A modder for SoF2 (primarily Singleplayer mode) introduces himself!

[TheSpiritOfMorpheus]

Hello,

It's over a year now, since I joined the JKHub community and I had zero activity on this forum since then - so this is my first posting to introduce myself

Background:

Back in late 2020, as my gaming rig wasn't completely set up/ready to play (I was trying to install Windows 7 on the new hardware), I was confined to play very old games ONLY on a temporary installation of Windows 10. I decided pick up Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix again after many years of abandoning it - back in 2002-2005, I played it enthusiastically for many, many hours (both SP & MP, though I'm one of the rare folks who liked/played the Singleplayer mode more than the MP mode) with dedication.

I don't know exactly, where it came from, but suddenly I got a voracious appetite not only to play the game (SP mode) again but also a sparkling enthusiasm to enhance it myself (primarily the SP mode) for the very first time in my life - it's the first game where I *really* began engaging myself with modding (I did some scope mods and other very minor alterations for other games many years earlier, but that was a very short time - so, I don't count that). Already back in 2002/2003, when I first started playing the game, I was confronted with the various different shortcomings and lack of polish of the Singleplayer campaign (like many other players playing it complain about) and phantasized about fixing/improving them - but at that time, neither did I have the skill/knowledge nor a real opportunity to achieve that.

Now, since 2020, I do have!  - my skill/knowledge is still insufficient, incomplete and probably not advanced (maybe still in it's infancy) but now, it's at least enough to barely get the job done

Since commencing to mod SoF2, I made literally hundreds of alterations, modifications, improvements and also quite a number of fixes to the Singleplayer mode - though, a considerable amount (or even most) of that knowledge is borrowed by analyzing other authors/modders Mods (the Mod files) they created for the SP campaign. Likewise, I added quite a huge number of new content (weapons, skins, textures, sounds, etc.) to the game - again, many of those content has been cut from various other Singleplayer Mods (by multiple different authors) and then mixed into a single bag, where I then did additional alterations or improvements to my taste on this splitted content (with respecting credits and permissions of these authors, of course). I also created content by myself, though, and then added it into the mix.

However, sometimes there are instances, where personal efforts are simply not enough - in my case, that's mainly mapping, scripting and modeling!

So, that's why I'm here: to get support and assistance for SoF2 SP mapping, scripting and modeling!  The reason, why I registered on JKHub is, because there are not much forums for SoF2 left and many of those either do not have SP modding in mind or don't really mind modding at all. JKHub is the most resourceful site I have found within the last 2+ years since I started modding SoF2 - because many of my Google search queries first lead me to this site. Since both SoF2 and JK2:JO & JK3:JA use the same engine (graphics engine, file structure, file formats like ".glm", ".gla", ".npc", the GHOUL modeling system, the ICARUS scripting system and other aspects), they should behave similarly - hence, the knowledge here on JKHub for JK2/JK3 should be interchangable for other games (like SoF2) sharing the same properties 

Greetings,

T.S.O.M.

Edited February 28, 2023 by TheSpiritOfMorpheus
Addition

[NumberWan]

The community is probably not that active as before, but in any case – W E L C O M E !

Your story isn't uncommon – I mean, most of the people I know, have that very special game (even though it might not be the first). As for modders – it also happens in such a manner, that you get excited about a game and then think of what you could actually change in it or even make better. That's how it was for with Half-Life many years ago, even though the Internet wasn't an option to check Tutorials back then. It was mere luck to get a copy of a HL level editor WorldCraft, so that's how it all started for me.

But it was JO which sparkled my interest for modding, and 2000s were the classic golden era for new stories, models, mini-mods and the very approach in gaming. I would say, that the modding entered a sort of Renaissance era a while ago, as the original JA got quite a lot from the fans in recent years.

SOTF2 is the game, which I tried much-much later. And it was quite good. As I learnt modding, I took some ideas from this game as well. I think it was Lady Jedi mod, which got me the revelation, that JA and SOTF2 used a lot of common materials, aside from the similar engine. So studying the works of other authors is an good way to get into modding and create something decent. 

One of the recent trends in modern games – lack of mods for them for the most part. 

[TheSpiritOfMorpheus]

9 hours ago, NumberWan said:

The community is probably not that active as before, but in any case – W E L C O M E !

Your story isn't uncommon – I mean, most of the people I know, have that very special game (even though it might not be the first). As for modders – it also happens in such a manner, that you get excited about a game and then think of what you could actually change in it or even make better. That's how it was for with Half-Life many years ago, even though the Internet wasn't an option to check Tutorials back then. It was mere luck to get a copy of a HL level editor WorldCraft, so that's how it all started for me.

But it was JO which sparkled my interest for modding, and 2000s were the classic golden era for new stories, models, mini-mods and the very approach in gaming. I would say, that the modding entered a sort of Renaissance era a while ago, as the original JA got quite a lot from the fans in recent years.

SOTF2 is the game, which I tried much-much later. And it was quite good. As I learnt modding, I took some ideas from this game as well. I think it was Lady Jedi mod, which got me the revelation, that JA and SOTF2 used a lot of common materials, aside from the similar engine. So studying the works of other authors is an good way to get into modding and create something decent. 

One of the recent trends in modern games – lack of mods for them for the most part. 

First off, Thank You for Your warm Welcome! 

By the way, the abbreviation for the game is "SoF2" or "SOF2" (without the "t") 

And yeah, the 2000-2010 timeframe was the golden era for PC-Gaming, especially in regards to Modding - in today's games, most game files are encrypted and/or no SDKs are handed out

It is said and written by many people and sources, that the SP mode of SoF2 was unfinished, unpolished and not well designed, because the game's release appears to be rushed for various reasons (including the possibility of an overlap with the release of JK2:JO, which was released by RS just a few months earlier) and hence, wasn't as well-received as the MP mode - which caused the SP mode to be treated shabby, uncared and above all: underrated (a fact corresponding well with the few number of SP mods relative to the number of MP mods). So, there's an enormous headroom for improvement to make the SP mode shine up to it's true potential and in turn, becoming much more enjoyable

And that's exactly the endeavor I'm engaged in since nearly two-and-a-half years (albeit irregularly with interruptions)

T.S.O.M.

[Smoo]

Hey welcome, I'm a big fan of SoF2 also.