================================================================
Title                   :Sand King
Version                 :2.0
Release Date            :1/5/2003
Files	                :DM-SandKing][.ut2
Author(s)               :David M. Pochron
Email Address           :dpoch@ticon.net
Web Page                :http://www.ticon.net/~dpoch/games
Description             :Deathmatch level on a large mountainous beach for UT2003
                         with battles that play like fully interactive FMV's from
                         Starcraft.
Where to get this map   :
Other levels by author  :DM-LightsOut (Unreal)
                         Elder God Ruins, BigSpaceGunUp, BigSpaceGunDn (Quake 2)
                         RktArena (Quake 1)
                         DM-E4M3 (Elder God Shrine for UT)
Recommended players     :6-12
Maximum players         :16 (after that and you'll start telefragging each
                         other when everyone first enters the map)
Bot support             :Yes
Translocator support    :Not really, though you can use it if you don't play against the bots
Known bugs              :Sometimes when you fall from a great height you die and
                         pass right through the terrain!  (I haven't seen this happen again
                         since the first patch to UT2003 came out.)
Cool features           :Nifty looking terrain and wavy fluid surface water!  Also having
                         rockets fly right over your head as you duck behind a hill is a nice
                         thrill.

--- Construction ---
Editor(s) used          :UnrealEd 3.0
Construction Time       :2 weeks
Dev & Test System       :Athlon 1600+ XP, Ti4200 gfx card, 512MB PC2100 DDR RAM,
                         Soyo Dragon+ mobo


Installation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy the map into the "Map" directory of UT2003.  That's it!


Extended description:
--------------------------------------
This is a new version of DM-SandKing for the year 2003!  Here is a list of changes
from the original:

- Bot pathing completely reworked.  Now the bots won't blissfully walk along the tops of
hills except to get items.  They also will avoid deep valleys if possible and will instead
try to walk alongside the lower edges of the hills if possible.  Also they are slightly more
likely to actually try and get to the top of the mountain.

- Sounds!  I totally forgot about the ambient sound effects in the original version.  Now
there's the sound of waves, wind, and birds placed in the map.

- Map now includes labeled regions so it's easier to locate teammates during team
deathmatch games.

- I smoothed out the rough spots in some of the dunes that might have caused problems
in movement and just looked generally bad.

- More antiportals were added to further improve framerate and also keep the bots from
"seeing" other players through the hills and shooting into them in a futile effort.

- A few changes in item placement.  The rocket launcher at the top of the mountain was moved
to the left side of the map (left if you are facing the water).  The Double Damage was taken
out of the random item dispenser (where it was totally useless since it took too long to get
back to the action to make any use of it) and now has its own dispenser at the top of the
mountain where the rocket launcher used to be.  Finally the player start under the Redeemer
was moved to the steep hilltop on the left side of the map and a health put in the place
the playerstart was located. (It was kind of a dead area for healths.)

- The mini-health packs in the water are more numerous (more reason now to risk going in
the water) and give 15 points each.  Also, the land-based adrenaline all give 5 units
now instead of 3.  The underwater adrenaline pills now give 10 units each.

- The ammo packs at the top of the mountain not only respawn at the faster rate (same as
before) but some of them also give extra ammo with each pickup!

- Map now uses the new description text feature supported with the recent UT2003 patches.

- Player models and items on the map appear brighter now (even brighter than with the
latest UT2003 patch) due to an ambient lighting trick I learned that only affects models and
not terrain.


Below is the original description of the map, since it still applies to the new map:

This map was started out as a "is this possible?" situation:  It is possible to
make a fun map that is only built of terrain polys and decolayers?  I also wondered
if this would become standard practice to make maps quickly since you don't
have to spend any time in Maya or 3D studio to make static meshes.  Well, forget about
the time-saving aspects - even though creating the terrain design only took a day, going back
and smoothing and tweaking it, adding antiportals to block scenery and pathing the bots
took a LONG time so an all-terrain map isn't the great timesaver I figured it would be.

After playing the map several times I noticed something else interesting:  The map plays
very much like a paintball battle, only with more powerful weapons.  Also, after playing in
team deathmatch mode I couldn't help but feel like I was in a fully 3D version of Starcraft,
especially when using the minigun.  The whole scene played out like many of the cutscenes in
Starcraft, only realtime rendered now and fully interactive. :-)

I don't know how well this map will play on slower systems;  On my system it averages about 60
fps which is pretty good.


Tips:
-----
This map is large and it will be easy to get disoriented at first since all the scenery looks
similar.  However, it doesn't take long to traverse the whole area and it is very easy to spot
a firefight from the projectiles shooting so finding enemies shouldn't be a problem.  Once
you familiarize yourself with the item locations you will soon learn to recognize where you
are when you respawn.

Pay attention to the trampled areas that go up hills - these provide clues to some of the
paths that allow you to get to the top of the hills.  The other ways to the hilltops you'll
have to find on your own.

The central mountain provides an and an Ion Painter and a wealth of ammo that respawns every
10 seconds instead of the usual 30 so it's beneficial to get up there, but watch out because
you're likely to get sniped if you stay up there too long.  (It's also not a bad place to
do some sniping of your own.)  There is only one way up the mountain (without using the
Translocator) but you must watch your step because it's easy to slip off.

Definitely use the terrain as a strategic advantage.  If you try to battle out in the open as
a usual bunny-hopper you're going to get your butt kicked by players with military training.

The large map size slows the pace of the game down a bit (which is by design) but I limited
the health and armor so you should still be able to get a decent amount of frags if you're
a good player.  Also, you can try changing the game speed if you feel it is too slow.

The trees do not block weapons fire and they don't block you - I tried it on some of them
and the effect was mostly annoying.  However, they do provide great cover!

Try using the Quadjump mutator with this map!

Have fun!



Copyright / Permissions
-----------------------
FTP, BBS, and web site operators: You map distribute this level through
any electronic network provided you include this file and leave the archive
intact.

Game server administrators:  You may allow users to download the map directly,
in which case the text file need not be distributed with it.

Compilation distributors: You are free to include this map on compilation
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM (henceforth referred to as "distribution media") free of charge
or not.  This text file must accompany the map on any distribution media, and
both must remain unaltered from the way it originally released.

Map authors:  You are free to modify this map and re-release it, as long
as you give it a slightly different name.  (It's very annoying to have CRC errors
when logging onto a game server because someone makes tweaked version of a map with
the same name!)  Proper credit to myself must be included with the modified map.
