Yay, hollon! I actually sent you an email about this, but idk if you still use that account anymore. Looking forward to seeing you back on when you go home for the holidays.


Here's another before/after, this time it's one of the maps I already had, Morbias II:






The old lighting wasn't as obviously bad as on Hangar, but scaling up the map for better inv play pretty much means redoing lighting. The new version is scaled up by 2.


Edit: Ok, on to server adjustments. I don't know how everyone else feels about the monster damage bonus and damage reduction that kicks in above level 250 or so. The DB isn't so bad, it's the DR that's the problem.

I'm going to try a few adjustments that should make it a bit more playable at high levels.

Weapons:
1. Avril should have less ammo capacity. -A low level of resupply is sufficient to sustain it for beserking fire!
2. Weapons that target gold and ghost monsters should be innovated. I'm sure you're already considering options.

Monsters:
1. Wave 10 should consist completely of skaarj and also contain the lava skaarj. -For nostalgia. I miss that Lava Skaarj on that once-insane wave.
2. Wave 12's difficulty is too high compared to previous waves. The difficulty of adjacent waves should blend smoothly. -Difficulty shoots up at wave 12 quite a bit.
3. Wave 9 and 13 needs a signature monster or group of monsters. -Seems kinda boring. On DC I think wave 12 was the introduction to elite mercenaries. Giant Razorflies were prominent on wave 9 DC as well if I remember correctly.
4. The server should use Elite Skaarj Troops from Unreal Gold. -A monster that was neglected in Satore Monster Pack, I think.
5. Cosmic monsters are still both awesome and terrifying.

Glitches:
1. Monster offset occurs when physical, moving environmental hazards kill monsters. -Like the moving platform on the map "Retrogamer."
2. Monster offset occurs when monster masters summon monsters. -Not sure exactly when it happens during the monster summoning process, but it does . . . almost every time.
3. Demonslayer doesn't have his Diablo Barbarian skin yet.

dragon7350 wrote:
3. Demonslayer doesn't have his Diablo Barbarian skin yet.

I'm not worried--it will come eventually.

Remember, we are not making a clone of Druid's DC server. As such, things should be and will be different in terms of monsters and wave strength.

Demon has a good point - we're not an exact clone of the old DC. Now that we've had a semi-DC wave config for about a week, I'm uploading new config today. It is still based on the DC config, but will have a bit more monster variety. I'll probably adjust it a few times in the coming days as I see how it plays.


Also, I know the Avril is too strong - it was designed to work on my old monster config, which had a lot of monsters with high HP that were more likely to block or dodge the projectiles. It's not supposed to 1-shot everything. I will be changing it soon after we have a stable monster config.


dragon7350 wrote:
3. Demonslayer doesn't have his Diablo Barbarian skin yet.
ehwot?

dragon7350 wrote:
5. Cosmic monsters are still both awesome and terrifying.

Thanks They are meant to be an elite force of any other monster variation(ice, tech, laser, etc.). I wanted them to be agile and a hard to hit target(aside from the titan, perhaps). They were designed to be the kind of monsters that, while you are fighting to survive in a group of monsters, the cosmics are the ones that kill you off from above. They all have lowered health from normal counterparts, for balance.

The whole idea with the merger of D-E-K and Dru's DC servers was to continue the tradition of innovative and entertaining play that was a hallmark of Disastrous Consequences gameplay--something that was missed when Dru and Shan quit playing.

Jefe has been tremendous with his efforts in doing this and I, for one, really appreciate his efforts. It was Jefe that suggested that we merge the two servers so that all of us who play UT 2004 invasion can have the same high standards that DC used to be known for. With the merger, Jefe has shouldered the load to modify, add, subtract, and otherwise adjust/tweak our server on his own time with not a thought of recompense outside notice of a job well cone.

Please keep the suggestions coming and feel free to point out any problems that you notice--be sure to PM either of us if necessary.

Let me simply say "Job well done" to Jefe and Demon !!

Here's to many more hours of UT2K4 play for all of us !!

Thank you, Demon, Zog, and everyone else who is enjoying the server. And Dragon, thank you for the detailed comments as well, they have been helpful.

And here's a screenshot of the new DM-Breakfast2k3 edit:



Changes from the original:

Fixed collision on meshes for vehicles
"myleveled" all external packages (was an issue when I used a public redirect)
New custom textures (Calendar, magazine, cereal box) to replace some of the low res ones.
Detail textures where appropriate.
Nicer plants.
No more bubbles outside the fish tank.
Falling off the table doesn't kill you instantly (you have a chance to recover.)
Scaled up slightly (1.25)
An actual skybox.
Changed pickups for better inv play.

I have always hated Breakfast as a map. It was so hard to maneuver around in. With the size increase, maybe it will be more playable.

Maps:
1. Masurao often (and maybe always) crashes on load.

Monsters:
1. When players are stepped on by Titans, there should be some recognition as to how they died (rather than the player disappearing with a death message). Maybe keep the player's corpse/skeleton at the death position so the player is in the know.
2. Cosmic titans should have a cooler sound when they throw their plasma projectiles. -It is currently a quiet "woosh" sound.

Classes:
1. Droppable constructions (vehicles/blocks) shouldn't be able to kill players when they fall. Perhaps do a ray-collision check below the spawn position for other players.
2. Blocks shouldn't be a hassle to jump over by players. -When jumping over them, the player may glitch and fall back down.
3. Turrets shouldn't use the aerial view mutator. -Hard to aim, especially with a low ceiling.
4. There should be a Necromancer class. The player can use his/her victims as undead minions . . . and whatever else a Necromancer does. -Suggested by "The_Watcher."

Miscellaneous:
1. Sentinel collision boxes should be smaller . . . at least for player bullets. -It's hard to shoot near them.