Siege innovation and the required client mod

1
It's always been our policy to not require the use of a particular clientside mod in order to play siege. Newmod obviously integrates a lot with b_e, but it's all optional extras that improve the UI/UX and don't affect gameplay. Nothing from b_e requires newmod or any other mod.

Side note: actually, the only thing in base_enhanced (not entranced) that requires a clientside mod is when Sil added captain duels in CTF. Clientside prediction screws with your ability to use pistol during a duel, because the basejka client thinks you must be using saber only during a duel. I don't know because I don't play CTF, but I have to imagine that this helped encourage people to start using smod. "Wtf, my game is fucked up during duel" "Install Smod, it's fixed" Entranced doesn't have this issue for siege duels since I coded it a completely different way.


Anyway, back to my main point. There are many things that we can't do without requiring a custom clientside mod:
  • Adding new weapons
  • Adding new items
  • Adding new force powers
  • Adding new saber styles
  • Adding a 7th+ siege class
  • Speccing your teammates when dead
  • Altering anything related to movement or animations
  • New mechanics such as remote-controlling droids/turrets/cameras, etc.
  • Custom HUD elements such as obj progress meters/counters/bars, etc.

The list goes on. We've pushed siege gameplay farther than ever before using b_e -- double sentries, "kill the NPC" objs, "deliver the swoop" obj, even unsuccessful efforts like Grab's "control point" obj were at least interesting due to being novel if nothing else. Black also has an idea for a "payload" obj that I haven't got around to making yet. But we're reaching a limit as to what is possible without requiring a clientside mod.

Every single siege player these days has Newmod, so it might not actually be so unreasonable to require people to use it in order to play on the server. Literally the only player I can think of that doesn't is Elev, who (1) hasn't been seen for months, and (2) runs basejka rather than even SMod because he's a scrub and thinks Smod contains "hacks". Also, veterans like Randir/Piston who come back just immediately download Newmod too.

It would open up a lot of possibilities for more innovations. Thoughts?

Re: Siege innovation and the required client mod

3
I wouldn't worry about outdated client mods, newmod flat out tells you that you should update it anyways. Also, any serious player siege might gain should not be put off by requiring a client mod to play siege. I don't think we should care about the potential players we lose because they can't be bothered to use newmod.
Black wrote: Literally because you told him it contains hacks.
Lmao. There are more subtle ways of getting rid of competing client mods!
cron