Map:emp tropicvendetta

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Welcome to Tropic Vendetta, Empires' most aesthetically pleasing battlefield!

Info

Name Tropic Vendetta
Map Name emp_tropicvendetta
Version Release Candidate 1
By John Shandy`
By [LoDw]Keef

Description

Tropic Vendetta is a map featuring a tropical island at which the Brenodi Empire and Northern Faction have both arrived in their respective blimps! Unlike any other Empires map, these blimps contain and safeguard the command vehicles. Your objective is to spawn in your team's blimp and either parachute or swim to the mainland so that your commander may begin establishing bases as you gain territory. To conquer the opposition and lay claim to the island, you must capture the enemy team's defensive SAM site (surface-to-air missile) and use it to blow out the side and bottom of their blimp, dropping their command vehicle into the sea to its watery death!

Worry not, for blimp balloons have been moved to the skybox so they don't obstruct the commander view, and capturing the SAM sites to win the round is easier said than done!

This is our first map for Empires, and my first map ever (Keef used to map back in the day for Natural Selection). I have been learning Hammer and the Source SDK as I go. I have [LoDw]Keef to thank for helping a ton with many things along the way. He made the blimps and customized them quite a lot. He also made the SAM sites, as he's far better with brushwork and special effect entities than I am. He's been an excellent friend and he's worked on this map as much as I have. Without Keef, Tropic Vendetta may not have come to fruition - at least not so quickly, as I started on this map around December 15, 2008 and it's come a long way in just over a month. Alpha 1, 2, 3, and 4 were used for private testing on the Nachos and Test server. Beta 1 through Beta 4 were used for public play testing on various servers (thank you to all who run Tropic Vendetta on their server).

Please enjoy emp_tropicvendetta and provide as much constructive criticism as possible! Keef and I love feedback! We are expecting many negative and harsh remarks, but we hope that most of you will bring complaints & concerns to us in a civil manner that we can use to actually find solutions to any problems that occur. We will actively develop and maintain this map. We will do our best to not let older, problematic versions accumulate dust on servers!

Change Log

Release Candidate 1

  • Reconstructed the Brenodi blimp to defeat lingering radiosity issues. Shadowing and lighting on the blimp's balloon is now correct.
  • Decreased the lightmap scaling for more detailed lighting and shadows.
  • 3D skybox improvements - realignment and defeating of shadows that were being casted onto map terrain from the 3D skybox. Improved seamlessness.
  • Starting resources increased to 700 to accommodate Empires 2.2x's barracks cost increase.
  • When a blimp is shot by a SAM site, its corresponding CV's health is reduced to 25% (previously, CV health was reduced to 80% upon this event).
  • Various optimization.

Beta 5

  • Don't ask... *facepalm*

Beta 4

  • Achieved a final solution to the instant CV destruction upon SAM site capture.

Beta 3

  • Note, Beta 3 was susceptible to CVs being destroyed instantly upon SAM site capture due to the new brush-based entity used to fix the server-crashing exploit from Beta 2. It is strongly recommended that servers run the latest version.
  • Addition of 2 sharks that circle the South East island which eat players and laugh, while a loop of the Jaws theme song plays in the areas surrounding the South East island.
  • Various optimization.

Beta 2

In Beta 2, you will notice that most all of the texturing has been completely reworked. Things look a bit nicer and a bit more realistic. The island is now covered in lush grass, ferns, new palm trees, and new rocks. Some lighting adjustments have been made around the map. A new easter egg or novelty feature has been added to the map: there are now two sharks that swim around the South East island. Be careful as you swim out to the SE island, as you'll hear Jaws music setting the mood, and if you're not fast or careful, those sharks may just eat you up and laugh at your misfortune!

Each team's beginning resource node has been moved near the SAM site (which should hopefully be more intuitive and emphasize the importance of the SAM site areas - remember, it is your job to defend the SAM sites, not the turrets'), starting turrets have been upgraded and relocated.

Beta 2 has been optimized ever further than Beta 1 was. Beta 2 now includes HDR lighting to those who use it. (Shame on you, but enjoy it anyways!). Tickets have been increased in Beta 2 as well. SAM site capture time has been increased and requires 3 players instead of 2.

Beta 1

Initial release.

Download

Release Candidate 1

Beta 2

Beta 1

Screenshot Repository

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