Community mapping

[lobsta]

You guys should add the ability for the community to make maps. I love making maps for D.O.D, TF2, and CS:GO. Don’t you guys use UDK? Isn’t there a mapping tool for that already. Also now that your on steam you can utilize the workshop.

[Soumin]

I second workshop implementation. Someone have to recreate maps like goldrush, siwa oasis etc. I’m addicted on nostalgia.

[The99thProblem]

Sounds like a great idea to me! And easy aid to the devs!

[Babwin]

GOLDRUSH <3 BATTERY <3

I realy think you should make the community able to dev map (not dirty filthy and horrible custum skin like on ET:W, but map and mods would be fabulus).

[Nail]

while it’s possible, it’s unlikely on release

[Steve_Martin]

I would throw my vote in for this… it’s what helped RtCW and ET, right?, be so successful.

User made maps are some of the most legendary across games that allowed this.

Thanks for listening.

[ev1ldarks]

[quote=“Steve Martin;3016”]I would throw my vote in for this… it’s what helped RtCW and ET, right?, be so successful.

User made maps are some of the most legendary across games that allowed this.
[/quote]

+1000, modding and community maps were the heart of ET <3

but I can’t see how they can make it possible now with the xp system… all maps should be approved by the devs to deny xp cheating maps ans so… seems very difficult

[NuclearSharkhead]

In before someone recreates Facing Worlds and de_dust2!

[nudels]

Actually I wold like to see Supplydepot, ET_ice, etc I don’t see how the XP system would not allow map making, they are just scripted objects (EV, objectives, walls, barriers) (I made ET maps and scripts). If you use the EV in a map you get the XP the EV will get you on any map for destroying/rebuilding. To make a map you have the map file and a script that comes with the map. It would work similar in Unrealengine. So for a wall, you build the wall, put a box around the wall (that is invisible for the player) then you ad some values to the box in a script (basicly). You can limit the XP in the script, that a XP value can not be set over, lets say 1000 xp. Pump objects can have a fixed value and a lot of other objects too etc. how you gonna get the map in rotation is another question though.

Setting up your own server is aout of the question or?..

[nudels]

If map making will be allowed wold I definitely do a DB Supply version, if not the original mapmaker makes one. It would be easy to put it in a DB theme. Oasis and goldrush basicly alredy exists Terminal and The bridge are basic the same maps as Oasis and Goldrush SW. But making the ET one would be fun too, have to redesign the houses a lot though… but switch the tank to the EV and set up DB barriers instead of ET barriers, make the gold obj etc should be fairly easy. Oasis should be no problem to do either with standard DB objectives.

Haven’t used UnrealED for a while though… Love Qradiant

[Nail]

UDK is free, download and create a level, see what’s involved

[Nail]

here’s some extra info as guidelines

may or may not still be relevant

"[QUOTE=@@]Disclaimer: We’re not promising an SDK, nor are we promising that we can make any user-generated content a reality yet, but I decided to post this because there’s a lot of interest in the subject. Maybe Badman will sticky it and I’ll write a sequel later.

PHASE 1 - MAKE A PLAN!

Know Your Toybox
It’s imperative to know and utilise the toys you have at your disposal. By this I mean gameplay mechanics, not editors and engines. New mechanics can be expensive, so if you’re proposing a new one, it needs to be justifiable, and consistent with what already exists. As a rule, you’d have to work hard to negotiate additional features, so start by using what you’ve got. That said, re-purposing existing stuff can work, and can help to sell a new idea you might have for a gameplay feature, but it might be more difficult to communicate. That’s a good reason to propose a plan before making anything.

• Movement and shooting mechanics
• Character/class abilities
• Objective types
• Game mode rules

Initial Ideation
Generate a bunch of different ideas, or look through your existing set of ideas. Some short, focused brainstorming will help.
Selected one idea based on your answers to the following questions:

• How excited are you about it?
• How inspired are you to turn the idea into a game level?

Key Map Features
Try to define what you’re trying to achieve with the map:

• Are you testing out a new objective configuration?
• Are you trying to address issues you encountered in making earlier maps (eg: fewer/more side-routes, more open spaces, more variety in combat styles, etc)
• Think about the features which will support the purpose:
  [INDENT][/INDENT][]How will you make this environment stand out? Visually and/or technically.
  [INDENT][/INDENT][]What do you want the player or the viewer to experience?

Narrative, Objectives and Progression
What narrative do you want players to experience as they play through the map? Create a flow diagram showing detailed objective progress.

• How do the objectives fit into this narrative?
• Are there any optional side-objectives which the player can choose to interactive with?
• What effect will they have on their overall progression?

Top-Down Layout
Having answered most of the previous questions, you should be able to make a top-down plan of the whole map in a very simple diagrammatic format. It doesn’t need to go into micro-detail, but should account for:

• Expected/intended flow
• Spawn areas
• Combat zones
• Transitions
• Choke points
• Objectives

Setting
Consider what kind of location you want to use for the map:

• Geographical location, architectural style
• Time of day, environmental forces (flooding, weather conditions, etc)

Reference
Gather and include/present reference images which support the previous ideas:

• Environment and location
• Set design and props
• Lighting and style
• Inspirational reference

The end result should be a document which can be used to clearly and concisely communicate your idea to others, and also provide yourself with a plan that you can refer back to during the following phases in order to help you maintain your high-level goals for the map and prevent yourself from getting lost down the various rabbit holes you’ll create when you start blocking it out.[/QUOTE]
"[QUOTE=@@]I think I promised this aaaaages ago. So here it is.

General Unreal BSP Best Practice Stuff

Dos:

• Do use BSP
• Do keep snap to grid turned on
• Do try to keep layouts axis-aligned
• Do stick to simple box shapes
• Do try to add ‘landmark’ shapes to help players stay orientated
• Do keep your grid size as high as possible at all times
• Do use keyboard shortcuts to change grid-size, move brush verts and toggle editor modes
• Do use American keyboard layout so you can toggle Local and World gizmo with the ~ key
• Do get used to using old-school Ctrl + Mouse Click object manipulation instead of the widget
• Do place lots of characters in your level (or use SkeletalMesh’EditorMeshes.SkeletalMesh.DefaultSkeletalMesh’) for character scale reference

Don’ts:

• Don’t place loads of lights as it will dramatically increase your build times
• Don’t use lots of static meshes in the playspace – it makes it more difficult to iterate (and to be honest, if gameplay doesn’t work with BSP alone then a few meshes isn’t going to help you)
• Don’t go below a 8 unit grid, ever
• Don’t go off grid, ever
• Don’t make lots of crazy rotations
• Don’t make complex BSP shapes
• Don’t use extrusions and subdivisions
• Don’t make wonky floors just for thematic reasons or ‘realism’ – it’s a map shell, it’s not meant to be realistic

BActual Metrics[/B]
These are actual metrics which our movement system and character models appear to conform to.

Cover

• 64 units is the minimum low cover height for all character sizes to be hidden when crouching

Crouching

• 64 units is the minimum height for all characters to crouch under
• 64 units is the minimum tunnel width for a single character

Jumping

• 64 units is the max jump height from standing (no crouch jump)
• 72 units is the approx max crouch jump height (from standing)
• 86 units is the approx max crouch jump height (from sprinting)
• 256 units is the approx. max jump distance (from sprinting)

Stairs/Steps

• 16 units is the maximum step-up height
• 32 units is the recommended depth per step (IMO)
• Ramps of a 1:2 height to depth ratio should be used instead of steps in blockout maps to prevent step-up camera jittering

Gameplay Metrics
These are more subjective recommendations based on what works and what doesn’t for gameplay (IMO).

Doorways

• 112 units is the absolute minimum doorway height, but 128 or more is preferable in most cases
• 64 units is the absolute minimum doorway width, but doorways this narrow are horrible for gameplay and should never be used ever
• 80 units is the preferable minimum single door width
• 160 units is the minimum double door width

Wall Thickness

• 24 units is the absolute minimum wall thickness for a characters arms to NOT stick through and be shootable from the other site
• 32 units is the preferred wall thickness for characters weapons not to stick through and look all rentaghost from the other side

Ceiling /Floor Thickness

• 32 units is the minimum thickness for ceilings and floors, so as to avoid issues when arting-up levels later

Play Spaces
This is super-subjective, and totally depends on the kind of map you’re trying to build, but included anyway based on some of the spaces that I think play best in existing maps.

• 768 units is a good ‘average’ corridor width for combat
• 1024-1600 units is a good range for the ‘average’ medium engagement range
• 512 units square is a good minimum guide for a close-combat space
• 2400 units is a reasonable approx. max LoS range – any more than that and you’re probably going to run into performance issues later down the line

[Nail]

http://forums.dirtybomb.nexon.net/discussion/553/community-mapping#latest

[ch3w0nth1s1]

I was wondering if there would be a map creator?

[Litego]

They should definitely allow community mapping and if not server hosting, at least server renting. If they can’t figure out a way to allow community maps on XP based servers, then just disable XP on community maps. It’s not ideal, but at least we’d have community maps. Though I don’t see how it would be a problem to allow XP on community maps, just have to regulate it with scripts as someone previously mentioned.

As a smaller studio, you really do want the community to help make content for you. I don’t believe you can push it out content fast enough to please the player base, no way. And I seriously hope you’re not even thinking about selling us map packs for this F2P shooter. That is just an absolutely awful idea! So all in all I don’t see why they wouldn’t allow community maps in one form or another.

But haven’t they said anything about this? I haven’t paid attention, but it seems to me like this would have come up sometime during this 2 year long alpha/beta phase.

[Arkii]

I would love if they give us access to an SDK.
I love the art style and aesthetics of Dirty Bomb so I would love to be able to try my hand at making some environments in that style.

[Szakalot]

totally agree that SDK should be priority as soon as the game is released. More maps could drastically influence longevity of the playerbase, making a self-sustainable model where the players keep the game alive for other players.

[Twinkey]

this can be key to training aim n trickjumps. And mabye get some great sugestions what rhe next map in the game will be

[SchwaD1]

+1 SDK is required for a long living game (:

[lapislazuliPark]

For all those budding mapmakers out there i would suggest downloading UDK and greyboxing out some interesting playspaces / levels. I bet it wouldn’t be too difficult to kismet out an ev path either.

Ok you won’t be able to test out the gameplay mechanics unless you can code Uscript, i’m pretty sure you can’t setup characters with kismet. You can test out the map scripts with kismet though (node based programming)

+1 for an eventual full sdk though.