There is no spoon
Legacy:Copperman
Greets unreal wikians I'm Copperman I'm a UT99 wannabe mapper. Currently converting Q3DM6 to UT99 after seeing the efforts to move this map to UT2k3/4 (hmm...) More later.
Email:KarmaCopper@gmail.com
Weblog: http://copperman.efx2.com
Discussion and such.[edit]
Tarquin: Hi, welcome to the unreal wiki! :D
Copperman: Thanks Tarq. ;D
strider: Hiya Copperman! I didn't know people were still making UT99 maps - that's pretty cool!
Copperman: Hi Strider, yep I am still trying to finish my first map, always was a late starter.
strider: Good luck in finishing your first map! He he I still haven't finished mine, so in that field you'll be about 200 steps past me.
Copperman: Anyone willing to look at this map if and when it's ready. Beta/advise ?
Copperman: Ah, damn kickers, has anyone any ideas, I followed the guides here BUT the bots still jump back down and crater or sometimes just get stuck in a jump loop :(
EntropicLqd: Normally when bots get stuck in a kicker-jump loop it's because they are struggling to reach/touch the pathnode at the end of the kick. Have you tried putting a kicker at the highest point of the jump that affects only bots that simlpy neutralises any additional height and effectively forces them on to the lift-exit at the top of your kicker. I'd take a look but UT99 no longer runs on my PC and I can't face the re-install.
Copperman: Yeah that's the way the kicker in CTF-Coret works I'll look at it. Also I haven't fully investigated the one-way path option. Will keep you updated, thanks for the input.
Copperman: W00t have got my kickers running well. I'm using the extra kick at the top for the bots method, which seems to work OK. I have even managed consistency with entering in one direction and exiting at 90 degrees. :D I find having both the lift centre and lift exit in the same spot simplifies things. It stops the bots moving to the LC then to the LE THEN onto the path network.
Anyone have any insights on making the bots jump across gaps consistantly ?
DAMMIT. I crashed my data/games HDD. Lost my shit. Starting again...
Copperman: Been away for a long time. Still running UT(99) (Can't afford to upgrade) *Waves* :)
MythOpus: Disable your IE redirect :|
Copperman: Done, just for you :D
Copperman: Only 5 years too late but I finally got "my" map (Q3DM6 The Campgrounds" made. Well almost, it plays ok, the pathing was... tedious to say the least. I think I need so help with the lighting, I just don't quite seem to get it. :D
After some initial trouble getting the kickers working, I finally got the bots to navigate the whole map, including jumping across the "pillar room" Oh joy. It would appear that a horizontal "lift" is the way to go with this, although it seems you need a whole mechanism for each direction.(LE -> LC+LE) I have found that it's good to keep the LE+LC at the same coordinates to reduce "node dancing" (where the bot MUST run through a node"
After some frustrations with layout and pathing I made some radical changes to the geometry. I kept the over all feel of the run, no extra corridors or rooms, but I removed most of the curved wall after needing a small alteration at the sniper rifle kicker for consistency. This led to some quite nice game play side effects, most notably for players favouring the ripper and 8 ball. With many 45 degree wall sections the ripper blades really fly round the map. The other more obvious effect of this change was a huge reduction in polygons. Yeay \0/ Polygons I used later to brush sink trim the whole lot. I also replaced all stairs with ramps, again for poly speed but I think the map "runs" better to, less view-bob strain.
All in all this has been a great learning process, all about BSP anomalies and path-node hell, but all in all it's been a positive thing. I'm not finished with this map yet, lots of texture alignment and decoration to do yet. But that said, it plays well with 6-9 players. Anyone wanting to look at it can email me or message me here and I'll dispatch a copy for test purposes.
This map is now publicly available from Nali City here -> http://nalicity.beyondunreal.com/map_hub.php?mid=9413
Copperman: Currently working on a brand new map, CTF this time. W00t in fact, for 2-4 teams. I like the w00t idea, it takes CTF in an interesting direction. More later.
