AS-Vindication
=============
File: AS-Vindication.ut2
Map Name: Vindication
Author: Derek "HellFire"
Email: hellfirexq@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.planetunreal.com/dmcb
         http://hellfiresdomain.cjb.net



Installation:
=============
Place AS-Vindication.ut2 into your UT2004/Maps directory
Start UT2K4, Start an Assault session, and select AS-Vindication



Story:
=============
Years ago, rebel forces had captured one of the NEG's communication sites to
begin a counterattack within the delta mountain region.  Not only did they
gain intel on NEG operations, but they began to communicate with other
factions to stage a complete retaliation and overthrow the NEG presence in
the area.  NEG realized they had to retreat from the area and scrap all
current operations as the rebels now had access to it.  In a heroic move, a
few squadrons of the retreating force decided on a spontaneous plan that the
rebels wouldn't know about, to take back what was once their own.  The plan
was conceived in a matter of minutes due to the superior NEG knowledge of the
area, that the rebels simply did not have.  NEG forces had to act quickly
before the rebels coordinated their take over of the region using the 
communications array.  Since NEG had little forces left in the region, and
the rebels could easily take it back once again, the plan involved the
complete destruction of the communications array.  This match is a recreation
of that mission.



Objectives:
=============
-From your insertion point, there is a small security post.  Defeat the
 security forces there and destroy the bridge pump.
-Once destroyed, the lack of pressure will raise the bridge, allowing access
 to the backup power station.
-This backup power station is not a target of significance since it is one of
 many power stations in the region.  Our goal is to pass through it.
-You must go down to the pump area and lower the security level, which will
 lower the force fields in the station, giving access to a key card.
-To escape the station, you must steal the security clearance card to open
 the exit.
-You can reach the security key through a cliff side entrance or through the
 inside entrance.
-Return the card to the computer terminal and the escape door will be opened.
-Now you must destroy the outer security wall, the last security layer
 between you and the communications array.
-There is a vehicle storage site in this valley, and since the rebels haven't
 had time to change the passcode, you can lower the gate and steal the tank
 to help with the attack.
-Once the wall is breached, the comm array is accessible.  Enter the control
 station.
-Finally plant explosives at the base of the comm array structure to bring
 the array to complete destruction and succeed in your mission.



Author's Notes:
=============
Well, this map has really come along way from the first beta, feedback was
extremely constructive, and that's all I could have hoped for from the beta
testing.  Thanks to all you guys who have helped out.  I really appreciate
the community coming together for an underachieving mapper. If this map turns
out to be something great, it's cause of you guys, well, and maybe a little
bit in part to the guy who worked on it for 4 months too.

The map is 50 mb or so in size, which some will find daunting, but that's
because of my personal choice to keep everything in the map file.  I can't
stand maps that come with their own seperate static mesh, texture and sound
files.  It clutters up the directories, and the next thing you know I'm using
textures I just assumed were originally part of the game in my maps, when
they are actually someone's custom ones.  My map has all the new meshes,
textures and sounds in one file, so it's nice and easy to manage.  And even 
though it's 50 mb, it's still much smaller than Confexia's files overall.
So if you hate this map, you can wipe it with one easy delete!

Anyhow, enjoy the map. A lot of time and effort went into this map, and I
hope it shows. I love assault, and noticed the lack of quality assault maps
out there in the community, so I attempted to fill the void.  Building an
assault map from scratch was nothing short of a daunting task, but at the
time I had no idea what I was getting into. Once I realized how much time
and effort it would take to make a playable assault map, I decided to keep
on going, keeping my eyes on the finish line - a fun custom assault map.
Thanks to the encouragement of the community, I managed to stay the course,
so thanks you guys, you know who you are.

I've decided to enter Vindication in the Make Something Unreal Contest. All
my friends have told me to enter my maps into the contest, but until now 
I didn't feel the maps were of a high enough standard to be considered. With
Vindication, I've put in so much time that a little recognition would be 
a nice reward. Thanks to Epic and NVidia for putting the contest together.
You guys always praise how great the Unreal community is, but praise 
yourselves for the great game you've made and all effort you've gone into
helping and encouraging the community.

I've been mapping for a long time now, but I've never quite found my zone
for Unreal mapping. I think now I have.
Cheers,

  -HellFire
   hellfirexq@hotmail.com



Changes:
============
BETA 1 (July 29th, 2004)
-First public release.

BETA 2 (August 1st, 2004)
-Added distant lightning flashes in the sky.
-Fixed forcefield so that it shows. 
-Added an additional forcefield so that defenders can't get stuck in key card
 room before that objective takes place.
-Added water fall as source of the river.
-Water in security panel area no longer kills you instantly.
-Added more damage tolerance to the bridge pump. 
-Made certain cliff areas inaccessible. 
-Enhanced attacker sniper spot for the first objective. 
-Tweaked location volumes. 
-Turned grate texture in first indoor area into noticable bars. Now you need
 some skill to aim between bars if you plan on shooting through them. 
-Can no longer wall dodge over to other side of river. 
-Reduced hold time of security panel objective. 
-Reduced hold time of final explosive objective. 
-Placed blocking volumes over ramp mesh that so you no longer get stuck.
-Fixed jump pad throwing defender to other side of valley. 
-Disabled vehicle storage objective when wall is breached. No more taking the
 tank to the final objective. Or attempting to... 
-First defender spawn points are no longer so disorienting.
-Polished up lighting in the first two defensive spawn areas.
-Key now can be dropped for up to 10 seconds before returning.
-Cinematic explosions should show up in online games.
-Added alternate cliff route to get to the security key. Bots even use it!
-Allowed defenders to teleport back to spawn position after the security 
 panel has lowered the forcefield.
-Higher detail light maps.
-More optimizations and zones added.
-Wall sustains more damage from the tank.
-End of round cameras placed at each objective.

BETA 3 (August 9th, 2004)
-Introduction cinematic sequence added.
-Prevented players from getting onto the waterfall area.
-More optimizations.
-Touched up river area.
-Raised rock ceiling in power station.
-Moved weapon locker that was before the bridge to after the bridge.
-Attackers get a link gun instead of a minigun on the steal key objectives.
-Defenders get a mini gun instead of a linkgun on the steal key objectives.
-Defenders get half the flak ammo they used to for defending the key.
-Raised key return time from 10 seconds to 30 seconds.
-Added forcefield to cliff side of key entrance.
-Moved defenders spawn point for final objective farther away.
-Added pathnodes for bots to use to get out of water near security panel.
-Fixed path so bots use secret keg of health way to get to panel.
-AI uses both hallways to get to security panel.
-Attackers get a link gun instead of a minigun on the bridge pump objective.
-Defenders get a mini gun instead of a linkgun on the bridge pump objective.
-Fixed glass in final objective hallway so you can't shoot through it.
-Moved second defenders spawn location closer to bridge.
-Added critical volume warnings for ALL the objectives.
-Added blocking volumes to outer wall so tank can't go through it.
-Made vehicle storage area look a touch more like a vehicle storage.
-End cinematic plays properly now. It still sucks but I'll get around to it.
-Location volumes tweaked again.
-Added conveniently placed barrels to prevent defenders being able to defend
 final objective from where they spawn.
-Added brighter skins to the key card.
-Fixed bug where bots were humping the outerwall instead of shooting it.
-Actually fixed the getting the tank after destroying the wall bug.
-Fixed minor imperfections that would only be noticable to someone who has
 worked on the map for 3 months.
-Removed more areas you could access with clever wall dodging on cliffs.
-Added guiding arrows in the power station for the easily confused.
-Lowered water damage in security panel area a little more.

BETA 4 (August 15th, 2004)
-The guiding arrows in the power facility should show in online games now.
-Added a little more health to the outer wall.
-Upped outdoor ambient lighting a touch.
-Added more pronounced side-of-lake-path that gives a good shot of the pump
 and the bots use said path.
-Moved sentry gun for attackers from before bridge to after bridge.
-Added shield powerup after bridge for attackers.
-Actually fixed tank going through outerwall.
-Spreaded turrets on outerwall objective so tank can't hit both in one shot.
-Blocked more crazy areas you don't belong.
-Added more health to the bridge pump.
-Improved bot AI in several places.
-Added more lighting.
-Moved jump pad so it's easier to avoid it.
-Blocking volumes placed around some jaggy meshes.
-Added fog to the outdoor water.
-Replaced grenade launcher in water pipe with the big keg of health.
-Fixed bots from humping the weapons locker on route to the final objective.
-Completely fixed outro sequence so it never goes hay wire.
-Bridge pump now leaks water when destroyed.
-Put more balls into the ending cinematic.
-Less sniper rifle ammo for the attackers after the bridge.
-Added sentinel to 2nd objective defenders spawn area.
-A keycard is actually inserted into the computer when you complete it.
-Additional ammo placements.
-Changed keycard skin to something just as bright but less ugly.
-Added detail textures to cliffs so they don't look so noobish.
-Fixed harsh shadows on certain areas of the terrain.
-Added more detail.
-Raised ceiling in ramp hallway leading to final objective.
-Defenders no longer get a shock rifle for the second objective, it must
 be picked up.
-Tweaked a section of the introduction matinee.

BETA 5 (August 21st, 2004)
-Added sentinel where the old one used to be before the bridge.
-Prevented tank from climbing up hill.
-Brightened the indoor areas slightly so they aren't so dark.
-Added alternative route to final objective.
-Fixed textures in skybox you should never see from showing up.
-Added proper explosive placement on final objective.
-Changed crates to more detailed and less ugly ones.
-Made lip of vehicle storage look less ugly.
-Revamped outer wall defender spawn point.
-Added more health to outer wall.
-Lowered hold time for vehicle storage objective.
-Fixed pipe arrangement on final objective.
-Added blocking volumes around jumppad shaft so you don't get caught.
-Added hit scan blocking volumes for a certain nitpicking person.
-Added steps to help get out of the water at the second objective.
-Improved vocals for the intro cinematic.
-Tweaked final cinematic a bit more.
-Added fairly appropriate default assault announcements.
-Added a touch more health to the bridge pump.
-Toned down the bots painfully excessive sniper rifle use on the first obj.
-Added a delay to the force fields going down after you use the panel.
-Increased explosives placing time on the final objective.
-Added more detail, texturing and lighting.

Final Release
-Made dirt to the concrete not grass to the concrete near vehicle storage.
-Better aligned health vials (you can tell the map should go final when...)
-Tweaked trim of second objective secret drop.
-Reduced file size slightly by lowering light map quality of unseen faces.
-Fixed vehicle storage hold objective so that the sprite shows on the ground.
-Fixed security panel hold objective so that the sprite shows on the ground.
-Tweaked lighting of lift to alternate final objective entrance.
-Tweaked defender AI on first objective even more.
-Tweaked guiding arrows on the second objective so they don't mislead you.
-Moved one of the explosive placing spots closer to defenders on final obj.
-Moved the defenders spawn on the final objective.
-Gave the bridge pump 33% more health.
-Tweaked terrain in final objective room.
-Tweaked crate position on second objective so Glaurung is less annoyed.
-Added a noticable indicator of where the tank spawns in the storage area.
-Attacking bots actually shoot the outer wall with the tank now.
-More introduction cinematic tweaks.
-Reduced file size slightly by lowering sound sample rate.
-Moved second objective attacker spawn points slightly closer.
-Reduced shock ammo for defenders on final objective, but added pickups.
-Reduced rocket ammo for defenders on final objective, but added pickups.
-Attackers get a minigun on the final objective.
-Now the bots finally pick up the double damage on the final objective.
-Tweaked pipe placement on second objective so it isn't so annoying.
-Put in working antiportals that have been otherwise broken since beta 2.
-Properly fixed zoning problems.
-Upped tank health from 1200 to 1600.
-Fixed some texture misalignments, mesh misalignments and broken glass.
-Fixed more cliff exploits.
-Brightened indoor areas more.
-Fixed bots getting stuck on cliff bug.
-Reduced link ammo for attackers on outer wall objective and added pickups.
-Removed grenade launcher on final objective.
-Added a touch more fog.
-Added more detail, texturing and lighting.



Additional Credits:
=============
-ACC for coding up a far more flexible powercore, three times.
-Clan Holo for hosting the map on their server, that would sometimes show a
 ping, and all their beta testing.
-DigitalBacon for the motivation and props, while whoring himself to get the
 map played on wolfgaming.net, and helping out the map in anyway he can even
 with his hectic schedule.
-mc-fine for the constant love of the map, and coming up with the idea for a
 terrain path to the key, easily the best major tweak of the map.
-Glaurung for the great constructive criticism, and coming up with the
 bars idea, easily the best subtle tweak of the map. Also for putting up with
 me demanding more quality comments from him.
-Venguard for keeping me motivated to make my map as good as it could be
 because his assault map is better than mine :)
-AcidReflux and the rest of Wolfgaming for hosting and supporting the map.
-Everyone who voted for playing the beta version on the servers that had it.
-All the guys who posted in the Atari forums Vindication thread.
-All of you who enjoy this map!



Author's Previous Maps:
=============
For UT2k4:     DM-Incalescence
               CTF-Volatile][

For UT2k3:     DM-PressurePoint
               DM-Aquifer

For UT:        DM-Magnetic
               CTF-Waste Silo
               DOM-Atrium
               CTF-Volatile
               CTF-MagmaCore

For Half-Life: Ground Zero 2 (Opposing Force Singleplayer)
               Ground Zero (Singleplayer)
               Test of Fate (Teamplay multiplayer)
               The Mint (Counterstrike)
               The Penthouse (Counterstrike)
               Abandoned Hangar (Deathmatch multiplayer)



Copyright/Permissions 
=============
You may distribute this map via electronic means, providing that it is done 
so free of charge and that this text file is also included unchanged. 

You may not include or distribute this map in any sort of commercial or 
non-comercial product without permission from the author. You may not mass 
distribute this level via any non-electronic means, including but not limited 
to compact disks, and floppy disks.

This map may not be used, in whole or in part, as the basis of another map,
without the author's permission.

All other trademarks acknowledged. 

=============
Unreal Tournament 2004 (c)2004 Digital Extremes, Epic Games, Inc. 
All Rights Reserved. Unreal Tournament and the  Unreal Tournament logo are 
registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. All other trademarks and trade
names are properties of their respective owners.