SKAARJ TOWER – SHADOW AND FIRE: Released

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D R E W

New Member
Sep 11, 2004
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SKAARJ TOWER - SHADOW AND FIRE (Version 2)

For those of you that still enjoy playing the original Unreal from time to time, I have finished a new two-map series called Skaarj Tower - Shadow and Fire, which contains the maps Skaarj Tower and Skaarj Castle v2. These maps are for Single Player or Cooperative play (all difficulty level settings are functional) and can be played on Unreal (using the 226f platform or newer) or Unreal Tournamet (with Old Skool Amp’d installed). These are big maps, with lots of work to do before the end will be presented and filled with secrets. If you are playing the maps on Unreal Tournament (UT), then you will need to copy three of the files from the Unreal Music directory (DigSh.umx, eversmoke.umx, and Warlord.umx) and paste them into your Unreal Tournament Music directory. If you don't have Unreal, then you can download the Unreal Music directory from the following site:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ann.m1/DK/unrealmusic.rar

Storyline (brief):
You find yourself stranded on a planet neighboring Na Pali after skaarj ambushed your parties tarydium mining vessel. You must navigate through vast underground and surface skaarj territories in order to make your way towards your rescue point.

Maps can be downloaded at:
http://www.unrealspvault.org/index....39&func=fileinfo&parent=category&filecatid=12
http://nalicity.beyondunreal.com/map_hub.php?mid=7650
http://furpile.com:1337/pack/34282/skaarjtower-shadowandfirev2.zip
http://www.fileplanet.com/144869/140000/fileinfo/Unreal---Skaarj-Tower:-Shadow-and-Fire
http://www.mapraider.com/maps/?fileid=2705
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/f.mcelwaine/bits/SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.rar
http://glenkinchie-amiv.ethz.ch/~oban/StiCazzi/DL/Maps/Drew's Maps/SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.rar
http://www.gmadhosting.com/utfiles/SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.rar
http://www.gmadhosting.com/utfiles/SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.zip
http://unreal-thrasher.com/maps/SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFire.zip
http://www.oldunreal.com/maps/SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.rar

Screenshots of the two maps are available at:
http://skaarjtower.50megs.com/

I have included some screenshots of the completed maps here:

SCREENSHOTS OF SKAARJ TOWER:

MainRoom.jpg


LiftHouse.jpg


WaterwayFortressFront.jpg


Lexmark2.jpg


SkaarjTowerPathwayBridge.jpg


SkaarjTowerPathwayBridge2.jpg


Hoard.jpg


HoardBack.jpg


TopView.jpg


TopView2.jpg


SkaarjTowerFront.jpg


SkaarjTowerFront2.jpg


SkaarjTowerEntranceTop.jpg


SkaarjTowerMainRoom.jpg


SkaarjTowerCellars.jpg


EmergencyExitRoute.jpg





SCREENSHOTS OF SKAARJ CASTLE V2:

RockMaze.jpg


Lava_Tar_and_Water.JPG


Village_and_House.JPG


CliffView.JPG


SkaarjCastleTop2.JPG


SkaarjCastleKeep.JPG
 
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ZBREAKER2001

Old As Dirt
Jul 12, 2002
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I'm navigating the second map now. And might I say, these are massive works. One HAS to be impressed by the scale and work put into this pack. There are some issues I've noticed, but I'm sure they'll be addressed in the UnrealSP review. VERY nice work Drew!
 

D R E W

New Member
Sep 11, 2004
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Thanks for the info Hellscrag, and thanks for the feedback guys!

Ya, water texture is set to "unlit" to make it more realistic that it is a major contributor to light.
 

Predcaliber

One Day I'l Beat Lauke
Jun 17, 2003
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D R E W said:
Thanks for the info Hellscrag, and thanks for the feedback guys!

Ya, water texture is set to "unlit" to make it more realistic that it is a major contributor to light.

why not making 'special lit' light effects instead of unlit? :)

it are good maps dont get me wrong, but I dont understand why you used unlit :hmm:
 

D R E W

New Member
Sep 11, 2004
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You have an excellent point there Predcaliber. I could have experimented with that a bit more, but I did not. Well, for my next map, I will explore more of the lighting possibilities. Thanks for the ideas!
 

D R E W

New Member
Sep 11, 2004
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I finished an updated version of the map series (this will be my final release). For the time being, you can download the new file (SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.rar) from:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/f.mcelwaine/bits/SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.rar

Things I changed since the previous version of Skaarj Tower - Shadow and Fire are:
-There was a d3d driver error upon opening the map Skaarj Castle V2 in Unreal Tournament (which forced players to use OpenGL or another driver). This was due to the use of 24 bit images in a utx file (SkaarjTowerCreditsF.utx). This utx file was replaced with a new file (SkaarjTowerCreditsG.utx), which uses 8 bit images to correct the problem.
-I placed a series of teleport systems on both maps to save time once an area has been cleared. This was done to enhance gameplay when playing in coop mode (the teleport systems are not active when playing in Single Player mode).
-I enhanced the properties of the General (boss), which should make him more challenging to fight.
-There was a problem with Skaarj Tower when it was played on the Unreal 225f platform. I utilized several resources, but was unable to convert this map to 225f easily. Therefore, both maps will play on 226f (Unreal), 226b (Unreal Gold), and Unreal Tournament, but will not work for 225f.
 

Hyper

Hyper.nl Unreal Services
Nov 21, 2003
206
1
18
Planet Earth
www.hypercoop.tk
D R E W said:
I finished an updated version of the map series (this will be my final release). For the time being, you can download the new file (SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.rar) from:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/f.mcelwaine/bits/SkaarjTower-ShadowAndFireV2.rar

[...]
-There was a problem with Skaarj Tower when it was played on the Unreal 225f platform. I utilized several resources, but was unable to convert this map to 225f easily. Therefore, both maps will play on 226f (Unreal), 226b (Unreal Gold), and Unreal Tournament, but will not work for 225f.

That's why maps should be made in 225f from start. Now it's quite useless for online play: You can only use 226 or Gold as server, but Gold and 226 are incompatible. So, if you run a 226 server, Players with 224, 225, or Gold can not play. (and vice versa)
 

D R E W

New Member
Sep 11, 2004
33
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I have had so many problems trying to make maps so they function on all the different platfroms of the original Unreal that I am tired of it now. I shall not make any more maps on the original Unreal. I will stick to Unreal Tournament mapping now (sp/coop).

Thanks for the information Hyper. If I ever reconsider, I will use the 225f platform to map.
 
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Hyper

Hyper.nl Unreal Services
Nov 21, 2003
206
1
18
Planet Earth
www.hypercoop.tk
D R E W said:
I have had so many problems trying to make maps so they function on all the different platfroms of the original Unreal that I am tired of it now. I shall not make any more maps on the original Unreal. I will stick to Unreal Tournament mapping now (sp/coop).

Thanks for the information Hyper. If I ever reconsider, I will use the 225f platform to map.

Today I converted the SkaarjCastle map to 224/225 with Winged Unicorn's Map Converter. http://www.hypercoop.tk/indexd.htm
 
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