Vjun Laboratory

Vjun is a map I made almost entirely from scratch, being in total perhaps ninety to nintey-five percent original assets. I initially undertook Vjun as a project designed to push my level design, 3D modeling, texturing, and LUA scripting to the next level. It was an iterative process, and every step of the way I learned a ton about the various components of level design. I started small, beginning with a single hut-like building. I expanded this, duplicated it, created an interior for it, connected its separate halfs, and then fashioned a more imposing exterior, finally finishing the asset by texturing it with metal, glass, and glowing lights. I was learning the CAD-like modeling software as I went, and I would create sketches of what I imagined the different rooms would look like, how they would fit together, and then tackling these sections of the map one at a time in the modeling software. I read a lot of the available SWBF2 modding literature, including the game's LUA API, and the custom sides process, because I wanted to go all the way with implementing unique characters and a story-driven single-player mission script. This was all new to me, but I had a strong desire to learn and exceed my previous modding limits with this project.

Vjun, as a planet in the Star Wars universe, has been represented in the games Jedi Academy, as well as Battlefront: Elite Squadron. However, I found both of these iterations to be unsatisfying, from the standpoint of quality level design which lends itself to repeated engagement. In short, I found the atmosphere of Vjun interesting, and felt that I could create a novel design in terms of playable, built environment, that would be fun enough to warrant online play. The initial 1.0 version had thick green fog, and other atmospheric elements which were great for immersion in the single-player mission, but these had to be toned down for the online version, which was subsequently released after other improvements, such as various retexturings, which likewise increased visual fidelity. But the map's structure was never doubted. I took some pride in the fact that the topology and architecture were always appreciated as unique, interesting, and worth engaging with. The texturing revisions for the 2.0 version of the map were necessary, and likewise it was necessary for me to learn through player feedback and iteration that you cannot always get everything right the first time around, especially when learning several new things in one project.