Forum Map Project

[Tave]

Ive had an idea ( hey! dont run yet!) and here it goes....

Anyone that is interested places their name here and then once a month 4 names are choosen and together they produce a 4 player map, each taking one quarter of the map. once the first person finishes their quarter they pass it onto the next person untill the map is completed. I also suggest we come up with themes so we dont end up with once section looking like paris and another looking like the artic circle.

My reason for this wacky idea? We have so fantastic mappers residing in these forums ( dont worry i dont include myself in that statement :bandit: ) and I think it would imporve the way we as a comunity work together and should in theory produce some very high quality maps, and also be lots of fun too ( the last bit being the most important).

soooo what do you think oh mappers of the world!

[Hanna]

Totally the bestest and funnest idea evar!

I'm in, baybeh!

Oh, I have to put my name here... Hanna.

Love,

Hanna

(But it might be fun to have one looking like the Arctic Circle and Paris and the Sahara desert and a Chaos Horror Breeding Pit, as long as people are *really* innovative with making transition decals. ;) )

(Oh, and pish! You are one of é£33† mappers here!)

[sukiya_zukuri]

Im in rock on!

SUKIYA_ZUKURI

I guess ill just have to seeing as my last map was Half paris and half Arctic, imagine the odds!


:crazy: :guitar: :guitar: :3d: :music:


A push and ill kill you! A river that runs right through you... RHCP's RULE!!!

:duck:

[Rayden]

Great idea, i want to make 1 corner too :D

[LordByth]

Sounds like fun! I only have 2 maps under my belt, but Ill sign up. And besides, if it is another Ice Age, Paris *could* be arctic......

[Star Wars Kid]

Count me in. (gotta release the one I'm working on first though :smash: )

[DER_julu]

i'm in, too...

[Aralez]

Sounds good, what about an 8 player map :D

[Star Wars Kid]

Less work! (plus it will look even more random! :D)

[Aralez]

Who will start? What heightmap/layout will be used for the start ? How will we know which area to make? What size will the map be? Who decides what fog/light/water will be used ? Who sank the titanic ? Why do i post so many questions ? :D

[Star Wars Kid]

A couple of answers (just my opinion)

1) not me

2) each person does their own (just make sure it lines up with your neighbors)

3) I figure the first person will determine objective placement and grid off the separate areas each person will work on.

4) 512x512 would give each person a good area to work with.

5) Probably should vote on this along with with the general theme of the map.

6) Proffessor Plum, in the conservatory, with the candlestick.

7) You're inquisitive

[Hanna]

I'm sorry that I have to withdraw my participation, but not my moral support.

Good luck with the map.

Love,

Hanna

[Aralez]

Thx Star Wars Kid for the kind answers :bandit: Well, let's do a map, will we ?! :smash:

[Rayden]

Yes, we will ... but i don't wanna start ;)
Btw. i will make a Jungle part.

[Tave]

well if we are going to do a 8 player map we need one more person.
512x512 is a good size.
So, what theme should we go with?
Urban, desert, artic, jungle, swamp, mountain or my living room ( a mixture of everything)

[ScarCow]

Spacehulk...

Just kidding :D

[Rayden]

Just a suggestion but we could do the following 1 side is mountainous (so we can have snow in higher altitudes) with a city in a valley between the mountains .. the other side is low attitude with jungle, rivers, braches and maybe too a small city

[maraschino]

just a quick few q's

a) what if a mapper doesnt approve of a section someone has made
b) how are you going to make sure that the balancing is correct

[Rayden]

Good questions

a) we are all nice mappers and like each other
b) i think there have to be a total overwork after finishing of map regarding balance

AD - Check out my new map .. link in signature :bandit:

[DER_julu]

for the theme of the map - imho snowy heights and jungle don't go together very well... but what about...

- a loose group of abaddoned orc settlements located in a jungle mixed with a few desert parts... would be something different than the usual imperial city structures, and that would give the opportunity to create a map in which you can fit in everything from wide open desert spaces to dense jungle...

- a monastery fortress in the mountains, complete with a wall around it, a temple, economy buildings, surrounded by the snowed cliffs of wherever... lots of smaller pathways, chokepoints, bridges, and of course the monastery area for the cqb-fans...

for the working process...

- where should the starting points be ? do we make a 4v4-, 2v2v2v2-, 8pl-ffa-map or rather something that fits into everything ?

- what do you think, do you wanna use custom models, giving the players some new eyecandy, but requiring everybody to play the map as a mod - or do we simply use the stuff from the game, making it easier to install and play the map ?

- what general playtype do we plan to build the map for - fast paced annihilation games, sneaky ambushes, dense defensive battles... think you get the point...

- whos going to do the overworking - somebody not involved with the thing, or one of us after getting every issue discussed ?

greetz,

DER julu

[Rayden]

Ok, you beat me .. i like your map layout proposals .. i think we should make both projects ;).

1) no idea .. i don't care
2) what do you understand as custom model? Give some examples
3) sneaky ambushes !!!
4) hmm i think the final version of the map has to be discussed together

[DER_julu]

1. =)
2. some models made especially for the map - like monorails slaneeshi statue...
3. my man !
4. --"--

[Star Wars Kid]

A random collection of thoughts:

I'm thinking that balancing will be the most difficult part. The easiest way to get around this is to make it a free for all map with defined borders for each persons area. You divide the map into 9 squares with the central square being where the critical point/relic/whatever is located and each of the 8 outside squares are a single player's base area. Each square has a way to access the center and also its two neighbors. These paths will have to be of regulation size, say 32m wide. The area inside will have to contain a certain number of stategic points and of course a starting area. Everything beyond that is up to the mapper. The mapper will be responsible for making sure that his/her square fits in with its neighbors. If you don't like what your neighbor did too bad, just go with it. The center square should probably be done by a single person so it makes sense. Square selection should go in order clockwise around the map. This will make it so you only have to match up one edge with the previous mapper.

[DER_julu]

imho borders wont be neccessary for each player, if we stick to a simple arrangement, like starting areas have to be open and need to have at least a cover spot (crater) of heavy cover on each of the 3 sides. but i agree, arrangements need to be made. to make the different styles blend together i'd create 'blend zones' at each border of at about 50m where you are allowed to alter things - with the permissions of the creator. and personally, i'd create more ways to move around the map, so we could maybe keep to 2 ways to enter each square...

ffa would be allright, but it would be great if we could create a map that can be played either in ffa OR 4v4;

but to put all these ideas into a form, i'd say we stick to a to-arrange-list like...


- theme
- number of strat points/crits/relics/slag deposits
- gameplay-style
- build-order (who starts, etc.)
- definition of cover [/b[(what provides heavy cover, etc.)[b]
- continue if you know something i vhave forgotten...

[Star Wars Kid]

Another thing to add to that list would be sky/fog/water settings.

We should probably start nominating theme ideas and then get a vote going. I nominate a jungle/mountain area with some ruined buildings.

I will post a few layout ideas in a little bit.

[Chaos Lord]

i would like to join in unless you have the maxinum already...

i think snow toped mountains leading down to a dense jungle would be nice, maybe the bases in the mountains could be 'fortifed' to give the apperance that the team is defending their hidden base from a force which has stumbled upon it?
and maybe the jungle guys have to capture a series of CL's to win?
i dunno im just brain storming...

[Star Wars Kid]

I made up a layout. It would work for FFA, 2v2v2v2 or 4v4. Red lines are just to mark off each mappers section/players base area. Yellow squares are relic points and orange are strategic objectives. Scale is 1 pixel = 1 m so each of the small squares is a the same size as a detail texture.

Let me know what you think.

http://img154.exs.cx/img154/5487/layoutidea2md.th.gif (http://img154.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img154&image=layoutidea2md.gif)

[DER_julu]

great layout... would make for some interesting strategies in 4v4. and it would work great with the monastery fortress in the mountains idea ;)=)

[Tave]

You would make mapper number 8 Chaos. so all is goood.
That layout looks pretty good SWK. I pick postion number 4 :).
I also like the idea of moutains leading into a jungle type area.
As for puting new models into the map, im not so sure, my reason for this is to make the map as widely avaiable as possable, and the easiest way for us to do that is to make it using the orginal stuff from the ME. lets try to keep this as simple as possable.

[Star Wars Kid]

I agree about the models, simplicity is best.

So the current list of people signed up for this are:

1) Tave
2) sukiya_zukuri
3) Rayden
4) LordByth
5) Star Wars Kid
6) DER_julu
7) Aralez
8) Chaos Lord

Let me know if I missed a person (an extra person could be assigned to do the center and relic areas)

Does anybody have any objections to the mountain/jungle/ruins theme?

[Chaos Lord]

nice,
all's good in da hood

[Rayden]

Does anybody have any objections to the mountain/jungle/ruins theme?
No

[Chaos Lord]

so whens it being started?

[Star Wars Kid]

I vote after the mapping contest ends.

[Chaos Lord]

yea that might be best...

[Star Wars Kid]

Hey, the mapping contest is over now. Are you guys ready to get started on this?

[Khornight]

I think this sounds really cool. Ok, so tave has picked postion number 4, shouldn't the rest of you pick places to? Then, someone pick the position that starts and go clockwise?

I want to get this started, so I can play the finished result...

[Abyss]

Do you guys want an Ice sector if you do say yes and im in!