Updated June 30

For those interested in seeing the final map before it's released, here's a trailer I just finished:

Valley - Real Gone

Have fun!

Updated June 24

Well I finally finished the map... Yay! I'm submitting it for the contest now and it will be released to all once that's over. Check out this post for some screens.

Updated May 12

I wasn't lying when I said "coming soon" in the trailer, so here it is:

Valley Beta v0.4 on Wicbase

Download and give it a try. I'll be attempting to get a proper test organized not this weekend (I'm away) but the next.

Updated May 10

Sick of boring screenshots? Here's a trailer for Valley Beta v0.4

Not long to go now before next release :)

Updated Apr 28

I know its been a long time between updates, but I think I've nearly got a final version of the map nailed down. Been working hard on it over the weekend concentrating on balance, command point placement, trees and overall fun.

Balancing the map turned out to be much harder than I expected. In the current beta version the russian side seemed to have the upper hand. The primary reason was the "road" command point was separated from the town by a river and was very difficult for the US side to attack. Also, one of the perimeter points was very close to the russian spawn and sitting on a cliff making it even harder for the US. So one of the biggest changes I've made is moving that problem perimeter point closer to the town and creating a swampy area in front of it which is drivable.

I've also modified the "town" command point so it only has 3 perimeter points, removed many trees, added alternate routes from dropzones and removed the cliff path next to the russian spawn. IMO the map now feels balanced and, more importantly, fun.

Finally, I've fixed that pathing issue I was having with the units being able to drive on cliffs and through forests. Turns out a few of the trees were somehow "breaking" the pathing on the cliffs. Removing these trees and replacing them with new ones fixed everything! Very weird, but now I don't have to use any blockboxes. See screenshots below for a few of the changes.

Overview of the map. Note the tweaked dropzones and command points
Many trees have been removed in the town and on cliffsides
New "road" command point layout
Alternate route for US
Alternate route for USSR
Removed cliff path next to the russian spawn
No more blood red water on low graphics :D

Updated Mar 01

Upload completed :)

Valley Beta Download

Updated Feb 29

Valley BETA v0.1 coming soon!

Hey all. Sorry about having no updates for a while, but I have good news. I am finished! (sort of). Thanks to Mir's info, I've got a fancy mood change where the clouds darken and it starts to rain, and the camera orbit on map start up is going, yay! Still haven't fixed the units driving on cliffs, but blockboxes do the trick.

As I'm typing this I am uploading the map to wicbase.com. Unfortunately my internet upload is capped at 128 Kbits, which is also shared with another flatmate, so it's gonna take a while. But once it's done I'll let people know and hopefully I can finally get some feedback on the map (need some decent balance testing to be done). Testing with bots doesn't work too well cause half the time they are being stupid. For instance, they hardly ever work together to capture the 4 point command point :)

And by the way, the beta version is available for everyone to download... once it's uploaded ;)

So here's what the map looks like at the moment. I've spent a bit of time on the mood change and the environment, touching up annoying details and blockboxing. I also nuked the my map for the first time. Strange how it's fun to destroy what you've created ;)

New loading screens (this one is my favorite)

Good mood
Destruction mood
Random airstrike
Incoming nuke
Nuke death


Updated Feb 17
As promised here's an update on what I've done this weekend. I've been doing a lot of testing for balance and checking the pathing routes aren't ridiculous (before I changed it, one of the routes to a command point was through all these back alleyways and carparks instead of the faster road). I've also been working on the mood changes, textures, normal maps and the surround mesh.


Two things I still haven't found out how to do:

1) Camera orbit at the start of the map (while selecting team). I've been going through the "europeTest" map files very carefully and I still can't find out how its done. If somebody knows how to do this I'd be very happy.

2) Make it rain when the mood changes. Pretty simple to make it rain throughout the entire map, but I can't find out how to do it on the mood change. I know the "Riverbed" map starts to snow on the mood change so it must be possible. Once again, if someone knows how to do this please share :)


Anywho... heres the list again (not much left now):
- Final command point placement - Needs more testing
- Final texturing (Normal maps, autoprops, massgrass) - DONE
- Camera orbit on map start - Don't know how to do!
- Mood changes - Still in progress
- Surround props and mesh check - DONE
- Testing testing testing... - Still in progress

Heres some screens of the mood changes, some normal mapping and the results of doing a bit of balancing:

Start of the map
Destruction mood change
Normal Mapped 1
Normal Mapped 2
Results of testing with bots


Updated Feb 11

I got a good session of work done this weekend, and now its time to check some things off the list and some screenys :)
- Pedestrian crossings (Last thing to do in Modo!) - DONE
- Concrete and carpark textures - DONE
- Final dropzone masks - DONE
- Final command point placement
- Command point audio - DONE
- Road/Footpath props - DONE
- Final texturing (Normal maps, autoprops, massgrass)
- Camera orbit on map start
- Ambient sounds - DONE
- Loading screens - DONE
- Music (Loading, intro, stress, outro) - DONE
- Mood changes
- Surround props and mesh check
- Testing testing testing...

So not much left now! Might even be finished by next weekend if I get the time. Here's some screenshots of the loading slides and the carparks:

LoadingScreen1
LoadingScreen2
LoadingScreen3
Carpark1
Carpark2

I tried to recreate the WiC logo and black boarder on the loading screens as best I could. I might change the slides if I find a better shot ;)

Couple of problems I'm having:
1) The USSR announcer guy is American (Not sure how to change)
2) The ambient sounds don't preview in WiCEd even though the "preview sounds" tick box is ticked. The only ones that work are the 3 mechanical noises (electrical buzzing, large installation, alarm).
3) Units driving on cliffs (fixed with block boxes at the moment). Sometimes when I do a new compile, one of the cliffs will randomly decide that units can drive all over it. Really annoying!


Updated Feb 01

Hi all. It was suggested to me I should have a thread up for for my map, and since I've been working on it since November 2007, I figure it's about time people know about it. And *very quietly*, I think EvilViking's Virginia needs some competition ;)

The map is simply called "Valley". It is a domination map where the two opposing sides (US & USSR) start high up on top of the valley, and converge in the town. The map is not based on any real world location (though it is in the US somewhere), it is purely a product of my imagination. It doesn't have a storyline as yet, but I'll be thinking something up.

In terms of completeness, I can say roughly 90ish% done. Since I'm only working on this in my spare time (which doesn't seem like much these days) I can't really give a time frame for when it will be done.

Here is a list of stuff left to do:
- Pedestrian crossings (Last thing to do in Modo!)
- Concrete and carpark textures
- Final dropzone masks
- Final command point placement
- Command point audio
- Road/Footpath props
- Final texturing (Normal maps, autoprops, massgrass)
- Camera orbit on map start
- Ambient sounds
- Loading screens
- Music (Loading, intro, stress, outro)
- Mood changes
- Surround props and mesh check
- Testing testing testing...

Screenshot time!

Here's an overview of the map with approximate pathing drawn in. The command point placement is not finalized, I was thinking I might decrease "town" to 3 and increase "suburbs" to 3. Notice the careful naming of the command points allows me to use existing audio from the USSR and US announcer dudes :)

Map overview
Town overview
Sunset
Russian spawn
US spawn
Walk track down the side of the valley
House and TV station on top of the hill
Closeup in the suburbs
Townsquare
Industrial Area1
Industrial Area2
Farmhouse and boat next to the river
Stupid pathing bug


Thats all folks. I'll update this thread as things get checked off the list. I won't be doing a beta test or anything like that, it will be released to all when the checklist is complete, then updated if people notice bugs or it's imbalanced, or I want to add some new stuff.

Please make comments/suggestions. I'm always looking for ways to improve the map.

Awesomeness! I think Valley & Virginia look like sister maps. :D The layout of your town is extremely realistic. I'm a big fan of mountains, myself, so your map is a must-play!

Looking very nice - the road detail is amazing.

Can't wait for the beta/release.

Yea this map looks awesome, (Tank sniping would kill on this map lol) Love the feel the map gives.

Simply Amazing! I hope the map plays as great as it look ;)

Speechless... Virginia has competition. How long did you work on this map?

Thanks for the comments!

Quote from [=KZ=]Merciless:
Speechless... Virginia has competition. How long did you work on this map?

I started pretty much when the map maker was released in November and I've been trying to do 1-2hours per day (sometimes more, sometimes none). So thats about 10hours per week over about 8 weeks, so 80ish hours in total and counting.


In other news, I've hit a slight snag that better be fixable or I'm screwed. I did a compile of the map and I got an "OUT OF MEMORY" error when the compile was about 90% done (just after the "creating extra heightmap" stage). WiCED crashed at that point and now when I try to load my map I get:

.\mf_file.cpp(408): Assert failed (myFilePos <= myFileSize)

then a standard BOOOOM message and WiCED crashes.

I've never had WiCED crash on me during the compile stage, so I hope this hasn't stuffed my map completely. Tommorow I plan to make a new map, copy heightmap and texture data to it, then copy all the instance data from the old juice file into the new map. Must get map to work again...

UPDATE: Well turns out I was stressing about nothing. Its a piece of cake to get a new map up a running with all the props and trees and stuff. I just opened "Valley.juice" copied all the stuff from "myPropInstances" and "mySpeedTreeInstances" into a new map's juice file. When I opened the new map, all the stuff was there yay! Now to import the rest and render the textures:



Actually, now that I think about it, this may have unintentionally fixed that stupid pathing bug I was having. Must go and test to see if trucks can drive on the cliffs...

Curses... it seems my subterfuge has failed... for now... mwa-hahaha! ;)

Good to know your map survived the dreaded BOOOOOM, Gozeus. You might want to back up a copy (or two) to an external or network drive if you have one. I keep 5-8 different backups of "Virginia" on an external drive at all times just in case. It also lets me reference older copies if I change something without realizing it until later.

so this would be the ehhh... 'snow edition' of valley.

Quote from Lt. Sherpa:
so this would be the ehhh... 'snow edition' of valley.

lol, more like mangled changing colour, black and white default texture version!

Quote from -=101st=-EvilViking:
Curses... it seems my subterfuge has failed... for now... mwa-hahaha! ;)

Good to know your map survived the dreaded BOOOOOM, Gozeus. You might want to back up a copy (or two) to an external or network drive if you have one. I keep 5-8 different backups of "Virginia" on an external drive at all times just in case. It also lets me reference older copies if I change something without realizing it until later.

I'm currently backing it up to my external drive every week, but last week I just happened to get a lot of work done and didn't want to loose it ;)

Rebuilding the map from scratch has done wonders for my performance and loading times though! It used to take about 5 minutes to load in WiCEd, most of the time spent loading instances. Now it only takes 30 seconds! I'm starting to think that the map breaking was a good thing!

Does this also increase, performance in the editor, after you've loaded the map?

I've noticed a small frame rate increase, but it could be because I removed about 400 block boxes. And no, I did not delete them one by one in the map editor ;) a text editor is much faster for that sort of work.

you know, there's always the select group tool

;-p

wow really beautiful map keep up the good work

Quote from Gozeus:
Rebuilding the map from scratch has done wonders for my performance and loading times though! It used to take about 5 minutes to load in WiCEd, most of the time spent loading instances. Now it only takes 30 seconds! I'm starting to think that the map breaking was a good thing!

Whoa! I may have to try that out myself. "Virginia" takes around 5-8 minutes to load right now. I wonder if WiCEd isn't clearing out old instances/references that have been deleted, or something?

Quote from Lt. Sherpa:
you know, there's always the select group tool

;-p

Doh! Thats a much easier way, thanks! I can't believe I never noticed that.

Quote from M.Maiornikov:
wow really beautiful map keep up the good work

Thanks!

Quote from -=101st=-EvilViking:
Whoa! I may have to try that out myself. "Virginia" takes around 5-8 minutes to load right now. I wonder if WiCEd isn't clearing out old instances/references that have been deleted, or something?

Well, its not that hard to do so give it a go. Just be prepared for the HUGE text file.
I was really surprised at how fast the map loaded. I thought something had gone wrong but all the props and trees were still there. Could the difference be that my original map was made in WiCEd v1.0? or what you suggested about old instances? Whatever the reason, I am enjoying the fast load times :)

Beautiful map.

Yeah When are you beta testing?

Quote from PhoenixFury:
Beautiful map.

Thanks!

Quote from [MSV]Mir:
Looks interesting indeed! When can we try it? ;)

Quote from [TAW]Shadowolf:
Yeah When are you beta testing?

Um... When it's done ;) My progress has been somewhat slowed this week, cause I've been really busy on other things. I don't want to give a release date, all I can say is "soonish". I should be able to get stuck in this weekend and hopefully finish the textures.

After rebuilding the map, that weird pathing bug (where vehicles could drive on cliffs) was gone, but after a couple of compiles it came back! Grrrrrrr I wish it would be consistently fixed or broken. I think I'll put the blockboxes back and leave them there.

I got a good session of work done this weekend, and now its time to check some things off the list and some screenys :)
- Pedestrian crossings (Last thing to do in Modo!) - DONE
- Concrete and carpark textures - DONE
- Final dropzone masks - DONE
- Final command point placement
- Command point audio - DONE
- Road/Footpath props - DONE
- Final texturing (Normal maps, autoprops, massgrass)
- Camera orbit on map start
- Ambient sounds - DONE
- Loading screens - DONE
- Music (Loading, intro, stress, outro) - DONE
- Mood changes
- Surround props and mesh check
- Testing testing testing...

So not much left now! Might even be finished by next weekend if I get the time. Here's some screenshots of the loading slides and the carparks:

Loading1
Loading2
Loading3
Carpark1
Carpark2

I tried to recreate the WiC logo and black boarder on the loading screens as best I could. I might change the slides if I find a better shot ;)

Couple of problems I'm having:
1) The USSR announcer guy is American (Not sure how to change)
2) The ambient sounds don't preview in WiCEd even though the "preview sounds" tick box is ticked. The only ones that work are the 3 mechanical noises (electrical buzzing, large installation, alarm).
3) Units driving on cliffs (fixed with block boxes at the moment). Sometimes when I do a new compile, one of the cliffs will randomly decide that units can drive all over it. Really annoying!

I've updated the top post.

It's looking great, Gozeus! Just a note, you can get Massive's PSD of their WiC logo in the fansite kit, which I found here:

[int.worldinconflict.com]

Quote from -=101st=-EvilViking:
It's looking great, Gozeus! Just a note, you can get Massive's PSD of their WiC logo in the fansite kit, which I found here:

[int.worldinconflict.com]

Thanks! That logo looks sooooo much better than the one I made. Adding it to the loading screens now.


I found how to make the USSR team have a USSR announcer guy. Turns out both teams (US & USSR) were set to the default set which happens to be US. To change this I went to the very bottom of "Valley.juice" and found the last two lines which read:

myFaction1HQFile <empty>
myFaction2HQFile <empty>

Changing them to this:

myFaction1HQFile sound/generalfeedback_us.ice
myFaction2HQFile sound/generalfeedback_ru.ice

fixed the problem :)

Wow. Looks great. Can you give me a mail? email@wicbase.com Thx.

Nice, more great maps for AOD to host!

When can we get a next update on this map?

Quote from Rookie_01:
When can we get a next update on this map?

hehe can't wait huh? I'm working on the mood change and normalmaps/textures today, so expect some screenshots this evening New Zealand time (11.53am at the moment)

Check the top post for an update.

looking really good cant wait wish i could help on the mood thing