Coruscant Mega Map (WIP)

[Qira]

 

Well, you all have been asking for it. "Why don't you make Coruscant?" "Make Coruscant" "Where is Coruscant!????"

Originally, I did not want to make Coruscant, but this summer I got to experience living in NYC for the first time and out of all of the other cities I've lived in, this place absolutely broke me. In post cards and movies, you see the glistening lights of the skyline and times square, and the city inflates itself as being a world capital. But everything in NYC is fundamentally broken, healthcare, the subways, something as simple as seeing a dentist becomes a Kafkaesque nightmare. While walking over a bridge from the Bronx into Manhattan, it hit me, What would Coruscant actually be like? A NYC on steroids with even more problems! How would a planet scale ecumenopolis break you?

So for the past few months I've been conceptualizing a map that takes up a good chunk of the entire GTK Radiant grid. What would it be like to stand on the surface of Coruscant, where its a long way up, and a long way down? How about a map so large you have to take a literal train to go from one end to the other (or you could just walk which will take up a good chunk of time and might be just a little dangerous since OSHA doesn't exist in the Star Wars Universe and most platforms don't even have guard rails. I've been drawing inspiration from games like NaissanceE where you explore a horrifying megalophobia inducing city that was clearly not built for humans. When I look at Coruscant with its lack of outdoor parks and green spaces (even the touristy Senate District has no parks, just concrete and durasteel) and a planet sized city with thousands of levels below and above, I see potential to make something fascinating. 

The images above are the mostly the (unfinished) skybox, I now need to rework the rest of the playable map area to blend with it, This map will most likely take a long time to complete with the scale so I am enlisting some help as this will be a community effort. 

Proposed features I want to include:

* A Metro Rail that crosses from one end to the other: That Coruscant episode of the Mandalorian was my absolute favorite.

* NPC civilians: I do not want this place feeling like an eerie liminal space when played solo. (Yes, I'm addicted to hour long video essays about these lol) 

* Four distinct neighborhoods: Vibrant neighborhoods with numerous clubs and places to explore. (This can't be all doom and gloom.) 

*Physicalized 3D flying speeders and large transports: That 2D air traffic I made in Valora was cute, now it's time to take it up a notch. 

* A deep canyon where the jet blast from said low flying speeder can push you off and then you can experience the horror of falling to your death. (for a good while before you hit the kill trigger)

As the residents of Coruscant would say.

 

[sveezy]

is it playable map?

[Qira]

I figured I should post an update since someone just asked if this is a playable map. 

I am happy to announce that not only is it "playable" but this map is now a 1.1 scale Coruscant and I am partnering with MJT who will be undertaking the immense technical work to make a map of this scale function, from the trains, to the turbo lifts to the sound hurdles of a map this large. Noodle will be providing some excellent models to bring the environment to life and Sidios for their incredible attention to detail and fidelity, and together we will attempt to make you feel like you are actually exploring Coruscant. If you would like to be involved just DM me, especially if you're a texture artist (no PBR) Like a real city this is now a community effort and we are looking for talent. 

You will have to ignore the many, many unfinished areas of both the skybox and playable area, I have been spending time doing trial and error to get the scale of the map right and blending the skyportal to the playable map (It's seamless now) I have been collecting hundreds of reference photos from the live action movies and TV shows and reading up on the behind the scenes of Coruscant and trying to get a feel for its culture and architectural design language. Coruscant is less Bladerunner (although there is some brutalism sprinkled in) and more Art Deco with a few phallic shaped buildings here and there. Coruscant was mostly inspired from this ancient movie. As for a culture, the people of Coruscant are completely desensitized to heights and even wind. riding in an open canopy air speeder in the sky lanes would be an absolutely terrifying experience for most normal people from earth, but for the average Coruscanti, it's just their commute. 

This video starts from the highest point in the map (which will eventually be a palatial penthouse you can either take a glass elevator, or fly an air speeder up to.) 

 

One of the biggest design problems I'm facing  is the map (like the real Coruscant) is a walking simulator. It currently takes 1 minute and 5 seconds to run across one of the bridges in the canyon. In gameplay terms that is a very long time. 

The canyon bridges aren't even as long as some of the skywalks on Coruscant (I am tempted to make one this long connecting some of the towers just to be sadistic) 

To somewhat solve this I built some viaducts and freeways for swoops and ground vehicles.

there will also be landing pads for air speeders. (Yes, you will be able to fly) 

[Droidy365]

7 hours ago, Qira said:

Holy crap, I thought that was a skybox at first! That's actually nuts mate!

This'll be such an awesome map.