Antar is now final! I will of course, fix any major issues that are found.

Newest video

Read down to bottom of this post for the nice big download link!



Changes from latest Gamma to Final:
Fixed one model having overlapping polys, causing an irritating flicker
Made the sky better
Improved object texturing
Better crate models (Not quite as visually appelaing, but they get the job done - no more collision issues)
Super-secret area(s) (no glitches required to get there)
Very minor map tweaks (made a few more buildings enterable to serve as cover)





Antar Four is my second ever map, and my first release.

Gameplay footage, from early stages of development to late:
http://www.xfire.com/video/17aedb/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17b017/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17b197/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17b346/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17b5ff/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17b845/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17ba05/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17ba3b/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17cb8d/
http://www.xfire.com/video/17f9e6/

Screenshots (Gamma version):
- Ingame: - ZeroEditor:
Features:
Antar Four is a small, compact map designed with intense fights in mind. Antar Four is the home of the Gotal, whose sensory horns can feel radiations and sometimes even the eminations of your thoughts and emotions. The planet was involved in the Clone Wars, and was foritified with an HQ by Count Dooku. In the GCW, Antar Four was invaded by the Empire and the Gotals were practically enslaved and the race plunged into universal poverty. There is an elevated walkway spanning from one corner of the map to another, which due to engine limitations, cannot be travelled along by AI. Due to this, it plays almost no role in a single player conquest, but in a multiplayer game I imagine its strategic role would be much more significant. Clones are 100% custom skinned by me. Not a single model or texture was made from or with anything but 3DS Max 7, MS Paint, or GIMP. I used no stock models or textures, even as bases, and none were borrowed from the internet, not even as bases either.


Primary reference picture, from Wookieepedia:
Heroes:
CW: Dooku & Secura
GCW: Chewie & Vader




Known issues:
Several models overlap and are not extremely pleasing to the eye for it, but this is a very small thing, and I am not worried enough about it to bother to redo the whole map in order to fix it.
Minimap is not remarkably accurate
Despite my rainshadows in the buildings, most of them still rain inside. It's largely unnmoticable, though, so I''m really not worried about it.


Special thanks to AceMastermind for helping me to resolve a particularly frustrating issue!
Also thanks to CodaRez for helping me out to fix the bug!




Enjoy!

Download Antar Four FINAL 1


Anyone who wants to put this on swbf2.filefront.com is welcome to, but be sure to send a PM over to me first and get written permission, please. I don't want 2 people both uploading the same map.

I am just wondering

I bet you know why MY name should be credited somewhere.

But if it ain't this release, is cool then.

Will be back witha report soon.

EDIT:

Well got 2 things

-even from the ref picture you and I know that the sky is completely outta place. Pitch black with a rip-void in places? where are we? black hyperspace realm?
Even the ref pic was lighter. Try a dark grey.

-rains black, maybe a whiter is better

I believe you should not really go into the whole *no stock stuff* attitude, accepting a few stock textures or models are fine. Some really are useful. Look around (and I bet you would find a better night sky)

Other than that, u have done quite well. But I believe ur map lacks variety(houses, hmm, how bout house props *signs/pots/crates/etc., these should fit ur custom model attitude to give u a challenge then*)

Ur skins are a-okay (but maybe u got make the heavy more different)

This looks interesting. I will download when my new Battlefront II disk arrives.

A well done Gamma version, but like you wrote some lines up, you have to add some crates and little covers ( if you want to build the map like on your last pic, perhaps add some ruins)

@ Rez

Yea, I was planning on doing something to make the sky better.
However, despite what you see int the reference picture,

The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons wrote:Antar Four is a moon, the fourth of six large bodies orbiting the gas giant Antar. The sattelite's severe axial tilt causes unusual day/night cycles and exceptionally harsh seasonal changes. Sometimes Antar Fout is llit on both sides by the sun and the reflective surface of Antar; at other times it is plunged into total darkness within its primary's massive shadow.

Such was my inspiration for the night sky and the black-ish rain. I agree that it could stand to be much better, and so I will be sure to redo it.

I sort of wanted it to be Temba Port Capital. Antar Four is a well-developed planet, so I wouldn't expect to see many homes in the city.


Also, lack of variety? I have 7 different building props and 5 for outside the battlefield. THat actually seemed like a good amount to me. There were only 2 buildings that I intentionally reused a bit, because I wanted them to define a style. (The long building with the blue things coming ot on the sides, and the chokepoint enerable building)



Not that I won't consider you advice, not at all. I really do appreciate it, just letting you know why I did a lot of the things I did.

@Darman
My purpose of the ref pic wasn't necessarily to replicate it, just to get a general architectual style.

biohazard wrote:@ Rezat other times it is plunged into total darkness within its primary's massive shadow.

[/quote]

Hmmmm, if you do that, u would have to add the Gas Giants dark profile somewhere wouldn't u?

And that would be a pain.

As for props, well I mean by the tiny props. Little stuff. Crates really do work out(and pls, I NEED cover! )

But I do understand(but the crate tip stays, trust me )

Yea, crates are next on my todo list, don't worry.

And that huge red circle in the sky was supposed to be Antar >.>


To do:
Crates
Redo sky texture
Scale & Position minimap correctly
See if Aalya works
Make Heavy Trooper less bland, make Clone Trooper helmet look a little better
Add loading pic
Set camera points







BTW: GT members please join my server!

[GT] Antar Four
password is biohazard

Antar Four map 24/7!




EDIT: yeey I found a way to glitch into one of my models! (No worries though, it's one of the ones for outside the battlefield)

i cant join the server, after entering the password it counts and counts and nothing happens

why did you give the server a password?

I'll take the password off, then, I guess.


EDIT: Try it now

i still cant join for some reason..
i can play it in sp though

my improvement suggestions:
-change the sky, the current one looks unrealistically
-improve all textures and increase their definition
-add some more details to the buildings
-add rainshadowregions under the walkway and in the buldings
-add a directional light and give the building shadows

but all in all its a nicley layed out map

Any idea why you might not be able to join? I don't normally host servers, so I'm pretty much clueless here.

biohazard wrote:
To do:
See if Aalya works

Don't worry, Aayla
transcends the physics of maps.

SHE doesn't work in the map.

the MAP must work for HER.

*Translation: Yes, she does work, her Clone Wars era hero and Assault mode versions, yes I played for a few seconds to check*

lol, think you're funny don'cha?




Thanks

BTW anyone know a good way to set up a server using a custom map?


AHHHH server manager won't work becuase I have the retail version of BF2? WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

AHHHHHH

I had never played a "Gamma" before. An Alpha? Sure; a Beta? Sure; but a Gamma? That's new.

Alright, I think Antar Four is very well constructed, I was quite impressed at its uniqueness, I commend you for the prop placement in your map and for the originality of the concept, not everything is flowers, though, the map is in serious need of new textures, everything seems to be a huge mesh of brown blocks in its current state, you need to reskin those structures, to make them distinguish themselves from each other and to breath life into them, the whole place feels kind of desolate in the sense that the paths are empty and the walls are sort of bland; also, the map could use some creative lighting to improve it's unique visuals, you can do wonders with a good lighting.

From what I gather from the reference picture you posted, Antar Four is an urban environment devastated by war, perhaps you should experiment with placing some crashed/destroyed vehicles across the map, adding craters and scarring the ambient with the marks of conflict, these would add much to the ambience, which is lacking in my opinion.

There seems to be a slight unbalance in favor of Team 2, Command Post 0 is often captured by the Droids/Rebels in the first ten minutes of a match (my settings: unit count: 16, reinforcements: 200, difficulty: elite).

I have noticed your attempts to create a path for the AI to access that large suspended walkway near CPs 1 and 2, and I think you should keep trying to make it accesible, I would like to do battle in that area of the map, it would be a very dynamic feature to have skirmishes happening both on the ground level and above it.

About the sky, the idea of having many suns is good, but I think you are using a bad method, the skydome texture stretches some of the topmost stars,as seen in this picture: It looks weird. I believe you should inquire about how to add a sun to your map in the modding forum, also, I think the sky should not be pitch black, with that many stars close to a planet, one would figure that the lighting would be affected and the sky would have some predominant color.

So, overall it's pretty good! With some more work on the textures, I'm sure the final release will be a success.

New release!

DOWNLOAD


New video!

http://www.xfire.com/video/17cb8d/



Fixed:
Added more cover int he form of crates (Guess what: custom model :O never woulda guessed, huh)
Made textures a wee bit better
Added more lights
Messed with the terrain to make it seem a little more battlefield-ish.
Added custom load screen

Todo:
Starting satellite shots
Tweak minimap
Maybe add some random fx here and there
Fix a floating crate and a floating medical droid
Fix crate collision

Ok, I've played it and here is what I've got to say.

Gameplay-wise, you've pretty much got it nailed down. Like I said before, you ought to try something to get the walkway working. I like the additional small cover you've added, but there could be more variety. Don't be afraid to use shipped barrels and crates -- they can be extremely helpful for gameplay. Also, Rends has some nice custom crates and containers that would fit well in your map. But gameplay is probably the strongest part of this map.

The models are very good, especially considering the time you've spent on the map. My main concern is that they lack detail and depth. Even little aesthetic additions make the map that much better. The textures are a little too overused also; you might want to work on the UV mapping too. You could also take advantage of the additional detail to create more variety in the map. And detail is good to help you identify landmarks so you know where you are.

The environment is probably your weakest point. Given the already bland characters of the buildings, the dreary atmosphere actually makes it hard to perceive depth. The sky looks strange. The rain is hardly noticeable and really not necessary. Ideally, I would go back to a daytime setting. That will significantly diffuse the solid gray atmosphere of the map.

This map could be on track to being one of the better ones I've ever played. Can't wait to see future versions!

and PLEASE add a directional light and shadows to the models!
this will make it a lot less bland

In regards to your server problem: Do you have a static IP? You usually need one to host a server, but don't quote me on that as I've never really tried on BF2, I just know that its normally required for server hosting.

Ok, I've been improving the textures and polishing the level. Final release is coming as soon as the minimap and the sky texture are finished!

BTW there's an awesome secret area to explore now, the majority only being accessible via hero's powerful jetpacks and force jumps (basically good to use for hero assault duels and stuff)