Sorry to post after 14 days of inactivity, but I must still insist
you change the cliff texture to something less "bland", or just
add a bunch of prop_wasteland rocks to the wall. You know add some
depth to the cliff faces.

Other wise the interiors look great (maybe a little too dark in a few place) but still good!

Don't just leave it! This map is cool! Sure the lighting could be improved etc. But that isn't too big a change is it?

In the Freightbox room could you lift the clip up so I could snipe from the tops of the boxes? And add a window maybe....

A very cool map.

Thanks for the intrest =) I think I'll come back to this map later, but right now other projects are more important.

Don't just leave it! This map is cool! Sure the lighting could be improved etc. But that isn't too big a change is it?

In the Freightbox room could you lift the clip up so I could snipe from the tops of the boxes? And add a window maybe....

A very cool map.

Don't be afraid to lower lightmap scales.

I did, I hand most wall and floor light maps at 4 and I think that
caused quite a bit of performance lag. So I bumped most of them
up to 8 or back to 16.

am I wrong to think that lightmaps affect in game fps?

Don't be afraid to lower lightmap scales.

Love the map except I cant see the rock textures outside??? (untextured, and only the rock texture!)

Is my HL corrupted?

Thank you, no review is really too negative. I need to hear about
the bad s**t in my maps becuase when you guy so caught up in the
project you cant really see all the flaws. Though I did know
about alot of the prop problems, I didn't relize the lighting was SO
bad.

I dont think I'm going to stress over the map, I like the look of it
and I like the overall feel so I may try and use some parts of the map
later on.

Hey Doc,

I did a run through and took a bunch of shots to give you comments
before I saw that you were going to drop this map. Bottom line is
I really really like the aesthetics of the map. The architecture,
the texturing, the scope of the map in general... these are all things
I liked a lot. Unfortunately like other people have said it's
very very dark. But that can be easily remedied. The connectivity
is poor. But this can be fixed by adding more teleporters (you
already have one in there). The performance was poor on my
computer as well. I'm not sure how you can fix that... as I'm not
very familiar with techniques to increase FPS.

Anyway -- I wanted to show you the shot by shot breakdown just in case you decide to come back to the map.



The first time I spawned it was in the elevator. I walked right
through the grate on the elevator without it opening. Then I
noticed the TV screen and went "ooh, ahh" a moving camera! I
really like this camera effect you had on all your moniters.



The smoke looked funny here as it just sort of... went through the
ceiling. If you added a grate for a vent system or something it
would look better.



Skybox awkwardness.



I wouldn't crouch-walk all the way down there just for the two energy
balls, 1 health thing, and 2 batteries (especially since the batteries
can be picked up in the hallway through the grill). It looks
really nice, but I would make it easier to get in and out of that area.



It's a nitpick but you might want to fix that.



I'm not sure how you would fix the texturing, but it looks weird the way it is.



I really like this area. A lot. It's simple, but curves are sexy.



I can't see a thing. Which is unfortunate because I love the architecture in this area.



This area is really dark, and I wish it was brighter because I liked
the cable hanging from the ceiling as well as the curved architecture
on the ceiling, even though I'm not sure what it was. I think you
captured the cafe feel well though.



I really liked this area as well. It was curved and the shadows
cast by the beams were great. I also like the combine camera
thing flying around. Really great idea. I wish you could
blow it up, even if that meant another one would spawn again somewhere
else.



I really liked the bumpmapped rocks here (at least I think they're
bumpmapped) and it's too bad I couldn't see them without my
flashlight. I like how you integrated the base into the cliff.



I liked the teleporters. Although I think it would help if there
was a unique entrance and exit for each. That would probably
eliminate accidental telefragging. Perhaps you could make the
teleporter entrance on this side all the way inside the crate room
(which is otherwise
a dead end). Also, I think it would be cool if you added a
teleport effect by making the entrance teleport you to a black tunnel
with a high func_push that sent you from end to end with animated
sprites and glowing
stuff that once you reach the end teleports you to the exit to make it
seem like you're actually teleporting and not just popping from one
place to the other. the dm_Air_Hockey m[size=13]ap
that was recently posted here utilizes this to good effect I
think. It's here if you want to check it out:
http://www.snarkpit.net/maps.php?map=1980 [/size]



I LOVED this effect for some reason. I kind of wish it had killed
me the second I touched the beam, instead of the 4 seconds or so that
it took for me to stand there.



I really liked the kitchen. It had a fully developed atmosphere
and was bright. Unfortunately it's nothing more than a glorified
hallway because there are only two entrances. I really like this
room though.



Ok. As you can see, this room desperately needs lights.



Hopefully you can see the smoke from the generator coming through the
floor here. If you add that vent/duct it would eliminate this.



I really liked this hallway because of the rocks behind the grate and
the pipes. I wish there were more lights.. perhaps some hanging ones
linked by cables?



Nitpick. Sorry.



I liked this lightfixture (especially in the red room with the
skylight) but I wish you had made it a func_detail or whatever so I
wouldn't get caught on while running.



I loved this pillar/architecture for some reason.



I loved this area. I wish I could get up there.



I'm beating a dead horse... but maybe you can use these shots to see what needs light, and how much.



I liked the models and props, but I wish the wall was a different color so the pipes would stand out.



I love the fact that you included details like this. The fact
that the monitor is showing your map makes this room much cooler too.



Don't know why that Cafe Baltic sign was hanging there.



I liked this area and the view. I wish there was more light coming in... and I wish it was coming in at an angle.



I had to post this because I like this window area a lot. The breaking glass makes its very interesting.



The prop fadeout got so bad that these pipes were disappearing on me, bit by bit as I got closer and further away.



That rock appears/disappears strangely.



This was another area I loved, and I wish it were brighter.



How am I supposed to get the magnum and the ammo without prop jumping up there?



Dark.



You need a clip brush over the fence, so I can't prop jump over and get my stupid ass stuck on the other side :smile:

[url=http://img64.echo.cx/my.php?image=dmcliff00388lh.jpg][simg]

indeed it does. This my friends is why you should plan your
layout before you start work. Honestly as I made this I
thought... crap this isn't going to work out at all.

Sorry about the brightness, I have a LCD and everything seems great to me.

I think I'm going to take a break for this map, it has been far far too
much trouble and again I think its beyond repair at this point. I
got too caught up in making it that I didn't think about the game play
all that much.

Well Doc I had a run round in the beta today and have some commentary that I hope will be helpful.

First it up it looks big but the map is really small, and to be honest,
has a really bad layout. That giant container room, unless I'm missing
something (which I probably am since it was really dark), is simply a
giant dead end, with only one way in, a crossbow, a tonne of ammo, and
numerous dark cracks to camp in. Not to mention the only route across
the gorge is the teleporter, which seriously restricts gameplay. I'd
have to say that I'd focus instead on the main area and get rid of the
crate room. In fact if your worrying about framerate (the fact objects
disappear shortly after throwing them indicates this) I'd not worry
about extending the level to the other side, simply expand the main
area and make the otherside look like the level continues when it
doesn't, meaning you don't see as much detailed geometry at one time.

I think I've mentioned the lighting, it was extremely dark in most
places for me, particularly inside the complex. Brighten it up with
some more natural lighting and some varied artificial lighting.

The general look is pretty good,and you pretty much have the style
down, though I'd recommend placing detail in at least semi-realistic
areas, as some items stood out like sore thumbs where they were. Also
make that big glass area into something, give it some function. If its
just an observation deck then just add some more stuff to give that
impression.

Summing up the biggest stumbling block at this point is definately
the fact that the layout is quite frankly s**t, and should be the focus
rather than the look until its fixed. Obviously its still an early beta
and
has a lot more work to go, but I think most of this stuff could be
easily implemented and will improve your map. Hope it helps.