Author Topic: Map wish: The Heights  (Read 14620 times)

Offline Saull

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #15 on: May 13, 2015, 02:21:36 pm »
That last imagine just did it for me. Especially since co op mode may put some defense/assault base mechanic in the works.

Offline Crafeksterty

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #16 on: May 13, 2015, 03:02:16 pm »
Awesome realisation on the last image.

Offline Richard LeMoon

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #17 on: May 13, 2015, 11:01:26 pm »
For clarification, this would not be a huge map, though I suppose there could be larger versions with more sky stations. I am not sure how many clouds a single map can handle. That would be the real limit on the size of this map. After more consideration, I feel this would be one of the tallest maps, maybe a little larger than Canyon Ambush.


Actually, it would make a pretty sweet co-op as well, with enemies constantly rising or descending from random places in the clouds. No bottlenecks or known paths. Just the onslaught.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2015, 11:03:53 pm by Richard LeMoon »

Offline Saull

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #18 on: May 14, 2015, 03:22:12 am »
Ever played the space fighter mission in halo : reach where you had to defend an armed docking station from other fighters and larger docking gunships? Something like that would be fantastic especially if the floating base had multiple components to protect. On a map like Heights a floating base would have to maintain its balloons as well as hull integrity. Could be more dynamic having to indentify and hit special enemy ai deployed for balloon popping

Offline Indreams

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #19 on: May 14, 2015, 09:56:03 am »
I kinda like the idea of a static cloud feature.

I can play a submarine! Submerge into the clouds, sneak up, fire, kill, and submerge again. Would do it with a squid or a junker.

Offline Watchmaker

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #20 on: May 14, 2015, 10:44:36 am »
The biggest limiter of using clouds is how expensive they are for the client to render.

This proposed map would spill the blood of many an innocent integrated GPU.

Offline Indreams

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #21 on: May 14, 2015, 11:03:27 am »
Well, instead of normal clouds, couldn't you do a, a, different cloud?

So, instead of rendering million clouds to make ceiling and floor, make one static cloud for each layer. Just a box of rectangular-ish polygons that move around a little (like water?)....  Just an idea.

Offline Richard LeMoon

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #22 on: May 14, 2015, 05:56:32 pm »
Thanks, Watchmaker. What is the highest number of clouds used in a current map, and what is their diameter? There could be some cheaty ways of designing this type of 'layered' map to use less clouds, but make it look like more.

Further ideas, well, more like explanations for this map tie into the existing lore of poisoned ground. The lower clouds could be literally toxic instead of storm or dust clouds. Since they are a different type of cloud, perhaps (game killing) flares cloud not be used past the top layer.

Hmmm..... interesting thought. What if, rather than filling the lower toxic layer with clouds, you did the opposite? Once you were below a certain height, just your ship would be surrounded by a few clouds. Like creating tar clouds in your path of movement. No other clouds would exist to your client. The same would happen to other ships. In effect, each ship would have its own bubble of clouds that could only bee seen by them (thus simulating Canyon Ambush.... everywhere you go). The only time you could see another ship is if they passed into your cloud bubble. Spectators would not have any 'toxic' clouds at all, so could see all the lower level action. Could possibly even utilize the water shader in some way.

Three problems solved at once. Minimal clouds (at least in the lowest toxic layer), no flare lag, and open view to spectators.

Offline Watchmaker

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Re: Map wish: The Heights
« Reply #23 on: May 16, 2015, 07:00:26 pm »
My point being merely that we'd have to do something highly customized for such a map to work.  Yes, there are possible solutions.