DM-SerenityBay !!!

[chonglee]

Map name:
Serenity Bay

PC version Download:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/404348/MyMap...erenityBay.zip
http://www.filefactory.com/file/c43a...erenityBay_zip
http://www.gamefront.com/files/21451...erenityBay.zip
http://www.mapraider.com/maps/?fileid=5779
http://www.utzone.de/forum/downloads...o=file&id=4043

PS3 version Download:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/404348/MyMap...ityBay-PS3.zip
http://www.filefactory.com/file/c43a...ityBay-PS3_zip
http://www.gamefront.com/files/21451...ityBay-PS3.zip
http://www.mapraider.com/maps/?fileid=5779
http://www.ut3mod.com/2012/04/deathm...renitybay.html

About this map:
A realistic outdoor map, a post-apocalyptic theme, inspired by TV show like "The Walking Dead", "Falling skies", and movies like "I am legend".
I had to use more lighting and vivid stuff as this is a map for UT, not L4D.

Beta test version:
http://forums.epicgames.com/threads/...ated-6th-March
http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=197284

Credits:
EPIC //For creating UT3 and the Mod tools
CGTextures.com //I bought some of the nice BIG textures from this site. Strongly recommend!

* Special thanks to "the mod" teammates, which was why this map exsited in the first place:

ZKBoss
果冻
lain
Solin
德元
Guesscui
Porky
搁浅
Wayne
波斯猴子
AMIO
sce2
MINg

* Also I'd like to thank my Chinese friends and hardcore UT players:
Needream
Copycat

* And for testing and gave me useful feedback, THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO:
stevelois
nELsOn
DarkSonny
Sjosz
Barballs
Vaskadar
WedgeBob
SkaarjMaster
LordBret
KurlonT
Bl!tz~
Tux Android
Remus
BloodK1nG
coolcat22
M^vL

Flyby Video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GbaaczMTkfY


Pictures of PS3 version:
* I really like the way my camera rendered the map, so I have to post them.






PC Screenshots:
* More pictures following

[chonglee]

More pictures:

[chonglee]

and more:

[stevelois]

And here it is, the final

I must say this is a stunning level. All that awesome custom content & your attention to details is phenomenal & with your acquired skills your able to really make something very unique that look, feels & play good. I found many nice touches in the both pre finals versions I've saw that I didn't comment on but they haven't go unnoticed from me lol

Your levels are very inspiring & many THX for this another "must have level"

I'll advertize your map later on my blog (a little pub won't hurt héhé).

[Bl!tz~]

yup congratz for this masterpiece mate

[chonglee]

yup congratz for this masterpiece mate

And here it is, the final

I must say this is a stunning level. All that awesome custom content & your attention to details is phenomenal & with your acquired skills your able to really make something very unique that look, feels & play good. I found many nice touches in the both pre finals versions I've saw that I didn't comment on but they haven't go unnoticed from me lol

Your levels are very inspiring & many THX for this another "must have level"

I'll advertize your map later on my blog (a little pub won't hurt héhé).

Thank you guys!
Advertising is good although I doubt there are enough players out there playing this game.

I didn't mention what's changed between the final and RC1. Here the list:
- The fake shadow sheets for boats and pillar stuff. The main ground is using a 1024x1024 lightmap which is not detailed enough to show slim shadows. I used the fake ones to get the slim shadows more visible.
- Fixed a bug that bots don't use the portal
- Lens flare added (what a tricky stuff, I spent a whole night to figure out how things going on)
- Tuned sound effects. Added sound for roof vents
- Fixed the vehicle wheels misalignment bug. Turned out the criminal behind it is the buggy prefab feature. I used the prefab to create templates for the vehicles and placed prefab instances in the map. Then I selected the wheels (and doors) to rotate them a bit so they looked being abandoned hastily. Then next time I opened the map and surprisingly found the wheels were misaligned, I thought I must too careless the last time so I aligned them again and published the test version. Then stevelois you pointed out some wheels were off or into ground. I checked the map and found yes they were. I did tests and figured out SM instances within a prefab instance are not supposed to be moved or rotated individually. Yes you can select them individually and edit other properties, but any movement will result in bizarre locations or rotations after rebuild, save and reopen the map. So I had to convert the prefab instances to normal SM instances.
- And some other bugs

[Private Tux]

Yay for the 'final' release!
You mentioned me in the credits though. I'm going to explore this!

[stevelois]

...
Thank you guys!
Advertising is good although I doubt there are enough players out there playing this game. ...

Your welcome

But, know that yes, it's a fact that there are less active members on forums but still, many are still there and seeking for quality content.

Releasing something for UT3 isn't a waste of time because until UT4 or whatever sequel we'll get someday, if we do, UT3 is still the last UT games to make something for & that will last for few years.

[chonglee]

It's been 5 years after ut3 was released, which was long enough for ut99 to evolve to ut2k4.
Epic should learn by now that they need to fully understand why ut99 was much more successful than ut3 or ut2k4. The answer is not competitive gameplay, not bulky stuff, not heavily detailed visual (yup like the way I made this map is not really an UT map supposed to be) so that the game could be used to demonstrate the engine, not meaningless story, not even shock rifle or flak cannon. The answer has to about the unique style, the vivid atmosphere,the humanlike not scifi-bulky-marine-like characters, the creative mindblowing gameplay elements, the neat, simple but stylish visual, the inspring and sort of gimmicky maps, the cool movement and action, the very ut-ish music. This game should be that much COOL and looks so different from any other shooters on the market. That was how ut99 felt like the first time we played it.
That being said, I don't expect this much cool will happen unless they got new blood for the title. And I will still enjoy whatever they can make for another U.

[DarkSonny07]

It's been 5 years after ut3 was released, which was long enough for ut99 to evolve to ut2k4.
Epic should learn by now that they need to fully understand why ut99 was much more successful than ut3 or ut2k4. The answer is not competitive gameplay, not bulky stuff, not heavily detailed visual (yup like the way I made this map is not really an UT map supposed to be) so that the game could be used to demonstrate the engine, not meaningless story, not even shock rifle or flak cannon. The answer has to about the unique style, the vivid atmosphere,the humanlike not scifi-bulky-marine-like characters, the creative mindblowing gameplay elements, the neat, simple but stylish visual, the inspring and sort of gimmicky maps, the cool movement and action, the very ut-ish music. This game should be that much COOL and looks so different from any other shooters on the market. That was how ut99 felt like the first time we played it.
That being said, I don't expect this much cool will happen unless they got new blood for the title. And I will still enjoy whatever they can make for another U.

I still do not know what is what UT does make so magnetic and cool, Once time I thought It was the cool music ( Im still thinking if werent for ut style music it doenst feel unreal at all. More later I thought "I think it does appeal the style maps" and more later over the years "Is the weapon and skins" and so on.. It is like in that day all the star get aligned in one way and oyu get an unrepeatable feeling of greatness or so I think is a mixture all things became this great game so cool ( And still it does followed nearly by ut3 behind )

I m agreed with you, maybe they could try again to open the recall's box and feel that things again I think is it the only way to make an ut but more improved and evolutioned today.

[chonglee]

I still do not know what is what UT does make so magnetic and cool, Once time I thought It was the cool music ( Im still thinking if werent for ut style music it doenst feel unreal at all. More later I thought "I think it does appeal the style maps" and more later over the years "Is the weapon and skins" and so on.. It is like in that day all the star get aligned in one way and oyu get an unrepeatable feeling of greatness or so I think is a mixture all things became this great game so cool ( And still it does followed nearly by ut3 behind )

I m agreed with you, maybe they could try again to open the recall's box and feel that things again I think is it the only way to make an ut but more improved and evolutioned today.

About ut99, two things I'd like to point out:
- BSP based level looks very neat and very comfort for your eyes when you play fast paced game like UT or Quake which involves non-linear level flow and a lot of vertical gameplay (not to mention portal, jumppad, wrapzone...). Too many details simply distract your mind too much and therefore only good for realistic games which has normal action speed and somewhat linear level design. And in order to keep you focusing on what to do next, these games also have hint or tip system to directly show you the next objective and they intend to cut big objectives into smaller ones so that your brain won't screw up when facing too many "information" on the screen. But BSP based level looks too much old-fashioned, so today we don't do it anymore, but that can't equal to simply ignore the good side of it.
- UT99 characters look more humanlike. You can see their faces, even emotions. You can tell them from each other by just looking at face. Along with the taunt, they were just more interesting and memorable comparing to those bulky bots in the later UTs.

Back to the old days, things had to be simple because of the less powerful engine and the old computer. Sometimes that happened to be the cool and awesome feel what we now recognize. So it's important to find out what was actually the reason of why oldschool worked and bring it back to a modern game.

[Achernar]

Have to say beautiful setting, fantastic attention to detail and great use of the custom assets. Simply top work, thanks for your efforts.

[Bl!tz~]

About ut99, two things I'd like to point out:
- BSP based level looks very neat and very comfort for your eyes when you play fast paced game like UT or Quake which involves non-linear level flow and a lot of vertical gameplay (not to mention portal, jumppad, wrapzone...). Too many details simply distract your mind too much and therefore only good for realistic games which has normal action speed and somewhat linear level design. And in order to keep you focusing on what to do next, these games also have hint or tip system to directly show you the next objective and they intend to cut big objectives into smaller ones so that your brain won't screw up when facing too many "information" on the screen. But BSP based level looks too much old-fashioned, so today we don't do it anymore, but that can't equal to simply ignore the good side of it.
- UT99 characters look more humanlike. You can see their faces, even emotions. You can tell them from each other by just looking at face. Along with the taunt, they were just more interesting and memorable comparing to those bulky bots in the later UTs.

Back to the old days, things had to be simple because of the less powerful engine and the old computer. Sometimes that happened to be the cool and awesome feel what we now recognize. So it's important to find out what was actually the reason of why oldschool worked and bring it back to a modern game.

i have same feelings mate and i like a lot ur analize, imo it s very hard to use a fast fps game as a showcase for a very demanding new engine, it require a very subtile balance in all, + it s an enormous challenge to bring a new version after a "quite" perfect one

[mruczek]

Mmmmm.m.. Sexy

[M^vL]

Dude you are the gold standard for mapping. The detail is mind blowing. Thanks for this awesome level!

I agree totally with everything you said about the original UT. The only thing I would add is that there was an underlying sick humor (probably the Cliffy factor) with the gore and funny taunts that gave the game life and always made me smile. I play UT3 quite a bit because I like the graphics and the general game play is good enough (and I play mostly HOLP style maps) but it has a cold heart. To me, in a nutshell, the core of UT3 feels as lifeless, humorless, and characterless as "demo guy". Hopefully if they ever work on UT4, I hope Cliffy will be heavily involved.

[chonglee]

Mmmmm.m.. Sexy

Not as much sexy as I thought it could had been when I conceived of the map. It turned out to be a night (right after sunset) map which somewhat reduced the abandoned community feeling. But I had to make it like that because I wanted to fully control the lighting and using lighting to guide the flow so that the map could be more player-friendly. And there was also another big reason that was the lighting system of UT3, which is not GI-based, could be very problematic when using sunlight or ambient light to get something really neat. I don't want to explain the detail but if you ever tried make a map of GI-like lighting in UT3, you know what I mean.


This is what I imagined:




And this is what I had to make:

i have same feelings mate and i like a lot ur analize, imo it s very hard to use a fast fps game as a showcase for a very demanding new engine, it require a very subtile balance in all, + it s an enormous challenge to bring a new version after a "quite" perfect one

Yup, to achieve that level of balance they need a little bit of perfectionism. That's a tough task when nowadays most man power is put into next-gen details or cinematic stuff or something else that makes a game look like a blockbuster movie. I love games telling great story like what rockstar did, but UT should be different, very much, or at least technically.

Have to say beautiful setting, fantastic attention to detail and great use of the custom assets. Simply top work, thanks for your efforts.

Thank you!

Dude you are the gold standard for mapping. The detail is mind blowing. Thanks for this awesome level!

I agree totally with everything you said about the original UT. The only thing I would add is that there was an underlying sick humor (probably the Cliffy factor) with the gore and funny taunts that gave the game life and always made me smile. I play UT3 quite a bit because I like the graphics and the general game play is good enough (and I play mostly HOLP style maps) but it has a cold heart. To me, in a nutshell, the core of UT3 feels as lifeless, humorless, and characterless as "demo guy". Hopefully if they ever work on UT4, I hope Cliffy will be heavily involved.

Agree!
The characters of UT99 or quake 3 were fantastic. But Q4 was not good at this aspect, BECAUSE OF THE SPACE MARINE STUFF. Technically Q4 made the same mistake as UT3, the Q4 characters looked as lifeless as UT3, just not that fat.

[SkaarjMaster]

I guess this is one of the areas in the post-apocalyptical environment that either didn't get hit very hard or started recovering quickly. I liked the boats, bridges, smoke plume, buildings, cars, vans, docks, lighthouse, trees, glass, portals, lighting/shadows, bird sounds and other details. Definitely a TDM or exploratory map and the gameplay (best as TeamDM) is as expected although a little tighter than originally thought. I like the locations of some of the powerups. Keep up the good work and I like all the bug fixes and added sounds in this final version.

[KurlonT]

PS3 cook of DM-SerenityBay now up at www.ut3mod.com

[FreakinMeany]

Wow. This is insanely beautiful! Impressive as always, chonglee.

I've also mirrored both versions on Mapraider's three mirrors:

http://www.mapraider.com/maps/?fileid=5779

[chonglee]

Thanks a lot to KurlonT and FreakinMeany!
Both mirrors are added into the original post.

[DarkSonny07]

Offtopic what happened to fallin skies tv movie is discontinued or so?

Hey chonglee any chance for some new ctf map like that unforgeteable sabr? in next long months¿ XD

[Private Tux]

Tested this map and had no issues with it. Superb map mate as always!
Don't forget UTzone.de; I've uploaded this map to that site, so here's the link:

http://www.utzone.de/forum/downloads...o=file&id=4043
The archive is a "7-Zip" format, loaded up till now.

@DarkSonny: Check the article of the TV show, it will be continued to the new season (if wish to do so), inspired from his map.

[DarkSonny07]

Hi tux is nice know is not discontinued is a great tv show haha

pd: I sent you a pm

[chonglee]

Offtopic what happened to fallin skies tv movie is discontinued or so?

Hey chonglee any chance for some new ctf map like that unforgeteable sabr? in next long months¿ XD

I can't assure you there will be another CTF. I am having no decision of what to make next. I have a couple of prototype maps right now but just haven't found enough motivation to work more for any of them.
If there would be any news for another UT or Unreal, then my motivation will be boosted at once!
I guess my next map, will probably be a very neat one, nothing like Serenity Bay, and not like Glacial or PT4 too. And I hope it will take less time to make.

Tested this map and had no issues with it. Superb map mate as always!
Don't forget UTzone.de; I've uploaded this map to that site, so here's the link:

http://www.utzone.de/forum/downloads...o=file&id=4043
The archive is a "7-Zip" format, loaded up till now.

@DarkSonny: Check the article of the TV show, it will be continued to the new season (if wish to do so), inspired from his map.

Mirror added in the first post. Thank you!

Good to know falling skies se2 is coming. I am a big fan of sci-fi shows. Can't wait.

[Odedge]

Played the map and like all of your maps, it's a keeper.

The custom content and attention to detail is awesome! You may get killed more than once looking at the map.

The game play is solid given it's realistic theme.

Thanks for another great map.

[Wargarble]

Hello all, just curious here, Im very late to the party here at the forums, but I agree in keeping UT3 alive and kicking even now in 2013. My question for this map is that whenever I try to load it to my ps3, it just crashes the system. Has anyone had this same problem? Ive tried uploading it without that many mods installed and the same thing has occured. Also I know not to be a burden with asking about things being cooked to the ps3, im currently learning UDK to make maps for myself and others which i will be more than happy to cook for all ps3 users who still come on. Thanks for your time, sorry for this awkward post lol

[M^vL]

Hello all, just curious here, Im very late to the party here at the forums, but I agree in keeping UT3 alive and kicking even now in 2013. My question for this map is that whenever I try to load it to my ps3, it just crashes the system. Has anyone had this same problem? Ive tried uploading it without that many mods installed and the same thing has occured. Also I know not to be a burden with asking about things being cooked to the ps3, im currently learning UDK to make maps for myself and others which i will be more than happy to cook for all ps3 users who still come on. Thanks for your time, sorry for this awkward post lol

Dumb question: If you have a PC capable of working in the UDK why would you play UT3 on your PS3? (not trying to be an a$$). Also, I know people have ported UT3 maps to UDK but going from UDK to UT3 doesn't buy you anything AFAIK. In fact, you may actually lose items that are UDK specific so if you're just wanting to make a UT3 map, you may just want to stay in the UT3 editor (unless you're building the structure in another tool like 3DSMax).

[Wargarble]

Dumb question: If you have a PC capable of working in the UDK why would you play UT3 on your PS3? (not trying to be an a$$). Also, I know people have ported UT3 maps to UDK but going from UDK to UT3 doesn't buy you anything AFAIK. In fact, you may actually lose items that are UDK specific so if you're just wanting to make a UT3 map, you may just want to stay in the UT3 editor (unless you're building the structure in another tool like 3DSMax).

No offense taken, Im new to all of this so I apologize. But one thing I didnt specify that I should have is that, even though I have UDK, my computer is crap and just laggs like crazy. I understand now that me mentioning that I have UDK was kind of pointless due to the nature of my question. I can only play UT3 on my ps3 at the moment. Sorry for the confusion. I would really like to play this map but it just crashes my ps3 for some reason. In the next few days when I get a new computer and im able to run UDK smoothly, Ill buy UT3 for pc and so-on.

[M^vL]

No offense taken, Im new to all of this so I apologize. But one thing I didnt specify that I should have is that, even though I have UDK, my computer is crap and just laggs like crazy. I understand now that me mentioning that I have UDK was kind of pointless due to the nature of my question. I can only play UT3 on my ps3 at the moment. Sorry for the confusion. I would really like to play this map but it just crashes my ps3 for some reason. In the next few days when I get a new computer and im able to run UDK smoothly, Ill buy UT3 for pc and so-on.

Okay that all makes sense. Welcome to the forums by the way! Hope you get set up to play so you can play Chonglee's maps which are incredible!

[Wargarble]

Okay that all makes sense. Welcome to the forums by the way! Hope you get set up to play so you can play Chonglee's maps which are incredible!

Thank you! I hope so too here soon, they definitly look astonishing!