69 replies to this topic

[Violazr]

Hi

After finishing Normandy I plan to spend more time on useful things again.
Nevertheless I have some new ideas for themed terrains and I'd like to hear some opinions on them:



White House

(or some similar, smaller villa that fits into a terrain)
One team starts near the house to defend it, the other will atteack it through the park.
This would use Mu/Atlantis and Cultivated tiles for some nice building and landscape architecture to be blown apart.



Olympus

Also using Atlantis and Forest tiles, this would be a greek temple complex set atop a hill in the middle of the terrain. With the teams starting on the sides, each would try to get there first to have the advantage of higher ground. On the other hand, this wold be great for all center/sides starting game modes like hold or escape.



Castle

A square medieval fortress with ditch, towers, walls and a courtyard, featuring a prison and maybe a sectret passage on the lower levels. Similar to the sandcastle, but smaller, set in a forest, and suitable for center-focussed game modes. A lot of stuff would have to be custom made, though.



Super Stun Showdown

This is more an idea for a game mode than a map:
The terrain will represent a training ground with some coloured obstacles, like a paintball field. Most inportantly, the teams would use ONLY STUN WEAPONS!
To win, they would either have to
- stun the entire enemy team at once (which should be hard)
- ensure they can do this by taking their weapons (until they take them all back...)
- retrieve them in order throw them (literally) into their side's "prison".
The prison would be a hole in the ground the soldiers can't get out of. When the entire team has been captured, the player has to give up. Or the other just sends his men down to stun all the helpless prisoners. *g*
I would definitely make this one - should be easy - unless you say it's lame and nobody would play it.

Edited by Violazr, 04 August 2005 - 04:13 AM.

[Blood Angel]

That would sound great, but what if someone cheated and packed a grenade? or fell in the prison by accident?

[Violazr]

Since kills are shown, and you can save replays now, that shouldn't be a common problem. And maybe somebody could make a "stun weapons" set out of the others.

Falling into the prison can be avoided like in real life - with a fence. *g*


I imagine it to be really funny too - trying to steal the other team's stunned people before they can save them, without getting stunned yourself, and getting them back to the prison before they wake up... one strategy would be to make a "throwing chain" like I sometimes did with rockets/ammo.

And I just had an idea about a nice feature of the terrain's geometry, but I won't tell yet.


EDIT: Almost forgot - Flying Suits would also be forbidden, of course.

Edited by Violazr, 03 August 2005 - 06:05 PM.

[samsam]

I Loved the island of the terror missions in terror from the deep but i havent seen them yet. Anyone willling ...?

[Blehm 98]

well, that would be extremely easy
just get the map files, change their names, write an LUA, and you'll have it

[Violazr]

Here ya go - 10 minutes of hard work.

Just save this as Island.lua into the newmaps folder.

AddXcomTerrain {

	Name = "Easter Island",

	Tiles =	{
  "$(xcom)/terrain/blanks.*",
  "$(tftd)/terrain/sea.*",
  "$(tftd)/terrain/island1.*",
  "$(tftd)/terrain/island2.*",
  "$(tftd)/terrain/island3.*",
	},

	Maps = {
  "$(tftd)/maps/island01.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island02.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island03.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island06.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island08.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island09.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island10.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island11.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island12.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island13.map",
  "$(tftd)/maps/island14.map",
	},




}

[Blood Angel]

Wow, that'll work? Sweeeeet!

[Violazr]

I also just finished a code for the crashed plane.
But I don't like the seabed setting with bubbles so I'm putting it into the desert.

[Blood Angel]

Ace. It could be like Lost, except instead of cooperating everyone goes mad and kills everyone else.

[Sporb]

Meh , i do that on a regular basis anyway

[Bagirov]

island.lua is available for downloading :

DOWNLOAD

Save it in the newmaps folder.

[Hobbes]

You might have figured out by now, but the reason why Island hasn't been added is because of the maps (with the big statues) that make the shore of the island. The .lua needs to be changed for the maps to be generated that way.

[Violazr]

Thought so.
But as there are similar maps (statues etc) without a shore, and the water looks goofy anyway, I just left ## 4,5 and 7 out for now.

I could make it so that there is a shore at the bottom, but that would require a lot of coding for the rest of the terrain to be really random (several map sizes).
Not really worth it imho, buy you are free to have a go.


I'm still working on that damn plane, trying to modify the plane MCDs - which causes strange things to happen, like I said in the other post.
It works fine with the standard tileset. But then it has a green upper floor and seaweed growing in the desert.
Plus, every single wing TILE explodes with a strength of 100!
(For comparision, the barrels in Normandy are 70)

Edited by Violazr, 05 August 2005 - 03:05 AM.

[Violazr]

"Plane Crash Site" is out!

As always, I have to rely on Bagirov's kind assistance to upload it because I'm still not allowed to. (Are there no admins here?)

Here's a screenshot.

[Neithan]

"Plane Crash Site" is out!

As always, I have to rely on Bagirov's kind assistance to upload it because I'm still not allowed to. (Are there no admins here?)

Here's a screenshot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

nice work violazr...i really like the plane its so masssive

[Hobbes]

Thought so.
But as there are similar maps (statues etc) without a shore, and the water looks goofy anyway, I just left ## 4,5 and 7 out for now.

I could make it so that there is a shore at the bottom, but that would require a lot of coding for the rest of the terrain to be really random (several map sizes).
Not really worth it imho, buy you are free to have a go.

I'm still working on that damn plane, trying to modify the plane MCDs - which causes strange things to happen, like I said in the other post.
It works fine with the standard tileset. But then it has a green upper floor and seaweed growing in the desert.
Plus, every single wing TILE explodes with a strength of 100!
(For comparision, the barrels in Normandy are 70)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I already got my hands full already with the Skyranger Factory. I've about finished writting the code for it to do what I want and now I am at the process of designing the scores of maps it requires. And after it I am going to do the HWP factory a redo as well.

You might want to reduce the barrels power in Normandy. On the betas you might have problems with half the map being blow because of their power.

[Violazr]

No, the barrels are fine. I used the beta to adjust them.
They are rather too weak in the last stable.

But I just found an issue in the original game's plane maps, which is therefore also in my plane. It's in the stairs, makes ppl fall through the floor when trying to get to the upper level.
It's a Bug in UFO2000 that shoud be resolved.

To work around this, I would have to change the original maps.
EDIT: I did. Just wait for the link.

Edited by Violazr, 05 August 2005 - 09:58 AM.

[Blehm 98]

wow nice, i like it

Does everyone think we should ask the admins when they come back to make Red Knight a non-Root admin, or give him access to an extra admin 3 account or something? We need an active admin for next time this happens

[Bagirov]

Download Violazr's "Plane Crash Site"

Attached Files

•  PCrash_110.zip   21.91K   215 downloads

[Violazr]

One question:

Did anyone successfully play the Plane Crash Site on the 'net?
I just tried, but couldn't choose it as a "common" map, even though we both had the same files installed.

[Violazr]

Behold, The Paintball Map!

As soon as Bagirov puts it up or Hobbes updates the map depot (depends who is faster *g*) you can try some all-new gameplay in this quite unusual environment.

The obstacles are indestructible, and ducking behind a wall will REALLY cover a soldier.
You'll have to think of some new tactics besides scouting and sniping to win.



P.S.: Again, did somebody play Plane Crash Site on the server?
There might be a problem with some maps not being selectable.

[Bagirov]

Download Violazr's "Paintball Map"

Attached Files

•  Pball_09.zip   22.59K   198 downloads

[Blehm 98]

its because people don't know that they should put the TFTD folder stuff into teh TFTD folder, thats why

[Violazr]

Not necessarily - I tried with somebody and he explicitly put them there. I downloaded my own file and installed it to be sure it's the same, but still...



Btw the paintball terrain is not quite finished yet.
It needs some graphical enhancements (roundness, shinyness) and there is an error in one of the maps (some left-over destroy mapcodes in the MCD).

But it proved to be quite a different style of game in the first test match.
Thrown high explosives proved most effective - maybe one should put a cap on their numbers.

Edited by Violazr, 10 August 2005 - 04:29 AM.

[Blood Angel]

Yah, I noticed that. I just had a quick hotseat duel test, two identical Sergeant Papas characters with a laser pistol, high explosive and a couple of alien grenades running around and killing each other. And you know what?

It worked.

[Blehm 98]

Alrighty, you saw my first bit of critique, and posted it, but here's some more:

1) It needs 1 or 2 open maps, and its maps shoudln't be quite so filled, maybe 4 maps on the thickest maps and 1 or 2 on the other ones. I found only 2-3 open lanes to fire down a ways.

[Violazr]

I found only 2-3 open lanes to fire down a ways.

Actually, that's how it should be.
I know it looks a bit full compared to real paintball fields, but it serves the purpose of discouraging long range sniping.

[Blehm 98]

next up
and old west field, littered with stuff all over the place... like big spinwheels, bales of hay to block view, and plywood boards and such

I think someone should make a paintball gun set, all do... say 100 damage(enough to pass through T-shirts and sectoid skin and still kill the target) but with varying accuracy and TU usage as well as weight

[Violazr]

Good idea. You should be able to make something quite decent even out of the standard barn, cultivated and island tilesets. Maybe desert as well.

Of course it would be cooler with custom stuff like saloon doors, poker tables, barrecd prison windows and a bank.
And a gallows pole, and a carpenter's shop with coffins in front.

[Violazr]

Thanks.



Paintball Field v 1.0 is out!

It's round, it's shiny, it has a little more open space
- and it has optional GUARD TOWERS to fight over!

[Bagirov]

Download Violazr's "Paintball Field v 1.0"

Attached Files

•  pball_10.zip   24.11K   188 downloads

[Violazr]

And now... guess what... another map!

Now that MapView has a "resize map" function, I was able to do another implement.

And so I present *drum roll*


The Alien Crypt of T'leth

- resized to 4 level height
- all walls re-drawn to show on the minimap
- added doors for playability
- added surface/seafloor, pyramids and gravlifts

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Attached Files

•  acrypt_08.zip   6.91K   199 downloads

[Jamaru]

Whoa cool an alien crypt. Good Job.

Your a map factory aren't ya?

Edited by Abyssion, 13 August 2005 - 09:12 AM.

[Violazr]

Alien Crypt - Version 0.9


- changed the center map to support up to 4 doorways
- added alternative versions of every outside map (with more lifts)
- wrote radom generation code
- made special 4x4 map (central room in a big pyramid)
- added cut-off 6x4 terrains (instead of 5x5)

Unless there are any bugs, it's pretty much finished.

However, in 6x6, and only in the beta, it takes up to 30 seconds (!) to load into the mission planner. But then it works alright. Might be someting with the original "no minimap on this level" graphics...
Anyway, please tell me what happens when you load it in the beta.

Attached Files

•  acrypt_09.zip   13.71K   209 downloads

[Exo2000]

Whoa cool an alien crypt. Good Job. 

Your a map factory aren't ya?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That crypt is just the last level of T'Leth.

[Violazr]

Well, at least that's what I started out with. - Have a look at in now.

Mybe I should call it something like "Tomb Of Cthulhu" to point out the difference.

Edited by Violazr, 15 August 2005 - 07:22 PM.

[Violazr]

Some other ideas that crossed my mind... sadly I won't have time to make them real in the coming weeks, because I really have to catch up on some work now.

Maybe somebody else wants to have a go. Here's the concepts - whaddaya think?


Ice
Nobody plays arctic because it has no cover. So we need an arctic map with cover.
That could be Igloos, or some kind of ice cave - with some icy blocks that can be seen through, and melt in several steps when hit.

Some fictional desert country thingie with no realtion to anything real
A map combining city and desert tilesets. Houses half-covered in sand dunes, dusty roads... maybe some kind of camp of [very bad men] with ammo crates, rockets and oil barrels standing around.

Edited by Violazr, 18 August 2005 - 12:38 PM.

[Blood Angel]

Lybia? That's dangerous territory namewise, mate.

[Blehm 98]

yeah, its kind of an XcomUFO policy to steer away from anything political, and i'm not really allowed to speak my mind about whether or not i agree with that maps name and idea

I would go more with a... Kuwait or Saudi Arabia map, which has oil drums in certain maps to symbolize the oil produced

[Violazr]

Well, any desert country, then. Or no country at all.
No offense to [any non-fictional desert country]...
That idea about [bad men (and women, not to suppress them)] came afterwards.

Edited by Violazr, 18 August 2005 - 12:40 PM.

[Exo2000]

Perhaps "Desert Mercenary Camp" would fit better?

[Violazr]

Well, yes, but whatever the name, what do you think about the idea(s)?

[Exo2000]

Ice wouldn't be too hard, but objects can only have 2 states; intact and destroyed.

The desert/city idea can easily be done with existing tilesets if you take the missiles and stuff from the X-COM Base tiles, and use the Desert and City and Furniture tilesets.

[Violazr]

What you say about states is not true - You can make a tree become a chair and then a wall if you wanted to.
And I know how it could be done.
All I wanted to know is "Do you like the theme?"

[Neithan]

All I wanted to know is "Do you like the theme?"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure, i really like the ide of desert city...maybe a good name would be Dust City ...and what about if it would be like old western city with a bank, hotel and bar

[Blood Angel]

yeah, its kind of an XcomUFO policy to steer away from anything political, and i'm not really allowed to speak my mind about whether or not i agree with that maps name and idea

I would go more with a...  Kuwait or Saudi Arabia map, which has oil drums in certain maps to symbolize the oil produced

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, I was thinking it was a bad idea because it sounds quite like a part of the feminine anatomy.

[Kratos]

I like the ideas, but please remove its description about terrorists and rename map name to something else before I delete it completely. I meant to mention something a day or two ago.

[Violazr]

For the sake of other threads, maybe you should put up a "political correctness" list, mentioning all the words one isn't allowed to say on this forum - not even if it's a completely unimportant detail only marginally related to the actual topic.

[Kratos]

I just don't want to see a political discussion here. Some people just can't control their comments.

But hey! Map idea is good!