MP Festung [RELEASED]

[Crayfish]

Ver: beta1 - released 22/01/09

SCREENSHOTS:





GAMEPLAY AND FEATURES:

The map is a symetrical, opposing-forts stlye, vaguely akin to GOW2 'River' and GOW1 'GoldRush'. The map is set up in such a way that battles will be waged not only East-West, but also North-South and Upper Areas vs Lower Areas. There are several different routes from east to west, that offer varying degrees of speed, cover and item reward.
Upper Terrace Bridge: This is the fastest route, and has the Torque Bow as a reward, but it is open to attack from virtualy every area of the map, and is totaly exposed to the sniper Towers.
Garden Area: This is a slower route, but offers the most cover and offers the Boomshot and Frag Grenades to retake the upper areas of the map.
Mezzinine Level: This is the slowest route, but offers fair cover and the opportunity to command the whole of the upper areas from the central Sniper Tower.
The maps special feature is its switch controled Dynamic Cover. This dynamic cover offers protection for the Garden Terrace that contains the Boomshot. In this map, you not only fight for contol of the items and strategic ground, but also the switches that control the cover. This should be a great feature in Annex and King of the Hill modes especialy.


CONSTRUCTION:

*Because of the intimate relationship a player has with the enviroment in Gears of War, I found out very quickly that sloppy collision work makes for extremely frustrating gameplay. To this end, I have done extensive blocking work, smoothing off all the walls and surfaces in an effort to make using cover and traversing the map as smooth as possible.
*The maps overgrown ruin theme was achieved with no less that 2454 (count em) individual pieces of foliage. The ivy-creeper was done with only three different meshes, two flat and one curved, scaled and arranged into a dizzying number of configurations.
*The map also features some faked GOW2 style destructible walls in the sniper towers, made using stock destructible meshes.

DOWNLOAD:
http://files.filefront.com/MP+Festun.../fileinfo.html


THANKS:
Firstly huge thanks to MozI for his GOW technical advice through the whole project, especialy helping create an early version of the Kismet that makes the dynamic cover possible.
Tutorials: 3D Buzz(UT3 Special Edition DVD), Hourences, DGUnreal, cannedmushrooms, godfree7 & kcin228(Youtube).
Inspirational Mappers: Epic GOW team, Mozi, Kantham, NEVERISM, NastyNoodle.

ISSUES-TO DO LIST:
*Bot Support: pls dont request this until the map has reached final status, at which time ill undertake a conversion.
*The lighting scheme is very flat and doesnt do the level justice i feel. Its clear enough to get the level out, but is something ill certainly be working on in future updates.
*The Green-Red dynamic cover switch lights dont really fit the rest of the theme, in later releases I'll probably create an Indiana Jones/ Tomb Raider style moving slab or something.
*The objects i used to fake GOW style destructible walls in the sniper towers turn too dark when they break. Enabling light enviroment makes wierd shadows and eats resources, but a bright skylight did the job perfectly, so is there a way to set a destructible object to recieve a specific lighting channel?
*There is a bizarre ambient sound issue with the wind effects on one side of the map. Either rendering the sounds too loud or too quiet. The sound radius doesnt correlate to the way its arranged within the editor. I've compensated for it for now, but hope to isolate the problem at a later date.
*I cant cook the map?! For some reason I get an error while cooking. For now this isnt a problem, as many seem to prefer uncooked.
Anything else that comes up in the beta testing phase...


INSTALLATION:
Unzip MP_Festung_beta1.zip
MAP FILE
Place the .war file in your C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\My Documents\My Games\Gears of War for Windows\WarGame\Published\CookedPC\Maps\CustomMaps
TO PLAY THE MAP
Press the tidle key on your keyboard to open the console, then type "open mp_festung_beta1"
Or select the map in a multiplayer game. "start MP_Festung_beta1"

Enjoy, Crayfish.

[MozI]

Congrats Crayfish!

I'll fire this one up tonight and take a tour, def. want to see the kismet movers in action!

Edit: Really dig the foliage mate!

[ViLsMiK]

Great work Crayfish,

i will download and give you some feedback as soon as i get a solid play through, its looking freakishly good judging by the screens.

[NastyNoodle]

looks very sexy. downloading now

[BurnedInternal]

This Might Be The Sickest Custom Map Ive Ever Seen.. The Tomb Raider Idea Is Great. That And Resident Evil Used To Be my Favorite Games Growing Up As A Kid Because Of All The Puzzles And Stuff

[Kantham]

Nice work Cray. I still remember the day I told you you should give Gears mapping a go, I see it was worth it, we can see you have what it take to deal with different types of games.

All out of these shots I'd say that this one is really impressive. The only thing that bothers me a bit is the way the ground grass looks. Maybe a little darker and less yellow-ish would have made a little more sense to me.
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/1603/005od8.jpg

I'll give the level a good try, I'll see what you've done with the dynamic cover.

[Crayfish]

Massive thanks guys, all of my fave GOW mappers (cept Neversim) are present, so all your words really mean alot. Thanks to all of you for the help and inspiration so far.
Im eager to hear feedback on the level itself, please check out 'ISSUES-TO DO LIST' for some of my own current concerns with beta1 while your at it.
Crayfish.

[ViLsMiK]

i have to say that in all honesty that this map is phenomenal, the atmosphere you have created is truly original and the foliage looks beautiful, due to the awesome layout you have created it actually feels like it could have been a original map shipped with the game.

you really put thought into this one and it shows, i love how i can see my flank coming with the openness to the map and very nice addition downstairs to the boomshot pickup with the slide up wall action (perfect)

Imho The Best Map I have encountered ever on this forum


what a debut Crayfish, well done

[LiquidLeary]

Nice job Crayfish. This has to be the best custom MP map in gow AS IS. Tons of awesome effects and I love how the walls kill the player if you are standing on them when triggered

Here are some issues from my first playthrough:

Framerate drops to about 45-50 on the small exposed platforms (no rooftop) on either side of the map on the upper level.

Coverlinks are missing continuity between the low walls connected to the pillars in the covered stairway area going down from the sniper spawn to the boomshot spawn.

The player can become stuck upon walking off the ledge of the boomshot pit when walking toward the sniper tower. The player jumps down onto the concrete bordering the weeds growing on top of the wall.

I agree with your comment about lighting. Some areas are a little dark, and with so much foliage a little variation in color could help the player get oriented in the dense combat zones.

Let me know if you needs screens etc for any of this. Thanks for sharing Crayfish!

[theron]

Very good map! I love it! But please change the ground texture beacuse the actual one looks kinda "strange".

[MozI]

So I gave it a spin and it's really good. Two comments

First I would suggest you tone down the leaves flying by just a little bit it's a nice touch but I think there are too many leaves...

Second as you mentioned you wanted to improve lighting definitely focus on that. Such a solid map deserves a nice 'mood' be it night time, dusk, day...

Like the dynamic cover very cool! If a game could be organized I would love to fire this up and get some frags in, turn this pretty arena into a blood bath!

[LiquidLeary]

Like the dynamic cover very cool! If a game could be organized I would love to fire this up and get some frags in, turn this pretty arena into a blood bath!

Ditto. Bring it!

[NastyNoodle]

this might be the sickest custom map ive ever seen.. The tomb raider idea is great. That and resident evil used to be my favorite games growing up as a kid because of all the puzzles and stuff

ban this sick filth!

[BurnedInternal]

WTF Are You Talking About What Did I Do

[Crayfish]

i have to say that in all honesty that this map is phenomenal, the atmosphere you have created is truly original and the foliage looks beautiful, due to the awesome layout you have created it actually feels like it could have been a original map shipped with the game.

you really put thought into this one and it shows, i love how i can see my flank coming with the openness to the map and very nice addition downstairs to the boomshot pickup with the slide up wall action (perfect)

Imho The Best Map I have encountered ever on this forum

what a debut Crayfish, well done

Wow thankyou VilsMik, Im really glad you like the layout. I really love designing for GOW mp gameplay, the intimate relationship to the enviroment means you can engineer some very specific gameplay scenarios. I put alot of thought into the layout and trying to balance the different team strat options,
I really hope it pans out in actual online play...

Nice job Crayfish. This has to be the best custom MP map in gow AS IS. Tons of awesome effects and I love how the walls kill the player if you are standing on them when triggered

Here are some issues from my first playthrough:

1.)Framerate drops to about 45-50 on the small exposed platforms (no rooftop) on either side of the map on the upper level.

2.)Coverlinks are missing continuity between the low walls connected to the pillars in the covered stairway area going down from the sniper spawn to the boomshot spawn.

3.)The player can become stuck upon walking off the ledge of the boomshot pit when walking toward the sniper tower. The player jumps down onto the concrete bordering the weeds growing on top of the wall.

4.)I agree with your comment about lighting. Some areas are a little dark, and with so much foliage a little variation in color could help the player get oriented in the dense combat zones.

Let me know if you needs screens etc for any of this. Thanks for sharing Crayfish!

Massive thanks LiquidLeary, Im really glad you saw the cover kill, I didn't know if anyone would notice that. If you are taking cover against the posts when it raises, it will sometimes come up between Ur legs and 'goalpost' you, leaving you stradled one leg either side. Childish, but always cracks me up..
To you excellent points..
1.) I did everything I know to optimise. All the blocking volumes are done with meshes, not bsp (a great tip from DGUnreals site), the bsp is very minimal and all non visible surfaces have 'remove surface material'. I cant really use cull distance since the whole look of the map is focused on creating huge panoramas of mountains and the harbour below, and if big chunks of foliage started popping up, it'd be very noticable i think.. Perhaps removing one of the leaf particle effect (as proposed by MozI would help). Im running a Radeon2900Pro which I class as mid range right now, and its generaly 60fps with some drops. Any other optimisation tips are welcomed..
2.) Do you mean where the (stone wall) banister meets the Bridge pillars? I've tried to bring every surface I can 'flush' to have flowing cover, but some distances are too great to span. The pillars are arround twice as thick as the bannister, so its hard to bridge that gap.. Pls let me know if I've missed the actual area you mean.
3.) Thanks I noticed that this is possible coming from the bridge going in the opposite direction too, I'll add in some more blocking. I thoght that the engine automaticaly blocks you from jumping down from high platforms, but its not always the case. When you take aim, it seems you can breach and climb up many solid features..
4.) Yes lighting is of the highest priority..
Thanks again..

Very good map! I love it! But please change the ground texture beacuse the actual one looks kinda "strange".

Thanks Theron, I've always wanted to play your Regenerator map, but its unfortunately one of the maps that crashes for me on startup.. Yes the ground texture will have to be addressed. Its kinda nessesary atm to have a bright floor since the foliage is very dark and tracking players would be very hard, but the texture is certainly too yellow. I've tried to darken the grassy areas with the shadows of the weed/grass meshes, but alas its not enough.
I really love the overgrown stonework texture, its perfect and I'd like to keep it if poss. I will be making the lighting sceme warmer and removing some of the blue that makes the foliage so dark, this will help blend it in, I could also try to cutomise the teture in the material editor (once I learn how) to tone down the yellow.. Failing that, I'll have to use a different texture..

So I gave it a spin and it's really good. Two comments
1.)First I would suggest you tone down the leaves flying by just a little bit it's a nice touch but I think there are too many leaves...
2.)Second as you mentioned you wanted to improve lighting definitely focus on that. Such a solid map deserves a nice 'mood' be it night time, dusk, day...
Like the dynamic cover very cool! If a game could be organized I would love to fire this up and get some frags in, turn this pretty arena into a blood bath!

Massive thanks MozI. As you know, Pipline is my fave custom map, so means alot. To you points:
1.) I hadn't thought of this a problem, but if its distracting I'll remove one of the particle effects. How do other people feel about the leaves? Removing one of the leaf particle effects could help with performance too tho..
2.) Yes no.1 priority. It will remain day and basical the same (since the long distance panoramas took alont time to balance visualy, especialy the sea and city harbour, but Im gonna really rework the playble area, making it warmer and with greater variation in colour and tone.

Ditto. Bring it!

Guys I just created this thread concerning organising some custom map online play, check it out:
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=654673

WTF Are You Talking About What Did I Do

Burned, don't stress, I think its a play on words by Sarah that perhaps didnt translate. You said map was sick, she says its bannably sick.
Thanks to you both eitherway.

Crayfish.

[darksin]

great map design and remind me tomb raider and lord of ring campaign. wait for...well never mind

[Ashrak]

Neato Map.. I would soil myself if someone put some bots on it.....

[cod-x]

Great map,with awesome visuals.I was sitting freezed in my chair when I first saw the map.I very like the maps layout,and the dynamic covers are really good idea.I have no comment for lightning because I read you're working on it.I think you should work with Epic or with some talented mappers here to push out really strong levels in a map-pack like this one.You understanding a lot on gameplay and visuals as well,and as I saw the presentation and guidline are very impressive.Nice work!Keep going!

[Ihtesam]

----------

[Gush]

Awesome map Cray!
I really like the map layout and visual! Reminds me of a TR level!

I'd just put some more green color on the ground grass. It's a lil too yellow, isn't it?

Eheh, you really rock at mapping!
Looking for your next map, make it asap!

[LiquidLeary]

This map is killer on Annex, works really well. Looking forward to final release!

[Kantham]

I think it works better with my active reloads.

[LiquidLeary]

I think it works better with my active reloads.

You mean the sniper rifle or the map?

[Rohit_N]

Sometimes I'm stuck on a while when I respawn in this map, and I can't melee to get off.

[Kantham]

You mean the sniper rifle or the map?

Lol both. I thought you'd get it. It's very, very relevant to the last game we had.

The sniper spot is a b*tchy one, controls nearly the entire map, and I could hear people from behind (playing with headset). pissing some of you guys with actives.

[LiquidLeary]

Lol both. I thought you'd get it. It's very, very relevant to the last game we had.

Gotcha. Yes active sniper is a beast on this game, especially from the center tower of Festung.

[Kantham]

Exactly. I think there should be Hamerbursts from the side towers. Or frags there too, so people can trow them at middle tower or something like that.

A bit silly, but maybe add 2 Boomshots on that Boom spawn so we get more than just 2 ammo for the long run? Just a thought.

On reflexion, there already are frags near the boomspawn. Mhh...

[Crayfish]

Thanks alot for the feedback guys. Several interesting points come up that I've been thinking about.
First off, regarding getting stuck in various places around the map: I think its the simple 'plane' meshes I used in place of blocking volumes (optimisation trick from DG Unreal) that are causeing the problem, where I used the simple cube meshes for the same job, it doesn't seem to have the same problem. Im replacing alot of this for Beta 2 along with more blocking in general.

Regard in Sniping/ Sniper tower. Just first to say that personal I have no problem with active, tho I know the community is somewhat split on this..

The stregnth of the tower I think must take two factors into account. Firstly we were playing Annex, and the map (as with all maps) was designed with Warzone and Execution in mind. If anything I wwas concerned that the sniper tower isn't strong enough in these modes, since it it doesnt have nearly the command of say Gridlocks tower, Festung's whole lower and side areas are blocked from view (though all the 'central' Anex spots are viewable), and it takes two people to hold the tower, since you can't survey the front and rear/side approaches from one point (as u can in Gridlock). Coming from the spawns (which I'll also be fixing in Beta2), the tower takes the longest to reach of any point on the map. My real concern for the map is that the central bridge is too short and direct a route, and that people wont bother going up or down to the other areas (I may remove the Torque for this reason, and maybe add extra obstacles..)
Secondly, there are major problems with visibility into the towers in Beta1 (due to poor lighting). In Annex the tower is important because it has view to the other Annex points and contains the switch for lowering the dynamic cover (which I'll be putting a delay on in Beta2). This is balanced by the fact that, as stated peviously) you need two people to hold the tower, and that you have to stand up and expose urelf to use the button. The almost black shadowing in Beta1 really removes this risk.
Also I had made the central bridge and the side towers a set height - distance from the central sniper tower so that Grenades can be thrown freehand (no need to Right Click Aim) onto it. But the Frag Grendaes are down to the sides of the Boom platform. There are a couple of options here. 1. Move the Frags upto the side towers, 2. Replace the Torque with an extra set of Frags (this would gowell with my issue with the central bridge). I don't know if putting HammerBursts in the side towers would help, do people ever ever pick those up anyway?
btw, is there a way to give extra Boom Ammo without placing another Boom?

So to sumarise for Beta 2:
Rebuild Lighting.
Rebuilding alot of Blocking.
Either move Frags to side towers, replace Torque, extra obstacles on bridge.
Add delay on the Dynamic cover.
Make a Lance version if people want it, duno how well its suited, but Lance seems to be super popular, anyone? Love to see that Palace Guard running around on here anyway! Also a Horde mode, tho ill need some help-advice with this..
Fixing Spawns.
Tweak ambient sound issues, which i think I've located..

[darksin]

any chance for a lance version? yes, sure man, no doubt
whenever i meet a mp, my suggestion is always a lance version,
maybe this is annoying but if i don't ask, some mp will never go into botted version,
u c not only me play lance,anyway the mappers can ignore me,,,

lance is so popular ,and we love your map design.
i hope all your future maps can make into lance,like Taffer and theron did...
so really hope convert this when lance 3 final version is out, always more lance more good, thx man!!...

[theron]

Rebuild Lighting.
Rebuilding alot of Blocking.
Either move Frags to side towers, replace Torque, extra obstacles on bridge.
Add delay on the Dynamic cover.
Make a Lance version if people want it, duno how well its suited, but Lance seems to be super popular, anyone? Love to see that Palace Guard running around on here anyway! Also a Horde mode, tho ill need some help-advice with this..
Fixing Spawns.
Tweak ambient sound issues, which i think I've located..

Don't forget about cameras...

[Crayfish]

so really hope convert this when lance 3 final version is out,
always more lance more good, thx man!!...

Yes it will be after my current UT3 projects for MSUC so i think LNC3 final should be out by then. Iidealy I want to make any bot version of the 'final' map, so hoping there wont be too many issues to fix from Beta2. I will certainly undertake a lance version when its final, i'd also like to make a horde version at some point too.

Don't forget about cameras...

I thought people enjoyed looking up at the sky during matches..

[darksin]

lance and horde version both, thx indeed,

so besides player vs bots, we got another chance to shoot more types of locusts,

that's the best news i heard .....

[Ashrak]

Cannot wait for your Lance 3 version...

[DJmilo5]

is there anywhere else to download this except from filefront, because filefront takes ages to load
although i might just wait for your lance 3 version..........

[Crayfish]

I've reuploaded beta1 (see first post), soz for the downtime. Beta2 is due 'sometime' soon...

[darksin]

thx for the future big update.........