Just a little idea

Kasharic · April 2013

First up, I'm not a mapper/modder in any way, I don't have the knowledge or the ability to do it.

Now, the other day while playing I said to my teammates that I was thinking about asking someone to remake some classic maps just so we have more maps to play on in general.
A few people said that the NS1 maps were great (I wouldn't know what with me being new etc) and that they would love to see someone make them again. so I'm here to ask if anyone with the knowhow is willing to undertake a rather large task and remake some of the NS1 maps.

Also some maps of games fondly remembered. Maps like Bunker, complex or facility (goldeneye for N64) or any other maps that I'm failing to think of from games people enjoy.

The reason I'm asking is because (in theory) remaking maps should be easier than constructing entirely new ones. you already know the layout, people know what to expect and when its finished people should already know their way around. making it feel much more familiar and easy to play on.

ideas, thoughts, volunteers etc?

Kouji_San · April 2013

Kasharic wrote: »

The reason I'm asking is because (in theory) remaking maps should be easier than constructing entirely new ones. you already know the layout, people know what to expect and when its finished people should already know their way around. making it feel much more familiar and easy to play on.

It's definitely faster to work from a template, but the NS2 gameplay has many changes compared to NS. Meaning the maps also need some changes and that task it still quite huge. One of the more popular NS maps has already been released, ns2_veil. It's officially integrated into NS2.

And there are more maps being recreated, from the top of my head:

ns2_hera
ns2_eclipse
ns2_caged
ns2_lost
ns2_nancy
ns2_origin
ns2_nothing
ns2_tanith

So it is indeed happening, but those maps would still require extensive playtesting to make them work properly with NS2

Rudy.cz · April 2013

Hey! Great idea! Fortunately few other people already had this idea too. Here is a list of maps currently remade:

ns_tanith
ns_shiva
ns_origin
ns_nothing
ns_nancy
ns_metal
ns_veil
ns_lost
ns_hera
ns_eclipse
ns_stargate
ns_caged

co_blackmesa
co_faceoff
co_ulysses
co_core
co_pulse

and surely there are more!

Sometimes, before posting new topic, just quick glimpse over the topic names can provide all the answers :-)

(EDIT) Ok, I am trolling a bit, I know

Kasharic · April 2013

to be honest I was kind of hoping for something specific to come out of this thread, and that was to stir someone into remaking Bunker or at least one of the Goldeneye maps. I seem to have failed :P
and I honestly didn't think to look through other topics to see if this had been covered. I will go through it all now... well, tomorrow as its getting pretty late now.
16 maps (not including Veil) to add soon... nice... looking forward to them!!!

DarkSeraph · April 2013

As usual the famed 'idea man' stirs up nothing - if you want something done you do it yourself. Learning mapping can be a fun and rewarding experience - if you have time and the drive I'd highly suggest it. Feel free to ask for resources.

You just came here to badger someone into remaking a Goldeneye map for you? Pretty ballsy of you to admit that I suppose.

Kasharic · April 2013

Honesty is the best policy, I don't see the point in hiding from my true intent, If i did I'd be lying to everyone in a community I hope to be part of for quite some time, and that isn't a great start.
I've found maps etc of Bunker so i may well give building it myself a try... I don't think it'll be very good and I really can't think of a way to balance it with locations for RT's etc. but I'll see what I can do.
The problem I've always had is that I can work pretty well with premade tile-sets, but building from "scratch" is something that takes far more time and patience than I have unfortunately. I'll give it a shot though, you never know, this could be the turning point

DarkSeraph · April 2013

Kasharic wrote: »

Honesty is the best policy, I don't see the point in hiding from my true intent, If i did I'd be lying to everyone in a community I hope to be part of for quite some time, and that isn't a great start.
I've found maps etc of Bunker so i may well give building it myself a try... I don't think it'll be very good and I really can't think of a way to balance it with locations for RT's etc. but I'll see what I can do.
The problem I've always had is that I can work pretty well with premade tile-sets, but building from "scratch" is something that takes far more time and patience than I have unfortunately. I'll give it a shot though, you never know, this could be the turning point

That's very understandable. Here's how I'd suggest getting started on a project like that:

Sketch out the layout - what needs to be modified? Will this layout work better for combat than normal? Based on what I could find of the image of the layout I would think that a good place to start would be how to modify the layout for combat - why did I pick combat? because different levels don't work well in ns2 play (and I think aren't good for balance overall, but that's a different topic) and the size of the map doesn't look complex enough for classic play.
Grey box that sh!t - get a feel for creating, connecting, and manipulating geometry in Spark Editor and start with an approximate layout. Then set up some basic entities & lighting so its functional. If everything is set up right you can likely get some testing done on it before detailing! This is great because changing the layout after detailing is a pain in the ass.
Assuming you're pleased with the flow & layout start detailing - see what textures that are already out there that would work, and see what textures you might want to recreate to give the feel you want. Will some of the default models work? Do you want to try to import some new ones? Detailing can be painstaking but is the fun part as you get 100% control (whereas layout has to be functional)

There are a ton of resources around here on the forums, and we're all pretty happy to answer any questions on issues that will pop up for you. Good luck!

Kasharic · April 2013

I've already started looking into and learning spark.... christ their is alot to it!!! no classic neverwinter nights 1/ timesplitters style map maker for me :P
To be honest having really thought and tried to work out bunker... it won't work, its just too small. If i were to do it I would have to link that and another level together (which I'm thinking about doing) I want to learn more about spark before I try anything even semi-serious, for obvious reasons.
we'll see how it goes and I'll try to keep this thread updated, but that will probably fairly irregular to be honest.

blueman · April 2013

I wont be remaking any of my older maps, although someone remade co_ulysses. I believe its really better for this new Natural Selection 2 to start creating new maps and adding new gameplay to it. Maybe it seems to be the same game but it has big differences (starting with aliens having commander) so for level design purpouses, its entirely a different aproach (at least for me).

Im working on a combat map to learn the editor, when i think im ready ill start a normal map, i already have some layouts im work on.

Just a little idea

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