Ns_origin
Cadaver
Creator of original ns_origin Join Date: 2002-04-17 Member: 466Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
Creator of original ns_origin Join Date: 2002-04-17 Member: 466Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
<div class="IPBDescription">12 screenshots + overhead layout</div> I've been working on this map for a while now, but I've resisted the temptation to post about it before, as I wasn't sure if I could ever finish it; it's given me no end of trouble, and I think I've hit every sort of limit and error message it's possible to get over the course of making it. However, I've finally got a playable version of it complete and working, albeit with some fairly major aesthetic compromises. Anyway, the map is now complete (the first beta at least...I'm sure it'll need further revisions, I just don't want to think about that just yet <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->), I've sent the map itself off to the NS devs, and I'm posting a few screenies here so you guys can tell me what you like/hate, so I have some idea of what to alter in future versions.
The setting is a colonial outpost on a distant moon; the complex is divided into three distinct sectors, colour coded to aid area recognition and to (hopefully) make the learning curve less steep. The sectors are: Science (blue lighting; lots of computers; metal textures), Industrial (green lighting; grimy textures; machinery) and Mining (red lighting; lava theme; bare rock textures).
As you can see from the layout, the main routes to each hive are fairly linear, with webs of vents and corridors linking the main routes; I hope this will mean that, despite the rather large size of the map, it won't be too hard to learn. There are also signs in there at appropriate places, telling you which sector you're heading into. I hope this, along with the lighting/texturing prompts, will mean that people should always know whereabouts they are in the map.
At the time of this compile, I'm currently on 99.4% of available planes, so adding any more detail at this time is absolutely impossible unless I scrap something major. This unfortunately means that the map has a lot less detail than I would ideally like in many areas, but particularly infestation. I wanted to have lots of cool creeping brushwork in the hives themselves, and things like infestation breaking through walls/floors/roofs on the approach to the hives, but these plans have had to be curtailed for now. If I can optimise the map further, I will add more infestation.
For those of you on 56k, and waiting for the screens to download, here's the backstory to the map. Scroll down if you don't care and just want to see the piccies <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
"Although the origin of the Kharaa is shrouded in mystery, one of the very first human colonies to succumb to the alien scourge was a mining facility on a moon known as Freya IV. Perhaps the miners dug a little too deep, and released the Kharaa from their ancient sleep; none shall ever know, for those unlucky miners never lived to tell their tales. This lonely outpost became enshrined in TSA literature as "Colony Zero", the epidemiological epi-centre of the alien plague which soon ensued, as a result of bacterial contagion caused by the rash evacuation of the miners without due quarantine controls.
Within weeks, six other planets and moons in the same quadrant as Freya IV became contaminated by the Kharaa; facing the serious possibility of uncontrollable bacterial spread, the TSA unwillingly placed a cordon sanitaire around the affected planets. No-one in, no-one out. The inhabitants of these accursed colonies were condemned to infested tombs.
On year on, unmanned probes, sent in by the TSA to monitor the situation, found something extremely strange - with the human "threat" vanquished, the Kharaa had apparently disappeared - no trace of them, other than organic infestation remains, could be found. Tentatively sending in a human scouting party, the TSA soon realised that the Kharaa were not gone, merely dormant; in the presence of humans, the Kharaa once again awoke. Reporting "chuckling creatures, skulking in the shadows", the scouting party beat a hasty retreat.
For the next 50 years, Freya IV was a strict no-go area. in the intervening time, however, the TSA had not been idle. Having identified the Bacterium as the basis for the Kharaa life-form, the TSA developed a bio-chemical weapon to combat it, dubbed "Nano-Penicillin". This weapon worked on the principle of destroying the Bacterium, and hence the Kharaa. In a symbolic act, Freya IV was chosen as the first infestation site to be cleansed with Nano-Penicillin, blanket-dropped upon the site by aerial probes. The mission was a success - the TSA's monitoring equipment could detect no signs of Bacterium.
As part of the TSA's ongoing Kharaa research, Freya IV became manned once more, as part of efforts to unravel the secrets of the Kharaa by investigating the source. A new science annex was constructed to study the Kharaa and Bacterium under laboratory conditions, safe in the knowledge that Nano-Penicillin could always be used in emergency situations.
Things did not go according to plan, however...
A hive, specially cultivated in the biodome, began giving birth to immense numbers of the gargantuan Onos Kharaa, whose angry roars echoed about the entire station. En masse, they began charging at the containment doors, denting it, buckling it, straining it to its limits. Panicking, the scientists manning the biodome released Nano-Penicillin into the biodome...to no effect. The Bacterium had evolved once more, and had become resistant. At last, the containment doors gave way, and the corridors of the complex on Freya IV seethed with angry Kharaa...
Once more, Freya IV was over-run. The TSA vowed never again to be so foolhardy and reckless as to believe they could confine and contain the Kharaa on human terms. Nevertheless, the scientists on Freya IV made unprecedented headway in Kharaa research, but this research stood to be lost if it could not be retrieved from Freya IV. One last foray was needed - one last journey to the origin of species, this time with a clear objective: search and destroy."
Overhead Layout and Key
<img src='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_layout.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
1. Industrial Sector Ante-Chamber
<img src='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_antechamber.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
The setting is a colonial outpost on a distant moon; the complex is divided into three distinct sectors, colour coded to aid area recognition and to (hopefully) make the learning curve less steep. The sectors are: Science (blue lighting; lots of computers; metal textures), Industrial (green lighting; grimy textures; machinery) and Mining (red lighting; lava theme; bare rock textures).
As you can see from the layout, the main routes to each hive are fairly linear, with webs of vents and corridors linking the main routes; I hope this will mean that, despite the rather large size of the map, it won't be too hard to learn. There are also signs in there at appropriate places, telling you which sector you're heading into. I hope this, along with the lighting/texturing prompts, will mean that people should always know whereabouts they are in the map.
At the time of this compile, I'm currently on 99.4% of available planes, so adding any more detail at this time is absolutely impossible unless I scrap something major. This unfortunately means that the map has a lot less detail than I would ideally like in many areas, but particularly infestation. I wanted to have lots of cool creeping brushwork in the hives themselves, and things like infestation breaking through walls/floors/roofs on the approach to the hives, but these plans have had to be curtailed for now. If I can optimise the map further, I will add more infestation.
For those of you on 56k, and waiting for the screens to download, here's the backstory to the map. Scroll down if you don't care and just want to see the piccies <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
"Although the origin of the Kharaa is shrouded in mystery, one of the very first human colonies to succumb to the alien scourge was a mining facility on a moon known as Freya IV. Perhaps the miners dug a little too deep, and released the Kharaa from their ancient sleep; none shall ever know, for those unlucky miners never lived to tell their tales. This lonely outpost became enshrined in TSA literature as "Colony Zero", the epidemiological epi-centre of the alien plague which soon ensued, as a result of bacterial contagion caused by the rash evacuation of the miners without due quarantine controls.
Within weeks, six other planets and moons in the same quadrant as Freya IV became contaminated by the Kharaa; facing the serious possibility of uncontrollable bacterial spread, the TSA unwillingly placed a cordon sanitaire around the affected planets. No-one in, no-one out. The inhabitants of these accursed colonies were condemned to infested tombs.
On year on, unmanned probes, sent in by the TSA to monitor the situation, found something extremely strange - with the human "threat" vanquished, the Kharaa had apparently disappeared - no trace of them, other than organic infestation remains, could be found. Tentatively sending in a human scouting party, the TSA soon realised that the Kharaa were not gone, merely dormant; in the presence of humans, the Kharaa once again awoke. Reporting "chuckling creatures, skulking in the shadows", the scouting party beat a hasty retreat.
For the next 50 years, Freya IV was a strict no-go area. in the intervening time, however, the TSA had not been idle. Having identified the Bacterium as the basis for the Kharaa life-form, the TSA developed a bio-chemical weapon to combat it, dubbed "Nano-Penicillin". This weapon worked on the principle of destroying the Bacterium, and hence the Kharaa. In a symbolic act, Freya IV was chosen as the first infestation site to be cleansed with Nano-Penicillin, blanket-dropped upon the site by aerial probes. The mission was a success - the TSA's monitoring equipment could detect no signs of Bacterium.
As part of the TSA's ongoing Kharaa research, Freya IV became manned once more, as part of efforts to unravel the secrets of the Kharaa by investigating the source. A new science annex was constructed to study the Kharaa and Bacterium under laboratory conditions, safe in the knowledge that Nano-Penicillin could always be used in emergency situations.
Things did not go according to plan, however...
A hive, specially cultivated in the biodome, began giving birth to immense numbers of the gargantuan Onos Kharaa, whose angry roars echoed about the entire station. En masse, they began charging at the containment doors, denting it, buckling it, straining it to its limits. Panicking, the scientists manning the biodome released Nano-Penicillin into the biodome...to no effect. The Bacterium had evolved once more, and had become resistant. At last, the containment doors gave way, and the corridors of the complex on Freya IV seethed with angry Kharaa...
Once more, Freya IV was over-run. The TSA vowed never again to be so foolhardy and reckless as to believe they could confine and contain the Kharaa on human terms. Nevertheless, the scientists on Freya IV made unprecedented headway in Kharaa research, but this research stood to be lost if it could not be retrieved from Freya IV. One last foray was needed - one last journey to the origin of species, this time with a clear objective: search and destroy."
Overhead Layout and Key
<img src='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_layout.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
1. Industrial Sector Ante-Chamber
<img src='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_antechamber.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
Comments
<img src='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_generator.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
3. Smelting Room
<img src='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_smelter.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_drilling.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
The rest are links now, so you don't have to waste time DLing all the screens if you think the map looks wank.
5. Lava Catwalk
<a href='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_catwalk.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/imag...gin_catwalk.jpg</a>
6. Furnace
<a href='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_furnace.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/imag...gin_furnace.jpg</a>
7. Ore Extraction
<a href='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_ore.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/imag..._origin_ore.jpg</a>
8. Computer Lab
<a href='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_complab.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/imag...gin_complab.jpg</a>
9. Power Core
<a href='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_powercore.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/imag...n_powercore.jpg</a>
10. Ventilation
<a href='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_vent.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/imag...origin_vent.jpg</a>
11. Biodome
<a href='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_biodome.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/imag...gin_biodome.jpg</a>
12. Coolant Monitoring
<a href='http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/images/origin/ns_origin_coolant.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.planethalflife.com/cadaver/imag...gin_coolant.jpg</a>
EDIT: Okay, three things. I think you should add some vents with leading directly into the hive locations, and the marine start. It's very nice though!
I'd like to see a bit more connectivity between the hive rooms, especially the biodome hive, but other than that I think it looks good. You never cease to impress, and I'm expecting the best out of you. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
please send me a d/l link if you can, cad <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
however you seem to not have many shadows in here, the lighting is all one shade...
Also, if you want a custom installer for this map, drop me a line at mayberrygames.com as well.
I will probably package it for Mayberry anyway but if you want one that you can distribute, let me know.
MST
<!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='pudgy.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Also, if you want a custom installer for this map, drop me a line at mayberrygames.com as well.
I will probably package it for Mayberry anyway but if you want one that you can distribute, let me know.
MST
<!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pudgy.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
please do, I'm DLing at 427 bytes right now <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Things did not go according to plan, however...<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->when do they ever?
get your map added ;D