ff_pirates - capture the flag
Map by Doughboy
2007



Installation:
Install the zip into your FortressForever directory and everything
should fall into place!

FortressForever\maps         ff_pirates2.bsp
                             ff_pirates2 README.txt
                             ff_pirates2.txt
			     ff_pirates2.LUA

FortressForever\materials\vgui\loadingscreens	ff_pirates2.VTF
						ff_pirates2.VMF

FortressForever\sound\ff_pirates		Cannons1.WAV
						Cannons2.WAV
						Jaws.WAV
						Pirates Life for Me.MP3


Credits: 
Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean


Special Thanks:
My Hero |RE|THE_BOMB(NiX)
Clans that gave me a chance: UAF, NiX, SKS, eXeL, 4|4
Experienced Mappers who answered my tedious questions: Mulchman, TyrantII and everyone @ #iNvasionWorks
Also thanks to: Silkk, Dogfighter, LadyM (and BabyM), Roxx, Gh0st, Ultima, AssMongrel, DK, FadetoBlah,
Poly, Pant, Vio, jigga, SC, skewy, Zues, SatansWill, iabd, BlaZe, Clue, Sinister, AW, evil and baby evil,
Bang, Primus, Player, Steel Python, Slayer, DM, Recoil, LightBandit, SV, Army, Incursion, Llamo, CoDe, Juda,
X-Rated, Ruiner, Phaelinx, We$iDe, NyTeMaRe, Smasher, FRA, Thrik, Thunder, and everyone else i'm forgetting!

Contact: 
My AIM name is the most consistant way to get in touch with me: "StarFoxMcCloud"



Map History:
So I decided my first map for Fortress Forever would be a map I couldn't have possibly done
in the TFC HL game engine. A map with huge open areas. I enjoy making assymetric maps because
artistically they're more appealing and more natural. Balance is always a concern so I hope
the flags are balanced in different defensive strongholds (Captains Mess & Ship Bow).
To further help with this balance I favored an offensive style map. The bird nests above the sails
are placed for specific views exposing defense setups to sniper fire, but not completely exposed.
The spawns are exposed to attack just like my other map, Submarine. Some people won't like this,
but it shouldn't be hard to kill anyone wandering through spawns. A good defense should be able
to repel spam into the spawn. The prison serves no purpose but to separate the spawns.

My envisioned defense would probably be an SG and/or Demo on the flag to stop Concers, and
a wall of Soldiers/HWs stomping everyone else in route. I'm not sure how this map would play
with leagues (organized teams winning at all costs kind of play). The map detail isn't as high
as I would have liked, but my frame rates are already hurting so I won't go higher.
I had hoped to put in models like Rum Barrels but I don't know any modelers. I would have
also loved some lanterns, but again... that might require a modeler. If I do a rerelease you
can look for these features. I'm just anxious to get this map out cause I like the design.
If I can get feedback, I might do a rerelease some day. Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Ride
was a big influence. I also watched a Sinbad movie, and had plans to watch an Errol Flynn flick
but never got around to it. The biggest influence was an Unreal Tournament map called Galleon.


Revision:
Why? I wanted to do a few things.
First I wanted a night map originally, but lighting theatrics are very difficult to do well in this engine.
Second I wanted to replace my rum barrels with the highly detailed models someone made for Fortress Forever.
Third I wanted to improve the look of the sails so I bumped up their detail although I wish they could resemble cloth.
I also toyed with their size and smoothed out the concave side to them.
Fourth, I wasn't happy about the viewable distance on the ocean so I expanded it and posted invisible walls 
where previously the ocean had ended (this helps create the illusion that the ocean fades into the horizon).
Most these updates are graphical but after seeing some official maps Im confident FPS won't suffer too much.
Almost forgot, I changed the shark attack so it'd be damage over time. Primarily this prevents the corpse from flying
100 feet into the air on death.


I would like to take the rest of this time to answer a forum post formally from a nice soldier named bingo-bango:

"-make it so you dont have to jump to get the flag
-add spawn protection
-optimize, idk y but i get terrible fps
-fix a bunch of the textures, theres a bunch of unaligned and overlaped textures
-make a skybox
-vary the textures
-limit the hw count
-make it easier to climb the ladders, like a platform
-make it so you cant stand on the open up doors where the cannons would stick out of. probably just make a really steep triangle brush above them textured with player clip
-at least attach a block to the bottom of the fins of the shark, it looks weird when u c just the fins while ur in the water for the second
-find a way to kill you when u fall in the water without blowing u up and flying 200 meters
-make it so you cant stand on the emergency boats, idk how, but as above it drives some people nuts to go somewhere and have no way out but kill themselves (jumping inthe water in this case)
-block bullets/grenades/pipes/etc. from falling in the grate above spawn"

-jumping for the flag adds a difficulty i felt helped balance the more exposed flag
-spawns are exposed to encourage defenders to guard the spawn as much as they guard their flag
-optimization isn't my specialty and i made it worse but my upgraded PC runs it fine so here's to hoping and praying
-i honestly didn't see many texture flaws but i corrected a few
-skybox is changed to fit the water and night setting
-i personally wouldn't mind a texture pack from the FF Team in the next release cause we could always use more
-i dont believe in limiting class counts on a map when a server can do it
-i smoothed the ladders and bumped out a platform but they'll still be hard to climb cause that's the engine's fault
-i have absolutely no clue why you'd prefer players not to be able to stand on the cannon window doors
-The shark fins without bodies should be less noticable now that the map is night time, but ideally I'd want a modeler to design a shark for me
-omg i actually submitted to one of your requests... lol the shark death no longer causes corpse launching
-you actually can escape from the dingy through the spawn windows but it takes a little skill
-the grate above the spawn lets very limited stuff through, i really don't think it'd turn the tide of battle














