CnC Desert Valley

[iridesence]

Greetings renegaders,  Here today I present to you all, my 2nd attempt at a new playable map for yall:  Desert Valley:

This map takes place in the western American badlands, where GDI has built a remote technology laboratory for its R&D. 

Eventually Nod discovered the location of this lab, and has sent in a strike force to construct a base nearby and capture the facility.

 This is a medium to large sized map with a good deal of open space, primarily focused towards group vehicle combat:

 

Before Nod sent in its strike forces though, they had sent in an exploratory recon force,  which has since abandoned its outpost,  any team can choose to fight over it to gain access to any possible leftovers from its previous occupants:

both teams will have a very tall and thick walls in the front of there bases, of which are manned by turrets, guard towers, and advanced defenses.  Base entry is locked behind a pair of automated gates.  though these gates will open for proximity,  they cannot be simply barreled through: 

 

However, each base will have a unguarded REAR entrance that enemy teams can attempt to exploit to bypass these stronger forward defenses:

 

Both Teams will have a Repair Facility to use (made a bit more cool with fancy decorations),  As well as there will be a single Tech silo for teams to fight over to help with funding.

[iridesence]

Current Map version can be downloaded here for test here:

(edit: new version released, see posts in thread)

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[Snow.]

looks very pretty, great work! I look forward to testing it

is it availabe/running on a testserver?

[Reivax]

5 hours ago, Snow said:

looks very pretty, great work! I look forward to testing it

is it availabe/running on a testserver?

probably on T.-O. Custom maps server  

i've played a previous version 10 days ago, here are a few fun screenshots  



 

[Madkill40]

This is a fun map

 

[iridesence]

trying to get a working minimap at this time, but its going quite poorly.  if anyone wants to make a minimap i wouldn't mind the assist tho.

ill be adding one or two non-landscape things to the map and that should be it..  (after getting a working minimap of course..)

[Madkill40]

A way to get onto the walls and have gun emplacements on the walls too could go a long way, especially for GDI.  

[iridesence]

It is already possible to get onto the walls for both teams:

GDI:

 

Nod:

As for gun emplacements, im not to sure yet,  don't want to make the area up there too crowded.  If i added emplacements id have to figure out where they would go.

Edited February 28, 2020 by iridesence

[iridesence]

New version of the map is now available to download.

This version fixes a few bugs, introduces a working tech center for the abandoned nod outpost, a working minimap(kudos for @Madkill40 for the help on that front), and a few other things behind the scenes.

download the new version here:

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[Madkill40]

What's happening with this? 

Also, the train is a really nice touch @iridesence

[iridesence]

building a new release for public use here soon.  just been taking a break from renx after some minor burnout.

[iridesence]

so i just got my new computer finally after the old one took a poop, and getting ready to reinstall the game.  I have none of my original map assets for this on this new computer so if someone wishes to take up finishing this map they have my blessings.  iirc, it just needed to fix a few tiberium glitches and a few stuck spots but otherwise was working.

[iridesence]

will attempt to finish this map here soon, after i can get a moment to "relearn" udk!  make no promises atm though.

 

[iridesence]

well, i got the map loaded into udk/sdk and it plays fine in the editor.  the only issue that arises when ported to the CLIENT is that the tiberium crystals (one of the mesh types, not all the tiberium meshes) has its textures turn jet black.  other then that the map seems to work as intended...  (thankfully i had the foresight to bake all the custom assets for the map into the map itself so i didnt need to find or replace them)

 

not sure what is causing the black tiberium textures atm..

 

that said more testers would be welcome if people would be interested in trying a new map!

[roweboat]

I'd be interested in checking it out @iridesence, is there a more recent version than what was posted in March?

[iridesence]

ive had to start from the march build and work from there,  but iirc taht build just had some tiberium texture problems and a few stuck spots as the biggest offenders.  im working on fixing them now and assuming i can build lights in any decent timeframe should have a small patch to the march build out that fixes a few stuck spots/etc.  @roweboat

 

that said, the best possible thing that could help me squash things would be for a mass playtest involving 20+ people playing the map at once(stress testing in a sense).  but i doubt that will happen anytime soon since people are averse to trying new things unless its forced on them ingame..

 

at least i dont have to redo the kismet parts!

Edited December 26, 2020 by iridesence

[iridesence]

New Release for the map!  long overdue i know but EXCREMENT OCCURS IRL!

this version should fix the black tiberium issue, and remove a few stuck spots i found.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[roweboat]

well, ill try to help how i can

[NoahAllen522]

Cool map i like this vehicle group combat system feels like the firestorm devlog gameplay in the background

[Backfromhell]

First of all, a compliment, Iri.

You have improved extremely in making maps.

For me personally, the deserts are far too bright and you often cannot see the trajectory of the projectiles (in my case Med). But it can also be good that it's only like this for me because I don't see that well anymore anyway.

The grass in the desert is "a bit" big, in my opinion.

Was only 5-10 minutes. on Desert (setting 4 K) and if you play on high resolution and press F11 twice, the texture disappears briefly, but comes back when you move again.

Bar you can go on top of the lack of blocking volume. I don't have a picture of it but Try-out.

Try made more pics

 

[iridesence]

can you explain the first & last pics to me, no idea where that is from that screenshot, and i never experienced that bug on my end.

 

Edited December 26, 2020 by iridesence

[iridesence]

as for the disappearing texture i need a bit more information tbh as that doesnt help me atm. (it never disappeared on my end, and i have the game on high on my end)

[Backfromhell]

It's in the desert.Little Hills in the desert.

F11, switch between full screen and window mode, I think it will be the same when you tab out and in again.

Try-Out also made a recording with his PC

Here is the pic from Try's PC

I run the game in highest settings too.

Edited December 26, 2020 by Backfromhell

[iridesence]

tbh i have no idea how to fix that, much less where to begin.   since its just a default texture from the base renX game with no edits, slapped on the landscape, outside of just putting another sand texture in there to replace it.

[Backfromhell]

The sand hills look more like "steel plates" in some places.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what you can do there. I am not a developer.

At the bar you should definitely do "blocking volume", otherwise the "nukes" will trill on the bar roof.

[iridesence]

well ive fixed the "steel plate" part, and put a blocking volume on top fo the barracks, and (i think) fixed the issue from the 2nd SS.  still no idea how to fix that "disappearing texture" issue  as its just using base game assets from the game.

[Backfromhell]

I guess you won't be able to do much with the texture (but I'm not sure).

Since the last game update, the game has taken longer to load and exit. For me it looks like the compiling / shader is for one of the reasons.

I have no idea what has been changed, but my PC is the same as it was before the patch. I didn't have that "long" (but still works and I don't fall asleep either) Loading times and exit times.

Speculation on my part:

Nothing else happens on your map (maybe also on others, I don't know), tab out (or F11) and tab in (F11) and the compiling briefly causes this effect. But it's pure speculation because I don't have the knowledge.

Game seems to have become even more system-heavy.

Loading time increased a lot.

But Iri, Field Winter does not have "losing textures " after 2 times pressing F11 (Window mode). I would check in your case other maps too, to see if its only on your map.

Edited December 27, 2020 by Backfromhell
update

[iridesence]

the issues have been addressed on my end though.  and i dont think ill be able to do anything about that disappearing sand issue, as it happens on other desert maps for me(so probably a base game issue).

currently building lights and hope to have an update released in a bit.

[iridesence]

Bugfix update for the map!  fixes a few stuck spots. texture issues, glitches, and some boundary issues.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

a part of the map by the silo has been getting my knickers in a twist as of late, so i decided to rework a bit of it.

it has now be transformed into a sort of "slot canyon" type area.

tanks and vehicles can still drive around it fine,  but there is less room to wiggle around in there, and there is some soft cover for infantry there in the form of raised terrain that vehicles can get on top of, but not immediately.

Edited January 1, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

New version available for download! 

-reworks some of the terrain a bit.

-"production" level lighting instead of "preview" level lighting.

-adds on to the out of bounds GDI tech lab base to make it look a bit better imo.

updated minimap to be released later to reflect new changes.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

screenshots of updated version.

silo field update:

gdi base in the out-of-bounds area made to look a bit better (for cosmetic reasons)

Edited January 2, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

added a tunnel to the rear of gdi;s base for parity reasons. (nod has 2 buildings vulnerable to infiltration vs gdi's 1)

should help with balance.

 

Gameplay changes:

Obelisk & AGT now have increased firing ranges.  vehicles will need to enter the firing radius to attack the obelisk and AGT. 

 

However:  MRLS, Arty, gunners, and rocket soliders can still outrange them.

Edited January 4, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

new update for the map.

-adds the above mentioned content (gdi tunnel, and advanced defense improvements)

-minor terrain adjustments (for cosmetic purposes).

-a few stuck spots removed.

-nod harvester pathing slightly improved

 

minimap to be updated in separate update to reflect changes to map.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

map update!

this should be the final version for testing purposes!

looking for mass-play tests at this point to see how the map plays.  any future updates will occur only after mass playtests.

New in this version:

-updated minimap (kudos to @Madkill40 for minimap assistance)

-cosmetic terrain changes

-small lighting details.

-minor AI pathing tweaks.

-stuck spots removed

-airstrip drop mechanics improved a bit cosmetically (shouldn't clip into stuff as obviously as before).

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

video tour of the map for those interested

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by iridesence

[Madkill40]

That tunnel looks ace amazing

[iridesence]

performance & visual passes are being worked on in the interim, thanks to @Luhrian @Fffreak9999 for assistance with that.

 

[iridesence]

initial performance pass for the map done, thanks to @luhrian and @Fffreak9999 for assistance with that.

this should help make the map run smoother for lower end pcs hopefully.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

since toxicity was removed from the client, its apparently caused graphical errors with the map, so this hot-fix should solve some issues.

-basically created local copies of the referenced material into the maps own files, and told the map to reference them instead of toxicity.

download will be attached below:

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

new hotfix to address some minor gfx issues found, updated map attached below:

 

edit file removed due to unforseen bug please use the previous listed build.

 

will rebuild that one for testing overnight.

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

does anyone know why the ingame client keeps saying i need to rebuild lights even when i build them in the editor, then immediately save, then transport those files without touching or modifying them to the live client.  in the editor it says my lighting is golden(aka no warning message), but

ingame i get that damn message on screen that they  need built.

builds lights in editor ->  5 hours later it finishes and i save the map.  -> editor says nothing needs to be built anymore ->  move saved files to game client. ->  game client says "lights need to be built" ingame when loading the map.

 

ive repeated this process 3 times now and nothing changes

[iridesence]

at the very least, here is the latest map build.

 

no idea what is causing that "lighting needs to be rebuilt" error message to appear even after building lights, but the map works fine, and even has the finished lighting ingame regardless.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by iridesence

[iridesence]

latest build here:  issues appear to be corrected for now!  hurrah!

 

 

desert map.zip