Game Tester Staff Map Pack!

[JamieDOWFiles]

Hello folks! Theres been a game testers map pack released at DOWfiles. It has 5 excellent maps in it. Head to this url to download it: http://dawnofwar.filefront.com/file..._Map_Pack;34397 Remember these maps are made by Game Tester staff and are brillant.

[maraschino]

read author notes, legit ?
or are the staff just hyperactive..

edit: oh ok not thq map pack now? title changed...

[JamieDOWFiles]

They are THQ game testers.

[monoRAIL]

That link is dead Jamie.
http://dawnofwar.filefront.com/file/...Map_Pack;34397
That should work.

[Noir]

Try this one

Edit:Fixed link.

[maraschino]

ah cool

[t-cast]

All maps loaded and ran properly.
Excellent set of large maps for 6 or 8 players. Well drawn, great decals and textures - each map has its own custom load page.
All maps are notable for their challenging layout - never obivious how to get from A to B, yet few navigation hang-ups.
Good job.

[monoRAIL]

Custom load screens! Very cool. I wish I'd known about that earlier.

[Rayden]

Someone knows what to do to get a custom loading screen?

[Hanna]

Argh! And it's so easy...

Just put "mapname.tga" into X:\DOWDIR\W40k\Data\Scenarios\MP\loading\

Or at least, that's what they did. Theirs are 800x600, 24-bit. Dunno if that's a requirement or not, I don't expect it is, that you can use any size you want and it'll get scaled down to the screen size the player is using. Some testing will determine what we can get away with.

Make careful note, though, that it's mapname.tga which is *not* the same file mapname.tga which has your underpainting layer that has the same proportions as your map. It's a loading screen that goes into a different directory ("mp\loading"). Mix the two up and you'll be an unhappy mapper.

It must be nice to have access to the developers to tell you nifty features like that.

Though, I suppose one can add more random load screens by looking into the .sga files where the Relic multiplayer maps are stored and see where they keep their random loadscreens.

If that works, we could create a whole new cottage industry.

We might have figured that out by noticing that's how it works for the single player campaigns. Which we really haven't (except for the very brave few of us) even scratched the surface of.

Nice work on the maps, you tricksy tricksy THQ testers.

Love,

Hanna

[svr]

Yay map pack i was excited when i saw it. When i read the readme i was disappointed big time. No FFA maps!!!! And only 5 maps, whats this? a joke? Sure any map can be played as ffa but most of them are too big and not good for ffa. Maps like mortalis are tight and fun. Fast spaced.

Recently i dled this totan annihilation map pack, over 100 maps, about 450 mb. Make map pack more like that and they are good maps. Just like these are but so few of them.

ingame distribution...

[Bill_Brooks]

These are good maps.
I have noticed a couple of them have bad sun angles so I get long stencil shadows on them.
The loading screen shots nice touch I was going to do that,I did it for impossible creatures and I knew it would work for this.
Just to slow on releasing a map huh.
The textures are well done also.
All and all nice work

[Dyselon]

It wasn't so much that the developer told us nifty features, we just had more time to play with it. For example, I found out we could do the custom loading screens by looking at the way they did custom loading screens for single player, and just giving it a shot with a multiplayer map. Other than getting the ScarDoc a little early (which IS incredibly useful) the only advantage we had was time.

[Warlok]

So when I install this and play with others who do not have it installed will DOW automatically copy over the maps, or must all participants install it? No big deal, just curious.

[Dyselon]

Everyone needs to install it. There's no automatic map distribution. Let's all make a sad face now. =(

[Hanna]

I'm really sorry, Dyselon, if I sounded harsh in my comment towards y'all. You're right you had more time, but you're also very smart and inquisitive and having had the time, you put it to good use. That you are also very talented helped a lot as well.

I loved trying to figure out how you (whoever made the map) made the statues sitting on the columns of light without opening up the mission editor (hint: Eldar building, not a special effect). It's insane (good insane), but it works so perfectly.

Anyway, I got nothing bad to say. And I'm totally indebted to y'all for teaching us new tricks. Thank you.

Love,

Hanna

[TheThunderer]

LOL did any of you guys read the note from the web server ?? Man ........ his life must really suck that's one job I don't wanna have. Poor guy .