WAR-Solen [Currently BETA1]

[Kantham]

Hey - I'm back at UT3 - Warfare.

Here's a level I have made couple months ago, since it's the only warfare level I really enjoyed playing, I thought about sharing it up.

Yes there's bot support, if people like the whole concept, I was thinking about a series of maps set up like this one (With the SpaceDome & planet in BG)



Download beta here
kantham.com

Yes, no level preview screen, no minimap either. I am also aware you can get over the enemy base structure and from a specific angle destroy the core with no hassle. Let me know if you find any issues, all recommendations welcome too.

[Mozi]

I'll try to play this soon and give some feedback.

[Mr. UglyPants]

Finally, a UT3 Kantham map!

[LtClifff]

OH YES!!! Kantham!!! Please dont ever leave again!!!

ooh cool theme!

[Kantham]

Haha, okay.
But then, anyone even tried it yet?

[Waffnuffly]

I'll give this a shot soon and provide feedback. I just went on a downloading rampage last night and got 16 new war maps (now 17), so it may be a bit!

[UBerserker]

Yay Kantham made a WAR map!

[UBerserker]

Great fast-to-play map, I'm probably going to play it a lot since I like quick Warfare matches.

It was easy though, as bots weren't aggressive at all: slow at assaulting their objectives and I've never seen them remotely trying to get the optional node.

The limits of the arena were quite hard to see since it's very, very white here, while the Cores need better protection (they're really open to attacks from everywhere).

Nice concept for the Sky Box. Nifty map overall.

[Ignotium]

After some spam minutes.

Pros

Tight, fast action, simple
Great skybox

IMO the terrain is quite plain and boring, artistically-wise.
Those green trees do not blend at all with the snowy concrete theme. I'd say they wouldn't even blend with a snowy material. but that's just me.
The map boundaries are almost unnoticeable. I'd say paintnig with some rocks/frozen rocks to denote that you're getting out of the safe play zone, like in containment, which did it really good imo
The resolution of the mesh materials and the resolution of the wall material is quite different, and it looks uncanny and weird (concrete pillar meshes)
In the upper catwalk in center node, where the armor is. I'd open a kind of "hole" to be able to shot/heal the node when you're up, cause now you're too enclosed and vulnerable from vehicles when you're down.

more later on.

EDIT:
I almost forgot

Quoted from WAR-Araja

Originally Posted by Waffnuffly

First off, the gameplay is fantastic. I'm really really glad you didn't mix up the Axon / Necris vehicles the way so many mappers seem to do. I like thematic consistency better; either Axon vs. Necris, Necris vs. Necris, or Axon vs. Axon; somehow it just feels silly when you have all of them smashed together, and it often makes the gameplay a little less interesting despite the extra variety of vehicles. I don't mind as much when certain nodes give you a certain kind (like Downtown Necris), but when you have pretty much every single thing available at the start (Bittersands) it's just overkill. I know some people will disagree with me and that's fine, but I'm glad you kept it all uniform.

I strongly agree with this post, and to me it happens more often that what it should

And also, collision for walking players is problematic in several places.

Good job though

[Waffnuffly]

OK, after playing this I gotta say the theme is great, but there are a few things that could be addressed. I agree with Ignotium's points, too.

- The game is winnable too quickly. This may have been one of your design goals, but I think either there needs to be more node activity, more nodes, or better defenses for the cores (geometrically-speaking, not just turret wise. It's really easy to get clear shots on the cores). I completely slaughtered the enemy core in under 5 minutes, which wasn't enough time for me to really enjoy the map and the environment.

- The vehicle accesability is pretty good, but the prime nodes have these really steep things that make Hellbenders/Scorpions/Paladins bounce like crazy when you go over them. I think you could make the angles shallower for these.

- I didn't notice anything in the middle of the map that made it worthwhile to visit. All I really did was cap a node and blast the core. There needs to be more reason to visit all parts of the map, either by adding more nodes or adding special advantages to more areas.

- Necrimanci doesn't seem to be a fitting music choice. I think something more like Firestorm (WAR-ColdHarbor), Plasma Oscillator (VCTF-Suspense), Lockdown (CTF-Hydrosis) or Skyward (Torlan) would work well for this kind of theme.

Other than that, though, this is a really cool map. I like the skybox so far, but it seems kinda empty with only a couple of the Strident donut UFOs; I guess you will flesh that out more? I definitely would like to see more maps in this theme once it's been fleshed out some more!