Spring RTS Engine

I've been learning everything I can about l3dt (I bought pro) and heres what I've finished so far. I'm aiming for a 2v2v2v2 or 4 ffa but thats all up in the air at this point

Click for bigger pics.


I was thinking of raising the center a little and filling in the bottom with a little water (with new tex), and doing something about all the green. then once I like where its going I'll fill in the rest, like metal, features, geo's..

Any tips or thoughts?

Also, just curious but what's everyones thoughts on baking in the shadows, etc.. on maps?

hate to sound sarcastic but have you played a lot of other maps? Most of them use baked on shadows.

You don't, but yea I've noticed, I'm just wondering if people are trying to move away from those or not? I just see some newer things like dynamic sun, where baked on shadows wouldn't look very good.

Mostly its a matter of how many people still don't use the engine for shadows.

The heightmap looks a little...

1933 Germany?

Funkencool wrote:You don't

I do.

Funkencool wrote:but yea I've noticed, I'm just wondering if people are trying to move away from those or not?

no reason to.

Funkencool wrote: I just see some newer things like dynamic sun, where baked on shadows wouldn't look very good.

if I can help it I will disable that in my game. I don't like it.

Funkencool wrote:Mostly its a matter of how many people still don't use the engine for shadows.

Only very old maps or people who are new to doing textures.

FLOZi wrote:The heightmap looks a little...

1933 Germany?

Looks like a manji to me, the swastika is reversed.

smoth wrote:

Funkencool wrote:You don't

I do.

My bad on wording, I meant on being sarcastic.

And alright problem settled, I'll bake on the shadows. I just wanted to be sure before I did.

FLOZi wrote:The heightmap looks a little...

1933 Germany?

Is that spring 1944 map?


edit:also, thanks for all the quick replys

smoth wrote:

FLOZi wrote:The heightmap looks a little...

1933 Germany?

Looks like a manji to me, the swastika is reversed.

O, yea i guess it does. I'm actually ruffly basing it off an OTA map I used to play alot.

The cliff texturing and shaping looks great. The corner hills look a bit too defensible (it looks like they each only have one entrance/exit). But then I enjoy making players suffer.

zoggop wrote:The cliff texturing and shaping looks great.

Thanks, I'm trying to go for getting a mossy-like look on them, and so far I'm pretty happy with them.

zoggop wrote: The corner hills look a bit too defensible (it looks like they each only have one entrance/exit). But then I enjoy making players suffer.

Yea I kind of planned on putting most the metal and other resources in the bottom flats, to draw players away from their defense, but I'll probably end up redoing the layout of the hills anyway.

Don't bake your shadows. In the lightmap section of l3dt, there is an option to bake the shading but not that shadows. use that.

Looking good!

Been a while since I've seen my l3dt greenworld climate

Forboding Angel wrote:Don't bake your shadows. In the lightmap section of l3dt, there is an option to bake the shading but not that shadows. use that.

Ok, that's what I was thinking but that clears things up

Forboding Angel wrote:Looking good!

Been a while since I've seen my l3dt greenworld climate

Thanks I'm just starting to get all the climate controls, but so far I'm really loving l3dt

l3dt is amazing if you spend the time to tweak your climates. Add some ssmf love + features and you'll have a very bad ass map.

Btw, I really like your heightmap!

Looks nice. Have you thought about the metalmap at all? I think a high centre mex would create some interesting King of the Hill FFA and prevent massive porc.

Baking casted shadows is stupid. It makes map look very static as units and features are not shaded with it. Engine shadows are always preferable.

Shading is different thing.

shadows = shading to me, I wasn't sure wtf he was on about.

shadows are to shading are as pizza is to a grease-stained delivery box

smoth wrote:shadows = shading to me, I wasn't sure wtf he was on about.

Wasn't sure either what he meant.

Finally remembered what this map reminds me of. Ashap Plateau! A little different of course, but I always liked that layout.

http://images-of-elements.com/

Here's a pretty good site for CC licensed pictures, they have a lot of metal pics that could be decent textures.