Spineless

Author: Spineless
Website: http://www.spbdesign.co.uk
 
 
Map Details:
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Brush Count: 22,424 + ~9,000 in ASE Models
Entity Count: 3736
Build Time: 6 Years!
Compile Time: 30 Minutes
 
Custom Models: Yes
Custom Textures: Yes
Custom Shaders: Yes
Custom Effects: Yes
Custom Sounds: Yes
Custom Scripts: Yes
Botroute Support: Yes
 
 
 
About (History):
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As many of you will know, (and for those who don't), I created a rough-round-the-edges representation of Joss Whedon's Serenity back in 2003 that I thoroughly enjoyed making - but in hindsight - could have done with a few more brushstrokes of accuracy.
 
So, 6 Years in the making and (I fear) 4 years too late, I have finally got around to releasing it! I firstly have to apologise to all those I have kept waiting. The problem with it all is that I'm too much of a perfectionist. Something that I will have created 3 months ago, will look dated to my eyes and need updating. Besides, bug fixing bores the ^&*! out of me, and the larger part of entity/script work is by it's nature - bug fixing.
 
So, as far as I know, this is about as close as anyone's come to completely recreating both the exterior AND interior of the ship. I will be the first to admit that there are currently many and far superior exterior models out there, but I don't think anyone has tackled the interior with any gusto. (Correct me if I'm wrong).
 
 
Design:
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I am not ashamed to admit that this effort is far far far superior to its' predecessor. I have embellished the ship with every conceivable detail, and poured through tons of reference material in order to conceive the closest possible representation of the ship you all know and love so well. This map is largely overscaled, around 20-25% to allow for a reasonable chance at role-play/game play.
 
Serenity, as mentioned by it's design team, is one of those few sci-fi space vessels that doesn't suffer from the Tardis effect. (Being much bigger inside, than out). All that said, I couldn't for the life of me fit all the interior into the outer shell, without warping one or the other. I decided very early on that I would have to split the map into too. Besides, with Quake III's modest capabilities, a joining of the two parts would *slay* the user's fps.
 
This, in turn, created a whole heap of problems which I have had to work around. Firstly I have taken liberties with some of the design. The hangar-shuttle connection in the film and tv-series is pitched at being set at the top, roof level of the hangar. Yet the blueprints rest both on the level of the kitchen. This led to a design compromise, where the shuttle access ports rest in two side areas, either side of the kitchen with a ladder down to the hangar.
 
I have also taken liberties with all the secret passageways and any design element in between the areas seen on the show. I have included a fuel-room, (a mighty powerful engine needs one I figured) a nav control room, a light control room, a kitchen stock room, and a spare 'crew quarters' room. These are all accessible via secrets and secret passage-ways. (Explained below).
 
 
Features:
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- Every possible area of Serenity seen in both tv-series and the movie.
- Scripted tiered secret system. Allowing you to unlock:
- The Medbay
- The Explosives Room
- The Main Hangar Door and Side Airlock
- Both Shuttles
- Navigation Controls
- Toggle-able Engine Thrusters
- Asteroid Script
- Sound Clip Easter Eggs
- Cockpit & Kitchen Light Switches
- Master Room/Airlock Override Switch
 
 
Secret Area Unlock System:
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There are 10 secret areas in the map, (and one somewhere on the exterior). Discovering 2 secret areas will unlock a sealed area of the map in the order layed out above. If your stuck, look for the shady corporate (and blue) symbol that lies close to every secret.
 
Oh and press your "use" key whenever you see a Tracey's mp3 Player!
 
 
Other Notes:
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Please refer to the Readme.txt for Known Issues/Bugs, Notes on Modding and how to access the Role-Playing version of the map.
 
 
Acknowledgements:
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- A big thankyou to Erwino and ReVa who have nudged me more than anyone to get this thing finished.
- The Whole of the {OJK} Clan, (particularly Marro & Predator) who have supported me throughout the project.
- Szico VII and Robophred for script inspiration and advice.
- ent for bug testing the open BETA vigourously.
- Lord Revian, Circa and the JKHub community for showing continued interest.
- AshuraDX for texture and shader help.
- General Jaxun for the "No Teleport" .pk3 Idea.
- Crazy Assassin for inspiring the Secret Area System.
- To the loyal followers of my Gamingforums thread: (Korro, Nozyspy, Zeig, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Raz0r, NAB622, Botdra Lar'les and the rest, you know who you are!)
 
 
Thanks for your patience and hope you enjoy it,
 
 
Spineless
 
16/06/2014

From the TV-series 'FireFly' and the 2005 film of the same name. A planet, complete with orbiting asteroids are also featured.
 
Aplogies for the large .zip file size; the .bsp turned out to be bigger than expected. The
size of the planet's textures, shaders and .ase file didn't help much either. I figure if
you're a big enough fan of the series/film, you'll spare the extra bandwidth anyway.
 
Hard-core fans will realise that some areas seen in the tv-series and film is missing:
(the crew and passenger quarters). This wasn't intentional, I found the online blueprint
and scale model replica late into the process, I was working with movie stills up until
then and consequently had to make some compromises.
 
Also note that some areas of the ship are hard to get around, (mainly because it's a trade
freighter rather than a luxury cruiser, giving me less room to work with.) Try walking
(rather than running) through the doors/small passageways; that way, you'll get stuck less
often. I have included bot-support but don't be suprised if they get stuck too, they aren't as clever as we all wish them to be.
 
This map has been tested on a Pentium 4 with 2.99 GHZ, 1.50GB of RAM and a NVIDIA FX5200
128MB GFX Card, and another Pentium 4 with significantly lower specs. Due to the high-poly
nature of the map, I recommend using a PC with similar or higher specs to avoid lag
spikes. I have included the source .map file if it is of any use to anybody. You may copy any parts of the map as long as you credit me somewhere in the readme and ask permission
first. (For email addresses see the footnote.)
 
Secrets
There are two secrets in the map; both accessible from the cargo bay. If you are having
trouble finding them, load up the .map file in the 'source' folder of the .pk3.
 
Bugs
If you look at 90' away from the planet (but with the planet still in view) the
outer-planetary glow shader appears to go through the planet.
 
Once in the medical bay looking back at the (open) entrance doors, they seem to go through
the medical bay door-frame. Arg!
 
Copyright
The music was composed by David Newman and produced in the Serenity (2005) Official
Soundtrack Compact Disc. I claim no ownership to these files; all credit goes to original
authors.
 
Most of the custom textures and shaders have been written or created by myself. A few
exceptions (e.g. the Serenity Logo) are appropriable to other authors. Again, I claim no
ownership to these files; all credit goes to the original authors.
 
Thanks to
Marro, ReVa, Alien and Seij and Predator for BETA testing.
 
The Order of Jedi Knights clan for supporting me throughout the project.
 
Isla Kamamee for general shader help and for spending nearly a day trying to convert an .ase into an .md3... ( )
 
Footnote
If you need any help, want to inquire about any techniques I’ve used, or would like to
import the ship into another Serenity or Firefly themed map, then email me via my website:
 
http://www.chromecreations.co.uk
 
I'll be glad to help.
 
~ Spineless
 
30/10/07