map [MAP] CNC Dust

[IllumZar]

Hey Guys!
 

 

So I've been working on a new map for quite a while now and I thought, I might share my ideas with you.

Please note that this is my first Renegade X/UT3 map, so don't be too hard on me xD.

It's an infantry only map with only the Hon/Bar active and lots of pathways.

 

I added so far:

- 1 Hon/Bar for each faction

- 3 Silos (1 close to each base and 1 in the center)

- lots of infantry paths

- 1 Guard tower/Turret for each base (guard 1 of the 3 entrances per base = add more dynamic and oppertunities)

- 3 Crates

- a sand dune like area

- some small trenches in the center

 

 

Again, this map is very far from being finished but here are some screenshots, so please tell me what you think about it

^the general overview of the map without fog. (can't see much detail like foliage and meshes because of the small rendering distance)

 

^more detailed overview

 

^GDI base (note the Guard Tower at the back of the Barracks)

 

^Nod Base (note the Turret on the Hon's back)

 

As you might have noticed there is no lightning on this map Every time I want to build lightning it crashes and showes me these 2 errors:

^Just keeps on building and nothing happens

tried this with the official maps too and it's the same.. Did i unzipped my SDK wrong???

 

So anyway what do you guys think about the map? 

CNC-Dust_V1.0.zip

CNC-Dust_V1.1.zip

CNC-Dust_V1.2.zip

CNC-Dust_V1.3.zip

Edited December 28, 2016 by IllumZar
update

[Fffreak9999]

Delete the swarm agent config settings, you have @Ruud033 to blame for it

[TK0104]

I like the layout of this map but I think you should add at least 1 extra building. Because If you rush with your team and you made it and your going to win...the match is already decided. I prefer add in a power plant or the Team Silo  (Like in the old Renegade) (Created by me and Coredefender helped me with the explosion and sparkling stuff)

 

And already this good for your first map?! I'm impressed. The time I created my first map (Training Yard) was a piece of sh*t. I forgot soooo many stuff back in the day.....like I was playing on low graphics

But keep up the good work!

Edited November 6, 2016 by ThommyK0104

[Ruud033]

2 hours ago, Fffreak9999 said:

Delete the swarm agent config settings, you have @Ruud033 to blame for it

Jup, sorry. I'll be releasing a newer SDK once i've got all the new advanced modulair shaders all setup i'm working on right now (without the config  )

[Handepsilon]

For some reason I automatically think of DE_Dust from Counterstrike (lol)

Kind of looks stale, the map can use more economy imo

[Madkill40]

19 hours ago, ThommyK0104 said:

I like the layout of this map but I think you should add at least 1 extra building. Because If you rush with your team and you made it and your going to win...the match is already decided. I prefer add in a power plant or the Team Silo  (Like in the old Renegade) (Created by me and Coredefender helped me with the explosion and sparkling stuff)

 

I disagree, one building for a close-quarters-combat infantry-only map could be playable, unlike certain other Infantry-only maps.

 

I am curious how a harvester gets replaced at the refinery without a Strip/Weps being on the map. 

[IllumZar]

Soooo.. first of all thank you for the quick replies

 

21 hours ago, Fffreak9999 said:

Delete the swarm agent config settings, you have @Ruud033 to blame for it

 

Sadly.. deleting "SwarmCoordinator.exe.config" did not work.. BUT!

the solution was in the "SwarmAgent.Options.xml"

In there I changed the <RUUDPC> line

to (whatever my pc was named  in my case it was) <7734PC>

 

Then changed the path <CacheFolder>E:....(can't remember) line

to <CacheFolder>C:\Users\King\Downloads\RenegadeX SDK 28-09-2016\Binaries\SwarmCache</CacheFolder> (in my case)

 

Next start up SwarmAgent with administrator permission and tada it worked^^

[Handepsilon]

10 hours ago, Madkill40 said:

I am curious how a harvester gets replaced at the refinery without a Strip/Weps being on the map. 

What refinery?

[Madkill40]

19 minutes ago, Handepsilon said:

What refinery?

My curiosity made its way into my post, my bad.

[Schmitzenbergh]

Looking good. Nice atmosphere. As an inf only map I think it's the right size. Perhaps make the 3rd silo a comm center? That way you'll get a bit more battle for the 2 silo's as everybody wants the improved cashflow.

Also keep in mind that the GDI guard tower is way more efficient against infantry than the nod turret. I don't see a problem yet (testing should make that clear), but be prepared to do something about it. (The GT is now blocked a lot by the Barr, so that's quite good).

Maybe it's fun to incorporate a Reinforcements kismet script that will drive a buggy/hummer through the desert to the hon/barr every 7 minutes or so to spice up the gameplay.

Keep up the good work!

[IllumZar]

Thank you guys all for your ideas

 

3 hours ago, Schmitzenbergh said:

Perhaps make the 3rd silo a comm center? That way you'll get a bit more battle for the 2 silo's as everybody wants the improved cashflow.

Nice one! Didn't thought about that yet.. Although I think replacing the 3rd silo with a commcenter might stale the situation even more.. like imagine the enemy gets both silos and your team has none -> screwed/no money

A solution might be:

a. leave all three silos as they are and place the commcenter somewhere underground in the center of the map with extra tunnels or..

b. (fav) replace the 3rd silo with a commcenter and give each base an additional undergroung silo (the one ThommyK0104 mentioned) with extra spawnpoints and everything..

 

3 hours ago, Schmitzenbergh said:

Also keep in mind that the GDI guard tower is way more efficient against infantry than the nod turret. I don't see a problem yet (testing should make that clear), but be prepared to do something about it. (The GT is now blocked a lot by the Barr, so that's quite good).

Yeah thats true! But if we raise the turrets damage/splashdamage and lower the GT damage we might find a balace between those two.

 

3 hours ago, Schmitzenbergh said:

Maybe it's fun to incorporate a Reinforcements kismet script that will drive a buggy/hummer through the desert to the hon/barr every 7 minutes or so to spice up the gameplay.

Sounds cool but sadly I have no idea/skill how to script something like that ^^

But something like that would be indeed benefiting.. How about something like a timer where every 3 min the fog thickens/fades? Hence the name "Dust"

 

I also updated the PT Level!:

Spoiler

^GDI

^Nod

 

Edited November 8, 2016 by IllumZar

[Henk]

Looks really nice!

I like the 3 silo's, they're in a triangle, they're far away enough from the bases, so I think there could be interesting fights over the silos with lots of back and forth movement. I think you should keep it this way.

However, the Hand of Nod is very hard to defend when it has the ramps, and the barracks are pretty easy to defend, the ramps don't really make it harder to defend except that you have to mine at the 2 doors instead of the sandbags. The HoN however gets 9 openings because of the added ramps instead of 2. (Barracks also has the MCT way at the back which makes it easies for GDI as well)

The turret is also pretty useless against infantry, the Guard Tower is way more powerful, so as Nod you can forget about using the back entrance as long as that GT is up. There are Nod Guard Towers in the SDK too, maybe you can give Nod one of those instead? The GDI guard tower being powerful isn't the problem I think, the Turret being weak is. To balance the map I'd give both factions guard towers and place them at these red squares: http://i.imgur.com/mb0qKqX.jpg  Top of the Hand of Nod works good for Sam Sites, but turrets and guard towers not so much because of the angles.

[Ruud033]

nice dude! Keep up the good work! You seem to really understand the UDK, and that for your first map, chapeau!

You can make a fog appear every 3 mins (or make it random) no problem at all, maybe you can create some kind of sandstorm with all kinds of effects (fog+dust particles activating+sounds)

If you wish to go all-out you can also redo the buildings and add a sand layer on top of them via the shader (takes quite some work though).

As for the kismet stuff, It's complicated, you should only do it after you have finished your map.

[Schmitzenbergh]

21 minutes ago, Ruud033 said:

You can make a fog appear every 3 mins (or make it random) no problem at all, maybe you can create some kind of sandstorm with all kinds of effects (fog+dust particles activating+sounds)

If you plan to do that, it's mandatory to also make speakers outside of the hon and barr and play Darude - Sandstorm

[Fffreak9999]

5 hours ago, IllumZar said:

9 hours ago, Schmitzenbergh said:

Also keep in mind that the GDI guard tower is way more efficient against infantry than the nod turret. I don't see a problem yet (testing should make that clear), but be prepared to do something about it. (The GT is now blocked a lot by the Barr, so that's quite good).

Yeah thats true! But if we raise the turrets damage/splashdamage and lower the GT damage we might find a balace between those two.

In the SDK there is also a Nod Guard Tower, you can always use that instead of a turret

[j0g32]

Interesting concept and layout!

And a lot of good input and ideas floating around here!

Looking forward to whatever you will make out of it.

 

Maybe replace the AI defenses with 1 gun emplacement for each team?

[Handepsilon]

On 09/11/2016 at 0:49 AM, IllumZar said:

Sounds cool but sadly I have no idea/skill how to script something like that ^^

But something like that would be indeed benefiting.. How about something like a timer where every 3 min the fog thickens/fades? Hence the name "Dust"

On 09/11/2016 at 2:21 AM, Ruud033 said:

You can make a fog appear every 3 mins (or make it random) no problem at all, maybe you can create some kind of sandstorm with all kinds of effects (fog+dust particles activating+sounds)

1:40 - 2:40. Fully Kismet-scripted.

"And there came the storm of sand"

[IllumZar]

Some updates on the map (KLICK SPOILERS):

Spoiler

^Nod base (note the new guard tower)

^GDI base (note the new guard tower)

^currently working on the center to make it visually more appealing

 

 

On 8.11.2016 at 7:24 PM, Henk said:

However, the Hand of Nod is very hard to defend when it has the ramps, and the barracks are pretty easy to defend, the ramps don't really make it harder to defend except that you have to mine at the 2 doors instead of the sandbags. The HoN however gets 9 openings because of the added ramps instead of 2. (Barracks also has the MCT way at the back which makes it easies for GDI as well)

Actually I haven't thought about that! ... replaced the ramped hon with a normal one.

 

On 8.11.2016 at 7:24 PM, Henk said:

To balance the map I'd give both factions guard towers

Hmm yeah I guess that would make things way easier.

I also tried searching the Turrets properties but I couldn't find the settings for the fire rate or shooting angle

 

On 8.11.2016 at 8:21 PM, Ruud033 said:

You can make a fog appear every 3 mins (or make it random) no problem at all, maybe you can create some kind of sandstorm with all kinds of effects (fog+dust particles activating+sounds)

I will check that kismet stuff out later

 

19 hours ago, j0g32 said:

Maybe replace the AI defenses with 1 gun emplacement for each team?

I'd stick with AI defences because they can spot stealthed units. Especially handy for GDI when Nod rushes with SBH^^

 

12 hours ago, Handepsilon said:

1:40 - 2:40. Fully Kismet-scripted.

"And there came the storm of sand"

OMG always loved that map back in the UT3 days. Too bad there's no one playing it anymore

Edited November 10, 2016 by IllumZar

[Henk]

Nice. I like the colorscheme

Are those trenches in the middle part? You could use the planks and sandbag models from the UDK.

[Handepsilon]

Yeah, I've dissected the map once. The whole thing only uses matinee to interpolate the fog density and descends+activates a ParticleSystem (or was it a mesh?) containing heavy sandstorm effect. There's also the AI node to edit bot's distance view during sandstorm phase

Then reverse that after sandstorm is over

[Madkill40]

Could each base have two humvee and buggy spawns? Or would this be bad?

If there are crates on the map remember to tick/untick vehicle drop

[IllumZar]

A little Kismet update

So after a lot of attempts I finally got the basic idea of the sandstorm down:

-some particle emitters

-change of fog density

-some sounds

-and change of lightning brightness and color

Yeah looks kinda crappy and probably not very efficient but hey it works

What do you guys think?

 

On 11.11.2016 at 11:51 AM, Madkill40 said:

Could each base have two humvee and buggy spawns? Or would this be bad?

Probably a bad idea the paths in between the bases are just too small for vehicle combat.

[Handepsilon]

The ParticleSystem nodes can be condensed with ObjectList node

[Madkill40]

21 hours ago, IllumZar said:

Probably a bad idea the paths in between the bases are just too small for vehicle combat.

They'd just be for defense, not attack.

[Ruud033]

On 14-11-2016 at 3:02 AM, Handepsilon said:

The ParticleSystem nodes can be condensed with ObjectList node

Don't. It will fill up memory that is not needed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd do the following:

• Disconnect the 'beginning of level' event because you'll fire the thing twice within 30 seconds or so after the level has started, leading to an unstable kismet sequence.
• Play (don't toggle) the sounds from within the matinee, the soundcue actor will still be placed in the level so you can still use the sound volumes if you like. Check Arctic Stronghold for examples (EMP cannon)
  • Tip: place the soundcue actor in the level first, keep it selected and THEN add it to the matinee, it'll auto-pickup
• Toggle (or change parameters) on the fog via matinee. (I'd personally change the values so you can slowly let the fog appear rather than just it just suddenly being there, feels unnatural.)
  • You could make a shader(material) with a opacity parameter that you control via the matinee so you can have the fog appear in a rate which you like.

 

[Handepsilon]

11 hours ago, Ruud033 said:

Don't. It will fill up memory that is not needed.

Ah, didn't know it will cause that.

11 hours ago, Ruud033 said:

.....

• Toggle (or change parameters) on the fog via matinee. (I'd personally change the values so you can slowly let the fog appear rather than just it just suddenly being there, feels unnatural.)
  • You could make a shader(material) with a opacity parameter that you control via the matinee so you can have the fog appear in a rate which you like.

 

I personally use Float Property Track in the (now ancient) CNC-Coastal on the FogVolume.

Oh also...

I believe we've been through this with Kenz's map

Not to mention it's not particularly good in the eye, because UDK compresses the dynamic lighting more than precomputed ones

[Ruud033]

12 hours ago, Handepsilon said:

Oh also...

I believe we've been through this with Kenz's map

Not to mention it's not particularly good in the eye, because UDK compresses the dynamic lighting more than precomputed ones

This is different than Kenz's map, Kenz his original beachhead would rotate the light and thus create different lightmaps. (the actual pixels on the baked light maps would move) Hence the performance drop.

If you stick to a light that's not moving but only controlling the brightness and/or colours, you're good. Baked lightmaps can then be used.

[kenz3001]

um any dynamic light is heavy hitting even if it doesn't move / change / toggle

some things that have been said a re right but some are wrong

it don't matter if the light moves, changes brightness or color if it does any of these things the light maps for that light get ignored and are rendered on the fly

........

you could use a light function to get a similar look going but you would have to pair it with a post processing volume 

people like to turn pp and even dynamic lights off so having a dynamic map like that might not work as intended as it wouldn't work for half the players (the cheating gitts)

its your call

you can always gain FPS by optimizing the assets in your map anyway not just the light (new tut from me on all that stuff soon)

[IllumZar]

First of all I want to thank you guys for helping me so much !

I took your suggestions to heart and tried to fix the kismet but I'm still a noob and I dont know where the important buttons in the matinee are

Right now it looks like this:

 

Spoiler

 

- after some search for tutorials I finally got the sound into the matinee..

- but still dont have a solution for the fog.. I'm pretty sure it workes just like the sound...

  (with the graph on top but instead the volume it changes the density)

  too stupid to find out what group and what track to be used

 

btw. as it is now the change in density isnt that drastic and you can barely see the abrupt change happening.

and during playtest it didnt feel like the FPS dropped .

 

Aaaaany waay I also took the time to polish the map a little:

Spoiler

 

 

23 hours ago, kenz3001 said:

(new tut from me on all that stuff soon)

thanks @kenz3001 your tutorials really help a lot!

 

Edited November 17, 2016 by IllumZar

[Handepsilon]

6 hours ago, IllumZar said:

- but still dont have a solution for the fog.. I'm pretty sure it workes just like the sound...

  (with the graph on top but instead the volume it changes the density)

  too stupid to find out what group and what track to be used

 

On 16/11/2016 at 0:50 PM, Handepsilon said:

I personally use Float Property Track in the (now ancient) CNC-Coastal on the FogVolume.

 

[Ruud033]

I would just use a material and set the opacity parameter via matinee.. 

For the sound, you have to use soundcue s

@kens it depends on which objects get lit by the channel

[Ruud033]

So I saw your map which you sent me, here's my feedback:

The map looks really good because it's small and detailed, the scale fits well for infantry combat.. Not sure about the gameplay yet (because not everybody is fond of infantry only) but we'll see!

Here's some stuff you can tweak;

• For every Rx_AreaObjective node i'd set the line of sight to true
• Spotted some floating bushes near the HON, I'd suggest you do a full map sweep for these stuffs
• I'd set the minelimit to something like 10 rather than 20
• Please use precomputed vis.
• Is there no minimap yet?
• The red lights near the HON, I'd just make them yellow-ish.. having red lights is nice due to the Nod (red) faction coherence, but I personally (you might disagree) think that it's not really that good looking, especially on sand/desert maps.
• If you put blocking volumes here, you also have to have some visual indicator that people can not go there, some barbed wire or so.. else they will complain about an invisible wall which I think, they're right in.
• I'd put some barbed wire here to indicate that not only vehicles, but also infantry can not go there. (Since tank blockers are there to block tanks...)
• This rubble pile is easy to hide a nuke in. I'd advise to test this yourself and see if you can still disarm the nuke while it's being planted inside of these rocks. Else I'd just delete them
• Maybe make the background fog a bit less yellow and more red/brown ?
• To spice up the matinee I think I'd do it like this
• There's some sandbags inside the rocks here.. ?
• All the background rocks still have collision, you can turn that off, maybe you can also turn off shadow casting (not sure how this will look, you'll have to experiment)
• Why is there a giant blocking volume on top of the map? you can remove this
• I saw you're using a terrain rather than a landscape, this MIGHT cause issues with light mass, not sure. If you have artifacts with the terrain in the future, I'd suggest converting it to a landscape.

Good luck finishing this !

[Sn4ke]

@IllumZar uhm... I'm not fond of infantry only. but as soon as there is a WIP version that you consider as "ready for testers" release it and T.O. & me will have a look

 

[IllumZar]

Hey guys!

I'm finally back with some news.

Thank you all for your ideas (especially Ruud for letting me harrass him through the messenger xD).

DOWNLOAD V1.0: CNC-Dust V1.0.zip

 

Quick changelist:

- checked all the core errors Ruud mentioned earlier

- changed the red light near the Hon for orange lights

- replaced some blocking volumes and placed barbed wire and fences as indicator

- redone the foliage

- added random delays for the sandstorm within the matinee

- background fog colour changed

- turned the collision off on the background objects

- some minimal tweaks here and there

 

Known Bugs:

- I will do the minimap when the map is almost finished (after some playtesting)

- very few bushes STILL float.. although I've redone the foliage

- I left the Giant blocking volume ontop because I find it wierd if players can fly around before the map starts

- still a primitive end game cam

Some pics:

Spoiler

 

Edited November 27, 2016 by IllumZar

[Xtractor]

 Its Very cool map , Sand Storm is Awesome addition

I like the lay out very much but found the 2 buildings very close to each other ,Would prefer the Shorter  path to Base to Base been more etheir close or made less direct .And mb less Silos

Other than That 9/10

like a lot this side of the map

 

Edited November 27, 2016 by Xtractor

[Handepsilon]

11 hours ago, IllumZar said:

- I left the Giant blocking volume ontop because I find it wierd if players can fly around before the map starts

 

That's what StallZ in WorldInfo properties is for

[IllumZar]

UPDATE!

DOWNLOAD V1.1:  CNC-Dust V1.1.zip

 

Hey! I took all your kind advice to heart and releasing Version 1.1

 

Changes:

- added some blocking volumes

- added stairs to the guard tower platforms

- added some decoration here and there

- swiched the center silo for a blue tiberium silo

- changed the credit/sec output of the blue silo to 2.5 and the other two to 1.5

- changed the sun direction from north to south (xD)

- changed the smoke direction to fit the sandstorm

- changed the fog density of the sandstorm to make it more dense

- changed the "Trenches" to "Excavation Site"

- snapped the flags of the silos to the pole

- deleted the Giant blocking volume

 

 

[IllumZar]

UPDATE!

DOWNLOAD VERSION 1.2: CNC-Dust V1.2.zip

 

Spoiler

On 2.12.2016 at 7:23 PM, DarkSn4ke said:

T.O.'s screenshots [-> I didn't test the map myself yet..]:

Storm on higher graphics

Storm on low graphics

Missing bullet collisions [all blue containers..]

All Silo flags move in the wrong wind direction

see above

Blue tib shines a bit too strong

Pane not really fitting in

Nod soldiers bringin too much dirt!

T.O. wanted to go for a piss.. but hey how to get to the toilet?

Most of em are slightly floating

Regards,

Sn4ke

 

 

changelist:

- added a dynamic light (sorry but this looks just sooooo much better)

- all containers now have collision

- as for the silo flags.. in skirmish mode they all snap to the pole

Spoiler

- removed the ugly looking glasses from hon and instead added some planks

Spoiler

-added a few bigger bushes

Spoiler

- blue tib now shines not so strong

Spoiler

- if T.O. wanted to go for a piss, why didn't he just go here??

Spoiler

 

As for the flag wind direction.. I doubt there is a way to change that (?)

Same goes for the "Detail mode" in the settings.. if you set it to "very low" it showes no fog.. rendering the sandstorm useless...

Is there a way to force the fog even on very low settings?

 

OMG before I forget it.. I added a very very very simple minimap. not final but it works

 

[IllumZar]

UPDATE!

DOWNLOAD VERSION 1.3: CNC-Dust V1.3.zip

 

changelist:

- tweaked the emitters so they wont dissappear after a certain distance

- added a launcher preview video

- added a preview image

- added a "real" Endgame cam

 

Many thanks to you guys for troubleshooting.

Can we try this map on an official server?

Edited December 7, 2016 by IllumZar

[IllumZar]

UPDATE!

DOWNLOAD VERSION 1.4: CNC-Dust V1.4.zip

 

Hey Guys!

Hope you all had a nice Christmas^^

 

changelist:

- fixed the preview image (now it works :p)

- redone the Endgame cam because the old one was too flickery

- redone the minimap and is now less egocentric

- added one-way paths for non chems at the silos

Spoiler

- added some decoration

Spoiler

- removed the barbed wire on the silos and the area is now accesible

Spoiler

- added wind effects to the foliage -> begins moving stronger during sandstorm

 

Yep thats it for now

 

Oh and btw. to see the actual sandstorm be sure that you have set the [Detail Level] in the [Settings] at "High" or "Very High"

[kenz3001]

On 28/11/2016 at 1:54 AM, Handepsilon said:

That's what StallZ in WorldInfo properties is for

you can bypass stall-z by using meshes as ramps (we had to put a hard ceiling on lakeside coz of that glitch