[Map] CNC-Bayside

[iridesence]

Well this is my first attempt at a map in RenX, and i am brand new to UDK.

I have been trying to use my mapmaking skills from games like FarCry, timesplitters, old renegade, and such to fill in some blanks, and im watching a few videos when i have the chance to work (which is rare, as i normally work 50+ hours /week.).

It is still heavy WIP, but im hoping i will eventually be able to finish it.

But, here it is:  Bayside

It takes place on a small plot of rocky/sandy shoreline, ideal for the setup of a potential future naval port.    It's proximity to local shipping channels also gives it value as a location.

 

The map itself is pretty straight forward:  each team has two direct routes to assault the enemy base, which consists of  3 base buildings, and a silo, guarded but turrets & guardtowers. 

The most straightforward route is a bridged path that was built over the inlets, but while very direct, there is no cover whatsoever from attacks, both frontal and to the side.

players may also elect to take a more conventional overland route, which has more cover, but takes longer to reach the enemy base, and they will have to deal with base defenses using this route.

Infantry can use the beach to avoid direct conflict with tanks from the overland routes, though they will be subject to fire from any tanks who decided to take the bridged route.  Soft cover from trees will break some line of sight.

A single peninsula splits the bases apart, upon which a comms center is ripe for any infantry to assault, giving a purpose for people to take the bridged route.

The overland route also has a secondary route, which is only navigable by infantry due to dense foliage, but because of the dense tree cover, it is dark, and so it will be harder to see.  However it is a good way to flank people fighting below.

 

As i said before this map is still heavy WIP, and my guesstimates is that it is about 10-20% finished.

 

Screenshots below:

A small overview of the field:

Overland Route:

Peninsula:

Forest Path:

Edited June 3, 2018 by iridesence

[Sn4ke]

Hi @iridesence,

the first screenshot gives the impression that both teams are able to base-2-base rocket rush each other [at least HoN / WF, maybe the Refineries and other buildings] -> you should consider to add rock archs to the bridge entrances and maybe increase the height of the surrounding rocks.

The bridge area seems to be a sniper paradise... which is not very popular among the community (in general I'd say). There are plenty of trees, but no persistent hard cover as small rocks / sandbags / bunkers.

What are your plans for the open sea? Do you want to add sea mines to prevent swimming / diving snipers & SBHs?

#####

If you want to get more detailed feedback, feel free to upload an alpha release here or PM me a download link (if you dont think the map is ready for a public test yet).

Anyways - keep up your work! And never hesitate to ask for help, either on Forums or on Discord.

/Sn4ke

PS: there is already a map called CNC-Coastal (created by @Handepsilon), it's forsaken though (afaik)... might stay in a WIP state forever dunno if you want to change the mapname..

Edited June 1, 2018 by DarkSn4ke

[Eagle XI]

I can suggest turning those bridges into natural shallow water.

[iridesence]

i did plan on making bunkers & stuff, filling out the overland route more.  But the "sea route" was purposely meant to be completely exposed as a trade-off for quick base to base access.  As i said though, its very early in its stages, and stuff could very well be changed.

the bridges were just a first thought, i could see doing a shallow bit for crossing instead, will see how dev goes when i have time.

i planned on doing a "kill area" too far out away from shore (Swim to far out, you die).  vechs naturally would be killed on submersion in deep water.

[Madkill40]

Misspelling aside, wouldn't name have to be changed from 'Coastal*' to something else? (A CNC-Coastal already exists, although it seems like a dead project)

[iridesence]

I might change the name if it finishes to better reflect what comes out.

[Eagle XI]

What about CnC-Bay as an name

[iridesence]

Well i had an hour to spare, so i decided to do some touch ups.
 

1st screenshot here shows the changes to the bay area:

As you can see the bridges were replaced by shallow depth water (some terrain needs fixed that that is simple to do)
A Basic lighting & a basic sky have been introduced.

 

2nd screenshot here shows the change to the bay area base entrances:

The entrances were closed off a bit with tunnels, and the surrounding rock has been modified to prevent rockets/missiles from hitting base structures from outside other then the tunnel, which requires people to be in plain sight to rocket the building through.  B2B is not possible through these entrances, they are at different angles.

 

The 3rd screenshot here shows some basic infantry cover that was place as i started to flush out the overland route:

Each base will have an outer wall, which infantry can use as cover to fight off attackers.  behind these initial walls, are two turrets/guard towers.  still just barely starting on the overland part though, so i expect more stuff like rocks and whatnot to appear.

Edited June 3, 2018 by iridesence

[iridesence]

Decided to change the map name since the original name is taken, and i think the new one suits it more.

[roweboat]

looks promising! always great to see new maps in development.

[iridesence]

Added some grass to break up the tiled look of the ground textures:

[iridesence]

trying to decide where to reposition the basic defenses atm.

[iridesence]

GDI Tiberium Field nearly done terrain wise:

[iridesence]

i have a water volume in now so the water is swimable.  but i cant seem to be able to copy or select or create a new box to create a post-processing volume to make the swimming effects.

 

not sure how to fix atm.

[NodSaibot]

7 minutes ago, iridesence said:

i have a water volume in now so the water is swimable.  but i cant seem to be able to copy or select or create a new box to create a post-processing volume to make the swimming effects.

 

not sure how to fix atm.

Select the water volume, hold alt to duplicate it. If the volumes aren't showing, make sure it's ticked on to show. After duplicating, just change the volume type

[iridesence]

yeah that's the thing, it doesn't work.  if i highlight the red cube, and try to copy-paste or duplicate, it just un-selects the box without making a copy.

if i click the red square and press F4 it doesn't find the box either.

 

i tried making a new box but the editor seems to make it vanish soon as i try to apply something to it.

 

if i press "add CSG" it changes the box as if i has selected it though.

Edited June 4, 2018 by iridesence

[iridesence]

also, pressing F4 on any of the boxes gives nothing.  "no actors selected".

[NodSaibot]

Red box = brush. F4 won't show anything for it. Do you know how to add volumes?

[iridesence]

align and shape the box to where u need it, then click the "add volume" button and select the proper one from the list.  (if what the UDK tutorials told me is true)

 

edit: i manged to get a water volume in the map doing that, but none of the volumes show on the editor. (no boxes to select or reference)

Edited June 4, 2018 by iridesence

[TK0104]

Click on the arrow next to the "P" button and then show ---> and see volumes are visible

[iridesence]

15 minutes ago, TK0104 said:

Click on the arrow next to the "P" button and then show ---> and see volumes are visible

thanks, this helped!

[iridesence]

Nod base construction is underway:

The silo is a non-caputureable, fully functional silo.  can be destroyed.   provides bonus income and all that jazz.  each base has one.

 

Front is guarded by two turrets mounted on Wall-fixtures, which provide cover spots for defending infantry.  The Hand of nod  is guarded by a single Turret. Debating on if i should keep the single defenses in the bay tunnels or not.

Edited June 4, 2018 by iridesence

[TK0104]

Can see you used the buildings from Actor classes, not the prefabs. Use the prefabs, because they have everything set up for you (spawn points, path nodes etc.)

[iridesence]

i did want to actually, but they seem to have disapeared from my content browser completely.  (new blank maps still show them)

[TK0104]

Find RX_BU_Prefabs, click on it and make sure your search bar is empty. If they dont appear, right click on package in content browser and click "Fully load" and then they should appear

[iridesence]

8 minutes ago, TK0104 said:

Find RX_BU_Prefabs, click on it and make sure your search bar is empty. If they dont appear, right click on package in content browser and click "Fully load" and then they should appear

thanks for the tip, i figured it out by myself though.  ('_')=b

[iridesence]

GDI "pillboxes":

 

[TK0104]

Oh yeah as for the team silo. Place a silo tech building and replace the building actor with the gdi and nod one

[iridesence]

well i had a bit of time last night, so i got a fair bit done.

 

figure once i can get pathing done for the harv's, setup the tib field instances, and set map borders i might have an early alpha ready for testing.  Still needs plenty of work though.

Edited June 4, 2018 by iridesence

[Eagle XI]

I can foresee an GDI ref getting arty shelled from afar, try to put partial wall before it.

You can give an bird's eye view shot of each base so can tell how to reorder base buildings. I sense the layout could have been done more meaningful.

Ref + free silo in base may end up providing way too much income. Its better idea to give the silo along middle of map in neutral ground so the sides can fight over the extra income.

[Madkill40]

Be sure those Guard Towers can actually shoot at enemies

[iridesence]

1st screenshot:  Overland nod tiberium field . base entry area.  Confirmed turrets are able to pound any tanks in this area.

 

2nd screenshot:  Overview of Nod base.  Silo removed, neutral silo to be placed in forested route.

 

3rd screenshot:  Bay entrance tunnel.  Hand of nod move a bit to make it harder to hit from outside.  turret moved slightly.

Edited June 4, 2018 by iridesence

[iridesence]

1st screenshot: GDI Tiberium Field / Base entry.  Still adding final terrain features.

 

2nd screenshot: GDI base overview.  Buildings rearranged to make buildings less obvious.  barracks still vunerable to artillery strikes, but not as easy to shoot as the ref was before.  Mostly likely going to shrink the open space to make it similar to the nod base.

 

3rd screenshot: GDI bay entrance tunnel.  Guard tower placed to deter early SBH rushes. WF can be shot through tunnel, but they must be in a open area to do so.

 

both bases still need detailing work done, but the general layout is there atm.

Edited June 4, 2018 by iridesence

[iridesence]

A small alcove in the forested path hides a tiberium silo teams can fight to control.

[Eagle XI]

You'll have to make sure one beacon cant get multiple buildings.

The idea i had was, that if you open an shore at the sea-side of bases can generate enough free spot to place the nod runway rotatingly, to eliminate the cramped nod base problem. The control tower would be where nod ref is in screenshot 2, with runway placed like -, the nod refinery would be where air tower is facing this way: -> in accordance to screenshot.

[Madkill40]

4 hours ago, iridesence said:

1st screenshot: GDI Tiberium Field / Base entry.  Still adding final terrain features.

Very pretty, nicely done.

[NodSaibot]

Very nice! I'm impressed to see such great work coming from a UDK novice.

[iridesence]

3 hours ago, Sarah! said:

Very nice! I'm impressed to see such great work coming from a UDK novice.

flattery will get you everywhere.

 

but in all seriousness, this editor so far is similar to the one FarCry uses for its custom mapmakers.  and i have been using those since instincts to make maps.   It what is probably helping somewhat.  At least in terms of some things.  I am still green as heck though when it comes to guessing map flow for a ren x game in custom stuff.

Edited June 5, 2018 by iridesence

[CoreDefender]

Nice to see another map using the Team Silos, much better than having the tech-building Silo.

[iridesence]

i do have to give kenz3001 a thanks though, i have been referencing his udk tutorials to help me get around when i am confused sometimes.  very useful stuff.

[iridesence]

was really bothered by the cramped nature of the nod base, so i altered the landscape a bit and put a small alcove in the back for the hand of nod to rest

landing strip moved more centrally thanks to the space made available, which really opens up the base for more movement, and possible decor.

 

Air Tower was moved to HON previous position, and the turret defending the area was given a mount to stand on, figured that would look a bit better then just it "sticking out of the ground".

 

The new alcove in the back is raised a bit, so as to provide some noise to the flat area.  looks better then pancake ground imo.

 

may or may not swap HON and Ref positions in the future, but for now i am leaving them in those positions.

Edited June 5, 2018 by iridesence

[Madkill40]

Be sure to test the minimum range of the towers and turrets in/on those wall blocks

When/If you'd like me to produce a minimap for your map just let me know

Edited June 5, 2018 by Madkill40

[TK0104]

I noticed that the the grassy areas are grass only. There must be heavy fighting going on so I would say create a dirt layer and make some "roads". It's too grassy atm for a battlefield. Maybe the landscape material wasnt finished yet but its a suggestion

[iridesence]

harvester pathing and collection as well as vech drop off pathing finished. 

 

I'm saving decals and advanced texture detailing for last, once everything game play wise is ironed out.

 

Once i can get game boundaries setup, i should have a playable alpha test map.

[iridesence]

On 6/5/2018 at 4:29 AM, Madkill40 said:

When/If you'd like me to produce a minimap for your map just let me know.

 I will take you up on that offer if your serious.   Just tell me what you'd need.

[Madkill40]

2 hours ago, iridesence said:

 I will take you up on that offer if your serious.   Just tell me what you'd need.

All I will need is a copy of the map when you have finalized the shape of the map as well as finalized positioning all the meshes (etc) (Preferably after a lights build)

[iridesence]

my primary computer needs a new CPU so im having to wait until its fixed(electrical storm messed up the pc a fair bit), so map progress is on hold for now, as my laptop for some reason doesn't like the udk.  (even though it runs the game itself fine)

Edited June 10, 2018 by iridesence

[iridesence]

just a heads up, still waiting on pc parts to arrive, so hoping everything is still good to go.  haven't abandoned this yet, just having hardware problems atm.

[iridesence]

just got new parts in, and it looks like my HDD was ok, all data good.  so i can resume development when i am able!

[iridesence]

so while I couldn't work on my map for a month, i was able to mess around with 3ds max for a bit.

the result was this monstrosity:

It is about 5% done.  needs texture work done, still scaling everything properly, and it is not boned.    Buutt..  i figured if I finish the map, it might be my next project for Ren X.  its Ulgy as sin, but figured why not.  I was bored.

Edited June 24, 2018 by iridesence