Cheers to all, I'm off to the Unreal3 engine

[fKd]

just a quick goodbye and thanks to all for all the help over the last few months. after a bit of deep thought i've decided to move over to the (or back to) unreal tech. its been really great having all this help, this really is a great community.

good luck with all ya future mapping guys, i'll be lurking of course

[Hipshot]

You can still post images even if it's an Unreal level =)

[ShadoW_86]

GL with new engine, I'm sure you will provide a lot of great enviroinments. But lets be honest, sooner or later you will come back to one and only right, mighty q3 engine, as we all did :P.

[obsidian]

If you don't mind me asking, what's the reason for the change?

[surgeon62]

Where will you be posting your WIP (Unreal sites)?

Just don't become one of those Unreal mappers that overdo the detail just because they can.

[cityy]

That's really sad Goodbye, I really like the maps you created for quake 3!

[AEon]

Yeah, it's a real pity you have to move on.

But it had occurred to me weeks ago that if you want to be a mapper in the industry you need to map for the engines out there that are actually commercially used presently, i.e. U3 or HL2 or Crytek and the like, and not for a "quaint" yet far too old engine like idTech3 (Q3A).

IMO, it should help to have those Q3A maps under your belt in the port folio, because it will demonstrate that you can actually do *everything* yourself (geometry, textures, layout), and get the most even out of old engines. You will also want to look into modeling, though, as I understood it from working a while at Epic, those teams usually have modeling artists, and the mappers more or less copy/paste all the existing assets into a map (working on layout, composition, terrain, paths, AI, etc. primarily), not having to create them themselves. This is also true for textures, created by the actual texture artists. But if you can do those things yourself, at least to a certain level, this will always be plus.

Good luck anyway.

Will you be posting the last version of your temp01 map? I'd really want to see how far all that went using the AEcell texture set.

[fKd]

hmmmm well i've got 2 maps at around 50% complete... maybe i should finish them off... i wont even be touching unrealed till i've got modeling and texture mapping worked out anyway lol... i really dont like the unrealed interface.... its tough switching back over after not using it for so long. was playing around last night... dont like any of the ut3 assets at all.... nothing fits... they are all weird ie stairs dont conform to the usual 2/1 ratio, but the railing does... wall panels are all wonky, you have to rebuild everytime you change the bsp... the list goes on. i've no idea how anyone would enjoy using it out of the box.... but in terms of the possibilities of creating amazing lvl's and art work, i can see it being there. but 3d modeling is required. probably a good thing as it would be another skill worth learning for my portfolio...

if only rage was mod friendly, then i would stick to idtech :/

[Pat Howard]

Ah well, that's too bad . You should finish off those maps while you're in transition though! I was really looking forward to seeing your NoGhost Comp. submission, maybe that would be a nice way to end? Your decision obviously; learning another engine makes sense for your portfolio. I've also been thinking about Unreal3 as my next move before I apply for some jobs, but that won't be 'til later on next year.

Be sure to post some screenshots of whatever you decide to do!
-pat

[Anthem]

I agree with pat. It would have been great to see your NoGhost competition map before you go. However, it is obviously understandable that you want to move on. I wish you luck with wherever your career takes you.

[dONKEY]

fKd, I kind of agree with your rational and kind of don't. Experience with different engines is important...having narrowly missed opportunities with a certain Canadian company because I hadn't used the engine they were intending to use for the next project, I can see the sense in your thinking. However, idtech for me at least still has many advantages. Unreal tech has a horrid interface, perhaps I'm just not used to it, but I find it a real block to creative flow. The engine itself I find problematic. I don't like the mixture of dynamic and lightmap lighting and the look of normal maps seems blurry compared to idtech4. I think this comes from scaling of static meshes.
Without a doubt model making skills are the way to go in level design, but you don't need to go to a new engine for that. idtech3 and 4 will of course support models perfectly well. The preparation and export of meshes varies from game to game, but the use of the 3d application remains the same.
I have to say I agree with Kat's latest news post on his site. Increasingly games companies do not want modders and mappers. Game longevity seems a thing of the past. Working with an older engine but producing published content seems to me a far more productive use of one's free time now.
It's your choice of course, you seem a nice guy and produce some lovely work. I wish you the very best. For me though, I see little point in chasing technology. If you make great content, whatever the engine companies will want you.

[fKd]

huh.. i posted a comment today based on cod5 seems on topic to your post...


the whole, they are protecting there dlc which = a map pack or 2...
hmmm the idea of paying for a map pack is just a little rich as they have been free for such a long time, not to mention the fact that games companies are releasing games with content missing so they can sell em as well as the fact that games prices are going up just further goes to show how greedy companies are getting these days ahhhh bring back the old days of maps etc being released with patches.... ha, whos first gonna suggest the idea of paying for a patch lol

but i guess this is progress... i've said it before and i'll say it again, gaming was better when it was for nerds, now that every dog, cat and fish are playing and paying the nerdcore are being made to suffer with less modable and more expensive games even tho the technology still costs an obscene amount :/

i wonder if this will impact the future of game developers for fps's as soon no user maps will be usable. sigh...


lol massive generalizations on my part... but meh


i said something like this different topic but same mentality..

[AEon]

About the "greed"... in some cases were large companies are run by accountants that is probably quite true, in other cases I think it is actually more tragic. The investment into developing a game is starting to get so insane (money-wise) that the companies are actually getting very desperate to come out even to some degree, and paying for DLC seems to be one of the new venues that work well. Not that I like this, but no one is forcing me to buy them anyway.

As an example: With my old hardware none of the new UT3-engine games work. So I simply did not get a single one of them. And I have pretty much stopped buying games as they are released. E.g. I waited almost a year to get HL2 episode 2. That way you save a lot of money.

It does make me smile every day how much fun I am getting out of Q3A, even after all these years, mapping mostly, but "creating" textures is also fun, and the folks here in the forum not to forget. And all this is without any extra cost. I love the idea of getting the most out of something, instead of the present mind-set: Buy, play a bit, then throw away, which seems to be what the "creatively challenged mass of consumers" seems to go for. Sad... for them.

Just my 2 cents.

[rgoer]

why not continue to post your work (and even questions or advice) here? there are plenty of us here who have significant UE3 experience in addition to our Q3 engine passion

[g0th-]

Shame to see you go fdk but as other have mentioned you can keep posting screens from other games. And as far as modelling goes, you can basically do that in q3 although it's a bit more fuss then the newer game engines. I'm sure there a plenty of folks who would help you out if you asked about it including myself.

[Castle]

If you don't mind me asking, what's the reason for the change?

http://www.udk.com/

Epic released a free version of the most recent build of the UE3 engine. This is insanely huge news. I have had a chance to look over the tech and its the cutting fucking bleeding edge latest iteration of the engine. I have to say its a leap above anything I have seen yet in terms in what it can do and potential quality considering the damn thing is free to anyone right now. I have seen allot of 3d engines too even the behind the scenes stuff in some cases.

That might have something to do with his choice

edit: Oh and I am already registered on the forums there... Now if I can just pull myself from my fallout 3 mods haha!!

[Scourge]

I downloaded that yesterday. Haven't cracked it open yet.

[Castle]

I downloaded that yesterday. Haven't cracked it open yet.

I cant think of anything about the engine I dont like. The current iteration solved a ton of problems I had with the old generic browser setup. I guess in some ways Kismet can feel clunky vs Id tech 5 scripting. ( Though I imagine Unreal script can make unique kismet functions for you to use ) Blow for blow this engine stands up vs anything I have seen.

Crack it open sooner than later

[Scourge]

Aye, probably this weekend.

[monaster]

just a quick goodbye and thanks to all for all the help over the last few months. after a bit of deep thought i've decided to move over to the (or back to) unreal tech. its been really great having all this help, this really is a great community.

good luck with all ya future mapping guys, i'll be lurking of course

Dammit I'm off for one month and one of my favourite mappers "quits"... hope you return safe and sound to Quake3 someday

[pjw]

why not continue to post your work (and even questions or advice) here? there are plenty of us here who have significant UE3 experience in addition to our Q3 engine passion

Just wanted to second this. No reason to stop posting here, despite the "Quake" in the url.

[AEon]

The best UE3 maps will be made here at Q3W LEM... yeah ("jawollja")... oh, the irony

Simply prefixing the thread title with an "UE3 - " would avoid any confusion, and should be fine.