[=;12359]
Great news! Have we got a mapper on CTF-FacingEachOther yet? If not, I have an idea on what we can do.
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Mentioned it in the Skype, told to contact you about it with any info if they want to get started. Think there’s some people who’re interested in doing it.
Is there an archive of the skype conversations anywhere that newer people can go over?
[=shadowscrawl;12385]
Is there an archive of the skype conversations anywhere that newer people can go over?
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Unfortunately not, I could probably get a dump of the log and put it in the wiki, but don’t really want to keep doing that. Most of the important stuff that gets discussed is mentioned on the sourceforge project anyway, in the forums/wiki/tickets, so you won’t really miss a whole lot. Most of the skype chat is just general chatting.
A log from the first few days would be good though, since most of the deciding is done in these first stages. I’ll get a log dump tomorrow when I get on the comp and post it on the sourceforge wiki.
It’d be great to have a bot in the room to automatically track and log messages, but not sure if something like that either exists or would be easy to implement.
would be so awesome. ask permission if we could redo classic maps too would be awesome!
I highly support the initiative! I’m not a coder myself but i’m SURE i can help in other aspects of the game (such as gameplay) being an experienced duel/tdm player, i could also advice some high skilled (that played more or less every ut iteration at high level) players for consulting etc.
I would highly recommend Rattlesn4ke, Rypel and Vegaskill, wormbo, loezix and wgh for example who are skilled, dedicated and knowledgeable regarding coding (esp on ut3)!
I wish the BEST luck possible to project!!
That’d be very useful. Competitive players being part of the development should be crucial.
Yep it should be, especially for the weapon balance and game mechanics! I talk around me about project to spread the word and so, the hype!
Once again, best wishes!
www.ut-files.com can provide hosting for anything needed to get project started.
[=Evenios;12559]
would be so awesome. ask permission if we could redo classic maps too would be awesome!
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I don’t see why they couldn’t be redone. They just can’t be named the same and use any assets from the commercial maps. DM-Merbias and DM-SpaceBoxx would be fine :D.
haha that would be interesting 
Can’t describe enough my love to UT in words. Since there’s no hint of a new ut game from epic, why not go for something similar for the joy of developing something like a successor of one of most beloved game ever. I’m no programmer, but I might talk about artistic aspects and general setting of the game. Firstly I think we should stick with ‘tournament’ theme of the game, that’s one thing bugged me on ut3 where they pushed too hard to implement a story based upon a warfare where players constantly ‘spawn’, I actually liked the ‘sports’ theme of ut2003 and ut2004, but ut99 feels more underground in terms of the tournament theme(revolves around a large evil corp), all in all what matters most is the gameplay but I wanted to emphasis on these aspect too since here is an appropriate place to talk about detailed stuff etc. I think there could be a to keep ut99 style 90’s view of future and carry it to the today’s graphics level and craft with some of current sci-fi features (think about latest riddick movie, that also had some features that could be considered as ‘retro’ in the current year we live but the balance was great). UE4 enables us to reuse lots of texture/material sources, would be cool to create a base materials library to be shared in most of weapons and to add specific details by using greyscale masks or by decal planes. I’m still adapting myself to new engine and learning some more technical aspects of it, since the tools became a lot more intuitive, enough for allowing a guy like me who only worked for game-art aspect of things. So I might help about 3D stuff for the project(except characters), let’s see 
Enos Shenk created rocket launcher in bluprint and animated it.
https://www…com/watch?v=o-2rBBaWJ2w
We also have progress on a map with the layout of Deck
First i have to say i’m quite excited by project, being a big fan of UT since 99.
I’ve been mapping since then on unreal engine.
Here’s someone from prounreal.org that built a quick remake of DM-Deck with a swimming pool theme
You can maybe get in touch with him.
Some points i’d like to rise that i think are important.
On the visual side, please keep it clean and bright, get something simple yet nice to see as it’s really time consuming to do art, it’s an arena game, not a tech demo, gameplay should be number 1 focus.
On the mapping side, i think the base maps should be easy for the eyes, with not overloads of details, which is one of the points where UT3 failed at realease. Don’t do the same, keep the maps clean, colored, easy to figure out what is what, and focus on the gameplay 10 times more than on visuals, please. On UT3 some of the most played maps are made entirely of bsp, and they work because they are clean, smooth, and have rock solid gameplay. There should never be a doubt about what is usable for movement and what will collide with weapons/players. Nothing should hinder movement in any way.
The first available maps will be decisive i think, so don’t just remake bad map just for the sake of it’s in UT since Pre-Cambrian era. The theory of map flow has evolved a lot since years. Don’t fail the same way UT3 failed on point. Remakes should be done but shouldn’t divert time from really solid rock gameplay ones, they should be a bonus to interest old players in the game.
Depending on how the game flows i could help on the mapping side but i have big flaws : I’m bad at making custom assets so i prefer to map with BSP-only, to keep things focused on gameplay. Give me great materials i do cool stuff.
A big issue i see on the UE4 for me, and that i’m sure will stop lots of people to mod for the game is that i’m far from ready to pay 20 bucks a month to do maps. Given the time to build a good map with good enough visuals and great gameplay is around 10-12 weeks for me it would take 60 bucks from me to make a map that have the potential to be fun to play for everybody, quite chilling. There’s no way around though apart from fragmenting the work. I do bsp and give a direction for materials for the maps then someone make the materials and i finish the map, 2 map at once. The issue with the time it takes to properly play-test the map cannot be fixed anyway, so multiple map at once would be the solution for me.
Another thing, please write somewhere clearly what you intend to do with the project with a faq of sorts, which UT generation you use for a base, art direction, and stuff like that, while searching on the sourceforge thing, i didn’t get a precise idea on what is going and everything feels quite rushed. I strongly advise against doing that as i’m pretty sure there will be only on try, if the project fail …
Please take your time, it’s not a race.
Please put somewhere logs of importants things that were discussed on voice with pros and cons.
What’s the point of the project ? Remake of UT ? What’s the focus ?
In my opinion it shouldn’t be just a remake for the sake of having a new UT with a new engine. It should try to gather people around it. If there’s no community, there’s no game.
Another thing : Open tournament feels like an awful name to me, it’s not opensourced at all in the traditional sense and feels a lot like a rushed name. The project needs a good name to get people invested as it’s the first thing they hear from it. I would suggest something based on eSports (if it’s what you are headed to get the game to take off in the current state of competitive gaming), maybe League Arena or something with arena and/or an eSports/tournament feel (League arena is already taken by the way). I’m bad at names so i can’t help but i insist on the importance of the project name, it’s worth the time debating it once the direction of the project is decided.
Thanks for stopping by.
Also gameplay.
Yes, is the guy who did the above image the one who is working on finishing it. and it IS opensourced. All details and code of the project is released to the public in sourceforge. Still need to figure out a proper license for the code and assets.
[=vblanco;12983]
Yes, is the guy who did the above image the one who is working on finishing it. and it IS opensourced. All details and code of the project is released to the public in sourceforge. Still need to figure out a proper license for the code and assets.
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I know we said only one map, but I couldn’t just let CTF_FacingEachOther fade away, so I’ve been working on it. I’ll throw it into the project soon.
If you guys want to spend 20$, it’s really worth it. Come join the team, play around with the editor.
You can also PM vblanco so you can join the SourceForge project and the Skype group. A coordinator is really needed. Once who has a great overview of everything but isn’t really into other stuff. The project needs to be planned and organized very sonn when we wroking on very advanced features.
Regarding Skype:
It’s actual a bad way to to communicate with each other. Don’t get me wrong, Skype (or any other instant messaging tool) works really good for quick discussions or just a chat with other devs, but there are so many progresses being posted, so much stuff is not only discussed, it’s stated there. If you don’t follow the chat, you miss so much of the development process. IF you follow the chat, you are actually only reading the stuff, trying to reply to messages, reading the message which got posted meanwhile, and your ‘work’ will get remain at its state.
The project management tools in SourceForge work will but these are not used for the cased they exist. The discussion is kept at Skype.
[=Lwlf;12567]
I highly support the initiative! I’m not a coder myself but i’m SURE i can help in other aspects of the game (such as gameplay) being an experienced duel/tdm player, i could also advice some high skilled (that played more or less every ut iteration at high level) players for consulting etc.
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That’s really needed if the project is at a playable state and the basics are done. We’re creating that game from scratch (based on what UE4 ships).
[=M^uL;12751]
I don’t see why they couldn’t be redone. They just can’t be named the same and use any assets from the commercial maps. DM-Merbias and DM-SpaceBoxx would be fine :D.
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Not sure if the names of the maps are trademarked. A list of trademarked or copyrighted content would be cool. I know that names regarding characters and teams are also trademarked because of their story. But i doubt the name “DM-Deck” etc. are trademarked/copyrighted. And i would also say the actual map layout and structure isn’t tademarked or copyrighted. If everything is made from scratch without copying any content, I guess it is allowoed.
[=PlayForGG;12978]
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You only have to subscribe once to get the UE4 editor, the UE4 full source code and every content which is available at the time you are subscribing. The content is is available now, will be available at any time. The editor and everything elese can be used without an active subscription. That means, you can subscribe once, download everything and work on content. The only thing you will not have access to is the online-updated source code from GitHub (which always have preview stuff in) and the online features of the Launcher which is needed to updated the engine (UE4 Editor) itself [still not sure about the access to the marketplace as there are several different statements].
Engine updates do have some nice features and they are worth to spend 20$. But that’s not needed. You only have to pay 20% once.
[=RattleSN4K3;13407]
Not sure if the names of the maps are trademarked. A list of trademarked or copyrighted content would be cool. I know that names regarding characters and teams are also trademarked because of their story. But i doubt the name “DM-Deck” etc. are trademarked/copyrighted. And i would also say the actual map layout and structure isn’t tademarked or copyrighted. If everything is made from scratch without copying any content, I guess it is allowoed.
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I don’t think there is any issue with map remakes as far as i know. There had always been some, even cross-games. In my opinion, if credit is due where it’s needed, there shouldn’t be any problem.
[=RattleSN4K3;13407]
You only have to subscribe once to get the UE4 editor, the UE4 full source code and every content which is available at the time you are subscribing. The content is is available now, will be available at any time. The editor and everything elese can be used without an active subscription. That means, you can subscribe once, download everything and work on content. The only thing you will not have access to is the online-updated source code from GitHub (which always have preview stuff in) and the online features of the Launcher which is needed to updated the engine (UE4 Editor) itself [still not sure about the access to the marketplace as there are several different statements].
Engine updates do have some nice features and they are worth to spend 20$. But that’s not needed. You only have to pay 20% once.
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Didn’t know that, thanks a lot for the info, it’s a great deal indeed. I guess i misread badly somewhere and/or there have been some awful communication on my news channels. I just checked and you’re effectively right. It’s more than hypothetical that i’m gonna test the editor with my eternal first map in each generation, i.e. DM-Malevolence.
I can at least do a basic map in a month to give you more material for the tests.
I’d do a release-quality one once the core of the game is finished (movement pool/speed/jumpheight/base weaopns/etc.) depending on how i like it.
One bad point for me is the config requirements. I bet there’s no way it will run on my current computer (win7 32b, 3Go ram, Dual 2.9GHz, 460gts-2). I guess it’s time to build a new one as it’s been due for a long time to say the least 
[=RattleSN4K3;13407]
Not sure if the names of the maps are trademarked. A list of trademarked or copyrighted content would be cool. I know that names regarding characters and teams are also trademarked because of their story. But i doubt the name “DM-Deck” etc. are trademarked/copyrighted. And i would also say the actual map layout and structure isn’t tademarked or copyrighted. If everything is made from scratch without copying any content, I guess it is allowoed.
.
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would be good to figure out sooner rather than later. It is obviously way better to have the actual names when you’re searching through the maps in game. I noticed there is a DM-Fishburne up in the Sourceforge project. I’m never going to remember that name is the new Morpheus.
Hey guys I’m the guy who created that quick bsp layout of deck. I’ve continued to work on deck for fun and I figured that I might as well bring it to the Open Tournament project to build more motivation to continue, and to strike nostalgia into the hearts of the fans.
Who am I? I am a die-hard UT fan, and have played in the highest tier of competition in UT3 (the little that it had) in North America, and had dabbled in the competitive scene in ut99 and ut2k4. Mainly, I know game in and out, and I believe that I have enough experience to make the right decisions on what is both good and bad for game play. I also created that little gem (DM-Deck-FPS) in UT3. More or less, I pretty much just removed all of Epic Games unnecessary eye candy and increased frame rate for an upcoming tournament. I had no idea that it would become the standard UT3 deck for years and year. I apologize to you Epic for deleting your precious artwork and making your map hideous.
A few things to note before you see the progress I’ve made:
is not going to be a 1:1 copy of any of the previous deck iterations. It will be very similar, but there are going to be areas that are heavily modified to add new game play scenarios. You may think you want an exact replica of deck, but the chances of you getting bored of it right away are pretty good. The map was made in 1998 and the layout has remained relatively the same. It’s time to update it a bit while keeping the feel of the deck16 we came to love.
The map style will be HOLP or (Hardcore OldSkool Low Poly) The majority of the custom maps played came from those talented ■■■■■■■■ who made (http://holp.beyondunreal.com/) and I believe a map that is inspired by these individuals is the way to go. UT is not a game that is meant for immersion, and no matter how high poly the map is, your going to forget about the visuals when you’re trying to make your friend eat a rocket.
I’m a UT player first, mapper second. I’m decent at BSP layouts, and thats about it. I’m still learning the new lighting techniques in the engine and hopefully I have more to show in the future.
I’m only showing screenshots of parts of the map that are worthy of showing.
I agree with Numb.51 on what should the maps be headed toward. For UT3 examples, check HOLP map packs, UOF LP map pack and COMP/COMP2 map packs for UT3. They all have the distinctive, simple yet gorgeous look that permit competitive matches to be played without having to tweak visuals to hell. They have great layout to play and are really well balanced. They are some of the most fun maps to play in the game, and they fill around 85% of the map rotation i play with. Most of the art is done via BSP, trims, smart material usage and lighting. Most of them are greatly colored aswell.
@Numb.51 : the map looks great. Can’t go wrong with kind of textures and Blue/orange lighting combo :), great texture contrasts aswell.
I quite like the “scenery” architecture you have done so far.
One point i don’t like is stairs. Do you plan on putting a blocking volume there for projectile bouncing or just for players to give a bit more advantage to the upper floor ?
The original deck had stairs, but yeah I plan on putting blocking volumes everywhere. I’m still up in the air about the stairs as you are though
