.Map :: MoHAA Mapping

Ok, I've decided to go ahead and open myself up to ridicule and premature comments by posting some pics of the map I've been working on for the last year. Rather than making mutilple screenshot posts, I will just update this one with new screenshots when they are available.

The name comes from Augustus Praetoria, an ancient province of Northern Italy where a garrison of 3000 Roman guards were stationed about 2000 years ago. The city's modern name is Aosta, but that name is boring. That is as far as the historical relevance gets. My architecture was very Romaneque, and I thought that was a cool name for it.


Bear in mind that this is only about 40% complete. The terrain and natural elements are just a rough draft. I haven't put in the surrounding cliffs or the terrain outside the front gate (yeah, it get's bigger). Most of the textures are final. But the interiors are all empty rooms and I'm still working on exterior details as well. I've only got a basic sunlight source in so I can see dimensions better when I compile.


Some Techical Notes:

This map is designed mainly for high end systems. That's not an excuse for low fps. It's to allow me to have high res textures and lots of detail. I have no Vis at all in the map and I still get mainly 90 fps as you can see in the screens.

The textures for this map are 100% external to the Mohaa pk3 files. 90% of these textures are in DDS format at 512 x 512 resolution or higher. I'm using a combination of textures from Mohaa, COD, Wolfenstein, and a few from Jedi Knight. Many of them are custom textures I've created using these game's textures as a base. I have low quality jpeg's of the textures, but I may work out a low res texture pack for older systems at a later time if the jpg's are still too heavy.

Currently, the Pk3 file is about 30 megabytes. If I make an objective version, I expect that to exceed 50.


The screenshots are taken at 1280 x 1024 resolution with maxium game quality settings and compressed textures on. If they are too dark, let me know and I'll brighten them a bit.


Let's see if I can post this screens correctly....










>>>>> NEW SCREENSHOTS ADDED 09/04/05 <<<<<

That's gonna be a cool map, I think...
One thing: the outside wall textures look somewhat boring... Maybe you could add some, umm, decals? Or ivy ? To make em look old...
's that custom sky? Looks sweet!

I like the overall look of the map... some pretty tight and neat mapping, perhaps a little too neat here and there...

The only thing that stood out imo was the trainstation... it's... i dunno... a bit too bold in relation to the other brushwork.

Anyways, I will surely download thisone... great work sofar and keep it up!

I love the sky. It really gives the map a nice atmosphere, and it's nice to see a map set at a different time aside from the standard afternoon, night, and overcast themes.

I don't think the train station is bold (except for the last overhead screenshot where it looks tucked away in the corner). I can't explain exactly (helpful, I know) but I think it should transition itself into the town (As it looks, it's just kind of there).

I do have a comment about your roof textures- Using the same one on every building looks a little redundant. Did you just select that texture because it complements the color of the sky?

I really like what I've seen. I can totally see myself getting killed because I'll be stopping to admire the sky.

Ivan wrote: One thing: the outside wall textures look somewhat boring... Maybe you could add some, umm, decals? Or ivy

I knew someone would mention Ivy. But I was expecting MJ to beat you to it. It's already on my 'to do' list during the next pass at details.

The sky comes from COD: UO from the sicily map. 1024 resolution with a moving cloud layer. I wanted to be able to use some lamp lights outside, but I wanted a strong natural source, so a dusk/dawn sky gives me the best of both worlds.

Axion wrote: I do have a comment about your roof textures- Using the same one on every building looks a little redundant.

I don't think the train station is bold (except for the last overhead screenshot where it looks tucked away in the corner). I can't explain exactly (helpful, I know) but I think it should transition itself into the town (As it looks, it's just kind of there).

This is not really a town. It's more a self-contained govt facility. So, I used the same roof texture on purpose to enhance the impression that the entire place was designed and created as 1 unit, not individual buildings constructed at different times. (The real-life inspiration for this map is the same way)

The Train station is not so much for moving people but moving supplies into and out of the facility. The building is a combination of a motorpool / storage depot in the front, with the loading dock on the back. (In real life, it's a parking garage. LOL)

The Rail line against the outer wall leads to a tunnel in the moutain (that I haven't made yet). That's for bringing in supplies. This one will have some normal rail cars on it.

The inner rail line wraps around the back of the complex and goes underground to transport supplies to the main research facility (The yellow L shaped building). A small rail tug will be on this one. (Kind of like the railgun map in Enemy Territory).

I had a hard time placing the depot building. The real buildings fit together better, but they are built at angles that were too complicated to duplicate in radient. So I've had to make do with buildings at a 45 degree angle. I think when I'm finished, you won't see that station tucked in the corner. I've still got to build a forward defense bunker and an allied spawn area for the objective version.

Keep the ideas coming.

Ahh, I see. Without that context, I thought of the map as a village. Sorry about that!


The additions you're planning sound great, and I think they will flesh out the map a lot. One of the things I like the best is that you've obviously given the design and overall feel of the map a lot of thought, and I think that attention will stand out when it's finished.

diego wrote:

Ivan wrote: One thing: the outside wall textures look somewhat boring... Maybe you could add some, umm, decals? Or ivy

I knew someone would mention Ivy. But I was expecting MJ to beat you to it. It's already on my 'to do' list during the next pass at details.

It was intended as a joke - I saw the ivy posts...

Bet you guys thought I gave up on this one. After taking a couple of months off to brainstorm on the entrance, I've finally made enough progress to show you guys what I've been up to. I've still got a lot of foliage to work into it and some more construction and texture work to do. But the main design is worked out until I can finish this stage of the scripting and get it playtested. I've also ditched the LOD in favor of brush terrain so I won't have as much to re-work when I convert this map over to Enemy Territory.


7 New screenshots are added to the top post. The last one shows the plans for the first stage of the Objective version. They are designed for the Enemy Territory style of play, with respawning and constructables.

At least that's the intention. How much of this I am able to script is another matter.

i remember the post but i never saw the screenies, excellent atmosphere to this one! i like how it feels...

Also, the fact that it's very open looks cool, almost as if you'll get various little skirmishes in each contained area

in any case, well done.