Home Contests & Challenges Archives UT Master Challenge: Concept Art

UTMC - Black Hole

Daahn
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Daahn null
Hello, this is my proposal fot a theme for UTMC. :) It's a very loose sketch for now. It represents a space station which had captured a black hole.

An ancient civilization build it to save itself from a certain doom from a near black hole. And now the tournament uses it to srtage it's fights.

In short words it is like a sphere with bridges with jumping boards around the black hole. From time to time there are columns of sun flares that goes through it from the near sun....it's hell! :poly123: If you get shot in mid air you will be sucked by the black hole.

Hope you like it.

Replies

  • FirebornForm
    I think someone's a fan of Super Mario Galaxy ;) I get instant flashbacks of those games looking at your concept.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VKhFh2oiJQ"]Super Mario Galaxy : Gateway Galaxy - Grand Star Rescue - YouTube[/ame]

    Not sure if Epic would even consider a mario-galaxy like gravity level but the idea is cool.

    I like your statues, they look like they are desperately trying to escape the black hole center. My only concern is scale, it looks like you put jump-pads (white squares) around but if that's the scale ref for figures then I would just see people constantly falling to their deaths. of course this contest is mainly just themes not designing levels so it could easily be sized up. Maybe you can explore a bit more on what sort of tech or artifact stuff is keeping them "afloat" out of the blackhole's reach.
  • Daahn
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    Daahn null
    Actually i've never played Mario Galaxy :D. But you are right about the scale! I have to think about it when i refine the drawing. :) Thank you!
  • EVIL
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    EVIL polycounter lvl 18
    The most obvious problem is gameplay. All lines of sight for the player in a curved level like that are very short, and this would have some serious impact on gameplay.

    You have to take into account a large range of weapons, from rocket launchers to sniper rifles and so you need to have a good variety between long and short lines of sight. Plus as a player you want to be able to predict where an opponent might be. Since the curvature is so extreme it's not only hard to find your bearing but its hard to try and track a player.

    What would be far more interesting would be to play on the inside, where you can look up and see other players. It would be more interesting for the map designer to place objects either in orbit of the black hole or as static props like overhangs etc to block lines of sight. It would even be interesting to have weapon projectiles curve because of the gravity well, and maybe even have jump pads that sling you to the other side (correct your flight to much and you might find yourself in a very rapidly descending orbit towards the black hole).

    just my 2 cents! Its refreshing to see someone take on a totally different direction
  • Daahn
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    Daahn null
    Yes, you are right about the gameplay. When FirebornForm told me it looked like Mario Galaxy i started to think how can i change the shape of the station. I changed things dramatically, now the station is on a planet and with the shape of a ring with two towers, like one of the classic UT maps.
    The black hole is in the middle. I made a quick 3D sketch to see what angles i could draw it.

    The story of the map is that the ancient civilization captured a black hole to use it as a energy sorce.
  • Daahn
  • Daahn
  • Loginus
    This might be one of the coolest ideas, I only wish you designed the construction around the black hole more. The shot looks fine, but I still have no idea how it would look like from a players perspective.

    Regarding gameplay implications, the level wouldn't have to encircle the set piece, it might go around the hole only half way, or the platforms might be places to the side to avoid this large obstruction in the centre.

    An idea: the hole grows as the game progresses, starting as a tiny dot and by the time limit it reaches the gameplay area.
  • Daahn
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    Daahn null
    Thank you! Of course this is still WIP and that's not the whole construction. It will be much clearer in the end. But your idea for the gameplay is so awesome, i hope if my map is choosen the game developers try it. :)
  • FirebornForm
    Well this one has certainly changed a lot since I last looked at it! I still think the visual of the statues trying to escape was really well conveyed as a "Dying civilization captures a black hole" but the newest one feels more like it fits into exploring tech and more solid. Both ideas are good, just go into different themes 1st being a more mysterious magic and 2nd being more higher tech.

    Layering ontop of Loginus's gameplay idea I could see the central platform above the blackhole starts out level in the playing field and starts getting higher and higher the bigger the blackhole gets. I'm not sure if dynamic adjusting jump-pads to launch you into the center would be possible but its an idea. Dynamic map concepts have been a thing since UT3 though I never played it i've seen levels change by time elapsed.

    Effects wise this one is crazy over the top, realistically speaking this doesn't look like the behavior a black hole would have on the planet around it but it's clearly NOT realistic so anything goes. It will definitely push the UE4 engine though.
  • Daahn
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    Daahn null
    Yeah, definitly this will have to show the whole capability of the UE4. :D I haven't changed the idea of the statues, just haven't drawn them yet. They will be placed as in the 3D sketch in one of my previous posts. The theme will be something like ancient castle with high tech elements. :) Thank you all for the nice feedback and ideas!
  • Stirls
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    Stirls polycounter lvl 8
    I like where you're taking this. Please, oh please make the black hole as menacing as possible! Black holes are pretty fucking scary, I could imagine being so close to one (not in real life, of course) would be terrifying.

    Ambitious project, but I'm so pumped to see how this turns out.
  • Daahn
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    Daahn null
    :D I hope i managed to make it somehow menacing. I think it's ready! :)

    XzOMFJz.jpg
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