[UT] Χέοψ DORADO -Final Ver-

[UB_]

XeopsRequisite.7z (141MB)
Includes the necessary files from EXU2 v7.2, oldskool239 and UTBP4, if needed.
XeopsDoradoFinal.7z (227MB)
Current and FINAL version of Xeops. In any case, overwrite everything.

XeopsMain.7z (92MB)
The OLD version of Xeops, kept for legacy purposes. Still depends on the XeopsRequisite package.

RMusic_Player (different version)
If EXU/Xeops' RMusic doesn't work, get this one. What you need is inside the System folder.


Χέοψ ~Cheope~, codenamed Xeops, is my "debut" Unreal single player map, almost 20 years in since I played the original game from the very first day of release. While G59 is already a thing I've never fully released a proper non-EXU Unreal map, and this would be it.

The dream concept of the map was something I thought of a year ago, planned for whatever incoming speedmapping contest would've come. Given the use of custom content it wouldn't have probably fit though. Besides, I had a lot to learn about mapping still; with the G59 rework I figured out a lot of stuff, so everything I learnt there were finally put to a test. With the help of the EXU framework and other content, inspired by ancient architecture, Serious Sam and my will to develop more stuff outside of G59 I created finally something I wanted for ages: starting from a 46080x23040x7168 sized cube I brainstormed a layout off a random point of the playable zone.

Xeops's gameplay relies both on exploration and very frantic battles, similar to The Last Fortress. You get to play with a rather different weapon set, fight against enhanced enemies and discover well-hidden secrets. The whole experience is also story-driven - similar to G59 your character has a name and a personality, though as usual you aren't forced to pick him as your model. Overall a single robust level that can clock up to multiple hours depending on the difficulty chosen, with an advanced sci-fi theme that doesn't go too far off from classic Unreal (at least, not more than certain other packs).
Again, as the map uses the EXU framework: it's just for enhanced scripted pawns, trigger actors and more. Seasoned EXU players might find few familiar stuff but remember this is regular Unreal.

Information on files, tech-related stuff and credits are in the readme.

Music provided once again by Cybernetika/Xenofish just like in G59. RMusic_Player is being used for this map, so remember that you can only set the music volume from the RMusic settings under the "Mods" menu. You have to restart the game for the change to take effect between loading games.

► Show Spoiler

• 01. Submerge | Xenofish | Bypass | 8:17 | LINK
• 02. 277 MHz | Cybernetika | Cybernetika.de | 5:59 | LINK
• 03. Orbital Forge | Cybernetika | Cybernetika.de | 3:01 | LINK
• 04. Nightfall | Cybernetika | Cybernetika.de | 7:33 | LINK
• 05. Elementshifter | Xenofish | 2015 | 7:36 | LINK

~ GLORY TO KHUFU ~

Ancient Terran history transcending the Solar System.
An adoration from the outer space, leading to the nascency of a sacred land as an act of respect and zeal.
The Pharaoh is not alive. He may however have discerned the efforts from the afterlife. Or so they think.
Or what else?
No one will know. They are long gone, but
what they've done is everlasting, permanent, imperishable.
- - -
Possibilities of exploration beyond reaches for Terrans have arisen for decades.
So for many others.
It's a virulent race of who gathers the most marvelous technologies lost in the absoluteness of the Universe.
The vanquishers shall open the gates of excessive strength. Then, the new advanced era will impel.

This is one of many tales.

MISSION INFORMATION
In honor of this incoming mission, the ATUM subsidiary team of the Terran forces has been constituted. The specialty of this group is its sole reliance on a one-man army - Damien.

An unknown technology appears to be possibly located in a location of a planet that was once inhabited by a cousin race of the Human one; this is heavily suggested by the general architecture resembling the ancient Egyptian civilization one from Earth. The planet is located in the same galaxy as planet Na Pali.

One of the enemies, Apep's forces, are going there too. No time to waste: pursuing them rapidly and invading the planet before Apep can regroup and coordinate their strategies there in time. The ATUM will cast the "immortal" Damien for to complete the mission.

The mission in question: finding the unknown technology (if it exists) in this location and destroying it, possibly without bringing much harm to the place. Gathering something of interesting is however allowed. If the mission is successful, the Apep forces might be out of the intergalactic game once for all, so the stakes are high.

GENERAL INFORMATION PANEL

► Show Spoiler

Terran Forces - Main
Conglomerate of mercenary forces that seek to destroy powerful technologies rather than making use of them. "Terran" just in name: all the Humans cover engineering and economic functions, while the military aspects are carried by Mercenaries, Skaarj (Hybrids and non) and Necris.
They are on a good spot, and are recently undergoing a streak of successful small missions. This incoming one is more important by comparison. Terran forces have few relevant subsidiaries, the current main ones being ATUM, OMICRON-DAWN and the Thunder Crash Space Division.

Terran Forces - ATUM
The newly constituted group; formed by Necris and Skaarj Hybrids, which includes some of the best strategists the Terran Forces have to offer, the group is named after the Egyptian supreme god. The military operations are all done by a singular unit, Damien.

Terran Forces - Damien
The only Human of ATUM, and the only one as a whole of the Terran Forces to fight in the battlefield. Former insane deathmatch contender, he has remained ageless after an unknown incident on a planet during a scouting mission that he never tells about. Therefore, he's immortal and can only die by being directly killed.
Boasting and easy-going, he never leaves his Chainsaw at home and is known for acting borderline stupid at times. These are the weapons he brought for the mission:

• Chainsaw - Damien's favorite weapon, who he enjoys relying on it too much. Thanks to his expertise, it's deadlier than ever. Chainsaw swipes are not to be underestimated.
• Akimbo Automag - last resort guns to kill foes at long distances.
• Quadshot - the quad Shotgun. Has nine charges that need to be reloaded manually for consecutive shots. Alternate fire unloads four charges. Each shell pack comes with 8 ammo, up to 80.
• Rifle - for long-range purposes against annoyingly strong units. With newly produced bullets. Hit always at the heads.
• Minigun - the weapon's value has soared extremely high after the production of new ammunition started long ago. The Minigun does not share ammo with the Automag, and can carry up to 800 ammo. Each ammo pack comes with 100 bullets.
• An Universal Translator.
• A Flashlight.
• Three Na Pali Seeds.
• An Armor. Assault Vests of the Terran Forces are slightly upgraded in terms of durability. Combat Boots are also actively used. Health packs and bandages remain what they are.

After Damien landed on the planet, he decided to jump from the archway down to ground because he's mentally screwed. He will wake up shortly, hopefully. It's alright.

Terran Forces - OMICRON DAWN
OMICRON DAWN is the resident and longest military subgroup of the Terran Forces. Consists of an elite group of Mercenaries with expertise in survival and heavy weaponry. The fighting squad is composed by 24 members, and they are usually sent in the most dangerous missions such as visiting uncharted planets. They are currently analyzing a planet filled of ancient mystical ruins.

Terran Forces - Thunder Crash Space Division
Derived from the Thunder Crash tournament group from Earth, the TCSD is the Terran Forces's frontline for space exploration and battles. Members consist of a bit of all - Necris, Mercenaries and Skaarj. A bunch of friendly people that can be always counted on in the most desperate moments.

The Lone One
A distant, non-affiliate contact that the Terran Forces have for ages. He's a human, white-haired. Most of the time he suggests what should be done or avoided. He tends to speaks about weird unrelated things but his help may be needed in the future. Describes himself as a veteran fighter, too.

Apep Forces - Main
The enemies of this mission. A threatening group of space pirates that follow the Skaarj doctrine of the past; dealt with the Terran Forces multiple times. One time it concluded with a resource of Tarydium (rarity has become high) being lost in space.
They consist of highly trained Krall and Krall Elites, alongside the Krall Seer - enormous yellow Krall who evolved in the desert; the Skaarj Warriors, named Skaarj Rogues, equipped with modernized Razik; the Skaarj Overlords, an artificial variant of the Skaarj Warlords for normal battles, equipped with guns that shoot homing flames; lastly, the Brute caste, equipped with all sorts of different firepower.
The commander is the Skaarj Warlord Apophis.
Stakes are high: a victory for the Apep could mean a lot for them, and to everyone in the Universe; if they lose, they might fall down forever.
Weapons of the Apep forces are usually the following:

• Shock Rifle - the energy unleashed appears to be very strong; we are expecting the shock combos to pulverize any sort of average units.
• Pulse Rifle - damage definitely upgraded. The battery has been upgraded to carry energy up from 199% to 420%.
• Ripper - holds up to 100 blades. Ammo packs come with 30 blades. Blades are faster and even better suited to cut necks.
• Svarog Incinerator - a weapon created by the Apep forces; it's capable of shooting flurry of mini-rockets, or an incinerating, large fireball. Makes use of chemical as ammo.
  Tools of the Apep forces are the following:
  
  • MedBox - slightly better at healing than the Terran Forces' health packs but can also go beyond physical stability.
  • Vials - lite version of the MedBox for small uses.
  • Keg - the energy contained is high enough to heal an user to the maximum.
  • Shields - they glow, so easier to locate than most items.

Apep Forces - Commander Apophis
The commander of the Apep Forces, a reserved Skaarj Warlord; he speaks throughout his soldiers.
Apophis empowers himself with anything he and his group can locate; he has grown quite powerful, with most entities referring him as a "devil". It's likely that he wants to steal the technology on this planet too and make use of it in whatever next mission.

Drakk
A once mechanical menace who threatened the order of the Universe with their insane technology, until their defeat by a joint alliance of several space races and groups. The effect of the Drakk's existence remains today, and their unsurpassed technology is what inspired many universal races to become stronger and rule over other.
Drakk technology still exists, be it lost somewhere or given as a gift to developing civilizations in exchange of praise and peace. Some have been located, either being kept in safe places or straight-out used in missions.
Some of the surviving Drakk, to continue to live, had to rebuild themselves with completely different materials and tech but are far away to what the original machines were in terms of power.

Neriux Army
With the destruction of the Liandri corporation, many of its members and Corrupt robots escaped somewhere in the Universe; they however managed to find a good deal of lost Drakk technology and over the ages they have evolved into a hi-tech army known as Neriux. As the intergalactic race goes, they are quite far beyond anyone else at the moment, and search of Drakk technology is a massive priority to them.
If Xan still exists, it's believed to be commanding Neriux.

Striders
The parasitic biomechanical race has still quite the heavy presence in the Universe. Capable of self-growing armor, weapons and even spaceships, contact with the Striders is recommended to be entirely avoided. They are lately developing a mean to ABSORB other non-Strider things for their own use - it appears to be simply black flesh matter, after a test seen lightyears away.

Rebuilt Drakk
What remains of the old Drakk. Nowhere near as menacing or intelligent as before, their new personal technology is still beyond high standards. They lack anything for fighting in space but can safely and rapidly invade planets. They look like white robotic drones or golden obelisks.

[radios]

is this a new movie?.

[editor Dave]

I think this thread wants to hype up for whatever he was going for with this: viewtopic.php?p=75411#p75411

Mission accomplished! Moar info please

[Diego96]

I think this thread wants to hype up for whatever he was going for with this: viewtopic.php?p=75411#p75411

Mission accomplished! Moar info please

DUMBSHIT HYPE

[UB_]

I think this thread wants to hype up for whatever he was going for with this: http://www.unrealsp.org/viewtopic.php?p=75411#p75411

Mission accomplished! Moar info please

DUMBSHIT HYPE

The .unr is still named like that at the moment, lmao

[UB_]

Serious notes aside it's far away from being ready. There are crapload things yet to be done, alongside testing (which will be done under all difficulties, it's a single map).

In the meanwhile go play&comment Hard Crash since it's fun to play as fuck viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4304

[UB_]

Some update: finally reached testing phase for the map. Has been a massive headache so far because it pushes the engine (not the amount of custom content used but for the particular use of lighting) to the point that in the editor it crashes with lights on. Thanksfully this never seems to happen in-game! The limitations of the engine definitely stink, almost killing all the satisfaction of developing the level.

Since I'd wanted this completed under at least 6 weeks and I'm close to finishing the 4th week so to say I'll probably make a short intro map as well.
Screw that this map doesn't need intro support

Ok fine have some shot


You may have noticed the Minigun having an abnormal amount of ammo.
YES.
The map has a rather more colorful weapon inventory; the Minigun for example can now have up to 800 ammo, does not share ammo with the Automag (which is here your "last resort" weapon) and with the improved scripted pawns the weapon is finally useful and fun to use.

[editor Dave]

I see some Shrakitha influence there, nice!

I have always had to deal with lighting issues and what I noticed is that the editor crashes when a single light actor emits light on too many surfaces at once (so reduce the radius; I have been told that 23 is a safe bet, usually), or when a single surface is lit by too many light actors (so you would have to reduce the overall light actors in some places, or their radii as well). When you move lights without rebuilding lighting, or rebuild new geometry without a lighting rebuild, you might cause one of these two errors as well. I hope you can create a stable map!

[UB_]

Beta testing on Easy/Medium successful, Hard/Unreal runs will be done tomorrow. So expect a release Saturday.

Probably as issues go there might be some slowdowns and brushes-becoming-invisible-when-you-look-at-a-certain-angle bugs. The latter is a mainstay annoyance that I got to know since months/years and frankly the engine can go fuck itself in this case. Not like the issue appears right in front of your face - besides they are nowhere near as static HOMs or killer BSP.
Also RMusic_Player is still wonky when it comes to saves/loads on oldskool when the music is stopped, even if the correct gametype is used. EDIT: fixed by letting it play a silent mp3 instead of using AC_STOP.

Few things:

• Map will make use of the EXU framework for better and more stable actors, advanced pawn orders and lots of quickly available customization (as seen in this thread). Epic's stuff feels obsolete, plus this is also a great test for Waff's ultra-massive EXU system in a non-EXU environment. I didn't even have to use a single MONSTER SPAWNPOINT! NOT EVEN ONE. What a goddamn relief.
• With what is said above, there will be two DL links: first installation is with the release itself, the entire EXU 7.1 and its side content packaged without its maps and music (those are strictly BI campaign content, unrelated to the main packages) and the general setup files that EXU2 always brings (oldskool, bp4 etc - again thanks Waff for this really good idea); second link is for those who already have v7.1 installed, which is just the map and the content it exclusively uses.
• The map is tested under EXUOpenGL, which I'm hoping at least everyone is using that one. D3D10 should be fine too. Once again, both drivers are included in the full installation download, and since I'm prudent as fuck, I'll paste in my settings too.

That should be it. The story premise will be slightly expanded on release; even the incoming logo screenshot will be canon to the story.

I see some Shrakitha influence there, nice!

To answer this, I wasn't influenced by Shrakitha at all actually. As Unreal goes I guess the only thing going for it was aiming for a ultra robust single map like TLF and Triamid.
Proper visual inspiration is from Egyptian architecture (generally as seen now, i.e. the ruins, not as they looked in ancient times) and from Serious Sam BFE where devs did an extremely good job recreating current Egyptian temple ruins. You don't need to go full-detail mode with that architecture - and it's also a plot point.
I could potentially add more details but that means adding more light actors and I don't want to risk. Unreal sadly was made for being dark and gloomy with pisspoor sunlight; I'm not sure how much 227 improves on a midday style sunlight but even then I never used the 227 editor and my gameplay ideas were based on the EXU framework, so had to choose the latter. Engine limitations are tilting.

[editor Dave]

Honestly, I was simply referring to that certain lighting technique which probably was first used in Shrakitha. Actually, I was thinking about Serious Sam, as well. So, from what I understand, this will rather feel like a regular map than the hyper-scaling of HP and fire power found in EXU. In that case, I will probably play it soon after the release; EXU styled maps need a longer time frame to prepare and finish. ^^

[UB_]

Looks like Unreal difficulty extends the map longevity to the point I have to likely postpone the release to Sunday, since besides last few fixes I'll have to cook up a big logo screen a la G59 and a huge re-edit of the main post.
Level quite fucking hype so far, scales drastically well through difficulties from joke level to high-end skill one. I'm clocking almost 3 hours in.

[UB_]

MAIN POST FULLY UPDATED WITH ALL INFO YOU NEED
BUT NO DOWNLOAD LINKS YET

Tomorrow at some hours the links will go live.

The story definitely permits more entries. If I'll ever decide to make new maps, they'll all be related to this one.

[SteadZ]

Holy shit boi, that's a pretty hot title card you got there.

I await release with baited breath :O

.......
SZ
.......

[Diego96]

Holy crap, whatever new weapons you made I wanna try them. Does it have a new roster of enemies too?

[salsaSkaarj]

Having read it needs the EXU framework I had decided to let this one pass-by. However the intro writing makes me wonder whether my decision is a good one or not. I now think it's not so I'm going to give this ago. Just wondering where I'll find the time, oh well, I could skip some more meals and reduce sleeping hours by another 25%