Download (31.37 MB)


The download may take some time. If you use the Firefox you can increase the speed by using DownThemAll (see the Firefox-thread for further information).

Installation: Extract the zip-file to your UT2004-directory, so that the folders in the file match your folders during unpacking.


Changelog:
-Added a new node to the center in a handmade bunker. It can be used to get around the choke-nodes, so the attacking team will try to build it up while the defending team should try everything to keep it down, if it doesn't want to guard their back-nodes all the time. The bunker is easy to defend, as it is offers good cover. A single attacker will probably loose against a single defender.

-Performance-improvements: less strain on the CPU in the choke-bunkers
-Many changes in the vehicle-garage: Removed the ion-tank and one Manta on the roof, but added more Tarantulas everywhere, an Assault-Bender and an Aegis to each base, Badgers to the ex-ion-node and more (special star-guest included).
-Improved optical detail with better sunlight (daylight and light into zones), two-sided watersurface and an easter-egg.
-Optimized the bunker-cam in the Mechbay. It now really uses the screen, doesn't swap sides of the picture anymore, needs less performance and has a fancy hissing.
-Improved the sound for people with EAX (like myself). Sounds just great in the buildings.
-Added material-surface-types to all StaticMeshs. Wood for example has another effect when being hit by bullet-weapons than metal or rock. Also people with EAX will notice a change in the walking-sound depending on what material you walk.
-Some changes in bot-pathing.
-Added a new superweapon (if I say new, then I mean new!)
-Replaced one EMP-mine at base with U-Damage to reduce unfair attacks and strength the counter-attacks.


Post feedback about the balancing here, as it is hard to balance the map with so many special vehicles without really testing them with human players.

Updated the download. New version in which some bugs are fixed, which Foibos found.


And guys, download it from here. If you have to download it again from the server, then you can be angry at Foibos because he changed something.

I made a hotfix to deal with some problems, which restrain the real potential of the map:

-Replaced Ion with a normal tank. The Ion is just too unbalanced now and a winning team shouldn't get even more great advantages. The Ion could be used for permanent killing of all players and vehicles on the baseroof, making a comeback with Mantas quite impossible.

-Corrected position of the ADS over the center bunker, so that players stuck there can get out better. Before there was also the problem, that when standing on the mover accidentially the player couldn't rotate his view, which made it even harder to get out. The wider space also offers a bigger chance to get the node with some patience down from the distance.

-Switched the position of some Tarantulas and normals Scorpions. There have NOT been added new vehicles.

-Improved performance by combining two antiportals and also cover the space between them, especially inside the bunker when looking into the direction of the bunker-cam.



This is only a hotfix. The next version claims to counter the effect of the Helix-items, that stay visible at it's spawnpoint.



You can download the hotfix here (4.16 MB)
It's only the mapfile, so if you haven't done yet, you'll need to load the old file with the rest of the data too.

Made a new hotfix to deal with more things:

-Removed ADS from the two sidenodes at the frontline, to keep the battle more intense and make combacks easier.

-Added ADS to the node at the right side when coming from base. It was too vulnerable.

-All remaining ADS are now one mover, not two as before. This way they won't run asynchronous in netplay and will save some servertraffic.

-Moved the AP-painter from the bunkerroof into the lake and corrected the position of the rocks in the lake.



No changes in vehicle park. I kept the Assaultbender because it can be quite strong and flexible with the full crew and can get up the mountain next to the base with the Stuntmutator.


The new mapfile is here (4.18 MB)

this new version of the battlefront is so great

One problem is, that some people play it only for the Helix…

In the match there was one guy who camped it all the time, though it needs 2 (3 in the new version) minutes to respawn. As I told him to stop that he just said, that he would wait for the other players, so that they could all team up. PsyOps was also often up there.

You can check the chatlog from a few minutes ago, Foibos.


Anyways I have some more plans about changes, but the only thing that keeps me from going on is that I have to wait for the edit of Foibos, so hurry man.

There need to be done some changes in the linksetup and/or vehicle park.
For example there are just too many of these fast Scorpions, what makes the movement over the map faster than it should be.

I wanna keep more of the original Battlefront atmosphere, not that actionized omni-stuff that it seems to be now.

EDIT:
V8-Beta3 released!

Changelog:
-New linksetups, but the default one should be the best.
-Some tweaks on Ion-Cannon-Volumes. I did Foibos the favor and set them to affect flying vehicles. Also lowered the top-volume to prevent flyers from getting too easy unnoticed behind the enemies back.
-A new toy for you, guys. But this time it has no bugs and won't distract you from playing. It's balanced but has only 350 HP.
-Higher lightmap resolution. I set the lightmap-scale from 32 to 4, so the shadows are much more detailed now. Also used RGBA instead of DXT-compression. This increases the quality again, makes the mapfile smaller and should have almost no noticable impact on the FPS, as some experienced mappers assured me.
-Improved performance due to moving of some anti-portals.
-Fixed a problem with the bunker-cam not to work online.


Download (4.22 MB, 7zip)
Only the mapfile is included. As always you need to download the other packages from the first post, if you haven't done yet.


Unfortunately I had to take back the Beta-4 because the new things were not good, or didn't work as thought.

V8-Beta4-!
Download (4.12 MB, 7zip)

Changelog:
-Removed the Predator, it was too powerful for this map. Re-added the fourth manta again instead.
-RGBA restored. Please don't rebuild anything anymore, Foibos, or you will overwrite it with DXT again.
-Removed two objects that were somehow under the map and where not need in the map at all.
-Attached each one of the mover-parts to it's opposite part. So there is for each ADS now a "host-mover" which tells it's counterpart the way how to move and the counterpart just follows the same way without having an own rotation. This should prevent the movers from running asynchronous in netplay and also save server-traffic.
-Made the top Ion-volume higher again.
-Moved the mantas a bit backward to jump easier from the roof.
-Moved some poles at the middle bunker to jump maybe on top and to be the same as at the other bunkers.
-Moved the mover at the center bunker a bit upwards to not stick to the ground visually.
-Some tweaks about the narrowness of the ADS.
-Made the view inside the lake more dark and short.

This version have of course all the advantages from Beta3. Just to mention as we run Beta2 at the moment. This version should take one more step back to the old Battlefront-feeling.

Some incredible good guy that seems to be a crocodile came up with a new version Beta5, changing the following things:

-ADS is now one part again to prevent asynchronity. However, I assigned a new technique for it's movement. It doesn't use the rotation anymore, but rotates by 4 keyframes and the speed is regulated by the MoveTime. So it should work better online now (I hope at least). Also it's new "skin" is now assigned directly to the origin-staticmesh and not to each single object afterwards.
I tried out how it would be if I put the ADS higher, but it was just terrible. A good tankcamper could shoot the only way to bypass the choke-bunker down easily with the splash-damage. Besides that you have to consider that the bunker-node lies lower than the other nodes, so the ADS also needs to be lower.
In other words: Keep your hands away!
-Fixed a bug with a floating frame that Lilalurl mentioned months ago.
-Put a BlockingVolume around the stairs at the bunker to prevent stuttering of the view, especially in 3rd-person-view. It lets only players walk on a nicer slope, projectiles and corpses are still "using" the stairs.


Download (4.15 MB, 7zip)

Beta 6: Download (4.13 MB, 7zip)

Changes:
Same as in Beta 5 plus some things Foibos wanted:
-Lake is now naturally darker, not only from the distancefog and this way also when seeing it from outside the water.
-Pole at the bunker are outside (they were in the previous version already, but just to be sure you notice it)
-ADS height is closer to the height of the other ones.
-One EMP-mine in base replaced with U-Damage.
-Reduced the shadow-resolution again to improve the performance. There aren't many places where you would notice the difference. But it is still 4 times higher than standard, but 8 times was maybe exaggerated.
-Teleporter added into the ADS on the bunker-roof, so that you are not captured until death in it.