Tuchola Forest Alpha Testing, feedback thread for alpha testers Options

[ScrapyardBob]

(Since there are some non-MOB folks testing the map, I'm going to start an alpha testing thread here in the open forum.)

The map is not ready for public testing yet (in case some are wondering) and is on a password protected test server in Chicago. It's still undergoing extensive internal testing and changes. All MOB members are welcome to test (see the MOB Regs forum for server info) and I have also sent server information to a few friends from past clans or people who are excellent at map design.

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State of the map (v067):

- CNQ is implemented with 13 capture points and 2 bonus objectives (one at each end). The bonus objectives do not work yet. There are 10 spawn points per objective for each team (240 total TDM spawn points for CNQ). Right now the server is running in debug mode which means 8 sec capture times and no need for multiple players in order to test CNQ.

- TDM/BEL need a few more TDM spawn points (ones not used in CNQ) to spread players across the map into areas that aren't used during CNQ.

- HQ will probably be added to the map tonight along with an HQ server-side mod to change some things that are annoying about stock HQ (such as the long 45sec wave time).

- BAS might get implemented this coming weekend.

- About half of the vehicles are usable. I still need to finish (or obtain) collmap files for the rest of the vehicles.

- Some models are not solid. Again, there are collmap files that I need to create (or obtain) in order to keep players from walking through them.

- The bases are not solid... not sure why, but I'll probably address that later this week.

- AFAIK, there are no broken spawn points. Please post feedback if you find one that results in the player being stuck in terrain / models / walls or one where the player falls to the bottom skybox.

- There are still holes in the terrain. Please only report holes on the east side of the river for the time being. The german side (west half) is still a work-in-progress.

- TDM gamestate is 22500 bytes with a single player.

- The russian side of the map is about 90% done with gross features. There are two bunkers that still need to be detailed (creating the interior) in the russian spawn. Also, the 2nd floor of the barn and the russian spawn house need work. The russian tunnel also needs to be finished.

- The german side of the map is about 60% done with gross features. Numerous things still need to be fixed.

- I'm always on the lookout for reports of rocks / terrain where vehicles can get stuck on non-obvious things. (Mostly where the tank gets stuck in the terrain at an odd angle.) Please give loc info or e-mail me screenshots to scrapyardbob@mobclan.com, make sure that screenshots are taken from an angle that makes it apparent where you are on the map.

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More notes as I think of them.


- There are sections of the road which are textured in an "odd" texture. These sections of road are broken meshwork that needs to be ripped out and replaced. They have hidden potholes that cause vehicles to go screwy and can allow players to fall through. (I feel like PennDoT in the spring, patching potholes everywhere.)

If you find a section of road that is screwy, but is *not* textured with the marker texture, please report it. That means you've found a road section that I don't know is broken or have forgotten to fix.

- CNQ vehicle placement is pretty final on the Russian side of the map. The german vehicles still need to be moved into their final locations.

- I'm not too worried about obviously broken detail (like a line of fences that have not been connected). What I am interested in hearing about are the little things that may be overlooked. (Such as an alpha blend that doesn't look right from a certain angle or a model that looks funny or small gaps in buildings.) Usually, when I find something that I know I want to fix later, I break it in a big way so that it's glaringly obvious that it's broken.

[ScrapyardBob]

DRAFT of the player README file (this file will be located inside the PK3 as well as inside the release ZIP)

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Tuchola Forest 1945 - Multiplayer map for CoD:UO

ALPHA TESTING VERSION 000 - APR 6 2006
(scrapyardbob@mobclan.com)
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NO PART OF THIS PROJECT FILE, MAP .BSP, CUSTOM TEXTURES,
LOADING SCREENS, IN-GAME MAPS OR ANY OTHER CONTENT MAY BE
ALTERED IN ANY WAY FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT MY EXPRESS
CONSENT. ANY SUCH ACTION WILL CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF
INTELLECTUAL COPYRIGHT.

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ALPHA TESTING NOTES:

Since this is an alpha test version, please do not host this on public clan servers. Revisions will be happening on a daily basis and you will be constantly chasing your tail trying to keep up with the latest alpha version. It is best for everyone if you come to the Tuchola Forest Alpha Test server to play with other alpha testers.

Please leave any and all feedback / bug reports in the {MOB} forums. You can find the latest feedback thread at:

http://www.mobclan.com/forums/upload/index.php?showforum=73

If you have screenshots or demo files of problem areas, please e-mail them to scrapyardbob@mobclan.com. Please be sure to include enough contextual information in your screenshot (rather then focusing tightly in on the problem area) so that I can locate these spots in the map. Locational information (using the console, type /viewpos) is also extremely helpful. Bugs that might warrant a screenshot:

- Messed up textures
- An abnormally high vert/tri count (/cg_drawFPS 2)
- Terrain holes
- Exploitable glitches (get in behind the treelines, inside of models, or other exploits)
- Other things that are too complicated to describe in the forums

If you need help recording demos, see:

http://www.mobclan.com/forums/upload/index...?showtopic=7047

The latest information about test changes can be found at:

http://www.mobclan.com/forums/upload/index.php?showforum=73

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CLIENT REQUIREMENTS AND NOTES:

1) THE AFTER-HOURZ VEHICLE PACK IS REQUIRED ON YOUR MACHINE

This map requires that the server and any players have the After-Hourz vehicle pack on their machines. You can find the AHz vehicle pack at:

http://www.after-hourz.com/cod/BarbVehicles.php

If you have played maps like Ardennes 1944, Barbarossa or Smolensk then you will already have the necessary PK3 installed on your machine (z_ahz_vehicles.pk3).

2) If you encounter the "hunkmegs" error, use the following to increase your hunkmegs setting:

(press the tilde key "~")
Type this into the console: /seta com_hunkmegs "256"

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CREDITS:

The After-Hourz vehicles and the Conquest gametype were developed by the After-Hourz crew (and known associates). They are a great resource to the CoD:UO mapping community.

Slyk has been invaluable at answering technical questions that I've had for my first public mapping project. In addition, I've learned a lot about mapping and portalling by closely examining how Slyk constructed his Barbarossa and Smolensk maps.

A big thanks to everyone at {MOB} who were willing to help test the map when it was still in an unfinished state. Even though gametypes like HQ / BEL are not their favorite gametypes, they never complained but slogged through and helped me to find bugs, errors and gameplay issues. Without alpha testers, the map would never have been as balanced or fine-tuned as it is today.

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