[Map] Ursa Initiative (2km) [WIP]

[NickO]

Originally Posted by [R-CON]WallyJas

Really interesting stuff ..... I like it.

I am wondering why Canadia would not send the police to take on the militia, would they really involve the army?

Isn't it the army getting ambushed/attacked by the militia?

Also if the militia are getting professionally funded by the Russians I think they would have to involve the army.. Just look at the Taliban in Afghanistan

[AnRK]

Taliban funded by the Russians? I know they were pretty well funded by the USA and UK and probably a couple of others a fair while back, but Russia? Can't imagine them wanting to fund a group of people that are gonna be a liiitle bit sore at them for invading their country. God knows what goes on with international relations sometimes though so I wouldn't be surprised.

[Snazz]

^He may of been referring to the CIA funding the Mujahideen.

[Rangu]

Really nice looking map, keep it up!

[Khidr]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. I'm not sure I feel more inspired but I definitely feel more pressured, either way I am still plugging away and that is a good thing.

Remember - terrain deviation is your friend! small ditches and micro gradient changes especially in the dense wooded areas is what makes infantry combat so interesting I think in the woodlands.

Yes I am very familiar with the Random/Smooth combo. Funny story in fact. When this map was at maybe 10% WIP, I proceed to cover the entire 2km x2km with a smooth brush size of maybe 3-4. This took me two evenings(+12 hours) to complete this. This is the first time I have ever suffered hand pains from using a mouse. Anyways I then discover a "wall" on the last row of pixils on my map. No matter what I do I cannot lower this wall. Soon I am unable to compile the map in order to view the changes ingame. I spend the next 2 days(+16 hours) trying to package the map. Now remember I am still a total BF2Editor noob, so really I don't have a clue what is going on. I will say that this persistance of banging my head against this wall is what pushed me over the editor's "learning curve". Patience is more than a virtue and thinking things through before you execute them will save you many hours of pain when working with the editor.

To finish this rant, I eventually came to the conclusion/assumption that I had gone too hardcore breaking up the terrain and the editor could not handle it. I pulled up a backup heightmap with the original unpocketed terrain(which did not have the wall at the time) and resumed mapping. Only later did I learn(thanks to Richy) that my "wall" was a result of my Surrounding Terrain and thus had nothing to do with my random terrain adjustments.

So yes Fuzz, I will massage the terrain but not for a long time. I need a break from that job and also I would rather just do that in high traffic/combat areas instead of the entire map.


Also guys, please drop the faction debates until I at least propose and layout my storyline. Then you can rip it to shreds and we can see where this map will best fit.

[SocketMan]

I agree assets/factions are much less difficult then the actual map.
I am no mapper but this works with a lot of things:take a break and stop plugging at it
continuously,when that happens the focus becomes too narrow and solutions that
would usually be seen very quickly just disappear.Take a (quick) break (few days) from it,develop some "hunger" and when you look at it next time - you'll see solutions that weren't visible before - because of plugging away at it from one "direction".
Like a car that gets stuck on the snow -keep hitting the gas pedal and the wheels just keep spinning,when
all that needs to be done is to put the gear in revers.

[IronTaxi]

Originally Posted by [R-DEV]CodeRedFox

Just make a cool map worry about the other crap like factions and stuff later.

totally agree.. always great to play out the storyline in your head..but dont actually worry too much about what the final layout will be asset wise..

looks good.. push the envelope .... we can worry about optimization later..

I just drove through northern ontario on my way to Vancouver.. and it looks spot on..

nice one.. you arent from thunder bay are you? :P

ps.. im always around to help out.. feel free to contact me as needed...

[AnRK]

Originally Posted by Snazz

^He may of been referring to the CIA funding the Mujahideen.

Yeah I re-read his post and didn't read it properly the first time at all. Russians flogging the Taliban as many AKs and RPGs to them as possible after being at war with the buggers seemed a little silly...

[Khidr]

That is a very long drive Iron Taxi. What felt longer, Northern Ontario or the Prairies?
I've done that trip a few time visiting family in Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie. Although similar, the inspiration for this map comes from BC in the Kootaneys.

*****



As for help, nothing is keeping me from progressing on the map but there are some things I will need to deal with. I'll start noting them down.

1. Need the lightmap samples for Quinling Water plane.
CFR told me they would be included in the next release cycle but I don't know if he meant 0.86 or 0.9.

2.

Battlefield 2 Editor - Objects Directory: http://www.armoryclan.net/cpg143/index.php

Any chance you can revive this link Rhino? I think this would help out a lot.

3. On a day map, can I get my tunnels and underground bunkers to be very dark/black except where the static light sources are? Or can you only achieve this effect on night maps?

4. Do the ambient statics( ex waterfalls, smoke plumes) lag up players at all? Should these be limited in numbers? If so what is a rough estimate?

[aperson444]

Good Work! I would definitely like to see this map in PR.

Wouldn't the militia most likely be armed with hunting and semi-auto rifles, and a few requestable automatic rifles on the side?

Taliban funded by the Russians? I know they were pretty well funded by the USA and UK and probably a couple of others a fair while back, but Russia?

Taliban was funded by the CIA. The US bought Soviet weapons from somewhere and shipped them to Pakistan, who shipped the weapons to the Muj. These militias could easily buy arms of the world market. It would be cool to see a faction with some legal, hunting/semi-auto rifles and those military rifles.