

	AS-Thrust2
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	by Tynan Sylvester    	tynan@planetunreal.com
	August 2004


	Installation and Hard Data                                     
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-Place AS-Thrust2.ut2 in your /UT2004/Maps folder

The next two files were in the original AS-Thrust release and may not be in your AS-Thrust2.zip
file. If you have the original AS-Thrust you may have downloaded a version of Thrust2 with only
the map file.

-If you have the file, place Ty_RocketSmeshes.usx in your /UT2004/StaticMeshes folder
-If you have the file, place Ty_RocketTextures.utx into your /UT2004/Textures folder	

Gametype:	Assault

Recommended
No. of Players:	6-16

Time Frame in
Production:	Circa February 20, 2004 to May 18, 2004
		Reworked August 1, 2004 to August 20, 2004

Number of
Internal Versions:	About 48 for original version
		About 30 more for version 2

Other works by
Author:		DM-Lightfalls / DM-Nightfalls
		DOM-Aphrodite
		Elemental Conflict mod coding, modeling, art, design

	Commentary
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	This is a new, improved, reworked version of AS-Thrust. I've spiced up the looks, optimized,
	added some destroyable objectives, added sound effects and emitters, balanced the level,
	and exhaustively tested through different bot configurations to find the best one. It's been a 
	long and arduous process, so please enjoy the level.

	This level was reworked for the Make Something Unreal Contest.


	The VehiclePathName Tradeoff
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	Making bots work with Assault levels is very difficult. They're not very flexibly coded in 
	some respects, especially when working with vehicles. I was faced with an interesting
	tradeoff when designing this map. My choice was whether or not to set the vehicle
	destination for the last objective. If I did this, bots who had vehicles left over would act
	properly and drive to the garage. The problem was that they went all haywire from there.
	They are coded with a strange priority set that has them frequently turn around halfway to
	the objective in order to run back and heal their vehicles and get in and out a few times.

	My alternative was to not set the vehicle path, which avoided this problem. However, this
	meant that any bots in vehicles would then run into a bug where they just drove in little
	circles or sat in place.

	I went back and forth several times between these two settings. Finally, I chose not to set
	the bot path because having the bots turn around halfway to their objective was unacceptable
	and it happened too often. If a few bots have to run circles in their scorpions like drunken
	hooligans, so be it.

	The Teleporter Camper
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	A few tests after I first placed in the teleporter running to the main base to be used on
	the last objective run, I realized there was a problem with using it as the primary method of
	transport. I could simply take the defenders' Raptor, place it on top of the teleporter destination,
	and chill. Bots would come through the teleporter and be in contact with the Raptor.

	The Raptor always won.

	Though the "gore fountain" this produced was amusing for a time, I understood that this would
	be a problem with real gameplay, so I had to place a cage over the teleporter destination to protect
	incoming teleportees.

	The next problem was that I figured out that I could sit there with my shield gun at full charge and
	anyone who came through the teleporter would be in contact with the shield gun.

	The shield gun always won.

	I thought long and hard about ways to change this, and finally decided to do nothing. The problem
	can be solved by the attacking team simply by assigning a sniper to keep the teleporter zone clear
	along with covering the rest of the base. Some would regard the situation as still exploitable, but
	I think that this sort of situation encourages teamplay in a healthy way.

	And hey, the original CTF-Face had this same problem. Most popular CTF map ever.




	Original Commentary
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	Some commentary from the original version of this level:

	Lighting
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	I, personally, believe that too many Unreal maps are dark and dirty. It seems rare that
	one will see a map that appears to have a beauty beyond technical excellence of the
	designer. Complex, moody industrial scenes are fine up to a point, but eventually, I
	always find myself hankering for something with a little more life. I've chosen to do
	a sunset scene in this level, and I like to think it worked out well. In fact, it had better
	have worked out well since I imported and compressed that sky more than ten times
	before it looked right. Don't even ask me about getting the water surface to blend in
	with the background.

	I had fun with the point lighting on this one. Earlier versions didn't have any of the small, 
	blue point lights that appear in the final. Those were a last-minute inspiration which I feel
	really "makes" the lighting in this map.

	Idiotic Bots
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	I spent a really long time wrestling with the bot AI trying to make it act with a marginal
	level of intelligence. It seems that the bot code for assault doesn't scale so well when
	greater numbers of vehicles are added to the mix. The only way to make the bots use the 
	vehicles to get to an objective is to associate a single point on space (pathnode) with that
	objective to which they must drive and then get out and continue on foot. One of the more
	amusing problems occurs when vehicles start piling up at that point. A Goliath tank will 
	be blocking the spot and a bot will cruise up in a buggy and start valiantly trying to push it
	out of the way, all the while absorbing bullets and rockets from the defending team.

	I never did acheive optimal performance from the bots, but I like to think that it's as good
	as possible with the botcode provided.


	Credits:
	--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Concept Art..............................................................................  Tynan Sylvester
	Geometry................................................................................  Tynan Sylvester
	Lighting...................................................................................  Tynan Sylvester
	Pathnoding..............................................................................  Tynan Sylvester
	Textures..................................................................................  Tynan Sylvester
	Technical Testing....................................................................  Tynan Sylvester
	Sky Render..............................................................................  Tynan Sylvester
	Music......................................................................................   Epic Games
	This Preamble.........................................................................  Tynan Sylvester
	Second Opinions / Gameplay Testing....................................   The CBP Team
							   


All contents of AS-Thrust2.ut2, Ty_RocketTextures.utx and Ty_RocketSmeshes.usx are copyright
Tynan Sylvester 2004. If you wish to host this file on the internet, you are free to do so, though 
please mail me first at tynan@planetunreal.com. If you wish to change this map and re-release it,
please mail me first.