dod_dragonriver Work in Progress Preveiw

Afternoon all,

I thought I'd give you all a look at my first map that I'm working on.

Currently this is the state the map is at,

Layout: 95% done
Textures: 80% done
Entites: 30% done
Brushwork: 90% done
Vis blocking: 0% done


Like I said this is my first attempt at map, I know theres a dam lot of tree models on here and the e_poly is rather high, but I'll reduce that as I wanted to see how high it would actually go with everything on it that I wanted.
The highest r_speeds I've gotten so far is around 2000 but with lowering of the sky box and vis blocking I expect to get the r_speeds down to at least charlie or forest levels.

The lighting is going to be worked on so it fits in better with the sky, haven't quite gotten around to it yet.

Also this is the first veiw of the hanomag that Tolchok has made on someone elses map, so thumbs up him for the great Hanomag model.

All in all this map has taken me around One week to get where it is, I've proberly spent a few hours per day doing some work to it.

Well enough talking for now lets bring on the screenies, all comments welcome so long as they're constructive :D


These screenies are of the Allied spawn area, looking up toward the bunkers (which will be objectives to cap), left side from the spawn and also a resonable veiw of the enitre spawn area.

http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0001.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0002.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0003.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0034.JPG

These screenies are looking into an area thats left of the Allied spawn. This area will need to be capped by the Allies as part of the Maps objectives, I'm considering it as a 2-3 man cap area.

http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0004.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0017.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0018.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0019.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0038.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0039.JPG

These screenies are of the area past the screenies above. From here you can get back to the centre area of the map facing the bunkers or continue up this side to get into the back of the bunkers area.

http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0020.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0021.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0022.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0023.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0024.JPG

These screenies are of the area behind the two bunkers, the bunkers will need capping, and the tank will need to be destroyed to.

http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0025.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0026.JPG

These screenies are looking out the two bunkers into the middle area.

http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0027.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0028.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0029.JPG

These screenies are of the area below the two bunkers near the trench network that will also need capping (2-3 people also most likely)

http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0030.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0031.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0032.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0033.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0035.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0036.JPG
http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0037.JPG

This screenie is from with in the Axis spawn, there are two exits, one to the right and one left that you can't see

http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/dod_dragonriver0040.JPG

ahahaha id love to walk round this map when its finnished on a nice 2fps

yer FPS drops are bad at the moment, I lose about 20-30 FPS and my system isn't the best around.

I doubt that map will ever become playable, since you would pretty much need to rework the entire thing.
But, something nice to look at, and you probably learned alot.

Looks quite interesting. Some my advices to make this map playable
- make all upper part (with trees) inaccesible + add bush line as visblocking to get better r_speeds (like in charlie). This will also do better to gameplay. Snipers having so much places to camp and such open areas could kill this map quickly. You can leave few small places in upper side, but don't let people walk all over there.
- reduce some open spaces or add bigger cover - i.e. bunker area - you could add there 2-3 bigger rocks. In current state I think no attacking soldier can get to bunkers alive. Defending then would be ultra easy task.
- change lighting to match sky or better find better sky. I don't think it fits well here.

@insta, the r_speeds are only high in the main open area so that can be worked on and brought down as the other areas are all around 300-600 for r_speeds

Also yes I've learnt alot from it so far.

@ Craft, all upper areas are in accessible, made it that way by adding clip in all over those areas.

The open area is going to get more cover theres some models not showing up because I've got to many visible entites all at once :( Theres meant to be more trees on the side where the lower bunker is and some more dragonsteeh in the water.

Lighting is going to get worked on I've got to figure out how to get that looking better for a start.


Other things that you can't see is I've got explosions going off every 14 secs in 14 different places randomly. Some of the Dragonsteeth will explode from Atry hits when you walk to close to them. I'm considering trying to make those random occurances every round as they will get predictable.
I'm going to limit snipers and maybe MGs on this through the Map Config.

This map is pretty intresting, you don't see those maps everyday...

I really liked the bunker area :) looking good, what i didn't like is the background, it doesn't give you that simulation feeling rather the gamish feeling, unlike caen or avalanche/donner.
i hope those r_speeds problems will be fixed, i always like checking new maps. GL in your work. :cool:

Man...you better use lower poly trees like mine. DoD trees are laggy and don't work well in large groups.

I like some of the screenie shots. Really nice open spaces.

Since u've got so many trees, i personally prefer if u placed them inside the map's playing area instead of outside it. Otherwise, the trees will only serve as mere decoration and not add to the uniqueness of the map in terms of gameplay. Think bout it, with that no. of trees alining the map from outside, it could easily make pretty decent mini-forests which are really dense.

Re-work some areas to provide more realism and a more real environment. Currently, some of the brushwork is very blocky and not very realistic looking.

Perhaps, some outside terrain decoration beyond those cliffs and this map can easily becum a winner. large map reminds me of OFP combat!

Originally posted by Glidias
Man...you better use lower poly trees like mine. DoD trees are laggy and don't work well in large groups.

I like some of the screenie shots. Really nice open spaces.

Since u've got so many trees, i personally prefer if u placed them inside the map's playing area instead of outside it. Otherwise, the trees will only serve as mere decoration and not add to the uniqueness of the map in terms of gameplay. Think bout it, with that no. of trees alining the map from outside, it could easily make pretty decent mini-forests which are really dense.

Re-work some areas to provide more realism and a more real environment. Currently, some of the brushwork is very blocky and not very realistic looking.

Perhaps, some outside terrain decoration beyond those cliffs and this map can easily becum a winner. large map reminds me of OFP combat!

The problem is finding good looking low poly pine trees.

I'm still considering raising the high areas higher then they are so I don't have people seeing the tops of it as easy, then I'd be able to bring alot of the trees down to simulate a better forest area, I think this would also help r_Speeds a hell of alot as direct line of sites would be lessened at certain spots.

I'm also going to add slopes and bumps etc to the cliffs as I know its pretty blocky, just wanted to get the layout done more then anything.

I managed to cut down on the amount of enititys rendered at once tonight which has helped abit for e_poly.

More suggestions are welcome, Glidias MSN me sometime so I can pick your brain about some things for the map ;)

Maybe someone creates a z-locked pine tree sprite for ya...in that distance u wouldn't notice if its a sprite or a 3d-high poly tree!

BTW...the map looks quite interesting! Keep it up =)

the map looks great, i hope you can get it playable casue i really want to play it.

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm working on getting those r_speeds down right now etc etc.

Originally posted by Sly Assassin
Thanks for the comments guys, I'm working on getting those r_speeds down right now etc etc.

just wondering how you're gonna go about lower the r_speeds?

Read the whole thread and you will know...many ppl gave feedback...

Originally posted by Olly
just wondering how you're gonna go about lower the r_speeds?

Well the side areas I'm raising the cliffs higher so people can't see over them as easy and I'll be adding vis blocks in etc.

The big middle area is one I'm still thinking on its going to be annoying to do.

if you have an open space where you can see other open spaces thats going to be hell on the fps :O

Originally posted by RaNd0M
if you have an open space where you can see other open spaces thats going to be hell on the fps :O

yer thats why I'm reworking all the cliff areas to make them higher, the worse spot for loosing FPS is in the highest bunker as I could see across the whole map nearly. This will be changed so you can't its going to take some time to sort it all out but its getting there and I'm learning heaps as I go.

a couple of months ago i tried making a dod map in a forest sort of thing, the only way the r_speeds could be fixed was to change the whole idea of the map so naturally i thought jack on that. thats why the bf1942 engine is so good. bring on hl2 i say!

Originally posted by RaNd0M
a couple of months ago i tried making a dod map in a forest sort of thing, the only way the r_speeds could be fixed was to change the whole idea of the map so naturally i thought jack on that. thats why the bf1942 engine is so good. bring on hl2 i say!

true, but it doesn't mean big wide open areas can't be done ;) look at forest for example, the area in the middle between the two trench flags, its quite big, not as big as my open spaces, but its r_speeds aren't to bad considering the size of the space.

Well I've done some more work on the map now, I've managed to reduce the epoly by 2/3's, make the cliffs and so on look more realistic by adding slopes and jutted bits to it.

I've also changed the lighting/sky to a night map as it will fit in more with my story line for the map.

Some new screenies are in the link below pics 1-16

http://daztro.no-ip.com/slyclone/dod_dragonriver%20screenies/

well...keep that good work up..but in my opinion u should change the sky back to daytime. i personally liked it much more when it was bright =) also if u set it to daytime the "illusionary" brushes wouldnt stand out that much.

Originally posted by DEvIL-K
well...keep that good work up..but in my opinion u should change the sky back to daytime. i personally liked it much more when it was bright =) also if u set it to daytime the "illusionary" brushes wouldnt stand out that much.

I know the brushes won't stand out in the day light, but i'm quite fond of darkish maps, I'll see what happens nothing is set in stone yet ;)

ok...maybe u could try a thing between...late afternoon for example..if u set the lightning correct it could fit to your story and it would look really good...also the ppl who dont like night maps would enjoy it more :)
try out "ghetto", "rubble" or "st" skyboxes (if u dont have them i could send them to u)

Originally posted by DEvIL-K
ok...maybe u could try a thing between...late afternoon for example..if u set the lightning correct it could fit to your story and it would look really good...also the ppl who dont like night maps would enjoy it more :)
try out "ghetto", "rubble" or "st" skyboxes (if u dont have them i could send them to u)

Its either going to have to be early morning or night, storyline will be similar to that of the paras going into Normandy, except its purely fictional.

I'm mostly interested at the moment in ironing out existing bugs in the map and making improvements, I'm waiting to hear back from Cheeto about getting a low poly tree reskinned and resized, thanks to Gildias for the tree, nice and low at 32polys :D

I have "rubble" and "st" but not "ghetto", if you could send that to me I'll take a look at it. Email it to SlyClone@xtra.co.nz.

Like I said before I have set anything in concrete just playing around with it at the moment ;)