06-02-2003 - Awwright! Something to report. I just got Bob-omb Battlefield remapped
and the bots LOVE it. In the old map, the bots simply hung around under the bridge
which made a bot match more like shooting fish in a barrel. But, using better mapping
techniques, the bots navigate the entire map. Aaah, another step closer to a public
release. Very cool! By the way, I've posted a few new screenies in the Screenshots
section, so be sure to check it out before you go.
05-12-2003 - Whew, what work! I'm in the process of remapping 'Bob-omb Battlefield
and it's coming along nicely. I had to remap it for three reasons; 1) The old map was
horribly inefficient and it played a little slow for my taste 2) The old map wasn't
at the same scale as the 'Ghost House' and 'Princess Castle' maps 3) Bot support stank
because it WAS mapped inefficiently. Too many details - but they're not the details
you're thinking of. 'Details' in mapping terminology means that it's a part of the
map that the Quake3 engine basically treats as 'invisible', which means that everything
behind a 'detail' will get rendered visible as if the 'detail' wasn't there at all.
OK, 'nuff techie crapola, what that translates to you gamers is a very sluggish playing map.
But check out the screenshot area and you'll see the new map in action. It's far from
done, so you'll see quite a few holes and missing features in it. But the bots don't seem
to care! They already navigate the new map much better than the old one. BTW, the textures
aren't finalized so the final map may look quite a bit different than what you see in these
shots. However, it WILL look better once the trees, models and bonus areas are in place!
04-21-2003 - Wow, I think I'm figuring out how to code new features into the mod.
I've been playing around with the Holomatch code and have coded the ability to
change the background music track mid-game, play 'powerup' music while carrying
certain powerups, added swinging doors (like the bedroom door in your house, it
swings open instead of slides into the ceiling or wall), changed pickup items'
names and related sounds, and also added a '1-up' and 'ammobox' item for you
to pick up in the game.
- 1-up - If you die while holding this item, you'll respawn with fresh health and
ammo (as if you'd really died), but you'll be carrying any weapons, ammo
and powerups that you had in your inventory before you died. Your enemy will
still get a point for the frag, but you won't get a negative point if you perish
by lava, drowning, etc.
- ammobox - This is just like the old ammo box that some of you saw in the previous
betas of the Mario Mod except now it's an actual game entity! Now you can't
pick it up if you have at least half of the maximum ammo you can carry for each
weapon.
04-03-2003 - Got the Princess' Castle mapped, for the most part. All of the secret
areas are functional, and I'm still working on item placement. The bots have a blast
on this map, and the dynamic music really makes it realistic! Try to imagine being inside
of the castle, and you hear the castle theme music. When you go out the front or back
door to an outside area, the music goes silent and you hear birds, bugs and other
outdoor sounds. Just like in the original game! Really cool! But I learned some
new texturing techniques when creating this map, so I'm probably going to re-texture
the terrain in the 'Bob-omb Battlefield' map.
08-28-2002 - Got the Ghost House mapped, finally! All of the secrets are
fully functional and the weapons/items placement seem to be balanced enough
to make for a fun game. Don't touch any of the ghosts!
Old news - Got Bob-omb Battlefield mapped completely. It looks quite like
the original map on the N64. If you liked the original then you'll love this
map! But if you've never seen this map before, you'll need to go buy yourself
a Nintendo64 console and the SuperMario 64 game cartridge and go have a blast.
People who are familiar with the original game will Definitely have the advantage
in this mod, so it's wise to get that game and do some 'tactical research' before
you jump into the Mario Mod!
