Re: Revised Garden Of Stone Map

[HTM~BullyBob]

I've finished with everything I was going to do to this map. I didn't change this map to make it better. I changed it to make it different. I think it's pretty hard to improve a map that has been finished and released. If I don't hear of any major errors from any of you, then the beta designation will be removed and the final version will be released. Hopefully in about 7 more days. GardenStone-V2XL_Beta14 is the latest beta release and should be identical to the final release. Only 2 betas were released publicly. The rest were generated internally as backups after map changes were made.
Later.

--------------------------------------------

Here are the changes I made, roughly.

-Added lower central alleyway accessed by lift, shaft, from main alleyway, and by transporters.
-Added 2 transporters to lower alleyway, 1 JumpPad to north end area.
-Added 2 end areas, one with stairway access, other with jump pad access. Both linked to transporters from lower central alleyway.
-Lowered kill zone/ falling volume.
-Added blocking volumes to various tree trunks.
-Added blocking volumes to jump pad bases to prevent "momentary sticking".
-Added sloped blocking volumes to some sides to aid in falling off to kill zone /falling volume.
-Added blocking volume to "stone garden" barrier to prevent "momentary sticking".
-Slightly moved various meshes to prevent character "hang-ups".
-Increased JumpZModifier by .2 on upper jump pad to increase jump height slightly.
-Removed unused mesh stuck in geometry.
-Added uDamage pickup.
-Added Adrenaline pickups.
-Added weapons pickups and ammo to revised areas.
-Various revisions to original geometry to match revised geometry.
-Added lighting, textures, meshes, etc. to match existing environment.
-Added all necessary Bot pathing to revised areas.
-Added "secret" passage and special homage to original author there.
-Changed/Added map preview sequence from original still shot. Original shot is still part of the new sequence.
-Revised ReadMe file.
-Other various minor revisions.

[Freak]

On Freak's,Widow's & redirect.

[HTM~.:Q:.]

Will check it out once moved.

[HTM~BullyBob]

Removed the ceiling above the lift I installed so you can lift jump to the upper levels. Per Minion's (and others) requests. Had to make the ramp a little more narrow but all works OK. Thanks for the suggestion. This makes the map Beta15.

[Freak]

Beta 176 to come soon. lol

Please comment so we can get a final.

[HTM|Minion]

I would like to see the name changed to DM-1on1-GardenOfMinion..... i



j/k



Good work BB!

[HTM~ZenEye]

I would like to see the name changed to DM-1on1-GardenOfMinion..... i



j/k



Good work BB!

Eye 2nd this motion.

[HTM~BullyBob]

Thanks for the input. I understand that a few of you have been hitting your heads on the back wall trim on the new lift. The opening for the new lift is exactly the same size as the original lift opening. Wall trim and all.

This is an overhead of both lift openings:


This is the original lift opening:


This is the additional lift opening:




I can see that on the new lift you must first make it past the floor opening and then avoid the wall trim when attempting a lift jump. I could make the opening a little larger but you would still basically have the same thing. I was jamming myself there a lot at first but as I became aware of it I was able to navigate both the floor opening and the wall trim and make an extremely high lift jump. Not every time but most of the time. This change is something that I will have to drag my feet on a little bit as I am sure, the more you play the map, you all will get used to it and start making good jumps. If not then we will revisit and correct it. But lets give it a little playing time first, say another week. Hey, this is supposed to be hard. We're not playing Duke Nukem here you know.

A couple of new transporters huh Par...let's visit.

BTW- I have Minion a "quicky" map on the way now.

Thanks guys.

Wait! Just a minute...How about this...I remove the ramp widen the lift opening by a third and add a JumpPad to replace the ramp. Maybe a little deco to snaz the area up a bit...what do you think? (The pic is from an old beta I tried it out on. Works great!)

Wider lift opening, minus ramp, plus JumpPad:

[HTM|Minion]

The reason we requested the lift be changed is to allow for faster game play. Garden has always been a fast map with lifts and jump pads that were predictable. I think opening the lift up would allow players to run through and hit that lift at full speed without having to find the "sweet spot".

All of us play a little different and I think it's important to maintain the playability of the map along with all your very nice additions. GoS isn't the number one voted map in Sanctuary because of it's aesthetics, but because it a fun map to play. You have made very nice changes to the map and I think it's almost to the point to where it's back in balance. Thanks for all your hard work BB.

By the way I have updated Sanctuary to beta 15, we had beta 4 and for some reason the redirection file was removed causing players not to be able to join the server. I am not as readily available to make map changes as I once was, I'm sorry I fell behind on the If redirect is updated with a new version please leave all older versions on the redirect as well. We can purge all the betas when we have a final.

[HTM~BullyBob]

Well, since you asked twice Minion I guess I can do it. Consider it done. (I had already fixed it that way late last night anyway, ha, ha.)

*Beta 16 is posted and ready for DL to redirect/servers. (Lift opening fixed)

A word about my betas...Remember, anything that is changed on a map means the map file has to be renamed...I backup fairly often and upping the beta number is my way of creating a backup and getting a new map file to work on at the same time. This way I can step backwards a beta without losing too much work in case a file gets corrupted. And the UEd is VERY particular at times and is prone to crashing without any notice. (For ex. Beta 16 crashed back to XP at least 9 or 10 times when rebuilding the geometry after fixing the new lift requirements. I have to keep looking for the problem and fix it till it doesn't crash. Usually too many co-planer junctions along a single line. Difficult to find and correct at times.) So, don't think anything about the high number of betas as you will probably only see a few of them. (4 from this map I think, betas 4,14,15,16). The rest are my internal backups and such. I have another system that insures you will only see the first few betas in order before the final and I will use that system in the future for better clarification. Have fun guys and let me know of any problems before the final release or I'll have to rename the map to V3.

[HTM~ZenEye]

DM-GardenOfMinion-final.xxx please. lol.

[HTM|YellowDog]

Good work, Bob! Thanks for the redirect fix and system change, Min.

[HTM|Minion]

I was going to add this version to Sanctuary, but I'm unable to compress to .uz2 with this dumb laptop. Could someone compress this for me and re-upload to our download section?

http://h-townmadness.com/forum/downl...?do=file&id=89

[HTM~olde_tymer]

Alright Min,I think I did it right.I just edited your folder,and added another zip file to it.That should be your .uz2 folder.

[Freak]

I would have but I'm down to just my mini.