Mapping Collab in the style of "The Descent" - Pirates of Nali Land

[ebd]

~ Pirates of Nali Land ~

Ahoy there sailor! Have ye ever longed to sail the seas of Na Pali and beyond? Or to live off plunder, fairly finessed from the bellies of laden Skaarj vessels? What if even a landlubber like yerself could join me crew and partake in the finest of mapping collabs to be found across the oceans and seas both!
-- Captain Szyskardh of the Vandora's Fancy

This event is a mapping collaboration along the same lines as The Descent project that began in 2020. Mappers will have a period of two months to make a playable map with a nautical theme, set on Na Pali.

• Mapping can begin now!
• Maps should be submitted in a playable state on or around March 1st, 2023
• After that time there will be a period of approximately one month to playtest and fix bugs, but the final maps should be submitted by May 1st, 2022
• The goal is to release the pack as a playable campaign on May 22nd, 2023, in time for the 25th anniversary of Unreal. (Unreal was originally released on May 22nd, 1998)
• The target platform will be 227j. This does not mean mappers must use 227j necessarily, but the map must run on 227j.
• Use of firetrucks 1.3 is very highly recommended. Several of the firetrucks actors were made available for The Descent collaboration and they proved to be popular, and this new version has many new features that are coop compatible and gametype agnostic.
• The map's stories should be episodic in nature, but with a definite start and end that includes somehow returning to the Vandora's Fancy with a Macguffin in tow and a story to tell the crew. When played in single player there will be a hub allowing players to choose which map they wish to do next, and these macguffins from completed maps will be visible on the ship. When played in coop, the maps will directly link from one to the other, like traditional campaigns do.
• These Macguffins can be literally anything... whether it is story important or just a souvenir is up to you.
• Each map, aside from the hub, should be coop compatible.
• Each map, aside from the hub, should not be tied to a specific gametype.
• Mappers may work together or individually, as they choose.
• Mappers has as much or as little custom content as they choose.
• Mappers can use whatever other tools they like... aseprite, AutoCAD, FL Studio, KidPix Studio, etc.
• Unlike The Descent, mappers will not be constrained to a 4096^3 space this time.
• Unlike The Descent, there will be no requirement to add custom content to the MyLevel package.
• Provided templates may be useful to mappers, but it is not a requirement to use them.
• If a mapper chooses to use a template, they may modify it in any way they deem appropriate.
• Before the event's end we also aim to have a nautical themed HUD, some meshes and other assets, and a few other extras, as well as hooking up the hub ship to the various maps.
• Maps can integrate the theme as much or little as they like. Maybe a map is a high-stakes high-seas adventure, or maybe it's a classic romp through a (space) shipwreck or ancient.utx ruins. Maybe the rowboat takes a wrong turn towards the oceanic islands and ends up in the sky islands instead. Maybe it's something avant-garde the likes of which can't be captured in text? It's your call what to make.
• This event is open to everyone of any Unreal community, be they a veteran mapper, someone's first time with the editor, or anywhere in between.

Below is a list of the notable crew aboard the Vandora's Fancy: Mappers may or may not choose to include these characters at their discretion

• Captain Szyskardh
  Captain of the Vandora's Fancy. This old sea dog might have lost his good eye but he still sees everything that happens on the ship. Some say he can still see out of that glass eye of his, even when it isn't in his head. Or maybe he leaves it laying around on purpose to scare the greenhorns.
• First Mate Vybugho
  His first and only love was the sea. Stern but fair when it comes to enforcing discipline.
• Hog Eyed Willy
  A lady's man who is handy in a fight. Often caught slacking on work.
• Ntui The Cannoness
  Likes guns a little too much. Joined the Nali Navy to shoot even bigger guns, but a bout of "surprise target practice" with the main cannons resulted in a dishonorable discharge. Hooked up with pirates to keep shooting big guns.
• Skut-ra "Anchors" the Bucannier
  Ship's cook. Knows spices and cuisines better than anyone. Of all the things one might complain about on this ship, Anchors makes sure the food isn't on that list.
• "Peg-Leg" Tunjida
  The ship's shantyman. Despite the moniker, he has two good legs.

And where would we be without some other characters to round out the world building? Mappers may or may not choose to include these characters at their discretion

• Jiboudae Koos the Explorer
  Entrepreneur and explorer. Discovered the island chains now inhabited by the Nali pirates. Lost at sea 250 years ago, sailing their galleon into uncharted territories.
• Dread Pirate Xouthala
  Infamous retired pirate captain of the Coin a' Plenty, which has been docked at the one and only free port around for the past ten years. Wanted everywhere else, but manages to avoid capture due to a powerful network of informants. Willing to divulge information about trade ships' routes... for a price.
• Admiral Ymudo
  The Nali Navy's foremost authority on pirate hunting, with an impressive list of pirates captured or killed. Also captains the fleet's flagship: Harobed's Revenge. Famously carries a brace of four pistols and has been known to wield all four at once. Wherever they and their fleet are, it's best to be somewhere else... as the saying goes "forewarned beats four-armed"
• Captain Khorax
  Captain of the Reaper of the Neve and personal Rival of Captain Szyskardh. This dirty dealer has beaten the crew to the plunder more than a few times.
• "Xean Hubbart"
  We're pretty sure that's not really his name but we've never thought to ask. Captain of a mercenary salvage ship. He prefers to send other ships to the bottom on the sea first before salvaging the remains.
• The innumerable Skaarj pirates
  The Skaarj pirates like to use really small ships to go undetected and get close to board larger vessels. We hate these jerks, but our crew can usually take them in a fight.

Links to templates and assets... I think all these links should work let me know if they do not.

• firetrucks 1.3.1: https://github.com/scraphammer/firetruc ... retrucks.u
• kvstore (set values that persist between map changes and players dropping in and out, great for tracking map completion): https://github.com/scraphammer/kvstore/ ... /kvstore.u
• feet (footstep sounds): https://github.com/scraphammer/feet/rel ... 0.0/feet.u
• PONLIvi.u: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12zRZA5 ... drive_link
• google drive with textures and other stuff: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
• Template map 1 "Ocean": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nbIxJm ... drive_link
• Template map 2 "Volcanic": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cFuKpE ... drive_link
• Template map 3 "Rocky": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-1Ppvn ... drive_link

[mrhotdogvendor]

Wow, I am so excited to see where this new Unreal Mapping collab will lead to!

[Krull0r]

Count me in! Time for creating another atmospheric map for a collab!

[Aspide]

I'm in too , I already started working on my map, pushing my BSP terrain skills to the limit....

[nikosv]

I really wish I could have given time to this. Lockdown was such a nice and rare opportunity to dip back into this hobby, I'm glad we got the rock band back together for The Descent. Well mateys, best of luck- we have rough seas ahead, but I know ye be clever.

[ebd]

So it's March 1st, the soft deadline for map submissions. Maps need only be in a playable state and can still be rough around the edges, just enough for other participants to start testing and giving feedback. As mentioned, this is a somewhat soft deadline, so if an extra few days are needed to wrap things up it's cool, though for the final submission deadline we will need to be a lot more strict. More time before initial submission means less time for testing, iteration, polishing, and integration with the Hub map.

Mappers can submit their map any way that works. Google Drive, Dropbox, Discord uploads, other storage providers... any method for getting the maps to myself and/or SteadZ is acceptable and we'll make sure they make their way into the centralized google drive for testing.

Thanks everyone!

[ebd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by2KS5oqlvQ

We have a trailer! We are continuing to polish up the maps for the final release. Please stay tuned, and a deep thanks to everyone who helped us reach this point. Once the final release is ready we hope that everyone enjoys playing through this pack.

[Darkon]

oh wow.. 25th anniversary already!... great! Content of the mappack looks interesting! Will keep an eye out for this!

[ebd]

ATTENTION SAILORS. As you are undoubtedly aware, the voyage of this project has experienced some stormy seas this past year. After some discussion, we've charted a new course. Fear ye not, for this new heading is not so different from the old one. We've made the decision to open up a second wave of mapping efforts.

• This second wave is open to everyone, including anyone who submitted a map previously. The original rules were vague on this, but multiple submissions from each mapper are allowed.
• While submissions should be episodic, if a mapper decides to split their entry into multiple map files for technical or performance reasons that is perfectly fine.
• The new target release date will be November of 2024, in time for the 25th Anniversary of Unreal Tournament
• Mappers can start now if they haven't already.
• Maps should be submitted in a beta state by May 22nd, 2024, which is the 26th anniversary of Unreal.

As before:

• Mappers may work together or individually, as they choose.
• Mappers may have as much or as little custom content as they choose.
• Mappers can use whatever other tools they like... MacPaint, Fusion 360, Midinous, KidPix Studio, etc.
• There are some mapping templates designed to inspire creativity but there is no requirement to use them.
• Maps can integrate the theme as much or little as they like. Maybe a map is a high-stakes high-seas adventure, or maybe it's a classic romp through a (space) shipwreck or ancient.utx ruins. Maybe the rowboat takes a wrong turn towards the oceanic islands and ends up in the sky islands instead. Maybe it's something avant-garde the likes of which can't be captured in text? It's your call what to make.
• firetrucks.u version 1.3 or later has a lot of reworked features that are now coop compatible. Get the latest version here: https://github.com/scraphammer/firetrucks/releases/ (as of writing that is 1.3.2 release May 6 2023)
• kvstore.u is a generic key-value store that can be usually to track and preserve the state of anything. There are also templated translator messages that can read values from the state, and it works with firetrucks TextEvent2 as well https://github.com/scraphammer/kvstore/releases/
• feet.u is a generic footstep sound actor that works on both 227i and 227j https://github.com/scraphammer/feet

I'd like to extend a thank you to everyone for the awesome work from everyone so far. But enough about all that administrative stuff.. there are fresh opportunities for mapping to be had! Any mapper who knows their port from their starboard should get to it!

[ebd]

In most jurisdictions, the 22nd of May has come and gone, however some good points were raised in Discord that the coming weekend is a holiday weekend in the US and a good opportunity for people to get some time in for alpha/beta submissions. In light of this, alpha/beta submissions won't be considered late until June 1st.

---

Currently received submissions:

• Krull0r
• Aspide
• SteadZ (old submission)
• ebd (really ultra rough at the moment)
• Sat42
• Semfry
• Sly.
• Dannster

Will edit this post as submissions come in