Fixious
Test Lead
To date, every map that's been made by the community has been a client-side map (afaik). Client-side maps allow the map creator to create completely new terrains, change terrain textures, add new textures or skyboxes, new shapes, and new lighting. However, this also means that it must be downloaded by each player who wishes to play on it.
Server-side maps are different. They're created using an existing map and simply modify it without adding in anything new. It doesn't contain any new terrain, it keeps the existing textures, and it can't be re-lit to update shadows. However, you can move around any of the objects wherever you want to create a completely new feel and layout. You can import existing shapes from the Legions editor and relight them so they appear correctly. Best of all, it requires no downloading. Players can simply join the server and play the map.
While community map making is great, it obviously hasn't really taken off like everyone hoped. Server-side maps were (and still are) extremely popular in the original Tribes. Hell, they outnumber the original maps that came with the game. Defender has been the only one to experiment with this to my knowledge. He can alter skyboxes, fog, and other values without requiring users to download anything, as seen in this video. Having a server dedicated to client-side maps is a nice gesture, but ultimately pointless since no one has really bothered downloading them all.
A server full of server-side community maps could take off. I'm not saying it will, but it likely has a better chance compared to the current situation of map makers spending time on a map no one really bothers downloading. Client-side map making should only be done for map competitions. Everything else should be a server-side map from now on.
edit: Turns out Legions has a crappier map system than I previously thought. Ignore this, sadly.
Server-side maps are different. They're created using an existing map and simply modify it without adding in anything new. It doesn't contain any new terrain, it keeps the existing textures, and it can't be re-lit to update shadows. However, you can move around any of the objects wherever you want to create a completely new feel and layout. You can import existing shapes from the Legions editor and relight them so they appear correctly. Best of all, it requires no downloading. Players can simply join the server and play the map.
While community map making is great, it obviously hasn't really taken off like everyone hoped. Server-side maps were (and still are) extremely popular in the original Tribes. Hell, they outnumber the original maps that came with the game. Defender has been the only one to experiment with this to my knowledge. He can alter skyboxes, fog, and other values without requiring users to download anything, as seen in this video. Having a server dedicated to client-side maps is a nice gesture, but ultimately pointless since no one has really bothered downloading them all.
A server full of server-side community maps could take off. I'm not saying it will, but it likely has a better chance compared to the current situation of map makers spending time on a map no one really bothers downloading. Client-side map making should only be done for map competitions. Everything else should be a server-side map from now on.
edit: Turns out Legions has a crappier map system than I previously thought. Ignore this, sadly.
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