MAP FINISHED!!

download HERE:
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox2.zip

Everything is embedded in the file! just copy in your /maps directory and enjoy!

==========================
Yup, I already started working on a second version of pillbox! After getting lots of feedback from the playtest, I decided to make a totally different style of pillbox map.

The trenches are now modernized and partly walled; you can no longer spawn camp, there (will) be 4 pillboxes on the map, 2 tent towers and 2 radio control stations (spawn zones). The layout and gameplay type will be very different, machineguns can now deploy in pillboxes and snipers will have even more vision obstruction.

Here's an image of the current stuff that's completed!
Overview:
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox2o.jpg
LATEST:
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20011.jpg
Old:
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20006.jpg
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20007.jpg
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20008.jpg
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20009.jpg
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20010.jpg
OLD:
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20001.jpg
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20002.jpg
http://www.daretogame.com/maps/dod_pillbox20003.jpg

Looks promising! Nice start!

Quick suggestion though - the trenches look a bit blocky. Maybe use the trench models that ______ did (could somebody help me with the name of the modeler? I momentarily forgot who it was - sorry).

Might as well do my own, I don't like to ripoff other people's models, it doesn't feel like you've actually done something when you do :o

I can't tell from the screens, but maybe widen the grassy area between the tops of the trenches, and stick with some of the broken terrain feel of the first version. It worked well in that regard. You mainly don't want people to feel "forced" into the trenches, but rather to implement them as another alternate form of travel.

Also, how tall are the trenches? Did you go with kneel-height, or are they similar to v1? Either way could work...I'm just trying to get perspective.

I'll gladly put together another test for ya if you'd like. I'll also put together some comments for v1, in case you want to go back to it at any point. The map had promise, as it sort of reminded me of dod_squarea combined with dod_3trenches from Gold.

Good luck!

Very nice!

I've been also pondering similar type of map with lots of trenches, bunkers and such. Waldo posted some trench models in models section. Maybe you should check them out.

*Will be posting more screenshots this evening*

Here's how the map is laid out right now:

Basically, it's very much a mirror map, meaning the Allies side is very similar to the Axis side (with some differences).

Spawn zones are located both underground (leading to trenches) and overground (leading to grassy land) and are connected together so people can choose their path right when they spawn. The spawnpoints are also unnatainable by the enemy.

The current trenches are actually a tad higher than the ones from V1 mainly because they have overpasses on them right now. This calls in for more close quarters fighting.

Also, the current screenshot makes the map look narrow, but it's actually a bit wider than what V1 is right now, it's probably just the perspective it's in.

The first pillbox which is visible on the screen is mainly a MG pillbox with no crouching required, and the second pillbox will be very much like the one in V1, near the spawn point but not directly in it, so the enemy team can actually capture it without spawn camping (like donner flags).

I also wondered if I should make the whole map in a rainy atmosphere just to worsen up how trenches can be seen... any opinions on that? or should I just keep the V1 feel?

make sure that you have a perfect displacement allignement this time cos it bugged the hell out of me @ first version ^^

I loved the first one but no servers seem to play it! Anyway some suggestions: Either make the trenches a wee bit lower or add static boxes every few feet so you can peek over and shoot/deploy an MG. I agree that you should keep the war torn feel of the first one and that you should space the trenches out more to make it feel more like a battle and doesn't degenerate into a "2-feet-from-the-other-person-shooting-like-a-maniac" melee. Rain would be a nice touch but I don't think it would make all that much difference, but at the same time there would probably be just about no performance cost, so whatever. I say go for it.

New screenshots have been added! Check the first post.

Are the trenches wide enough for two people?

Are the ladders cleanly displaced at the top so you can actually get off of them and not fall into barbed wire and/or hang there as a sitting duck, unable to get off the ladder?

If so, then I think you'll have a winner. Personally, I would like to see more mounds/hills, etc, to distort vision. But that's just from my experiences playing dod_3trenches......I can't say for certain until I play this.

It looks really good, bro.

Most of the trenches are wide enough for 2 people, especially the ones closer to the spawn point. The rest is very variable, but it's not as tight as the first version was.

You can't get stuck anywhere anymore, at least I don't think you can... I'm continuously fixing gaps that block movement and such.

I'm getting closer to the final version.

*New Screenshots in first post*

Todo:
- Finalize Skybox
- Make flags and control points
- And Release! ;)

RAIN!!!! Something that donner needs, make sure to add a skybox.

Oho, damn. That's coming along nice.

This is probably the last "Work In Progress" Reply I will do before releasing the map in an hour or two.

There's a new screenshot with the flyby planes! ;)

Jesus freaking probably messiah christ. You are a fast mapper. Congratulations.

so is this from scratch or just a rebuild of the old one because if it is from scratch...
Jesus freaking probably messiah christ. You are a fast mapper.. couldnt be said any other way. anyway im liking it better than the first which seemed to unrealistic as a setting

rofl, yeah this is from scratch.

I'm currently making the overview, this time it's gonna work!

good thing. Thats one of the things im still trying to get the hang of and people most like in maps. I hope to put an overview in my second version. But yeah the maps looking really good. Ill see if i can get Budznetwork to rotate it through.

The overview is now done and working. I added it to the first post.

well you are far into the rebuild so I am a bit late....

environment cubemaps. You need 'em. ANYTHING with reflectivity is coming up flat white. Look at the bullets on the 30.cal in your screenshot. It's like that all over the map.

Shell holes. Make them the same depth, but with fewer displacements. I kept getting caught in them trying to get out because of all the little crevasses you put in them.

Other than that, look forward to the next version.

Originally posted by Wile E Coyote
well you are far into the rebuild so I am a bit late....

environment cubemaps. You need 'em. ANYTHING with reflectivity is coming up flat white. Look at the bullets on the 30.cal in your screenshot. It's like that all over the map.

Shell holes. Make them the same depth, but with fewer displacements. I kept getting caught in them trying to get out because of all the little crevasses you put in them.

Other than that, look forward to the next version.

No worries, cubemaps are in, shellholes are not as deep as v1 ones. :D

MAP RELEASED!! :D

Awesome map, however, I have a few gripes:

1. Still no way to see over the parapet.

2. Turquoise fog!?

3. There's a huge displacement cutting into one of the pillboxes. It disturbs my psyche.

4. The trench design is... odd. If there's a version 3, I say go for a much bigger, somewhat more barren battlefield (less tanks, tank traps, and ruins) and make the trenches in parallel lines, connected by straight fallback trenches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_warfare

Yeah, the displacement I know about, i didn't fell like redoing a 3 hour compile just for that (it's almost inoffensive anyway). The fog is turquoise because its raining :P
Also, the trenches were left standing-height mainly because i was fearing a sniper map, which isnt really what I had in mind, so I kept the trenches as they are BUT, one thing you maybe didn't notice, I put sandbags on a few spots on the trench walls, hop on them and crouch and youll be able to shoot and cover yourself in the trench.

finished?

crap I was going to ask you if you had seen this

http://www.dayofdefeat.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62022

The problem with the sandbags is that there's only one facing the enemy. The rest are on the parados, which isn't helpful.

whoa that maps looks awesome. thank u for the map dash, i'll be sure to test it out. i cant wait. i really love maps like the one u made. props to dash.

Looks pretty nifty, i don't agree with the green fog though

If your gonna make it green make it a bit more subtle

I like the aqua fog....it gives off a Mustard-gas-in-the-trenches feel.

If anything, I'd like to see more uneven terrain and/or mounds, ala' dod_3trenches, so that players can dissappear and reappear more readily.

could use a high res 2d skybox or a 3d skybox...

:)

Can someone give me a link to dod_3trenches?

Just put it on the pub... major FPS issues with 24 players. Otherwise a sweet map.

Originally posted by Prowler
Just put it on the pub... major FPS issues with 24 players. Otherwise a sweet map.

First time I hear this, the map is quite optimized. The main reason might be the water in the trenches, try turning off high quality water.

dod_3trenches is for Gold. I brought it up as a comparision for an open battlefield/trench map. It's good at giving players the ability to move around unseen:

http://pagesperso.laposte.net/dimeric/0_9.htm

Scroll down the page and you'll come to the download for 3trenches. Click on "Carte" and you'll get it.