-= Gametoast.com =-

Hello fellow modders,

I'm writing this post concerning Star Wars Battlefront United mod project.
It has become fairly obvious to the United mod team that having three active modders,
Project leader, Media Artist, and a Converter is not enough for a very large scale mod.
So far two maps have been converted (both Rhen Vars) and one is currently being worked
on (Geonosis), there are a total of eight maps that remain.

So here's is our request, we'd like to have a modder per map, there are eight maps which
means we're looking for eight modders. Each of these modders will work on their selected
map (available maps listed below) at their own pace, once that map is finished the file
(the data_*** folder with its contents) should be sent to me (PM me the link) and I'll
do any extra tweaking to the map. That is all that is asked, if they want to do more they
are welcome to.

This approach is sort of like a volunteering, however there are some guidlines that
must be followed as well as some tricks for converting maps:

Guidlines:

-Do not move/edit any objects, paths, barriers, boundaries, etc.
-Do not add any objects to the conquest game mode (only add objects if required in
modes, 2-flag ctf and 1-flag ctf. Only make sure the objects don't appear in conquest)

-Corrected terrain lightness
-Directional light (make sure it casts specular and shadows)
-Correctly placed turrets
-All modes listed below for the map being worked on
-Be sure that the three letter map ID is the same as listed below
-LUA scripts, pretty easy
-Use the right heros for the maps (listed below)
-Use the original vehicle set up, if the vehicle doesn't exist in
SWBF2 use something similar

Don't worry about sounds.

Tips:

-Place the stock SWBF2 turrets above the SWBF1 ones that will appear in ZE
-Follow the tutorial on the FAQ (link: CLICK) to convert maps
-Follow the tutorial on the FAQ (link: CLICK) for adding CTF modes
-Take inspiration from the stock maps for hunt
-Use an Omni Directional light for burning the terrain (lightening the terrain)
keep its values at 255 255 255 (default)


If you are unable to complete the map you chose just send me the data_*** folder
and I'll see what I'll do from there. You wont be asked to finish it, if you want
to continue it PM me and we'll talk.

Available maps:

Hero setup:
(Reminder: All assets will be released with the final release of BFU)

Thanks for reading through this post, I hope you choose to help!

I don't mean to be "that guy", but why are you converting maps that have already been converted at least twice before?

Teancum wrote:I don't mean to be "that guy", but why are you converting maps that have already been converted at least twice before?

Initially I think it was going to be an open resource for modders who wanted to add their sides/modes/etc. to the converted maps. However, now that Marvel has released the scripts to his well done conversion, I too have to be "that guy" and say their isn't all that much of a purpose to this.

Then again, that's never stopped me from doing something.

Teancum wrote:I don't mean to be "that guy", but why are you converting maps that have already been converted at least twice before?

Probably the thrill of leading and completing a large project through and through.

Teancum wrote:I don't mean to be "that guy", but why are you converting maps that have already been converted at least twice before?

We're converting them for a couple reasons:
1. A large asset pack containing all the assets used for the mod (maps, sides, scripts, sounds,
animations, and so on)
2. A large scale conversion of Star Wars Battlefront to Star Wars Battlefront 2 (Maps, Galactic Conquest, Campaign)

Yes the maps have been converted more that once, but without them the conversion would be incomplete (as well as the assets).

Dreadnot9 wrote:Initially I think it was going to be an open resource for modders who wanted to add their sides/modes/etc.... now that Marvel has released the scripts to his well done conversion... there isn't all that much of a purpose to this.

It was great that Marvel released those scripts, I'm sure they've been used for a lot of mods but there are limitations to only having scripts, I can see why he didn't release the assets (it actually makes a lot of sense). When BFU (final) is released all the assets will too (as I said earlier).

Marth8880 wrote:Probably the thrill of leading and completing a large project through and through.

Completing a mods such as these are always thrilling aren't they?

Thank you for your responses, they are appreciated!

Nedarb7 wrote:

Dreadnot9 wrote:Initially I think it was going to be an open resource for modders who wanted to add their sides/modes/etc.... now that Marvel has released the scripts to his well done conversion... there isn't all that much of a purpose to this.

It was great that Marvel released those scripts, I'm sure they've been used for a lot of mods but there are limitations to only having scripts, I can see why he didn't release the assets (it actually makes a lot of sense). When BFU (final) is released all the assets will too (as I said earlier).

But there isn't anything "conversion-wise" that you would need the maps' source files for. Everything is already there, and those conversions are among the best versions out there, if not the very best. They're miles above what any beginner or mid-level modder will do for you. Sides, game modes, etc can all be done by scripting at this point.

Teancum wrote:But there isn't anything "conversion-wise" that you would need the maps' source files for. Everything is already there, and those conversions are among the best versions out there, if not the very best. They're miles above what any beginner or mid-level modder will do for you. Sides, game modes, etc can all be done by scripting at this point.

Even though there are many things that can be done through scripting, there are some things that you can't, having a converted map asset will enable you to edit maps without going through the conversion process yourself (say if you were making space to ground map packs). So it gives you a ready base. The conversions that already exist are fantastic, I'm sure the results of this mod will be great as well.

Don't let them discourage you (SWBFU team). I look fore rd to this mod every day. Oh ad don't forget to mention the SWBFI sides converted to SWBFII.

I like the idea of converting them for assets, but it definitely is a hell of a lot of work to make a fourth set of conversions. I'd add some new stuff on the side to make the pack more attractive to people personally. Anyway, best of luck y'all.

I would say don't add a ton of new stuff. Let this be a base that any other modder can build on and have a standardized mod pack just for that, so if 5 people add their era mod to a conversion, it's this one instead of 3 different conversions, and nothing extra, no frills. The way the original convopak was THE standard, except added tons of extra stuff and didn't really allow modders to add to its maps, especially more than one other big mod at once, because it was huge.
What's attractive to me about this is that I think the intention is to be this standard no frills light version of a convopak that allow side modders like me to put their favorite units on their favorite BF1 maps and have all of them in one place.

kinetosimpetus wrote:I would say don't add a ton of new stuff. Let this be a base that any other modder can build on and have a standardized mod pack just for that, so if 5 people add their era mod to a conversion, it's this one instead of 3 different conversions, and nothing extra, no frills. The way the original convopak was THE standard, except added tons of extra stuff and didn't really allow modders to add to its maps, especially more than one other big mod at once, because it was huge.
What's attractive to me about this is that I think the intention is to be this standard no frills light version of a convopak that allow side modders like me to put their favorite units on their favorite BF1 maps and have all of them in one place.

Yeah, but Marvel4's Pack basically does that now that the scripts are public. That's why I'm saying add more to it.

AFAIK, Marvel's pack is more like 5 separate maps converted from bf1, downloaded or at least set in the addon folder separately, so easier to lose track of, harder to uninstall. plus, if someone prefers a different conversion of a particular map, they might just swap it out, but a side mod based on marvel's maps wouldn't work on this one. With this one, an outside modder knows that if the pak is installed, all maps are installed, and are the standard ones. Also, scripts aren't everything, having all of the maps converted as source files would allow much much more customization by other modders. The 'extra' bits you're asking for to be added to this light convo pak are what my side mod and others like it are for.

I get what you're saying to make it more attractive to players, but players do already have an attractive original convopak with lots of extras, which is less friendly to modders because of sky-high mission count. If this pack is more friendly to modders, they'll make mods that use it, and if people like these mods, they'll probably want to play them on swbf1 maps as well, and that's how making the pack extremely modder friendly makes it player friendly. As a player, yeah I want to play stock sides and modded sides on the old maps, but as a modder, I want to put MY sides on these maps, and have an easy time doing it, with minimal bloat in the pak itself.

To me, the whole attraction of this mod is the fact that it's plain and no-frills and easy to add to from the outside, if I'm understanding the plan correctly.

Here are my opinions on the 2 conversion packs available and BFU.

Convo Pack 2.2: Great mod with lots of content. But a lot of the content I don't care for like the KOTOR side mod and some of the non-stock SWBFI maps. It isn't very polished. It is also unstable (and I think that's because of the huge development because DT2 has lots of content but is 100% stable). The mission count on the mod is also huge and I often don't keep it installed for extended amounts of time due to the fact that I can't have any other mods I love on at the same time. It has some very likable things but it doesn't appeal to me personally. It is difficult to uninstall.

Marvel4's Conversion Pack: These SWBFI maps are converted very well. They look exactly or almost exactly like their SWBFI versions. They play very well and are polished. They lack custom sides besides skin changes (which I prefer). I prefer these maps over the convo pack as they are very stable, easy to install and uninstall (if you can match map names with their MapID) and play great. They are also very accurate. These are no frills conversions and work great.

BFU (What I'm looking forward to): I think the area that makes this mod excite me so much is the concept of a real SWBFI conversion pack with nothing but the SWBFI content. With the quality I've seen (through screenshots and videos) the conversions are among the best in the SWBFII community. They have extreme polish which I appreciate (one example is the minimap color). One area where I was disappointed in with the ConvoPack2.2 was the SWBFI sides. I was extremely excited to play those sides but they turned out to be ok. They weren't complete conversions and some skins/models weren't even correct (no disrespect to the convo pack team since I know how hard side modding is). I am looking forward to the BFU SWBFI sides which I have been told play just like the SWBFI sides in SWBFI (from an fairly active SWBFI player). It even has the SWBFI animations which got me even more excited! I've been told you can play it on all maps! That is the most appealing thing to me at the moment. Also the implementation of SWBFI maps into the Galactic Conquest is really cool. I can't wait to play as the Republic and take over every SWBFI and II planet! Also the installation sounds awesome. Just one folder? I'll buy it. So that is what I look forward to from a player perspective. You can see why I think this is superior to both the ConvoPack and Marvel's pack.



Phew!

If you need anyone to help that doesn't involve modding I'll do whatever I can.

kinetosimpetus wrote:AFAIK, Marvel's pack is more like 5 separate maps converted from bf1, downloaded or at least set in the addon folder separately, so easier to lose track of, harder to uninstall. plus, if someone prefers a different conversion of a particular map, they might just swap it out, but a side mod based on marvel's maps wouldn't work on this one. With this one, an outside modder knows that if the pak is installed, all maps are installed, and are the standard ones. Also, scripts aren't everything, having all of the maps converted as source files would allow much much more customization by other modders. The 'extra' bits you're asking for to be added to this light convo pak are what my side mod and others like it are for.

I get what you're saying to make it more attractive to players, but players do already have an attractive original convopak with lots of extras, which is less friendly to modders because of sky-high mission count. If this pack is more friendly to modders, they'll make mods that use it, and if people like these mods, they'll probably want to play them on swbf1 maps as well, and that's how making the pack extremely modder friendly makes it player friendly. As a player, yeah I want to play stock sides and modded sides on the old maps, but as a modder, I want to put MY sides on these maps, and have an easy time doing it, with minimal bloat in the pak itself.

To me, the whole attraction of this mod is the fact that it's plain and no-frills and easy to add to from the outside, if I'm understanding the plan correctly.

I'm confused by some of the specifics of what you're saying, but I completely get the idea of wanting moddable conversions and understand that, as a modder who was virtually incapable of mapping for years and now pretty much IS incapable of mapping since I have Windows 8 and can't boot ZE even with suggested fixes.

You're underrating Marvel4's convo pack a lot though. It's a perfect no-frills conversion besides the multiple addon folders - which I like because it's a bit easier than the original ConvoPack which, as mentioned, has a bloated mission file.

Marvel's conversions are separate not a combined package, and only scripts not map sources are released, and that's why I'm not interested in them, no offense to him.

Marvel's = a group of single maps, partial asset release in the form of scripts, which is good, but not 100%.

Original Convopak 2.2 = a huge mod with a ton of extra sides and maps, not open to adding era mods to it.

What I want and what I think BFU is = one folder that adds back all swbf1 maps, and a small amount of extra content that does nothing but integrate it into swbf2 and restore swbf1 content, full release of maps and scripts capable of being dropped into swbf2 modtool assets as if they were always there, allowing era mods and other projects full editing capability. Adding anything extra like a kotor/tor era or any other era or adding entirely new units and maps would just be a Convopak 3.0, which I'm not interested in. Other mods can add that kind of thing, mine probably will if this, and my mod, ever get done.

The real difference is still 90% in assets but I'm not knocking this project anymore. As I said, I'd be happy with moddable conversions. I don't need any more explanation.

kitfisto15678 wrote:They have extreme polish which I appreciate (one example is the minimap color).

Speaking of minimaps, @Nedarb: Should they be left as they are, or edited to resemble the SWBF2 minimaps? (i.e. grayscaled with the horizontal lines and boundary circle removed) In my opinion, I think the latter would be a better choice, just so that the conversions feel like they are part of the original SWBF2.

I'm in the process of adding 1-Flag CTF mode to Kamino right now, and it should be done very soon.

If you want my $0.02, I'd prefer SWBF2 style minimap standard with stock SWBF2 sides, if SWBF1 sides are in a separate mode, you could load the SWBF1 minimap there, match them to the sides being used.

Whoa! A lot happened these past three days.

kinetosimpetus wrote:If you want my $0.02, I'd prefer SWBF2 style minimap standard with stock SWBF2 sides, if SWBF1 sides are in a separate mode, you could load the SWBF1 minimap there, match them to the sides being used.

As for now SWBF2 style mini-maps will be used for the converted maps. That said:

AQT wrote:

kitfisto15678 wrote:They have extreme polish which I appreciate (one example is the minimap color).

Speaking of minimaps, @Nedarb: Should they be left as they are, or edited to resemble the SWBF2 minimaps? (i.e. grayscaled with the horizontal lines and boundary circle removed) In my opinion, I think the latter would be a better choice, just so that the conversions feel like they are part of the original SWBF2.

I'm in the process of adding 1-Flag CTF mode to Kamino right now, and it should be done very soon.

Just leave the mini-maps as are, as I said I'll do any "tweaking" that remains to be done. (unless you want to do the mini-map)

Thanks for the support everyone.