Ord Mantell

[NumberWan]

Ord Mantell

 

Ord Mantell is the first mission of Kyle Katarn in DP. After engaging Imperial Forces in space, the Republic sends the Jedi to find the escaping Imperial captain. It is believed, that he managed to escape from his dreadnaught and hide somewhere on the surface of Ord Mantell, among the many junkyards of this planet.

 

This level by far is one of the most worked through. When I started working on it, I based the level design mainly on what I knew about Ord Mantell from Shadows of the Empire. There it was solely a large dirty area with toxic flooded areas and old ships, including star destroyers. Jedi Academy showed more of the planet, when Jaden Korr encounters Boba Fett there. So certain elements of the abandoned city were included into this level as well.

 

Here is a screen, when we still worked with Jedi Outcast. Ord Mantell looked something like that at the time:

 

 

 

This was the new variant after many changes and work with lights:

 

 

 

Some more pictures:

 

 

 

This map is 100% complete, but OlgO plans to improve some things there.

You can check other screenshots of Ord Mantell and other locations here

[Onysfx]

Good, very good. Looks a bit bare, but I suppose Ord Mantell is supposed to look like that .

[NumberWan]

Well, SWTOR showed Ord Mantell quite differently, but I guess It's not a problem, considering the fact, that the events of that game take place some 3500+ years ago. And thus the planet could have changed a lot, slowly turning into something more barren and dusty. I read it still had some cities even during the Empire, but again - no problem here.

[TheWhitePhoenix]

Nice. I honestly got some flashbacks to the level from SOE when I saw the junkyard pic.

[NumberWan]

Nice. I honestly got some flashbacks to the level from SOE when I saw the junkyard pic.

Oh, thank you! It's good to hear, that we've actually managed to bring back the feel of good old Star Wars games. 

To tell the truth, the nostalgic attitude is one of the main ideas in DP, and I'm planning to develop this idea in one of the later discussions.

[TheWhitePhoenix]

Oh, thank you! It's good to hear, that we've actually managed to bring back the feel of good old Star Wars games. 

To tell the truth, the nostalgic attitude is one of the main ideas in DP, and I'm planning to develop this idea in one of the later discussions.

Of course, man. And may I ask? You planning something such similar to the Sewers of Coruscant, or the Imperial City as it was called at the time? Or even Xizor's palace? I'd love to see something like that in this mod.

[NumberWan]

Well, Coruscant is planned to appear, as well as the slums district, I must say. Besides Ord mantell no other planets from SotE are to appear in our modification. However certain locations will bring good memories of what you've seen in Shadows. There is a level with sewers, and a Palace, but it's different planet.

 

We also have one planet, which might remind of Gall.

[TheWhitePhoenix]

Well, Coruscant is planned to appear, as well as the slums district, I must say. Besides Ord mantell no other planets from SotE are to appear in our modification. However certain locations will bring good memories of what you've seen in Shadows. There is a level with sewers, and a Palace, but it's different planet.

 

We also have one planet, which might remind of Gall.

Nice. I always wanted to see a Gall map for JKA. Now only when the Outrider model is finished on this site, shall I relive the memories truly. I loved annoying Leebo and getting the Challenge Point above the Outrider's cockpit in the level.

[Circa]

Gotta love that default ground rock texture. Compared to the other textures, it looks worse. Not your fault, it's a default texture, no?

[NumberWan]

Yes, the texture is the one of the default assets of the game. The whole map is using the standard textures of the Jedi Academy game, because it was one of the first, and also it was intended to make it feel like the already familiar surroundings. We added some holograms and objects of our own as well.

[ZanderNao]

The ambiance is amazing. You are truly gifted... I could just wander around there, see the amazing stuff.

[NumberWan]

jchapman1984, thanks!

You reminded me, that I rarely do mention anything regarding sounds in games. In DP we try to add more to the environment, by placing sounds of wind or some machines at the distance, or strange animals or birds squeaking in the swamps... In any case the location seen above is full of coldness, winds of the forgotten city... You walk through the streets of the once prosperous town and through the debris of rusty machines, that were used in battles. It's like a graveyard, but not that gloomy. =)

[ZanderNao]

jchapman1984, thanks!

You reminded me, that I rarely do mention anything regarding sounds in games. In DP we try to add more to the environment, by placing sounds of wind or some machines at the distance, or strange animals or birds squeaking in the swamps... In any case the location seen above is full of coldness, winds of the forgotten city... You walk through the streets of the once prosperous town and through the debris of rusty machines, that were used in battles. It's like a graveyard, but not that gloomy. =)

 

Ambient sound effects are something that aren't often thought about and its a very important quality. Even gloomy maps are enchanting to me when made well. I can't wait to see this in play.

[OlgO]

Hi all!

Need an advice about sky on Ord Mantell. So this is an old sky:

 

 

 

 

I like the color it gives but I dont like sky textures. I think they are dark (its a midday on OrdMantell level) and unnaturally yellow.

So I tried to use TOR as reference and did that sky:

 

 

 

 

But when I put those textures on level it felt like it was night on OrdMantell not a midday.

So I did another try and made those textures:

 

 

 

 

But I dont know, when I removed yellow color from sky textures its now feel somehow different, somehow not right... maybe these sky textures are too bright?

What should I do? Stick with old heavy yellow textures, try to work around on TOR-like textures or add something yellow and darken the last ones? How exactly should OrdMantell sky look like?

[Onysfx]

@@OlgO

 

Ya, I feel like the sky in that last pic is too bright. The yellow sky makes the planet feel like a junkyard. Course, I understand what you mean trying to decide. If I had to decide, I would make the 2nd pic's textures darker (But not in a way that makes it feel as if it's night, almost more like...a stormy type of day all the time, but still enough so you can see the sun trying to shine through?) 

 

I only suggested a darker one though because I like stormy days .

[Jeff]

I like the darker one best. The yellow one just feels too much like geonosis or something.

[ZanderNao]

I decided to check out Wookiepedia to see what reference pics they had lying around. From what it appears, there is a pink tinge most of the day but around mid day it clears to natural tones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NumberWan]

I must say, that I prefer the yellow sky the most. It distinguishes Ord mantell from other planets in the mod, which are more cold or darker. There are lots of planets during the day as well, but the sky is purely blue. We also have one dusty planet.

 

The sky in SW TOR seems to be acurate as well, but it works fine there, because the characters move through open spaces most of the time. Ord Mantell during the Cold War is mostly the islands and continents with hills and mountains, some of which are volcanic, and the skies are hidden behind the clouds. Some lighter areas are in the distance, which can't be seen in our maps due to a large amount of junk and old ships.

 

Speaking of which, I have to notice, that the planet has become a junkyard (possibly) some time after the Cold War, thus the climate, the atmosphere and general color gamma might have changed as a result of deteriorating situation.

 

Shadows of the Empire had quite a lot of Ord Mantell stuff. In the cutscenes the sky is more reddish. The atmosphere in the game - due to game engines of course - is more like sandy dust. Piles of junk, wrecked starships and other things add more to the atmosphere as well.

 

 

Yet, the violet-like skybox might just work the best way. We'll have to look into this matter.

[OlgO]

Thank you all for replies!

[OlgO]

Update (sorry for double post).

So after many thoughts of Ord Mantell sky and trying different variations we decided to stop on this one:

 

 

 

 

So it's more like our old variant but more lighter, clouds are more transparent and I hope now it feels more like it's a sunny noon.

For those who likes more darker sky I can tell dont worry, there will be at least one level with dark stormy sky

[eezstreet]

Are those X-wings in that first pic moving? O_O That's an absolutely incredible amount of detail, sir.

[OlgO]

Thanks! Yea, there are not only x-wings in the Ord Mantell skies. I put there some ships, not a heavy traffic but and also not an abandoned planet:

 

 

 

 

We try to fill skies with some environment when it's needed, for expamle

a battle:

 

 

 

 

or some city traffic:

 

 

 

[NumberWan]

Yes, the first mission includes a large battle in space, which you can observe from the starship, while fighting very different Imperial forces. This first mission together with a trip to Ord Mantell are a reference to good old games of Rogue Squadron 3D and the above mentioned Shadows of the Empire, though it happened more or less inadvertently.

 

Larger cities, as Olgo said already, will have a lot of traffic in the sky, while minor locations have starships land and go away, landspeeders passing by or minor transport going above the roofs of the buildings. Don't worry, there are certain missions, which take place in remote mostly uninhabited places too.

[ZanderNao]

Those look so much better than the 2D ship ribbons... Fantastic work, great atmospherics.

[Numfast]

Good thing that you decided to change the sky. I mean the level itself is combination of Ord Mantell from "Jedi Academy" and "Shadows of the Empire", but yellowish sky looked like something wrong happened to the planet. And now, when the sky looks more greenish, it gives me a feeling that I'm on the Ord Mantell from JA and TOR at the same time.
P.S. And also the funny thing is that you change the yellow gamma to green. The same was with "The Matrix" when it's out on HD-DVD(or re-issued on DVD in 2004).