Changelog for playtest #3

This post describes the changes made to the level, the graphic below shows some of the major changes made.


I've swapped the spawn position of the manta and the hellbender.
The manta is a very powerful vehicle in this map as it allows very fast movement, while the hellbender is a slower but boasts a larger arsenal and can hold two players. The hellbender's two person capacity means that more people can get carried to the front line and encourages team play.

The raptor has been placed in an obvious location in each spawn base so that it is visible when players spawn. I've opted to not go for an elevator as to stick with the 'ruined' theme of the map.
Also, stairs were adequate for the 2 meter elevation that had to be crossed.

The lighting and post-processing have been tweaked to create lighter shadows and a more natural hue in general.The image above shows the new lighting versus the old, note the black patches in the shadows.

As was much requested I added destructable walls to the level, these walls are marked with a yellow diamond and open up additional paths for players and vehicles. The path above is a major shortcut for tanks and other vehicles straight into the enemy base. After some testing I went for UTdestructable objects, these objects have customisable damage stages and thresholds perfect for this purpose.

The sniper nest entrance and other openings to the nest have been changed to have a higher contrast to the surroundings so that they are more obvious to the players.

The players requested i remove the fences on the sides of the main bridge, instead I added two holes in the fencing. This way the players can jump down the bridge, but only at a set location. Because jumping down the bridge provides a big shortcut there should be some risk connected to it, the holes let enemy players anticipate your movement aim for the chokepoint.

The Stall-Z level has been raised about 2000 units to allow the raptor to be flown more freely. However, this required me to also heighten certain buildings as I cannot allow raptors to land there. The buildings would provide too much of a well-hidden location to act as a sniping position or flag hiding place.

As requested, a ramp from the bottom to the top of the bases has been added, while not providing a great advantage it does add some options for combat around the base. Additional alleyways have been also opened up to infantry to allow more diverse paths.

The boost pads have had their vehicle restrictions removed, all vehicles can now use them. This was required to allow the custom Hesteem vehicles to use them.

Next up, playtest results.