Ice Floe (wip)

[Takka 13,377]

This is the WiP topic for my entry into the CE map contest, and yes I know I'm making this in the HPC section. This is because that's what I'm building it in (as those are the only tools I know), but it will also be ported to CE upon completion.

 

I decided to tackle remaking the arena of Ice Fields, so that the gameplay is based in just the center of the map and focused only on infantry combat. Much of the weaponry will be shared from the Phoenix sandbox, but I wouldn't entirely rule out new additions on that front. I decided not to create a whole new sandbox because I don't really have the time to organize regular playtests to get the balance right.

 

Progress Log

Spoiler

9/26

I've only spent only a few hours on the map itself:

 

But have also spent most of today recreating my dynamic fire effect from the days of old (spreads from a single point and only on particular surfaces). I've pretty much finished the effect:

(Video thanks to As7raios!)

 

I have some (hopefully) interesting plans for it when I add it to the map later.

 

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9/27

More work on the scenery and layout:

 

Also made the dynamic fire effect more efficient and cleaner-looking.

 

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9/28

Just some detail-work today as I haven't had much free time, but here's the first draft for the weapon layout:

Other half of the map will be mirrored in reverse, of course.

 

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9/29

Working on a new weapon that only does shield damage upon direct impact with a player, so that it instead relies on its splash damage when impacting a dense material like rock, ice, or metal (which will allow it to damage more than just shields). This could bring an interesting dynamic.

 

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10/3

It's been a few days since I've touched this, as I've been working silly hours lately, but my weekend has begun!

 

Today I finished up new textures for some of the scenery, and almost completed the scenery layout.

 

What I hope to work on over the next couple days is building the new aforementioned weapon, finishing the layout, and then importing the sandbox.

 

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10/4

Good progress today on those aforementioned fronts I wanted to hit. The new gun named the "Impacter" is close to done, a bit more progress on tuning the layout, and most of the sandbox has been imported and placed.

 

Torpedo has been extremely handy.

 

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10/5

Here's some pictures of the progress on aesthetics, since my latest updates have been lacking in images:

Still a lot of missing scenery in places, particularly up top near the bridge, but it's slowly coming alongside other progress.

 

Also the new weapon is in-map, as are the rest of the planned sandbox items other than the Dicer.

 

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11/3

Back to working on this; finishing up the scenery now.

 

The biggest chore right now is going to be moving all the spawn points and objects into the playing area, as well as coming up with un-ugly ways of blocking off the rest of the map.

 

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11/6

Getting there!

 

 

I've also moved in all of Red Team's CTF spawns, and made the map compatible with all but KoTH (coming soon).

 

Should be more significant progress (stuff other than just scenery) coming over the next couple days (my weekend starts).

 

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11/7

I've finished all the scenery work, moved in all the CTF spawns, and remade the Dicer (weapon) from Bomb Run.

 

There are really only small things to do from here on out, but I don't really have the time to implement the Impacter (new weapon concept), even though I already made it... The issue is the damage system needs to be done in a different (more complex) way, because the way I did it doesn't work on dedicated servers (just player-made servers). So I'm cutting it, so I'm not rushed on getting some polish in on the map, since that new weapon would also need to be balanced out.

 

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11/8

Everything's done other than moving the last few spawns, and making it compatible with KoTH, both of which will be easy to tackle tomorrow!

 

However I ended up choosing to cut dynamic fire from the map, because even though it's frequency would be controlled by an emitter, each time it appeared it ate about 50% of the particle budget, and 80% of the effects budget. Add that to the ambient effects already on the map, and there's not much room for effects generated in combat. The fire was really just a gimmick anyway, but I will be releasing it separately.

[Pfhunkie 3,544]

Here's a preview of the new dynamic fire in action

 

 

[Takka 13,377]

Thanks for the video. =D

 

Also, it's not going to be tied to the plasma rifle or anything like that; that was just for testing purposes.

[Sceny 3,138]

Will you be bringing back any weapons from previous projects?

 

Dicer

[Takka 13,377]

15 hours ago, Sceny said:

Dicer

Just for you, baby.

[Takka 13,377]

Some of the progress from today:

 

I'm also now keeping a sort of log in the OP, with a bit more info on what's being worked on.

[Takka 13,377]

Just some detail-work today as I haven't had much free time, but here's the first draft for the weapon layout:

Other half of the map will be mirrored in reverse, of course.

[Takka 13,377]

Working on a new weapon that only does shield damage upon direct impact with a player, so that it instead relies on its splash damage when impacting a dense material like rock, ice, or metal (which will allow it to damage more than just shields). This could bring an interesting dynamic.

[Sunstriker7 698]

Different damages based on particular material IDs, perhaps?

 

Higher density = more damage?

[Takka 13,377]

1 hour ago, Sunstriker7 said:

Different damages based on particular material IDs, perhaps?

Yup.