A community effort on a map layout

Jip

Update 4.0:

Meanwhile I've been working on both maps. Mauve is waiting on the final checks - after another discussion with @Leto_II the map will shortly be available in both the FAF and LOUD map vault. Once that happens there will be another post with all the PR pictures to make it shine.

In Autumn, the map of Blodir, I've been studying the color nodes of World Machine. Add some experimentation to that and we have a breakthrough.

My understanding has increased a lot - these rocks are made out of a new color network that provide more control and flexibility. It is now a lot easier to fine-tune the colors. Throughout the week I'll be experimenting with various other places to add in colors such as for area's with rocks, trees, or roads.

This will allow me to tune the map a lot more - area's that have trees on them will have a different color pattern / properties than area's that had rocks on them. It will be easier to add visual cue's to critical gameplay elements, such as ramps.

edit: all the images taken are from the GPG editor, not the Ozone that makes them look slightly better.

tatsu

absolutely gorgeous results. this is earth under it's best light.

archsimkat

Leto's submission is looking scenic and natural, but also immediately readable. Nice work Jip, I am excited to play some 1v1s there!

nine2

I think the preview would be great for all maps, not just mapgen. Loki with and without the preview.

I think options and settings are a must, not some 30 second hardcoded thing. People will (quite rightly) object massively unless they can control it.

Jip

Then it is a bit out of scope for this topic - I don't have the time to make such an extensive PR .

nine2

yes of course, i have derailed this entirely sorry

Jip

With pride I present Mauve designed by @Leto_II - the second of a series of maps in this topic! The map is available in both the FAF and LOUD vault. For more information:

https://gitlab.com/supreme-commander-forged-alliance/maps/mauve

edit: apparently there was a map name in the post of Leto and I overlooked that. Apologies again!

disclaimer: the map in the vault doesn't have any heightlines

Jip

Its been a while but lets get back at it .

Looking at Autumn - an implementation of the design from @Blodir . We've had two sessions and the last one will probably emerge somewhere this weekend when the map will become available in the vault.

The layout is quite similar to the original design. It still requires a bit of tweaking where the extractors will be located exactly. I hope to finish that up this weekend. At the moment the big quest is 'filling the gaps'. There are some open area's in the map that I don't want to fill with trees, but there isn't much else to fill it with. Therefore I'm experimenting with how Blizzard designed the Starcraft II maps - small patches of detail in larger area's of nothing.

The focus since last iteration:

The roads are now nicely marked with a combination of a stratum layer and decals
The cliffs are properly color-tuned
Color cue's are more correct
Props / marker placement

Things that still need to be done:

Further prop placement
The center
The rocky areas

And last but not least - after talking to @Valki he wasn't able to contact the original author. Therefore he made his own design and I'll soon be implementing that. Its a design based on Starcraft II meta / balance. More about that map later .

Jip

Autumn is available in the vault !

I'd like to provide @Blodir and @Leto_II an additional month for feedback on small changes, such as flattening terrain, moving an extractor slightly or adding / removing a few props. Once April ends the maps will be as they are.

On top of that - I'm intending to making a trailer similar to the trailer for Archsimkats Valley for both maps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3fvUrhhMsE

If you have a replay that you think is epic feel free to message me the replay!

Last but not least - time for a few adjustments for the map of @Tatsu and then onto the last design from @Valki .

Valki

@Jip said in A community effort on a map layout:

On top of that - I'm intending to making a trailer similar to the trailer for Archsimkats Valley for both maps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3fvUrhhMsE

If you have a replay that you think is epic feel free to message me the replay!

Last but not least - time for a few adjustments for the map of @Tatsu and then onto the last design from @Valki .

That is a great idea!

However if I might, I think a scripted game will do more to make a good video. You discussed the intended and expected strategies with @archsimkat and the draft creators, maybe take that as a starting point.

Have, for example, the draft creator and archsimkat list the key attack paths etc. Have the draft creator and someone, preferably archsimkat or a pro, run a "cheating enabled" game where those key attacks are made. Then make a video from elements of that replay.

Jip

There's no rush - over time a good replay will emerge and I'll go with that. As anything else will either take up time from me or from Archsimkat and I'll already be spending a few hours to make the trailer anyhow .

Jip

As part of the update for Tatsu and his map Two Step Shuffle there has been some updates!

There are numerous updates:

The ramps are now more 'rampy' with swirls all over it. The idea is to visualize that the terrain is going downwards.
The terrain overall has more detail. Not due to a higher resolution but because of using that resolution better.
The center is no longer super-smooth and is now like the rest of the terrain. Including the Atlantis dry dock .

Also, did anyone spot the CZAR crash and that you can walk underneath it?

As with the others - @Tatsu has until the end of April to provide feedback. After that the map will be considered done.

The map of @Valki will be started after my exams and other duties - you can expect the first drafts in about two to three weeks!

edit: and Two Step Shuffle is in the vault

Jip

With thanks to @KolmarEye for helping out with a graphical bug.

It appears that a map can end up being partially downloaded / unzipped. Causing you to miss assets, causing a graphical bug. This bug makes it really hard to play one of these maps.

To solve this issue:

Uninstall the map in question via the vault
Install the map in question via the vault. Let it finish as it can take a long time: each map is about 200mb!

Then, once finished, it should it all be good. If this isn't the case, please contact me.