And now for something completely different!

[FraGnBraG]

And with that for a "working title", this is (planned) to be a series of (hopefully) interesting puzzles and challenges, linked together with some sort of story advancing "cut scenes". I am assuming we can add mylevel scripting to our maps ...? If not, well, the CS thingies will just be static storyboard type things.

What I'll shoot for is more of a naked gun or galaxy quest approach to certain aspects of the beloved unreal game If this works out, it should be fun and entertaining. If it fizzles out (which it very easily could, lol) it will end up a small collection of unrelated levels stiched together into some kind of obstacle course ... either way there'll be something

And now, until I hear otherwise, I will attack the scripting tutorials...

Cheers and Good Luck!

[Buff Skeleton]

Stock content only: Entries are limited to using stock Unreal packages. They may not utilize custom textures, music, models or UT content. This also applies to any MyLevel content. Music from Return to Na Pali is an exception and may be used.

Looks like MyLevel scripting is a no go, but that's because the contest is about doing what you can solely with existing assets. Basically, the goal is to see what you can create only using what's available already.

[FraGnBraG]

...Looks like MyLevel scripting is a no go, but that's because the contest is about doing what you can solely with existing assets...

uh-oh, you mean I can't, for example, make a statue of a "stock" skaarg and make him appear to be posing in a position other than the default position? Or making a Nali (pawns) actually go and do something to open a door or whatever... I'm not talking about importing anything "new", just doing regular things you do in SP to deliberately sequence things... ah well, I guess I misunderstood that rule oh well, if that's the rub then I'll have to figure out how to do some things in other ways...

thanks

[TheIronKnuckle]

It sounds like what you're planning could well get by without mylevel scripting anyway. (And there's always the option to come back later and add it in, after the contest)

Either way, still looking forward to it!

[Buff Skeleton]

uh-oh, you mean I can't, for example, make a statue of a "stock" skaarg and make him appear to be posing in a position other than the default position? Or making a Nali (pawns) actually go and do something to open a door or whatever... I'm not talking about importing anything "new", just doing regular things you do in SP to deliberately sequence things... ah well, I guess I misunderstood that rule oh well, if that's the rub then I'll have to figure out how to do some things in other ways...

thanks

If you mean like AlarmPoints for the Nali, obviously that's all ok. If you want to have a Skaarj statue come to life or something, it can be done (see Shrakith'a) but it takes a bit more cleverness.

[FraGnBraG]

...If you want to have a Skaarj statue come to life or something, it can be done (see Shrakith'a) but it takes a bit more cleverness...

okay np, thanks guys (good thing I didn't start anything yet btw, i d/l'd that "Shrakith'a" short campaign... omg that's nicely done! and it's from 1999! I think I'm getting better ideas now... regarding Shrakith'a, do you know if all the "assets" used in his map are from Unreal (I noticed monk statues) neither myself or tom_cat can run the unreal 1 editor on our machines, so we can't really look at the "inventory". We have to use UED2.

Is it safe to say that all the decorations etc, that don't have "ut" in the name are fair-game? For exampe, there's the "intro ship" thingy used in the Shane Caudle map "Gateway.unr" a map which appears unfinished and is not used in the game but was included in the maps folder for some reason (perhaps for mappers?)

[UBerserker]

That can be used since it comes from the Unreal 1 packages. Anything Botpack is a big no.

[TheIronKnuckle]

Gateway is funny. It took me years to realise that a lot of the ONP opening cinematic was just gateway in disguise. And the credits "choose your own adventure" part.

AFAIK Shrakitha used purely stock content + some slightly modified stuff (eg. the guardian). I'm not sure about that final desert "extro" level though; it's such a different theme that I find it hard to believe it uses only stock content. If it does, then more points to Shrakitha for making something never seen before with the basic building blocks.

Good to see that you're investigating the best unreal SP packs! Shrakitha holds the highest score here. If you're looking for more good examples, I'd highly recommend you also play Waffnuffly's "The Last Fortress", it won the 8th anniversary speedmapping contest and is the only map on this site to have been given the score of 90 besides Tower Of Shrakitha. It will show you just what someone can pull off in 6 weeks. Also, "One Day" is a personal favourite of mine (and many others on this site).
Imo those three packs/maps best capture the amazing things this community can pull off.

I'd also recommend ONP, Nali Chronicles, Skaarj Tower: Shadow and Fire, everything Mr Prophet has ever made, and so on, but those packs are pretty much amazing full length games It'd take you more than 6 weeks to get through them!

[ividyon]

neither myself or tom_cat can run the unreal 1 editor on our machines, so we can't really look at the "inventory". We have to use UED2.

Are you sure? If you update Unreal to the unofficial Unreal 227g patch provided by OldUnreal, it upgrades the game's editor to UnrealEd 2.1, which is like UEd2, but with several improvements (like OpenGL/D3D9 viewports). Those should run on your machines just fine.

[FraGnBraG]

neither myself or tom_cat can run the unreal 1 editor on our machines, so we can't really look at the "inventory". We have to use UED2.

Are you sure? If you update Unreal to the unofficial Unreal 227g patch provided by OldUnreal, it upgrades the game's editor to UnrealEd 2.1, which is like UEd2, but with several improvements (like OpenGL/D3D9 viewports). Those should run on your machines just fine.

i (we) have not upgraded, the unreal is "out of the box" UTGOTY-Unreal... the editor complains about missing VB components, lol - anyways for this contest I thought the newer patched versions were not allowed... maybe I beter go back and read the rules again (slowly)

[Buff Skeleton]

When in doubt, view an actor's Object properties and see what package it's stored in. Anything Botpack.<whatever> is from UT, but stuff from UnrealI, UnrealShare, etc is an Unreal asset.

[FraGnBraG]

When in doubt, view an actor's Object properties and see what package it's stored in. Anything Botpack.<whatever> is from UT, but stuff from UnrealI, UnrealShare, etc is an Unreal asset.

Great! Thanks for the tips!

So we're off and running I have a number of UT projects I was planning to finish in the coming months but I'm parking those to do this... well cause this is way more new and interesting!! That said, since I've never really done much at all with SP (closest things might be a few UT-ASSAULT maps) I'm definitely the SP noob here so have a good chuckle at my expense if you want to, lol (don't laugh _too_ hard though, cause I _can_ bang out a mean level when I'm cornered )

Okay I've shifted my game idea a bit so rather than a comedy/farce I'll take the safer route and do a simple but somewhat cliche story. I'm going to spill the story part into the next few posts starting now (no title yet, and but no gameplay specifics! although that should be easy to guess, lol)

...

[FraGnBraG]

Prior to the events of Unreal on NaPali, this may very well be the actual "first contact" between humans and the Skaarj race, and as you can well imagine, it went pretty badly for the human side...

Act-1 [Just another day in space]:

You are introduced as a freight handler aboard ISV-Olympia, a supply transport in the terran merchant fleet. The Olympia is a rusty old ship, ready for retirement, this might be one of her last missions. She's not pretty, she's not fast and manuoverable like the newer fleet transports, equiped with a first generation FLD and old-tech nav and tracking sensors, the Corporation doesn't think the old boat is worth any more upgrades.

Since the merchant fleet operates only in terran controlled space, cargo ships lack defensive systems, energy shielding, and have minimal armament. Olympia has just two pulse-cannons - one forward and one rear firing, if you can call that armament...

The crew on this trip numbers about 100: the typical contigent of merchant marines, some engineers, system specialists and security personel, various civilian passengers travelling between colonies, the rest, like you, are unionized freight workers contracted by the corporation.

On these lengthy cargo runs, crew members spend their days in relative bordom. Not a lot of excitment in the void between colonies (except for the engineering staff, they're constantly repairing something on this old boat - one thing gets fixed, another thing breaks - this is pretty much the routine on Olympia.

This particular morning, the ship has just departed Delta 795, and is en-route to the Omega 23 colony to drop off much-needed medical equipment and supplies... You've just gotten out of bed and are about to head down to the galley for some breakfast before your shift. Seems like just another day in space but something is about to go very very wrong...

[Act-1 exciting action and gameplay]

Coming up... Act-2 [where the hell are we ?]

[Legendslayer222]

This could be the 'ISV Dragonfly' of the contest.

[Buff Skeleton]

except for the engineering staff, they're constantly repairing something on this old boat - one thing gets fixed, another thing breaks

Nice meta commentary on the nature of UED