[RELEASED]CNC - GrassyKnoll

[Schmitzenbergh]

Hello fellow Renegades!

After some silence I'm proudly announcing the first release of CNC-GrassyKnoll for Renegade-X!

The map takes place in an open foresty area. There is a large tiberium field for all your credits and tank warfare. A silo is available on the more narrow vehicle path. Infantry can go all ways! Move up the mountain for intense infantry battles, or just annoy every vehicle around you with your height advantage

This is my first Renegade-X and UDK map ever so criticisms are welcome. The map will be worked on if more playthrough info gets submitted. I highly encourage you to do this

Enjoy CNC-GrassyKnoll, get back to the woods!

Download the zip file @ http://1drv.ms/1MKkzcB (Development screenshots/builds are also available there!)

Alternative download link @ http://www.filedropper.com/cnc-grassyknollrelease10

Changelog

Release 1.0
-Added some bits and bobs in both bases (Trees, rocks)
-More rocks near the tiberium field crate
-Added testing minimap (its not perfect but the scale is quite right)
-Created sandbag that dont stop abrubtly
-Added some cover on the infantry mountain
-Corrected a lot of floating staticmeshes that should not float (Tank hedgehogs, sandbags, etc...)

Testing 1.1
-Reduced the size of the map from 93.8mb to 74.9mb (Thx Ruud003 for lightmapres tip!)
-Replaced all the foliage trees on the battlefield with staticmeshes.
-Removed all the collisions on the foliage trees outside the map.
-Reorganized the Nod base so an ion cannon can't destroy 2 buildings at once. (Ref and AS)
-Reorganized the GDI base so an nuclear strike can't destroy 2 buildings at once. (Barr and Ref)
-Added blocking volumes on the walls of both bases.
-Reworked the tiberium volumes so you don't get any damage when you're not in the field.
-Added some more foliage and decoration.
-Added a rock near the silo so Nod artilleries need to push further to hit the Weapons Factory.
-Added some more hills and dents near the Nod base tiberium route. (This was a flat area)
-Hired a gardener to cut away the grass in the GDI barracks.
-Set the endgame cam to linear instead of curved (Thx Handepsilon!)

Testing 1.0
-Initial testing release

Hello fellow Renegades!

Just like many other people I've been busy with the UDK. It's the first time I've done something with the UDK and thanks to Kenz's tutorial video's I've even created something

I've made some maps for other games, mostly Doom 1 & 2, so this is somewhat more challenging.

The map is based on the theme of the UT2004 map "CTF - GrassyKnoll". 2 bases in the corners of the map with a foresty area between them. I did not want to copy that map 1 on 1 so I've given it some other elements. The layout is comparable to Whiteout but the center is infantry only. Infantry have a height advantage on het mountain against tanks and the enemy base. I did want to have one huge Tiberium field to get some warfare going in. It gives tankplay a little more tension because Engies/Techs/Hotties can't repair you there.

Without any further yapping, some screens:

For all the screenshots of the map, check my OneDrive folder @ http://1drv.ms/1MKkzcB

This is the main overview of the map, still lot of work to do though

The GDI base general layout

The Nod base layout (thinking about expanding it a bit)

Infantry Mountain

Main Tiberium field

Silo route

I'm not sure if I'll even publish this map. It depends on what I can make of it (I don't want to release a crappy map) and input from the community. For example: What are good ways to blend the edge of the map other then rocks? Or sky tips; the one at the moment is not that nice...

If you guys have some feedback, please tell me. It's my first attempt in the 3D world that is Renegade X

Thx in advance!

Edited August 24, 2015 by Guest

[DaKuja]

Looks good, small and nice with the Hill on the Middle for the Infs.

What are good ways to blend the edge of the map other then rocks?

You can build the Map as an big Isle so put some Water around and thats it if you dont wanna use Rocks.

Also you can raise the Landscape around the Playable Area and put some "BackgroundTrees" like on these Higher Places to give the feeling there will be not the End of the World.

[Schmitzenbergh]

Small progress update. Got a better overall lighting to get a dusky feel. Also started to place the "Backgroundtrees" to give the map a foresty impression.

GDI base; now expanded.

Corner overview of GDI, becuase Nod isn't really presentable.

[DaKuja]

Looking good, with some creativity you will able to solve any kind of "Visual" Problems.

Keep it up!

[Goku]

looks good cant wait to give it a go!

[Schmitzenbergh]

Another update: Got around the Nod base in the last days. Also created some background scenery. Progress is going well, I think. We'll see how this plays when the world is roughly done. Still trying to get the lightning right. Some places are a bit dark, but could be due to preview lighting.

Nod base; WIP (It needs some more lights)

Silo Path as seen from GDI base

Tiberium field with both bases visible

View from infantry mountain

Top down view of the map, so far

[Schmitzenbergh]

Update time! This is the final update before the testing release. I need to fix some issues with references (My sky won't load), but after that I'll post the map. But for now, enjoy the screens. Also available on OneDrive link in OP.

GDI base

Nod base

Tiberium field (As seen from GDI base)

Silo path (As seen from Nod base)

Infantry mountain summit

Top down view

Fancy Nod base from afar

Fancy GDI base from afar

What is still left to do

• Path nodes for bots;
  
• Some ambient sounds & particles;
  
• Endgame camera;
  
• Minimap.

If you have any suggestion please let them know!

[Schmitzenbergh]

First testing release is available! Get it @ http://1drv.ms/1LFX97D (CNC-GrassyKnoll.udk)

Add the following line to you Renegade X\UDKGame\Config\UDKRenegadeX.ini under the "MapSpecificMineAndVehLimit" part.

MapSpecificMineAndVehLimit=(MapName="CNC-GrassyKnoll",MineLimit=30,VehicleLimit=5)

These values are not final.

I've build the lightning with high settings, for the real release I will do production lightning, but it takes waaay to long

The only thing left to do, if we don't count bug fixing, is the minimap.

Bots work and endgame cam is available.

If you have any feedback or suggestions please post them. I appreciate any feedback I can get.

[Handepsilon]

I will be inserting this to the next patch of Full Custom Map Installer.

Great job done man, I've played GrassyKnoll a lot in UT2k4 and I do love the feel. The kill-zone mine caught me in surprise though

PS : Next time, zip the map properly with preset directories so that people with low knowledge about UDK directory can install the map easier. It also decreases the file size considerably

[Schmitzenbergh]

I shall zip it and create the directories for the next update. Glad you liked it! Maybe I'll recreate the killzone minefield For now its needs overal bugtesting for playability.

[Ruud033]

Awesome map and a really nice feel! I like the setting and the ambient you created in it! Simple and effective gameplay it seems..

As for the shadows, I'd suggest to set an environment colour in the world properties (view>world properties) -or- tune the shadow colours. Personally I changed my environment colour because then the characters etc. also get a nice natural colour in my opinion. But that's up to you! Try some settings and figure out whats best!

In the world properties you can even change the brightness of the infantry and vehicles seperate (in case they're not lit properly in the map for gameplay purposes)

Have all the trees got collision on them where the vehicles can go? Are they static meshes or foliage?

Remember to remove all colliison of the background assets (there where you never can go to) to increase performance!

Check the skydome and see if it accepts dynamic lights, uncheck that, (unless you're using a thunderstorm thingy) uncheck accept static decals and dynamic decals for the skydome!

Also, be sure that the skydome does not cast a shadow! (yes this might be the case sometimes)

The rock shadow resolution (called: lightmapresolution) is 64 by default I think, since you're setting is more like dusk, you could consider setting it to 32. This increases performance and reduces map file size.

Did you put blocking volumes on top of the walls on both bases? It's quite easy to drive threaded vehicles on top of those walls if they don't have a vehicle blocking volume on top of them (check whiteout for reference)

Where are the crates? Maybe design some ambient stuff around the crate?

Looking good overall! Keep up the good work! Can't wait to play this! If you need some help please post it in this topic!. I'll add your map to the official test server today.

[Schmitzenbergh]

These are advices I can do something with! TY. I'll go and apply some of the given tips.

To answer some questions:

Trees are added as foliage with collision. The infantry areas are blocked with rx_vehicleblocking volumes.

If the foliage has no collision the infantry can just run through them Tanks can somehow always drive through them... (Is this a bug?) I will remove the collision for the trees where no players can be (The surroundings), those zones are blocked with volumes anyway.

The walls have no blocking volumes above them, I will apply them.

The crates are at the summit of the infantry mountain, in front of the silo and near the tib field. Yes they could use some ambient stuff around them, but hey it's a testing release ;p

I will check the skydome, shadow for rocks and enviroment color. I play on a beefy computer so performance is hard to check.

Thx for the feedback, keep 'm coming!

[Ruud033]

NP, you're welcome! I also play on a beefy computer, but I've had a lot of feedback already on my own map and had lots of iterations on how to optimise performance ( I have lots more foliage and draw calls than you I think )

Tanks can somehow always drive through them... (Is this a bug?)

No it's not. Epic Games left this out on purpose because if you go mad with the amount of foliage, the GPU of the client has to load each one of those collision volumes in. This eats performance. I've developed a custom script (FoliageCollisionVolume) that takes care of this. By trail and error I've found out that performance indeed drops on an insane scale if we load up all the foliage collision at once. Therefore I used zones.

If you really want to have collision on trees you either have to replace them with static meshes or use my custom script and place some zones.

What that does is, it creates a temporary invisible collision actor matched to the tree's original collision once a vehicle touches the zone you created in the editor. The collision gets destroyed when ever no vehicles are touching the zone, therefore we don't always load up all the collision at once (unless you create 1 huge zone, but that's not the intention here)

The more zones you have the more optimised it all is You could take a look at my map for an example (cnc-crash_site) but it all depends on how you want to solve this.

You could also do it like you have right now (blocking it all off) since you don't have that many foliage inside the battlefield.

I've added your map to the server for testing!

[Handepsilon]

Well, I made the patcher, your map's in!

[Schmitzenbergh]

NP, you're welcome! I also play on a beefy computer, but I've had a lot of feedback already on my own map and had lots of iterations on how to optimise performance ( I have lots more foliage and draw calls than you I think )

Tanks can somehow always drive through them... (Is this a bug?)

No it's not. Epic Games left this out on purpose because if you go mad with the amount of foliage, the GPU of the client has to load each one of those collision volumes in. This eats performance. I've developed a custom script (FoliageCollisionVolume) that takes care of this. By trail and error I've found out that performance indeed drops on an insane scale if we load up all the foliage collision at once. Therefore I used zones.

If you really want to have collision on trees you either have to replace them with static meshes or use my custom script and place some zones.

What that does is, it creates a temporary invisible collision actor matched to the tree's original collision once a vehicle touches the zone you created in the editor. The collision gets destroyed when ever no vehicles are touching the zone, therefore we don't always load up all the collision at once (unless you create 1 huge zone, but that's not the intention here)

The more zones you have the more optimised it all is You could take a look at my map for an example (cnc-crash_site) but it all depends on how you want to solve this.

You could also do it like you have right now (blocking it all off) since you don't have that many foliage inside the battlefield.

I've added your map to the server for testing!

Ty both for adding it to the utility and testing server.

I can't disable the collision on the foliage on the outside of the map border. If I do this the trees in the center also have their collision disabled. Perhaps a redesign of the trees for the inf mountain is needed. I'll replace them with static meshes and not foliage. This way I can disable the collision on the non battlefield foliage and all the trees in the battlefield will be static meshes.

I've already applied the shadow enviroment color. Looks nicer! Not that dark anymore.

The rock shadow you've mentioned, is it found under the static mesh options like this screenshot?

Change the number 64 to 32 and check "Override lightmap res"?

[Handepsilon]

Set your matinee endcam key to linear instead of curve, that way it doesn't feel like stopping at the end of every sequence

[Ruud033]

NP for adding.

I'll replace them with static meshes and not foliage. This way I can disable the collision on the non battlefield foliage and all the trees in the battlefield will be static meshes.

No don't ! For foliage that does not matter, only for rocks etc. Foliage does not have collision by default, therefore you can drive through them with a tank.

The rock shadow you've mentioned, is it found under the static mesh options like this screenshot?

Change the number 64 to 32 and check "Override lightmap res"?

Yep that's it. You can also change the rock property itself, but that requires you to copy the rock mesh to your own package (if you didnt do that already)

GL

[Schmitzenbergh]

Set your matinee endcam key to linear instead of curve, that way it doesn't feel like stopping at the end of every sequence

On the to-do list.. And indeed it stopped rather abrupt

No don't ! For foliage that does not matter, only for rocks etc. Foliage does not have collision by default, therefore you can drive through them with a tank.

I'm only replacing the playgrounds trees, like on the infantry mountain, with static meshes. They have collision by default for infantry. This way I can disable all the foliage trees collision, which is the biggest part of all the trees thus creating better performance. They don't need collision (Inf and tanks) so why bother with giving it to them. They're outside the map anyway I'm still blocking the infantry zones with vehicleblockervolumes.

[Handepsilon]

We can double kill buildings with beacon atm. Silent blew GDI ref and Barracks while I blew HoN and Strip. In addition, Strip and Ref are WAAAAAAAAAY too close that you can just chuck a beacon there and watch as people rages

[Schmitzenbergh]

We can double kill buildings with beacon atm. Silent blew GDI ref and Barracks while I blew HoN and Strip. In addition, Strip and Ref are WAAAAAAAAAY too close that you can just chuck a beacon there and watch as people rages

Hmm, I'll rename the map to GrassyRage then and reintroduce the "Double kill" announcer

I'ts on the todo list! I didn't thought it was possible...

[TK0104]

I like your idea of the map. But I think you need to make the bases bigger so the ions/nukes can't hit two structures at once. I see that the airstrip is very close to the nod refinery. It will also cause another problem. The Nod C-130 aircrafts wing will fly though the refinery when delivering a vehicle

[Schmitzenbergh]

I like your idea of the map. But I think you need to make the bases bigger so the ions/nukes can't hit two structures at once. I see that the airstrip is very close to the nod refinery. It will also cause another problem. The Nod C-130 aircrafts wing will fly though the refinery when delivering a vehicle

I've expanded and reorganized de Nod base for the next release. The GDI base has it's refinery placed more to the back so nukes can't destroy 2 buildings.

The dropoff plane for the AS is a problem though, the damn building and plane are very big. I will try to fix them, but it is not a priority because it is only a visual problem. Hon may be smashed by the plane, but the Ref isn't a problem anymore. On a side note: CNC-Under has the same problem, the plane flies through the rocks

I only need to finish the replacing of the trees on the battlefield and the next release is ready to go. Perhaps this evening (It's 12:00 here now) or tomorrow...

[Schmitzenbergh]

The next update is almost ready, but there are some problems along the way.

I can't build my lightmass due to the swarmer and lightmass.exe crashing. I'm still trying to fix it but if anyone has encountered this problem, did you fix this? If yes, how?

Edit: I'm an idiot. Forgot to install DirectX sdk. Problem solved, map is being built

[Schmitzenbergh]

Second testing release is available! Get it @ http://1drv.ms/1MKkzcB (CNC-GrassyKnoll_Testing1_1.zip)

The second testing release has some improvements. Check out the changelog for all of them

Both the bases have been reworked so superweapons can't hit 2 buildings, I couldn't reproduce it so hopefully it's gone. But as always, if you find bugs post 'm here!

Changelog

Testing 1.1
-Reduced the size of the map from 93.8mb to 74.9mb (Thx Ruud003 for lightmapres tip!)
-Replaced all the foliage trees on the battlefield with staticmeshes.
-Removed all the collisions on the foliage trees outside the map.
-Reorganized the Nod base so an ion cannon can't destroy 2 buildings at once. (Ref and AS)
-Reorganized the GDI base so an nuclear strike can't destroy 2 buildings at once. (Barr and Ref)
-Added blocking volumes on the walls of both bases.
-Reworked the tiberium volumes so you don't get any damage when you're not in the field.
-Added some more foliage and decoration.
-Added a rock near the silo so Nod artilleries need to push further to hit the Weapons Factory.
-Added some more hills and dents near the Nod base tiberium route. (This was a flat area)
-Hired a gardener to cut away the grass in the GDI barracks.
-Set the endgame cam to linear instead of curved (Thx Handepsilon!)

Testing 1.0
-Initial testing release

Edited August 4, 2015 by Guest

[Handepsilon]

The next update is almost ready, but there are some problems along the way.

I can't build my lightmass due to the swarmer and lightmass.exe crashing. I'm still trying to fix it but if anyone has encountered this problem, did you fix this? If yes, how?

Edit: I'm an idiot. Forgot to install DirectX sdk. Problem solved, map is being built

If you can't use lightmass, don't use it. The option is available if you build lighting only

[Schmitzenbergh]

The lightmass problem was fixed

Made a mistake with the download link. Correct link is now in OP and here : http://1drv.ms/1MKkzcB

[Schmitzenbergh]

After some silence I'm proudly announcing the first release of CNC-GrassyKnoll for Renegade-X!

The map takes place in an open foresty area. There is a large tiberium field for all your credits and tank warfare. A silo is available on the more narrow vehicle path. Infantry can go all ways! Move up the mountain for intense infantry battles, or just annoy every vehicle around you with your height advantage

This is my first Renegade-X and UDK map ever so criticisms are welcome. The map will be worked on if more playthrough info gets submitted. I highly encourage you to do this

Enjoy CNC-GrassyKnoll, get back to the woods!

Download the zip file @ http://1drv.ms/1MKkzcB (Development screenshots/builds are also available there!)

Alternative download link @ http://www.filedropper.com/cnc-grassyknollrelease10

Changelog

Release 1.0
-Added some bits and bobs in both bases (Trees, rocks)
-More rocks near the tiberium field crate
-Added testing minimap (its not perfect but the scale is quite right)
-Created sandbag that dont stop abrubtly
-Added some cover on the infantry mountain
-Corrected a lot of floating staticmeshes that should not float (Tank hedgehogs, sandbags, etc...)

Testing 1.1
-Reduced the size of the map from 93.8mb to 74.9mb (Thx Ruud003 for lightmapres tip!)
-Replaced all the foliage trees on the battlefield with staticmeshes.
-Removed all the collisions on the foliage trees outside the map.
-Reorganized the Nod base so an ion cannon can't destroy 2 buildings at once. (Ref and AS)
-Reorganized the GDI base so an nuclear strike can't destroy 2 buildings at once. (Barr and Ref)
-Added blocking volumes on the walls of both bases.
-Reworked the tiberium volumes so you don't get any damage when you're not in the field.
-Added some more foliage and decoration.
-Added a rock near the silo so Nod artilleries need to push further to hit the Weapons Factory.
-Added some more hills and dents near the Nod base tiberium route. (This was a flat area)
-Hired a gardener to cut away the grass in the GDI barracks.
-Set the endgame cam to linear instead of curved (Thx Handepsilon!)

Testing 1.0
-Initial testing release

[Schmitzenbergh]

For the people that are having troubles with the download.

Alternative download link @ http://www.filedropper.com/cnc-grassyknollrelease10

Release topic: http://renegade-x.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=75566