Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Naklajat on Thu May 31st at 6:45pm 2007


Installation:
The zip file contains all of the entries in proper folder structure, just extract to <your steam dir>half-life 2hl2

snark_mfb01_round1.zip (filefront)

To load them type 'map snark' in console and use your arrow keys to select one, then hit Enter.

While you play pay extra attention to: Aesthetics (How good it looks), Craftmanship (How well it's built/runs), Creativity (How awesome the idea is!), and Game Flow (This one's a bit ethereal, does it flow well from one event or area to the next?)

Once you've played them all vote for your favorite!

(NOTE: I had to set my graphics to DirectX 8.0 (from 9.0 with SM3 or dxlevel 95) for Finger's and Riven's to even load, but they worked fine on DX8. I think it's probably a problem on my end, but just in case, 'mat_dxlevel 80' sets HL2 to use DirectX 8.0)




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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Finger on Thu May 31st at 6:56pm 2007


Hmm... I compiled with HDR. Wonder if that could be an issue?

Message submitted 56 minutes after original post:

Just played through them and wanted to note a few things..

Stadric: I didn't see anything in the map... at least no enemies or npc's. Is something broken?

Redwood: A full and proper compile, without leaks would be a good idea =D

- I don't know if this happens to other people, but if I run a 'fullbright' map, every map after that is fullbright, until I restart halflife. So, if anyone plays Redwoods map first and then happens to get fullbright maps for the other three - restart halflife.





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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Fjorn on Thu May 31st at 8:50pm 2007


or you could use mat_fullbright 0


Signature? What signature!?



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Finger on Thu May 31st at 9:44pm 2007


that's too easy.



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Fjorn on Thu May 31st at 9:45pm 2007


Okay, played them all.

My vote goes for finger, very well made, and well designed. Had me wishing It was an entire SP level set.

Redwood: Nice idea, but unfortunately, it was just that, an idea.

Riven: A very nice idea, built a tad too small though. I felt as if I was a giant.. Also, I'd get random log spikes and the console complained of too many collisions.
However, I liked the voice acting, even if it was a little too low.

Stadric: Did you even upload the right map?



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Stadric on Thu May 31st at 10:34pm 2007


Yes, I uploaded the right map. I only worked on that for two days, the rest of the days for the contest were spent studying and taking tests. When I had free time, I was running out of contest time, so I did very little, as per my readme.

I have to give my vote to Finger, too.
Redwood's was riddled with errors, and boring brushwork. The NPCs weren't responsive, and that mine shaft was a recipe for getting lost. Getting from plot point to the next was a struggle, but that may have been due in part to the fullbright (I find it distracting).
Riven had a good one, but it was laggy. That's not the best way for us to start this competition. Very good for two weeks work, though, even the little touches were refreshing.
Finger had a very well-made map, put down mainly by the NPCs' interactions with each other, but that was more on a limitations of AI level than an imporoperly placed nodes level, IMO. The holding cells for the citizens seemed overly simplistic to me, some shimmering blue combine metal would've made the look. I especially liked the recurring trains, they added an extra level of opposition, but you couldn't get enough enemies to fall in front of them.



Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by OtZman on Thu May 31st at 11:25pm 2007


Are there any pics? <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">





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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Finger on Fri Jun 1st at 4:20am 2007


"....Had me wishing It was an entire SP level set."

Nice complement. Thank you. I wish I had the time or focus to do something more substantial, but it's hard spending the weekend or nights in front of the pc now that I spend 8 to 12 hrs a day doing that very thing.

Riven, I really liked your entry. The voice acting was actually better than most amateur voice I've seen. Some of your sets were nice and had alot of personality. I liked the little theatre room.

There were moments in your map that sparked some interesting ideas - things that I saw alot of potential in. For example, the buggy ride down the mine shaft could have been a blast, if say, you were flying down it at full speed smashing through flaming zombies! I hit the turbo on the way down and it gave me a little rollercoaster feeling. unfortunately, the space was way too small for the buggy, and could have used more attention to playability.

The ceiling crumbing on top of the combine was also nice, though there was a moment where I hit a clip brush (preventing me from walking into the trap, I suppose). You should tweak that setup so the player can't every get close enough to hit it.

The vcd work was nice, and overall, I was impressed with what you accomplished in 2 weeks, and would love to see the map improved even more.

Redwood, I think you probably just bit off more than you could chew. Try something a little smaller. There was a whole lot of square footage to construct in your environments and very little time to do it.






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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Junkyard God on Fri Jun 1st at 7:11am 2007


Can't wait to get home and try em all! <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">


Hell, is an half-filled auditorium



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by azelito on Fri Jun 1st at 2:30pm 2007


Great work guys. I never had the time and determination to finish mine.
I like Fingers best, because it is the most finished.
Oh, Stadric. Noone in their right state of mind would drive a buggy through tunnels that tight. Also, how the hell did they get the buggy in there? It was a fun ride down though.

Here's two pics of my entries. My idea was much like Fingers. You start off with no weapons, it all goes to s**t, you get a weapon, fight your way to the control room whatever and unplug the force field. Didn't get quite that far though.






"Azelito, stop being a f**king bitch. All I see you do is complain and insult people in your recent posts. We don't care, go find a razor you emo pansy..." -Windows98



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Gwil on Fri Jun 1st at 2:43pm 2007


WHen does this round of voting close? I've only just got my new machine online and am in the process of reinstalling everything at the moment, so I won't look at this until tomorrow now?

I assume I have plenty of time...





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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Junkyard God on Fri Jun 1st at 4:19pm 2007


Voted for finger, best of the 4 in my opinion, can't say i have any comments to add to what's already been said <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif"> Thanks everyone for joining in, and thanks Baron for making this competition work, I'm sure there'll be more entries next round ,atleast one. (mine <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">)


Hell, is an half-filled auditorium



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Beetle on Fri Jun 1st at 4:28pm 2007


I don't suppose i can play them i f i only have hl2 ep 1?




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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Finger on Fri Jun 1st at 5:10pm 2007


I would think Ep2 would run it, but can't say for sure. Worth a shot.

It may be alot to ask, but I would be extremely grateful if someone could record a demo while playing through my map for the first time. I'm very curious to see if the battles went down like I expected. I put some work into certain destructables in the environment that could possibly be missed if played a certain way.

If anyone could do this.... just zip up the demo and email it to duncan@duncanmoore.org.

To record a demo, just open the console and type this:

record fingerplaythrough (fingerplaythrough being whatever you want to name it)

When you're done, just type stop in the console.

demo files live in the Halflife2/hl2/ folder.

Thanks!





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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Fjorn on Fri Jun 1st at 6:02pm 2007


Oh, I forgot to say that the prisoner cage dissapearing after it dropped me was odd (if it even existed!)

I looked behind me expecting to see it, then it wasn't there

(in finger's map)



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Finger on Fri Jun 1st at 6:05pm 2007


Yeah, that's something I want to fix. The idea is that it either ends at the rail, or goes back into the traincar behind you. Ran out of time for that.



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by reaper47 on Fri Jun 1st at 8:45pm 2007


Finger: Perfect craftsmanship, an eye for details that matter and nice combine fighting action. My complaint would be, especially after playing Riven's map later, that the story is very ordinary. Breen in the background, escape from prison, and you're right back to your usual HL2 battles.

RedWood: I saw a lot of nice ideas, but there were too many little (and pretty big <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_wink.gif"> ) bugs to enjoy them. Some of the added corridors were a little maze-like and it's hard for someone who has never seen the map before to navigate. I remember your post in the editing forums, so I won't torture you with comments about the fullbright and seemingly leaky compile.


Riven: It's ideas like this I've been looking for in SP missions for so long. I love the idea of having a third faction that is mad at the combine. It sounds obvious and if you take the Xen creatures (Vortigaunts) you could say it already happened in the original HL2, but that War of the Worlds style alien foot coming through the ceiling - perfect! The voice acting is top notch. Not many SP mods are on that level. I felt the buggy ride to be fun, but, together with the sheer lenght of these random underground tunnels, a bit illogical. Anyways, you get my vote for creativity alone.

Stadric: Sorry, the others obviously had more time to work on this.

I voted for Riven.






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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Stadric on Sat Jun 2nd at 12:09am 2007


? quote:
Oh, Stadric. No one in their right state of mind would drive a buggy through tunnels that tight. Also, how the hell did they get the buggy in there? It was a fun ride down though.


Looks like someone else isn't in their right mind. <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_lol.gif">



Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying



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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Riven on Sat Jun 2nd at 4:23am 2007


Thanks for the suggestions and compliments.

The only other map I played so far was Finger's, and that certainly was top notch! (won't be able to play the other's until the 11th) It was just laid out so methodically, And the flow was perfect. No glitches, (except for the prisoner carriage disappearing) made this an excellent experience. I love that feeling of walking into an unfamiliar environment knowing that whatever happens, the designer is going to take care of me, making sure I don't get hung up on something or killed unfairly. You pulled it off very nicely. I on the other hand had too many glitches. The clip brush for the leg was a last minute quick fix that should have been paid more attention to. I actually had to cut many more ideas for the scene (like large chunks of dirt falling through, a car falling down afterwards, and a cityscape above it with city sounds and people screaming) But I did spend a lot of time getting what happened there just the way I wanted it to> once again, biting off more than I could chew.

The buggy was an afterthought, I apologize, but I figured it more fun than walking the whole way. After coming to the conclusion that the buggy was going to be there, I already had the tunnel built and sewed with displacements. And anyone working with the subdivide tool knows, it's a b**ch to get right, so I spent too much time to change it all back again. So I made the beams func_illusionary's and continued. I also tweaked it so that the buggy wouldn't get caught up on the sides.

@Azelito: I imagine the buggy could fit; there's a side passage that is blocked off by a door that could easily have a buggy come in through. I spent enough time adding that little addition to explain that the tunnel didn't just lead to that base, but that it was part of a network, I hope other's noticed it. It might have been too dark, but then again> it's a mine shaft!

I definitely would play on this story more, or will find a way to tweak the other's for the following rounds. If anything, I hope I sparked some ideas, and if I get a chance, might try reworking the map to run a bit better, and fix the glitches. Time wasn't on my side. You can always expect to see at least one .vcd in my sp maps cause I would love to develop a good story for this competition. Everyone loves a good twist.

Thanks for your compliments and critiques. May the best map win!

BTW, my voice was the worker guy in the mine shaft. And Corporal Byrne and Lieutenant Sheldon were the names of the authors from some books I have read for their respect. My friend does one of the best Scotsman impressions, don't you agree?

Thanks, -Riven







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Re: Vote! Snarkpit Chain Map: Round 1
Posted by Finger on Sat Jun 2nd at 4:35am 2007


Thanks Riven, glad you liked it. You should definately keep working on yours, it can be great with a little tweaking!

Btw... what part of Louisiana are you from? I was born and raised in Baton Rouge. I'd like to know if I'm competing against a fellow coonass =D

Few questions for those who played...

Did anybody fight the antlion guard in the bathroom?

Crawl into the antlion hole for the ar2?

Get a good look at the decal at the ending hallway?






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