So, in order to jump in on the orgy of DEV Blogs, I decided to write up a hopefully concise[edit: in hindsight, it's far from concise] and revealing new mapping project of mine. I'll throw in a few screenshots, a minimap render, and talk a bit about the vision I have for its place in Project Reality.

Where I'm coming from:

• I've never been a fan of Kashan, but I love the idea of 4km maps.
• I've always loved EJOD but I recognize it's far too small a map to have any significant place in current PR.
• I love city maps like Al Basrah and Muttrah.

So what I decided to do, after making Ramiel as my first map, was merge all my loves, fix all my dislikes, and make one map to end all maps. Ok, not quite, but that was my logic. Ramiel gave me the basic understanding of mapping, it turned out "alright" but generally, I look back and I am light years away from impressed with it.

I also spent a year in Japan with a low end laptop on which my only war entertainment was Generation Kill which I watched repeatedly in the evenings when I wasn't drinking myself stupid. So this map also draws from Generation Kill [there seems to be a theme in my maps, eh?]

So, without further rambling, something I'm all to skilled at, here's a nice big minimap rendering and a few screenshots of my next map, Al Kut!

The first image is simply the minimap, the second is the minimap with a few CP ideas running through my head.

As you can see, only the bottom half has been started, and even that is a great work in progress. The green fields did not render, so I simply drew them in through photoshop to give you an idea of where the current fields are placed. There will be more, of course.

Compare to googlemaps: Al Kut

Ideas/Themes

Bridges, like on Qwai will be a deciding factor in the maps play. Holding the bridges will enable things aside from infantry to advance across the map.

I wanted to stress the place for recon/infantry squads. There is a lot of tree cover, hedge rows, and crop fields at varying heights. No Kashan Kilimanjaro hills for tanks to snipe from.

Not Kashan. Kashan looks awesome, but its too barren for me. Too deserted. I mean, that's what it's supposed to be, but I want a more packed 4km map for combined arms.

I'm shooting for diversity as well:

• City in the center
• Oilfelds in the southwest
• Crop/farmland near water
• Expansive deserted airport
• Walled in compounds throughout the desert highways in varying levels of disrepair
• A number of new statics requested for this map

The list goes on...

Anyway:

Here's some screenshots from in game. Keep in mind, again, that these screens are a few months old, and even still it is pretty much a total Work in Progress. I'm into my last semester in college, so while I have little coursework, I still have the stresses of it being my last days here on campus, etc before I become a working man/apply for Marine OCS



Gameplay ideas:
Will have tanks, APC's, and both transport and attack helos. No jets. Each team, probably MEC and USMC, will have similar loadouts, perhaps a bit different for some variety. Light transport like Humvees will also be included.

Hope you all enjoy it, maybe you're a bit excited, and just keep a lookout for more info!