TresCom Forums

Hey guys~
So, I was looking into returning to recording the rest of JPDS after having only done Streams. But I decided to play through Plains first, after how expansive the first map was so that I would have some idea of where I'm going. The problem I ran into is that I don't actually know the intended end-point of the level. It seems like hitting any of the boundaries of the level will pop the end screen, making it hard to tell where the "actual" end point of the level is. I tried loading up the next map and then trying to spot something from the previous level nearby to puzzle it out, but no dice. So, my question is, where are you mean to head after reaching the building on top of the mountain?

Hey Shadefyre. Good to see you're getting back into JPDS. The thing about JPDS is that it was meant to be an open world mod that had all the levels under one big one, but IIRC due to object amount the levels had to be broken up into separate ones. Thus, Plains is that a level meant to be part of a much bigger area, and so has no definitive ending to it where it leads to the next level, which I believe is JPDS~Trails. Whenever I used to play the level, I just assumed that getting up to the communication tower on the mountain counted as having the level having an end. But as I said before, the level really has no ending and is mostly for the player to explore all the goodies that the original modders put into the plains and the amber mine.

TresGuy's answer is accurate. From what I've discussed with Draco, the mountaintop facility is the end point of the level as released, but was only meant to be one part of the overall adventure that you had to complete before moving on in the original concept. I can't remember what you needed to do when you got up there, but I'm pretty sure it was something you needed to do in order to progress further when JPDS1 was one big level. I usually consider it to be one of the "endings" of the mod, the other being the EA compound at the end of Forest.
The starting point of Trails can be accessed from Streams (that is, the point at which you spawn in the level as you won't appear in the right spot entering Trails from anywhere near the Plains level) - it isn't really the "next" level per say as it doesn't link up with Plains, but it serves as a completely alternate route which will eventually take you to two other levels, Forest and HRS.

Ah, that makes sense! I was wondering why for example there's a scene at the bottom of the cliff by the ocean with a Baryonyx that seemed entirely out of the way. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't another case where I was like "Oh, this level doesn't have an ending" and then find out that's not the case after recording. Thanks for the heads up.

Shadefyre wrote:Ah, that makes sense! I was wondering why for example there's a scene at the bottom of the cliff by the ocean with a Baryonyx that seemed entirely out of the way. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't another case where I was like "Oh, this level doesn't have an ending" and then find out that's not the case after recording. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm surprised you found that, I'm pretty sure it's just an easter egg though. In any case, I'll be sure to check out your video and let you know if you missed anything.

Hey Shadefyre, JPDS Team-leader here. These guys are more or less right; the mountaintop shack is the equivalent of an end-goal for the level, as much as it was given one. There in facte was no scrapped plan to make an ending in this level's area; getting to the top served the purpose of progressing the main storyline with the journal.

To further clarify - JPDS was going to have a multi-path progression set up where single levels had multiple possible start-locations. The end trigger near the fence in ~plains was to load an SCN file I never got around to, as I was down to the wire with time since I was about to move to a different state. JPDS~trails was supposed to have no less than 3 different entry points; since I could only afford 1, I made it that bridge. Note that ~HRS is loaded by ~trails, and technically it can itself load ~trails again but you're best making a savegame just before you get up that hill and load that after you've played ~HRS. As well don't forget to visit the hunters camp in ~trails; I will spoil the impossible-to-find puzzle element which is that you need to LIFT UP THE BURNED CRATE to find a working battery.
Additionally, JPDS~forest was going to have (2? 3?) entrances as well, also not implemented. However these are in nearly the same location anyway. I also want to say, the hard-to-treach path beyond the bridge by the dam (NOT the one leading to the Embryonics Administration) is boring and should be skipped.

Have fun~!

Alright, that's some handy info to have! I just recorded the first part of Plains, covering the walled interior area. And I guess after I reach the journal, I'll just poke around a bit to see what easter eggs I can show. So, the order I should do the maps from Trails after Plains is ~trails->swap over to ~HRS at a certain point->then back to ~trails-> finish with ~forest?

That would do it! Just don't forget to find the Hunters Camp. Trails is sort of a thin tall level with multiple spots that will load Forest regardless if you've seen everything or not.

Question, are you planning to cover any other mods? Several have been released since you did the others.

Yeah, having finished the two episodes for Plains, I also went through the final version of Rebel's Ruins map, and I'm thinking of going through the expanded version of Craters that was out recently too. I've got quite a backlog list of installed maps to attempt, though I'm not sure about the stability of some of them. I wanted to give the 20th Anniversary map you folks did a go, but trying to do it in non-CE seems to be an instant crash regardless of settings.

Yeah, having finished the two episodes for Plains, I also went through the final version of Rebel's Ruins map, and I'm thinking of going through the expanded version of Craters that was out recently too. I've got quite a backlog list of installed maps to attempt, though I'm not sure about the stability of some of them. I wanted to give the 20th Anniversary map you folks did a go, but trying to do it in non-CE seems to be an instant crash regardless of settings.

Hey, ShadeFyre. The 20th anniversary map requires CE since some of the models are above the retail engine's (atx included) 2048 face count. CE has a higher limit, that's why you are suffering crashes. It's also possible that the level's scn file was built using CE's version of the GuiApp, those scn files only work with CE. And thanks, for checking out the final of the Ruins Level. I've watched a few of your videos, you do nice work.

Ah, alright, I think I misread something in the readme that CE would just allow for a much fancier skybox than in other setups. Also, going through HRS now, and am a bit sad to admit I've run up against a bit of a wall, despite it being a fairly small area. I got into Nedry's room and got the Turok Tomahawk, however I'm not actually sure what puzzle it is a solution for, being the only tool I picked up with the important item sound. I tried smacking every door with it, after busting out of the room, and then the blue Biosyn container. I tried the windows as well, including the one window blocked by crates instead of bars. I also thought that with using the Hammond line about a backdoor involving Hobbits, and the two posters in the room, that a keycard might somehow be hidden behind or near them. But I guess that was meant to be more directly hinting at the "back door" of the open window with the Gandalf graffiti? My next solution to try is stacking all the boxes I can find under the open window in the other building, but when I was dragging a picnic table under it to stack them on it crashed, so I haven't tried that yet.

Well since you're trying to record a video, I'll give you a hint: the powerlines around are not without their uses.