

	AS-Thrust
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	by Tynan Sylvester    	tynan@planetunreal.com
	May 2004


	Installation and Hard Data                                     
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-Place AS-Thrust.ut2 in your /UT2004/Maps folder
-Place Ty_RocketSmeshes.usx in your /UT2004/StaticMeshes folder
-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

Number of
Internal Versions:	About 48

Other Levels by
Author:		DM-Lightfalls / DM-Nightfalls
		DOM-Aphrodite

	Commentary
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	It's been a long time coming, but Thrust is finally complete. I feel a few words to mark 
	the occasion are in order.

	This level was created for the Community Bonus Pack 2.


	Issues
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	All of the scripting in this map was done within the last bare week of production. The 
	Assault scripting system is very complex and detailed. The only way I managed to 
	finish even in the time I had was because of a huge stroke of luck: The guy who coded
	the Assault gametype, Laurent "Shag" Delayen, used to be the lead coder on the UT99 
	mod Tactial Ops. I mapped for Tactical Ops. Contacts can take you a long way in this 
	business, it seems.

	And thus, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and much pestering with questions, 
	I managed to get the whole deal scripted. Some parts of the trigger system are still 
	disorganized nightmares, but hey, they work.


	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:
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	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-Thrust.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.