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dm_marooned
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 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Dec 13th at 7:23am 2005

Like it says in the map description, I was inspired to take a crack at the island theme after seeing this map on the front page.

I know I still have to work on lighting (specifically the angle and the hue-- yes it is too orange, I'll tone that down) and add an env_sun to capture the dawn/sunset feeling. I'm also going to flesh out the 3D skybox and add a distant coastline, so it doesn't seem too isolated.

I haven't added weapons yet, but I'm thinking that I'll only include shotguns, secondary ammo for the SMG (right in the shallow water in the middle) and perhaps the combine rifle. Ideas?

I'm happy with the way I got the water to blend, but I still need to add trigger_hurts to keep people from thinking they can swim way out

What I want to know is do the trees and rocks fit? Unfortunately they are the only foliage assets I have access to, and I don't think they look *too* bad... but to be honest it doesn't make much sense. What do you think? If you think they should be scrapped, I'd love to hear some ideas for what to use as cover instead.

I need some long grass, I just don't know where to get it. Any ideas?

Anyway -- I'd love to hear what you think I've done well, and what I need to improve (obviously, there will be more talk of the latter).

Thanks in advance!




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 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by BlisTer on Tue Dec 13th at 2:10pm 2005

i like the look of it. you managed to capture the feeling of desolation. and i love the dusk atmosphere. but i'm not sure it would provide good gameplay due to the overall open-ness and limited acces routes. players can see each-other's every move. atm it woud be suited for 1on1 or 2on2 imo. maybe make more small islands around ? maybe more rocks for cover.

keep it up!




These words are my diaries screaming out loud



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 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by ReNo on Tue Dec 13th at 4:20pm 2005

How about some sort of elevated areas; small-ish hills with cliffs/steep bits so you have to have to follow some gradual paths to reach the higher ground rather than just running anywhere? Would require making the playable area a little larger perhaps, but not to a huge extent.




Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net



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 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by Captain P on Tue Dec 13th at 5:02pm 2005

I agree so far on the looks and the gameplay with BlisTer and ReNo. For both I have some suggestions:

Visually, you've set the mood, you're tweaking the lighting and all, but think about it... a small island in the middle of an ocean with a shed placed on it? Feels odd to me. I'd say, add a coastline or other islands in the 3D skybox, not too far away, so it's part of a serie of islands or a sandbank. I assume it's a fisherman shed or such so some specific items wouldn't be wrong. Anyway, I believe it's quite a small island for housing or even trees. It looks like it's going to be flooded every 12 hours, so you may want to increase it's size somewhat or add some rocks to make it more believable.

Gameplay-wise, you could do something with elevation to provide more visual and physical cover, but you could also choose another way. I'm thinking of a stranded, bigger ship, which hull could provide some extra possibilities, a deck could provide more vertical gameplay and the inside would allow for some different routes so it's not just a free-to-go playground. This also gives you a reason to scatter ship debris to provide cover on the island itself.



Create-ivity - a game development blog



Quote
 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Dec 13th at 5:17pm 2005

Thanks for all the great feedback so far!

? quoting BlisTer:
i like the look of it. you managed to capture the feeling of desolation. and i love the dusk atmosphere. but i'm not sure it would provide good gameplay due to the overall open-ness and limited acces routes. players can see each-other's every move. atm it woud be suited for 1on1 or 2on2 imo. maybe make more small islands around ? maybe more rocks for cover.

keep it up!



Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad the atmosphere is going over well. You're right, as it stands right now, this map would only work for 1v1 or 2v2, but the gameplay is pretty stale right now. I'm thinking I'll expand the two islands that don't have the shack on it, and add another couple islands opposite the shack. I don't want my map to become too much of a clone of mazemaster's Island17 map, so I have to make sure I keep my atmosphere when I expand.

? quoting ReNo:
How about some sort of elevated areas; small-ish hills with cliffs/steep bits so you have to have to follow some gradual paths to reach the higher ground rather than just running anywhere? Would require making the playable area a little larger perhaps, but not to a huge extent.


I'll work on expanding the map. I'll try to add additional islands, and a few steep faces so you can't approach the top from every side. Thanks for the suggestion.

? quoting Captain P:
I agree so far on the looks and the gameplay with BlisTer and ReNo. For both I have some suggestions:

Visually, you've set the mood, you're tweaking the lighting and all, but think about it... a small island in the middle of an ocean with a shed placed on it? Feels odd to me. I'd say, add a coastline or other islands in the 3D skybox, not too far away, so it's part of a serie of islands or a sandbank. I assume it's a fisherman shed or such so some specific items wouldn't be wrong. Anyway, I believe it's quite a small island for housing or even trees. It looks like it's going to be flooded every 12 hours, so you may want to increase it's size somewhat or add some rocks to make it more believable.

Gameplay-wise, you could do something with elevation to provide more visual and physical cover, but you could also choose another way. I'm thinking of a stranded, bigger ship, which hull could provide some extra possibilities, a deck could provide more vertical gameplay and the inside would allow for some different routes so it's not just a free-to-go playground. This also gives you a reason to scatter ship debris to provide cover on the island itself.


I'll definitely modify the 3D skybox (once I finish building the main parts of the map itself) with a distant coastline with some houses and a smallish port, and perhaps I'll put a fishing trawler out in the distance.

The shipwreck would offer some interesting gameplay and some good cover for the rest of the map, but I'm afraid I don't think I could map one realistically. I was thinking of putting a fishing boat beached on the sandbar, but I'm a little worried about the performance hit of disecting the water with such a complicated prop. Do you think it would be a bad idea? I think mazemaster circumvented this by making the boat covered in sand, not water, but I don't know if I'll end up with a big enough beach area to pull this off. I'll try.

Additionally, most of the exterior bits of the island drop of quite sharply into the water so I'm thinking of putting some bluffs on the back of each island, with decent sized beaches that run almost a circle around the map. That should offer some more variety.

Thanks a lot for all the feedback. I'll post a reply once I've updated the screenshots.

If anyone else has something to say, please go right ahead.






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 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by Myrk- on Tue Dec 13th at 5:49pm 2005

I was gunna make a map like this actually- just like Farcry island maps.


-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-



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 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by satchmo on Tue Dec 13th at 8:10pm 2005

What about a small dock or something? It could be a smuggler's hideout, so you'll have some crates and stuff. Some rocks along the coast could provide some cover too. And a large stranded boat on one side (that hides some seriously tasty goodies, like shotgun ammo or a bunch of batteries).

And I am thinking only short-range weapons, like the shotgun and grenades and phys objects.

What about a lagoon? With the water in the center infested with leeches or something (like in Hl2). Provide multiple ways of getting across the lagoon, but just not walk straight through. With the short-range weapons, you can see the opponent, but you just can't shoot him. That should add to the tension.




"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



Quote
 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Wed Dec 14th at 1:03am 2005

Yeah, the small dock or jetty is a good idea. As for crates, I think I'll try to make this map without putting in a single one, just for the challenge of it <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_wink.gif">

The large boat might work well when I expand the map, I'll see how it looks.

I agree, this map should be mostly close combat weapons, so even though you can see people from far away, you can't kill them effectively without going after them.

How did HL2 do the leeches? Anyone know?





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 Re: dm_marooned
Posted by Captain P on Wed Dec 14th at 8:01am 2005

Try the trigger_waterydeath. <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">



Create-ivity - a game development blog




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