China wrote:I wonder what mod Lurker is making this week?
Hello China!
Unfortunately I was too busy in real life in the last months, so I couldn't focus on any of my active mod projects. The christmas period also kept me busy. But I hope to have more time in 2013. I have already worked on the Stalker map this January, thus I'm going to post an update (Build 4) soon... So bare with me and always stay tuned...
Was looking forward to seeing your UT ports, missed this topic so I guess you've put UT to one side, any updates on this?
Yes, the Unreal conversion project (Dasa Cellars, for instance) is currently put to side. But it's NOT cancelled! I could continue that project at any point.
As far as Unreal/UT ports go in general, 2010 to 2012 I browsed through almost all Unreal'98 single- and multiplayer maps ever made by the Unreal community, as you might know. My main focus was on a) big detailed city maps, b) small fast-paced DM maps and c) caves and interesting underground areas. I have also reviewed Epic's original maps from Unreal and its addon RTNP (Return to Na Pali).
I haven't reviewed any UT'99 maps yet. This is a huge task by itself since there are twice that much or even more maps for Unreal Tournament made by the Unreal modding community!
However, I came to the following conclusion so far:
90% of Unreal maps are unrealistic (no pun intended) for Deus Ex. I have found only a handful of good-looking user-made maps, both single- and multiplayer, which would work well for Deus Ex. But even those maps would need a lot of revision work, re-texturing, re-editing and stuff. Just converting them won't do it imho. So each of those good maps represents a big project by itself which I'm not going to undertake.
Small fast-paced DM maps are plently in Unreal. They could be converted, textured and edited quickly in just a few hours or even minutes though. BUT they look strange as hell and the layouts of these maps are very simple, like a 6-year-old mapper just thrown some cube brushes and corridors together and linked them. That's not the kind of stuff which would immerse gamers by today's standards.
Briefly said, I'm going for realism now! Especially in layout and detailed level design.
And realistic terrain-building ofcourse! That's why I have chosen the Stalker series. Stalker and Deus Ex have some things in common, like the inventory and communication systems, for example.
So expect more from that front. I will convert Unreal/UT maps to Deus Ex by request only. Most likely I will take some useful areas or objects from Unreal maps and import them in my Stalker map.
