VCTF-Timberland [Screens + Download] [small update 12/29/07]

[Bret Hart]

The long anticipated wait for most of you is over!

Name: VCTF-Timberland
Version: 1.0 Beta
Compatibility: UT3
Description: A remake of Halo's Timberland, for UT3.
Screenshot:






(The files go in your "documents" -> My Games\Unreal Tournament 3\UTGame\Published\CookedPC\Maps)

A very big thanks to:
- Jeri a.k.a. Jansoft88
- Green_Day_584



Without their expert help I could not have completed this map.

Download it here:
http://files.filefront.com/VCTF+Timb.../fileinfo.html

[jansoft88]

Glad I could help man .
Downloading now.

[Reverse]

Cool, downloading

[zidane01970]

You're next project should be blood gulch! *Downloads this now*

[Reverse]

You should add WaterVolume or something so that you can swim up from the hole by the waterfall. Also would be awesome if there was a Goliath in there imo.

Anywho, the map is great aside from that you can't swim in the water.

[Bret Hart]

There is a water volume for the river and by the waterfall.

[Reverse]

Okay, thats wierd then becouse I was unable to swim up from the hole below the waterfall, I had to use the Hoverboard to get up.

[audiosupernova]

Hey, not sure if anyone else sees this, but I seem to have a glitch with the map. The grass is all screwed up all over the map simply put.



I have some custom personal INI tweaks enabled(modified everything from shadow rez, draw distance, lod settings, etc) however which possibly could cause this, however I haven't had this problem in any other maps. I will swap my custom INI for the default one and let you know if the problem persists. Other than this the map looks and plays great. Excellent job Bret! I also played one of your other maps...I think it was yours anyhow, excellent work on them both, very impressed.

[jansoft88]

On my PC the grass is okay. But the trees behave in a weird fasion. When I'm away I can see the leaves but as I walk closer they disappear . Dunno what's causing it, I have all default INI files. No tweaks.

[audiosupernova]

Okay, no different. I have the latest drivers for my graphics card also, so that can't be it, but otherwise I'm not sure what might be causing the problem.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800
2GB DDR400
ATI Radeon HD2900512

Graphics set to highest at 1680x1050

[Bret Hart]

I really think it's your PC, audiosupernova. The grass is fine on my PC. I have an 8800 series card. It's probably your video card or your tweaked settings. As you can see in the first shot, the grass for me is fine.

[audiosupernova]

Hehe, problem solved:

And the culprit = ATI's latest driver. Roll back to last months driver, no problem, the december driver however...doesn't render the grass properly. I guess it's safe to say it works perfectly now, will have to wait until the January driver release apparently! Great job Bret!

[woooo]

Timberland is my favourite producer !

[AnubanUT2]

Wow ... really nice job. I wish you would have been around a couple of years ago ... I could have used your skills. I really like this map ... its fun fast and furious and the ring looks totally authentic ... good job so far I'll be keeping my eye on this map for certain. Thanks for taking the time to do this for the community.

[Bret Hart]

Wow ... really nice job. I wish you would have been around a couple of years ago ... I could have used your skills. I really like this map ... its fun fast and furious and the ring looks totally authentic ... good job so far I'll be keeping my eye on this map for certain. Thanks for taking the time to do this for the community.

Thank you for the kind words. Maybe if you decide to do a HaloUT3, I'll be your mapper
And for the final version, I plan on making some halo vehicles with the help of my new squad

[jansoft88]

I plan on making some halo vehicles with the help of my new squad

And half of that would be me .

the ring looks totally authentic ...

Thanks, That was my first static mesh ever .

[ShadeMistress]

First off, I love the map, thank you for porting this.

Secondly, I have weird graphical glitches when playing, and because of this, can almost never see my crosshairs or the stats. Here are some screens:




Lastly, after the match was over, I couldn't even see the scores really for my team... Here's a screen, though the screen doesn't quite show just how chaotic it was behaving, It was flashing and the little barcode-looking things were jumping all over the place and changing colors...

Screen:

[IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q117/hottingoth/Holy****.jpg[/IMG]

Other than that, I like the way this plays, there are plenty of different angles of approach and that rocks.

Oh, and the ladders don't work at all, I know they are buggy to begin with, but maybe remove them at least until a patch fixes them and temporarily replace them with Jumppads? just a thought.

Overall, excellent effort. I know that the water in the original doesn't really cut through the map like that, but it really adds to this. Can't wait to see what the final will look like.

Definitely needs music and some ambient sounds...

EDIT: ROFL, you'll have to replace the **** for that last screen with the real word "sh*t" to see it, didn't think of that when I named it...

[Bret Hart]

I dont know what to tell you about the graphical glitches. Have you updated your drivers latley? What's your video card? Yes I am aware of the ladders. This is because the wall direction only works one way, and cannot be changed. Besides, the ladders would take much longer to get to the upper deck, much faster to take a teleporter
I put them there just for authenticity. But I might do something to make it more obvious that the ladders dont work, like a sign. Quite frankly I don't like the dynamic music in UT3 so I left out music. I will put more ambient sounds near the running river perhaps.

[ShadeMistress]

I am using a BFG Tech NVidia GeForce 7300 GT and have already updated my drivers. I have no problems running any other maps, custom or not. So, I have no idea what causes those bugs, but it's definitely something in that particular map...I ran a few other matches on other maps, then switched to that one. The others were fine, but as soon as Timberland loaded up, it started with the glitches again...

My other computer has a PNY GeForce 8800 GT and still has the same graphics bug.

[Bret Hart]

Well I can assure you there's nothing wrong with the map graphically. I didn't alter it in any way to make it glitch on lower end video cards. And with a 7300 I'm surprised you're running the game at all. So I don't know what to tell you. I don't have any problems on my PC, I don't know why you are. Sorry.

[Catalase]

Bret, is it possible to avoid using dynamic music and just use one track? A single music track would be largely preferred, surely. Ambient sounds would still be awesome in addition though; water bubbling over rocks, the occasional bird call etc.

Also, a 7300 is capable of running the game, just not max settings.

[Bret Hart]

The map settings only accepts "music arrangements" which are made up of different tracks for action, ambient, intro, etc. Even if I were to modify one of these music arrangements, the music would constantly start over and over everytime there was action, or no action.

[ShadeMistress]

Actually a GeForce 7300 GT (512MB) is more than sufficient for UT3, I only run the game on this computer to ensure compatibility with lower-end systems.

It still doesn't explain why a AMD Athlon x2 64 6000+ with a PNY GeForce 8800 GT on lowest settings still gets the exact same graphics error, unless the download got borked when I downloaded it both times.

Also, as far as music goes, you can always turn it off if you don't like it... but hey, it's ur call... lack of music of any sort always makes a map feel unfinished IMHO. But, that's just my opinion.

[jansoft88]

I haven't yet played this build of this map (have been busy all day learning UnrealScript) but when I played an earlier build (to make the mini map) I got the same glitch ShadeMistress has now. At that point I thought it was happening because the mini map wasn't present.
Anyhow, I have a laptop that has the Geforce Go 7400 (this is effectively the same GPU as ShadeMistress'. Why she (based on your alias, if you're not a she please let me know ) is having the problem on an 8800 GT .. is beyond me.

[Bret Hart]

I just can't see anything in the map that would cause that to happen, if an expert here wants to let me know, I'll fix it.

Edit: It might be because I have "MorphingGradientsEnabled" checked on the terrain but that is just a guess. I will disable it for the final.

[Green_Day_584]

oh sh1t... i missed it! congrats bret, soz. dling now

[Green_Day_584]

Actually a GeForce 7300 GT (512MB) is more than sufficient for UT3, I only run the game on this computer to ensure compatibility with lower-end systems.

It still doesn't explain why a AMD Athlon x2 64 6000+ with a PNY GeForce 8800 GT on lowest settings still gets the exact same graphics error, unless the download got borked when I downloaded it both times.

Also, as far as music goes, you can always turn it off if you don't like it... but hey, it's ur call... lack of music of any sort always makes a map feel unfinished IMHO. But, that's just my opinion.

if that guy is running Vista, it could have a drastic impact.

people who ran the same 7600GT i had on XP could almost max it in Oblivion...

but Vista users with the SAME CARD got fairly noticable performance breaches, including very unstable framerates. a great OS, but when it comes to video intensive processes, Vista fails.

in other words, Vista is just a huge graphics wh0r3

[Bret Hart]

Yeah, I wonder if Jeri runs vista too? I'll have to ask him. He was having some graphics glitches also. In any case I noticed all of epic's maps have MorphingGradientsEnabled unchecked. I might just try doing that on my terrain, very odd that the setting might cause it, I am unsure. I can't think of what else might do it.

[ShadeMistress]

I think I found out why, when I extracted this, I extracted to my "CustomMaps" folder, but it kept your folder path Inside of that path...

I will try running this again in a bit and see if it changed anything.

I've found that my copy of UT3 doesn't like the "Maps" directory and prefers to run things smoother from a "CustomMaps" directory. So it doesn't seem like it's the map, just the game being nit-picky. Will confirm after testing...

EDIT: no dice, still getting the same glitch... oh well...

On both computers too.

So, I know it has nothing to do with graphics cards or drivers or OS, cuz one comp has XP Pro x64 n the other is running XP Pro... GL :/

[alto]

I am using a BFG Tech NVidia GeForce 7300 GT and have already updated my drivers. I have no problems running any other maps, custom or not. So, I have no idea what causes those bugs, but it's definitely something in that particular map...I ran a few other matches on other maps, then switched to that one. The others were fine, but as soon as Timberland loaded up, it started with the glitches again...

My other computer has a PNY GeForce 8800 GT and still has the same graphics bug.

I used to have a 7300GT, It ran ut3 quite well (800x600 low settings - (15-25fps) but I now have a 7800GS, runs it at med 800x600 30-35fps and 50fps in inside areas. 7300GT is actually a very good card, its just my CPU is so bad it lets my system down (AMD Athlon 3000+ 2.0GHz - Overclocked to 2.4GHz)

[Rocknificent]

Very nice, great looking map. Looks really true to the original.

[jansoft88]

I think I found out why, when I extracted this, I extracted to my "CustomMaps" folder, but it kept your folder path Inside of that path...

I will try running this again in a bit and see if it changed anything.

I've found that my copy of UT3 doesn't like the "Maps" directory and prefers to run things smoother from a "CustomMaps" directory. So it doesn't seem like it's the map, just the game being nit-picky. Will confirm after testing...

EDIT: no dice, still getting the same glitch... oh well...

Hmm.. Well I don't use Vista. Plain old XP (with SP2 ). I put the map files all in the Published/CustomMaps folder without making a new folder in there. Dunno why this error is appearing.

[theadvanced1]

very nice. i always liked some of the worlds in the halo series but i hate halos gameplay

[Bret Hart]

Like I said I'll try disabling MorphingGradients on the terrain and hope it helps those who are having problems.

[chaos667]

yeah! this is that map )))
ok, ill test it for sure! thanks mates!

[[Apoc]Cerberus]

Bret: Nice job! The map is a little small for my tastes, but that's just personal preference. Plays great @ 6-on-6, though. (I'm more into the 16-on-16 mayhem, meself)
The map runs fine on my rig. No graphical glitches here (WinXP Pro 32-bit, AM2 5000+ CPU, 8800GT).

Things I've noticed for consideration of the final release:
1) If you stand alongside the falls and look up at it, it seems to be falling from several feet above the riverbed, in mid-air.

2) Aesthetically, the waterfall could stand a little polishing; it looks a little cartoonish,...but that's just nitpicking.

3) Once I familiarized myself with the map and the botpathing, I found it awfully easy to cap the flag. Might make it tougher if the flags were at the back of the corridor, instead of the front. (Or, better yet, in the upper level.)

4) A nice powerup, like a UDamage or Berserk, mid-map could spice things up a bit...Just a thought.

5) I found that if you just run off the top level of the base, you land on the outcrop of the first level, and then to the ground without damage. This makes the portal from the second floor to the ground outside the base kinda redundant. (but, again, just me nitpicking. No harm leaving them in anywho.)

6) Since the first thing peeps do when they spawn in is look for a weapons locker, I've gotten into the habit of pointing my PlayerStarts directly at the nearest one, so they're not busy spinning around looking for them. (Again, nitpicking. Sorry)

7) Maybe a few StaticMeshes out in the field, to make the ground area more interesting? (I know, I know!...Nitpicking!)

All-in-all, an exceptional beta! Keep it up! I'm looking forward to the final!

C-Dog

[Bret Hart]

1) If you stand alongside the falls and look up at it, it seems to be falling from several feet above the riverbed, in mid-air.

I have fixed that already.

2) Aesthetically, the waterfall could stand a little polishing; it looks a little cartoonish,...but that's just nitpicking.

It's the same waterfall like in WAR-Serenity so I think it's fine.

3) Once I familiarized myself with the map and the botpathing, I found it awfully easy to cap the flag. Might make it tougher if the flags were at the back of the corridor, instead of the front. (Or, better yet, in the upper level.)

It would be difficult to escape with the flag in my opinion.

4) A nice powerup, like a UDamage or Berserk, mid-map could spice things up a bit...Just a thought.

I'll consider it.

5) I found that if you just run off the top level of the base, you land on the outcrop of the first level, and then to the ground without damage. This makes the portal from the second floor to the ground outside the base kinda redundant. (but, again, just me nitpicking. No harm leaving them in anywho.)

Yes, but the portal takes you in front of the vehicles. I could have it take you elsewhere but I don't know yet.

6) Since the first thing peeps do when they spawn in is look for a weapons locker, I've gotten into the habit of pointing my PlayerStarts directly at the nearest one, so they're not busy spinning around looking for them. (Again, nitpicking. Sorry)

I might relocate them.

7) Maybe a few StaticMeshes out in the field, to make the ground area more interesting? (I know, I know!...Nitpicking!)

Trees and rocks aren't enough for ya?

[[Apoc]Cerberus]

On PlayerStarts:

I might relocate them.

Not really necessary; location seems good, I'd just rotate them so the arrows point toward the Weapon Lockers. That'll have peeps spawning in with the Weapon Lockers in view.

[Bret Hart]

No I was referring to relocating the weapon lockers so they are more in sight when you spawn.

[chaos667]

4) A nice powerup, like a UDamage or Berserk, mid-map could spice things up a bit...Just a thought.

7) Maybe a few StaticMeshes out in the field, to make the ground area more interesting? (I know, I know!...Nitpicking!)

All-in-all, an exceptional beta! Keep it up! I'm looking forward to the final!

C-Dog

yeah, i've tested it and my thoughts are exactly like Cerberus wrote.

the size of the map is ok, but i think it will be cool to have some not very large construction in the middle of a map, maybee some kind of bunker, where you can obtain this powerup. or at least some nice detail, because map feels a little empty, even if the terrain looks really fantasting (i like to run with a flag on the hoverboard

and yeah the best place for a flag on the 2nd level, coz you cant jump from above on the hoverboard (because it affects you to fall from it, and as a result, big chance to be killed instantly), so you'll need to carefuly jump on ur foots, and then grab a vehicle or a hoverboard, or other way is to jump in the teleport, and rush through the defence.

because it's too easy to take mantra or scorpion, kill the defenders with them, grab a flag, and runaway with the hoverboard.

yeah and the map is really cool, i had a lot of fun playing it! GJ DUDE!