Devastation: Mapping

[MrBond]

Here's the current list of people working on Devastation (as far as mapping), and what I know about what they're working on.

McTerry
Map: Skaarj Prison

Rakiayn
Map: Skaarj Base Entry

Substruction (a.k.a. Destructive-Fly)
Map: Intro Map Section #2 (see below)

Reciprocity
Map: Intro Map Section #1 (see below)

Revenga
Map: None

And FYI: just because you're listed here and not elsewhere doesn't mean I'm not acknowledging your assistance in other areas.

 

[McTerry]

Well.. as you know.. I startecd to work on the first training map. But it was for the old idea in space.
The new one I had was on the planet your caracter and his team landed on. But it seems this is scrapped too.

If you want I can sure put up a good training map for DS.
I got some quite intresting ideas I want to try out.

-

About the mail.. I'm still here with ya man. Even though I'm so lazy I'm here. I won't give up or **** this up.
I'll do my duties and show that even a guy like me can get something done.

Very good ideas in your story also. Can't belive you wrote that mutch. But there are some changes I want to do.

Me and one more guy are writing an Unreal Core story as you maybe know.
You can find it at our forums. So I wanted to put them together in some way.
I mean we can use the same year as you wrote. But the war has to be changed a little bit so it can fit in our both stories.

NEG was the administrative part on earth while EDF (Earth Defence Force) was the military part.
EDF is the main part I was writing of. And the war was on a desert planet.
It had something to do with a new developed and devastating virus the humans experimented with on an moon called "Silver Moon".
But the virus got in wrong hands. The story is not yet fully developed and finished.

My goal is that our stories will fit in the same Universe we are developing.
Same historical events, and same everything.

If you know what I mean.

 

[Destructive-Fly]

I'm still here. I haven't got that many time to map recently, but I will do anything to get the map I'm working on finished. I'm btw working on the training facility. The one that players first have to go through before starting an actual fight with any enemies.

I have everything penned down from topview and I've got some neat ideas which certainly will not go lost. The only thing I seem to be lacking in greatly is textures. The standard textures have grown quite old, and don't always fit together. If anyone had any suggestions whatsoever it would be greatly appreciated.

Another thing I could use now is some vocal work. You know, a person who calls in staff or gives important news through speakers. Then some activation buttons (from lifts, doors and sort).

Something also up for discussion is the location of the trainingfacility, mentioned in the storyline. It's location is in egypt, which would mean that any outside views would be with sand and palmtrees, while actually my planning for an outside view was a small lake, with some trees and stuff. You know, kind of jungle like. The base could be located on an island in the pacific for example. Ever thought of the Bermude Triangle?

The points I would let people go through in the training facility is firstly getting a small briefing. Then the person would have to go and pick up his PAM and be informed about the features it has. Once again these 2 things mentioned will need some vocals.

Then they would be required to follow an obstacle course, which will have to be completed before the person can go any further in the facility. After going through this obstacle course the person has to be briefed about the weapon he will get, and he should probably also get the chance to shoot some rounds at some dummietargets.

After going through all off this, the person has to go to the bay, where a vehicle is waiting for him to bring him to the location of his mission.

As you see this is quite a hard job to do. I will make the basic training facility with all the areas. Vocals, bots, weapons and the ship will certainly have to be implemented by somebody else as I do not have the talent nor the resources to make these things, and I asume Bond has several sketches and ideas about these.

Ok that's that. Another thing, why am I called Reprocity (or whatever it is)..

 

[Destructive-Fly]

Well.. as you know.. I startecd to work on the first training map. But it was for the old idea in space.
The new one I had was on the planet your caracter and his team landed on. But it seems this is scrapped too.

If you want I can sure put up a good training map for DS.
I got some quite intresting ideas I want to try out.

-

About the mail.. I'm still here with ya man. Even though I'm so lazy I'm here. I won't give up or **** this up.
I'll do my duties and show that even a guy like me can get something done.

Very good ideas in your story also. Can't belive you wrote that mutch. But there are some changes I want to do.

Me and one more guy are writing an Unreal Core story as you maybe know.
You can find it at our forums. So I wanted to put them together in some way.
I mean we can use the same year as you wrote. But the war has to be changed a little bit so it can fit in our both stories.

NEG was the administrative part on earth while EDF (Earth Defence Force) was the military part.
EDF is the main part I was writing of. And the war was on a desert planet.
It had something to do with a new developed and devastating virus the humans experimented with on an moon called "Silver Moon".
But the virus got in wrong hands. The story is not yet fully developed and finished.

My goal is that our stories will fit in the same Universe we are developing.
Same historical events, and same everything.

If you know what I mean.

Well I hope you aren't doing the training facility since I had already agreed to do that with Bond, and already sent him a picture of the facility's first hallway. I've been drawing sketches and writing down ideas on paper for it and I'm not letting this go to start on something else.

 

[McTerry]

Thats ok.. I haven't done anything cept my ugly intro. :S
But I'll see what I can do.. I got some very very old maps that I planned to use in my own SP campaing. So maybe I can do something with them.
There is a prison map I made. I think it could fit in good with the story.

Don't worry about the textures and audio.. That can be added later.

mr.bond113 I have a request for you. I wounder if you could put RTT on hold for a while.
We have 1 map that is finished that Rak made. My map is not yet done but it will be sometime in my life.
So if it could be put on hold then that would be great.

 

[MrBond]

Okay, I'll start from the top.


McTerry:
I agree, the storyline needs a lot of work. I know we've talked before on kind of an interweaved storyline (between here and UnrealCore), but that happened so long ago I nearly forgot. Thanks for the reminder.


Destructive-Fly:
Sorry for saying you're Reciprocity! I'm trying to manage a lot of people at the moment, so I think I have you mixed up with someone else. I'll fix that right away.

In the chronology I described the destruction of Cairo, and the construction of Delcove. Part of what I was going for was a way to eliminate the whole "sand and palm trees" viewpoint, and get more of a technology base going. I chose Egypt because it's near the center of the main land masses on Earth. I was thinking, down the line, other missions would be in Earth locales, so Egypt was a good proposition for the central base.

Of course, there is a bunch of stuff that needs to be re-worked and such, and I doubt the final chronology will be even half-way close to what we have now. This is good, though, having debate and discussion about this stuff.

Voice acting and dialogue is definitely something I want included, but I'm at a loss on where to find the voice talent. I'm no vocal artist...

Buttons and stuff...I've got some ideas floating around, but I can't quite get them down. I've got a lot going on as far as school and work, but I'll try my best to (at least) get started on some stuff. I think it would be best to find a separate person for that kind of small-model stuff, and another for the map textures, but not a lot of people want to join a huge project for an aging engine. *sigh*...

Like I said, I don't have any visual concepts to show as of yet. A lot of it's still flowing through that gray matter I call my brain.


Both of you:
Thanks for staying on. I know we're all hobbyists at this point, but it gets frustrating some times, you know?

About the map conflict: had I done better planning before, the conflict could have been avoided. But what's done is done. So...McTerry, I hope you don't mind giving up the training mission. Sorry I couldn't get things set more solidly before this came up. It's almost like starting from scratch again, but maybe it'll work better this time.

The initial enemy contact is a little slow, I'll admit. I mean, "one insectoid", what was I thinking? But that's kind of how it is in Unreal. You explore an entire (almost) starship, then go outside and explore a little, and all you see a shadow of a Skaarj.


I'll contact the BeyondUnreal admins today to get a private forum set up. I don't want the general public in on this stuff yet...

 

[McTerry]

It's ok when it comes to that training map. I haven't done anything on it so that is all ok. I can still share my ideas. lol

I'll see what I can come with later with the story.

I was also thinking. Whould it be a good idea if the first, lets say, 5 missions was on earth. Using Human NPC's to fight against?
After that we can add a human ship in space and then it turns out to be skaarjs involved etc.
When we can add the planet idea and the super advanced skaarj complex and prision.

BTW.. I forgot to mention that I'm working on one prison map in the skaarj base. Just so you guys know.
I thought this would be a good idea becouse I have the main center layout finished since years back.

 

[Madd_Cracker]

Just lurking about and some things caught my eye.
1. I've been working on some textures for ut2k4 that I could modify for ut, most are low tech but, if you need a texture artist I'd be happy to put together some tex packs for this mod, also I might be able to talk my roommate into doing some VO and finding some voice talent, he's a drama student so if you give me the word i'll see what i can do.

 

[MrBond]

New talent is cool. I think Destructive-Fly knows the textures he needs better than I do, so you two go at it.

As far as voice talent, let's get some of the dialogue/script written first before we jump into it. We'll need it later.

 

[danielgeurts]

greetings

im here too,
I have been working on the map where you have landed near the skaarjbase
the last time ive been working at that whas quitte a while ago
I have ben quite busy with school and other map stuff
but dot worry , I will work at this project
I will also make the shuttle ,
Ive been working on a space map and some texturing
the shuttle mcterry and mrbond saw: im not stisfied with it,Ill remake it,in cluding the map
even though im a beginner in texturing,i think i could provide some textures

@ mcterry : the rtt map i not finished, but very close
I agree to put it on hold, but not to long right?

about my map:
I got some really nice ideas about it , so that will turn out allright


I emailed a story suggestions quite some time ago
let me share it with everybody now


after my map,there is a (large)part of the game where,you crawl in the ventducts,try to escape the skaarj and surfife as described above..etc.....but then
after you have surfifed so long and have come so far,they catch you and your knocked unconscious.

wenn you wake up(the next map)
you are in aprison cell(of the skaarj)
there are more prison cells around you
you see skaarjguards patroling
you are here for a minut or so and then...
there is full alarm,the ground shakes..
the patroles run away
stuff are collapsing
it seemes that humans(your coorporation),has landed and is attacking the base with full force
ofcourse,you are NOW in the lowest part of the base.
a lamp breaks at one side,and fals againt a button that disables the force field of your prisoncell,
the guards are all gone
you escape out of your cell,and you can see every creature behind the other forcefields,
releasing them is an option.
then wenn you are about to come further in the map
you see a sort of small movie,i dont know how to call it,you cant do anything,but you see a small movie(in real game)with your player walking to one of the cells
it seems that one of your escort friends is still alive,you release him,
and together you need to get to the surface where humans are waiting for you(maybe liandri or izanagi)
because you are now more below in the labs,
you come in new parts.totally in chaos
then wenn you come in the higher parts
you will come in parts where you already have been..of course now with new routs and others blocked for more variation..
and ofcourse..much is collap[sed and blowen up.
you already know the skaarj will lose this attack,
its just the question if you will make it to the surface
ofcourse you kill allot of skaarj and all other stuff that makes it so fun..doors to unlock etc..all that requires a singleplayer game

ofcoiurse this is just a suggestion

let me know what you think

greetings from
rakiayn

 

[MrBond]

Yeah, that's one of the more prevalent ideas floating around from the days of old. Another thought we had was to have a non-human "co-operative" as you escape from the base.

I think it would work out better if you escaped the base through a different route. By getting out the same way you came in, it limits the possibilities for mission progression. What happens if your reinforcements destroy the entrance? What happens when you face an entire battalion of Skaarj at the entrance?

What I'm getting at is this: You have a few missions in the beginning where you're not really alone. I'd really like to see the player isolated for a few missions, really give them a sense that they're alone (not that they would be completely alone, if they have someone along with them, but you get the idea).

And before I forget, one of the main gameplay elements here is objectives. At the beginning of the level, you're given a primary objective, and as you progress, you gain new objectives that you must complete before you can complete the primary objective. Did I lose people yet?

Here's a prototype mission sequence list, as we have discussed so far:

00: Training
01: Observation Facility
<< I think we could use a few more missions here (on Earth) to give the player more background info. Some low-intensity Skaarj battle to have them crave more, then pump it up as the missions progress.
02: Skaarj Base Entry
03: Skaarj Prison
04: Skaarj Base Escape

And as another side note, I do have an "ending" and goal in mind, but I'd rather not get into it until there's a private forum set up.

At this point, I think I've heard from everyone I expected to hear from. There are two people that haven't posted here (yet) that I know are working on the project in some form (Revenga, the latest recruit [mentioned in the first post], and Reciprocity [whom I mistakenly named Destructive-Fly as before!], a reviewer from UnrealSP.org). The rest (check the contact list) I really don't expect to hear from. Sad, but if that's the way it goes, so be it.

 

[Madd_Cracker]

no offense to you guys but the getting capture by skaarj idea is a little played out. I think it would have to be a pretty compelling sequence for people to ignore that fact. maybe something as simple as getting lost in the vents or stuck even. just waiting to be found by the skaarj. the people coming into rescue would be cool so maybe combining that together, for example you could see the majority of that through the vent shafts etc. I know i'm not really working on this map but if you could work that out it would be really cool. Oh and mr. bond me thinks i'd like to work on this mod. I'd have to learn to do the whole single player aspect but it sounds really fun and i postive that i will set aside more time to work on this simply because i'm creative by nature.

 

[MrBond]

Understood. You can work on it any time you like.

I agree, the whole "captured" thing seems a little trite and overdrawn. Perhaps exiting the vents within the prison itself, or something similar.

I went through another 3-hour brain-storming session last night (late nights apparently spur creativity) and came up with some concept descriptions of items and whatnot. I hate to leave everyone in suspense, but I'll wait until the private forums (yet again...) are up. I apologize for not getting them started sooner, but it takes awhile to get through to the admins here at BeyondUnreal.

 

[Reciprocity]

Intro map dibs! I told Bond I was working on that thing ages ago. I'll farkle you for it.

The way I arranged mine...you start at your hotel room and junk and end up at the launch pad of the vessel. Objections?

 

[Destructive-Fly]

Intro map dibs! I told Bond I was working on that thing ages ago. I'll farkle you for it.

The way I arranged mine...you start at your hotel room and junk and end up at the launch pad of the vessel. Objections?

I told him from the beginning I joined the team.

 

[Revenga]

Hello everyone,

mrbond113 and I had some email contact and since it's my first time on a REAL mod I almost forgot to post on a forum.

Anyway, just to let everyone know, currently I am working on my own SSkaarjB package (containing some monsters and weapons) which was almost finished just before I joined the team. Thanks to mrbond113 I could greatly reduce the filesize and increase the detail (skin-wise).

As I also discussed with mrbond113 some monsters or ideas from them could be used in the mod, that's the main reason I am finishing it right now.

One more thing, to avoid people thinking I make models and skins from scratch or something, all the monsters and weapons are alternatives on originals twisted in a way that they are not like the original at all (this doesn't count for all of them, but for the most of them anyway).


About the storyline discussed here, maybe it's a good idea to have one of or maybe more of the Skaarj's let's say 'labrats' to turn against their masters (and you of course, since they don't discriminate) and that further on in the story the main enemy changes from Skaarj into something else. I have some ideas for modified standard monsters to begin with (like the Skaarj tested a new technoligy first on the Krall or Nali, which are already their slaves of some sort). I don't mean ONLY these alternatives, but just some of them, so later in the story you encounter totally new creates with totally new skins and new models (this also counts for the weapons of course, who knows what the Skaarj were testing in that lab .

To wrap it up, I am somewhat busy with SSkaarjB right know and am going to finish it first. Also, more important, I am also on the team and not leaving silently like those who don't respond to mrbond113's alarming but necesarry email.

 

[McTerry]

Does your package change the Warlord too?
Becouse a bigger and more terrifying Warlord would be great.

 

[Revenga]

Does your package change the Warlord too?
Becouse a bigger and more terrifying Warlord would be great.

Well, McTerry, I don't have a modified Warlord YET. Right now my biggest and one of the deadliest (in my package, it's not the size that makes the monster deadly , this is the only creature that is deadly because of it's size): the HUGE ColtTitan (name can change of course, when it may come in the mod). Description; HUGE (2x bigger), dark metal-like skin with bright blue eyes. Size of course also includes it's projectiles (2x bigger boulders and all ), collision-stuff and shakemag-stuff.

Right now I have alternatives on the following creatures (some have multiple alternatives, some only one):

Pupae, SkaarjWarrior, Krall, KrallElite, GasBag, Nali (changed the nali from ONP), Tentacle, Titan and Slith (kinda noobish, my first two self-made creatures, the file goes back a long time you know . Also some new guns (one simple and unbalanced, one made for the purpose of one creature and not really big changes and one original gun which is balanced), with combined scripts giving them a new feeling eventhough they have standard meshes with simple changed skins.


Another thing, I think it's a good idea if one of us created a new topic about new goodies and baddies, because I think this isn't solely about Mapping anymore.


Last thing, about Mapping. mrbond113 stated at the beginning of this topic that he doesn't know what map I am currently working on. To be honoust: none right now and that's of course because of SSkaarjB. But I would like to make a suggestion about a central power core map, where you see (obviously) the power core or whatever it is from the lab. Something like a either a huge tarydium crystal where the power is being drawn out, or your more like a huge energy sphere with turning halo's around it so we can avoid the pretty standard tarydium as power source. Just a thought, a new type of energy. I have like many more ideas, but my problem is that I can't just put them down without having an idea of what must be made. These are just some small ideas about a power core, but I must stop since it's getting late.

 

[MrBond]

Intro map dibs! I told Bond I was working on that thing ages ago. I'll farkle you for it.

The way I arranged mine...you start at your hotel room and junk and end up at the launch pad of the vessel. Objections?

I told him from the beginning I joined the team.

Whoa, whoa! Nowhere does it say we can't have more than one intro level.

And this is where I must eat my words...
There were times before when organization was not the best. And indeed, I do not think it the best, even now. Given that there are many mappers here, Now is the time to sort things out once and for all.

Okay, here's how it's going to go down.
There will be two intro levels. The first will be in more of a civilian area, and ends in a civilian starport (Reciprocity). The second will begin in the EMTO receiving bay. The player will be led through the facility to their quarters, then summoned to the briefing room, eventually ending in the hangar bay (Destructive-Fly).

Now then. That's just something preliminary I whipped up. If either of you two can think of a better way to resolve the conflict, please let me know. My apologies for creating the conflict to begin with...

alarming but necesarry email

Yes, perhaps that is the best way to put it.

I'm getting sick of waiting for a private forum, so I will likely put up my "brainstorms" here anyways. Any objections to that?
I will create additional threads as necessary. Anyone else is more than welcome to do so, as well.

As always, I'm here for questions, comments, concerns.

 

[Reciprocity]

Devastation lives! Do I have free riegn to summarize the plot a little and post some screenies and things at UnrealSP? According to anyone but UArch over there, it's still in embryonic stages.