Brand spanking NEW map in MA!!!!!!

[Vraciu]

All those constant screen shots leading up to the release of Oceania were as much to force me to complete it, as showing the community that something was being built for them, along with the stunning beauty possible with the AH3 terrain engine. Building a terrain is a long process that is not unlike doing a 26 mile marathon. You get bored, disheartened, and even run out of creative inspiration and want to walk away from it. You are the only one who can cross your finish line 6 months down the road. And the limitations of the polygon mesh force you to constantly compromise on your dreams when you always least expect to.

This is one of the reasons I suggest building a tiny test terrain like an island with a few feilds that you can only use offline on your own PC. Even the smallest island will show you the limitations of the polygon mesh and force you to make compromises. And then, you have to paint it and experience all of those compromises to achieve some illusion of the reality most players want out of terrains. Otherwise, it's simple just to slop something together that has feilds on it. The terrain editor is that easy to create something with.

Vraciu, I suspect you have already given this a shot and know what I'm talking about....

I like the map so far.   The mountain ridges are really slick.   

Yeah, it's not easy.   I am grateful for your efforts.   

[1stpar3]

I don't whine....ever. Y'all been saying that for a while over the M3 stuff but wait who was right??? Oh yea I was....later nerd.

Ok,maybe it was a GRIPE. Gripes and Whines are like some other things, like beauty for example. Difference is in the eye of the beholder..or reader in this case.  NERD? OUCH

[Wiley]

I don't whine....ever. Y'all been saying that for a while over the M3 stuff but wait who was right??? Oh yea I was....later nerd.

"Whining" is less about content than tone.  Dude, you whine.

Wiley.

[perdue3]

Great map, bustr. I only wish TT bases were un=capturable. Still, not much to complain about.

[bustr]

I'm sorry, tried that on my last terrain in the TT caldera in the center. Once Hitech has the project files, the terrain is the sole property of HTC. He personally vetoed my setting the un-capturable attribute on those three TT vBases in my last terrain. Rules is rules unless you can convince him otherwise.

[DubiousKB]

I'm sorry, tried that on my last terrain in the TT caldera in the center. Once Hitech has the project files, the terrain is the sole property of HTC. He personally vetoed my setting the un-capturable attribute on those three TT vBases in my last terrain. Rules is rules unless you can convince him otherwise.

Hmmm wonder how much "kragenmore?" would release the Kraken? 

[lunatic1]

I logged in then logged back out-2 hours later logged back out went. logged back in Friday morning logged back out 4 hrs later.
thank you for the shore batteries, which are still too easy and soft a target, and yes I'm looking at it from both sides.

seems like a good map-still need to explore TT.
but its another map which is what we need.
hopefully HT didn't pull SFMA from the rotation.

[molybdenum]

The map looks nice and is clearly well thought out, and I certainly prefer it to Bowl. My one complaint (and for me unfortunately it's a big one) is that only one side has a realistic ability to hit a particular team's AAA strat. For example, right now the bish (zone 3) are dominating the rooks (zone 2) and hitting the currently 100% bish aaa strat would go a long way toward getting the rooks back on the offensive. But the nits aren't doing it and it's an 8 sector flight from the closest rook base, so that's simply not an option for me.

[Mister Fork]

This map is too good and too beautiful. There is nothing in the design, graphics, or base capture workflow that I can complain about.

I hatez it! I hatez it

[NatCigg]

i flew only at two bases.  I really like the low elevation mountains, felt grate for fighter pilot game.  They were a bit sharp on the edges and one mountain reminded me of the head chair of the renovated dinning room in the movie beetlejuice (ya know the shrimp cocktail dance scene.  ).  just kinda floating out the like a dead mans fingernail. The low elevation haze helped add to the effect.  The capturable airbase was nice, with the river and bridge. oh and shrubs that could be driven over and used for cover.

All in all, Way To Go Buster!  It is nice to look at different terrain! and its got character, like a distant land! 

 

[BBQsam]

And still no screenshots........


 

some here:

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,387817.25.html

[Vraciu]

some here:

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,387817.25.html

Thank you.   

[JunkyII]

"Whining" is less about content than tone.  Dude, you whine.

Wiley.

You can say I do, doesn't make it true....because my typing tone comes off a certain way doesn't mean it's what I'm doing. Trust me, I'm calm as toejam while playing even when I'm in a discussion on 200 about someone's piss poor gameplay.

[Randy1]

A superb effort by Bustr.  Interesting and original across the whole map.  Bustr when you get a chance post how many brain numbing hours you think you have in this map.

We have the same problem though.  Not so much of a map problem as the basis forr the game.  You sign in during prime time and ords are down for over an hour. 

Two nights in a row now at the beginning of prime time the knits and bish own a huge chunk of Rook land.  Not a big problem normally since it generates action but  a single plane can take out all of the ords surrounding the battle front stopping the action.

[bustr]

April to October, MA terrain takes about 6 months. The gross land mass construction is simple, creating real worldish characteristics, mind numbing. It's like learning to sculpt a block of dried mud, then trying to do DaVinchie's David. You learn a bit more each terrain about the limitations of the polygon mesh called the terrain work space, and the limitations of the smallest unit being 1\8x1\8 mile. Then after loosing your mind fighting those limitations, you get to loose your mind trying to do something sort of realistic with the 16 tree and clutter tiles in the limited pallet.

All of the base and strat placements were on purpose, you noticed the knights and bish first off didn't all sit in the TT in tanks and let their country be taken away from them right off the first hour in rotation. The rooks always had the choice to go on the offensive and do the same to the other countries. So the rooks ended up with a stinky deal and had to live with it. I was there for the few big initiatives to take back rook territory and expand into knight and bish territory. Once the rook were on the exact same knight island, no one bothered to smash those same strats except for POW last night.

This terrain is an experiment in placing most of the feilds as close together as the rules allow. From what I observed over two days sitting there none stop watching except when I went to bed, it works to generate activity. What I saw is the knights and bish don't like the rooks and beat on them taking their bases for a long time before going at each other. And the rooks won't defend what they have. This was the morning and daytime crew of rooks who 10-15 of them took almost 4 hours to recapture a single field held by a smaller number of bish. The USA prime time shift of rooks would then start taking back territory while expanding into the knight and bish territory. Then the knight and bish shifts morning and day recaptured everything pushing the rook country back to 60% with the knights winning the reset about 30 minutes ago. Rook needs to recruit some fire breathers for the morning and daytime shifts.

Maps are boring if you try to make everything safe to help the underdog, this game is supposed to be about combat not about having safe spaces. With three teams someone will want to fight and take away land more than someone else. If you don't fight, or you are out numbered, you suffer. Making the transit time to fight shorter energizes players into doing things like breaking your strats, taking down your radar across a front and just killing your guys. There are a boat load of safe boring maps in the rotation queue.

If you want safe maps for the underdog, build them.