DM-HealPod3_Final

[snorkelbottom]

Name: DM-HealPod3 Final Version

Author: G. N. "Snorkelbottom" Singleton

Version: Final

Compatability: PC Patch 2.0 or higher

Description : This is a remake of the Unreal & Unreal Tournament DM maps DM-HealPod & DM-HealPod][. For this map I decided that I wanted it to look abandoned, and in a state of disrepair and decadence. Not the best idea for ones first map, but after much work I finally acheived what I had originally envisioned.

Menu Description: After the first Liandri tournament became a commercial success for the Liandri Corporation the HealPod facility was closed down and abandoned, as construction work began on the more complex and asthetically attractive Strident facility.


Screenshots:









Downloads - http://www.filebucket.info/?1xdvu44yb - http://ut3.ut-files.com/index.php?di...Pod3_Final.zip



Aside from some geometeric changes, most of which should not be immediately noticable, I have made some minor changes to the map after comparing the two original incarnations of the map, HealPod and HealPod][.

1. The Sheild Belt pick up has been returned to its original position as it was in HealPod (from the Unreal incarnation of the map), because this higly rewarding item was too easily obtained in the UT99 version of the map.

2. Because the Sheild Belt has been moved I have reinstated the inclusion of the Armour Vest pick up in its place (there was an Armour Vest pick up nearby this position in the first incarnation of Healpod). The Thigh Pads pick up remains in the same location as it was in HealPod][.

3. To complete the suit of armour the Helmet pick up has been placed on the bottom floor of the map, in front of the lift that only rises to the middle floor. Now there is an item of armour on each of the three main floors of the map.

4. I have placed the Jump Boots opposite the Flak Cannon (the Jump Boots were in a nearby position in the first incarnation of HealPod). Having Jump Boots will allow players extra access to the higher floors of the map.

5. The Ripper in the map is the RipperliteV2. Despite the fact that it is essentially an modded translocator, I am happy with the look of the weapon. However, there are a few problems with this modified weapon (see the Ripper section below). Of course the Ripper is in the same location as it was in HealPod][.

6. The Invisibility power-up has been replaced with the Berserk power-up. The fast, brutal pace of the map does not require an Invisibility power-up, but does encourage the use of the Berserk power-up.

7. The secret room is now hidden behind a jet of green toxic goo steam. I have done this because I felt that having part of a pipe drop into the floor didn't look right. Of course, this toxic steam will kill players instantly upon contact. Access to the secret room is no longer achieved via a switch on the opposite wall, to gain access to the secret room players have to......... I don't think so lol!?!

8. There are now more ammunition pick ups within the map than in previous incarnations. This will make sense to players of HealPod and HealPod][ - as there where 4 rocket launcher, flak cannon and sniper rifle ammunition pick ups, but the rest of the weapons only had 2 ammunition pick ups each. These extra ammunition pick ups have been added to help balance the map.


I have also made some more drastic changes, which were required to help the flow and balance of the map. Experienced and professional level designers should agree with the changes I have made.

1. The most drastic change that I have made is that the healing platform is now situated on the middle floor. I have done this because in the original two incarnations of the map most of the action was focused around the healing platform which was situated on the bottom floor of the map. Therefore, the upper floors of the map were barely used. By moving the healing platform up one floor the whole map should now be used by players, helping the flow of the map.

2. I have reduced the amount of health granted to players on the platform from 15 units a second down to 10 units a second. I have done this to reduce the risk/reward element of the piston/healing platform which in turn should reduce players overuse of the feature, and also to reflect the idea that the map has been neglected for many years, and thus the performance of the platform has wained.

3. The colour of the energy emitted from the healing platform has been changed from its original green to more closely match the aqua green used as the healing energy within the Health Vial, Health Pack and Keg O' Health in UT3.

4. The mechanism by which the piston is dropped onto the healing platform has been changed slightly to stop players becoming over-reliant upon the use of the "trap". In the original maps the piston was dropped by standing on any of the four buttons on the ground floor of the map. In this remake these buttons have been replaced with six illuminated floor panels, with two placed on each of the three main floors of the map. Furthermore only one of these illuminated floor panels can be used to release the piston. The allocated illuminated floor panel is selected at random, but not until the piston has been fully retracted.

5. The ventilation tunnel at the very top of the map has been greatly shortened and now only contains one Sniper Rifle pick up. I have done this simply because there was no need for two sniper rifles in the map (as in HealPod][). The new area that houses the Sniper Rifle also has an opening in the floor that allows players to drop down onto the Flak Cannon, maintaining the flow of the map.


This is a comprehensive list of the changes that I have implemented to the map for the final release to address a few issues found in my original, unfinished release. I also wanted to add to the polish and flow of the map, and improve upon the decadent atmosphere of the map, bringing the map up the standards of the stock maps made by Epic Games:

1. Sound - I have reduced the volume of most of the ambient sounds music within the map by approximately 50% because in the inital release most of the sounds were initially too loud. Of course sounds have been added / removed where needed. I have also replaced the music track within the map with one of the tracks shipped with UT3 (see Music Track section below).

2. Layout - I have added a new room on the higher level, containing a Spider Mine Trap Deployable pick up. I have done this to help players differentiate between the two lifts when on the top level of the map. I have also altered the materials on some walls and floors throughout the map, especially on the middle floor of the map to add more variety to the look of the map, which has been further added upon with the use of dirt decal actors.

3. Decoration - As best as possible, taking into account the claustropobic nature of the map, I have reduced the amount of "Flat Walls" within the level, especially on the lower floor of the map. I have also added and altered some static mesh layouts throughout the map. I have done this to help bring the map closer to the standards seen within the UT3 stock maps. Some of the more noticable static mesh amendments are as follows:
Added a few windows to show the newly added industrial landscape outside the map, with heavy rain and puddles.
Altered meshes underneath the healpod platform.
Added two slime pools on the lower level of the map, and a volatile splat of goo under the generator.
Added biogoo slime meshes and details on the generator to hint that the healing energy is derived from the goo.
Improved the ceiling in the Rocket Launcher steam room.

4. Lighting - I have added a few flickering lights, to help show the decadence within the map. I have also removed the lights and lift panels on all lifts so as not to patronise players.

5. Finalising - I have added camera shake when the piston hits the healpod platform. I have also toned down the bloom inside the HealPod itself. Finally, I have done a full blocking volume pass on the map to to eliminate players sticking to / inbetween any static meshes.


Special Thanks go out to...


The Guys at Epic Games (especially Cliff Bleszinski and Alan Willard) for making Unreal Tournament 3 and their work on the original maps - HealPod and HealPod][.

Parser for the RipperLiteV2.

The guys at Clickteam for their awesome install creator.

Everyone on the Epic Games forums, especially Bl!tz~, bn_avit, Shade Mistress and sneh, as well as those that gave feedback on my original release of thes map. Thanks to all for their help and support.

3DBuzz for their invaluable guidance and video tutorials.

UDN (especially Dave Ewing and Richard Nalezynski) for their guidance and advice.

Sjoerd "Hourences" De Jong for his guidance.

The guys at icecreamyou.com for their guidance.

The guys at fraghouse.beyondunreal.com. for their guidance.

James Perry for his playtesting and invaluable feedback.

[TIPPER]

This is a nice bit of mapping snorkelbottom
However, windows seems to want to shut the game down a few mins into play i wondered if it was anything to do with the installer ? I'm checking it out. A zip file version without an installer might be an idea.

[lowenz]

Thanks! Unreal forever

[snorkelbottom]

Tipper - the archive is zip format, n the installer is fine. i ave played the map over n over... try altering ur video settings the map has alot of detail.

[TIPPER]

Seems to be okay now. Have no idea what the problem was.
It's a great map snorklebottom. Thanks. It will take me a while to not expect the heal pod to stay shut.......i think the UT2004 version did (?)
The detail is excellent. I find some of the passages a bit tight and fighting around and in the pod gets pretty random at times. Definitely a keeper. Make another

[1XTreme]

Looks pretty darn sweet from the screens. Thx for your work m8.

[snorkelbottom]

Thanx guys, i already ave another map up - Tokaido Gardens Joust.

[Skillz]

mirror

http://ut3.ut-files.com/index.php?di...Pod3_Final.zip

[snorkelbottom]

Well guys the map has been out there for a few weeks now, and I am curious as to what your opinions are of the map now that it has finally been completed.

[TIPPER]

I dont understand why this hasn't received more comment snorkelbottom because its a first class map.

[Bl!tz~]

I dont understand why this hasn't received more comment snorkelbottom because its a first class map.

+1 to that

dont worry snorkel it s not only yer maps....it looks like the forums are deserted

[snorkelbottom]

Thank Tipper and Blitz, I guess only us hardcore fans are on here

[lowenz]

Yes

Other possible "Classics" remakes

DMAriza -> already made (DM-Beriza)
DMRadikus
DMElsinore
DMCurse -> already made (DM-CurseV)
DMTundra

[snorkelbottom]

I am currently working on a whole series of maps, to see which ones check the forum page...
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=710213

[Syex]

Looks good! Can't wait to get my new graphics card and extra ram, so I can experience this games full potential.

[TheFirestorm]

I have two questions about the download for this map... First, is the Ripper required to play the map, or will it be replaced by another weapon? Second, is there a manual install download link somewhere? I've always preferred the manual installs over the auto-installers. :x

[snorkelbottom]

The map comes with the ripper files. If you wanna place the files, map and ripper, manually simply install the files to your desktop.

[SkaarjMaster]

I would also like a manual install. You shouldn't have to run an EXE file to install UT series maps, even just to your desktop. If this is the way you're releasing your maps, then you will have some complaints from people.

[snorkelbottom]

I have many comments about my use of an installer when releasing my maps, thus I think that I should clarify things for you. The main reason that I release my maps with an installer is this:

the software i use, install creator by clickteam.com, compresses the files down much more than a zip or rar archive. I have to do this because unfortunately i do not have the internet at home. As such I am reliant on using my local library to upload my maps, and because of their prehistoric connection and the fact that I am only allowed 2 hours a day, I have to take whatever measures I can to reduce the size of the files that I want to upload. Without the installer, I simply wouldn't be able to share my maps with anyone - a necessary evil I am afraid.

[WedgeBob]

I would also like a manual install. You shouldn't have to run an EXE file to install UT series maps, even just to your desktop. If this is the way you're releasing your maps, then you will have some complaints from people.

Yep, learned my lesson there...
Even tho I do own WinZip Pro which does make self-extraction programs, whether or not I'm still gonna be using that method after seeing this post, that's another thing.

[1XTreme]

7zip actually has superior compression as well, any way hey thanks a lot for the lengths you goto to share your work with everyone.

Might not be a bad idea to keep an open mind to what every one is saying about the installer though? I'd make a safe bet that 7zip can get better compression (smaller file size) than clickteam.coms compression.


Once again thx for your work.

[SkaarjMaster]

Seriously though, 7z, rar, zip are fine but exe is just plain scary! Well, that was a mess, but I fixed it as a "real" zip for personal use.

[zunnie]

http://ut3.game-maps.net/index.php?act=view&id=1596

Added to db, any objections if i were to add to a mappack in the future?

Greetz zunnie

[SkaarjMaster]

Finally got around to trying this one as well as the Unreal, UT and UT2003 versions! Let me make some quick comments on other versions first:
- DmHealPod (Unreal) >> 3 levels, lots of z-axis, novel concept
- DM-HealPod][ (UT) >> lost Unreal atmosphere, too bright, better music, still good though
- DM-HealPod2003[FuT] (UT2003) >> music remix, some of the Unreal atmosphere back sort of with UT2003 twist, hard to see sometimes. Yes, I still have all the UTs installed and, yes, there is a UT2003 version.
- DM-TDB-HealPod (UT2004) >> seems to be just a quick conversion to UT2004 by same above author, Teddie, of the UT2003 conversion.

Now to chat about this map. It's definitely abandoned and in a state of disrepair and a whole floor seems like it fell down (Ah, pods on second floor, bingo!). The gameplay seems totally different with this change and also the map being tighter; the map itself seems completely different yet somewhat the same. I like the ripper and return of weapons to original positions. I like the pod moved and the camera shake, but wish the rest of the stuff changed with the pod was changed back. I know the atmosphere trying to be created and the gameplay desired, but I think the map might be just a little too tight and too dark. It's still a cool map though!

[Whiskey 7]

Well guys the map has been out there for a few weeks now, and I am curious as to what your opinions are of the map now that it has finally been completed.

OK I'll play

Don't visit here often but when I do I pick up gems

[SkaarjMaster]

Just for the record and to satisfy my curiosity, there is a UT2004 version and I believe it's by the same person that made the UT2003 version just the naming convention changed (not at home to confirm though). The DL is on this page if it works:
http://teddie.beyondunreal.com/UT2004_downloads.htm

I may try this out and update my comments in the above post.

[M^vL]

Just for the record and to satisfy my curiosity, there is a UT2004 version and I believe it's by the same person that made the UT2003 version just the naming convention changed (not at home to confirm though). The DL is on this page if it works:
http://teddie.beyondunreal.com/UT2004_downloads.htm

I may try this out and update my comments in the above post.

I wish Teddie was still around. He was definitely one of the better UT mappers. His version of Healpod was perfect and got tons of play on my old UT2004 server.

[snorkelbottom]

yes teddies map was good, thats why i referenced it in the readme for this map. this map is a different beast tho, imade it tighter and spammier(?!?) to make the pod more vital.

[Achernar]

Simply awesome remake! Thanks for bringing this one back. Five stars from me

[snorkelbottom]

a new map en-route, DM-Crash2 Beta 01:

http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=746427

[snorkelbottom]

DM-Crash2 Beta 01 download now avaialable:

http://filebucket.info/?1gtcq7azu

[snorkelbottom]

major update...
after xmas i will be redoing healpod from scratch (now i have a little more experience under my belt). suggestions and likes & dislikes from this version will be very much appreciated.

[M^vL]

major update...
after xmas i will be redoing healpod from scratch (now i have a little more experience under my belt). suggestions and likes & dislikes from this version will be very much appreciated.

It would be great fun to have a HealPod "classic" version that is more like the original in how it plays. I look forward to seeing what you come up with whatever it is.

[snorkelbottom]

i have completed a very, very early beta of dm-healpod (classic layout, low poly, materials, pathing, early lighting and kismet), but need help from a group/clan to test the map to ensure kill rewards are correct.

[WinstonSmith]

Cool map, I'm a fan.