FF-Surrounded (preview)

[Optimus Prime]

Name: FF-Surrounded
Size: 30x30
Metal: medium
Gas: some

this map can be played from top to bottom or from left to right. It seems not symmetric, but each quarter will get nearly the same groundplace and metal/gas.

top view


one of dozens grafical gimmicks


Till now only the height map and the texture map is done. Nothing tested but I think tomorrow or the day after, the map will be finished.[/img]

Edit: before the flaming begins : the background (all except the asteroids where you can build) will be more far away than in the map FF-AsteroidBattle, so it should seem, that the stars and planets are far away (hope that works like it should)

[Zoombie]

Dose it use a skybox like Cosomso, or the fuggly (sorry but it is fuggly) ground texture of Asteroid Battle.

But it looks big...and huge...and will add some desperatly needed verity (but we still need MORE and MORE AND MORE maps...space maps that is!)

[Optimus Prime]

Dose it use a skybox like Cosomso, or the fuggly (sorry but it is fuggly) ground texture of Asteroid Battle.

But it looks big...and huge...and will add some desperatly needed verity (but we still need MORE and MORE AND MORE maps...space maps that is!)

It dont uses a skybox on the ground, but i made a new groundtexture. The groundtexture is darker (not so red), but nothing really special (just look at the second pic).
To the reason for not using a groundskybox: its like i said before, the groundskybox looks really cool, no question, but for me its unplayable to have a ground which never moves (some millimeters would be enough for me). The trick on this map will hopefully be, that the ground will be much more far away than in FF-AB. There the distance between asteroids and the background is 30 units and on this map its 200. So i think it will look much better. The sides of the map will sure become a skybos, but not the ground.

[IMSabbel]

Just because you have a defect in the part of you brain that handles spatial recognition doesnt mean we all want that kind of fake maps :/

[Zoombie]

dang!

NonSkybox space maps look lame!

I'm sorry but its true. Now there is a differnece between goodnes and graphicalness. Even if the map is fuggly, you can still have fun battles on it!

Did you have good placement of metal to creat contested asteroids?

[Optimus Prime]

the point is that the starships in spring dont have animated engines like in homeworld where u see and hear when a unit moves or not. Also you could see it when u looked at the background. The stars and clouds moved slowly away when flying.
In spring a skybox is not a real skybox but its like a picture that moves all the time with your screen and that sucks. It confuses when moving and scrolling.
But what about waiting and flaming AFTER you have seen the map in game ?
The ground shall look much better than in FF-AB and i will not publish a final version before reaching this.

metal will be covered over the whole map (on most asteroids) so the more asteroids you have, the better the metalincome.

[Zoombie]

I'm sry.

Also i dont get confuzed with Cosmos!

Also haveing void water makes the map run really well...i have no idea why, but its cool. Oh and i'm sure the map will be fine...now to play it!

[Masse]

I'm sry.

Also i dont get confuzed with Cosmos!

Also haveing void water makes the map run really well...i have no idea why, but its cool. Oh and i'm sure the map will be fine...now to play it!

it must make it run well cause there is no places where to cast shadows... thats what i think

[Optimus Prime]

hm i got some errors when compiling the map

after "loading texture" it says
image file conversion error

after "creating features" it says
failed to open dib file geovent.bmp
failed to open dib file

1. the texture map should be correct. Its a 24 bit bmp file with size 15360².

2. Ok i dont have the geo bmp, but it should work without it too i think

anyone can help? Is it the size of the map or the file size?

[hrmph]

I'd recommend bumping it up to 16384x16384 to see if you still get the same error. (This might not be the cause).

Also I agree, spacemaps look very bizarre to me when they don't have a skybox and voided ground. I think if theres enough asteroids and units and platforms and such in the map the spatial recognition issue shouldn't be of much importance.

[AF]

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


First off, space is meant to be vast, you could move from the earth to the moon in a matter of seconds and the stars would not move, so expecting them to move in a spring map is like sayign the map is twice the size of the solar system at least.

Secondly, I see that map and those screenshots and I am thinking the same thign voer again.

You ahve a 3D engine, those things look more like sprites on an infinite. Look at all th majro commercial space games released, look at HW 1 even, and look at the maps, they're much much better than this style of map, and some fo them have no objects inside of them, and seem vague and bland in their component parts, just a simple image combined with a texture, but they have atmosphere. And those shtos do not portray an atmospheric gameplay.

As for spacecraft in FF not havign HW style engine animations, I wodner why not? You are making maps that work specifically for FF and you have control over FF itself, why not add some sort of animation? It is possible, and would give it a bigger oomph.

[Optimus Prime]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

no one likes the maps i like
(ok i will rethink about it and perhaps (PERHAPS) i will make it with a skybox - i hate u all now )

to the homeworld animations... its not yet possible or it would look like shit without having particle effects and transparent textures (correct me if i m wrong).

Edit: It works now (my pc is compiling since an half hour or more)!
The problem was, that all tutorials SUCK for big maps. No where stand, that if the file is to huge, the bmp cant be read. I just made a jpg and it workks fine now. I hope it looks ok ig.

[smoth]

In spring a skybox is not a real skybox but its like a picture that moves all the time with your screen and that sucks. It confuses when moving and scrolling.

OMFG, you are completely ingnorant on what you are talking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skybox_%28video_games%29

A skybox is often a hollow cube comprised of six images, usually carefully aligned pre-rendered 3D geometry or photographs.

Those things runcrafter made... with six images... that wraparound the skyportal... combined they make a *DRUMROLL* skybox

[Zoombie]

Yeah, also you'r supposed to use ships and bases as refference points, not the backround!

[Optimus Prime]

In spring a skybox is not a real skybox but its like a picture that moves all the time with your screen and that sucks. It confuses when moving and scrolling.

OMFG, you are completely ingnorant on what you are talking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skybox_%28video_games%29

A skybox is often a hollow cube comprised of six images, usually carefully aligned pre-rendered 3D geometry or photographs.

Those things runcrafter made... with six images... that wraparound the skyportal... combined they make a *DRUMROLL* skybox

smooth skybox should stand for a box, which represents the sky. You are right with the wikipedia explanation, but that makes it not a real skybox for me. When i drive with the car, the clouds on the sky move (even if there is no wind) but here they wouldnt. So i put the small word "real" in front of the word skybox.
In Spring you can turn the camera and there you see that the box is 3d, but the box is only around the camera not around the map. So i would call it a camerabox. And yes wikipedia is great, but that makes a skybox not a real skybox for me.
You can use them for making maps more beautyfull for example on a CS map, but there it works because you have enough other 3d objects and real landscape, but in FF you have only few objects and a skybox there is really nice, but confusing like shit.
Never mind, i will see what i can do. Perhaps i will make 2 versions one with Skybox (in the wiki meaning of the word) and one without a groundskybox.

[smoth]

Look you ignorant....*pours sandbucket*

I have been making levels since... 1996

DO NOT procede to argue with me on this. It is a sky BOX because it is a
BOX. What you have in the real world would be a SKYDOME OR
SKYSPHERE! So STFU and listen to those who know what we are talking
about. Spring has a skybox. that is it.

I cannot believe you. Jesus, dude listen... you are not going to have moving clouds in SPACE the movement would barely be percievable
to the naked eye!

of course what would I know about skyboxes?

[Optimus Prime]

lol sorry but YOU are the ignorant.
I put the word "real" to *mark* that i dont mean the definition of the skybox in its computergameing meaning.
And dont call me to stfu... thats not my level for a discussion. Go to a forum where its normal to offend other ppl.
To end this senseless discuss i will not answer any text with a rude context.
Ah and i made maps for other games (ut2004) too...
Bye

[Agiel]

Your definition of "real" seems messed up too, because in space, there's no way you'd see the stars move.

[Optimus Prime]

i didnt say anything about space. But even in space all has a fixed position which is fixed in relation to the camera (ok the universe drifts). In a computergame the skybox is not fixed. All moves with the camera (there are skyboxes in games where its only a great box far away from the playable area and i would call them real skyboxes).
Look at the skybox of the map cosmos... the asteroids on the skybox and the planet arent really far away, but the skybox makes them be unlimited far away.
But back to topic, perhaps i have found a way, to make a skybox and to have fixed (but far away) background elements. I hope it works.

[FizWizz]

I thought that the skybox for Cosmos was absolutely excellent. At first it freaked me out that I scrolled around and nothing moved, but I wouldn't have it any other way now. OP, space that is painted on the surface of a map is totally crap compared to using skyboxes. Especially when the tiling of the star field is blatant like in the image at the top of the thread.