The map is to the point that I'm comfortable letting everyone play on it. Just be warned, the map is NOT final. There ARE glitches and bugs and things that aren't quite right. The server can and will go down without notice whenever I'm ready to put new changes upon the server.

Please check this thread frequently if you start playing on the test server as I will make periodic announcements of current bugs and upcoming changes here.

Please do not host this map elsewhere. I make changes to it on a daily basis and you will see new versions up on the server on most days. Please wait until the public beta before hosting this map on servers other then my testing server. ETA for the public beta is 2-3 weeks, depending on how this phase of alpha testing goes.

Server IP Address: 70.42.41.170

- This IP should be live in another 2-3 hours, I'm currently configuring the new server.
- There is no password. Everyone is welcome to come and play.
- I will post a private slot password for the MOB/Regs folks to use.
- I'm taking a hands-off approach to policing the server, but if there is disruptive gameplay, I reserve the right to wield a very large ban stick. I would prefer to spend my time working on the map rather then babysitting players.
- If you find a glitch, tell us in this thread or e-mail the demo file to me.

Current version on the server is v081 (v082 will go up on the server late Thursday or sometime Friday). You will want to periodically remove old versions of the PK3s as we update to new filenames on the server.

Currently implemented gametypes are: BAS / CNQ / BEL and HQ. The server is configured to run BAS on alternate games (so BAS -> CNQ -> BAS -> BEL -> BAS -> whatever -> BAS). I'm still working on DOM and CTF support.

Known issues in v081:

- There are sections of road that are colored incorrectly. That indicates that the road mesh is buggy and that I know about it. (Which means that vehicles go wonky as you drive over that section and that players can fall through or get stuck.) If you find a section of road that is buggy, but is textured with the road texture, please let me know.

- The only known hole in the terrain is at the Southwest Bridge. There shouldn't be any other terrain holes in playable areas.

- Edges of the map are not finished.

- Inside of the Farm House is not finished.

- Second floor of the Russian spawn area barn is not finished. Nor is the interior of the Russian spawn house or the tunnel beneath the house. There are two bunkers in the Russian spawn that still need detailed.

- The G1 pak40 gun is not entrenched in fortifications yet.

- Most treelines are missing their interior foliage.

- The fence lines on the east side of the river in the Farm area are not finished.

- I probably need one or two more satchel spawns.

- The red lighting inside the bases is still being tuned (and toned down).

- It currently rains in the basement of the bases... it is not indicative that the 100 year flood is imminent.

- There may be a few places on the map with too much detail.

README file for Tuchola Forest

------------------------------------------------------------
Tuchola Forest 1945 - Multiplayer map for CoD:UO

ALPHA TESTING VERSION 081 - APR 6 2006
(scrapyardbob@mobclan.com)
------------------------------------------------------------

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.

------------------------------------------------------------

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

You will want to periodically delete old Tuchola Forest PK3s from your Call of Duty: United Offensive install folder. This can easily be done by searching your hard drive for "mp_uo_tucholaforest_*.pk3" files.

------------------------------------------------------------

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"

------------------------------------------------------------

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.

TODO: Add "mention list" based on everyone who gave feedback / ideas in the alpha testing / preview threads.

------------------------------------------------------------
THIS MATERIAL IS NOT MADE OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION.

END FILE

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

I hope to give 'er a go tonite Bob. Thanks!

Yeah, I checked it out. Awesome map, can't wait to play!

I want to check it out right now hopefully its still out for public

Things we found tonight. Peak load was 15 or 16 players.

- A bit of server lag. I suspect that is because we're on a shared box. I'll try to monitor it, but it's something we'll probably have to put up with during alpha testing.

- Gamestate values... highwater mark was 26249 with 16 players (probably during a BAS round). Fifteen players was only 26171 gamestate.

- There's a bunkbed in the German spawn that players spawn inside of and get trapped during BAS. I will fix that for Friday. I also found 3 other spawn points that were inside of newly added detail.

- HQ spawns are not working properly. It's using spawn points that are not flagged as HQ. Also turned off sniper rifles during HQ rounds.

- Points per rank is not working properly... I'm researching this. It seems to be taking effect one round after it should.

Other changes planned for v082:

- Fixed the spawn points that I know about which were inside of models or walls.

- Made the bomb triggers in the bottom of the bases larger.

- Changed the server to run a stock 10 points per rank until I figure out why points per rank isn't taking effect properly for the different gametypes.

- Fixed the issue where the HQ gametype was using spawns that weren't flagged for HQ. Spawns should now be closer to the action in the HQ gametype.

- Changes to the road at the Southwest Bridge. Some attempts at fixing broken road mesh. (Sections of road that exhibit the "pothole" effect.)

Cool map Bob ,had fun last nite with you ,silver etc.

Nice to see that we don`t have to run so far to get to HQ now.

'twas rather odd, the issue with HQ spawns. The BEL gametype *only* uses spawnpoints that are either not flagged with a game specific type along with spawnpoints that are flagged for BEL. (You can tag a spawnpoint as being available in just BEL, or tag it for multiple of the TDM-style gametypes.) However, when they (IW or GMI) wrote the HQ gametype, they set it up to also pull in TDM spawns that were flagged for TDM.

I had set up the edge spawns to be "BEL TDM" and the middle spawns to be "BEL HQ TDM". Which should have kept HQ using the middle spawns only. I had to change the edge spawns to just "BEL" to keep HQ from using them. Which is okay... I'm not really planning on TDM support in the map and if all of the TDM spawns are in the middle, so be it.

I know that's as clear as mud... but it's simply yet another bug with the HQ gametype where they did something inconsistently compared to the other gametypes.

Other fixes / changes for v082 that I think I forgot to mention.

- Added (2) smoke grenade spawns to the German Ammo dump shelters during BAS. That will give germans the ability to put up additional smoke screens to help in breaking out of a spawn-rape situation. I may take these back out...

- Moved foliage and trees around in the German spawn area. This is a double-edged blessing for the Germans.

- Added a 3rd bunker (and moved 2 spawns from the Ammo shelters up to the new bunker) in the German Spawn. The new bunker has anti-tank ammo and is on the north side of the spawn area. This is probably the best fix as it gives another threat axis against any enemies in the spawn area.

- Added another anti-tank ammo box in the German spawn. This one is behind the walls surrounding the parked tanks.

I may have overthought the spawn rape situation... I'm sure Silver will tell me this weekend whether I made it too difficult. Last night, the Russians got 3 tanks into the German spawn area and proceeded to box us in the two ammo shelters. While not as bad as the situation gets on Barbarossa, it wasn't a cakewalk to break out of.

with the 3-4 spawn areas in the circle it will be hard to spawnkill for more then a minute. no one used the flanks to get out. you could have easly out flanked us... maybe remove the back wood were the tanks sit by the ammo dumps and bring up the tanks spawns to like 15 seconds like on barb and that will help. one question is why were the germans spawning at the spawn and not at one when we were in the spawn?

Had fun on the map for the first time last nite Bob. Thanks again for your hard work.

Glad to see you're open to changes/suggestions. Will your server 'always' be up now, during testing at least?

Darned if I know... seriously... as near as I can figure, I have everything properly set for players to spawn inside of bases, yet they constantly spawn in the spawn area instead. I'll be taking another look at it. Has ANYONE managed to spawn inside base yet during Base Assault? (Bueller? Bueller?) Time to go look at Foy, Barbarossa and Smolensk again... I've read the BAS.GSC twice and haven't figured it out either.

Pretty sure I'll take the smoke grenades back out. You can still force Germans to spawn down in the ammo shelters if you position a pair of tanks directly between the (3) wooden bunkers (staying within 1000u of each bunker).

I could see what happens if tank respawn changes from 60 sec to 10 sec (the default).

I'll think about removing the back panel behind the tanks at the ammo shelters. Since I just added an ammo box behind that wall as well as some foliage bushes around that area, I'm waiting to see what happens.

On the upside, getting spawn raped in those ammo shelters was challenging and not overly frustrating. It took a bit of work to get rid of ya'll but it didn't feel like fish-in-a-barrel. We had places to run to. We weren't killed immediately as soon as we spawned. We had time to look around, spot the enemy, and attempt an action before dying.

Making it harder to spawn-rape that area also helps CNQ play (since the CNQ objectives path terminates in those ammo shelters).

...

Base Assault spawn logic tries to put you near teammates and away from enemies. But it only checks for enemies within 1000u of a spawn point. When the two russian tanks were sitting at the two German spawn bunkers (within grenade throwing distance), that's one reason the Germans spawned down in the ammo shelters. However, there's also a slight random adjustment to the spawn scoring so that sub-optimal spawn points can get selected in certain circumstances.

That's the other reason to add the 3rd bunker (closer to the spawn shelters then the two current bunkers). It increases the odds that the random adjustment value will cause the a spawn point away from the ammo shelters to be selected.

...

Most of these adjustments won't be seen until v083 (which will go up on the server this evening or maybe Saturday AM).

...

The server will always be 'open' now. We're in the 2nd phase of alpha testing, things are in good shape. There's really no major reason to keep it password protected. I've fixed enough glaring issues that I won't get deluged with questions during gameplay (ask the alpha testers what that first night was like).

I probably won't change any "gross" features (locations of bridges, roads, bases, pak guns) unless things are really whacked. There are a few bits of road that I plan on straightening out (the section of South Road east of the SE Bridge that is U-shaped). I wish the Russian side wasn't as wide open (IOW, all of the russian features I wish were about 2000-4000u farther west) but it's probably too late to change.

The major goal of alpha testing is to start testing game balance on a larger scale and to make sure that the map "works" and is enjoyable to play on. While that testing is going on, I'm able to go and fix all of the little detail things when I'm not adjusting game balance.

...

Did I mention lately how much the patch meshes are a thorn in my side? (All of the roads are patch meshes... that pothole effect is driving me up the wall.)

opening a base thingy (like you have at the ammo dumps) will slow the Spawn killing. dont open the back of the wood I forgot that you can access the side of the wood. no need then. the russian spawn can also be rocked, the major problem was that youset up after the s curve if you set up at the tank scrape b the village then it would have been an onslought. also look into putting a building and a tank scrape going to G1 (lil before it to give the germs a chance to defend that area. little defense over there.)

the problem you germs had was you had 3 people that knew some of the map on the russians and 1 on the germans.... Denver used the trails as well asI did on BEL which surprised me to sy the least. I didnt think that they would be found easly as they were.

Server crashed... (not sure when):

******* script runtime error *******
pair has unmatching types 'undefined' and 'int': (file 'maps\mp\gametypes\bas.gsc', line 3152)
count -= 1;
*
called from:
(file 'maps\mp\gametypes\bas.gsc', line 3147)
self.objective waittill("trigger", other);
*
************************************
cvar set com_errorMessage script runtime error
(see console for details)
********************
ERROR: script runtime error
(see console for details)
********************
----- Server Shutdown -----
Sending heartbeat to coduomaster.activision.com
==== ShutdownGame ====


...

I'll restart and look into why this occured. Probably a bug in how I setup the triggers for Base Assault.

The latest guess is that it's not something I did wrong in the map, but a bug in the BAS.GSC that rears its head whenever you run the server in "developer 1" mode.

...

I'll be adding DOM in v083, probably in another hour or so I'll be putting v083 up on the server.

v083 will be up in about 15 minutes

- Added support for DOM (Domination), but the vehicles are not balanced yet
- Changed HQ to only last 20 minutes

Maybe something to look at
I will make a screenshot of that water, if I can refind it

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Hey Scrap,

Discovered an odd problem. I downloaded the map and tried to bring it up via console: /map mp_uo_tucholaforest_083 and it crashed the COD UO application. I didn't have a problem doing this with your earlier maps, I think the problem started with 075 ... at least that was when I first noticed it.

This is probably not worth your consideration as I'm on a Mac and now that I've downloaded the map, I can join the server and play ... I just can't roam around on the local version of the map (go figure!).

I successfully spawned inside a base during BA. By the way, I LIKE the rain inside the blown bases. I know you weren't happy with it, but it adds to the feeling that the upper part of the base has been destroyed. Great little details inside the bases, by the way. Those red lights surprised me!

Were you loading the map in deathmatch mode? I notice that the DM intermission spawnpoint displays oddly (not sure why) which may be causing a graphics glitch.

I'll move that intermission spawn around to a new spot, see if that fixes the error in v084 and later.

(You may also want to /devmap instead of /map to look at the map.)

I still plan on fixing the rain issue inside the base =). At least, so it only rains down the pipe and the stairs.

Things that will probably change in v084:

- Opened up the middle road as it exits the east side of the farm towards the Russian #2 area. (Already working on this.) Adding a trench line inside of the new trees and placed a rock that should give Germans a shot at R2 with a bit of cover for a tank.

- Also planning to chop a section of treeline up in the HIll 13 area. The road will still be U-shaped, but vehicles will be able to take a slightly shorter route across the middle of the U. (Planned.)

- Will probably open up the west road out of the farm area (slightly). It's too tight of a bottleneck through there.

- The treeline southwest of G3 may be modified a bit (to be more open for infantry movement).

- The treeline on the west side of the road that leads south out of the German spawn may get trimmed back.

- I may eliminate the treeline on the southwest side of the North Bridge. Or allow infantry to slip from the middle field up to the North road easier.

- I may add an infantry route to get from the Hill 75 tank scrape to the top of Hill 83 by going through the treeline.

/devmap gave me the same crash

I'm simply booting the app, pulling down the console and entering the devmap command. Odd.

Playing BAS, found a hole where the allies spawn inside a bunker.. Instead of walking out through the trench go left and you will see a open area and u can look up and see the inside of a barn. Also in tha that above barn i walked out the back door and i fell through a hole. i will send u the screen shots

here is the screenshots of the bunker that has a wall missing and above it is a barn that i fell through walking out the back door playing a few nights back. BAS was the game we were playing.

Thanks. That tunnel is not finished yet. It will eventually connect up to the first floor of that spawn house.

It's a bit like whack-a-mole, I've got a huge list and I'm slowly chipping away at it. The "pothole" sections of road mesh are taking a lot of time to fix which is preventing me from finishing other small details like the tunnel or inside of buildings. (Although the road mesh fix is so tedious that I sometimes break off and detail the interior of a building for fun.)

...

v085 will probably go up on the server later this afternoon. Changes include more fixes to road mesh (mostly on the Russian half of the map) and opening up the area on Hill 13 (near the SE Bridge).

Yea bob, it's those danged picky tiny details that you'll never see, but you can be sure that someone will find them!
I don't think I have emphaized enough how much I love the map, it's amazing, esp that rain!

yeah--whack a mole--Just like how you killed me the other nite--LOL really nice setup you have here..and i am amazed on the detailing.. Good work Bob. i have setup my own server to play and learn the map. big and fun

The skybox seems to be dependent on what you have your General Textures set to under Graphics options. Low/Normal and you will see seams, at High/Extra the seams are no longer visible.

I may experiment with some other sky textures now that I can replicate the issue.

Today the server had massive lagspikes, I dont know what was going on but everyone had trouble with it...maybe the server in NY?

Probably... it's a new server in a new data center so they may not have gotten all of the bugs worked out yet. It also looks like we're sharing the box with 2-3 other heavy users, so they're probably seeing lag as well. (Tuchola is pulling 13% CPU, those other heavy users are pulling 35%, 30% and 15%.)

...

It will be a day or two until I get v087 out the door. Q3Map is tossing an error that nobody seems to know what it is. I spent all day today trying to track it down.

Fixed the lighting warning message and we have some theories why it's happning. It will be a few hours before I know for sure if it is fixed.

...

As for the server... I need to get the map to "beta" status so that I feel more comfortable about asking someone else to host it. After all, early in the testing we crashed the test server (well, *our* copy of the server software, it had no effect on the other servers on the box) on a daily basis.

I may also inquire about getting moved to a less active server in NYC.

v087 changes

- Added a foxhole at the South Bridge (to complement the one at the Southwest Bridge). Infantry now have a place to hide while guarding those bridges, although those foxholes are probably deathtraps.

- Moved rocks and trees around in the South Forest. A team with advance scouts warning of an armor column coming up the south flank could easily setup a nasty ambush in the South Forest.

- Removed a few trees across the entire map to help with frame rates.

Dunno if v087 will go up on the server. Depends on whether it lights properly.

Hi Bob!

Played last night BA on Tuchola and found problem on G3 bunker. You can get to the downstairs when base is breached to plant a bomb but you cant get out. Floor of breached bunker is somehow blocking the stairs.

Notes for v089 and later:

- I'll look at the G3 issue, I know we've planted and destroyed G3 before

- Re-adjusted the spawn points for CNQ, you should now spawn a little closer to the action in all circumstances

- Fixed some more road mesh

- Added a foxhole at the R3 pak gun

- Moved a few vehicles around (mostly German half-tracks)

...

I will probably promote the map to beta1 status on Wed/Thu of this week. Once I start the beta cycle, updates will be about once a week until we stop finding bugs. The map is pretty stable now and it's mostly just clean-up work all around that doesn't have to be done ASAP to fix a gameplay issue. So I can work on detail for a week, release the new beta, then work on some more detail (and newly found bugs) while we playtest the beta.

The G3 issue was a broken piece of terrain mesh... (G1 and G2 were also affected, but to a lesser degree). It'll be fixed when v089 goes up on the server around lunchtime.

Quick question.

Is it me or do the mortars all or almost all shoot to the right?

Loaf

Yes, mortars are designed so the shells drift to the right. (Per the After-Hourz website.)

Notes for v090:

- Fixed ALL of the broken road mesh that I know about (and I hope we dont find any other broken patches)

v090 will be known as Beta1 and will be up on the servers in the AM.

Download link (contains 2 READMEs for players/admins):

tucholaforest_beta1.zip

Note: The PK3 that you download from the server also included these two README files.

Guess i should have checked down here first ,

We've found one piece of treeline that is missing the clips (near the German spawn, North road leaving the spawn, right side). The following server-side mod fixes the issue until I can fix it in Beta2.

z_svr_tucholabeta1fix.zip

We had to kick one player today for 20 minutes for ignoring our warnings not to abuse the glitch.

DOM also seems to be broken, I'll have to research why DOM hangs up the server.