DM-Grendelgrounds

[}TCP{seNtic]

Hey guys,

I have been playing on the GGMJ server today and I played the map DM-Grendelgrounds, it's a mix of Grendelkeep and Campgrounds and a very good map, maybe you could take it in your mapcycle. Just a suggestion.

- seNtic

[Kobra]

i played the map and its not pretty good for TAM, but a nice TDM map

[}TCP{Carnage]

If u could provide a dl link or perhaps the map from your cache . then i will certainly add it to the list

[}TCP{seNtic]

I can't find a download link and I don't know where to find the map in my ut2004 folder.

[}TCP{Coco]

Hi!

I can't find a download link and I don't know where to find the map in my ut2004 folder.

Hmm, that man can be helped. Just try the UT2004CacheExtractor that I made. You can find it here: http://www.coco.mynetcologne.de/ut2k4ce/

You might also want to check out this thread:
http://www.tcpclan.net/phpforum/viewtopic.php?t=1566

Coco.

[}TCP{seNtic]

Hey Coco, what a nice tool man, now I can finally play some of those maps in my own game against bots, thanks, I appreciate it. I'm currently uploading the map on rapidshare will provide link in a bit. It's a beta and 30mb, a bit big, but worth it imo.

Edit: here it is: http://rapidshare.com/files/13766837/DM ... beta-3.ut2

[}TCP{Coco]

Hi Sentic!

Thanks, I'm glad you like it. I'm currently working on an update that will be released in a few weeks, I think. I've also got further plans with it, so additional functionality will be added later on (just see Wolf's post in my guestbook/feedback on my homepage).

Concerning filesize: The map files (.ut2) are usually well compressable. Try extracting a map with the option "Create archives" being checked. You will get a Zip archive then with about 1/3 of the original map size. This was implemented especially for the distribution of extracted maps. It is also very handy if the map needs further custom resources like textures or static meshes. They will be copied into the archive as well, so you have just 1 file instead of several ones.

Coco.

[}TCP{Wolf]

Grendelgrounds is not a very brilliant map, considering it is just a "copy and paste/merge" of two maps. I hereby vote to remove it from the server, and while you're at it, get rid of Morpheus III.

@Coco:
Ever since I used your tool to move some maps from the cache to my maps directory, I sometimes download these same maps again from servers.

I don't think your tool is responsible for that, because the same would probably happen if I had moved those maps manually. I am curious if you have any insights on this behaviour though, because ut2k4 is supposed to NOT load maps into the cache if they are found properly installed.

[}TCP{Cloud]

Maybee u downloaded a newer version of the map in your cache (or older?) for example: sinfonia's map had 2 updates recently.

Or was the mapname exact the same as in your ..\ut2004\maps ?

[}TCP{Coco]

Hi Wolf!

@Coco:
Ever since I used your tool to move some maps from the cache to my maps directory, I sometimes download these same maps again from servers.

I don't think your tool is responsible for that, because the same would probably happen if I had moved those maps manually. I am curious if you have any insights on this behaviour though, because ut2k4 is supposed to NOT load maps into the cache if they are found properly installed.

For the game to know what maps are installed, it is sufficient to copy the map files into the Maps directory. After this, the game creates class files for the new maps in its System folder upon the next start. These files have identical names to the map names with the extension .ucl (Unreal class). Just check it out.

As for your problem, I believe that some maps might have been updated and still carry the same name. I experienced this before with the maps "ONS-Battlefront-Rilez-ECE" and "ONS-BitchSlap(No-Slap)" on the Onslaught server. They were suddenly downloaded again one day, just as you wrote it here, although I had them installed already. The map names didn't change, but a closer look revealed that the file sizes were different. So I suppose, Carnage had them updated or uploaded a different version than before by mistake.

To be sure, try the following: Extract the repeatedly downloaded map file without installation to the game directories (use mode 2: "Copy selected files to destination directory"). Although not really required, uncheck the options "Create archives" and "Create appropriate subdirs". After extraction, locate the extracted map file and compare its filesize (in bytes!) to the corresponding one that is currently installed in your game's Maps directory.

Here's what I found:
ONS-Battlefront-Rilez-ECE - old version: 17.394.263 bytes, new version: 17.393.277 bytes
ONS-BitchSlap(No-Slap) - old version: 3.621.770 bytes, new version: 3.618.641 bytes

Coco.

[}TCP{Carnage]

the ONS-Battlefront-Rilez-ECE could indeed have been a different version with the same name
the ONS-BitchSlap(No-Slap) is a renamed map because the original was ONS-BitchSlap(No_Slap)
but in this version i removed the spiders .. and so i renamed the map to avoid version mismatches

Cheers
Car..

[}TCP{Coco]

Hi Carnage!

Hmm, the two versions of Bitchslap that I have here really have identical names but different filesizes.

Anyway, they were changed in some way and that's why they were downloaded again.

Wolf, can you tell what maps are concerned?

Coco.

[}TCP{Snowbird]

Grendelgrounds is not a very brilliant map, considering it is just a "copy and paste/merge" of two maps. I hereby vote to remove it from the server, and while you're at it, get rid of Morpheus III.

@Coco:
Ever since I used your tool to move some maps from the cache to my maps directory, I sometimes download these same maps again from servers.

I don't think your tool is responsible for that, because the same would probably happen if I had moved those maps manually. I am curious if you have any insights on this behaviour though, because ut2k4 is supposed to NOT load maps into the cache if they are found properly installed.

Wolf, my thoughts exactly. The "GrendelGrounds" map, is not a very good map. I was in it yesterday, as a spectator, and it was not a workable map. I am sorry for those that remade it, it was worthy try, and it took a bit of time to do it, but it is not a good bind.

As for the cache, yes Chesire was right. The only good thing about the conversion is, if the map does not change. Sorry to say, mine (Sinfonia) did. This is one of the drawbacks of changing a map. The other is in the map vote section, it looks like Sinfonia gets picked less than the other maps.

This is something I never thought of, and may now never change it again?!?!

[}TCP{Coco]

Hi Frank!

As for the cache, yes Chesire was right. The only good thing about the conversion is, if the map does not change. Sorry to say, mine (Sinfonia) did. This is one of the drawbacks of changing a map. The other is in the map vote section, it looks like Sinfonia gets picked less than the other maps.

This is something I never thought of, and may now never change it again?!?!

Well, what's the problem about downloading a newer version of an existing map every now and then? I think we all have sufficient download speed for this. And for HD space reasons this isn't a problem as well, as you can simply delete older versions from your cache (for example with you-know-what-tool ).

In my opinion, the maps that are constantly improved and reworked are the best ones in the end. So if you have further good ideas or find any problems, you should continue to work on it. Well, and maybe, there'll be a picture from me also in the HOF one day.

As for the "voted counter", I think it isn't that important. To be honest, I rarely notice it. But what I notice when I play is, how often I'm playing a specific map. And from this point, I know "Franks Sinfonia" quite well already, regardless of any version changes inbetween.

Anyway, I think you do good work and you should continue to do so.

Coco.

[}TCP{Ramses]

Sinfonia is played most days Frank, it's a signature map on our server