16/03/2015 - "Tension at Vandora's Temple" by Mr.Prophet

[Semfry]

Map Title: Tension at Vandora's Temple
Author: Will "Mr.Prophet" Drekker
From: 7 Bullets
Filename: jones-06-vandora.unr
Music Files: 7B-Forlorn, RUAction01, RUTheme




Video Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKpvOyMNyY4

Synopsis: Jones enters the Temple of Vandora, which has undergone some renovation and gained several new tenants.

[ividyon]

A phenomenal map with some of 7B's most iconic setpieces. Exploring the new areas was definitely a blast; the old ones, not so much...

Looking at it today, a lot more could've been accomplished with those creepy spider silk nest models from the last screenshot. Some more panels with cobweb textures should've been added underneath them, to create more of a realistic spider web feeling.

[Doublez-Down]

Was this the one with the crazy annoying (although not as annoying as Marines) bots? I haven't played 7B in a long time but do seem to remember liking the modern lighting feel within the temple. It definitely made it believable as a place where renovations and exploration was taking place. It reminded me of some of the Assassin's Creed maps that had the same sort of thing going on where modern and ancient were tastefully and believably meshed together.

On another note, this must have been a pain to rebuild in the editor!

[Semfry]

On another note, this must have been a pain to rebuild in the editor!

That reminds me to post the commentary:

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[6] "Tension at Vandora's Temple"
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* Mr.Prophet:

There is always that one map that is like a cancerous wart growing on the ball sac of any map pack. Map6 went through so many frustrating bugs that 80% of the time that was spent on it was fixing BSP errors. No joke.
Map6 is probably the best Redux'd map in the pack just on the basis that so much has been altered. It's also the first map that has the Terran Pirate enemies appear, making them the last major opposition in 7 Bullets. The map is the first true unique experience of 7 Bullets, until now human pawns in Unreal SP have been only appeared as singular enemies that appear once and are rather unbalanced. Even the Marines in RTNP were very bot like and they only showed up for one combat sequence. The entire last half of 7 Bullets has Terran enemies as the main opposition, which starts in this map.
I had a lot to live up to with this map. Not only was I introducing the new major oppositional factor of the game but I was reinventing one of Unreal's all time classic maps and I had to do it in a slick way. I figured the best way to present the map was to start it off in a location that had nothing to do with it. The player has to move through a brief area that connects the style of the last 3 maps to the style of the old Vandora temple. The player actually finds the link through a deteriorated hole in the wall (an often handy tool in 7 Bullets) and steps out of this cave that cuts into the wall of the Theater from the old Vandora's Temple titan fight area. This is one of my favorite parts of the map just because I like how the environment just casually feeds into one of the all time legendary maps from Unreal and you almost don't realize it.
The new theme was rather intriguing. I always liked how locations in Unreal were always corrupted or overtaken by the Skaarj or whatever occupying alien presence was there to twist the place around. To portray the Terran Pirates in the same survivalist role only seemed natural. Not only did this provide me with a flexible set of tools to work with to add portable generators and human content into the old level, but it also developed the role of the Terran pirates on Na Pali. Basically I wanted to convey the notion that humans are just another alien race to be stranded on Na Pali and forced to use whatever means at their disposal to ensure their survival. Thus turning a temple once occupied by Skaarj to a temple now occupied by Terrans.
I had to change the lighting significantly, especially the god-awful coronas the original Unreal version had. I kept most of the textures from the original there but added to them and the decaying visual appearance of the temple. I wanted to show how the place had been overrun but also show that it was still a ruin. Several areas are in a lot worse shape then they were 12 years prior in the story and there is an entire subplot to the map that explains how a cave in buried many passages. This subplot leads to one of the map's two boss fights against the Spinner Queen.
That fight is directly inspired by a similar boss fight from Xidia Gold, where the player wanders into a spinner lair. This area puts to rest the massive infestation questions from Darth's Lost Passage of Vandora, finishing the whole Spinner segment of the pack. Aside from the Spinner Queen and some of her babies, the rest of the map pits the player against Human enemies and automated turrets.
"Tension at Vandora's Temple" is arguably the best Redux'd map in the pack and I think this is one of my best contributions to 7 Bullets. My favorite combat scenarios in 7 Bullets are in here, the fight with the Spinner Queen is one of the best constructed fight scenes I've personally put together. The romp against the White Lotus warriors is the first real rough battle in the entire game (IMO). This map is essentially a wake-up call to any player who felt as if the last few maps were getting soft.


* Darth Weasel:

DIE.

This map flipped a shit on Prophets computer, so i had to take it once it had everything added and work out all these little problems. With each and every one of these little bugs, I had to change something that might have an effect, rebuild for 20minutes, test. Of course, in UEd's bastardry, fixing one problem on one side of the map created another on the other side. I shit you not. Move a little hill thing in the spider cave (what the hell kind of brush is that to use for terrain anyways Proph?) and we'd have huge holes at the start. Change the solidity of a torch at the start, the Petra fight room suddenly rips in half, etc etc Et.Fucking.Cetera.

[UB_]

This is the very first map with the pirate bots as enemies. They're pretty simple though here, except the ambush before Preta because they attack from all directions.

Vandora is really a terrible map to work with, it's massively unstable, more than any other Unreal maps I think (other than the Sunspire I guess).

[Doublez-Down]

Yeah using what are basically sphere halves as terrain will make any map unstable. Getting rid of those two terrain pieces would be step one if I were to ever mess with that map.

[Mister_Prophet]

Oh lordy...Yeah. Honestly, I'm just so happy we got it stable enough to run. I had all these little things I still wanted to do, but couldn't, instead I had to routinely make the judgement call to accept a basic hallway or a dead end because the latest rebuild didn't fry the thing and everyone was so sick of testing and retesting the thing. I'm still pleased with the level. What I needed it to do, it did. But 7B just made me weary about reworking Unreal levels ever again.

[Semfry]

One of the strongest maps in 7B with lots of variety and twists to mix things up when it might get repetitive (like the sudden Spinner twist when you're backtracking to the entrance). This mostly does a good job introducing the bots, as they come in small groups and are pretty manageable... With one exception. I still think the Dead Scorpions semi-boss fight in the circular room is kind of bullshit and could do with much more cover or some other thing to make it so you don't just get swarmed by a horde of bots (without that fight I would have probably been fine with doing the playthrough without god mode). On the other hand the Petra and Spinner fights are fine. A good job is done with making the Human takeover of the temple convincing; the new parts kind of stick out for being much more grandiose, but then the last set of levels already established that as part of the temple so it works. That curvy starting room also sticks out, and feels like it was inspired by Alien/Giger art or something. The story is also well implemented with little things like the Nali massacre.

[Mister_Prophet]

I appreciate the video and the pause breaks for the log material. It was nice to watch a run through. I haven't played the level myself for quite a few years now.