Snarkpit Forum Index » Maps » dm_striker
dm_striker
1
2 next page »
Post Reply
Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Juim on Mon Jan 14th at 3:36pm 2008

Post edited:

Due to size constraints from my FTP host, all screenies have been updated to reflect the current version, Beta 4. Please see beta 4 post for screenies.

Thanks




Quote from Nietzsche....God is dead
Quote from God....Nietzsche is dead



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Gwil on Mon Jan 14th at 4:28pm 2008

I like it Juim, has a very Quake III feel to it, a game I enjoyed thoroughly. What will the ideal player load be? 4 players or thereabouts? I must say, your work is getting better and better and you're becoming quite the prolific mapper around these parts!

Perhaps one criticism so far would be to incorporate a little more detail/structure on shots #5 and #6, it all looks a little flat at the moment.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by reaper47 on Mon Jan 14th at 5:17pm 2008

The external screens in the post don't show up for a reason. <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/sad.gif"> From what I see on the 3 profile-screens the map is shaped nicely! I'll try and have an in-game look sometime soon.

And what's that about the writer's strike?


Why snark works.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Juim on Mon Jan 14th at 7:08pm 2008

Well the writers guild (here in Hollywood) is on strike since the beginning of November. They want internet royalties the likes of which no one else have recieved yet. Not the actors, directors, or producers. The Producers (Studio heads, show runners etc, who by the way are all basically employees of larger corporations), are the opposition. Basically they hav'ent developed a solid formula by which to guage internet profit and are not going to give into royalties until they do. It was an inevitable clash and now all of us below the line(you know, the hired help) are just sitting it out waiting for a resolve so we can all get back to work. Mostly television is whats affected at the moment, and thats where I am this year. I was on a show called "Dirty, Sey, Money". We have no scripts to shoot until the writers get back to work. It's the same for almost every television production in the country. At this point, if they settled tomorrow(which is'nt likely) I'll still be out of work until March sometime. Very soon all of 2008 television season will be lost. Such is life.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by haymaker on Mon Jan 14th at 8:28pm 2008

looks good so far Juim. Only suggestion I have is to incorporate sunshine to help alleviate claustrophobia; the cliche hole-in-the-ground setup might work here, a la dm_drift.

Yeah the writer's strike is an issue up here in Hollywood North ( Vancouver ) as well. I'm not IATSE but quite a few of my friends are, on shows like Stargate Atlantis and BSG.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by reaper47 on Tue Jan 15th at 1:02am 2008

Yea, it's in the news everywhere, the US produce about 90% of all the (better) entertainment shows in the world after all.

I was just curious how it affected you personally, juim, briefly imagining you as a writer waving signs with witty comments in front of abandoned studio buildings.


Why snark works.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Juim on Wed Feb 6th at 5:38pm 2008

Please see beta 4 post for most recent screenies.

Thanks




Quote from Nietzsche....God is dead
Quote from God....Nietzsche is dead



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Juim on Wed Feb 6th at 5:34pm 2008

Please see beta 4 post for most recent screens.

Thanks




Quote from Nietzsche....God is dead
Quote from God....Nietzsche is dead



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by reaper47 on Wed Feb 6th at 6:44pm 2008

This is coming along nicely. The platforms in the room from screen 8 and the last screen, look a bit blocky and random... maybe unstable because they'd need more wall support.

Are these blood-red shadows? How cool. image

I'll try this ingame.

[edit]

I like this map a lot so far. I'm not a big fan of extreme, unbroken symmetry (in fact, I think it wouldn't hurt the map if you added a little asymmetry by removing a few corridors ect.), but I think it works quite well as it is.

A few things I noticed:

- The map is pretty big. I think you could tighten it up a little. Some corridors are very, very wide and long. If you consider modifying the layout, I'd rather cut than paste.

- You added a lot of additional lighting which is a huge improvement IMO. I think you're still underestimating the darkness of this map. Maybe because of your monitor settings (or an LCD)? I've seen so many maps (including my own) failing because people simply felt they were too dark.

Maybe you heard it before, but this is simply the best tip I can come up with for map-brightness:
1) Move to a very bright, well lit part of your map.
2) Turn down your monitor brightness until you can barely make out the area around you.
3) Now, try to forget anything you know about the map's layout and move around freely and guided only by sight. Ideally there should be no walkable areas that seem to be completely in the dark. You should easily be able to navigate to ANY part of the map and see where you're going.
4) If you find any "dark spots" make a screenshot and then try to place some kind of lighting there in hammer.

You still have a handful of spots like that IMO, maybe I'll get around doing some screenshots but you should be able to find them by yourself pretty easily.

- Some of the railings and "door frames"(those arch-thingies) need clip-brushes badly. I got stuck a couple of times. Also there are a couple of lamps hanging from the ceiling in front of long stairways, so I alway bump into them when doing a fast duck-jump from the stairs. It's a bit distractive from the flow, especially when moving fast.

- There are hardly any physics props at all. A few hidden underwater, but they won't make a difference. Please add some more. Especially because this map has very wide corridors and would work nicely with lots of physics props.

- The teleport is a little illogical but OK, for gameplay reasons. I'd just make it even more obvious by adding a glowing sprite or something.

- Your floors could use a bit of extra-detail. I know it's difficult with all the curves but they are textured very repetitively. Also the texturing is generally still a bit random, I'm quite sure you could get rid of about a third of your texture palette (of course while carefully choosing which to keep) and it would actually help for consistency. Instead you could use a few (brush-based) trims and texture-combinations. Maybe you can think of something? It's the only true visual complaint I can come up with.

- At last, something I already noticed from looking at the screens you posted: The room with the many ramps (the RPG, the teleport...) looks a bit blocky and like it couldn't carry the weight. It could need thicker ramps, more support-beams etc. I generally like that place a lot, though.

All in all a very nice start. There are a couple of minor issues, though. I'm curious how you are going to solve them and how it will develop from there. Very interesting.


Why snark works.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by thehalflifeman33 on Wed Feb 6th at 6:55pm 2008

(i can't believe reaper hasn't noticed me yet.....)



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by reaper47 on Wed Feb 6th at 7:17pm 2008

Don't play games with me, who the hell are you?


Why snark works.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by thehalflifeman33 on Wed Feb 6th at 8:56pm 2008

? quoting reaper47
Don't play games with me, who the hell are you?

you're kidding, right?

EDIT: now let's get back on topic.





Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Le Chief on Thu Feb 7th at 3:30am 2008

This map has improved a lot since the last set of pictures. I think whatever you did between now and then, you still have to do that a bit more, and I think you need some (more) imperfections in your map, like some rubbish or planks of wood or some cracks. Some of the walls in the screen shots look really really plain, I think they need some love.

So far so good, keep it up.


Aaron's Stuff



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by haymaker on Sat Feb 9th at 10:03pm 2008

Nice work, you have a good hold of lighting concepts here, very effective. Do you work in lighting on set? Architecture a logical evolution from your last one, effective in suspension of disbelief, with the exception of the rocket area.

-The elevator shaft seems odd in that you can't shoot the barrels within. I was able to light them by sending a nade between the elevator and the hall floor, but they dropped through the elevator floor before doing any damage,and then failed to respawn.

-You've done 2 things that I avoid by having multiple slams and trigger_hurt, but that's your call. I would at least consider moving one of the two packs that are so close together.

-The concrete-pipe model you've used for tunnels displays its lighting in a unique way, but I find them a little too slow and long in travel. Maybe go brush-based and bigger, or an expanded middle section?

-I see some nodraw through your conical displacement; if that's the engine, try a chunk of that same texture under it. If not, remember that the paint geometry tool works with increments as small as 0.10.

-The outside piping might use some of that truss_ modelwork to hold it up, it looks weak from a real world standpoint.

Good performance on a solo run here, I'll see you on the FF test bed!



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Juim on Sat Feb 9th at 11:53pm 2008

Current screens and download in beta 4 post.

Thanks




Quote from Nietzsche....God is dead
Quote from God....Nietzsche is dead



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by reaper47 on Sun Feb 10th at 10:09pm 2008

As always, great improvements all around. Lighting, for example, seems near-perfect now. I won't comment on the funky walkway pit as you said you're going to change it anyway.

The only thing I still find a bit troubling is that the map feels a bit... big. I'm not really talking about map-size or player-count here. Some corridors feel just too long. Some rooms too big. Some paths redundant.

I first thought that some of the corridors just lack the final detail since this is a beta but the more I look at them the more I feel like it's the layout itself that's a bit empty at some places. Since this is strictly symmetrical, you have everything twice, after all.

IMO it wouldn't hurt to go and identify a few places that aren't essential and cut them. Or shorten them to make travel times between the key areas faster. I know it's hard but I think the layout would benefit from it.


Why snark works.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Juim on Mon Feb 11th at 2:11am 2008

I just finished playing a round on the [FF] server with beta_2, and I have to tell you, there was roughly 8 to 12 players in the map at any given time, and it did'nt seem too big at all. The map will be in the [FF] rotation on both servers for the next week or so. I recommend that you go in and try it out. It seemed like a fun map with other players, (something you don't get to try out too often while creating the map). Got some good feedback as well.





Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by reaper47 on Mon Feb 11th at 7:24pm 2008

I'll check it out on the [FF] server. I'm trying to consider very low playercounts when testing maps these days, which probably explains why I complain about size even though it should indeed run well for 8+ players.


Why snark works.



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by fishy on Thu Feb 14th at 2:06pm 2008

So will you be changing the final release name to dm_backtowork? <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif">




i eat paint



Quote
 Re: dm_striker
Posted by Yak_Fighter on Mon Feb 18th at 2:02am 2008

I don't know about this map. The hallways basically destroy the flow since main areas are all separated by long boring treks. Sure the connectivity seems fine but without good flow it is wasted effort. There didn't seem to be any performance issues that had to be masked with all the hallways so why not give main rooms more direct connections? If you don't want to move the main rooms perhaps you could replace them with rooms that offer more combat opportunities while still providing connectivity.

There's alot of crap to get stuck on throughout the map, especially near the water tower thing.

Detail seems very sparse, especially in the hallways. Obviously graphics aren't the most important thing in the world but a spartan level of detail isn't good either.

The ladders near the teleporters are hard to use and I seemed to get stuck on them unable to get off at the top more than on one occasion. Ladders really aren't good in dm maps, especially the s**tty hl2 ones, so I would encourage you to replace them with stairs/platforms where possible.






1
2 next page »
Post Reply