A PROPER map pack

[Private_Joker]

I work an Info Tech job with lots of down time at my computer, so I figure I'll put a map pack together tomorrow. So far my experience has been of disorganized collections of .rom files heaped in with .7z , .zip , and .rar inside a few giant .zips, whice takes alot of sorting and **** to make use of. I'd like to put together a small, easy-to-use collection of essential maps for the good of both new players and new servers.

At the moment, my plan is to collect all of the final releases listed in this forum, along with the most popular favorites from gusone's thread, for a reasonably small pack.

Right now, I ask three things from the people in this forum community:

1. Is this useful--is somebody else working on something similar or is there another reason I shouldn't bother?
2. Who wants to host the download?
3. Each of you, in an obnoxious, disorganized fashion, call out the name of one map that I MUST include, as if your preference should serve as decree

-Joker

 

[Extreme_One]

2. Who wants to host the download?

KillingFloormods.com will host the download if

a) As you say, only good quality final maps are incorporated
b) All original map authors are credited in the description/ readme

 

[Tagert]

I would also be willing to host them at my community site www.lern2play.org/kf-mappack/ for example

Although if you're making a map-pack for the players.
Could you offer the same one but in a compressed form so it's just for server admins to add them to their download directory instead of having to manually compress each and everyone of them for a fast download.

Just a question

 

[Sheezwack]

Only worth it if you rename the files with proper version and none of this FINAL crap.

What happens when someone finds a glitch/exploit on a FINAL map? You either don't fix it because it's already the FINAL, you fix it can call it FINAL2 or you fix it and keep it called FINAL and get mismatching maps.

They should be versioned just like any software out there, would be nice if someone could come up with some sort of standard, but it's probably too much to ask for mappers to get their **** together

Ideally TWI could keep some 'official' community maps that get downloaded via steam, so they can be kept up to date properly and you don't really need versions at all.

 

[Private_Joker]

Although if you're making a map-pack for the players.
Could you offer the same one but in a compressed form so it's just for server admins to add them to their download directory instead of having to manually compress each and everyone of them for a fast download.

Absoloutely, but first someone has to reply this thread a crash course on how fast DL works for this game engine--I've been meaning to figure it out for my own server. I've heard the word 'redirect' tossed around, but it this compression another less complicted option?

Only worth it if you rename the files with proper version and none of this FINAL crap.

I think not. In Joker's world, it's bad voodoo to change anything about another author's work, and it's also terribly inconvenient, for players, to change the name of a map that's already released. Let the mappers worry about quality control in their maps--if the threat of a glitch or exploit freaks you out so much, offer yourself up as a beta tester to the mappers.

Cheers,
-Joker

 

[Skunkee]

Make sure that the quality map pack you create has all of the current Whitelist naming conventions to make it easy for server administrators and players alike to comply with TW's map rules.

Other than that suggestion, sounds good broseph.

Here's the current Map White List:

KF-BioticsLab.rom
KF-Farm.rom
KF-Foundry.rom
KF-Menu.rom
KF-Manor.rom
KF-Offices.rom
KF-WestLondon.rom
KFintro.rom
Entry.rom
KF-[LT]PoliceStation-V3.rom
KF-AHouse.rom
KF-AquaStudy.rom
KF-AquaStudy-Beta.rom
KF-Arcade-Action-v2.rom
KF-Arcade-Shopping-Center-final.rom
KF-ArchivesA05.rom
KF-Arena.rom
KF-Asylum-B1.rom
KF-Asylum-B3.rom
KF-BarbedSchool26.rom
KF-Biohazard.rom
KF-Bridge-RSIX.rom
KF-Cellar.rom
KF-Concert-Hall_Beta1.rom
KF-Concert_Hall.rom
KF-CubicleLab.rom
KF-DarkRoad-B.rom
KF-DarkRoads-F.rom
KF-DarkTunnelsV2.rom
Kf-DeathPit.rom
Kf-DeathPitFinal.rom
kf-defence-b1.rom
kf-defence-b2.rom
KF-Desperation_beta1.rom
KF-Doom2-Final.rom
KF-Doom2v1.rom
KF-Downtown.rom
KF-EscapeToHeaven.rom
KF-Floor17Final.rom
KF-FogFieldBeta3a.rom
KF-Gladiator_Beta1.rom
KF-GothicV1.rom
KF-HappyHour.rom
KF-HappyHourV2-25.rom
KF-HeresyBeta3.rom
KF-HnA_Dust2_Beta3.rom
KF-House[TE]OutsideV4BETA3.rom
KF-House[TE]OutsideV6.rom
KF-Industry.rom
kf-killbox.rom
KF-Last-Hopev2.rom
kf-Last-Hopev5.rom
KF-LastStand.rom
KF-LastStand2.rom
KF-La_Casa_Muerta-RC.rom
KF-LibraryB2.rom
KF-LibraryB3.rom
KF-LostContact.rom
KF-LOTD-Downtown.rom
KF-MainStreetBeta.rom
KF-MainStreetFinal.rom
KF-Marshes.rom
KF-Medieval-Beta1.rom
KF-MosEisley.rom
KF-MosEisleyBeta3.rom
KF-MosEisleyNight.rom
KF-Multistorey_B1.rom
KF-NagomiSou.rom
KF-NursingHomev2.rom
KF-Odessa.rom
KF-OldeTower-alphaFIX.rom
KF-Origins.rom
KF-OrmanManor.rom
KF-OrmanManor_vBeta01.rom
KF-PacMan.rom
KF-PandorasBoxV1_5.rom
KF-Paradisemall.rom
KF-Parkinglot.rom
KF-Penumbra.rom
KF-Prison.rom
KF-RSIX-Cave.rom
KF-RSIX-MAP2.rom
KF-RSIX-MAP3.rom
KF-RSIX-TheSumOfAllFears.rom
KF-SecretPassage.rom
KF-sherwoodforest-beta1.rom
KF-Stranded-Remix.rom
KF-Stranded.rom
KF-Streetv2.rom
KF-Streetv2beta.rom
KF-Surroundedv1.1.rom
KF-SwampAlpha.rom
KF-SwampBeta.rom
KF-Tao.rom
KF-TBAHybzBeta1.1a.rom
KF-TestMap.rom
KF-Thames_Bridge_B1.rom
KF-TheHiveV1.ROM
KF-TheOffice.rom
KF-toomuch.rom
KF-TrailOfTheWoodsFINAL.rom
KF-Walkways_Beta2.rom
KF-Walkways_Beta4.rom
KF-WestLondonNight.rom
KF-WestLondonNight_v7.rom
KF-Winchester.rom
KF-Wolf.rom

Please use this thread to request your map get added to the White List of Maps.

The ones highlighted in yellow are some of my personal faves

 

[Extreme_One]

Absoloutely, but first someone has to reply this thread a crash course on how fast DL works for this game engine--I've been meaning to figure it out for my own server. I've heard the word 'redirect' tossed around, but it this compression another less complicted option?
..

http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=30579

....

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. INSTALLING CUSTOM MAPS USING A REDIRECT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Using the Killing Floor SDK the community is able to create its own maps for Admin to host of their servers. These maps can be automatically downloaded by users joining your server with a few easy steps as follows:

1) Download a custom map and place it in your maps folder. In my case I downloaded KF-WestLondonNight.rom and placed it in C:\KS1\maps

2) Go to your system folder and make a .bat with the following code:

ucc compress ..\maps\<mapname.rom>

Mine is:

ucc compress ..\maps\KF-WestLondonNight.rom

This will compress the map into into a much smaller size and display .uz2 at the end of the map name.
KF-WestLondonNight.rom was compressed from 10.7 MB > 1.78 MB. This will reduce download time and keep bandwidth to a fraction of what it would have been without compression.

3) Go to your map folder and you'll see the compressed map as <mapname.rom.uz2>.

4) Remove this compressed map from your map folder and upload it to your third party host. I made a folder in the main web host directory called maps and placed the compressed map in there. [url]http://www.yourhost.com/maps/[/URL]

5) Go to your KillingFloor.ini and locate [IpDrv.HTTPDownload]
In the RedirectToURL= place the location of the compressed map:
RedirectToURL=[url]http://www.yourhost.com/maps/[/URL]

Note the forward slash at the end of the redirect link.

By default you will see UseCompression=True is already set.

6) Find the [DefaultKF MaplistRecord] in your KillingFloor.ini and add the name of the map to the bottom. In my case:
DefaultMaps=KF-WestLondonNight

You can also perform this task in the Web Admin Interface.

7) Restart your server and perform a Map Vote for the new map.

If you don't have a host who can store your maps then you can at least test the function using [url]http://www.fileden.com/[/URL] They will allow you to upload 1GB of files with a maximum of 50mb per file. You will also have 5GB of monthly bandwidth all for FREE.

You can also configure the redirect from your own server PC by installing your own web hosting files, like Apache. You may issues getting the maps if you're on a LAN but you can always install them to your client files manually.
...

 

[Private_Joker]

Thanks for the suggestion Skunkee, I'll make sure the names are right.

Ok extreme, so you're looking for the collection of .roms which have been compressed to .uz2 for the purpose of the redirect method, I get it. I have two questions:
What about other bits of the maps? I think it was you that pointed out that only the actual map file will be pushed for download from the server, so should I even bother packing up any maps that have special textures or audio?
Next, for my own knowledge, do I have to web host compressed files, or can I just have the .uz2 in the /maps/ directory on my server, so that clients will opt to download the compressed automatically instead of choking my bandwidth on the full .rom ?

-Joker

 

[Private_Joker]

Alright, so I've got a good start. I counted up all the "votes" from gusone's thread, and downloaded all of http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/forumdisplay.php?f=90[url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/forumdisplay.php?f=90[/URL] .

For those who might be interested,

favorites.txt

TrailOfTheWoods     2
MosEisleyNight
WestLondonNight     4
Doom2Final          3
Origins
AHouse
HappyHour           3
TheHive             2
OldeTower           2
Manor               4
WestLondon          3
BioTech             4
Offices
Sherwood Forest
HeresyB3
Gothicv1
ArcadeShopping
Gladiator
Downtown            2
Marshes
aquastudy
Swamp

I found that all the maps which received more than one vote are a subset of the Final releases thread, so I have nothing to add to that list:

releases.txt

Boink
Downtown
HappyHour
Library
AquaStudy
Arcade-Action
Biohazard
Bridge-RSIX
Canyon
Concert_Hall
DarkRoads
Darktunnels
DeathPit
Doom
EscapeToHeaven
Floor17
Gothic
House-Outside
MainStreet
MosEisley
MosEisleyNight
NagomiSou
Origins
OrmanManor
Refuge
RSIX-Cave
RSIX-Map2
RSIX-Map3
RSIX-TheSumOfAllFears
Stranded
Stranded-Remix
TheOffice
TrailOfTheWoods
WishingWell
Silo
WestLondonNight

Also,
notes.txt

considering omitting one bugislive's "stranded" maps. not enough need for the same map twice--who has played these maps? is one clearly better or are they just different?

skipping aquastudy-final, since a V2 was released--beta your maps more plz, dragonfel

considering skipping some of RSIXJasmin's RSIX maps, because it looks like they were worked out hastily and might be dodgy

skipping rsix-map2, newer version

So now I'd like as much community input as possible to trim this list down. At the moment, it's about 240MB. Anyone with an opinion, please start blackballing any of these maps (from the releases.txt list).

Go!

-Joker

 

[Private_Joker]

Other notes:

Considering splitting the pack into two parts, the first of which has the essential files for each map, an the second of which has the music. The pro of this is that it'll drop the file size by quite a bit, the con is that it suggests for lazy downloaders to miss out on the music--something that the servers' lack of redirect-ability might cause anyway. As soon as the music pack is installed, the maps' music will start working again (as I understand it). Thoughts on this, anybody?

I'll be sure to name the directories in the structure in all lower-case, in order to be linux-server-friendly.
i.e.

-killingfloor
     +maps
     +textures
     +music
     +animations
     +staticmeshes
     +system
     +sounds

Are there any other such technical considerations that anyone could think of\inform me of?

-Joker

 

[Extreme_One]

There are more than a couple of maps in your list that I personally wouldn't include and won't have on my game server but hey, this is a democracy thing right?

I truly believe that WestLondonNight should really be WestLondonNight_v7 (This is by far the more superior version)

You really ought to ensure you use DarkRoads-F

Regarding splitting out the music ... I think you should consider two packs:

• A Client Pack which includes .rom map files and .ogg music files
• A Server Pack which consists only of .uz2 files.

I'm not convinced that any maps that require additional content (texture and model files that haven't been packed into the .rom) should be included in the server pack as I'm still unclear whether a redirect will push these texture and model files to the client. (Someone please feel free to tell me I'm misinformed and explain how to do it correctly!)

And for your own knowledge :
On your game server in your maps folder you merely include the .rom files and on your redirect server you merely include a folder full of .uz2 files.
^ I think this is what you were asking?

 

[Sheezwack]

I think not. In Joker's world, it's bad voodoo to change anything about another author's work, and it's also terribly inconvenient, for players, to change the name of a map that's already released. Let the mappers worry about quality control in their maps--if the threat of a glitch or exploit freaks you out so much, offer yourself up as a beta tester to the mappers.

Yeah that is true, but it would be nice if the mappers took some responsibility and created a proper naming convention.

It doesn't matter if you beta test it either, someone will always find a new glitch (just look at the official maps).

 

[driftwood]

I don't think The Hive should be on the list because it is a massive download and is more suited to "Hive only" servers, since its so much of a mod as well as a map.

But what would be so much worse than putting in hive is putting in every piece of crap that some amateur declares final in the final maps thread. Anybody can post a 'final' map without it going through any sought of certification, so it is to be expected that a lot of the listings there go along the lines of "hey guys, this is my first map, it took me 2 hours while I got used to the editor". So, please include only the maps that look half decent, have a decent concept/inspiration, and are not completely riddled with bugs, exploitable areas and pathing issues.

Personally I would go a step further and have a <=6 player map pack, and a >6 player map pack. Reason being that some maps seem to be balanced for large player servers, and can be really boring with just a few players. Likewise, some small maps are not appropriate for large player servers.

 

[Tagert]

Well imo the aim here should be 6player maps, as that's what most us asks for I believe

But as driftwood said.
Popular quality maps only.

 

[Private_Joker]

I truly believe that WestLondonNight should really be WestLondonNight_v7 (This is by far the more superior version)

You really ought to ensure you use DarkRoads-F

Regarding splitting out the music ... I think you should consider two packs:

• A Client Pack which includes .rom map files and .ogg music files
• A Server Pack which consists only of .uz2 files.

I'm not convinced that any maps that require additional content (texture and model files that haven't been packed into the .rom) should be included in the server pack as I'm still unclear whether a redirect will push these texture and model files to the client. (Someone please feel free to tell me I'm misinformed and explain how to do it correctly!)

And for your own knowledge :
On your game server in your maps folder you merely include the .rom files and on your redirect server you merely include a folder full of .uz2 files.
^ I think this is what you were asking?

The list is by each map's name, not filename--I've made sure to find all of the newest version of each. WestLondonNight_v7 and DarkRoads-F are what I meant to list.

Yes, I'm planning for the server and client packs, but I need to know whether or not it's only .roms that can be compressed into .uz2 . Also, even if redirect doesn't push extra files, will the game server push those files?

You missed my question a bit, I meant to ask whether putting .uz2 files in the /maps/ folder of my game server would push the compressed files rather than the bloated .roms? Not as good as a separate server, but still better than clients downloading .roms . So, is that true?

driftwood, Hive isn't on the list I excluded it for just that reasoning.

And the purpose of this mappack is to be a very universal, easy to use, sort of just a third-party expansion of the five maps included with the official release, so I'm not gonna start specializing it into player numbers or anything. I want to provide new players easy access to well-developed maps, and leave the rest up to them.

Most important: I haven't played most of these maps, and that's why I need the whole community to help me figure out the ones that are still buggy or need work. Name the obvious ones!

-Joker

 

[Tagert]

well when players download the custom maps from the server, they download the .uz2 compressed map file from a web directory which is appointed on the server.
Then the map is decompressed into the .rom.

So the .uz2 compressed map is never in the map directory on the server.


So just put all the maps in compressed form in a bunch, not sure about the rest of the additional files some maps require though, if they can be compressed as well

 

[gusone]

Make sure you got these:

DefaultMaps=KF-MosEisleyNight
DefaultMaps=KF-Prison
DefaultMaps=KF-Biohazard
DefaultMaps=KF-WestLondonNight_v7
DefaultMaps=KF-NagomiSou
DefaultMaps=KF-Stranded Remix - Remix is superior so use this one
DefaultMaps=KF-Arcade-Shopping-Center
DefaultMaps=KF-DarkRoads-F
DefaultMaps=KF-TrailofWoods
DefaultMaps=KF-Doom2-Final

All high quality final maps and generally equally voted for on the DSAS server.

 

[Private_Joker]

Thanks for that valuable input gusone, I'm looking for more suggestions just like those!

well when players download the custom maps from the server, they download the .uz2 compressed map file from a web directory which is appointed on the server.
Then the map is decompressed into the .rom.

So the .uz2 compressed map is never in the map directory on the server.

Yes, I understand that that works, but I want to know..imagine that without the web directory. Clients download the .uz2 directly from the server and decompress it into the .rom ...is that possible?

-Joker

 

[Tagert]

I doubt it. You have this fast download because you take advantage of a web server software you have installed.
That's how I understood it

 

[Extreme_One]

...

Yes, I'm planning for the server and client packs, but I need to know whether or not it's only .roms that can be compressed into .uz2 . Also, even if redirect doesn't push extra files, will the game server push those files?
...

I'd still like to hear from somebody with experience about whether compressed texture and model files can be pushed via redirect.

I'm fairly certain the .uz2 files won't be pushed from the game server (see below)

...

Yes, I understand that that works, but I want to know..imagine that without the web directory. Clients download the .uz2 directly from the server and decompress it into the .rom ...is that possible?

-Joker

I'm fairly certain that, in that situation, the .rom would be pushed and not the .uz2