[PROTOTYPE] DM-Nine - New pak (7/14/17) July 2017 Build

[tidu]

7/14/17: Update N: DM-Nine N

MapRotation=/Game/Maps/DM-Nine_N
RedirectReferences=(PackageName="DM-Nine_N-WindowsNoEditor", PackageURLProtocol="https", PackageURL="redirect.allnoobs.com/ut4/users/tidu1d769/DM-Nine_N-WindowsNoEditor.pak", PackageChecksum="db1b7247ef361b94b04934086acb03f3")

Getting close on this one. Enjoy

 

Spoiler

Update J - Repak for the latest build. Some extra environment bits added here and there. I'm liking the look of this version. The Industrial set of assets fits the map pretty well and it is slowly expanding every build. I'll continue using the orange I-beams and the ivy meshes.

Update I - 3/20/16

I took a lot of Eric's advice for this one. Here's a quick overview of the changes:

Gameplay
- Added a wall in the center of the map, between the rocket and the center belt area. Breaks up the line of sight a bit and still looks natural. That was the most glaring line of sight issue.
- Removed some advantage from the top level. I moved the vest down to the orange dirt floor corridor.
- The belt platform was lowered a bit. It's more difficult to get back to the top floor after grabbing the belt. And access from below still requires a lift jump.
- The flak and the bio were swapped.
- Added vials to the ledge that previously led to the vest.
- Added a couple ledges that are accessible by wallrunning, and removed some ramp walls that didn't serve a purpose.
- Pulled the map scale back a bit. It's now 20% larger than the original map rather than 35%. It still feels sufficiently large while allowing the player to pull off wall dodges and jumps that were no longer possible in the last map.

Visual
- New trim pieces line the top of the map, these are likely final and I will continue to polish the remainder of the map. A lot of the map is still patchwork.
- Removed the last of the BSP, we're all mesh now

Enjoy!

---

---

Good morning! I had some time so I figured I would throw up the first release of a shell for a small duel map I came up with. I was practicing making some shells and was pretty satisfied with the gameplay in this one. It's a very small map. I limited myself to a 5000x5000 area. It's a little tricky in the sense that it's easy to "disappear" from a fight. In my practice matches I would try to predict the path the bot would take and I was surprised more often than not when they popped out somewhere else. So it's a real fast-paced "on-your-toes" type duel map. I don't play a lot of 1v1 or duel so let me know if I've broken any cardinal rules of those gametypes, or if there is something I can add to make it more suitable.

Aesthetically it's not much yet, but I experimented with an aquarium theme so there are a couple tanks of water in the walls. In some cases they are strategically placed so you can eye up the double damage or the belt. I hope to expand on this, maybe break a few tanks to mix it up and create a "something went wrong at Seaworld" vibe. So I'll likely borrow a few things from the Liandri set but also create a few of my own meshes.

Disclaimer: The editor texture on the floors is intentional, I'm looking to use a checker pattern there, so this is the closest thing. I didn't want that to be mistaken for laziness

So let me know what you think of the gameplay. I'm pretty much open to any changes. Thanks for your time!

Original Imgur album of screenshots from shelled map

I agree that this content constitutes a Submission under the Unreal Engine EULA (https://www.unrealengine.com/eula ).

[MΛuL]

Hey tidu, looking good. For some reason I can't see it in game. It's in the same folder as all of the other maps I downloaded but I can't see it in the game.

[-Designer-]

looks interesting!

[dWLkR]

Hey tidu, looking good. For some reason I can't see it in game. It's in the same folder as all of the other maps I downloaded but I can't see it in the game.

confirmed!
even the console command "open" did not help...
i also tried to rename the .pak which is located in C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UnrealTournamentDev\UnrealTournament\Content\Paks to:
DM-Nine_A-WindowsNoEditor.pak
DM-Nine-WindowsNoEditor.pak
DM-Nine.pak

i also copied these files to C:\Users\%username%\Documents\UnrealTournament\Saved\Paks\MyContent
- it does not show up in game and isn't launchable via console...

any ideas?

thx in advance!

[tidu]

That's very strange, thanks for letting me know. It showed up for me in the game multiple times. The only thing I can think of is that I renamed the pak by adding "_A" to the end (right before uploading it), but dWLkR already tried to rename it back without success. Maybe the upload corrupted somehow? I am not at my computer at the moment but I will try to replicate it and put up a new, working pak later today. Sorry for the trouble.

[tidu]

Okay I repackaged the map, it can be found here: https://ut.rushbase.net/tidu/Nine/DM...wsNoEditor.pak

Again I'm sorry for the inconvenience earlier, player feedback is so important and I feel really bad when you guys take the time to test out my map and it doesn't work for whatever reason. I think the problem could be related to renaming the file. I tried a couple tests, moving files, renaming them, etc. and got really inconsistent results. At one point I took the original downloaded pak, removed the underscore from the filename, and it worked. Then I moved it to my Desktop, checked to make sure it was not in my map list anymore (it wasn't), then moved it back to the Paks folder and it didn't re-appear in the list. Overall just very funky behavior.

This new pak was taken right from the MyContent folder and not renamed. I tested the download too, and it works. Thanks again for taking the time to try it!

[Kronos[X]]

Wow awesome map! I just got done a few matches offline against bots, and had a lot of fun playing this map. I played 1on1 and had a blast. Movement in this map feels great. You can traverse it so many different ways, and that makes it a fun map to play. I think you nailed it man! Fish tanks hey, I was wonder why those area's were blocked off like that. Great job, and thanks for the fun map.

EDIT:I forgot to mention I really like some of the cool ways you implemented higher skill movement options. Like the ledge above the helmet spawn, so If your coming down from the sniper, you can wall dodge to the ledge then wall dodge to the amp. The slope dodge at the bottom of the flak drop is clever too, I was wonder what that slope was for, then found the drop area around the flak.

[tidu]

Wow awesome map! I just got done a few matches offline against bots, and had a lot of fun playing this map. I played 1on1 and had a blast. Movement in this map feels great. You can traverse it so many different ways, and that makes it a fun map to play. I think you nailed it man! Fish tanks hey, I was wonder why those area's were blocked off like that. Great job, and thanks for the fun map.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I'm also relieved that the pak works!

I don't have an updated pak yet, but I've been playtesting a bit more and noticed that much of the fighting is biased towards the rocket area. There was a minigun on the level below the rocket, so I moved that to where the bio was, and bumped the bio up into the blue space under the water tank (by the udamage). This spreads the weapons out a bit more and I feel it gives players more of an incentive to use the entire map. Other than that I'm experimenting with materials and making small line of sight refinements. Any other feedback is definitely appreciated!

[tidu]

Update B

Hey I'm pushing out update B this morning. I've made some relatively minor gameplay changes:

• Added a pillar to the shock area (as seen here), to act as cover between the center area and the shock area.
• Reduced the size of the sniper perch. This will make it difficult to camp up there, and it also reduces a line of sight from that area to the Udmg room.
• Created a hole (can be seen in this picture) in this blocking wall. A player picking up that health pack can wall slide across the gap and through that hole to sneak into the next room. Also I added that pillar visible in the same screenshot.
• Moved minigun from the center room to the Udmg room. Moved Bio to the area under the tank of water (left side of this screenshot)
• Reduced the size of the drop-down shortcut next to the Flak, and added an arrow for visibility

Visually I replaced the shell textures with real ones. There are also a couple new meshes thrown in that haven't been properly textured yet. The overall aesthetic is mixed and matched right now, not much has been nailed down yet.

Here's the new pak (26MB):
https://ut.rushbase.net/tidu/Nine/DM...wsNoEditor.pak

!!!!
Please note that with the build as of 5/1/15, you need to open the map through the console.

On the main menu (or anywhere really) press the tilda (~) key
type open DM-Nine_B
Press enter. The map will load
open the console again, type killbots
then type addbots 1

This will get you into a 1on1 match. I can't figure out how to make it a duel. Hopefully they fix this issue, it's a pain testing maps now.

Thanks, any feedback or issues are appreciated!

[darksonny]

hey tidu interesting map, I like the construction. But I have a critique in the aesthetic part, for example and keeping in mind this ut has became more realistic and visible in the details and resolution of the textures and materials, you can see in the real life those tiles could have some thickness degree upon the covered floor. I dont know how it is ingame I dont have ut4 alpha installed cos Im outside but viewing from the picture I see those tiles like as stickied with glue or it seems like paper lgued to the floor, It does not tell you from the floor borders how many milimeters or centimeters does they have (thickness). Dunno ...Its only one suggestion. Nice to see you mapping again from ut2k4 to ut4 lol

[tidu]

Hey darksonny, thanks for the warm welcome I understand what you mean regarding the tiles. The normal map I used to create the depth came with the editor. I tried to intensify the effect but it's still not quite at the level I would like it to be. Before I finalize the texture I'll use a deeper normal map so the tiles look thicker. Thanks for the input, hopefully you can get the pre-alpha soon. It's a blast!

[Kronos[X]]

Just checked out your updated build, and have a few comments. First off I really don't like the title flooring, its very distracting and just seem to naturally draw your eyes to it. I'm not sure on everything you did with the map visually, but whatever you did really effects the weapon's FX. Like everything seems more vivid. The shock primary looks awesome, and I just don't see this in any other map, I even now see a sniper trail, I actually thought they just go rid of it.

I think maybe there might be a few issues with the scaling. The first build you posted, if you were at the helmet spawn you could jump and then mantle to the platform above, now you can't, you must wall dodge to get up there now. Doesn't really matter to me, either way is good for me, but just thought I would mention it. It also seems more difficult to wall dodge to the ledge from above the helmet spawn, seems like I mantle a bit to make the jump, I don't remember that being the case with your first build.

I still can't get over how great the weapon effects look on this map. Looking forward to playing this map a lot.

I figured out how to start a Duel match with custom maps. Just load up a Duel match using the create game menu. Once you have a Duel stock map loaded(you don't need to start the match)use the open console command "open DM-Nine_B" and low and behold you have a Duel match going with a custom map.

[tidu]

Just checked out your updated build, and have a few comments. First off I really don't like the title flooring, its very distracting and just seem to naturally draw your eyes to it.

Thanks for the comments. Is it the reflections, or the contrast between the tiles... Or both? I tried to be careful with the reflections. I will tone it down, you're right, the floors and the walls shouldn't be distracting and take attention away from your opponent.

I think maybe there might be a few issues with the scaling. The first build you posted, if you were at the helmet spawn you could jump and then mantle to the platform above, now you can't, you must wall dodge to get up there now. Doesn't really matter to me, either way is good for me, but just thought I would mention it. It also seems more difficult to wall dodge to the ledge from above the helmet spawn, seems like I mantle a bit to make the jump, I don't remember that being the case with your first build.

I did not change the scale, or the geometry in that area at all. But the latest build had some movement changes and I think this may be what you're feeling. I must not have noticed because I always wall jump up over the helmet. You could simply jump up there but it was a struggle getting up over the edge and it killed your momentum. I'll take a look at this and the ledge to the udmg again. Hopefully they lock down movement soon.

I still can't get over how great the weapon effects look on this map. Looking forward to playing this map a lot.

Ha, really? That was actually unintentional. I experimented with the color saturation using a postprocess volume and it affected the weapons too. I forgot to remove it in this latest update. I didn't like the effect on the weapons, things looked washed out. I'll keep it in mind and see if it complements the visuals later down the line.

I figured out how to start a Duel match with custom maps. Just load up a Duel match using the create game menu. Once you have a Duel stock map loaded(you don't need to start the match)use the open console command "open DM-Nine_B" and low and behold you have a Duel match going with a custom map.

Awesome, this makes things much easier. Thanks for taking the time to play it again Kronos

[tidu]

Quick update, though I've only got screenshots. I've been playing some duels on this map and making very small layout tweaks. I'd love to get this tested on a server rotation somewhere. It is a very small map, and while that could be one of its quirks, I don't want it to be too small.

I've been playing with lighting and meshes. I think I've nailed down the direction I'd like to take with the lighting. Orange lights were added to the lower levels, while the upper levels are lit by the openings in the roof. The water tanks give a nice blue glow that contrasts with the orange but I don't want to overdo it. Here's a couple examples:





I changed the color of the tile to be more neutral per Kronos' feedback. It can go a bit lighter still. I'd like to focus on the orange lighting and the blue glow of the tanks so a neutral floor will be less distracting and not clash with other elements in the map. Time was also spent on some meshes. This is very preliminary work, but roughly what I am working towards:



The solid blue is a placeholder for glass looking into a fish tank. You can also see those trim meshes that kind of continue the checkerboard pattern. I experimented with the floor as a mesh, with alternating raised tiles. The result was okay, but I'd like to put some more work into the material first and see how much depth I can get out of that. As it is now it does look flat.

[tidu]

update C

Been working on this off and on. I might have jumped the gun a bit with the meshing, there were still a couple areas that could have been improved. I made some changes and incorporated them into this build. The two screenshots show the biggest changes.

I added some more depth to the area around the Shock and the Bio room was completely revamped.
Added more slopes and ramps to encourage freer movement.
I tried to create multiple routes to some of the health packs in the main room.
Access to the belt was also made easier by wall dodging.
Another vertical shaft was added near the shock to drop from level 3 to level 2.

Right now I'm running botmatches and thinking about weapon and powerup placement. It may be a tad unbalanced in favor of a player holding the belt/rocket area. Comments on this would be much appreciated. Have fun!

https://ut.rushbase.net/tidu/Nine/DM...wsNoEditor.pak

Some screenshots: