DM-Foundry (MSUC 1st Place) [PC][Pics][DL]

[SmokeRingHalo]

Title: DM-Foundry
Version: FINAL
Platform: UT3 PC
Compatibility: Titan Pack + 2.1 Patch
Description: The Tournament has moved to an old abandoned steel foundry in an industrial warehouse district. Medium sized map ideal for 4 to 8 players. {MSUC phase 3 entry}


Screenshots:


Downloads:


Fileplanet


92 out of 100 -UT Unlimited Review
1st Place Winner - Best DM-CTF Level category MSUC Phase 3

Servers:

*Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers / IP:216.52.148.178:7777
~THUND3RL4ND~ / IP:77.111.254.236:27015


Additional Credits:
DGUnreal & Epic for making the skydome Texture & Mesh available - http://www.lilchips.com/dgunreal/ut3-skies.asp

Homepage: myspace.com/smokeringhalo

SERVER ADMIN:
------------
If your a server admin & add DM-Foundry on your server, pm me over at the epic forums and let me know so that I can add your server to the list of servers running the map (so that people can find it easier to try it online).

[Firmament]

I believe there was a very good ut2004 map that was also called foundry... It had some very nice visuals and gameplay. Obviously that one isn't a remake but it looks very good as well.

Ah, you made the Collider map too, I loved that one

[4TX4]

Cool, about time someone did a foundry map.

[Bantis]

Really excellent light SmokeRingHalo. Congrats on that. I can't test it 'til later today. But I will be sure to post some comments/impressions when I do.

[SmokeRingHalo]

Thanks guys. Hope you enjoy it.

[4TX4]

Hope you enjoy it.

I most certainly have! Great visuals and gameplay. Good luck with the MSUC, this map certainly deserves a prize.

[Kev_Boy]

This is retail quality, I'll be honest here and say I'm not a huge fan of the retail maps but I can sure as hell compare and say this really feels like it could've been shipped straight with the game.

Well done!

[Poker]

One of my favorites so far for DM in phase 3. Layout is interesting, varied and fluid enough to play well. Visuals and use of color are superb. Has a Defiance feel to it in many spots, which is a compliment.

GJ SRH

[Taffy]

If you're in NA and want to try this map online, I'm getting ready to put it on the BD&HR TDM server. I just need to upload it to the server but right now people are playing, and I'm afraid I'll lag the connection.

I don't know how patient people will be in waiting for this big download though. I hope they wait, it's definitely worth it.

Thanks for a great map!

[SmokeRingHalo]

I most certainly have! Great visuals and gameplay. Good luck with the MSUC, this map certainly deserves a prize.

Thanks, much appreciated!
As for the MSUC, I don't know. There's a LOT of really great stuff this phase but I can only hope that the judges feel the same as you. Thanks again.

This is retail quality, I'll be honest here and say I'm not a huge fan of the retail maps but I can sure as hell compare and say this really feels like it could've been shipped straight with the game.
Well done!

That's like the best compliment one can receive and makes it all worthwhile.
Many thanks!

One of my favorites so far for DM in phase 3. Layout is interesting, varied and fluid enough to play well. Visuals and use of color are superb. Has a Defiance feel to it in many spots, which is a compliment.
GJ SRH

Glad to see so many people giving positive feedback on this project.
After coming up with the basic layout I did draw ideas from aspects I liked about several retail maps. Not just defiance with the bricks and manhole/sewer drop down but courtyard bridge/ 'powerup' fountain of Shangri La, The Sniper Rifle spawn area was Heat Ray inspired, and the Foundry area itself was meant to be a mini Deck-like area.
Given the use of so many brick materials & meshes in the map I knew it was going to stand out as looking more defiance-like though. Thanks for the feedback.

If you're in NA and want to try this map online, I'm getting ready to put it on the BD&HR TDM server. I just need to upload it to the server but right now people are playing, and I'm afraid I'll lag the connection.
I don't know how patient people will be in waiting for this big download though. I hope they wait, it's definitely worth it.
Thanks for a great map!

Most cool. Thanks for adding it to your server, I'll be sure to drop by to dish out some punishment as I REALLY have this map down to a systematic science. Haha.

Thanks again for all the feedback and comments guys. Happy Fragging!

[Odedge]

With DM-Collider, I liked everything about it except the game play as the map was over scaled and symmetrical. Foundry adds that missing piece and makes this a very nice map all around.

They visuals are solid as well as the layout. It has a cool atmosphere that is both familiar and fresh. It's a keeper in my book.

[Tears of war]

looks sick

[Cr4zy]

So i gave this a run through.

It looks good, well done on that part, although here and there i think there are a few meshes that look out of place or bits that don't appear finished. And some sections that are just copies of stock maps mesh arrangements. The lift at belt for example, the serer/drain along with the broken walls with the sniper. Instantly reminded me of Defiance/HeatRay. And a few other sections too like you mentioned. Which makes it feel a bit of a visual rip off, and nothing new as it's stuff that has all been seen before.

There's some curved windows sticking out the wall although if you get below theme, you can look straight up into the gap behind it. and a few other little bits about.

Lighting wise, i think outdoors could have done with some more contrast and shadows, also the amount of directional lights you have with totally varied colour selection didn't make much sense :?

Gameplay wise it's alright, some sections work better then others, my main concern is the amount of long corridors with no exits along them and extremely open areas. That imo makes it feel slower overall and slows down the map as the areas vary in size so much. Maybe a smaller map over all would have helped. Like your previous ones, size wise it's a big map.

Overall it looks good and plays alright, although i just feel it could have used a bit more work. Was there ever a BETA release? I can't remember seeing one, private or not, they help a huge amount.

I don't mean to make this come across harshly, its my opinion and hope you find it of some use

[SmokeRingHalo]

So i gave this a run through.

It looks good, well done on that part, although here and there i think there are a few meshes that look out of place or bits that don't appear finished. And some sections that are just copies of stock maps mesh arrangements. The lift at belt for example, the serer/drain along with the broken walls with the sniper. Instantly reminded me of Defiance/HeatRay. And a few other sections too like you mentioned. Which makes it feel a bit of a visual rip off, and nothing new as it's stuff that has all been seen before.

I don't mean to make this come across harshly, its my opinion and hope you find it of some use

Ah, here it comes. The MSUC critiques.
Of course you meant to come across harshly. You are my direct competition (once again) in the MSUC after all, but that doesn't mean that I can't respond in a somewhat civil manner.
Sections are NOT simply copies of stock map mesh arrangements. I did study the retail maps however and as stated before in an above post, drew ideas from many retail maps on what worked for Epic. The lift looks like the lift in Defiance because it uses the same meshes and used the rotating wheel/moving parts on the side idea. Something I wish more people used actually and can argue that it actually constitutes more work than just one mover as there are 5. As for the arrangement, how many different ways can a vertical lift be arranged? I already stated that "The Sniper Rifle spawn area was Heat Ray inspired". I also drew ideas from Deck for the foundry area itself but you didn't mention that area. Maybe because I didn't use a green color scheme? I drew ideas from stock maps certainly, but to fit my OWN arrangement and layout. Saying that some sections of my map "are just copies of stock maps mesh arrangements" and that my map feels "a bit of a visual rip off" is a pretty bold accusation from someone who entered WAR-Downtown_Necris into the contest as his own arrangement/layout in Phase 2. It could be also be argued that anytime a stock mesh is used period it is a "visual rip off" or "stuff that has been seen before".

There's some curved windows sticking out the wall although if you get below theme, you can look straight up into the gap behind it. and a few other little bits about.

I'm not sure exactly what or where you're talking about here, but I can take a look.

Lighting wise, i think outdoors could have done with some more contrast and shadows, also the amount of directional lights you have with totally varied colour selection didn't make much sense :?

Perhaps it could have used more contrast/shadows but i got it to where it looked & performed good to me. One of the biggest performance issues I had run into in past maps was due to my liberal overuse of lighting. The varied color selection in the directional lights only makes sense if you are using different colors for the tops & different colors for the bottoms of meshes. I guess you can also say it doesn't make sense that every single mesh in my map (including the ones you claimed I merely copied) has been removed from the static mesh lighting channel and placed in their own channel. It doesn't make much sense until you see how much brighter the pickup bases are being the only things left in that channel.

Gameplay wise it's alright, some sections work better then others, my main concern is the amount of long corridors with no exits along them and extremely open areas. That imo makes it feel slower overall and slows down the map as the areas vary in size so much. Maybe a smaller map over all would have helped. Like your previous ones, size wise it's a big map.

There are long corridors and tight spaces which are offset imo by the open area in the center of the map. I disagree with the map playing "slow". Every match I've played has been nothing short of full of action on the part of the AI @ the recommended player count settings. I also disagree that it is a large map. It is my smallest map hands down and anything over 8 players is getting into the realm of spam. It is smaller than many retail maps. My pickups are spread out at just the right distances while not having to use the same weapon pickups twice which again, most retail maps do or have to to fill in the distance voids.

Overall it looks good and plays alright, although i just feel it could have used a bit more work. Was there ever a BETA release? I can't remember seeing one, private or not, they help a huge amount.

I don't think I've released anything that couldn't have used a bit more polishing but I think it's highly over critical of you to say that this project could "have used a bit more work" considering that the vast majority of entries didn't even bother doing a blocking volume pass. I've been working on this entry (on and off) since before the phase 2 deadline was over. There was no public beta release for various reasons, including my experience with past public beta releases.

[Cr4zy]

Ah, here it comes. The MSUC critiques.
Of course you meant to come across harshly. You are my direct competition (once again) in the MSUC after all, but that doesn't mean that I can't respond in a somewhat civil manner.
Sections are NOT simply copies of stock map mesh arrangements. I did study the retail maps however and as stated before in an above post, drew ideas from many retail maps on what worked for Epic. The lift looks like the lift in Defiance because it uses the same meshes and used the rotating wheel/moving parts on the side idea. Something I wish more people used actually and can argue that it actually constitutes more work than just one mover as there are 5. As for the arrangement, how many different ways can a vertical lift be arranged? I already stated that "The Sniper Rifle spawn area was Heat Ray inspired". I also drew ideas from Deck for the foundry area itself but you didn't mention that area. Maybe because I didn't use a green color scheme? I drew ideas from stock maps certainly, but to fit my OWN arrangement and layout. Saying that some sections of my map "are just copies of stock maps mesh arrangements" and that my map feels "a bit of a visual rip off" is a pretty bold accusation from someone who entered WAR-Downtown_Necris into the contest as his own arrangement/layout in Phase 2. It could be also be argued that anytime a stock mesh is used period it is a "visual rip off" or "stuff that has been seen before".

A lift can be arranged in many ways. who says every lift needs a wheel system. Counterweights, hydraulics, pulleys, there's hundreds of things you can do, but you went and (whether you copy and pasted or not) copied the same visual style as the defiance lift.

Not every time a mesh is used, its the way they're used, the sniper area for example, there is several ruined wall meshes and such in the packages, but yours are the exact same ones as HeatRay, when i looked at them they don't fir the rest fo the areas. Red bricks all around then those are white, it looks like it's just been placed there, not as if it was made there, if you get where im coming from.

Taking it back to Downtown_Necris is kinda beyond me. That was supposed to be the same map, that's why it has the same name. You can't go and make a downtown that's under attack from the Necris and change the whole thing can you?

And no i didn't mean for it to come across harshly, but if you avoid points by making everything sound good, people skip all the information and look at the shiny ****. Being blunt gets the point across unfortunately.

I'm not sure exactly what or where you're talking about here, but I can take a look.

Urhm, as if you were at the heatray inspired sniper area, looking towards the foundry, on the wall to your left, i think.

Perhaps it could have used more contrast/shadows but i got it to where it looked & performed good to me. One of the biggest performance issues I had run into in past maps was due to my liberal overuse of lighting. The varied color selection in the directional lights only makes sense if you are using different colors for the tops & different colors for the bottoms of meshes. I guess you can also say it doesn't make sense that every single mesh in my map (including the ones you claimed I merely copied) has been removed from the static mesh lighting channel and placed in their own channel. It doesn't make much sense until you see how much brighter the pickup bases are being the only things left in that channel.

Nice to see you've attempted to optimize through that way, although you could still of had some much more interesting shadows even if you had done.

There are long corridors and tight spaces which are offset imo by the open area in the center of the map. I disagree with the map playing "slow". Every match I've played has been nothing short of full of action on the part of the AI @ the recommended player count settings. I also disagree that it is a large map. It is my smallest map hands down and anything over 8 players is getting into the realm of spam. It is smaller than many retail maps. My pickups are spread out at just the right distances while not having to use the same weapon pickups twice which again, most retail maps do or have to to fill in the distance voids.

I think this is more of a personal thing, or something you change overtime. Although some maps use multiple weapons, it's not over powered, it's arranged in a way for players to get the best of what the map was made for. The way i play, i found the larger areas and long corridors a slow down, the long corridors because i couldn't easily change a route.

I don't think I've released anything that couldn't have used a bit more polishing but I think it's highly over critical of you to say that this project could "have used a bit more work" considering that the vast majority of entries didn't even bother doing a blocking volume pass. I've been working on this entry (on and off) since before the phase 2 deadline was over. There was no public beta release for various reasons, including my experience with past public beta releases.

I still think it could have there are bits that imo don't looks if they belong. Some material editing to make things match colour wise so there isn't a big difference so it looks right.
Who cares about previous BETA releases? Because someone moaned or because you thought they were wrong, does it even matter? Someone will try it and it's just much easier. If you don't throw stuff back at people they can't get angry and you might take something on board to help you in the current and/or future projects.

Again i don't mean to be harsh, but that's how it will come across otherwise it'll just blow over your head, then the time spent writing this was pointless.