FbMelatonin
The map itself is fairly simple, and executed with style, at...
- Category First Person
- Size 296.8 KB
FbMelatonin
The map itself is fairly simple, and executed with style, at the ground level are four chambers with powerups and lifts to transporters that take you up to the torroidal catwalk surrounding a large four pronged spire. The catwalk is at a funny angle and looks really cool when you are playing. You can drop from the catwalk onto a cross shaped platform with a keg of health in the middle.
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Title : FbMelatonin
Version : 2.0
Release Date : March 03, 2000
Fixes : Replaced 90% of the textures, added light
Filename : DM-FbMelatonin.unr
Author : Andrew "Hobeaux" Penick
Email Address : [email protected]
Web Page : http://frogblast.unrealengine.com
Description : Conversion of a map that appeared in Bungie
Software's game original Marathon.
Where to get
this map : http://frogblast.unrealengine.com,
http://www.planetunreal.com/nalicity
Other levels by author : Unreal:
DMRoute66, DMMelatonin, KOTHMelatonin,
DMDuality
UT:
DM-FbRoute66 (more on the way)
Special thanks : Everyone that put up with me.
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--- Play Information ---
Game : Unreal Tournament 4.00+
Level Name : FbMelatonin
Single Player : no
Cooperative : no
Deathmatch : yes
Difficulty Settings : no
New Sounds : yes
New Graphics : no
NewUnrealScript : no
External DLLs : no
Known bugs : Careful going up the Jump Shaft
--- Construction ---
Editor(s) used : UnrealEd 4.05b
Construction Time : You don't want to know**
Installation
------------
DM-FbMelatonin.unr : Maps directory
Author's Notes
--------------
This map appeared as part of the game Marathon by Bungie Software. There
are three flavors of this map to date: Unreal, KOTH Unreal (KOTH is a special
new King of the Hill where players must be in a certain location on the map,
the "hill," for a duration of time in order to win. since everyone is trying
to get on the hill, it's usally good, chaotic fun) and Unreal Tournament. If
we can convince GorGor to finish the UT Mod for KOTH, there will be yet another
iteration of Melatonin :) There is a remote possibility that I may do a
Melatonin][ with more levels, more kickers... but don't hold your breath :)
--- Frogblast: The Ventcore Project ---
Marathon multiplayer maps almost always made for excellent gameplay and,
in some cases, have been better than today's "modern" arenas. Those of us
on the Frogblast team endeavor to revive much of the spirit and excitement
of Marathon Multiplayer gaming but in a truly modern engine. We hope that
you enjoy these old conversions much as we do.
--- What Is "Frogblast The Ventcore"? ---
Bungie Software's original Marathon game their were human civilians who
basically ran around and got in the way. However as part of the plot of the
game some of the civilians were captured by the aliens and 'assimilated'.
that is, they were converted into kamikazes who would run at you and explode
when they got close. By the time of Marathon II: Durandal these assimilated
humans could actually speak a few phrases such as, "Don't shoot!", "I'm out
of ammo!", "I love you man!", and the immortal "Frogblast the ventcore!"
**If you really want to know the amount of effort invested in this map**
. built the much of the original map during a lunch break as a tutorial
for a coworker. progress on the map stopped for a year.
. took on the map project again, and completed it about a year ago
. revisited the map in November/December 1999 and decided to port it to
Unreal Tournament. In so doing, scaled most of the map 150% larger to make
for better gameplay (the lights above the arena were originally positioned
on the walls, so you can tell how much smaller the arena was)
. began to re-path the map and discovered something: the paths from the ledges
to the bottom of the arena wouldn't connect. since that distance was outside
of the normal scope of what a player could fall without damage, the paths
"knew" that they shouldn't connect (even when placed next to each other)
. to fix the problem, attempted many iterations of using LiftExits/LiftCenters
to cause the bots to jump around...to varying degress of unsuccess.
- first attempt was an unbridled success, sort of. i had failed to assign
the tags to the liftexits/centers and so they all connected to one-another
across the map. made for spagetti-paths and was terribly inefficient, but
the bots would jump just about anywhere. that part was cool.
- tags put into the liftexits/centers which cleaned up the paths considerably.
bots would get stuck running in place at the bottom.
- attempted to use on-way directional pathing to recitify the problem without
success. (many times)
- moved the lift centers to the top of the ledges. didn't fix it.
- moved the lift centers to the bottom of the arena. didn't fix it.
- tried using separate liftcenters for each liftexit pair. didn't fix it.
- researched the Epic maps over and over but couldn't seem to stop it. so i
conceded that it was a problem i wouldn't fix.
- added a playerstart to the bottom of each "well" in the arena. the bots
no longer run in place at the bottom of the Jump. Instead they completely
abandoned the pathing, and run smack into the wall and ran in-place there
in a vail attempt to get to the top LiftExit on the ledge. Removing the
playerstart returned them to their normal errant behaviour
. after fighting with the pathing for a *month* (bit tenacious) i decided to
break the rules. after all, following epics examples was doing me no good.
moved the lift exits that were at the bottom of the "wells" up into the air,
well out of reach from normal running. PROBLEM SOLVED. the bots now jump from
the top liftexit, move through the liftcenter, and then fall through the
liftexit at the bottom and then land on a new pathnode. they're happy. i'm happy.
. added the "secret" area and decided to use a kicker (jump pad) to get to the
top ledge. noticed that on the way up, a player would drag against the wall
of the shaft and could actually be pushed back into the direction that he
came from (down). reduced number of sides of shaft from 16 to 8. seem to clear
most of it up.
. submitted the map to Make Something Unreal Contest and lost by a wide margin.
noticed also, that the ReadMe had the wrong Map Name in it. It's Melatonin,
not ThePen (by UTCP. had used a readme of theirs and forgot to change one,
critical line. whoops)
. received feedback from CyberA that the texturing sucked and he hated how the
map looked like it belonged on old-style non-true-3D games a la, doom, marathon
(which this is based on) well, he had a point: I hated the textures too.
. retextured the map. added more light to the arena. added lights to the elevators
so you could see them for crying out loud. (also, learned that my machine at
home was unreasably bright which is why the lighting never bothered me before)
. spent a couple of weeks trying to fix the Kicker Problem.
- Noticed that players seem to stop at the points where the lights fixtures
were located. coincidence? removed the light fixtures. didn't fix it.
- decided that maybe the lights were somehow causing it. removed the spotlights.
didn't fix it.
- noticed that various ZoneInfo icons were at about the same level as where
players would encounter the "invisible barriers." moved them. didn't fix it.
- reconsructed the shaft so that it was made up of sections instead of one
long tube. made things worse!
- reduced the number of sides from 8 to 4. boring. ugly. fixed it for a while,
then i encountered the "stopping" again. *sigh*
- screw it. made it 8. separate sections. let the player beware.
. changed the secret area to have less complex architecture. more of a hack really.
. sat down and observed what the heck was going on with the shaft/kicker problem.
determined that as players drag against the walls of the shaft they are building
up friction until a threshold is reached. when that happens, the engine assumes
that the player has hit a wall and bounces back the other way (down) and can
receive significant damage at the bottom. sent people ICQs about it, and they
confirmed that it was *possible*
. changed physics of the shaft to Flying and set the ground friction to 0.
didn't work either.
. added an invisiblecollisionhull to the area of the shaft where players drag
against. this effectivly reduced the amount of "friction" that they can build
up and, 9 times out of 10, will make it to the top without problems. considered
the problem solved.
. made a new screenshot for the level.
considered the map done.
wrote the above history.
Copyright / Permissions
-----------------------
This level is copyrighted by Andrew Penick. Level based on one created
by Bungie Software for Marathon.
Authors may not NOT use this level as a base to build additional levels.
You are NOT allowed to commercially exploit this level, i.e. put it on a CD
or any other electronic medium that is sold for money without my explicit
permission!
You MAY distribute this level through any electronic network (Internet,
FIDO, local BBS etc.), provided you include this file and leave the archive
intact.
----------------------
UNREAL (c)1998 Epic Megagames, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by
GT Interactive Software, Inc. under license. UNREAL and the UNREAL logo are
registered trademarks of Epic Megagames, Inc. All other trademarks and trade
names are properties of their respective owners.
MARATHON (c) Bungie Software Products Corporation. All rights reserved.