UE3:Mapping for Jailbreak (UT3)

This article gives a short overview about how to create maps for the custom UT3 gametype Jailbreak.

Getting started

Before you start diving into the editor, get the latest version of UT3 Jailbreak first. (See sticky release threads for the download link.) You'll be needing actors and Kismet objects from the Jailbreak.u and JailbreakContent.u packages (and possibly from JailbreakTitanContent.u as well, depending on your map) to set up Jailbreak-specific things in your map. To load them automatically, open your UTEditor.ini (MyDocs\MyGames\UT3\UTGame\Config), find the [ModPackages] section and add the following lines to it:

ModPackages=Jailbreak
ModPackages=JailbreakContent
ModPackages=JailbreakTitanContent

Now you can open the editor and map right away. See Spoondog's Guide to Mapping for Jailbreak for general considerations about Jailbreak maps, but keep in mind that it was written for JB2004.

As always in UT3 it's probably better to start out additive, i.e. with an empty world, because it saves you a lot of time when rebuilding lighting. If your Jailbreak map is going to be indoor, just add a cube of about the size your map will be and start subtracting from that. The first thing you should probably do when you start a new Jailbreak map is setting up the map info:

1. Open View -> World Properties.
2. Open the group WorldInfo, find the property MyMapInfo and click the blue triangle button.
3. Select JBMapInfo from the pop-up menu. If it isn't listed, make sure you have loaded the Jailbreak package. (You can do so from the Actor Classes browser.)

In addition to the usual UTMapInfo properties for the radar map, music and level descriptions, the JBMapInfo also has some gameplay-related properties:

Execution group

ExecutionFallbackDelay

Maximum time in seconds players are allowed to live during the execution sequence before they will definitely be killed by the game.

JBMapInfo group

bDarkMatch

Whether "darkmatch" rules should be applied to the map. That means, players do not have any ambient glow and the area immediately surrounding your view is lit up a bit. Play DM-DarkMatch to get a feel for this mode.

bStartWithLockerWeaps

Whether free players should start with the weapons from the nearest weapon locker, like in VCTF or Warfare. Jailed players always only start with default weapons.

TransportationDevice group

See Transportation settings below for details.

CustomTranslocatorClass

An Inventory class to replace the Translocator on this map. If specified, and the game determines that the Translocator should be used, this inventory class is given to the player instead.

DefaultTransportationDevice

The default transportation device (Translocator or Hoverboard) to give players in this map. If Translocator and Hoverboard are both allowed (i.e. none of the "No Translocator/Hoverboard" mutators are in use), this property also tells which of the two to prefer.

SupportedTransportationDevice

What transportation devices are allowed on this map at all. Unsupported devices can't be forced, but if both are supported and forced (i.e. the "Force Translocator/Hoverboard" mutators are both in use), this property specifies which one to use.

Note that darkmatch, locker weapons and transportation settings are also available for arenas and will override the map settings there.

Jailbreak's music manager works a bit differently than the default UT3 music manager, so the standard music arrangements might not work as nicely for Jailbreak. No need to worry though, as there are custom arrangements of the stock music in the JailbreakMusicArrangements package.

Concepts

A classic Jailbreak map contains two bases, each with a release switch and a spawn area for one team, and two jails, each with player starts for one team. Jail locations are a frequent reason for debate, as they could be in the team's own base (not very realistic), in the enemy base (may cause "base swap", i.e. all players are in their respective enemy base and it's difficult to gain control over the own base again) or on neutral ground. The latter is usually the preferred way to do it because released players will not immediately gain control over either base.

The classic layout goes back to the UT version of Jailbreak, where only one switch per team was really supported and jail areas had to be assigned to a specific team. UT3 Jailbreak has come a long way since then. There can be more than one release switch per team, switches can change team ownership and even be neutral or disabled. Similarly, jail areas can contain player starts for both teams, allowing "shared jails" that can have separate exits for the two teams. Prisoners of both teams can't attack each other unless they pull out a melee weapon. This kind of jail fight is also allowed between players of the same team without penalty.

Transportation settings

Unlike the artificial separation between CTF and VCTF, Jailbreak is a single vehicle-supporting gametype where the mapper decides whether to include vehicles or not. Matching this philosophy, Jailbreak also allows the mapper to decide whether to give players a Translocator like in CTF and a Hoverboard like in VCTF, but this mapper decision isn't set in stone. The "transportation device" settings can be a bit confusing at first, but they actually provide a great amount of flexibility to the mapper and the player or server admin.

Mappers are encouraged to always support both transportation devices, even if the map will be using only one or neither of them by default. Maps with a default transportation device should also stay playable if the player decides to play with both devices disabled. That means it should be possible to reach the release switches and exit jails without a Translocator or Hoverboard. If an arena definitely won't work at all without a specific transportation device, you can either set that device as required for the arena or disable the arena if the transportation device is not available.

In addition to the default "No Translocator" mutator included in UT3, Jailbreak also provides a "No Hoverboard" mutator (which could also be used in VCTF or Warfare) and the "Force Hoverboard/Translocator" mutators, which only really work in Jailbreak. These four mutators interact with the map's (or arena's) transportation settings in a well-defined (and hopefully obvious) way. A transportation device is "available" if the corresponding "No" mutator isn't used and a device is "forced" if the corresponding "Force" mutator is active.

• If an arena requires a specific device, it will ignore the default and supported device settings and the four mutators.
• Conflicts between the supported devices and default devices settings (i.e. a device is specified as default, but is not supported) are resolved in favor of the supported devices.
• Unsupported devices cannot be forced via mutator.
• If both devices are supported, forcing either of them will enable that device even if the default device setting would prefer the other device if both are available.
  For the special case when both devices are forced, the supported device setting has the options "Both (prefer Translocator if forced)" and "Both (prefer Hoverboard if forced)" to let the mapper resolve this ambiguity.