Tribes2Maps.com Re-Opened!
March 21, 2005 - Sfphinx

Tribes2Maps.com has re-opened its doors under new management. I, Sfphinx - the Spawngraph Shaman, has taken over management of Tribes2Maps.com! Here is the email that I sent out to all members of the forums.

I know that everyone was sad to see that Bytor was shutting down the site, then even more sad when he /actually/ did it. I know that I have been away from the Tribes 2 Community for a while now (due to marriage, serving my country, etc...) that as my gift to you all I, Sfphinx, am re-opening Tribes2Maps.com with the blessing of Bytor (no I didn't steal the site). After trying to track down Bytor for several weeks (ok, days), I was able to talk him into handing the site over to me in its entirety. (Just want to note that "a tiny fishie" from the Pond put in a good word for me). I have been spending the last few, several days obtaining the content and putting it on the new server. There are a few bugs I am sure in the system and the forum "look" isn't the same, but I am working on that.

So without further ado I present to you the re-opening of Tribes2Maps.com! Please no rushing the server! :)

Now for the juicy part.

New Features:
Wrench, a tool designed for better error checking for any Torque Engine scripting. It returns the file name you are checking, the line number
Random Map of the Week, this is not necessarily new, but I had to make a script for it, so I decided to list it here. :) Every Sunday Morning Tribes2Maps.com will post a new Map of the Week on the site.

Old Features: The following features of Tribes2Maps.com have been disabled due to server capabilities, however as soon as I have the capability the features will come back online.

Custom Map Packs - Disabled (this is due to a missing package for perl, hopefully will be back soon) Monthly Map Packs - Disabled (same reason as above)

I am always going to be looking for new ideas and directions to take the site. All suggestions are welcome!

-Sfphinx

Xpack2 Map Pack Released!
January 2, 2003 - Bytor

What is it? xpack2 contains 31 maps for the Tribes 2 game. Some of these maps are tweaked versions of ones that came with Tribes2, some are tweaked versions of previously released community maps, and some are brand spanking new!

Get it here.

Sparky Updates Teleporter Script
December 19, 2002 - Bytor

The Sparkmeister says: "This is a major update to my teleporter system in an effortto ease the use of teleporters in your maps."

Get it here.

Client Side Map Myth Dispelled
October 23, 2002 - Bytor

There has been a long-standing debate about the merits of server-side versus client-side mapping and which one gets your map more server rotation. Many mappers have a fear of making client-side maps because they believe that nobody will ever play them since they have to be downloaded first. This fear is compounded by the belief that server admins never install client-side maps on their servers because they feel they will lose their player base as a result.

I decided to do an informal study to see if these fears were unfounded. I wrote a script that queries every T2 server listed on the master servers and logs the map that is currently being played. I ran this script every half hour for 30 days. Each time a server is queried, it's called a "sample". Over those 30 days, my script collected 523,625 such samples.

After all the data was collected, I wrote another script to analyze it. I cross-referenced the map names against the tribes2maps.com database, and against the list of other known maps, to count which maps were client-side and which were server-side. I also counted which ones were the "stock" maps that came with the game. If I couldn't determine if a map was client-side or not, I counted it as "unknown". Here are the results:

So in conclusion, most of the maps in rotation are the stock maps. No surprise there. However, out of the 39% that are not stock maps, better than two thirds of them are client-side maps. Note that if I run the numbers again, but filter out servers that don't have any non-bot players on them, the ratio between server-side and client-side is much closer, but client-side still wins out. In other words, the popular belief that server-side maps get more server rotation as well as playtime, is a myth.

"CodeName: Lonewolf" Launched
September 02, 2002 - Bytor

CodeName: Lonewolf is officially kicked off today by the release of the first of their maps. The team of mappers, Links of Honor, has chosen to release the first map in each series, and then release the Chapter as a whole upon its completion.

CodeName: Lonewolf begins the chronicle of a young StarWolf warrior, caught unwillingly in the middle of a strange attack on the world of Orsini, far from the galactic masses.

Within this first mission, the Links of Honor team has brought everything possible: custom terrain, skies, textures, buildings, voices, incredible bot programming, involving storyline, and more.

The maps that will be released are "reverse engineered" to fit under Tribes2's default "Training" tab. However, when the LoneWolf chapter is finished in its entirety, there will be a new tab for players to work with, customizing their warrior's name, loadout, teammates and more.

The Links of Honor team hopes this map shows what they are capable of, and truly believe this is only the beginning.

Dark Millenium Team Looking for Mappers
June 08, 2002 - Bytor

Dark Millenium is a new total conversion mod for Tribes 2 based on the popular game Warhammer 40k. It will feature: custom maps; custom player, vehicle, and weapon models; New gameplay modes; and a new GUI system. More will be released to the community within the next month or so. In the meantime, Dark Millenium is looking for EXPERIENCED mappers and map scripters. If you have any interest in joining, contact Mirv at thegreatpablo@hotmail.com.

21-6 Productions Looking for Mappers
May 02, 2002 - Bytor

21-6 Productions (http://www.21-6.com) is currently looking for a talented level designer to work on their sci-fi action-RPG Myrmidon. Myrmidon will combine the exploration and character-building aspects of an RPG with strong team-based gameplay features. Much has been accomplished on Myrmidon (visit the 21-6 website for more detailed info), but much more needs to be done before we will be able to release the ESD version.

We are looking for someone who can join the existing team and hit the ground running. Myrmidon is being developed using the Torque engine by Garage Games (http://www.garagegames.com), so familiarity with Worldcraft and the in-game level editors is a big plus. Knowledge of T2/Torque scripting and the ability to create textures would be useful, but is not necessary.

If you are interested in working with a serious and dedicated team on an interesting game, let us know by sending an e-mail to helpwanted@21-6.com. If you can include some information about the levels and/or projects that you have worked on, including links to the levels themselves, we'd appreciate it.

Object Designers Needed
April 22, 2002 - Bytor

Vision Studios is currently looking for people to help them with their next big project. The development team behind Strike Force Unreal Tournament - http://www.strikeforcecenter.com is working with the Tribes 2 engine to develop a military vs military mod for the engine. The new mod will feature real world weapons, vehicles and characters. The team is currently looking in the Tribes 2 community for experienced object designers for the new maps. If you can create map objects and import them into T2 the team wants you. The new mod will feature real world objects like watch towers, small towns, trees, bushes, etc. Think of Delta Force with better graphics. =) If you would like to apply for the positions and be part of this huge mod for Tribes 2 please contact optimizer@strikeforcecenter.com

Note: The new mod will put two military teams together in the huge outside environments of Tribes 2. The game will have the standard Tribes 2 game types with a real world setting. Maps will display real world objects and buildings. The ground and air vehicles will be updated to be real world vehicles and the characters will be classed based. You will be able to do parachute drops over targets and take out teams in a military fashion using real world guns. Vision Studios already has a development team in place but they are currently looking to expand that team with experienced people in the Tribes 2 community.

AutoDownload System Released!
February 9, 2002 - Bytor

After a successful and relatively bug-free beta test, I'm finally releasing the Tribes2Maps.com AutoDownload system. This is a Tribes 2 script with an accompanying Visual Basic application that allows you to automatically download maps from Tribes2Maps.com from within the game, without having to restart Tribes 2, or ever leave the game.

The VB program runs in the background and takes care of "installing" the maps that are downloaded from Tribes2Maps.com by the T2 script. It also launches T2 for you, either directly or via the Sierra Auto Update utility. It can also launch T2 via Panama Jack's TimeHUD.exe. This all happens with very little modifications to any core T2 code, and it includes a box to enter optional command line parameters, so it should be compatible with any mod.

PJ (not Panama Jack) has prepared an installer program that installs the VB application as well as the required T2 script files. Download the installer here:

http://www.tribes2maps.com/autodownload/

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