Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Flayed1 on April 05, 2006, 07:28:45 PM
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I see HT is responding sooooo.......
I started working on a map a few months ago that actually looks kinda similar to the one in the other thread.
This is what I have done so far. It consists of 3 paddles and a center round island (hence NUKEMA) with 2 large islands between each large landmass.
Most of the bases are high. This is much different than anything we have currently in hopes that it might encourage more mid to hi alt encounters.
The terrain is actually chunks cut and pasted from Oregon :) with a slight exageration on the alt. Lots of canyons and large flat valleys between.
The center island is naturally set up as a TT/FT but the tank spawns are at about 10K if I remeber right and the air fields are around the outside at 0K, loads of canyons to fight in here also.
I am trying to leave some space between the dar circles so that every NOE mission wont make an entire trail of dars go off on the way to target but they are still close enough that you shouldn't have to hunt much to find the NME.
I have also been working hard on the edges of the land so that it's not such an abrupt edge jutting right out of the water to 6K :)
Anyway here is a shot of the clipboard showing what I have done.
(http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/711/nukeclip3yk.jpg)
and this is the original picture I loaded into the editor but without the islands between the large land masses so I have drawn them in. Note the little islands are not drawn to the actual shape they will be.
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7893/j2grey0pw.gif)
Here is a link to a download of what I have done so you can fly around on it.
I haven't really worked on the GV spawns.
http://www.bops.us/bops/bin/site/ftp/bops/J1.res
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Looks great! Good job!
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yayyyyyyyyyy
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I have to do this, so I apoligize in advance...
I dub the.........
"NOOOOOOOK"!!!!!!!! :D
(http://www.nmsu.edu/~safety/images/signs/symbol_radiation_lg1.gif)
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I have one too!
(http://airwarrior.afkamm.co.uk/ArenaMaps/europe3dc.gif)
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LOL well if you have 3 sides almost all maps come out looking something like this :) or at the very least zoom out on them and the counries look like that.
At first I was thinking of a 3 sided nerf boomerang then the Nuke symbol stood out to me. Besides NOOK MA sounds better than NERF MA :D
But on a more serious note I hope HT takes a look. I have been on hold trying to get a response from HTC, I don't think they check the Email or mine got lost somewhere :) And imput from the rest of you guys wouldn't hurt.;)
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In my opinion, any new map creation that makes it into the game is good for the game. Gamers criticize map design but through constructive criticism maps can be improved. It’s up to HTC Admin to support gamers that want to contribute to the game this way.
So go for it
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I second that! I have made a small (64x64) map with fully functional strat etc in the past. Its a f***** hassle and tons and hours of work. I salute everyone that has the time and patience to go for a new MA map!
If you need help with thoses water edges.... heres what I did: Use the SHIFT/CTRL right click to change terrain alt by 100 or 50 feet, more or less clicking "randomly" on the corners.... that way the hills will look smooth.
Also, i only put two or three "take off and look at what youve done" fileds on the map, untill the WHOLE terrain layout was completely finished. Changing any altitude after adding fields, strats and roads will only lead to chaos :).
Anyway, Good luck and thanks in advance :).
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Thanx Schatzi for the tip I will try it. What I have found works fairly well is taking the gray scale image and smudging/bluring the black(water) back into the lighter(land). This makes a nice smooth transition from one to the other when you load it back into the editor. The only problem is you have to do this several times to get it right witout over doing it. This also works well for adding canyons /gullys by doing the same thing, just in a line.
I'm also hoping the higher altitude map would encourage the use of the SPIT-14 , TA-152 and other high alt type planes. As the maps are now I only see these when I fly 20 to 30K in my B-17's. maybe being almost half way to 20K would ecourage more High alt bombers and interceptors. :)
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Just FYI... using pre-shaded elevation data does not give you accurate elevations.
Just in case you wanted a real Oregonian landscape.
Looks good, Flayed. :)
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Actually this would have been real close but I told the editor to raise it a bit so in stead of the highest peaks being only around 12K like Oregon actually has, the highest is around 17K on the southern mass.
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Looks like Pizza to me.
As with any map the most important part is the field spacing. All bases a sector or more apart = VERY BORING. If you follow the spacing as in the first two rings on Fester you will have a great map. If you follow the spacing as we see on the other maps you will have a map that most people hate.
You want your map to have a lot of action, give the enemy a lot of options to defend and attack each field. Closer bases makes both happen.
I would move FT/TT out from the middle and bury it in a corner some where well away from the actual WAR map.
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Understand that because that elevation image has a highlight/shadow effect to it, all of your peaks are now split in half... with the highlighted side becoming higher (because in the elevation data, lighter = higher) and the shadowed side is now a deep valley (because darker = lower).
You still get a workable terrain, it's just far from what you might be expecting.
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Originally posted by BigR
I have one too!
Wheee! That ones got my field!
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Originally posted by mars01
Looks like Pizza to me.
As with any map the most important part is the field spacing. All bases a sector or more apart = VERY BORING. If you follow the spacing as in the first two rings on Fester you will have a great map. If you follow the spacing as we see on the other maps you will have a map that most people hate.
You want your map to have a lot of action, give the enemy a lot of options to defend and attack each field. Closer bases makes both happen.
I would move FT/TT out from the middle and bury it in a corner some where well away from the actual WAR map.
I believe HTC has documentation SOMEWHERE that states requirements in field spacing. I saw it several months ago, but I don't know where.
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http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147796&highlight=Field+spacing
P.S.....Found something.
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WTG Flayed1, its cool to see other people bringing in ideas..
We could have a large map rotation in no time. Who knows, maybe we'll get a new board in the bbs dedicated to it?
P.S.
I swear i never played air warrior. The map i made before i changed it around looks really close, lol.
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Kinda funny how we're inundated with replies to these ideas in the General Discussion while the Terrain Editor Forum is next to stagnant.:huh
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Mars what you may find fun I don't. I find fester boring because the fields are to close to each other and it's hard to move anywhere on it. Basicly it's a map for furballers. Almost all the dar circles are intersecting on it so there is no wondering where the attack might be coming from and everyone just flys along alomost on the deck to the other base to vulch or attack the others that are low and slow. Then we sit there with it untill skuzz resets the thing :)
So i'm trying to do something a bit different. I understand what you like but others like different things all I can do is try to put some of each in it.
As far as the actuall "WAR" go's, thats why I play the game. Hence my map refects allot of what I and others like me like to do. just like festers maps reflect allot of the furballer mentality. There will always be furballs people just won't be uppin in each others laps.
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Keep fields spaced corrently i.e. between 3/4 and 1.5 sectors is min max, normal try keep field spacing to 1 sector.
Yeah fields spaced at 3/4 are not bad. If you notice on FesterMA his inner fields are spaced according the minimum which works out very well. Fields 1.5 sectors apart are terrible. Flight times suck and they give way to horde mentality. I think Fester cracked the case with his maps. His field spacing is best by far then all the other maps. I would even go as far as saying the other maps follow teh 1 to 1.5 sector spacing and they blow most of the time.
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Well, any map needs an all around mix, period. It absolutely needs to appeal to the full spectrum of GV, fighter, and bomber play. I'm one of those that likes to do just about all the things HT designed this to be, so the MA maps must reflect that, in my opinion.
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I agree thndr. I think Fester's maps have done a good job at this, where the other maps don't. If a map maker were to use FesterMA as a template for base spacing they would have a home run no matter what they did with the actual terrain.
Most of the other maps have a few closely placed bases that are taken early on and then the map turns into long boring flights. There is nothing worse than flying over a sector and usually more to run into the horde. I don't mind fighting against the hordes if I don't have to spend most of my time getting there.
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To give your map the best chance of achieving high alt fights, I would remove FT and TT to force players into the whole map and play the war. TT and FT drain players away and may result in your map being coaxed into the beaten horse argument about vulching, killing hangers etc etc at FT anad TT. Although I'm a TT and FT fan, maybe just make some other setup on that island?
Just my thought's but it looks good, LUV canyons, more the better!!!
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To give your map the best chance of achieving high alt fights, I would remove FT and TT to force players into the whole map and play the war.
Why should a map force a group of players to play in a way they don't want to play. Maps should allow all player types to find their kind of game play. Any map that is created to force a certain type of gameplay will be a disaster.
If people want high alt fights let em climb and do that. But for all the people that don't why should they suffer.
TT and FT drain players away and may result in your map being coaxed into the beaten horse argument about vulching, killing hangers etc etc at FT anad TT. Although I'm a TT and FT fan, maybe just make just one large base in the middle, or some other setup on that island?
Do you really care if a map is "coaxed" into a BBS thread when if done right everyone will enjoy it in the game?
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its a suggestion, not an instruction Mars. I thnk most people would agree that FT and TT sometimes remove players from the rest of the map, and the reason I mention that is because as a designer of a new map, I would want to consider every dynamic of gameplay. It's not a bad thing, but something to consider. That's all.
Spiff
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Yes I to think that FT/TT takes people away from what I think is the main objective of the game but I also realize that others don't share my idea of what is fun. So with the majority of the map desighned for more of a strat based play I though including a TT/FT would be a nice thing for the hard core GV croud and the furballers. Although the fighters still have to climb a bit on this island. That was meant more for the divebombing buff dweebs trying to carpet bomb TT. with the setup I have now they would have to climb for about 10 min. from the airfields on that island just to get to the TT spawnpoint lvl.
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The TT/FT serperates the War community from killing the Fighter communities fun. It allows both camps to be happy and puts a laser spot light on the griefers. It also makes the map enjoyabel for the whole community which is good for everyone. Honestly on occasion when I get my fill of FT I will join the war effort for a few quickies. When I can't get my fill of Fighters I usually just log off.
I know it is a suggestion spiff, but we have enough maps now that force me to play someone elses game and honestly most times I just log out.
I think any effoirt to add a FT is a step in the right direction and not including one is a step backwards.
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I love it.
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Ok I put on the Top Gun sound track (Danger Zone and Mighty Wings) in particular and figured I would have a go at modifying my map a bit to make it a little more fun for the furballers yet still keep some of the wide open spaces for the strat guys. Here is what I managed to come up with just using the fields I already had placed. Don't mind the alt #'s I'll be messing with those later. I'm more concerned with field placement at the moment.
I now have a line of furball style placed bases running inward from the 2 sides on the island. If this would work I plan to add about 2 more such lines farther down each side. The Zone bases will be left out of this as I see them as 1 of the biggest strat things in the game and if your NME gets to the point where they are attacking that you won't have to worry about flying anywhere to find a fight :) .
(http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/5086/nukeremake3hk.gif)
I was also thinking instead of two islands between each land mass what if I put 1 long, skinny island between the larger land masses with several bases across from one another spaced eveny down the island? For you furball guys this would be heaven, at least early on in the map. :)
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Come on furball guys you must have something to add. Would this change work for you?
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Yeah thats nice! :aok It looks like a good mix.
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Ummm what about the long skinny island idea? Or do you like 2 larger islands between eavh better?
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Yeah no doubt! I think long islands close fields would be a sweet. Maybe put some GV fields in the middle, kinda like a front. Say like the middle sector has 3 or 4 opposing GV fields each in close prox then close bases backing them up.
Would be cool to up and come screaming in over a big gv war. You could also have gv spawns from the fields backing up the center gv bases. You could taylor the terrain to funnel the gvs to one battle point. All kinds of options.
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All those circles and lines freak me out ... I can't see the forest thru the trees.
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Hmmmm Kinda like your thoughts about the long islands mars I'll have to work on that. Hmmmm maybe a couple ports also? The only bad thing I see about the longer islands is that it prevents the ports on the mainland to get through, they would all have to go around. so maybe adding a couple on the island kinda like a bridge effect Hmmm I'm getting a good picture in my head Ill go work on this. :)
And sorry slapshot I had them on to help show proxsimity of bases to each other. If you want I could also post a clean one with just fields.
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If you study any map during prime time you see the horde move from field to field. The determining factor is "next closest field".
The horde ALWAYS moves to the "next closest field".
It'd be better all around if you could spread the horde out; I'm sure some will disagree but I think in general most players realize this.
I don't play "win the war". Could not care less who wins. So take this as one opinion from that camp; call it furballer, whatever. Mainly, I'm here for the fight only.
Give me a decent FT with a ring of mountains high enough to keep out the war winners. Then do whatever you like with the entire rest of the map.
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Nice.
One question -
Would you consider making it a desert terrain?
It's the one thing missing since the demise of "Pizza".
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There is no desert tile in the Map editor so this makes it hard to do a desert terrain. Sorry.
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Id call it... Two Lungs, a dot,and a mini-skirt.
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Originally posted by FiLtH
Id call it... Two Lungs, a dot,and a mini-skirt.
Well you know I desighned it after a description of you.:p lol
No seriously now I bet you are quite the sexy young woman errr man err well you get it.:D
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I agree Toad and that is at least one nice thing about the close fields. It is so much easier to get up and harras the horde when you don't have to fly that far to do it.
On of my favorite things to do on Fester is chase the horde. You can hit them from a lot of different ways in the middle of his map because the bases are so close together, you don't have to up from the field they are hitting.
I agree tho, every new map should have a FT/TT, it is just smart map making and gaurantees everyone will lile the map.
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This map is great. Flayd has been working on this for months, and he is the most patient person I know. I would hope that HTC would at least give a yes or no to the concept.
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Well I had an image in my head about how the skinny islands would look but it didn't work out. This came out instead. :)
(http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6715/nukeremake6lj.gif)
I think this may keep you fighter guys happy untill us strat types Manage to get a foothold on one or other mainland. Maybe. :)
The only thing I worry about is crouding the CV's but Oh well.
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If hitech is readng this link..can you make bases uncapturable?? for example first 2 fronts can be capturd and then 2 fronts of high uncapturable fields that cant be porked??? whoever has most bases at end of 3 days "wins".
great map flayd..would love to see it in rotation.
thanks for the hard work!! woot!
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I don't really like the Circle Island Fields are a sector and a half apart, thats to far. What is the map with the island in the middle, 3 Fields, 1 north, 1SE, 1 SW and VHs in towards the middle? I am not a big fan of that layout because it takes way to long to get to the middle of the island in a fighter. God forbid the fight is over one of the fields - you have to fly 2 or more sectors.
For your circle island, I would put the fields within the 4 sectors in the middle of the island. Make em all about 1/2 sector apart. Move the GV bases to the outside of the island, with spawns to their respective fields and directly to their towns for easy defense. Also create VH spawns into the middle of the island for a big Tank Battle.
Likewise on the long island I would make the VH spawns right to the city and one to the field for defense. Force the land grabbers to have to kill the Field VH and the supporting VH to take the base.
The other option you have is to reduce the size of the larger islands so you can get wider center islands to create the fronts mentioned in the earlier posts.
Just some thoughts.
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I will think about the position of the center island air bases. And umm there is a tank town in the middle of the island with all GV bases spawning into it.
Mars on the first post I put a link so that people could download one of the erlier virsons and fly it offline..... I think What I would like to do is move the Air bases closer togeather on the center island but I would like to be able to make a real thick cloud layer like 500 ft above TT to stop some of the bombing of TT players. Not to mention this would look freekin cool on that island with the big canyons it has, you could be zipping through a canoyn and pop up through the soup and come back down on your NME :D Any way I'll look into it more, those were the first bases I put in on this map so I was just happy to get them to work. :)
And as far as making the large islands smaller......... DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ARE SUGGESTING MAN!!!!:eek: :eek: :) lol I would pretty much have to redo everything I've done thus far. I think I'll just try to get what I have to work. One day I was up at 6am and worked on it till 12:00am just to get some part of it to work that I was having some problems with. Not so bad now that I know a bit more about what I'm doing but still.... It might not be so bad if when you rais the terrain it would automaticly turn to grass but it dont. You have to go along and bit by bit turn it into land. At least I havent found anything that does it faster.