[BF2] Iraq Oilfields

[michi.be]

Finally I took a small break from our Sci-fi Mod and made a Battlefield2 level. Is my first one for this engine/game but I think I made levels which were less appealing.

It's called "Iraq Oilfields" and set in teh desert. I used the BF2 Statics for this one but tried to give the map an extra portion athmosphere using sounds or the overall lighting of the map combined with unique environments like the dried river with the ol' boat in or the small village and the oil lakes.

There are bigger rocks and i tried to arrange the dunes in a special order so infantry can take cover. But the map is still meant to be focused on vehicles.

No attack helicopters are in. Only for transport choppers.

Furthermore there is a 16-64 player support and even Singleplayer is supported. SP comes from "Zinnstein".

A new loadingmusic combined with a custom sky is also there.

I hope you like it. Please keep in mind that the Bf2 lighting Engine is not as

precize like HL2. But I tried my best to archive a believable look.

Download: http://www.uac-warfare.com/michimaps/Iraq_Oilfields.zip

[Pericolos0]

That looks really cool , but did you just photoshop some dof blur effects in those screenshots?

[michi.be]

yes. its because im jealous that other engines can do DoF but no bf2...

no just kidding. i think it looks a little bit better and I'm a DoF fanboy.

[Sindwiller]

Looks very nice (i'll send out a friend of mine who has BF2 into the Battlefield to test this map ). But lacks contrast. Brown, brown, brown: duh Anyway, nice work!

[Defrag]

Looks interesting but the terrain is very bland looking due to a lack of variety in the texturing -- it almost looks as if you're using terrain that is just one colour instead of having a texture applied to it. You can see the texture detail up close, but as it is mip-mapped out at distance it just becomes a bland brownish colour with zero detail. I think you should work on giving the terrain some more variety & bits & pieces to make it more visually interesting and varied.

The other stuff looks good, but any chance of an overview?

[michi.be]

heres the overview from last week:

My problem with the textures are theese dunes. in a desert there is not much variation going on. i agree with you but i think also that its a bit bf2 engine related.

after a set distance the detailmap blends to a colormap. the colormap is very rought and blurry.

i played with the value to blend from detail to color but it turned out to look to patterned.

as you can see on my overview map there are colors and variations like the greenish terrain at the dried river or the north of the town with a little bit more vegetation.

the bf2 maps are not desert only like the oman map set at beaches.

[Vinny Testaverde]

looks cool...

I would have like to have seen much bigger plumes of smoke coming from the oil towers, the plumes were seen from space during the war, and I think it would like an omnious dynamic element to the map..

gj tho

[michi.be]

yes i want that too but i didnt manage to get the big smoke particle work. it worked as a "stand alone" mod but this is no option for one map.

my plan was to have big smoke particles from burning oil lakes so my brownish sky would work better. i had several threads in forums about my problem but there was no solution. to bad.

[Hourences]

The atmosphere in some pics is decent but I dont like the sky. It prolly is BF2 content but it looks rather blurry + there are too many different messed up colors in your pics now. A very yellow brown terrain and fog but a bordeaux sky ring and some blue and pink above that. Strange color pallet.

I also think the map needs a lot better lighting. You only have a sunlight right now. It doesnt shine. Its a very dusty rather dark setting and it would really add up if the lights were on everywhere

[RD]

I usually dont like depressive atmosphere, but its cool here. Iraq was a very depressive place when the oilfields were on fire

[michi.be]

sorry but I dont think the sky is blurry. its a common 2048x512px images.

http://home.arcor.de/fieslings-place/oildfieldsky.jpg

bf2 makes it blurry and my photoshopping with the promo-shots too.

furthermore there is a sunlight which comes from one direction. the shadowscasting is correct. its slightly dusty so it wont cast sharp shadows in reality.

i dont really know what you mean by "if the lights were on everywhere". in bf2 you normally use one skylight for lighing your map. an ambient light is cast inside the building. there a light entities for nightmaps but they are not used like in other engines like q3/d3/hl2.

this thread explains the lightengine in bf2: http://bfeditor.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=1783

i think the engine is limiting in some ways but its also challanging working with it. i archived the depressive mood that i wanted to. most people like the map. and im confidend with it but will remind the critics ive got when it comes to another map.

[Hourences]

Your lighting is very monotome and repetitive. All the lighting everywhere looks identical and exactly the same brightness, color and so on. There is zero variation and thus zero composition resulting in a boring lighting setup. Your lighting is very boring and very basic because you only have one source of light. A single element cannot create composition. Composition is created by looping the viewers eyes lead around a room or area. Let his eyes be attracted to things he see but never lead the path to a dead end.

It doesnt shine because its all very dark and monotome.

Lights are on mean letting the headlights of cars and choppers give off light, Make those big lamps in the camp give off light like they would in real life if it were a dusky setting. Place little candles inside houses and let offices emit another type of light and color.

You have fire in your screenshots but the fire does not appear to influence the environment at all. They do not cast strong orange lighting.

Perhaps the BF engine isnt good at small lights but it just doesnt shine right now lighting wise. The atmosphere is pretty solid.

[Warby]

love the ship in the desert ^^