Sorry Orph, I just caught on from reading some other posts that you're relegated to 56k. It all makes sense now. I'll make an effort to fire up PS and strip my screenshots down as much as possible without making them look like total garbage...
As far as downloading my levels go, I'd say don't bother at this point. This is only my second map, and I'm not graphic designer by any means. I'm a server/network/logic guy. Don't expect much in the way of architectural wonderment and amazing design from me any time soon.
When I come up with something I think might be worth feedback, say five or six maps down the road... I'll get an address from you and FedEx you a CD-ROM.
-Mike-
Posted by Orpheus on Sat Jan 7th 2006 at 1:29am
So it's just 4 Meg, Orpheus
Yeah , well.. I didn't see that the first time it was posted. 4 megs is still big but perhaps manageable, if I find time.
So stinkin busy. I just got home from Aurora and am leaving Sunday for Bismarck. " SRC="images/smiles/sad.gif">
Posted by Juim on Fri Jan 6th 2006 at 11:50pm
I dl'd and ran around your map yesterday and I'm quite impressed with your mastery of the entities and their uses within the map. You also have a flair for the visual which i like. I think the one thing which will hinder this map from becoming an all time classic is the cramped and confusing layout. Doorways are tight, as are hallways. There is no room for any long range combat at all. Also, from a deathmatch perspective, I think people will be too distracted by all the other stuff going on to make a decent match happen. I feel this map would have been better suited to a mod of some sort. Still though, wonderful work you have there.
Posted by DrGlass on Thu Jan 5th 2006 at 9:30pm
once I get back to my computer on the 15th I'd like to catch up with you and maybe some other pitters and play test this thing, looks fun. I always love maps that allow players to catch others in traps and stuff. please please e-mail me after the 15th if you get a game together and I'd love to help.
I received this followup on another forum... I wrote what I thought was a informative reply. I thought it might be useful here, as it gives insight as to how I came about developing this map. I'd be interested to hear how other developers work through the actual play testing of their maps...
I have my own public HL2DM server... moto-games.squick.net
http://www.moike.net/hl2-maps/motd.html
So I actually get to do lots of testing with my development maps on a live crowd. Not just "Gee, this is a good idea... I hope it works." closed loop environment in SDK.
That's why there's a .357 in the tower, and not a crossbow. Players use the tower once they figure out how to get up in it. It gets camped often, and the crates that make up the floor do come into play. It's also how the idea for the switch that breaks the glass out of the trapdoor control room window made it into the tower. That came directly from a random player in the middle of a game. Literally, "Man I wish there was a..."
But how do I test? This is the development process I created along the way when I started working on dm_playground. Since I have worked in the technical QA industry in the past, I have experience with creating a good development workflow system.
I save off the first playable beta version of a map at a number and a letter. 1A for example... I load it up on the server, play it heavy rotation for a couple days, getting feedback and making observations during game play. I always make sure to be in the game when the map is in play on the server and there are clients active. I take actual pen to paper notes the whole time. I then go back and reconfigure the map in Hammer based on my notes and memory. I then do a fast recompile and save that build as the next in sequence, 1B. This new version gets stuck on the server for another couple days or more of live game play, feedback, and testing... with more notes written up.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat?
Since I .bz2 my maps, and have a very fast dedicated offsite map server, players generally are not impacted a great deal by being required to download updated builds of my beta map every couple days.
This usually goes on for weeks. A through Z. So my map gets crafted around how the players use it, and the feedback I get directly from the players on the public server active in the game. Once I have gone through 26 major revisions of the map, I do a normal/normal full compile and update the readme.txt file included with the zip of the .bsp to highlight the major revisions in this new beta release. I then publish a public 'beta' on the forums for feedback from 'real' map designers, dm_plastic_beta_1 for example. That feedback is then processed and incorporated into the next major first revision of the map, 2A for example. 26 more cycles, then dm_plastic_beta_2 is published.
I don't know how many map developers actually get to that level of interaction with their beta testing. I have not seen any other real write up of how the veterans develop their maps. Maybe they just know what 'works' based on all the maps they've played.
Anybody who plays dm_plastic more than twice who isn't a totally green to hl2dm starts to develop tactics instead of charging around the map. Those who just charge around the map die quite a bit very quickly. They tend to get frustrated and leave.
Probably to go find a nice Killbox to run around in. Good for them, that?s just fine.
-Mike-
Posted by reaper47 on Thu Jan 5th 2006 at 2:02pm
"Size: Raw BSP 9.44 megs ~ Compressed ZIP 4.0 megs"
So it's just 4 Meg, Orpheus
I have a certain respect for this kind of inventive maps. I'll give it a try.
All I can say for the screenshots is that some of the texturing and coloring choices are quite extreme. I have to see that ingame, though!
Posted by Orpheus on Thu Jan 5th 2006 at 1:57am
Essentially, It looks like a big box? <br>Seriously though, your FPS drop significantly in the screens. You can apparently see all over from everywhere. What size test machine you using? If its a big one and you are losing that many frames, you might consider optimizing your layout. <br> <br>Boxes do not do well around here BTW so, try not to be to disappointed with this ones reception. <br> <br>Nice file sizes on those screens. and, a 9+ megs zip is out of the question for this ol' man. Sorry. At least not for any beta versions.
