and after it had been dropped and had burnt up its 3 gallons of fuel??
anyhow - meanwhile back on the topic here's my motivation:
I have always loved computer games and particularly ww2 shooters and realistic 'sim-like' shooters such as OFP.
The RO:Ost community has been the first I have encountered which has offered enough support to actually encourage me to retrace the faltering footsteps I took with RavenShield mapping many years ago.
I lived in Russia and found that none of the stock maps really struck me as being 'like' Russia or my personal visualisation of the Ostfront - particularly in terms of the style of play involved. Basovka is probably the only real exception to this.
Hence Makhnovo - a n00b mapper's attempt to prompt squad-based infantry tactics in an environment which looked like South Russia/Ukraine.
It was a first map and it helped me to learn a few things about the art of mapping (unfortunately too late for that particular map) but, more importantly, it taught me the value of listening to other mappers who were slightly ahead of me on the curve. It also taught me the value of working out which people to ignore: blowhards with an axe to grind, arrogant bastards, others whose opinions I have no reason to respect.
Past experience has reiterated the necessity for the sheer, heartbreaking, arse-numbingly dull slog of making large sections of the map once I have decided how it should look. The gap between vision and realisation is huge and can only be bridged by massive amounts of work. The experience has also reinforced the lesson of 'test, test and test again'.
Nearly every map has its 'Wow!!!' point - one feature which the mapper knows will make people stop and say - "Damn, that looks good!" In the case of Makhnovo it is the view from the 2nd German spawn towards the church, appearing through the haze. I suspect a lot of mappers, like me, live for hearing that, "Hey, wow!" moment when players see the bits you are proud of.
Even though I have still a huge amount to learn about UE2.5 I am beginning to see its limitations - in fact I am also realising the limitations that are still there in v3 as well. I have also come to see that not everyone has an uber system and that I need to consider these people as well.
I suppose the attitude is to treat it like a haiku - something where the constraints help you to create something that is more economical and hopefully better.
Work professionally at this in the future? - well I expect that's the secret dream of a lot of mappers but I think the economic reality is that being able to pay my mortgage on the basis of RO maps is just that; a dream, no more.
Hopefully I will be able to demonstrate to the community the improvement that has come in the making of Dofinovka; my first map for Carpathian Crosses, and any other maps that I contribute to that add-on.
anyhow - meanwhile back on the topic here's my motivation:
I have always loved computer games and particularly ww2 shooters and realistic 'sim-like' shooters such as OFP.
The RO:Ost community has been the first I have encountered which has offered enough support to actually encourage me to retrace the faltering footsteps I took with RavenShield mapping many years ago.
I lived in Russia and found that none of the stock maps really struck me as being 'like' Russia or my personal visualisation of the Ostfront - particularly in terms of the style of play involved. Basovka is probably the only real exception to this.
Hence Makhnovo - a n00b mapper's attempt to prompt squad-based infantry tactics in an environment which looked like South Russia/Ukraine.
It was a first map and it helped me to learn a few things about the art of mapping (unfortunately too late for that particular map) but, more importantly, it taught me the value of listening to other mappers who were slightly ahead of me on the curve. It also taught me the value of working out which people to ignore: blowhards with an axe to grind, arrogant bastards, others whose opinions I have no reason to respect.
Past experience has reiterated the necessity for the sheer, heartbreaking, arse-numbingly dull slog of making large sections of the map once I have decided how it should look. The gap between vision and realisation is huge and can only be bridged by massive amounts of work. The experience has also reinforced the lesson of 'test, test and test again'.
Nearly every map has its 'Wow!!!' point - one feature which the mapper knows will make people stop and say - "Damn, that looks good!" In the case of Makhnovo it is the view from the 2nd German spawn towards the church, appearing through the haze. I suspect a lot of mappers, like me, live for hearing that, "Hey, wow!" moment when players see the bits you are proud of.
Even though I have still a huge amount to learn about UE2.5 I am beginning to see its limitations - in fact I am also realising the limitations that are still there in v3 as well. I have also come to see that not everyone has an uber system and that I need to consider these people as well.
I suppose the attitude is to treat it like a haiku - something where the constraints help you to create something that is more economical and hopefully better.
Work professionally at this in the future? - well I expect that's the secret dream of a lot of mappers but I think the economic reality is that being able to pay my mortgage on the basis of RO maps is just that; a dream, no more.
Hopefully I will be able to demonstrate to the community the improvement that has come in the making of Dofinovka; my first map for Carpathian Crosses, and any other maps that I contribute to that add-on.
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