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Down Mapping Memory Lane
This map is a little conceptual project I had in mind way back when I first started messing around with randomized map elements for Baserace Beta 2. If you played the map you may remember the mid-field area would undergo some randomization every time a new match began. This was done by telling script_mover entities to arrange themselves in one of several possible locations using the setposition command. Think of it like a giant slider puzzle.
This method was cumbersome to script, required too many entities to function, and greatly limited the range of randomization that could be achieved. Needless to say I was eager to find a better solution.
Fortunately, folks had already come up with a cool system that’s been used in randomized games for years and years - the tileset. Each location on a grid-space would pick a ‘tile’ from a library based on certain rules. Different rules and tiles would define what the environment would look like once built. (This also means that a single ‘tile’ may appear multiple times.) Diablo is one game that uses this kind of randomization.
Ok, cool. But how do you translate this general idea into Enemy Territory using the available entities? I wrote another thread a way back exploring some possible solutions; and with the help of the people here, came up with a possible method using a combination of .md3 models, and brushmodel entities.
The issue then became time. It was too time consuming to create and skin .md3s, ensure proper clipping, and bring them all together into a final map. Since randomized map elements weren’t really a priority, I left the problem as it was - unresolved. By Baserace_b3, random elements were completely removed.
New Interest, New Toolz
After seeing C’s ET Model Tool I decided to revisit the randomized map idea. A quick .map to .md3 converter was just what I needed to make this work.
So a big thanks to you, C!
The Dueling Grounds - version 1
Tileset-style randomization in a map! I intend for this to be an ongoing experiment, so this first implementation is very simple. Each round the map is built from a library of .md3 models arranged on a grid, and clipped by ‘hijacked’ brushmodels.
This map is meant to be played on the ‘Last Man Standing’ game mode.
Please give it a try and tell me what you think!
http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/c/p/cptntris/duelingGrounds_v1.zip
