Offbeat Geek

DM-HOLP-Takk finally out!

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After being rebuilt not once, but twice, DM-HOLP-Takk finally sees the light of day.  This is a Harcore Oldskool Low Poly style map with 1on1 in mind.  For those who don’t know (if there are any of you out there), this is a  custom Unreal Tournament 3 level.

Takk, Norwegian for “Thanks”, is dedicated to the community members who helped to keep the HOLP2 Portal Site alive this time last year.  Personally moved,  I created this map to immortalize these individuals.  So today, it’s Thanksgiving Day! I give you DM-HOLP-Takk!  Enjoy!

Edit: This post was meant to be published automatically on the 26th at 12pm GMT but typically wordpress decided to ruin my day and not publish it.

Cells for the special few

After about two weeks the new and improved DM-HOLP-Takk is almost ready for public consumption. It will be released before or on thanksgiving.  This will be my first map with custom audio effects and uses more decals than all of my previous maps combined. The picture above (larger version) is a teaser of the prison cells which were created as a thank you to the individuals who helped keep the old HOLP 2 website alive.  Stay tuned for more info on on DM-HOLP-Takk!

Unreal Developer Kit

Well we finally have the answer to what was happening on epicgames.com a couple of weeks back!  That’s right, Epic have released Unreal Engine 3… for free! You will even be able to sell your own games via a steam-like app. That will be worked out later. For now Head on over to the new and swanky site for all the juicy details (http://www.udk.com/)

Old Pic New Map

For the last couple of days I have been locked away working on the bits and bobs for DM-HOLP-Takk. It has been a VERY long time coming but the wait is almost over.   I am hoping to have it done before a certain game is released this month. The video footage is also progressing along nicely and will be ready in time for release too.

I took a whole new approach to the way I built the level.   You will get to see it as I release the VTMs about the map’s construction.  Hopefully they will prove useful to some of you out there.

For those of you here for Industry news, I know I’ve been lacking somewhat. Sorry. For now this map gets all the free time I have. I’ll be back with more industry updates and news again soon!

This is a preview of “The Making of a Hardcore Old-school Low Poly Map”. The video will show a custom Unreal Tournament 3 map being created from scratch at speed.  The final release will also contain highlights of what I am doing as I progress through the map. The music is courtesy of Yppah. Thank you Joe!

After this video is released there will also be a set of real-time videos with commentary showing exactly how the map was made for aspiring level designers.

Oh what will it be?

For a brief while the epic games site changed and  the tag line: “It’s Unreal. And it’s almost here” appeared along with an image. Whether this will be an Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Unreal Engine, Make Something Unreal Compilation or something new entirely remains to be seen. With none of the usual sites reporting it It may very well be nothing. I’m getting needlessly excited anyway! More Unreal is never a bad thing.

As I find out more I’ll be sure to update.

Edit: It seems kotaku is now reporting the story.  So there may be some weight to this after all.

Edit 2: It seems the unreal.com website is now empty with a white flash box and sporting “Unreal Universe” on the title. Maybe a site to watch in the future?

Update Friday 23rd Oct: So Joystiq (article) are reporting that the Unreal Engine 3 is going to be released to consumers.  Essentially this will be something like Unreal Runtimes before it.  Allowing aspiring developers to showcase their work with  current “next-gen” power.   Exciting times are ahead!

Modern Warfare 2 changes PC multiplayer for better or for worse.

There has been quite a bit of ruckus in the Call Of Duty PC community over the weekend. Rob Bowling, Infinity Ward’s Community Manager, confirmed that their would be no dedicated server while talking during the bashandslash.com podcast over the weekend.  Infinity Ward aim to bring the PC community (most likely kicking and screaming) to the match making systems that exist on consoles.  This has a huge deviation from the norm.  You can listen to the podcast over at bash and slash to get all the details.  Notable topics discussed include the future of mod support and iw-net creation and growth.  While it is a surprise, time will tell how this move will affect our PC multiplayer experience.

After playing through Batman Arkham Asylum, and being thoroughly impressed,  I got thinking about other games which caught my interest.  A shortlist of the first games to pop into mind seemed like the appropriate way to go.  The list below, in no particular order, is a group of the more visually impressive games powered by Unreal Engine 3.

Unreal Engine 3 Powered Eye Turners

1. Mirror’s Edge
2. Borderlands
3. Bioshock
4. Batman Arkham Asylum
5. Mass Effect
6. Shadow Complex

Mirrors Edge

Innovative gameplay and a lovely clean colorful style set this game apart from all others. Definitely worth a play.

Borderlands

This soon to be released title has garnered a lot of attention with it’s cell shading and stylistic direction. Mixing FPS and RPG could be a risky move. Despite the fact it’s not out yet Borderlands is one of the more striking Unreal powered games to date.

Bioshock

The Fifties visual styling and polish to Bioshock made it one of the most popular games in its quarter! Everything from the plasmid training videos to the ‘Big Daddy’ diving suits fit perfectly. Such strict adherence to style is all too rarely seen and is a delight to behold when followed.

Batman Arkham Asylum

While Arkham Asylum is quite visually impressive, it was Rocksteady’s ability to capture the essence of Batman that made this game the hit it is. There is simply no greater moment then hanging from a gargoyle and swooping down to capture a unwitting henchman. Most of the major villains make an appearance even if only by small cameo roles. This game clearly has 2009’s game of the year award in the bag, for now. Only the highly anticipated Modern Warfare 2 can take this crown.

Mass Effect

Another game that displays a nice visual style. As an RPG I have not played much of it. But from all the critical acclaim it has received it may be a game to play at some point. The visual style is distinct enough for Mass Effect to secure itself a place on the list.

Shadow Complex

A heroic example of why side scrolling aren’t dead. Yes the Unreal Engine 3 may seem like overkill but do you really care when a game for $15.00 is so detailed and fleshed out.

This list shows why I enjoy working with the Unreal Engine. The varying styles mean there’s always something new!  I hope there will be many more titles I can add to this list.

The Wheelman

I know this game has been out a while now but seeing as it is the first game that I had the pleasure of being a part of I just had to mention it!  I worked on 2 of the six “Balance of Power” missions.  Working in the industry was an experience, one I wish to repeat again soon.  I had the distinct pleasure with some very talented individuals.  I’ll be adding a catalog of the games I’m credited on which I hope will grow to be a nice, long, and hopefully good, list.  In the mean time check out “The Wheelman“, available on PC, PS3, and XBOX360.

My new HOLP map in the works

I’ve been busy at work on my thank you deathmatch level for Unreal Tournament 3.  The map, “DM-HOLP-Takk”, is set inside a prison and gets it’s name from the Norwegian word for thank you.  Release is around the corner.  This map will honour the kind folk who helped keep the original HOLP website alive after it took a 200GB overflow in bandwidth.  Each of those kind folk will feature in the map environment.  There is nearly more work outside the playable area than there is in it.  I’m excited about how this one will turn out.  All going well it will see both a PC and PS3 release. More to come later!