Well, I'll update this first post with the full, cinema advertisement. I'll keep the original post below for posterity...

Occupation 2: Antaean Assualt

By Simon "Kengo" Williams

Avaliable from:
http://www.pcgamemods.com/2070/)

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Featuring:
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ACTION!
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12269.jpg)

SUSPENSE!
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12267.jpg)
RN-115 uses the DC-15 mod which was part of the Episode II weapons mod by Spectrum, author of OmniMod

TOUGH CHOICES!
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12271.jpg)

DANGER!!!
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12272.jpg)

ROMANCE...
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12282.jpg)
DL-44 model and sounds by Major Clod

INTRIGUE?
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12280.jpg)

COMRADESHIP
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12266.jpg)
First Landing Assualt Team 7
All skins by Prime

RED EYES
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12268.jpg)
Sgt. Deltak Voice by Eldritch Skin by Prime

KYLE KATARN IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12273.jpg)
For which he was paid excessively

A REALLY EXPENSIVE SET AND A CAST OF THOUSANDS...HUNDREDS
http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/12274.jpg)

COMING SOON TO A FILE SERVER NEAR YOU!
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All First Landing Assualt Team 7 skins by Prime
Imperial Commando model by Corto Maltes

Stephen "Wotno" Peacock as Lt. A. Marshall

Chronocrossed as Kyle Katarn, Aldranicus, Doctor

Eldritch as Himself, Sgt. Deltak

Richard "frances_farmer" White as Cpl. Reton, Yulnari, Ryar Iyet

Leo "Darth Exodus" Thornton as Drynalt, Shim Azu Uesegi

Mauri "Darkblade" Majanoja as Republic Commander Raikkonen

David "Grim_Squeaker" Bradshaw as Ryek DeMetz

William Grammer as Remnant Commander Taulk

Louis Granato III as Himself, Chevolt

Wedge as Himself, Captain Larson

Simon "Kengo" Williams as Himself, Edry

Skyboxes by Leslie Judge

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Original post (note masive changes in direction from original idea to final product, promised features not included, loss of central premise I started with etc):

That's a working title at the moment...not sure what to call it.

It's the follow on to Occupation. If you have a version with Kyle invisible, working versions are avaliable at:

http://massassi.net/levels/files/2578.shtml)

http://www.pcgamemods.com/file.php?id=41bfd20a38bb1b0bec75acf0845530a7)

http://www.commandchamber.net/levels/outcast/display.php?name=occupation)

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The next map continues on from Occupation, but follows a different group, a squad of 7 Republic assualt soldiers, lead by Lt. Marshall, your character. It will start with exploration and fighting in parts of the town seen in Occupation, before moving into the castle.
So far I've got the blue laser rifle mod by Spectrum (author of Omnimod), which replaces the imperial repeater, working in this map. I thought it made little sense for Republic soldiers to carry imperial guns into battle...and I'm gonna say the blue laser rifle is an upgrade on the model the clonetroopers used some 50 years (ish) previously.
There are a lot of non working bits of scripting, some even work. I'm aiming for a opposing force feel, with lots of tension build up, lots of shooting, and some team ased combat. Your squad aren't as utterly rubbish as say the republic soldiers or the bespin police from jk2, they will be tough, good shots and heavily armed.

I've had alot of comments about the voice acting, a lot good, a lot bad, so if anyone can remember any voice actors who they thought were really good or bad in particular, I'd be keen to know. Particulalrly interested in what people thought of the voice actor who played Kyle.

i think that look really good and i think that screenshot is cool

Try experimenting with the textures you use...break up repeating textures on walls and floors, and try to fit them according to what works best in the level. That's the only real weakness I think your maps have, and it's easily fixed.

I was disappointed with the single-player "team-based" combat in JKSP...Jan didn't do any good, Bespin cops were useless, and the Jedi Academy students were all shadow trooper fodder. I hope you're going to find some way to really make the player feel like they have a "team," and not just extra targets to distrct their enemies. Some scripted events where your teammates are useful might help in that regard. I'd like to see this when it's done, hope you can pull it off! We need good SP levels!

I'm gonna make a big effort to improve textures and using architecturing to break them up, I think you're right it needs work.

Originally posted by wedge2211
I was disappointed with the single-player "team-based" combat in JKSP...

Yeh, me too. I can't believe how bad the rebel and bespin_cops were...one stromtrooper would beat them in a one on one! I'm making all the team members a lot tougher, so they can actually hold their own. They're also getting decent guns (the blue guns work like imperial repeaters on single fire), and improved stats like accuracy and intelligence,. I'm trying to vary them a bit too, the Trandosahn guy in the team is super tough, wheras the Rodain ain't so tough as the rest, but is quicker. I wana make them each very individual - and make the team function with each members specialities. It ain't anything like opposing force or a good team based RPG, but if nothing else, they will be able to shoot straight and take more than two shots :)

Work on the map halted for a few weeks with the tutorial writing, but now that's done for now I'm back to it. Below is a pic of Republic Landing force (the lighting needs some work so I brightened the pic up some). Any ideas for what I should include? So far: X-Wings, A-wings, Shuttles, a couple of tanks, laser fence, a few trenches, some supplies and crates, and lots of troops :)

http://massassi.net/ec/images/9921.jpg)

Kengo, don't you need a new skybox? ;)

I'm in agreement with Leslie - that skybox has got to go (unless it actually is taking place on Yavin IV).

I would suggest adding trees/mountains along the perimeter of the area to provide a border between the terrain and the skybox, rather than having a "square world" that looks like the player can just drop right off the edge. And how about trusty old Y-Wings?

Another idea about more intelligent team members: is it possible to make your team NPCs use MP bot-like behavior? MP bots are much harder than the run-of-the-mill single-player goonies.

Man, I just managed to stop the .map file working....too me 15 mins to get the .BAK file going! I *knew* I wasn't ready to mess with 'simple' patch meshes. They make no sense to me. Despite that.....brrr....thanks guys, yeh, the skybox/map transition doesn't look right, I'll work on getting that looking better. I have to say I'm probabaly too lazy to make a new skybox, the place is basically a forest so other than the big red planet, the yavin sky texture ain't bad....hmmm.

Dunno about the bot style behavoir, certainly MP bots are better! Setting all the intelliegence levels to 5 seems to help a fair bit, they follow you further and better.

If you need some help with Patch meshes, let me know - I've used them quite a bit... Not to hard for me anymore.

On subject, I like what I see so far... except for that 14 FPS on the first screenshot. I know it's still real early, but I felt a need to point out that that NEEDS to improve.

Other than that, I'm liking this idea... hope it all works out.

Damnit! Knew I should have taken the FPS counter off....

Hmm, I didn't find that bit choppy at all, not sure why FPS was so low at that point :( That area needs some work, more architecture to break it up some, you can see too far methinks.

Thanks for the offer :) For now I've wimped out and decided I don't need any yet...this may change!

Wedge, I'd like to put Y-wings in, but I've had some weird problems with the excellent looking Y-Wing prefab.

Yes, looking promising, but I absolutely agree with the skybox issue. And related to that: does somebody know if there's such a plug-in for Terragen that a poor artist like me could add some trees'n'wood in the rendering process? That would also allow Kengo to change his skybox.

Don't know about one. I know that Terragen is much easier to use than Bryce, but as a last chance there it is, with trees and other stuff...

Maybe I'll look into getting an artist to make a skybox for me...any offers? :D

Just compiling now...I've added about a million barrles, boxes and containers, trenches infront of the mounds (it makes sense), a load of trees and a few droids :)

http://massassi.net/ec/images/9948.jpg)

I knew I hated ambient lighting for a reason....I'm gonna do it with lights like I thought I should ...

Originally posted by Kengo
I knew I hated ambient lighting for a reason....I'm gonna do it with lights like I thought I should ...

Make the skybox light-emitting, it'll look better.

You might try making mounds by putting flat patch meshes even with the ground and then dragging their central vertices upwards. It'll make more of a natural "rolling terrain" effect.

http://massassi.net/ec/images/9951.jpg)

I'm MUCH happier with it now, basically just made the lighting better, it looked like JK before....:eek:

Like you say Wedge, I'll try to get some rolling terrain feel to the ground, then that should be it for this section. Then I just need to finalise the rest of the script, and I can start the actual normal mapping :)

http://massassi.net/ec/images/9963.jpg)

Added a few bits of curved ground, made the mounds curved and more realistic looking, added a curved bank at one end, fiddled with tree positioning, put a load of rebel troops into the trenches (I'd rather be there if I was one of them). Here is a different angle of the landing area. That tall structure is a transmitor, there is a field generator near it (connected by a cable).

I will work on more camera work, explosions and general fighting, and maybe a few X-Wing fly-bys, when I get down to doing the scripting of this cutscene. For now I'm happy with the architecture, texturing and lighting. Now, onto the castle :)

OK, I'll try to make you a custom skybox with trees and other stuff. Don't count on it however. :D

Thanks a lot man :) I feel the current one is adequate, so if you don't manage to make one then it's not a prob for the map, but a good custom skybox would be a big improvement :D

More pics, of the route into the castle and the secruity area inside:

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10144.jpg)

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10160.jpg)

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10161.jpg)

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10162.jpg)

Getting much better with the textures, Kengo, nice work. It always helps to throw in beams/support struts. :D

Originally posted by wedge2211
Getting much better with the textures, Kengo, nice work. It always helps to throw in beams/support struts. :D

Thanks man. You're right, you just can't have enough beams or struts :D

Originally posted by Kengo
Thanks man. You're right, you just can't have enough beams or struts :D

Oh yes you can. If they're illogically placed, that is. :D

this looks good, very good...the lighting in those "landing field" pictures looks a lot like early dawn.

Originally posted by boinga1
this looks good, very good...the lighting in those "landing field" pictures looks a lot like early dawn.

Thanks man, the thing with the lighting wasn't intentional but I see what you mean. I might put in the time in the cutscenes, does anyone have any idea how time works in SW? I'm always nervous of having a character say "Be there in 10 minutes" - do they have minutes?

On to more important issues than the map, I spent AGES picking the colour for the glow around my name. I mean absolutely AGES. I gotta question my life, I mean, just imagine what else I could have done with the time....I could probabaly have written in book in that amount of time.

Feedback about my map may as well stop now, as I have a confession to make: the only reason I made the map was to have a WIP thread, so I could get a lot of points to get the glow. Now I have the glowing name, there is no need to continue the thread or the map. So the feedback I want from now on is this: what do you think of the glow colour?

Ha, ha.

Please tell me you are simply a clown with a cruel sense of humor.

Kengo, you make people scared! :D

Originally posted by boinga1
Please tell me you are simply a clown with a cruel sense of humor.

Clowns scare me......they really do. :eek:

Originally posted by Leslie Judge
Kengo, you make people scared!

Hey, if I was a clown, THAT would be scary! :)

Anyway guys...I've decided to keep working on the map, after all, I don't have a MIDI song on my profile yet.

Originally posted by Kengo
Thanks man, the thing with the lighting wasn't intentional but I see what you mean. I might put in the time in the cutscenes, does anyone have any idea how time works in SW? I'm always nervous of having a character say "Be there in 10 minutes" - do they have minutes?

"THE DEATH STAR WILL BE IN RANGE IN.... 2 MINUTES.

Originally posted by Kengo
what do you think of the glow colour?

I want a purple glow, and my WIP thread has had more than enough views for me to have enough points, but I started the thread a couple of days before the points thing was introduced. Curses.

Originally posted by AKPiggott
"THE DEATH STAR WILL BE IN RANGE IN.... 2 MINUTES.

I want a purple glow, and my WIP thread has had more than enough views for me to have enough points, but I started the thread a couple of days before the points thing was introduced. Curses.

Ah, good point about the Death Star, thanks :)

As for the points, just do what I've done, create a WIP thread about a non existant map project :)

I might send you some points being as I have the glowing colour, which is all I really wanted to spend the points on, except the MIDI song which is a distant dream at the moment. I expect the right to do an interview with ya for PlanetIRG or maybe a statue of me in a map or something....

EDIT: Also, I'm a generous soul, and I don't hoard points like Leslie 'Miser' Judge.

The security area is about done, here are some shots, and onto the next area! Oh, the skybox is temporary, that's why you can see the corners and there are trees etc.

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10204.jpg)

A little random - you won't be playing Kyle, the rebels won't look like that (not all of them anyway), the stormtroopers won't look like that...but the outside of the pillar explodes, matrix lobby scene style! I've done this before, but consider this an innovation. So sue me.

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10203.jpg)

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10201.jpg)

A couple of exterior shots of the secruity area. What's that in the distance?

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10200.jpg)

Remnant security forces point the finger squarely at the Usual Suspect...

http://massassi.net/ec/images/10202.jpg)
In the distance you saw...a bloody big crane. It's a prefab by the super talented BXpress avaliable here: http://www.pcgamemods.com/file.php?id=1f4477bad7af3616c1f933a02bfabe4e)

Notice I'm not just throwing in a really nice prefab for no reason other than to pull my map out of medicority - there is a context. It's being used to build an oddly stone henge style ...thing.

Originally posted by Kengo
EDIT: Also, I'm a generous soul, and I don't hoard points like Leslie 'Miser' Judge.
Do you challenge me, Kengo? :) Come to my server and play this with sabres! :D

The very new skybox will be finished at the end of this week. If nothing comes in...

Cheers for the points donation Kengo! How many did you give me?

Oh, I don't exactly, 3, 4, maybe 5 hundred....

57.

Woo! I glow! I glow.

Judge made a hefty donation too, cheers guys.

You are welcome. I bet you will have a purple glow. :) And call me Leslie please. Judge it too official. :)

How about Les?

Let's give it a try...

*ahem* Alright Les?

Yep. :)

Originally posted by AKPiggott
Woo! I glow! I glow.


Sounds much like a Religious experience :) Purple glow looks good man.

You'll be buying a new hairstyle next. :p

Now all I need is a custom rank saying "Party Crasher"...

All for the low, low price of 1500 credits.

I'll help you reach your goal, AK. Let me build up some more credits and then I'll donate a bunch.

Originally posted by AKPiggott
Now all I need is a custom rank saying "Party Crasher"...

All for the low, low price of 1500 credits.

Some people are never satisfied! I know I didn't mention this before, but the credits were a kind of loan....I expect interest. (Generic mafia music plays)

A loan? Tell you what... I'll let you beta test Party Crasher in exchange...

Originally posted by AKPiggott
A loan? Tell you what... I'll let you beta test Party Crasher in exchange...

Makes it sound more like a bribe. :D

Originally posted by wedge2211
Makes it sound more like a bribe. :D

It was a bribe! :)