d/l from FD's Boring old Fart Website (http://mysite.verizon.net/warewind/site/dod_anvil_rc2.zip)
Mirror (http://maps.nomad9.us/dod_anvil_rc2.zip)

Unzip to maps w/o using the folder names or unzip to your day of defeat source directory and use the paths.

Change Log from version B12:

1) Support for 32 players
2) Pathways re-directed to eliminate passing under spawns
3) Added detail (may run a tad slower on some systems)
4) Spawn protection zone identified more clearly
5) Mini-map added
6) Some doors are now useable
7) Fixed all posted bugs
8) Slight adjustment in Axis one cap location
9) Better interior lighting
10) Axis sniping position (overlooking Allied 1) expanded to somewhat match similar sniping position pointing at Axis 1
11) Minor repositioning of sandbagged locations
12) Made spawn exits to respective two caps more equitable
13) Expanded range of caps on all objectives
14) All files packed into the bsp for easy upload/download

Have fun! There will be one more release once the SDK is out and I can enable HDR lighting. Please report any bugs to this thread for now. Special thanks to CoJ (http://www.crowbars.net/)and Sunlitgames (http://www.sunlitgames.net/)for testing

awesome!

:dog:

[edit]

Link doesn't work for me

edit: mirror temporarily removed.

Originally posted by Star Wars Kid
awesome!

:dog:

[edit]

Link doesn't work for me

try now :)

all i can say say is........ THANKS !! Fuzzdad!!

Who the man? Who the man? FUZZDAD!!

Thanks Fuzzdad!!

Downloaded and I'm installing it now. :D

ooooer release candidate... me likes....

I've mirrored the file also, http://mapmonger.com/hosting.php or for some of that direct linkage action we all love http://mapmonger.com/files/dod_anvil_rc2.zip

Looking good fd. Just a question reguarding the name of the map :P did you name it anvil because statistically maps starting with 'a' do better :P?

Originally posted by travis
Looking good fd. Just a question reguarding the name of the map :P did you name it anvil because statistically maps starting with 'a' do better :P?

Funny you should note that.

I'm working on my first map, dod_aaa. Its an objective map. You have to go to a AAA office and buy car insurance while fighting off gang members because the office is in a bad part of town. Then, you have to take your insurance card and get back, across town and place it in your glovebox.

rofl. thats all i have to say shane.

played it tonight on sunlits and it seemed to run a bit better than the last version, probably one of my favorite source maps to date. Good work and I look forward to future projects.

Thanks FuzzDad!, have a noobish source server question though, guess I'm confused on how to install this to the server correctly for source.

Do we install all the old b-12 files with this new .bsp replacing the old, and rename everything from b-12 to rc2 .

Or will the bsp work by itself without the b-12 directories and files, just install the new .bsp?:confused:

The bsp will work by itself. All the other files have been put inside the bsp.

Thanks Dyin, so other than that just bzip it and put it on the FD url, no .res required?

Just bz2 the bsp and put a res file with nothing in it. Like this.

"resources"
{
}

w00t.

Nice one FD, maps brilliant.

:cool:

Originally posted by Private Dyin
Just bz2 the bsp and put a res file with nothing in it. Like this.

You don't need a res file period. No res file at all. None.

Also here's a mirror: http://dackz.net/misc/files/dod_anvil_rc2.zip

wow ... didn't realise you could put things like the overview in as well when bsp zipping.

This is something mappers should consider doing ... so much simpler.

Ok so is this the final build or still tbd? I can only assume rc2 means release candidate 2, I must have missed the first unless thats what b12 was. Anyways, adding to my server, cant wait to try it out :)

i like the changes, should be less shooting in the back. it'll be interesting to see how it plays now.

few early minor bugs. there's a table or two that are still transparent. also when you try to enter the other team's spawn, the sound for fall back loops until you die. Sounds like FallFallFalFallFallFallBack. Happens on both sides. I'm guessing you meant for it to play once.

Ok I had a run through and found a couple of minor things. The first shot is some overlapping brushes. Not sure if this is a model you are using that is clipping the wall, I noticed a few areas in the map that had this.

http://img447.imageshack.us/img447/8751/dodanvilrc200008ot.jpg

This next shot shows the gate coming out from allied spawn, like in the last version, you are unable to shoot thru the fence obviously since it is a brush. The bullets pass thru but I noticed in games it was really annoying that I would shoot someone coming out of it and they took hardly any damage. If you can replace this with a model or just have it start open and make a func_illusionary with clip brush that would really make me happy.

http://img447.imageshack.us/img447/7243/dodanvilrc200026wr.jpg

Ill post anything else I find later when we playtest it, great work on it, looks very very good ;)

Originally posted by haircut
wow ... didn't realise you could put things like the overview in as well when bsp zipping.

This is something mappers should consider doing ... so much simpler.

Totally agree, as long as it doesnt have any side effects it should be good and its also a great way of protecting custom materials which you dont want to be re-used. We all know most mappers will share certain custom stuff with other mappers :)

Whats the include commands for these things?

I really must learn how to do all this bspzip stuff. Then again I should probably get a map to near release stage first.

hahaha GL found yourself going over density and changing a whole heap of stuff? last time I saw it was looking pretty good, of course that was pre-release of dod:S

I've never looked into it myself, is it similar to the way .pk* files work?

Congradulations Fuzzdad - for producing the BEST (By Far) Souce map out there. This is THE most PLAYABLE map out there. Looks GREAT, Plays BETTER!

Great Job - Can't believe how much work you have put into this!

Now, if you could just get the SDK!

Very nice map.


ShiftyC

Thx fellas. I used "Packrat" to pack all the files into the bsp...you'll need to manually do some of the packing because the auto load doesn't pick up any custom stuff and it will not auto-pickup the scripts, resourse, and maps folders. There's also a funny deal where I can play the map on my PC and hear my fd.wav file (press "use" on the radio at the german spawn exit) but in servers it doesn't work.

nice fd all the changes are great n work perfectly :)

game play was stunning b4 n now its even better


best map for DOD:s easily :)

Originally posted by FuzzDad
There's also a funny deal where I can play the map on my PC and hear my fd.wav file (press "use" on the radio at the german spawn exit) but in servers it doesn't work.

yea ... noticed that on the last version. sv_downlaod URL didn't want to download the file, it downloaded off the server though, dunno where it put it on my PC, it was no where to be seen and I get the fd.wav missing error in console. Since the file ain't in the right folder, this would be the case.

anyone else seen this?

Originally posted by dackz
You don't need a res file period. No res file at all. None.

You don't need a res file if its just a bsp? I've always put one in anyways.


In regards to the FD.wav, is it possible that since this is used in some of the stock maps like glider, falaise that it is in the gcf and that's why its still playable?

short message...

i found some bugs
here are the pics

http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20000.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20001.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20003.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20004.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20006.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20007.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20009.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20010.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20011.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20012.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20013.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20015.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20016.jpg
http://www.fileshack.us/files/332/dod_anvil_rc20017.jpg

and btw: i love the map :)

Originally posted by Private Dyin
You don't need a res file if its just a bsp? I've always put one in anyways.


No, you dont need a reference to the .bsp in the resource file simply because the server is set to download that anyway. It's the 1 thing that the game can be sure the client will need 100%

Originally posted by travis
No, you dont need a reference to the .bsp in the resource file simply because the server is set to download that anyway. It's the 1 thing that the game can be sure the client will need 100%


I know you don't need a reference to the bsp in the res file. That's not what he was saying. He was saying that if a map is only a bsp file then you don't need a res file. I don't know if that is true but I've always made a res file for those maps with only bsp's as well.

my post works both ways logically

Good job, thanks for zipping custom content in bsp.

pedroleum: thx for the screens. Most of them are lighting issues caused by the rev version of the compile tools we have (it's different than the engine rev level so we're basically screwed from a lighting persepctive). Once I get the updated SDK tools I'll be doubly sure to check these area's.

some of them seemed like they were caused by model origins being in broad laylight while half the model was in shadow...... I hate that problem @#$@#$

Originally posted by travis
some of them seemed like they were caused by model origins being in broad laylight while half the model was in shadow...... I hate that problem @#$@#$
Yea...it doesn't make sense...Most of the models have the same settings (especially shadow settings) and sometimes they work...and sometimes they don't. Direct sun appears to be the culprit and the devs said wait for the SDK and after that...if I still get the lighting issues, to report it.

fuzzdad, any plans to change the metal gate door so it doesnt block bullets? I posted a shot of it earlier on the previous page of this thread in case you missed it.

Yea...I'll probably use a model or figure a way to make the "door" transparent to bullets. BTW...They actually don't block bullets. They just lower their damage quotiont a bit...you can kill someone through them just fine.

Originally posted by travis
some of them seemed like they were caused by model origins being in broad laylight while half the model was in shadow...... I hate that problem @#$@#$

WORD :/

fuzzdad, I almost forgot, when I open console it says there are a number of invalid spawns, not sure if you are aware of those.

Originally posted by DjBourgeoisie
fuzzdad, I almost forgot, when I open console it says there are a number of invalid spawns, not sure if you are aware of those.

Yup...that's a by-product of my instant combat feature. I've explained this before but what the heck.

To make those advancing spawns work I had to put 32 spawn points for both teams. 16 in front and 16 in the rear. Now...to make sure the front spawns worked at round start and were turned off after the round started (and the rear spawns the reverse of that) I had to temporarily invalidate the rear spawns by encasing them in a solid brush (their feet actually). Here's how it works:

1) Rear spawns have a large func_button placed over their feet.
2) Front spawns are 3 units ABOVE a large func_button on the ground
3) On round start the front spawns materialize and drop to the ground...they touch the button and it rises 4 units...you can slightly feel this if you pay attention during round start.
4) That button, once touched, "calls" the rear button, which falls away under the map.
5) This leaves you with an elevated button over the road on the forward spawns covering the spawn points thereby making them invalid and the rear points are now "valid" and the game can continue.

Do this in-game after you spawn on round start as either allied or axis...walk along the road until you feel a drop or a rise but see nothing under your feet...that's the invisible func_button

ahhhh thanks, was wondering about that, i always loved the clash at the tiger on falaise, great seeing it again in anvil :)

Found a possible bug last night while playing this.. Every once in awhileafter you die, it will do the spawn countdown and then say "Prepare to Spawn"... The problem is that it never get's past the "Prepare to Spawn" message, it just sits there.. I let it sit for 5 min, before disconnecting from the server to go find something else to play...

There was another person on the server having this problem as well... (Only 6 of us playing total on the server last night, not sure how many others had the problem), also I tried the kill command in console to try to jumpstart spawning.. didn't work, but just wanted to let ya know I tried that as well.. So not sure what causes it, or what to do to cure the issue.

Other than that.. Nice map..

Originally posted by Cyber-Surfer
Found a possible bug last night while playing this.. Every once in awhileafter you die, it will do the spawn countdown and then say "Prepare to Spawn"... The problem is that it never get's past the "Prepare to Spawn" message, it just sits there.. I let it sit for 5 min, before disconnecting from the server to go find something else to play...

Thats a dod bug, just pick a new class and it will respawn you.

nice map!!:)

gj

hey sorry to put a damper on this i uploaded the rc2 version and all it does is crash my server down ,is there anyone else having this prob!!!!! Please help i have played the beta version and its great would like my clan to play this as well !!!!!!!! thanks

Originally posted by BRITISHBULLDOG
hey sorry to put a damper on this i uploaded the rc2 version and all it does is crash my server down ,is there anyone else having this prob!!!!! Please help i have played the beta version and its great would like my clan to play this as well !!!!!!!! thanks

It's playing on a whole host of servers so the problem, I would think, resides with your setup on your server. Load it to your PC and see if it's playable...if so then check your server.

thank you fd i have contacted my host and his loooking into it!

Hey FD, noticed another tiny thing, which you may or may not deem needing of a fix. The bluish-green fountain, over by the 88, well you can lose your nades in the base of it. Noticed it while I was trying to prime a rifle nade and I lost it.

FuzzDad, love the map, but I was just wondering if you have any highres pics of parts that you particularly like that you think capture the essence of the map (the tank, for instance). I'm just doing my Psychostats map images for custom maps... and I'm took lazy to take my own screen caps (I also run at lower settings).

Keep up the great work.

My only issue with this map is the first spawn of the round ... and why everybody spawns so close to the tank. I know that you may have done this on purpose to make the first round ... different, but the people who play it in my server don't really like how close you are ... it's like four or five seconds after the round starts and everybody clashes together.

Anyway, great job thus far.

::edit::
n/m about the high res ... got it from your blog.

Originally posted by Rebel10
My only issue with this map is the first spawn of the round ... and why everybody spawns so close to the tank. I know that you may have done this on purpose to make the first round ... different, but the people who play it in my server don't really like how close you are ... it's like four or five seconds after the round starts and everybody clashes together.

Yea...it's a 50/50 deal really. Some people love the start and others think it's hokey. What it's intended to do is be a meeting engagement as both sides are patrolling. What I might do is keep the spawns up front like that but move them farther back on both respective roads (like both of them behind their respective one flag tanks)....so it's a bit more time before the combat starts.

BTW...been working optimization on the map to squeeze more fps. At map load you'll notice I show you each flag around the map. This does two things...it shows you the location of all the cap points, but more importantly, it loads a lot of the sounds and textures into your systems memory (RAM and GPU)...it's one reason why there are less herks on the map than others. SInce I have those five view locations I capture fps stats each time I make a change to the map. In the last few days I've found some mapping mistakes and cleaned up a few other things and here's how far I've gotten:

allied 1: 60->69
allied 2: 76->80
center: 75->75
axis 2: 82->90
axis 1: 70->75

I'm trying to gain a bit more so when HDR comes out it will not hurt as bad. Here's a small update pic from today's work:

http://mysite.verizon.net/warewind/images/dod_anvil12.jpg

Fuzz I was a huge fan of Falaise when it ws first released. Believe it or not the first time I played this it was auto-downloaded of a server, I had no idea what it was or who made it. Within 5 minutes I had realized it was a re-make of falaise. Excellent job.

Only 1 issue, sorry if it has already been mentioned; I have played anvil_rc2 about 40 times now (that's connections; number of rounds would be in the hundreds) and it has become apparent that at the beginning of a round the axis spawn closer than the allies. It's not much but if both teams know what they are doing the axis get there first every single time. I am 100% positive of this or I wouldn't mention it.

Like I said it's not by very much at all I just thought you might like to know :)

Thx...it felt OK but one can't argue w/facts...I think it might have something to do with the axis having a much wider street and a fast way to get into the house. The allies are much more constricted and can sprint past the tank but then they have to go to the back door to get in the hotchkiss house. In terms of pure distance...it's identical. Given that others have thought the same thing it must be in the map design. I'll push the axis back a tad and give it a go in testing.

BTW...still working optimization and detailing:

http://mysite.verizon.net/warewind/images/3.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/warewind/images/4.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/warewind/images/5.jpg

Originally posted by FuzzDad:
still working optimization and detailingLooking really nice, FD. btw, was just curious about map optimization. I'm wondering if there's much info for map designers about methods to optimize maps for better fps, etc.?

Originally posted by =A82A=WhataMack
Looking really nice, FD. btw, was just curious about map optimization. I'm wondering if there's much info for map designers about methods to optimize maps for better fps, etc.?

It's a combination of learned mapping tricks over the years, reading a lot of info on wiki and the other mapping sites, plus there are a lot of really nice tools available in Source to help you optimize your maps. Some common sense things:

1) Build your levels from the ground up w/respect to gameplay and performance. You need both to be succesful.

2) Keep your skybox (not the 3d one) in as tight as you can make it...lower your skys to rooftoop height.

3) Try and keep your map units common. Use 8, 16, 32, 64, etc. This is the one I fail at and as such I have to spend a ton of time adding in optimization tricks. If you can stick to base units, wall thicknesses, heigths etc, your map will compile faster, there will be less face splitting, and fps will be greater right out of the box. All my maps are made at the one unit level and in Hammer they look like spagetti. It's been my greatest technical failing as a mapper (sticking to a one-unit grid). As such I have to rely on tips 7 & 8 more so than I should.

4) Keep volumetric smoke, ambient sounds, weather effects, and other non-critical gameplay events OUT of your maps. Sure...they add "ambience" but more often than not they kill perf. Screw the realists...I want a good MP fps experience and gameplay and FPS are EVERYTHING. Once you get a great playing map try and add those details as you can IF the map can sustain them FPS-wise.

5) Use the following tools for the associated reasons:
+showbudget...this tool shows you what impact models, sounds, textures, world geometry, etc has on performance. You can see what's causing your perf drops and as such you can fix problem areas
mat_leafvis...This is a GREAT tool. Ever wonder why, as you walk around, you get these HUGE fps drops but you can't see anything that would cause it? It's because what the engine see's is not what you see. The engine see's whatever happens to be visible from the "LEAF" you are standing in. mat_leafvis draws a box around you in-game and shows you what the engine can see. In a lot of cases all that's needed to break up those really large leafs is a hint brush. In amny cases it's because the leaf you are standing in extends far into the sky so the engine see's over portions of the map you, as a player, don't see.
mat_wireframe...Use that in conjunction with mat_leafvis and you'll be able to see what the engine see's.
6) Be ruthless. If you build a map with lots of "stuff" but nobody ever uses the "stuff" or goes in the room w/ the "stuff" then KILL THE STUFF! Remove the room from your map. There's a reason why people don't use the room you put in and as such there's then no pupose for it in-game and all it's doing is taking up valuable resources. It's like the deleted scenes from a movie you see on DVD: "I hated to let this one scene go but it didn't advance the story so it had to go to get our running time under 2 hours"

7) Playtest, playtest, playtest, playtest and get a thick skin. Let your friends tell you exactly what they think about your map w/o suger-coating it. If it has perf issues listen to them...if it has gameplay problems...listen to them. You may have an artistic side yearning to be let free but the reality of the situation is if you make a pretty map that nobody plays because perf sucks so bad what's the point? The world is full of wanna-be artists who eat dirt for dinner. Don't be one of them.

8) Be patient. Don't rush into releasing a map before it's time. If you are dedicated to mapping but have real-life issues go tackle the RO issues and get back to mapping when you have time. I've seen many, many rush-jobs that might have been something special ruined because they were released too early and got bad press.

9) Build your maps first w/o the eye candy...you MUST have solid gameplay before you go into a Sourcification process to beautify your map...don't get so hung up on that pretty house facade or the gentle curvature of a spiral staircase that you forget about rule number one: GAMEPLAY UBER ALLES.

I could go on and on and on but soon the entire mapping community will be fast asleep. Just remember gameplay is far more important than anything else. The look might get you noticed, but the gameplay keeps you in the house.

Well, thanks for taking the time to write all that down, FD. I'm not a mapper (would like to be, but don't seem to have the time) but I appreciate your approach and putting those thoughts together. :cool:

Hopefully those are all well-understood methods, but I'm guessing they're not all *that* well-understood by every mapper. ;)

Maybe that info should be added in one of the mapping stickies?

This is a visual masterpiece. It plays as well as it looks too. Nicely done FD :)

haha in those screenshots you not only managed to lower the r speeds but you made it look better too :) gj.

FD, any word on the CAL version of your map?

Originally posted by Ubiquitous
FD, any word on the CAL version of your map?

There will be no CAL version until the SDK is released and I go final on anvil. That said...I'll have a final pub version of anvil ready to go a few hours after the SDK is released (I've already finished all the changes from the last release) and then I'll spend a week or so on the CAL version.

will it be possible to play w/o HDR or no...

HDR is a feature you can turn on/off globally.

I know its been talked about here and there but is there any chance anvil will become official? If its already been decided I missed that.

e:
Im guessing it hasnt been decided. Would be neat though.

That said...I'll have a final pub version of anvil ready to go a few hours after the SDK is released

So much for "I maybe old but at least I'm slow" ;)
Fast work FuzzDad

Originally posted by RosietheRiveter
So much for "I maybe old but at least I'm slow" ;)
Fast work FuzzDad

Well...I lied. I've been travelling and will be travelling most of December. I've been asked to wait on a "final" release until the "real" sdk is released (instead of using the beta one). I have a hdr-version of the map running just fine and if you want to test it just check out the CoJ "DoD Sauce" forum (those of you who can get into forum that is).

:)

http://mysite.verizon.net/warewind/images/dod_anvil_rc60001.jpg

1-10 I think

WOW! Just WOW! :eek:

My favorite DoD map ever is looking better than ever!

This just makes me want to buy the new computer even more...

Fuzz you are God! :)