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SAMofBIA wrote:The quality of design on these maps is simply stunning.

I second this.

Map Update #4: Endor

Today I bring you a bit of an Endor extravaganza: a ground map and a space map based on the final battle in RotJ.

First up is the ground map. This map is essentially a rearrangement of the stock Endor map. I've always found Endor to be one of the most visually appealing maps in the stock game, but unfortunately it also has some of the most disappointing gameplay (in my opinion, anyway). The battle always seems to wind down to same small portion of the map, and the layout feels very linear, despite the large size of the map. I wanted the action in my version of Endor to feel more chaotic, like it is in the film. I kept the same overall size for the map, but arranged the command posts in more of a diamond shape, with lots of small paths twisting through the trees. This gives the AI a chance to spread out more, so players can never quite know where they will encounter their enemies. Even if players choose to stray off from the beaten path, they will never be too far away from the action. The map also features a more extensive Ewok village. Although it still can't play too much of a role in typical gameplay because of issues with AI planning, it is a fun place for human players to explore, and it gives the map a greater sense of depth.

Screenshots:
Next up is Space Endor. If you ask me, this was one of the most galling omissions from the original game. The space portion of the Battle of Endor is one of the most iconic moments in the Star Wars saga, yet the only way to even come close to experiencing it in the stock game is to get into a space battle above the planet in Galactic Conquest. Even still, that feels nothing like the actual battle. The BFC version of the space battle is set at the point when the Rebel fleet decides to attack the Imperial fleet head-on. Thus, each side has multiple capital ships on the map, all jumbled up amongst each other. This makes for a very fun, action-packed map. The requisite fighters for each side are present: The TIE Fighter, Interceptor, and Bomber for the Empire, and the A-wing, B-wing, X-wing, and Y-wing for the Alliance.

Screenshots:
I hope you all like what you see. Each map is still very much a WIP, but the essential visual elements are all there. Look forward to more updates soon, as always!

^^Awesome...

Very nice!

Huh, I really like the description of the gameplay and layout of the ground map. I agree that the stock map doesn't do either one justice. Glad to hear you are basically squishing the rectangular shape that is the orignal map down to a square, among other features.

The space map looks pretty sick. Not sure if you want to bother with this, but the color on the cutout of the Star Destroyers could be adjusted a bit to match the lighting on the model versions. Impressive work so far!

verry verry cool update, can´t wait for more

AQT wrote: The space map looks pretty sick. Not sure if you want to bother with this, but the color on the cutout of the Star Destroyers could be adjusted a bit to match the lighting on the model versions. Impressive work so far!

That's a good idea. I had actually been thinking of editing the model texture to make it more white, since I think the shipped texture is a little too dark.

Eggman wrote:I think the shipped texture is a little too dark.

I concur. :plokoon:



Everything looks good.

Map Update #5: Felucia

Felucia was actually one of the earliest maps I worked on for this mod, but I decided to hold off on showing the map until I finished the skins for a few units featured in the map. I think the stock Felucia has a pretty solid layout, but the thick green fog and minimal view distance make for absolutely nauseating visuals. I can forgive that, since the developers did have to take rendering capabilities into consideration, but I think there is definitely still room for improvement. With that in mind, I've put a lot of effort into perfecting the view distance/fog properties. The view distance has increased slightly, while the fog color has been adjusted to match the environment (more of a dirty yellow color, like the sky). I still need to do a bit of tweaking to ensure that there won't be any disappearing objects, but I'm pretty close to what I want.

The map has a lot of the same "landmark" features as the stock version - the massive spiral stump, the poisonous gas vents, a stream, one or two wrecked walkers - but I've rearranged the layout to try some ideas that I thought would be fun. The spiral stump is now the centerpiece of the map, with the rest of the command posts arranged in a circle around it. To add something a little different, I created a small underground section with a re-skinned Dagobah cave and some bio-luminescent mushrooms from one of Sky's asset packs. I only plopped it down as a bit of an experiment, and actually expected to not like it, but it fits the environment very well.

Screenshots: I probably could have called this a side update just as much as a map update. As you can see, I've gotten to work on setting up the units for the 327th Legion. Any maps from Episode III will feature the appropriate style of clone trooper - e.g., 327th on Felucia, Galactic Marines on Mygeeto, and so on. It is just fluff in some ways, but it's one kind of fluff that I enjoy (and I know plenty of other people enjoy playing as different varieties of clone troopers). The clone troopers seen in the screenshots above are based on the models released by Deviss, so they are kind of a conglomeration of work by several different authors. The skins, however, are my own. The assets did include pre-made skins, but I just felt like making my own. The screenshots also show off two of the Republic's fun new vehicles: the AT-AP and the swampspeeder.

Yay for update! Everything looks great.

Eggman wrote:It is just fluff in some ways, but it's one kind of fluff that I enjoy (and I know plenty of other people enjoy playing as different varieties of clone troopers).

Agreed. Plus, it is kinda required for a respectable CW era mod at this point.

THEWULFMAN wrote:Everything looks great.

Agreed.

I know what you mean with the dreaded stock fog level, but it adjusted looks just perfect here in your map! The inclusion of the cave area is a pretty neat idea, and it looks nice, too.

Also, do you plan on adding any natives or creatures?

It looks pretty good! Especially the cave with the glowing mushrooms and the roots and stuff.

Looks like it will be only Felucia I ever like
Everything seemes to fit to each othere. Nothing that stics out to the otheres on the screens.
It looks like could be a nice map

do you have a beta for this mod? if so i would like to give it a try

People will tell you when they are ready for a beta, until then, patience my young padawan. :plokoon:

Could you post more abovish-openish pics of the ground Endor map? The pics look similar to the stock map, even though the tree and log placements are different.

Personally, I think you should reskin the Felucia plants to be more bioluminescent, like in Felucia: Heart of Darkness. Felucia was very vibrant in the movie, but the stock map and assets are very dull, and not at all fun to look at.

Faceman2000 wrote:Personally, I think you should reskin the Felucia plants to be more bioluminescent, like in Felucia: Heart of Darkness. Felucia was very vibrant in the movie, but the stock map and assets are very dull, and not at all fun to look at.

At night I would agree(I did that myself), but for daytime I think the assets are fine as they are. Maybe a little more saturation, but I like it as is.

Faceman2000 wrote:Personally, I think you should reskin the Felucia plants to be more bioluminescent, like in Felucia: Heart of Darkness.

Off-topic: Editing the textures to make the plants appear bioluminescent isn't a very good idea, in my opinion. If Eggman does decide to do this, it would be a better idea instead to take advantage of the flag settings that SWBF2 MSH's support.

@RED51 (old post): Sides Update #2: Adding Support to Stock Maps

It's been a few weeks since I've shared any updates, but that doesn't mean progress has been slowing down all that much. I've just been too busy to actually write up any updates. Following my midterms, though, I finally got a bit of a break this weekend. I took advantage of my new-found free time to sit down and take a big chunk out of my workload for this project - namely, adding BFC support to all the stock maps. That involved some fairly enjoyable tasks (creating new skins, setting up new units/vehicles) and some mind-numbingly dull tasks (setting up .req after .req and .lua after .lua). At any rate, I'm largely done now. Every stock map now has at least rough draft versions of its sides in all modes. The BFC sides can be played by way of two new eras: BFC Clone Wars and BFC Galactic Civil War (just like ARC_Commander's BFX mod).

Screenshots: Not exactly the flashiest update, but like I said, it gets one big, tedious step out of the way. It feels good to have the framework laid down for all of this. From here on out, I can focus on making new maps and finishing off the sides.