The Electric Fence

by Insectoid (400x400)

Though not part of the Plasma series, it deserves mention here because it was the first map I ever made.  I initially wanted to try out all of the neat map features such as team play, balls, and cannons using items, etc.  Its design was probably influenced by old XPilot standbys such as The Globe, Planet X, and others.  When I look back on it now, I think I should have called it something else; I'm not sure why I called it Electric Fence.  (Come on…I was 14! Gimme a break.)

There are 10 teams (0-9), with either 8 or 0 for the robots (I had originally designated team 8 as the robot team).  Targets and balls are fun, and I put in about a zillion bases and cannons (I seem to do that a lot on my maps; but that's just because my early maps were typically very big).  The "cup"-shaped areas below the team 8 structure are to catch items falling from the cannons (note that there's also one below the team 3 structure).  I also enabled team cannons, so your own team's cannons can't hurt you.

I created the initial map in 2000, but I updated parts of the map in 2003 (hence the "II").    Download!

Plasma Blast

by Insectoid (500x500)

My second map would employ everything used in The Electric Fence except for team play and related features.  I had several new structures in mind, most notably the "star-bases" and the "torpedo tube".  As you can see, its design (and that of the Plasma Blast maps in general) was heavily influenced by Dr_Xemacs's Dungeons of Fear and Vincent's Robot Extermination, with its mixture of narrow tunnels and large open areas studded with blocks, wormholes, and gravity.

 My dad gave me the idea of the "gravity well" (based on a similar structure found on Robot Extermination), which operates on the same principles as the "torpedo tube", except it runs diagonally.  The "gravity well" is used primarily for bombs, since the gravity will make them go super-fast through the wormholes and all over the map—in other words, an instant carpet-bombing.  The only defense against such a carpet-bombing (besides shields, of course) is by phasing into one of several enclosed cubbies on the map—provided you actually have any phasings. :P

The big rings in the center were hand-sketched in xmapedit, which is why they look, uh, sketchy.  (Actually, this was intentional.)  There are enclosed spaces here, too, but they're frightfully dangerous—there are hundreds of cannons in and around them, and the cannons all use items!

I put a small group of item concentrators near each base, a trend I would continue for all of the Plasma Blast maps.  I created it in 2001, but there have been changes since then, mostly to reflect new server options.    Download!

Plasma Blast II

by Insectoid (700x700)

Getting bigger, aren't they?  (This problem would become more apparent later on.)

I decided that my third map would be a sequel to the first Plasma Blast, so I employed some of the familiar structures from the original.  I would not have been able to make the ring structure exactly the same, so I decided to make it perfectly round.  I had to use the Windows map editor MapXpress to do this, since xmapedit cannot generate circles.  I used the star-bases again; in fact, all five Plasma Blasts have them, but these are somewhat larger than in PB1.  I made a lot of geometric shapes (for variety), and made a new Gravity Well.  I think the gravity chute in the upper-left of the outer ring was my dad's idea.

Some of the bases, most notably the diamond-shaped bases and the "layer cake" (as my dad calls it), now have a bit of a defense against those super-fast mines and missiles—targets.  They have walls of targets at the entrances, which provides a weak shield against cluster debris.  My dad really likes the Layer-Cake idea because it's an ideal place to get items and blow up robots.

At the center of the inner ring is a gravity vortex with wormholes at its center.  While it works nowhere nearly as well as the Gravity Well, it is kind of fun to toss mines into.  Hiding inside the letters of the logo and the "M-net" (mine network) is a good way to avoid the mines, although if you run out of phasings it becomes a bit of a problem; that's why there are wormholes in the M-net letters.

I have made many changes since I built it in 2002, mostly to the Layer-Cake and the item concentrators.  I did try asteroids for a while, but I kind of got tired of them.    Download!

The Galactic Nebula / Plasma Blast III

by Insectoid (800x800)

This monstrosity, for me, was the end of the line for making big maps; in my estimation, it would be unsuitable for running on ANY consumer Internet service.  A commercial rack server, on the other hand, would probably work fine.

For the third map in the Plasma Blast series, I decided to try something a little bit different.  Instead of having a lot of narrow tunnels with lots of rooms in between, I decided to just have (almost) empty space surrounding the main structures.  (This may have been inspired, once again, by Vincent's Robot Extermination map.)

I went a little crazy on the central planetoid, putting several weird rooms in it.  The spiral Gravity Well was difficult to get working properly, but I think it works fine now.  My inspiration for this spiral design was that maybe mines would go faster through a spiral-based well than a plain diagonal one, since there are more gravity elements.  The Star Bases are included again, and I made a new logo.  (And yes, that wedge-shaped base in the upper-left is supposed to look like a Starfleet insignia.)

Created in 2003; I did a bit of work on it later that year, adding rings (and a lot of cannons and fuel) to the big planetoid in the center.    Download!

Plasma Nuke II

by Insectoid (700x700)

In late 2002 or early 2003 (I think), Abyss introduced a map called Nuke Dark Hell, a modification of PeaceMaker's New Dark Hell map with item concentrators, shields, and nuclear weapons, on his deepcore.uoregon.edu server.  NukeDH has disappeared since then, but maybe someone will host something similar someday.  I noticed that the gameplay was almost like Plasma Blast II (except for the map).  So I went back to PB2 and tweaked around with it a bit, adjusting some settings so they were closer to NukeDH.

The only physical changes that I made to the map were removing the asteroid concentrators (which I was tired of) and adding NUKE to the PB2 logo.  Another XPiloteer, BenUrban, gave me the idea of changing the MNET letters to FITH (Fire in the Hole).  Creeper3 made a suggestion that I make one completely enclosed hole in the map where a player could sit and watch without pausing, much like the ones in PB1 (it's below the FITH letters).  I also labeled the Layer-Cake and, strangely, added defensive walls around the three corner cannon areas.  (Perhaps to lessen the likelihood of the cannons being decimated by a carpet-bombing?)    Download!

Plasma Blast IV

by Insectoid (200x200)

I created this map in early January 2004, basing it mostly on Plasma Nuke II.  I finally realized that the enormous size of the previous maps (especially PB3) was much too disadvantageous for remote players; thus the obviously smaller size here.  Looking at Plasma Nuke II (above), I knew I could eliminate a lot of that wasted space just by making the map smaller.  I incorporated most of the features from PN2, but also changed the layout slightly and added some things (such as an insanely hard cannon tunnel system, à la TZX Rambunctious Modified and Crispexi's starship).

I admit, I left quite a few design flaws in the map; notice the pairs of missing fuel blocks, the absence of a block near the lower-right star-base, and the 4 unnecessary blocks between the M and A in PLASMA.  (I'll be sure to correct these in a future release.)    Download!

Plasma Speed Tunnel

by Insectoid (300x100)

I made this odd little map to test the effects of "faster-than-light" speed—the apparent effect, when flying incredibly fast, of staying in the same place.  Besides that, it's pretty fun to just fly really fast with your guns blazing. :)

This was created in mid-2004.  Cluster Debris, J-a-r-n-o, and many others have also made speed maps.    Download!

Plasma Blast V

by Insectoid (300x300)

Yet another incarnation of Plasma Blast; this one was never completed.  (And it's bigger. Shouldn't that have set off my "Wasted Space Alarm"??)  I had planned to work on it some more, but instead got caught up with playing Fishfight—which, of course, led to the maps on the next page. :)

This map has yet another insane cannon system in the center, kind of like Plasma Blast I or III.  (I must have been thinking of the switchback, multileveled city of Minas Tirith from The Return of the King, which came out the previous year.)  At the moment, though, this design has a serious flaw: namely, that you can fly around one of the empty switchbacks to the center of the map without encountering a single cannon.  (This point is rendered moot, of course, if phasing devices are plentiful.)

This map was created in late 2004; I'll work on it some more someday.    Download!