DMN-Lazywater

Project 33 :: 2003 / lazywater :: ::

My first map I made for the unreal 2 engine (ut2003) and for the Domain 2049 mod.

A curved dam site holds water for a town. Rebels occupied the water plant and contaminated the water. They now can complete their mission by opening two valves and flood a big area with poisoned water.

A group of local guys tries to stop them. They need to broadcast a message so a security lock can be closed.

Award: Finalist in the first phase of the Make Something Unreal Contest and honorable mentioned in phase three.

Screenshots

This is the first level I made with the unreal editor for ut2003. It was also the first time I created content outside the editor.

Cubemaps, Emitter, Materials, Terrain, Decolayers all of it wasn't present in the last engine. So it was a lot of new stuff to try out.

01.jpg (800*640px) ID 421 :: :: ::

I used a skybox from one of the other levels and changed the colour of the sky. Using slightly orange light gave the map a very moody atmosphere.

02.jpg (800*640px) ID 422 :: :: ::

The centre building. - First there was no plan for this building in the layout. The map ran a bit slow so I experimented with anti portals to occlude sections of the level. As a result I added this building and the map actually has a better performance with it than without

03.jpg (800*630px) ID 423 :: :: ::

One of the bases. - Using textures based on photos rather than painted textures lets all Domain 2049 levels look different than other unreal engine levels.

I also think that it is a matter of the scale of the objects. A lot of content in unreal looks quite bulky and a bit overloaded with details while our levels had less details and more slender elements.

This level isn't the best example for this theory. My later levels look cleaner.

Art assets for Domain 2049

04.jpg (800*640px) ID 424 :: :: ::

The centre building with the impressive cloud hanging over it.

05.jpg (800*400px) ID 425 :: :: ::

The other base. - In original UT you never see thin details like the stuff that hangs down from the ceiling.

Lighting is a bit dodgy in some spots, when I look at it right now.

06.jpg (800*400px) ID 426 :: :: ::

The tunnel inside the dam.

It's interesting how gameplay balances itself when you provide different paths to the player. This is the most protected way but also the most dangerous.

Players can use 3 or 4 different ways to get from one base to the other. The most obvious route is not always the best. Sometimes you need to surprise your enemies. I simply try to give the player 3 different opportunities to approach and this usually is enought to keep the gameplay interesting.

Back to Domain 2049

07.jpg (800*400px) ID 427 :: :: ::

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