96 replies to this topic

[Windrider]

Sorry about the spider lair in the North-East corner - I will fix that.

[Windrider]

I also apologize for the error that sometimes, even though you've destroyed all the opponents vital structures, he doesn't die. I have fixed this problem, but in the meantime, you can fix this problem by making sure they do not contorl any of the gates. As it stands, there's a script that if you control one of the gates, it gives you control over one of the elevators, and the system counts that as a vital building. I have also repositioned the spider lair and the signal fire so that they are not as biased towards the north east player. Happy playing!

PS - there is an easter egg in this map where you can recruit Frodo! That's right, Frodo Baggins! Whoever can tell me how it's done first wins!

[Windrider]

To reply to scryer, that was unintentional, I am still learning about the art files associated with the map. If anyone knows of a good tutorial or has some advice on how to get the art files to look EA quality, please tell me. In other news, yes, I do need to give credit to NJM for his osgiliath 2D art, which will be romved later. Also, gollum is now on the map!!

Edited by Windrider, 10 October 2009 - 02:07 AM.

[Scryer]

Ok I got my criticism. Keep in mind that I do know that this is a work in progress. I think that this map is very good considering it is still a WIP stage. I especially loved the fountain part. Anyways:



- Bree (the town part) needs to be spaced out more.

It is going to get crowded when the enemy gets within the gates. The roads within the city need more space for units. This crowding issue is actually caused by your buildings being close together.

Please fool around with giving your city more space. Maybe even get rid of a couple of decoration buildings without ruining its unique look? It would be nice to set up a couple of buildings (maybe even a fortress, if it's possible) in the town of Bree. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I like to have towers and statues set up by the gates in fortress maps .

You could also afford to have some garrisonable (sp?) towers located near the walls/gates. You might need to reskin something though...


- Your map has a lot of flat terrain outside of the city.

You got the roads right but the area outside of the city is very flat. On a side note, I was playing on very low settings and some of the ground textures seemed choppy when compared to other maps. And I did compare your map to other maps today. I would suggest more blending but this "choppiness
" effect could just be due to my very low graphics settings. Wait for somebody else to criticize this before you take any actions.

The area around Bree needs to be more dynamic if you plan on keeping the same map size. By dynamic, I mean that you need to have more stuff going on outside of Bree. The town of Bree is in the middle of the Barrow Downs, South Downs, and Weather Hills so the fields outside of Bree could definitely afford to be more hilly (not a word) and rocky.

You can also get away with adding shallow creeks. There are no rivers based around Bree (or so my map shows me..) but you can get away with adding in shallow creeks since those wouldn't be placed on a worldly map. This would add to that dynamic aspect that I was mentioning earlier. By the way, adding in more trees is not going to make the map more dynamic.

Just make some strong choices when you're editing the area around the city. For example, you can choose to have some abandoned/active caravans along one of the roads, or you can choose to create a small dunedain ranger camp (that is unplayable). The bottom line to this point is, you need to make the area outside of the city more dynamic; starting with the terrain (creeks, hills, etc).


- You need to make stronger choices about the playability of your map.

You need to decide whether this is a dedicated fortress map or not. In my opinion, there is no "inbetween" choice.

Right now, if I were to go and claim Bree for myself in the early game, I would end up defending that city and my fortress. This splits a player's focus to a point that it's a weakness. You can only really save one of them (being Bree or your fortress). This also ties in with my first point; you need to make more space in the town of Bree because it would be pretty hard trying to fit in structures in order to "move in" to Bree. In the end a player might be forced to abandon Bree because their Fortress is being heavily sieged.

If this map is not a dedicated fortress map, then the town of Bree is going to end up like Combe Valley's town; handy but ignored.

So you just have to decide how you want the players to play the map.

Edited by Scryer, 10 October 2009 - 06:07 AM.

[Windrider]

well, i've cleared bree out a little without changing the size of the outer wall perimeter. Theres now enough room to build five mordor fortresses and eleven additional orcpits in the town (in sperate areas, though - generally 1 or 2 orcpits to the fortress; I left a little space when I counted cause I know the buildings are finicky about getting certain space). You'll note the south-eastern most corner of the city has a lot more space to expand than do the other parts. This area is for those players who wish to move HQ into town. I've added some hills to the outlying regions, and I made the creek siginificantly shallower so that the bridge is now only for show. Actually, there are ruined towers underneath the "show" towers that protrude enough that they should function properly as a garrison tower. As far as the texturing, I would have to edge in each individual little cell that is blocky because of all the textures I've added, so I may just redo the whole texturing project. Any idea about how many different textures you can add before the ground starts to get chunky? Also, could you clarify what you mean by a fortress map? Thanks for being so critical <img src="http://forums.revora...IR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Also, somebody PLEASE help with the 2D Art for the map!!!!!


Please note that the mordor fortresses and orcpits in the screenshot will not appear in the actual map; they were put there temporarily to represent the amount of space available for expansion inside the city.

Edited by Windrider, 26 January 2011 - 02:13 AM.

[Scryer]

By a fortress map, I mean a map that functions like the Minas Tirith, Minas Morgul, Helm's Deep, etc maps. A map where there is a designated defender and sieger (seizure lol). Right now it's a choice of: Take over the city vs. keeping troops to defend your fortress (which prevents a defeat). If you made this map so that one player starts off in the town of Bree, this could solve that dilemma. It's your map, so it's your choice though.

I've added some hills to the outlying regions, and I made the creek siginificantly shallower so that the bridge is now only for show. Actually, there are ruined towers underneath the "show" towers that protrude enough that they should function properly as a garrison tower

Yeah, definitely don't be afraid of adding in more shallow creeks or playing around with your elevation. I'm going to insert my opinion again, and just say that I personally think that one of the player-corners could be at a higher elevation than Bree.

For texturing, don't worry about it now. I've got a shit graphics card... So don't worry about your textures until someone else comments on that . Therefore I have no idea how many textures you can add before it gets chunky.

Bree is in a bastard location, so you can definitely get away with a lot of things that you do to the map.

[Devon]

In the future, please just edit your posts instead of quadruple posting


Alright, the images so far look very mono-textured. (I lost my rotwk disk a few weeks ago so I can't actually verify it) I think this tutorial would help you a lot, especially with textures.

[JUS_SAURON]

GOOD STUFF ....

The pros ...
I like the town itself , can't tell but should have some
outposts and inns making it a viable capture

I guess its like a Fortress map but the Fortress owner is whoever captures the town first
I actually like this ...

The cons :

Definately spend time doing texture work
A real landscape should not look like a carpet
but texturing is slow ... open some EA maps and get some textures THEY use

Then add some bushes , rocks and trees !

[Windrider]

Here are some new screenshots to demonstrate the retexturing I've done and the added maneuvarability in the town.

Edited by Windrider, 26 January 2011 - 02:13 AM.

[Dant]

Bree ground need a bit more re-texture,Good job nonetheless.

[Devon]

It's definitely getting better, keep working on it

[Scryer]

Yoda, that guide is pretty helpful. I might just give mapping another shot (considering that I hardcore failed last time ). It would sure give me something to do while we wait for Rob to get back..

It's definitely getting better. Your Bree Map has solid potential.

What other ideas do you have planned? EDIT: If you don't mind sharing.

Edited by Scryer, 12 October 2009 - 07:02 PM.

[Anri1]

The download doesn't work, does it? I'm getting some file index.php wich is 37,7 Kb not 2.08 mB and doesn't look like a map. Could you fix that? I'd like to test the Bree map. It looks good for me)

Edited by Anri1, 13 October 2009 - 04:04 PM.

[Masterbadeend]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I've got the feeling that you want the download the pictures he took from the map . The map is still in progress .

[Ring o' Fate]

The download doesn't work, does it? I'm getting some file index.php wich is 37,7 Kb not 2.08 mB and doesn't look like a map. Could you fix that? I'd like to test the Bree map. It looks good for me)

Eh, you have to use a normal downloader.

[Windrider]

Hey guys, I've been working on the texturing some more. Here are the latest screenshots. Please remember that I have a lower-end graphics card, so I use WB for my screenshots. Please, if anyone can give me any advice or direct me to advice on 2D art files (.tga) concerned with maps, I would <u><i><b>really</b></i></u> appreciate it. <img src="http://forums.revora...bsupsmiley.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="thumbsupsmiley.gif" />

Note: the elven base will not be in game, this is just to demonstrate that there is in fact room to expand and conquer inside the town. The Prancing Pony will remain as a capturable inn <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsupsmiley.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="thumbsupsmiley.gif" /> , and there is an easter egg involving something in the town that will get you [drumroll, please]........................
Frodo Baggins as a recruitable hero <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /> !! What is it? You'll have to play this, the latest version of Bree-land, to find out!!!!


Sorry guys - if you're looking at this post, I had to delete this download of the map because of capacity issues. Scroll toawrds the top of pg. 5 for the most recent version.

Edited by Windrider, 26 January 2011 - 02:12 AM.

[Windrider]

Now, presenting - a version of Bree that does not require RJ's Mod! although, you should still get the mod - it's sweet!

---File removed--- See farther down in topic for newest release of modded map. Thanks

Edited by Windrider, 26 January 2011 - 02:14 AM.

[Dant]

Bree ground need a bit retexture put more dirt and grass so it will be more natural.

But great work

[Scryer]

Great improvements . Like Dant said, add more dirt and grass textures.

I also have some opinions as well:

- There needs to be more elevators (if possible). Right now on some of the walls, units have to make a far trip in order to get to a specific segment of wall. I think this happens for half of the walls. My best advice is to place an elevator on both sides of a gate/opening in Bree.

- The paths that you made (not the roads) are great.

- You've got a lot of space to fill outside of the city.. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, I just feel that you have your work cut out for you if you don't downsize the map. Like I have suggested before, hills and minor cliffs can "fill" the space.

I am also going to suggest that you pick a theme for your city/map. Picking a theme can give you ideas on how to fill the map up.

[Windrider]

what do you mean by "theme", scryer?