General map "construction" approach

@PicSoul
That's an awesome idea, may implement it in my next map! Thanks!

@Sodoma mind if people post up ideas on types of obstacles and how they might be used and such? or maybe save that for it's own thread? i could see things getting a bit cluttered possibly. so either way works for me. just curious is all.

last edited by A Former User

@8up-local
Not at all, I like to read anything, that may help (me) to build nice map on my own. Being able to operate Editor is just part of the job (minor I think), Idea of what you are biulding is more problematic (for me for sure).
So suggestions, ideas... Turn this into a think-tank 🙂

cool, will keep it simple for now i think and just share an idea i had as well as something someone came up with that i asked if i could share with people.

first would be easier to explain for me since it is already a thing.
anyone here check out or seen Schlammspringers "Twisty Bridge"?
i like his idea, even though i kind felt like it was a bit too much imo. but a nice idea regardless.
he used the regular stock bridge, but edited the xml to make it twist and flex a bit. it makes you carefully choose your line when crossing because if not....

over you will go. lol he has also had the idea of making a pontoon type bridge so it would bob and move a little when you drove on to it, but had not gotten to figuring out how to do it.
alt text
he had his set up a bit on the extreme side imo, but a fun and frustrating challenge for sure. lol

this next one is easy enough, but tricky for me to explain. think of driving down a tight creek bed. hit a small hole the front of the truck drops into then climbs back up out of the hole. only a small twist. there is a fixed tree just under the water when you climbing out of the hole which will stop you or maybe even trap you making you winch out to get unstuck from it. all of this would be just under the water surface and hopefully not seen until someone gets into it. there would be a gnarly (very rough) bypass for this obstacle. the hole just needs to be big enough to drop a tire in and submerge the front of the truck a bit. i hope i have explained this well enough to understand.

made a rough drawing if it helps. blue is the water of course, with the muddy bottom in brown. black is the fallen fixed tree. hope this makes sense and is understandable.
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if i confuse at all i apologize and will try my best to explain better.

last edited by A Former User

another idea would be places that might make for some good map back drops and or to put trails into. i refer to the area i live near here in Southern Illinois. do an image search for shawnee national forest southern illinois garden of the gods to see what i mean.

last edited by A Former User

Despite many advices, because I am at work, once again, I've started by some sketches.
Only problem is that I am rather limited with pencils...
0_1523278925081_IMG_4935.JPG

@Mexican_420
@8up-local
Moving in here, because we were OT in that thread.
What was (is?) so nice on that blackwater map? was it technical difficulty? number or type obstacles? Sceneries visible from cliffs?
I am curious 🙂

@sodoma said in General map "construction" approach:

What was (is?) so nice on that blackwater map? was it technical difficulty? number or type obstacles? Sceneries visible from cliffs?

All of the above, and then some. It's a true masterpiece and an undeniable classic. I can't recommend any other map, to date, for this game more strongly. If you haven't played it you are SERIOUSLY missing out on experiencing the greatness of it. 😉

It was the first non-default map I played after finishing the game(on casual & hardcore). And I credit it for being the sole reason I still have a continued interest in this game. I've seen how good it can be when it's done to perfection like that. And it's almost beyond words how good that is. There were times while playing Blackwater Canyon that I had to stop, put the controller down, and just stare at the screen for a minute or two. What I was seeing was so realistic I couldn't hardly believe it was a video game. I was astonished by it...to say the least.

last edited by MudHappy

@sodoma pretty much as mentioned above. will add that catch phrase "for the time" they were considered the best by a good majority of the mod community. he also helped influenced others, who carried on to influence map makers today and will carry on to the next gen of makers. also, for some of these "new gen" map makers as i call them. do go back and check out some of the maps for the original game. you just might find some influence.

the balance between a challenging map that can work for all (logging/trails) while keeping a natural scenic look is what i like to look for in a map. most of all the overall "feel" or "theme" of the map is important imo.

If you are thinking about making a map, I want to warn you about what just happened to me, because I am pretty mad at myself 😃
I made up a pretty nice bridge:
0_1539509568115_bridge.PNG
As you can see, it is several concrete blocks put together and, as a main support, there is a bridge. This one: 0_1539509722602_bridge_II.PNG
As you can see, I submerged it under the ground and use just a tiny bit of its construction.
Sadly, as it showed up, physical mesh of this construction is pretty rough, so result isn't as nice as I though of...
0_1539510157061_20181014111553_1.jpg
0_1539510171375_20181014111732_1.jpg
So with this knowledge, back to the drawingboard... 😉

@Sodoma Is your bridge model one whole model? In the image with the white text it looks like it is made of separate pieces and then put together in the Editor. Also driving on thin air in the image looks like the cdt has been created via a box around the object, and not copied the object itself and then pasted straight after (so it copies the exact size and dimension and sits exactly on it like a copy basically)

@digital-x It is indeed. Concrete blocks are some custom made objects from internet, but bridge is stock game model. They definitely are put together in editor, it took me around a hour to arrange them perfectly... I just didn't expect such thing as it happened...

Oh I see now @Sodoma The concrete blocks are on TOP of the in game model already? And that in game bridge in sunken? Gotcha.

As for the cdt it looks like the concrete blocks collision model is way oversize for the object. The way I do mine is simply this:

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As you can see the collision box is exactly the same size as the model, so the tyres act as they should.

@digital-x Yeah, that is what I expected and therefore i used it as I did. But ingame stuff is simplified, so...
My message was "be carefull and test things in advance, thing that seems logical doesn't have to be true as well" 🙂