DOM-Villager

"Displaced Villager"

By Aaron "Hedge-o-Matic" Starr

This is my second DOM map for UT2k3, and I've taken a very differnet approach this time.  Villager continues my experiments with non-symmetrical DOM maps.  This time, I've chosen to have both teams start in the same area, and fight it out to get to the first DOM point, which is in a very difficult-to-defend area.  Alpha also stands at the chokepoint between the two map areas, so anyone wanting to proceed to Beta will almost always have to take Alpha.  Alpha will turn over very rapidly.  The upper area of the map is a large defensive zone.  Long fire lanes and limited appraoaches make this second area very difficult to storm, if the defense is doing it's job.  The presence of the Redeemer nearby can go either way.

The idea of two seperate strategies for the different CP's makes maps that are more difficult to design, and far more difficult to have the bots play correctly.  The bots will take Aplha without a problem, and, as long as they hold Alpha, further reinforcements will be fed past to the upper area, to gather and take Beta.  Thus defenders of Beta will know, if the opponant holds Alpha, that an attack is usually immenent.  And, unlike Alpha, there are no reinforements to be had for the Beta defenders.  If attacked consistantly, these defenders should be slowly worn down, allowing Beta to change sides occasionally.

Known troubles with the bots:  The bots go everywhere, but sometimes they fail to commit to attacking Beta like I'd want them to.  The assault paths make this situation better, but they will usually turn around and charge back toward Alpha if the opposition dominates.  This doesn't happen if they're too close to Beta, but still, with Alpha tripping back and forth, the bots tend to shuffle forward and back with the control changes, rather than commiting to attacking Beta no matter what.  Also, they don't seem to use the Ion Painter, though they grab it all the time.  Of course, it's in a tough area, and they don't have a lot of liesure to use this weapon.

The static meshes are all my own creations, with the exception of the bridge, which was made by King Green
(Email Address: rubyred537@cs.com).  It's sweet, but I didn't generate a Karma model for it.  Oh well.  There are a few meshes with extra polys, but I'm not working at an optimum level with 3dMAX yet.  I'll try to improve my technique.

Anyway, I hope you like this second effort.  If you've got feedback, especailly regarding tweaking the bots, feel free to e-mail me at astarr@systemtwo.com.  Put "Villager" in the subject line, though, so it will go through my filters.

The music is "Death Coach" by Trevor Jones.  This is part of the "From Hell" Soundtrack.  Buy it if you like the music.  I think it fits quite nicely.