Ancient Warfare 3 News

The map competition is over. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Some really nice maps have emerged from this competition and there is a new quick play bundle available in the main menu, where you can play 7 maps that I think are worth playing.
Just a discplaimer: If your map isn't mentioned in this post or the quick play bundle, that doesn't mean it is not worth playing.
The winners will be notified via steam dms or discord, so keep an eye out for that!

[h3]Winner[/h3]
On this map the player explores what really happened on the moon. After completing some challenging puzzles to figure out keycodes in the first part, the player has to fight for survival in the second part...
The best map of the competition
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2991984058

[h3]2nd place[/h3]
This well designed and detailed map sends the player into a space station or ship from where we have to escape. While shooting all the enemies can be challenging due to custom damage effects, the map is well balanced and features some nice shooter gameplay!
The best shooter map
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2988689813

[h3]3rd place[/h3]
This map features a battle where the player tries to advance through the enemy lines with the help of allied AI units. There are some nice scripting features like recruting units and zones to capture to gain more strength.
The best open battle map
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2989393977

[h3]4th place[/h3]
This is one of the less complex maps, showing that you dont have to reinvent the wheel to create a good map. The map uses only vanilla items and still looks and plays really good! The player is introduced to the task via unit messages and dialogues. Gear can be bought at a trader and the gameplay is really simple but fun!
The best vanilla map
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2983108099

[h3]Other maps in the quick play bundle[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2991841535
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2988092685
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2991291575

Starting today and running until June 20, there will be an official map competition! You can create a map based on a certain topic and the top 3 map creators receive cash prizes which are sponsored by Daley from Youtube.
You can find all you need to know below.

Start: Now
End: June 20 2023, 18:00 UTC

[h3]Rules[/h3]
Breaking the rules will result in an exclusion from the ratings

• Each participant can only submit one map
  
• The map is created by yourself
• (no collaborations in any way!)*
  
• The map has to feature a player controlled unit
• (static/spectate only maps are not allowed)*
  
• Old maps are not allowed, you have to start creating the map after the competition started (the game keeps track of when a map was created, so you have to start with a new map)
• The map has to be submitted before the competition is over, updates to the map are not allowed after the competition is completed
  
• The scripting system, custom equipment/items/objects, custom units/prefabs can be used in any way
  
  
  
  • This includes public workshop items of other players and content that you created in the past
    
  • However, if you use content created by other players, you have to clearly state which parts of you map/content were not created by yourself
    

[h3]Theme: Space Wars[/h3]
Enter an intergalactic adventure and create a space wars battle/map! Craft epic spaceships, planetary conquests or daring missions across the stars. Unleash your creativity and bring to life the battles of a futuristic era. Will you defend a space station, ship or outpost against relentless enemies or explore uncharted alien planets with interesting characters and storylines? The choice is yours!

[h3]Reward[/h3]
Daley is providing a $100 prize pool, so thanks to him and make sure to check out his channels if you have some time!
The prize money will only be paid out via PayPal and is split between the top 3 creators:

• 1st place: $60
  
• 2nd place: $30
  
• 3rd place: $10
  

In addition, the top 6-9 maps (depending on the quality of the entries) will be featured as a quickplay bundle which usually results in these workshop items getting a lot of subscriptions!

[h3]How to submit a map[/h3]
Submitting a map is very easy, but make sure your map doesnt break any of the rules or it will not be considered for the competition!
(Make sure you have the latest update installed)
1) Upload your map to the workshop
2) The is a banner on the right side in the main menu where you can select one of your workshop maps to submit it

[h3]Rating[/h3]
Each map will receive a score which depends on these categories: (modified based on Desert-Mammoth's original map competition)

• Appearance (0-3)
  Appearance is how the map looks from an aesthetics point of view - that is to say, how easy it is on the eyes
  
• Technical Design (0-5)
  Technical design covers how well a map is put together; that is to say, how well it runs, the efficiency of object and unit usage, and the complexity of the map in general.
  
• Balance (0-2)
  How balanced is a map, when the theme is taken into account? Is it too easy or too hard? Is one team steam rolling the other when it shouldn't be? Is the player waltzing all over the competition without breaking a sweat? Or is the player dying the moment they leave the starting area?
  
• Originality (0-3)
  Has it been done before? Has it been over done? Does it use original prefabs or does it borrow from the workshop? Is there something about the map that makes it stand out from the rest?
  
• Units (0-3)
  Is your map using custom units? Are they a designer brand fit for the catwalk or are they as bland as shredded wheat? Are they balanced, and do they fit the map?
  
• Gameplay (0-3)
  Is the map fun to play? Is there non-stop action, or is it scary/exciting/trilling
  
• Thumbnail (0-1)
  Does the map have an appealing thumbnail?
  
• Theme (0-3)
  How well is the theme represented in the map
  

Other relevant information about the rating:

• If you use custom scripting, it can positively influence categories like balancing, gameplay or technical design, but it can also negatively impact the performance! That being said, there is no need to use scripting to score the maximum points in the technical design category
  
• Custom equipment/items/objects are not required to score the maximum points in any of the categories, but it can help. In any case, using a variety of good looking custom units with vanilla equipment is sufficient
  

Update 0.43 already helped a lot by improving the stability and overall speed and memory efficiency of the game and this update concludes these technical changes by introducing a new save system and format!

[h3]Why a new save system was needed[/h3]
When the game started with small battles and a few custom units, the old system was working fine. However, many new features and complex things like custom sounds, custom models/items have been implemented which caused a lot of new information to be stored in the saves. Some battles or campaigns are sized 100MB or more, so performance and memory efficiency became a growing concern.
While loading these large files just took a lot of memory and time on some systems, others just couldn't handle them anymore! In addition, loading/saving a lot of saves caused memory fragmentations and reduced game performance, freezes and crashes!

[h3]The new save system[/h3]
The new save system uses the latest tech to solve all the problems of the old system!
You will surely notice the improvements while saving/loading, but I also prepared some example maps which show how the time (not including loading the battle in the editor) and file size changed from the old to the new version:



This new system also requires almost no any additional RAM to store and load the saves (except the resulting battle/unit/.. data of course) and therefore doesnt cause any of the problems like performance degradation and crashes after longer sessions.
And thanks to the performance improvements it opens up new possibilities for future updates and features!

[h3]What happens to the old saves[/h3]
If you are wondering what happens to your old saves after this update, dont worry!
The game can still load the old format, so you can keep working on all your saved content. However, the next time you save, the new format will be used.

Local Content Auto Updater
When browsing your files in the in-game file browser, it recognizes files in the legacy format and offers the option to update them automatically. Before your items are updated, a backup will be created in the "__legacy" folder and you can stop and continue the update at any time. Although it usually takes just a few seconds depending on the amount of saves and save type.


Workshop Content Updater
To improve the speed when loading subscribed workshop units, prefabs and items in the main menu, all these workshop items have already been updated to the new format. So when you update the game, all your subscribed items should be up to date as well.
And all the existing workshop battles and campaigns will be updated soon, so that players can enjoy the faster loading times in the workshop too.

[h3]Next update(s)[/h3]
After these two big technical updates, the next updates will be focused on regular improvements and new features.
The new save format has been extensively tested, so I don't expect any problems, but if you notice anything please report it on steam or discord and it will be fixed asap!
There are also some open bugs which have to be fixed, so expect a bug fixing patch fairly soon.

The CQB speedrun event is over. 363 players participated!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/758990/view/3686802262376863565?l=english

Thanks again to KgDaniel for creating the map and Daley from youtube for sponsoring the reward for the winner!

[h3]Result[/h3]

1. Earthy
2. Help
3. Supa Player
4. FrostFire44
5. Gamerwolf
6. kout
7. ScurvyWoof
8. press f say smoked
9. scootile
10. Pyrruc

The top 3 will be notified on steam or discord for the rewards!