[Preface] Chapter I: Part I - Naboo: Diversion

[[SBF]ATATFIGHTR]

I love those skins and the map is looking fantastic.

[PvtParts]

Hahaha yeah chewing with a full mouth is definatly a problem. Be sure to floss after you eat yourself because human bones splinter, and you may get some between your teeth.

Thanks for the comments, and the respect guys. Bac, dont worry about it. I dont take offense that easy. You'd probably have to say something to me face to face, or cause some sort of issue that affected my life outside of the internet (I dont like wording it that way - it makes it sound as if I have a whole big life in the internet...but how else can it be put..) for me to take offense. Thats why I said you can post anything in response to this map, even if you just want to like flame me (but then your breaking the rules..) and say this map sucked so much you ate yourself.

Anyhow, yeah I'd love to hear what you guys think. This is a big step for me, being my first majorly released map out there. If its recieved well, it means that my style and ideas are okay with the public, meaning you all can expect good things from me, as I can from you. Quite on the contrary, if this map like sucks so bad I get banned from the forums, well, quite obviously you wont be seeing much from me (though I'd probably keep making maps because its a fun use of time when you cant go surfing or hang out).

Hope to hear from ya soon.

[Penguin]

well, its a MASSIVE improvemnt from your first map, which was already good apart from the the thing where you need an uber comp to play it, lol.

anyway, I started out as the gungans, ran around the sheilds and bit and was a bit dissapointed, there was no battle, untill just like in the movie an army of MTTs and AATs came over the hills and opened fire on us, all the gungans got wipped out in a few seconds and the CPS got captured. I killed a few droids but it took awhile with the boomas ((don't do much damager))

SO

i swapped to the CIS to test out them, i jumpped into an MTT and noticed that it was FILLED with an army of droids itsself, lol. I started to drive and noticed that if you do a sharp turn you skid, lol, and if you do it right when the gungans only have 1 CP and are all in a narrow line, you run them all over and end up getting 30-70 kills in a few seconds.

Next thing i jumped into was a AAT, awsome! four spots, proper weapons! although a bit over powered with the main cannon, i was racking up 300-670 kills every few minutes with it ((end kills was around 8,400))

i went to the forest in the top right, it blew me away, its so pretty, and lagfull with high settings, lol!

i love it how the fog gets denser and denser the further you go in the fog! and the CP area is beautiful.
I also love how you got custom sounds in ((and i noticed a few from The Phantom Menace game!))

anyway, time for bugs

1: Boomas don't do much damager
2: Gungan with staff when you spint/jump the energy bar gets stuck and you cant attack anyone after
3: AATs main cannon fires the droidekas laser texture ((two lasers))
4: CIS/Gungans all crowed/go to ((no mater what cps are taking)) the cps under the animals ((forgot the names))
5: gungans have no low res geometry, fighting invisible gungans with settings on low
6: MMT pilots possition says "Passenger"
7: not really a bug, but takes FOREVER to walk from one side to the other ((even on a sprinting kaduu)) but the ammount of units kind of makes up for this, it has a real battlefield type feeling just seeing all thr units running such a long distance on the open plains

PS: how many units did you have? you must of had local teams becouse their were more then 300 units. Like i said before i was getting 300-650 kills every few minutes

[Rekubot]

Amazzzzzzing. Last time I went to the Fambaa breeding grounds I had water on low. Today I switched everything on high (minus antialiasing) and nearly fainted in shock. It looks wonderful! I particularly love all the wild kaadus running around (whoever came up with that idea deserves a medal, LoL). Anyway, I'd go on and on about all the cool stuff but I'm not here to write a big long review, so I'll write up whatever bugs I managed to find after two play-throughs:

1) If you manage to catch all the CPs the victory timer won't start counting down. Now I realise that you've got a big predicament if not all the Gungans are spawned when you capture 'em all, but think about it. It is Diet Dr. Pepper (how is this a swear word? Back in the 1920's it was maybe, but not these days!) near impossible to catch all the CPs while there are still 50 Gungans running about, but since the unit count is so high all of these Gungans will have spawned. When the Gungans get down to 20 or so it's possible to catch all the CPs, and then it's just a matter of hunting the rest of them down. Now while this might sound horribly tedious to some, it is actually really fun! I hopped into an MTT and by the time I'd found a Gungan there were only two left, due to the AI killing them all, and with my two AI gunners we backed them into a (metaphorical) corner and slaughtered them both. Now, the point of that big pointless paragraph is that I'm asking you to keep it as it is! In my opinion it's awesome, and also more realistic, because the TF would want to hunt down ALL the Gungans, not just capture their CPs! So um... I ask you to keep it as it is, you probably won't. But there, LoL.

2) This is actually a suggestion, but with the wild Kaadus about (kudos to whoever thought of that!) I was thinking that some birds and fishies would be nice as well. Naboo is all about wild life, and it would be fun to disturb the peace .

3) Now I haven't watched The Phantom Menace for almost three years, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that the battle is too spread out in this map, as in the movie the shields were chocabloc with Gungans. In this map however, the Gungans are far too spread out. Even with the whole population of the map in there I doubt the shields would be full, so what I suggest to you is that you remove a Fambaa, it's shield and the CP under it, so that the battle is more knitted together if you will. I think that would look better, even if two shields aren't accurate to the movies. Removing all of that would probably take a lot of work however, so I don't blame you if you keep it as it is.

4) We're back again with the Phantom Missing Effects, and so far I know of no way to solve it, as the memory pools don't seem to work, but I think one way of getting around it would be by using portals and sectors. I'm not sure how this would look however, due to portals and sectors being meant for indoor maps, but I think you could get away with sectoring off the Gungan woods.

5) This is neither a bug nor a suggestion, I just wanted to say that I'm impressed that I can run this action-packed level on nearly full settings, and get hardly any lag at all! Even going through the forest was okay!

6) If you wanted to reduce lag even more, you could rotate the directional lighting slightly so that the shadows are shorter. They weren't that long in the movie anyway.

7) I guess I should've mentioned this earlier, but the AAT's missiles take forever to reload. Perhaps that is canon, or merely realistic, since getting all those missiles to recycle must take a while, but I just thought I'd point it out.

I think that's all I managed to find, but I'll keep searching; hopefully we can have everything squashed for the next version. Oh! Has anyone tried using the commander's recon droid? You'll love it! But I do suggest that you speed it up, because they moved faster in TPM and also because it takes forever to get around the battlefield with it.

Kudos to PvtParts for the awesome map!

[Hebes24]

I agree with both Rekubot and Penguin in saying that this is a great map! the only real problem I had with it was the gungan stamina thing that Penguin mentioned (it is actualy with both gungan classes).

Can't wait for more! Keep up the good work!

[Rekubot]

Ugh... ignore the don't fix the countdown bug paragraph, I just captured all of the CPs with 670 reinforcements left! Naturally enough I had to quit out of boredom, though I did find a new mini-game in the level; Kaadu-hunting! Just be a droideka and follow the wild ones around, and whenever they stop shoot 'em down! It's harder than it sounds, 'coz droidekas are slower than Kaadus and sometimes they don't stop for a while; it took me nearly 10 minutes to catch one of the little blighters!

But yeah, fix the no-countdown bug. Also, since it seems that you can make droidekas breathe underwater, could you do that? It would be cool to travel underwater and slaughter all the Gungans from behind. I also found another localization issue; Gungans are either call "Unit" or "" (i.e. nothing at all). Make sure you localize in every language.

Edit: I'm not one for post celebration but... 666! :twisted:

[PvtParts]

Thanks for the giant reviews guys. Later this afternoon I'll get to it all and you can probably expect a revamped version within the week.

Let me quickly explain why the countdown doesnt occur. The fambaa's were originally used for the local side, meaning they were cps. I have since then removed the local side (see, in the early stages of this map, gungans always lost. So I gave them locals. But as the map progressed the gungans would always win, even if I was on the cis side. So I removed locals). I will definatly fix this bug. The big thing is in the campaign mode, your job is going to be different than in conquest. So while conquest is conquest, campaign is going to be a mix of different objectives and gameplay.

Anyhow, thanks again guys. And expect a full-novel/book response this afternoon.

Parts

[PvtParts]

I'm putting this in a separate post because chances are it'll be long, so I think its a good idea to spread things out a bit. If its an issue just lemme know and I'll delete it and edit my previous post.

EDIT: oh and Rekubot, just wanted to let you know, though the AAT missles disappear from the view of the pilot, they remain on the map. So you wont be hit by any trail-less rockets.

EDIT Againn: updated first post for some screens showing off a hilltop view and the breeding grounds.

So, in response to what you all have said..

Penguin: Thanks man..well I should say woman.

- Yeah there is a delay before the battle starts, but thats all just part of the gameplay.

- Hmm.. this isn't a bug you stated but I wanted to comment on it, yeah I made the MTT a bit faster than most modders give it, but its also very clumsy and lacks acute control, as you would expect from a giant object with a high center of gravity, that hovers. So if you hit full speed and pull a sharp turn you can expect to skid a good ways down the battlefield.

- As for the AAT main cannon being a monster, I kinda wanted it that way. I have so much fun just spending the gametime as the gunner with the AAT, as it destroys anything. But trust me, as my series goes on, you will find that what the AAT holds in sheer firepower, it lacks as much if not more in critical attributes, such as speed and manueverability. Moreover, though the AAT cannon can rip a shielded fightertank to pieces with 2 shots (though you all dont know that since you haven't played my other map), up against a couple'a fightertank homing missles, or an AT-TE (earth destroyer i swear), it wont stand much of a chance.

- As for the lag, yeah thats something I've been worried about. I tried to make this map really pretty, which is hard to do when your making a battlefield. Thats why I'd done all the water and fog and what not. The fambaa breeding grounds and sacred grounds are the areas of this map I'm most proud of, as they really turned out pretty, and have done a good job of adding eye candy, that also is relative to the gameplay of the map. So, to sum that up, its something that I doubt will get much better. Its nothing horrible, though multiplayer certainly wouldn't work well. I will probably use Rekubots idea and change the shadows.

Just to cut in, I wanted to make sure everyone knows that Rekubot came up with the wild kaadus. They really add a lot to the feel of this map, so thanks to him.

- Custom sounds. Oh jeasusssss. They give me so much trouble. Not so much for this one, but for my other maps I just can't seem to get specific sounds to work. But its working now so thats good enough for me.

- Boomas not doing damage...well, I think I may be getting a big booma soon, and when that happens you wont have to worry about that, they will take an AAT in a few hits, if not 1. The current ones are anti-infantry, and I think they do a good enough job of taking out droids. 1 hit kill if you hit it, and anywhere near usually does the job as well. Plus, they dont hurt gungans as much (since they are electric and that would do a lot more to droids), so you dont have to worry so much when you toss them into a crowd of droids and gungans. They effectively filter the enemy.

- I dont even know where to start with the staff/sheild issue. It was like that when I got the combo, and I haven't the slightest idea how to fix it. Any combo experts out there, feel free to offer and I'll send you the combo to look at. But for now, just roll to get out of the weapon lock.

- Give me a picture of the AAT cannon issue. I didn't have that at all, so I'm a bit confused..

- The crowding cp's is a result of the lack of enemy objectives to take. I may change the unit objective for conquest to deathmatch, so the units will focus on killing not capping.

- I dont know what to do about the lack of lowrez. My gungans have a lowrez, and i can verify that the msh exists, and is called for in the odf.

- Fixed

- I'll probably increase the fambaa speed? To be honest, theres not much I can do about this. But as you said, theirs enough units to make up for it. The options I have are shrink the map (no), increase speeds (no), or add more transportation (yes). Aside from the number of fambaa's, aat's, and mtt's, no vehicles are set in stone. So I may add a couple more staps (I doubt it though I like only haveing 2 per mtt..might change to 4 though..), and will probably add a large number of kaadus, to spawn in the forest.

- I have 290 units on the field at once. The reason it appears that I had more was because of the large number of reinforcements, and the fact that I allowed no variation of units (no min and max, both are equal). So, the moment you kill someone, another respawns.

Rekubot:

- Will do. I can fix the cp countdown issue right away.

- I'm not really sure how to add birds and fishies. I've seen the lines in like felucias script, but it seems way to easy to just add that to my script. I would also like to add a bunch, and have no idea how to control the amounts. Any ideas would be appreciated.

- Not so much that'd take to much work, but I really like the shields. I remember walking up over a hill in the fog, and seeing them glowing, it just looked sick. So, I know they add a lot to the mood. Also, I have to say, it wouldn't be the battle of naboo without the shields. I could scoot the fambaas in, but then you get clipping right through the center of the shield, which looks lousy...perhaps I'll add locals back, to fill the area up more..

- You mean like certain effects not appearing? I didn't have this issue at all. Try maybe lowering your view/lod distance it its bothering you. I dont think portals would help, because even though you dont see it, its still being rendered, and is still affecting your performance the same amount.

- Well, I might shorten the reload time. But I wanted you to feel the drawback of having an automatic-55-round-magazine missle launcher..

- As for the recon droid speed.. I know. I have tried and tried. I've made it really fast, but it seems to just remain the same. I'll look into it, as it seems faster than the default recon droid, and if thats the case, then I just need to clean for the speed changes to work.


Anyhow, thanks again guys, I really appreciate the thoroughness. I've got to do homework now. But I can't wait to hear more.

Parts

PS. Im so happy that people seem to like my map. I was awefully worried it would fall through.


Also, after I fix this stuff, should I release this as a beta in the Release forums? I know all the people who just hide in there waiting for knew maps would probably d/l it, giving me more downloads, and hopefully more feedback. I'll obviously make the final decision, but any input from you all is welcome.

[Protector_Pulch]

Know what's strange ? Sharpened skins, which look excellent on an 1240x860 resolution, are horrible when you're on 600x800 (which is my test mode for new mapy, to avoid any lag). But, hey, that's nothing compared to the advantages of this map. It's big, it has new units, it has new vehicles , new sides - it has everything that's fine.

And now a list of completely unsorted comments:
-droideka fire is very inaccurate. I stood in front of one for a minute, and didn't got hit a single time
-concentrated fire can wear down the shields, but in TPM, they were inpenetratable.
-droids are far superior, they have taken all CP within in minute.
-Where is the gungan war hero jar-jar binks ?

[Guest]

How is the map?

Great, can`t wait.

[Guest]

How is the map?

Great, can`t wait.

[RevanSithLord]

Well, funny thing. I never experienced those bugs in anyway.

[PvtParts]

Yeah Revan, its no problem. Some people seem to be having bugs that I dont either. Perhaps its user specific, or instance specific (one time it happens, you quit and play the map again, and it doesnt).

Thanks for the comments guys.

- Hm, droideka fire being innacurate? I have fiddled with this, and I can tell you that its as accurate that its going to be. It has no kick or spread. Firstly, remember the AI is very dumb. Secondly, some advice for playing with the droideka. Point your crosshair at your target, then walk towards him. This will point your droideka straight at the target, and when you fire it will be much more accurate. If you try and just move the guns, as opposed to the body, you get a lot more spread and innacuracy. Other than that, its just how you use it. I can tell you that when I get the right angle I can go fully automatic until I overheat and be dead on as far as accuracy is concerned.

- I'll raise the shields a bit, maybe 1 increment (of so like if theyre 20000 ill make it 30000), but I still want you to be able to take them down.

- Yeah I know. This map is done for the same reason phantom menace was, to prelude the clone wars, and respectivly the gcw. Its still fun, I think, and winning as a side isnt so much the point.

- I dont know. I may add him as a hero. But I might do tarpalls... dont know..

One thing about the gungans being to weak, expect new weapons in the next release. I read on wookieepedia about a weapon used, and upon researching I found that its real life counterpart is a crossbow sort thing. So I might give the gungans a crossbow sort thing that'd shoot boomas. Also, I found a catapult in the assets, that appears to have anims. But I cant get it ingame. If I do, expect to have big anti armour boomas coming at you.

[Guest]

PvtParts

any news about this map?

[PvtParts]

Ah, I'm having some trouble. ZE has been crashing. I dunno whats going on, but im working on it. Hopefully it'll work. If not you all may have the final version.

[Guest]

PvtParts

i hoping...

[-_-]

JK514, your starting to get very annoying.

[RevanSithLord]

Well. He's excited. Probably why. I dunno.

[PvtParts]

Any further than the extent of the moderators/staff/frequenters whim, and the rules, I have no issues with people filling my thread with useless banter.

But, alas (and as stated), you must respect the above first and foremost. Any further than that, fill free to criticize (whether realistic, or totally unthoughtout criticism), support, beg, or any thing else.

If you want to talk to me, about things relating to the release that are not necessarily in place here in the forums, please do not pm me. I have some useful pms in my inbox, and though I am aware of the save feature, I feel I shouldn't have to do that - important pms shouldn't be overwritten by spam.

Instead, e-mail me at tontomuchacho@cox.net

You can ask or spam or whatever you wish. Its my home e-mail, but I am not only confident that I can manage it, but also would much prefer it to be full of garbage, as opposed to my gametoast inbox.

And -_-, I wasn't saying that I disagree with you, or think you should do something different. Nor does it mean that I agree. I just wanted to say my take on such things, and hope I made it very clear that I want others opinions respected first and foremost, ahead of my own. So, I don't mean to backseat moderate, and also will not get on anyones case, whether their comments are outta line or not. That, is up to you guys.

And to JK514, I mean no offense, and am neither agreeing or disagreeing with what -_- has said. I am impartial to either opinion, and will remain that way. So again, I intend no offense to anyone.


And about the map crashing, heres an excerpt from a PM i've been sending around, if anyone has any ideas, or wants to look at my source stuff, feel free to ask.

...I practiced a bit of carelessness, and deleted a few entries from the wld file, and did not make any backups.

This whole thing started with me trying to put some federation landers in, simply to build the environment. I had one in the swamps, and since my scaling had not worked in any previous attempts, I wasn't expecting success when I attempted this time. But, it worked.

However, I was using the prop landers released on gametoast, instead of the included versions, which for some reason would not work. And, these versions do not call for the lowrez version in their odf.

So, ingame, though the lander appeared large, it would disappear quickly, and thus looked very lousy ingame. I removed the scaling lines from all the odfs, and cleaned the _Build\Worlds and Sides folders (since the lander was being called from the CIS side). In game, it remained there, and of the same size.

Changing my mind again, I figured that though it disapeared quickly, it could just as easily be passed of as an effect of the foggy atmosphere of the swamp area. So, I went to zero editor to readjust some texturing in the map I had done to connect the terrain to the lander (the lander had sort of crashlanded, something that I might have changed - this idea simply popped into my head and I hadn't spent much time planning out small details), and, of course, ZE crashed.

So, remembering a previous experience, I just exited out of everything and rebooted my computer, hoping and half-expecting it to work. It didn't. And, remembering the last thing I changed being the landers scale, I went and reverted all the files back to how they were. It still crashed. So, thinking of no other way to fix it, and searching the forums for about half an hour (not that long, but long enough I would think), I deleted all the lander entries in the wld file, thinking that I would just remove them and have my map back.

Obviously, it still didn't work. So I'm lost, hence coming to you. If you need anything else (I mentioned including the pertaining sides since thats where they were called from), just let me know. And thanks again.

Parts...

[PvtParts]

New post to bump this and because the last one is so far off topic from this...


I fixed it. I decided in my spare time to go through every important file in the world folder (not random stuff, but like .reqs and all the files directly needed by ze). Upon looking through my prop file, I found that I had relocated like mshs to different layers.

I had wanted to replace some felucia mshs I was using for grass, because I didnt think they fit well, but also wanted to add more denseness to the already used fern mshs, which quite opposite of the felucia stuff, fit quite well with the map.

So, I figured I'd just copy things over into another layer, and it wouldn't cause any issues. Obviously, I was wrong.