'Imperial Intelligence has received a number of reports regarding an agricultural settlement known as Nesmazzda, situated on the remote world of Dantooine. The reports suggest that the colony may be providing food and medical supplies to local Rebel cells. As a result the ISB Sector Chief has dispatched a small unit to the colony to gather intel on the ground and take appropriate action should their suspicions prove true. Unfortunately for the colonists, just as the Imperial forces arrive, a Rebel convoy shows up to take delivery of the supplies. The Imperial troops' course of action is now clear.'
With this series of articles we're going to go into more detail on the new maps you can expect to play in the next release of First Strike. Working from the last news update from the bottom up we're going to start with Nesmazzda Conflict.
Now this map has an interesting history going way back to 2007. back then the team was actively encouraging the creation of Custom Maps, even going so far as to dedicate a community board on the forums to just that subject. Some of the latter acts resulted in mapping competitions which brought us community maps which were added to the mod such as Bandomeer Refinery Assault and Null Sensor Station. But Nesmazzda Conflict was one of the first really well rounded, original and professional looking of the Community Maps to come out. It didn't really use any new assets as such, but what it did was take already existing assets in First Strike's library and put a new twist on them and make them appear to be something new. The attention to detail is fantastic with the settlement at the heart of the map looking really well thought out, as if an actual town planner had come in there and thought about how the settlement should logically be laid out. Being an agricultural settlement the mapper also included an area of allotment like vegetable fields which featured vegetation from our Endor maps re-purposed as farmed produce, which was a really nice touch. Roads and alleys feature walls and archways that bring to mind the southern European towns you'd expect to see in the South of France, Italy or Spain. Basically the map has a lot of character.
However, it isn't all about style. From a gameplay perspective this map is really solid too. All the tight alleyways, open broad main streets and fully open terrain beyond the settlement's walls make for an exciting and varied combat experience. Thanks to FSDev Dnamro (who, as you'll know from our earlier Dev Diary is one of our singleplayer/co-op game mode Gurus), who took a look at this map back in 2011 and added bot support to it, this map is also raring to go as far as singleplayer/co-op is concerned, and it works scarily well. The nature of the map means the enemy could be coming from any direction. This map is certanly destined to become a firm fan favourite, especially with fans of singleplayer/co-op modes. Personally from a co-op game mode experience perspective I'd say this map is up there with Mos Espa.
Finally, the last factor to take into account with the history of this map is the mapper himself, Thomazz. At the time he was producing this map he was in a spot of bother, and due to this he had to leave the internet as he couldn't afford the bills, and as such he made a request for the FS Devs to step in and complete his map. Which was done, and the map saw a limited release with Community Map Packs, and through Custom Map events. On rediscovering this map while investigating our own half completed maps, it was decided it was high time this map got the broader release and recognition it deserves. The fact that it also has bot support is just the juicy cherry on top. We hope Thomazz is in a better place now and has returned to the web, and if he has, we hope he pops in to see people enjoying the map he created.
Until next time,
See you on the Battlefield Troopers!
