I finally have something to brag about.

Balr14 · Post by **Balr14** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 11:45 pm

At last, I figured out how to get massive amounts of foliage into a map to make a jungle. The pictures don't look like much, you have to see it to appreciate it; but here's a few shots anyway:

The map is Guadal Canal: battle of Bloody Ridge

Jack Ruby · Post by **Jack Ruby** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 11:55 pm

Looking very very nice, fantastic fps too, but you should realise that your soo wise it would be wrong for you not to show us how

[ARGW] Tenebris · Post by **[ARGW] Tenebris** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:11 am

Brl14, as Ruby says, it's looking nice, especially on the fps side... All that foliage would make you think on a fps inferno... Nicely managed...

But now, I need to know more... What kind of map is gonna be...? TDM, OBJ, a singleplayer mission...? I want more...! I need more...! Tell us more...!

(Are there gonna be japanese models there...?

)

blue60007 · Post by **blue60007** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:20 am

Oooh very nice

do tell us! I can't wait till you get Gualalcanal done!

panTera · Post by **panTera** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:55 am

What a nice lush view you got there.
Personally as for foliage I like it best when you can't see rightaway how it's made up, if you know what I mean. It's hard to see the 3d effect in the pictures of course but I bet it looks/feels better in-game as you walk around. Right now in the second pic you can spot some clear hard edges where the trunks meet the grass. Just a thought; perhaps a second texture with a transition from green grass to dark soil (in some places at the bottom of the trunks) could mask those edges.

lizardkid · Post by **lizardkid** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 2:21 am

well, seeing the
"press E to follow a player"

which is use for me and him apparently it'll be mp. tho no idea what kind

Balr14 · Post by **Balr14** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 3:31 am

Only the large textures are done on that side of the map. Most of the small textures and foliage have yet to be added. The other side isn't even started yet. Here's a picture of the whole map:

There will be the usual FFA and DM modes, but it will feature a "king of the hill" objective mode. Your team must hold a flag on top of the ridge for 3 minutes to win. Once you capture the flag, there must be a player from your team on the ridge to score points. The allied team will start on the left (unfinished side) and the Japanese start on the right. It is for the HITP mod, so it has all Japanese skins, weapons, sound effects, voices, etc.

The way I did it is with texturing tricks and the tall foliage you see actually covers structural walls with sky texture on top of the walls. In effect, you can't see what you think you can see, because there are walls blocking the view.

It uses 100% custom textures, about half of which are animated, too. I tried to make it as close to the real Bloody Ridge as I could within the limitations of the engine. The "king of the hill" mode also fits the actual battle, in which 300 Americans had to hold the ridge against the Japanese to prevent them from capturing Henderson field. I even recreated the Henderson field direction sign somebody put on the top of the ridge as a joke.

Post by **jv_map** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 2:32 pm

*clap clap clap*

Seriously, sounds good and looks hot

- though it's hard to see anything but dark green and yellow (<--- in case Surge reads this

) letters on my crappy monitor

Cheetohs · Post by **Cheetohs** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 11:07 pm

I am curious as to how the fps would run for me, i run most of the gfx on low (not lowest) and have a radeon9200 SE (128mb.) This map looks great and ive been waiting for a jungle-like map for YEARS. My history is a bit sketchy, but were there booby Traps at guadal canal?

Balr14 · Post by **Balr14** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 12:48 am

The PC the images are from is an Athlon 1100/GF3 t1 5 w/64meg, so it's not exactly state-of-the art. But, ATI optimizes their drivers for their pro chipset and the others can have a lot of trouble rendering transparencies in DirectX8 games. I would expect 30 - 40 fps with modest settings on a decent PC.

There were at least a dozen significant battles on Guadal Canal. But, I recall no mentions of booby traps in any of them. There certainly were none on Bloody Ridge.

small_sumo · Post by **small_sumo** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 7:17 am

I would liek to see more pics, I love your texture work its very impressive.

[ARGW] Tenebris · Post by **[ARGW] Tenebris** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 2:26 pm

Now it hits me...! Balr14, it's the battle of september 12th, a mile south of Henderson Field between Edson's Raiders and Kawaguchi's infantry division near that Lunga River... Right...?

"Bloody Ridge" kind of ringed a bell, so I went back to the books and there it was... He, now I've got to see that map finished...

And, of course, if you need any help on historical data, don't hesitate to contact me, I'll be happy to help... Not that you need any help, looks you're all well to covered on the historical aspect... Just my sudden emotion...

Yarik · Post by **Yarik** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 3:22 pm

Balr14, that looks fantastic. It looks like you made your own foilage. Because I hav never seen that in the radiant that I use. Great work though.
Vice city has tons of foilage and I get around 35fps in that game.

Post by **jv_map** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 4:18 pm

Cheetohs wrote:I am curious as to how the fps would run for me, i run most of the gfx on low (not lowest) and have a radeon9200 SE (128mb.)

You might wanna check your driver settings... your card should be able to work like a charm at max settings...

Cheetohs · Post by **Cheetohs** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 8:38 pm

i know, i run on low though for some simple reasons of mine.. It improves my gameplay. I don't care about 'realistic' gfx and players, because honestly, i they can be distracting and i dont look at how pretty the soldier next to me's suit is. I have it on low because I can see further in fog (did some tests with a few friends, not much further, but further!), id rather run at high fps than be laggy (i have enough ping lag as it is)... and im use to the gfx. if i changed its a whole new ball game