Arzew: Night Assault - My first map and first post.

[[MOH]GreenMan]

First of all I?d like to say THANKS to all you guys that asked the stupid questions because they were the same stupid questions that I needed answers to . And thanks to all the guys that had brilliant answers that made it possible for me to get to where I am now. I?ve been visiting this site for over a year now and it?s about time I made a post .

Somebody asked if you can decompile a SP map and make it MP. YES YOU CAN! It?s still a lot of work but I?ve done it. It?s 95% done; need to add a little eye candy but it is 100% playable. Before I add the final touches I wanted to get your opinions. (I?ll probably regret it but what the heck ). This is a DM map, I?m going to also make an OBJ version but I need to decide on an objective to add. I?m tired of blowing up things and stealing documents is nothing new. If I can?t think of something original I guess I?ll just blow something up.

OK, here it is. It?s actually my second map. My first map is about 70% complete and undergoing it?s forth major overhaul. I think this revision is going to stick.

You can download it at
http://www.castanes.net/mohaa/Maps/arzew_assault.zip (Arzew: Night Assault)

This is the very first mission in the MOHAA single player turned into MP.

[MasterMind]

Awesome!! Its really cool

I'm looking forward to the objective version

[Arro]

I love you. I can't believe no one ever did this before (or did they?) Arro will be sure to take a look at this one. Good job on first map.

[silver]

seems nice.

rescue prisoner?

[[MOH]GreenMan]

Thanks guys? Sorry Arro, I?m married ?

Rescue prisoner? I like it? Any ideas where I can get a sample of a script that will have the AI follow the Allies back to the Spawn?

[Mj]

Looks nice

Good plan to remake this map! I think also the idea of rescuing prisoners is good, but i dont know where to find that script... Ask at http://www.mods-r-us.net, cobra and elgan should help you out

[lizardkid]

i'm going to pop a bubble here

excellent work first off, good job.. hard to do that

but, SP maps are linear and bad because they are....

one big choke point

the SP is totally movie-based (one way through) and with that, a single shotgunner could dominate over 5 others in a single point. add that to cover etc it turns into a horrible experience.

once more i admire the work, but don't like the idea at all.

[[MOH]GreenMan]

Good point about the choke point lizardkid. Have you downloaded the map? I added back allies and there?s always the roof tops.

BTW ? I?ll be the first to admit... if you don?t have a great video card fps are really bad on the Allied side of the map.

I?m working on a revision, but I was forced to do away with the Allied spawn area and removed some of the mountains. The Allies now spawn in the village and the gate is closed. FPS went up by 30 fps for me in areas that I was getting 40?s and 60?s.

Hope to post update soon.

[Cheetohs]

Very clever idea, if i may say so... but there is ONE problem with the SP into MP idea...

SP maps usually have the straight path from point A to point B (points being spawn and objective, or ending) so that the player can follow the objective easily, MP maps, if you've noticed, have atleast 3 ways from point A to point B (points usually being the spawn points, Allied, Axis) with the occasional 4th and 5th path.

To me, 3 paths make good gameplay because it will keep each team always checking behind and a variety of choices, unlike SP where you have the Straight line path and the occasional branch off room.

Err, im not the best at explaining things but i do hope you see my reasoning, i have not yet downloaded the map to see if you included the optional paths, so if you did, i am truelly sorry to 'criticize'... if not, perhaps it's something you can look into?

BTW, very nice job on the decompile! It looks great! Did you have to recreate a lot of brushes to make it look so complete?!

EDIT: Crap. Im stupid. I didn't read closely enough to notice Lizards exact same post as mine, in far less words... and then DaDs clarification post. Damnit. just ignore this post i suppose.

[[MOH]GreenMan]

Geezzzz? Nobody reads anymore? (I hope he doesn?t ask me if I?ve read a good book lately )

Did I make a lot of brushes? YES! I had to make all of the brushes. Decompiling only gave me a good template to go by. The decompile made a huge mess of the brushes. I was able to use the patches (mountains, lighthouse, poles and arches).

[diego]

I just ran through it. It's looking really good. My FPS dropped into the 70's or 50's when looking at the allied spawn point. Not too bad.
Looking towards the mountains by the allied building was the worst area. The low sloping area below the lighthouse can be bad too if you are looking at it from the town. FPS in the town was mosty 95 for me.

You should definitely lose the allied spawn area for a death match map. But It would be cool if you could keep a modified version of it for an objective map. And the objective map can be somewhat linear and still be successful. The Hunt is still my favorite objective map. But your alley ways work well.

My only problem is the map is too dark inside buldings. I can see all the low intensity light sources you have placed in the rooms. And that type of lighting will work very well when strategically placed. But with 90% of the rooms and alleys that dark, I was squinting very hard to see anything. I was really starting to hurt my eyes so I couldn't play it very long.

The moonlight is great. But more of the interiors should have brighter lighting so you can see where you are going. Even the ones that were brighter were not bright enough.... and I have my brightness settings cranked up.

A few more illuminated windows outside or lamps will help people find their path while still keeping the majority of it in moonlight. In the singleplayer, I believe that entire ambush courtyard was brightly lit.

I'm always a stickler on the lighting aspect. A good layout with contrasting light and shadow will help lead players from one location to the next while still allowing for dark ambush spots. It also keeps everything from looking the same. One tight alleyway looks like any other. It was easy for me to get lost.

That's just my opinion. A lot of people don't agree with me. They like the shadows to be pure black. I think you should always have some illumination so that you are not running into walls. Black shadows are fine for SP, but MP is too fast paced for that.

I look forward to playing the finished version.

[Jack Ruby]

Great work Greenman, and you learned all that by reading the posts already up there, really good stuff

[Yarik]

Looks pretty good, I want to see more of it.

[[MOH]GreenMan]

I think it's pretty much DONE

FPS is much better, still dark but hey... it's night time.

Got rid of the Allied spawn and closed the gates. Getting rid of the hill and mountains was the only way to get fps up to a playable level.

(Arzew: Night Assault) Last Updated Oct 18, 2004
http://www.castanes.net/mohaa/Maps/arzew_assault.zip

Took me a while to make the changes. Been busy starting up a new clan with my buddy [MOH]Rockwell... Check us out http://www.themohclan.com

Thanks for your input guys, because it's not done til you guys say it's done.

[Bjarne BZR]

As SP maps are often a bit streached out an linear in gameplay: a Wave objective would fit it nicely.

Wave objective idea and script