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Team UnrealSP web site remounted

For public discussion of "Unreal: Battle for Na Pali" and "Déjà Vu - Gryphon Revisited".

Moderators: Frieza, Mister_Prophet, Hellscrag

User avatar Hellscrag
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Subject: Team UnrealSP web site remounted

Post Posted: 09 Mar 2010, 21:56

Hi all

The Team UnrealSP web site, which was hosted on hellscrag.net before the shutdown, has now been remounted at UnrealSP.Org:

http://www.unrealsp.org/tusp/

No updates, of course, given the project's current status!
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Post Posted: 09 Mar 2010, 22:11

The link on the USP page navigation bar needs to be fixed, as it still links to the old address.
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User avatar Hellscrag
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Post Posted: 09 Mar 2010, 23:10

jetv435 wrote:The link on the USP page navigation bar needs to be fixed, as it still links to the old address.


No, I've already fixed that. Refresh it...
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User avatar Mister_Prophet
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Subject:

Post Posted: 09 Mar 2010, 23:15

It should probably be restated that none of the previous members of Team USP that signed on to Residual Decay are active on the project any longer.

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Post Posted: 09 Mar 2010, 23:29

Mister_Prophet wrote:It should probably be restated that none of the previous members of Team USP that signed on to Residual Decay are active on the project any longer.


Yeah... that's not entirely surprising. When and if the time comes to recommence work on BfNP in a big way, we'll just have to recall who we can and bring in new talent if possible to help finish some version of the project off.

I, for one, would like to complete at some point the three maps that I made major progress on (the town, the castle and the temple that I took over from Flunders). All three contain my most ambitious and dramatic mapping to date, and I fully intend to let others enjoy them in the fullness of time.

We have several other maps that significant progress was made on and could easily be continued / completed.

I still have all of the detailed design documents.
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Post Posted: 09 Mar 2010, 23:32

I do recall discussions at the time of the hiatus that, if all else failed, a smaller pack could be compiled from the remains.

How many maps for BFNP were attempted, and how many had more than 70% of their build tended to? I forget.

EDIT: I know I hardly got much done of the Skaarj segments I was to do for BFNP, and whatever incomplete stuff I made that was genuinely cool enough not to be deleted after the project went on hiatus I ended up absorbing into RD.

User avatar Hellscrag
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Post Posted: 09 Mar 2010, 23:56

The picture wasn't that great.

Five maps substantially in the bank:
- 2x from me
- 1x from fashahhh
- 1x from Wael
- 1x from Kaka
- 1x from Waffnuffly

Maps substantially progressed and definitely worth pursuing:
- 1x from Kaka
- 2x from Frieza (but unlike most of the team, he didn't send me his files, and now he's vanished)
- 1x from Ultimate Weasel
- 1x from Flunders / me
- 1x from NicolasEymerich
- 1x from Wael

Tentative starts:
- 2x from XYZ8000 (I don't have the files)
- 1x from UltimateWeasel (I don't have the file)
- 1x from NicolasEymerich (I don't have the file)
- 1x from Deadkatz (I think he lost his files)

Various others had some plans done.

So, certainly not the 39 maps originally planned, and we can probably discount the tentative starts, but enough to make a "Deja Vu Episode 2" with with enough additional mapping work (and there's some damned impressive stuff in there...)
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Post Posted: 10 Mar 2010, 00:18

So six maps, plus spare parts. That would certainly be enough for a small campaign. Though I can see putting spaces between map themes taking some work, but not much.

Of course, if I may pose an alternate idea...and this might sound very radical. The Na Pali section of RD is currently the most underdeveloped section of the mod, and 6 substantial maps plus spares sounds about right for the load per planet played in the game (each planet visited in RD is essentially a medium-sized SP all on their own, averaging about as long as Xidia, and while all the other planets in RD are far along with their maps, the Na Pali keeps getting postponed in lieu of other segments). There is currently one map complete for the Na Pali section of RD (an inactive mine) as well as a ton of unfinished map segments. Depending on the opinions of the mappers who contributed work to BFNP, the general consensus of all involved, and the kinds of themes that can be edited enough to mesh with the settings needed, I'd be open to merging any map or content that could be spared.

But like I said, this is a radical idea. I only suggest it because 1) I have a lingering concern that there just won't be enough initiative to get a completed pack out of all the work we put into BFNP, and 2) the work that was done so far is, in my opinion, some of the best Na Pali locales I've seen, and given all we planned to do in BFNP, a stripped down smaller scale pack would exclude all that custom stuff (enemies/weapons/features) we just couldn't get finished, and 3) recruitment for RD over the last three years has been...well, unsatisfactory. For all those members who ported over to RD during the hiatus, the only substantial content that remains of that collaboration is a cave segment for a boss fight made by XYZ (we took Nix on at around the same time, and he contributed good work to a fortress...but I don't think he was actually part of the BFNP shuffle, or was he?) And 4) beyond that? This is also the only way I think I can contribute effort to the development whatever is done with the content, given my other priorities. Aside from testing and moral support :)

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Post Posted: 10 Mar 2010, 10:03

Hmph. I'd have to give that some thought, as to do that would be to finally say goodbye to any aspirations we might have had to make something distinct out of BfNP, including its interesting story - no small decision. I do, however, share your concerns about the potential lack of initiative to do anything substantial with the BfNP content post-RD. I'd like to hear from more members of the BfNP team on this matter, if there are any around.

Another thing to consider (I see you alluded to it) is the potential clash of themes. My icy town map is meant to be idyllic and is not laid out to function as a combat map (being the first map of the pack, before the serious events of the story kick off). The other maps, meanwhile, are very colourful and clasically Na Pali in theme, albeit a lot more detailed and not as derivative as those in Deja Vu. Are they compatible with the atmosphere you had intended for RD?
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Post Posted: 10 Mar 2010, 11:10

Hellscrag wrote:Hmph. I'd have to give that some thought, as to do that would be to finally say goodbye to any aspirations we might have had to make something distinct out of BfNP, including its interesting story - no small decision. I do, however, share your concerns about the potential lack of initiative to do anything substantial with the BfNP content post-RD. I'd like to hear from more members of the BfNP team on this matter, if there are any around.


I was actually considering the preservation of the story first when I made the suggestion, since that was always my favorite part of what we had going and a lot of the ideas we all decided on for BFNP's story (A Na Pali fifteen years after Unreal) were all taken into account with RD if you recall. Since continuity between the packs had been part of my agenda since some years back (as continuity with Firestorm be maintained as well), many elements of BFNP were taken into account when I conjured the Na Pali of RD, which shows a Na Pali many years after what happened in 7B and what was to happen in BFNP (the warring factions of Skaarj, in particular, are a big part of it). So in regards to RD, BFNP is already accepted canon. I even kept this stuff in mind with that fan fiction I wrote.

The way I see it, if a smaller pack is made of the current maps that storyline will effectively need to be changed anyway. Possibly removed altogether, and rebooted.

Hellscrag wrote:Another thing to consider (I see you alluded to it) is the potential clash of themes. My icy town map is meant to be idyllic and is not laid out to function as a combat map (being the first map of the pack, before the serious events of the story kick off). The other maps, meanwhile, are very colourful and clasically Na Pali in theme, albeit a lot more detailed and not as derivative as those in Deja Vu. Are they compatible with the atmosphere you had intended for RD?


The reason why the Na Pali segment of RD needs the most work done after so many years is because I planned it as the most explorative segment of the game. The ice themes would be the biggest issue to deal with, given that's the one area (the climate) that is contrary to the continent explored in RD...but really only in regards to the level you made (the town). Climate can be dealt with, especially in terrain maps. As for the colorful/classy aspect of the BFNP maps...well that's just Na Pali. What makes this easier is the subleveling system in RD, and the nature of many of the completed or near completed maps of BFNP, where sprawling locales on and below Na Pali are present and easily integratable. Na Pali really is a flexible planet. Really, the odd map out is the icy town...but depending on what could be done with the weather situation (snow removed, replaced) it might work. If not, well, maybe there's some other project me and you were working on that might be suitable, pending some private chatting

Really, this is a big decision. It takes into account a lot of content shared between alot of former members of Team USP, both present on the forum and otherwise. And I propose it only because I think it might be the best way to preserve some of the best aspects of what we tried to do with BFNP (it would actually mean more work for RD too, since I'd have to change some stuff around to accommodate the levels, but if you ask me this is would easily be worth it).

User avatar NicolasEymerich
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Post Posted: 10 Mar 2010, 11:50

Hello there :D

As for my content, I'm glad to accept Prophet's proposal, if he were to use my map for RD. Given what it's currently done for BFNP, and the fact that job and RL at the moment don't give me the slightest possibility for contributing anything, I don't see anything wrong with that.
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Post Posted: 10 Mar 2010, 12:19

NicolasEymerich wrote:Hello there :D


haha, a registered lurker :wink:

For one, hats off to Nicolas for responding so quickly and for making sure his work can be used.

And also :tup: to Mister_Prophet for openly taking maybe the only stance which at least ensures that some of the progress made doesn't quietly dissolve into nothingness.

And to Hellscrag for his openness - I'm sure the idea of BFNP being shelved permanently doesn't feel right - but recovering an using whatever was made is IMHO the right choice.


And while I'm at it, as you know by now, Unreal is one of my favorite games of all time, and considering my age and the lack of time, also probably one one my last games. And some of the stuff made by various authors here and elsewhere have increased the value of Unreal.

All I can do is to express my respect for the people who have invested so much time in this game (and yes, they probably enjoyed it also but they still have to do it).

The community is small at the moment (and will probably decline anyway) but still new mappers arrive and still maps are being made. But, what they produce is great stuff (I'm not going to mention any but I'm thinking of some Contest Maps, a released, then unreleased and subsequently rereleased (adapted) map, a sinister map (hint, hint :wink: ) and even some old revarnished maps.

I'll end my rant here

*** Looking forward to RD, Firestorm, Xenome continuation, etc.. (and still hoping Team Zephon will tweak that fabulous mappack they made which suffers only from unfair gameplay). ***

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Post Posted: 10 Mar 2010, 18:21

Okay Prophet, I'm on my way to being convinced.

There's another substantially completed map in BfNP to which the "icy" theme is key, and that's fashahhh's icy vale. It could be converted, but I think it might lose something in translation.

As to my town map, I suppose it doesn't have to stay icy, although it might be nice to include the icy version as a bonus map. I don't think its adaptability stretches to relocating it outside a mountainous region, though, as the terrain is key to the design.

Nico: Thanks for the input. :tup:
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Post Posted: 10 Mar 2010, 19:22

Not that I'm any part of this...but I don't mind helping anyway I can...I'm usually free...and yeah I know I should be working on my own map pack right now...but I can't go anywhere till the nali's get done...and I have nothing to do with that. :P
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Post Posted: 10 Mar 2010, 19:37

I've just had a look through the maps that I have on my hard drive. Of those that have been substantially progressed, I can get all of them working except for Kaka's, which depend on TCO files that I don't currently possess. Two of the maps unfortunately exceed the node limit when fully rebuilt, although could possibly be split into sublevels. Nicolas' map is split into two versions, with the more recent versions missing the opening areas (they're not hidden, they're just not there for some reason - possibly as those starting areas depend on old versions of our texture packages, which had different names, but that could be fixed with some care).
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