Hey guys, I made a quick map in an evening. It's a small comm map (think emp_crossroads) which is mostly single lane but offers a few flanking options. Both teams start with 1 ref (on the cliff), 1 rax (inland) and cv. Center of the map is the focus point and offers higher ground. There are 3 refineries (1 x2 and 2 x1) on each side of the map, and 1 (x2) in the middle for both teams to fight over, for a total of 7. Infantry and careful drivers can bypass the middle chokepoint via the thin sandy bit at the bottom, using the cliff and rocks for cover. There is a cave with a cappable flag in the middle, opposite the mid ref, offering +2 res. Link (emp_beachfront_b2, INCLUDES VMF) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-myvPcF4DapcVVqMENzRkVKZlk/view?usp=sharing Changelog (b1 -> b2) Changed luminescent grass on top of the cliffs, now it uses the same grass as on the ground Created consistent blend materials for sand -> rock, rock -> grass, grass -> sand and cleaned up the borders on shorter cliffs to blend properly between grass & rock etc Cleaned up many small seams between displacements, in particular on the back cliff Balance changes concerning refs (2 less in total than b1), slightly lower overall income, moved starter refinery to the cliff rather than the beach Added cave at front-mid of map with a cappable flag (offers +2 res) Added some more rocks here and there for cover Added 3D skybox Made front ramps longer and smoother and tried to even out back ramps a bit more, should help vehicles get up them Rotated the starting barracks 90 degrees and moved them closer to the corner, allowing a little more breathing space for radar/vf (if teams needmore space for building, they should move to the beach or push mid) Please feel free download and give it a go, I will accept constructive criticism but I don't really fancy spending ages more on this.
It's great. If you made this in an evening, I'm sure you can further improve its appearance. Maybe edit displacements to give a more natural look to the rock hills, or another surface onthe stone walls to add a new texture. I think hammer bugs our if a texture blends with more than 3. Also make sure to add a skybox. Doesn't need to be astonishing if you don't want to. A simple well-made one would be enough. Nice work.
wow, looks great for a first shot - at least it hits the average middle of map quality in empires (hope you will put some detail in and mind about POI*) but there's an issue with map balance, it seems to be a kinda small map, great for low-medium pop - wich we really need so thank you it features to much res by 9-11ref points (i count 9 on the image of the map + 2 starting refs) i would suggest to at least half the count or even further decrease it to 2 starting refs and 1-2 additional refs (maximum 5 ref points for such a small map - otherwise it gets the new emp_money - wich had 18 ref points originally xP) *Points of Interest usually something like buildings or hills for FOB - the ref in the middle is such a POI if you dramaticly lower the ref count! ;-) edit: the upper area leaves room for some infantry tunnels beneath it, could be interesting to play with it
Thanks all for feedback. I've removed the four refineries closest to the mid one - this leaves 5 in total, 1 mid, 1 starter and 1 in each team's area. I'm going to carve a cave into the tall rock at the front of the beach and put a flag in there that will offer a bit of res and double up as a POI.
I think the initial amount was good. Also keep in mind adding a flag inside tunnels (for infantry only?) might lead to the common problems of too many people going there and end pissing off commanders which will no longer want to command on this map. That being said I do like the idea of a flag somewhere in the bottom area.
Just took it for a spin as they say. First things first, either the refinery multiplier is too high or my default configuration sets it too high, needs some double checking. Other than that the only thing I can think of right now is that some of the terrain displacement might make it a pain in the ass to aim while in a tank, but that's acceptable. In conclusion all I can say is, let's give it a try on a server!
Yeah, that's way higher than I saw on my testing, I think you have a local convar set quite high or something. Should be only getting +2 at the start.
Yes my resource multiplier was off, however after playing it on NUBS some of us feel like it's still a bit too high. I'd say it should probably be 75% of what it is right now, but that requires further testing.
Thanks for recording that playthrough, it was great to see it in action! As a compromise I've removed the two refineries closest to the center but left the ones down on the beach. I also tweaked the overall resource multipliers - there are 3 refs each side (total of +4 res) now, plus mid ref (+2) and a cave flag (+2). This means in total there are 7 refs and 1 flag, offering +12 res for the whole map.
Had a nice play through on NUBs today. My thoughts: - Make those ramps to the middle a bit less steep. It was very difficult (if not impossible) to get up them with a slow engine like standard engine or even the CV engine. - Open up the starting bases a bit more. It was hard to fit the standard rax+VF+radar - I'm a fan of having a min of 300 starting res (200 for forward rax + 100 for first ref)
