Some Jailbreak ideas (map convertor and ONS related)

[Nagromme]

Hi - I'm a JB fan since UT99 (my single favorite gametype) but first-time poster here. FWIW I have some ideas to share--even though I'm not (yet?) a UT developer myself.

Over at the Atari UT2004 forums we've been discussing "map convertor" mutators--to make ANY map be CTF, or BR, or DM, or whatever.

I suggested a JB convertor that would make any CTF, ONS, or DOM map into a "pseudo-JB" map, usable by the JB gametype. It wouldn't be quite the same experience of course, but it could be fun just to suddenly have dozens of new maps to play a variation of JB in.

How could it work if there are no jails in the map, you ask? We came up with some interesting solutions I think. Here's the thread:
http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=465626

But some other interesting concepts also came out of the discussion--including one for using the existing nodes in ONS maps as "temporary holding cells," and implementing strategy that called for using vehicles to ferry prisoners to the "main jail" that would replace the Power Core.

It may sound confusing, but check the thread if you're curious. I think there is some fun potential here. It would use the existing JB gametype, HUD and all, but with some twists made just for ONS maps. So in that sense it might not be quite as huge a project as it sounds... Says me, watching from the sidelines

 

[CoolDude]

I thought about a CTF to JB Map Converter some time ago when I tried out that CTF Map Converter
(Lol, it seems now you even can play JB maps as CTF).

To play CTF maps as JB, this is what I think was needed:
- Replace the flags with release switches (copy the original CTF tags)
- Add some standard jails outside the normal Geometry of the map.
- Add some teleporters as jail releasepoints at the position of the playerstarts in the map.
- Eventually add an arena outside the normal Geometry of the map.

But then I decided it's over my head (and time) at the moment.
I like the idea though.

 

[Nagromme]

Yeah, that's pretty much what we came to. Although we also thought of ways to to do it WITHOUT adding jails. At a minimim, you could just stay in "deathcam" mode until you are "freed." (And the Arena is optional.)

Things got more interesting when talking about ONS maps

 

[TK v3]

But ferrying? It might be a nice idea, but I'm not sure how much of the vehicle code you'd have to change. It'd probably be a lot as it is.

 

[tarquin]

Those are interesting ideas.

I like the solo jails, or the vehicle jail.