[RELEASED] The Vale: Evelyn [UT]

[SteadZ]

3rd shot = scene where you ambushed by brutes crawling out of their growth tanks?

Looking forward to the release!

[fashahhh]

Check the first post people. It's released!
https://www.unrealsp.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4549

[AlCapowned]

Just finished playing, it's absolutely fantastic. The map is incredibly detailed considering just how big it is, and the only technical issue I had was some lag here and there. There's so much variety and I loved exploring every bit of it. I also really liked what you did with a lot of the decorations, they added a lot of variety.

An amazing release just in time for USP's birthday. Thanks so much, man.

[Teridax]

This is one hell of a map! It's gorgeous and atmospheric - I had a great time exploring it, especially since exploration is rewarded. You have a great eye for detail. Unreal difficulty was challenging without being overly punishing or unfair.

[salsaSkaarj]

Started yesterday late, actually this morning and rushed through until I found a switch and then got hurt by a tentacle I hadn't noticed, jumped down the waterfalls and broke my leg/head.
The 10 minutes I played were sufficient to make me want to start this again ASAP, great visuals, nice open area and the terrain is intriguing, looking at the filesize this must be a very big map. I started on Medium since it's been some time but that seemed a trifle easy: next try will be on Hard.
First impression is very, very positive.

[UB_]

Was fun testing this. Seriously really amazing map in just about everything it has to offer!

[SteadZ]

Just finished playing it and thoroughly enjoyed it - non-linearity/exploration is always a big plus in my books and as already mentioned, very very nice attention to detail and I really loved particularly how much the Nali houses actually felt like actual homes with all the new decorations etc.
Gameplay was just challenging enough for me (medium), though I am a not the best at combat it has to be said
The little bit of history in the readme was interesting too, the Lake District really is an inspiring place for big landscapes
(Also love that you gave the Krall yorkshire/northern accents haha)

Hopefully this release might give some more ex-bfnp guys the motivation to pop up and finish something...

[fashahhh]

Thanks for the comments guys! I'm completely made up that you like it .

I should have wrote this in the readme but Hard difficulty is how I envisioned it being played. if you've played it on medium give it a try on hard difficulty, just watch out for those rockets!

Thanks to UBerserker for testing as I was having problems with gameplay balancing in a few areas, plus I almost missed some silly shit that I probably wouldn't have picked up on.

[editor Dave]

This map is really huge! Espcially with this much terrain, I can only imagine your pain in bug fixing! A few points I particularily liked:
- The overall story aspect is well integrated - and you only used the regular storytelling devices Unreal offers! The environmental storytelling very early in the map was captivating: I could make up in detail what has happened before the messages told me so. The ending was rewarding as well.
- Most of the places have a strong sense of purpose, which is also elevated through all the detailed objects. It's inspiring!
- I like that the gameplay is two-fold: The first half seems to rely more on exploring and storytelling, while after encountering Skaarj Gunners, the fighting becomes more challenging - a true progression.
However, I don't want to hide that the map didn't offer much that suprised me, even the modified enemies didn't do enough for me. This is hard, of course, since there's been so much done for the engine, and it probably wasn't your utmost intention to surprise. Nonetheless, this is an excellently executed map, perhaps even the go-to map if you are looking for a one map experience in (an updated) classic Unreal fashion!

[fashahhh]

Thought I'd post the old screenies if anyone's interested to see what this could have been. Some of you may have seen them before.


This is a very early shot of the bottom of the canyon after the fort (of course the fort didn't exist back then) using placeholder textures. As the map was to be played in reverse this would have been the second section of the vale where the player would first encounter the wolves. You can just make out a cart behind the rock which would have been an unfortunate traveler caught in a wolf ambush.


A view from the top of the canyon using the new BfNP snowy texture set. The fog was fully implemented using a new OpenGL renderer however the snow is just sheets for the publicity shot. The geometry of this remained mostly unchanged for the final version.


A shot of the original final area with the hunters cabin. I was gutted I had to cut this but it was just too high on node count. This area turned into the open ocean eventually where you begin the map.


The thermal falls. This is still there but the landbridge was lowered so the player could access the other falls.


A corridor from an attempted speedmap called Astrox. This was originally a Mercenary starship with a simple escape storyline. This became the access corridor that leads down to the labs.


Another shot from Astrox. This became the lab area itself.


There are also sections shown in the BfNP trailer:
1:18 was the first valley which changed extensively to the area where you enter the mines.
2.05 was the base of the waterfall from this area. I really wished I could get my hands on the energy rifle but it wasn't to be .
2.33 should be fairly familiar as the 2 bridges remain unchanged. The canyon behind though was changed to accommodate the bridge in the final version.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/J15YVm14cjc

[salsaSkaarj]

Finished on Hard.
It does get progressively harder the further your get and luckily the outside part allows spamming the DP to save the heavier ammo. The rocket guys are indeed seriously dangerous as they notice the player from far and fire without it being seen until it's almost too late. I also had a very close escape once with a sniper on an overhanging archway (lost all shield there).
The outside area is a stunning as I expected. I enjoyed that the most as many seemingly unreachable areas are in fact reachable.
I almost died when suddenly 2 almost invisible stalkers appeared (there was a translator message just before but I didn't have a clue about what was coming) and that was just at the right moment because the inside gameplay risked becoming repetitive.

I did die once however with the last Boss who just refused to die even after unloading just about all ammo I had on the bugger. Turns out I should have shifted my attention to the new stalkers immediately. Luckily my only savegame wasn't too far back. My first thought was that this was bad gameplay design, but on second thought I think this was the correct decision and I should have realised earlier that this was a different fight.

Overall this is an outstanding map and the outside area with the mountain paths (after the inside area) could be the best I've ever seen (yeah, it's subjective and still very fresh in mind but it never looked repetitive and is full of surprises).
DEFINITELY going to play this again on Unreal difficulty in the not too distant future.

[fashahhh]

I did die once however with the last Boss who just refused to die even after unloading just about all ammo I had on the bugger. Turns out I should have shifted my attention to the new stalkers immediately. Luckily my only savegame wasn't too far back. My first thought was that this was bad gameplay design, but on second thought I think this was the correct decision and I should have realised earlier that this was a different fight.

I actually toned down the boss fight. I originally had the Stalkers at full health plus the boss was able to move whilst firing those exploding projectiles. In honesty I found it impossible to get past them as they would chase you around and those projectiles finished you off super quick. Having set the boss to stop whilst firing in the released version gives you the chance to get away from him and concentrate on the pests and stalkers first. There should be enough ammo in the arena to cope with them all.

[salsaSkaarj]

I actually toned down the boss fight. I originally had the Stalkers at full health plus the boss was able to move whilst firing those exploding projectiles. In honesty I found it impossible to get past them as they would chase you around and those projectiles finished you off super quick. Having set the boss to stop whilst firing in the released version gives you the chance to get away from him and concentrate on the pests and stalkers first. There should be enough ammo in the arena to cope with them all.

There is enough ammo, and after the first disaster ( ) I realised how this fight was set up. It's still a very dangerous fight but if I can beat it on Unreal difficulty then UB and [UDHQJackrabbit probably won't find it a top challenge. That doesn't imply that it should be made harder. UB probably plays at 115% speed anyway .

[UB_]

UB probably plays at 115% speed anyway .

LUL nah I went back to 100% because of map testing. I also tested the pre-release version of The Vale which was way more difficult.

[Semfry]

A great level and excellent visuals too (and stuff like the living areas and houses have a bunch of details to stop them being generic). It weaves in multiple themes and has it all interlink later on. I didn't find it especially tough on Unreal but there are some good fights and the modified enemies add a bit of spice to things (although the stealth enemies in open areas that make them visable way before they're a danger felt a little odd). While it keeps to Unreal's story style, what backstory there is helps give a general motivation for the route. My only issue outside the occasional enemy placement I mentioned is that the ending felt a little abrupt, and it felt like there should have been a small escape sequence or something, especially as the level loops back near to the start anyway.

In the basement at the Nali village there are also some boxes you can get stuck behind (damage boosting aside), it's pretty easy to find so probably doesn't need images.