New map in progress

[CrimsonBlaze]

The last few days ive been working on the landscape for my map. I think i've finally got the layout right! Basically my concept was to have a "King Of The Hill" type game style (which I probably will call the map) where the person who has the middle flag has a major advantage. Just like my maps for games such as Red Alert 2 back in the day, the map will be more or less symetrical, this is just my style of mapping.


key:
dark blue: water
dark green: low land
bright green: high land
green: land in the middle of dark green and light green.
yellow: artillery
red: MEC flags at start
light blue: USMC flags at start
black squiggles going over the water: bridges
arrows: pathways for vehicles up the hills.

That is the concept of the map, huzzah for 5 second paint drawings! Top left and bottom right flags will be air bases. Top right and bottom left flags will be armour (vehicle) bases. The 4 flags surrounding the middle are mainly just spawn points with perhaps a couple houses and 1-2 vehicles. The middle base is good for sniping (see pic below) and has planes/helicopters/tanks, basically a military base on the hills, this gives the big advantage.
APC's are useful on this map as you can go across the large water areas on the sides and get easy access to the corner flags.



note: ill try and prevent it so you can't capture the middle flag via a helicopter

I am currently about 30% done on the map, still got texturing, effects and objects to place. Im glad the most annoying part of making the map is finished :)

comments welcomed

[imported_SubwayEater]

Looks good. I myself like symetrical mapping...

[IHateYou]

To make the top flag uncappable by a helicopter, make a very tall skinny building and place the flag inside of it. Like a lighthouse, grain silo, or something of that nature.

[CrimsonBlaze]

I thought of that, but I want it visible.. so ill use a warehouse of somekind.

I have come across a problem. I placed artillery and set it to the correct teams, went to commander in game and it didnt work, is there anything else which needs to be set in order for it to work?

progress update: added wooden bridges between flag/artillary islands and smoothed out alot of terrain. Made sure tanks can get all the way to the top of the hills. Added a mountain side texture to the impassible areas on the top hill (light green)

[IHateYou]

lol, I just thought of something hilarious (IMO), for the big warehouse building on the hilltop. Think you can render a Wal-Mart? That would be great.

[CrimsonBlaze]

I would require a custom model for that.... and i cant do them

I put those big giant silos there instead, I dunno how but it fits in well imo and from a distance if you look at the middle hill with the silos on it looks like a castle lol

[kbmob]

are you going to put a couple trees or bushes around? or just leave it bare? ether way good stuff

[CrimsonBlaze]

There will be trees and bushes in random places on the map, just not that many of them. They are the things I will add last to the map.

1 flat texture over all terrain -> model landscape -> add mountainous textures -> add important buildings -> detailed texturing -> detailed features (trees/bushes/extra buildings etc.)

Thats the way I make maps :)

Currently im on the detailed texturing stage

[CrimsonBlaze]

*UPDATE*

I dont know where all my time is going, I spend alot of the time on the map but at the end of the day there isnt that much difference... but yeh anyways...
New Images:

http://www.crimsonblaze.net/images/bf2-map-king_of_the_hill-03.jpg

http://www.crimsonblaze.net/images/bf2-map-king_of_the_hill-04.jpg

http://www.crimsonblaze.net/images/bf2-map-king_of_the_hill-05.jpg

I was messing around abit earlier, it's really fun driving from the top hill off a cliff and then going down a slope, I ended up doing a large wheelie for the whole of the slope which shown by these pics:

http://www.crimsonblaze.net/images/bf2-map-king_of_the_hill-06.jpg

just before the jump

http://www.crimsonblaze.net/images/bf2-map-king_of_the_hill-07.jpg

after the jump - start of the wheelie

[CrimsonBlaze]

I cant be bothered making another help thread so im posting it here.... I started to add textures to the heightmaps and get rid of the annoying green-ness in game. Was going ok until I noticed that the colour of the heightmap wasnt the same as the terrain in the normal parts of the map. It was much much brighter, I was using the same texture as well...
Has anyone got an answer for this? or will I just have odd looking terrain in the distance :)

[HicRic]

I have come across a problem. I placed artillery and set it to the correct teams, went to commander in game and it didnt work, is there anything else which needs to be set in order for it to work?

Place them via the object spawner (which I imagine you're doing). Also, then set the "TeamOnVehicle" property of each arty. This enables it's use by the commander. Goodness knows why it's such an inexplicable name, but that's what works.

[KBH33]

Looks good but be sure to put some more articles in looks too plain

[CrimsonBlaze]

Place them via the object spawner (which I imagine you're doing). Also, then set the "TeamOnVehicle" property of each arty. This enables it's use by the commander. Goodness knows why it's such an inexplicable name, but that's what works.

Cheers, that got it to work

Looks good but be sure to put some more articles in looks too plain

What do ou mean by 'articles'



And does anyone have any idea on the heightmap texture colour difference?

[CrimsonBlaze]

I found out about the heightmap issue.... so thats not a problem anymore

but i have run into another problem, a kind of strange one

I lowered/raised my heightmaps to match the rest of the terrain, nothing special but in game it looks like this:

http://www.crimsonblaze.net/images/bf2-map-king_of_the_hill-08.jpg

as you can see my water gets to the height map but its clearly visibe (eventhough i lowered it so its underwater in the editor) and about 20 metres past that the heightmap goes to what it should be.

http://www.crimsonblaze.net/images/b...he_hill-09.jpg
It was weird as I swam out there and I managed to pass right through the heightmap which this picture shows.

http://www.crimsonblaze.net/images/b...he_hill-10.jpg
and this is what it is like in the editor.

its just the first 20metres of the height map which is causing this problem, and it wasnt just this part of the map, it happened in the other 4 points where water got to the heightmap.


I was planning on releasing beta 1 of my map once I finished with the heightmaps, this has just put it on hold :\ looks like a monday morning release now.


btw, im trying not to multiple post as its quite a while between each post and I dont want to make another thread for them :)