Some awesome ROTT levels I made a long time ago.

[Exitus]

From 1999 to 2003, I started experimenting with level editing for ROTT. It soon became an obsessive hobby of mine, and I loved to experiment around and push the editor to its limits. I also had grand ambitions to make a "Final ROTT" (an rtl file with 99 levels), and a series of deathmatch levels to accompany it. I never got around to making any actual single player levels, but I did have a grand time experimenting and making Comm-Bat levels, many of which I played with my friends.

I'm sharing them with you now.

CAPTURE.RTC was an attempt to make a series of Capture the Flag levels for ROTT. It was finished in 2001, but I did make a tiny adjustment just an hour ago, after eight long years.

PORTAL.RTC was finished in 2001. I wanted to make simulated "portals" using the ROTT engine. Don't play the last level, it doesn't work.

The other two RTC files were just me showing off. I'll upload some choice screen shots shortly.

[Exitus]

I used WinROTT for the screen shots because it looks better and it's easier. Some of the levels on CAPTURE.RTC were meant to be part of a larger ROTT Fortress series of maps, where you would choose your class (bullet, flying, fireproof) then go at it. Play the levels to see how I tried to pull it off. ROTT Fortress STA was supposed to be "Surface-to-Air" variant. You could choose to be a "flyer", in which you would have access to FlameWalls and FireBombs (and unlimited flyer mode powers) and fly around trying to incinerate people at the bottom. The other class was "ground grunt", where you could only operate from the ground, had access to asbestos armor, and had access to heat seekers and drunk missiles. "Flyers" had their own fortress to reload, that was could easily be accessed with the flying upgrade, and extremely difficult for "ground grunts" to infiltrate. "Ground grunts" had their own base where they could reload, and where "flyers" would have extreme difficulty operating in. Gunfinity was a recommended option, though you could play it without.

[Exitus]

Some screenshots from ROTT Fortress Surface to Air, as well as other levels from Capture.rtc.

[Exitus]

Some screenshots from the portal experiment:

[Exitus]

Some more screenies from the portal experiment. You really have to play the level to get the full feel of it, still images do not do it justice.

[Exitus]

Final shot for now, I have to eat dinner. This is what you see when you step inside the small enclave - a much larger room on the inside than the outside.

[Exitus]

In one level called Surreal, I managed to make two inverted arches out of GADs.

[Exitus]

More shots from Surreal, and Woah.rtc...

[Exitus]

These screenies are from a level called "Circular Logic", a level where I attempted to recreate the famous "Facing Worlds" level from Unreal Tournament, and a giant pyramid.

[Exitus]

This is from a level called Sand Castles. This level is HUGE. It will probably take you 10-15 minutes to explore the whole thing. I meant this to be an 11 player only level. Lots of crossroads, arches, and over/under dynamics.

[Exitus]

A really cool GAD creation, plus another shot of the Great Pyramid Comm-Bat level.

[Exitus]

I wanted to see how many GAD platforms I could place on top of each other. The maximum I could do was three, essentially making it three areas over areas and four stories. You can actually walk up to the very top.

It's amazing I could do all of this with a Wolf3d engine released in 1994.

[Bert]

Can't believe this has no replies yet. Those levels look awesome. Shame they're not SP maps, but they look awesome regardless.

Downloaded and I'll be sure to try them as soon as I can find the time. Also going to take a peek into the RTC file to see how you did the portals

[Exitus]

Originally Posted by tommy-vercetti

Damn, those screenshots are jaw-dropping. Amazing work Exitus! What baffles me the most is how did you get the GADs to align so perfectly in the directions, heights, etc you wanted them to align, to form those complex shapes. And what editor did you use??

tell me!!

Math. Lots and lots of math. And years of trial and error.

I used ROTTed as an editor.

As for single player, I DID set out to make a huge ass episode, but never got around to it - but I could still try.

I messed around with ROTT's level tree, and actually drew out by hand how I could make a 100 level single player episode with over hundreds of different paths, while still staying true to the bosses (i.e. certain bosses have to be placed in certain levels, otherwise they will not work). 'll scan and upload it later tonight.

[Exitus]

Here's a map of what Final ROTT would have looked like. It would have been overlaid with a visual map (i.e. mountains, fortress, etc). There were over 1000 different level paths. 91-99 would have been secret levels.

[Exitus]

Originally Posted by tommy-vercetti

Ah, so, can you tell me how did you use math for placing them? Does the ROTTed editor adjust GAD positioning by entering a height number?

Yea, please try to make that 100 level episode. It'd be great for the ROTT community! You are welcomed to post it in the rott boards in my sig too.

When you position GAD's, you can put up to 16 different increments for each floor height. So a level four tiles tall would have 64 different height variables. Now imagine a circle or an arch. You first add one, then two, then three, then five, then 9, then 15.

ROTTed does adjust GAD positioning via height numbers, but only for simple things like stairs. For things like arches, curves, or floors above floors above floors, each GAD has to be placed individually.

As for a 100 level episode, I think it should be a team endeavor. I can get myself reacquanited with ROTTed, or maybe even use JBailey's new editor, but there definitely should be more than one person at the helm.

Just a question - how can I record video of a ROTT level in action? Like, say I want to upload a YouTube vid? How would I go about doing that?

[Exitus]

Originally Posted by tommy-vercetti

Interesting. I will try that! Hmm, regarding recording ingame videos, so far the only method i know for older games like ROTT is with dosbox. Dosbox 0.72 lets you record ingame footage by pressing i think it is ctrl-f6, im not certain. Ill check the dosbox wiki. Dosbox records the footage in an .avi file i think in one of its folders. You might want to edit the resulting video file, since it usually gets very big.

I'm not going to waste my time then. I'll just film the screen with my video camera, even though the image will be hampered by lines and stuff.

[Exitus]

Originally Posted by tommy-vercetti

Well, by editing i meant just saving it in a different format, with a video editor, and it converts it and reduces it size automatically. Dont film directly by putting a camera in front of the screen. It's gonna look garbled.

I'm not worried about the size or format, I'm worried about the intricacies of filming in the fitst place. I know it will be garbled (well actually, not necessarily, I can adjust the camera so it reads at the same frame rate as the computer screen).

[Exitus]

Originally Posted by tommy-vercetti

Filming in dosbox? It's as easy as pressing alt-f6 to start, then again to stop.

True true, though I would prefer to film WinROTTGL. Is there any command or button for that?

[Exitus]

Originally Posted by tommy-vercetti

I have no idea. Maybe jbailey knows a way...?

He recommended fraps. Also, just sent you a message.