You could place the models in a 3D skybox, and set the skybox scale to however much larger you want the models to be scaled.

ARG NOOOOoooooo! WASTED!

I was so looking forward to this map, but I hate to be the bad guy and say I was deeply dissapointed :-/ I'll list the problems I remeber-

• Layout was poor, I found for a rats map that I couldn't get around very well. Look at other rats maps to see how you get around in them.
• You couldn't get above the lights, or at least I couldn't find a way.
• The chargers are poorly placed.
• You shouldn't need teleporters to get around.
• The M&M's are too big.
• Theres no PC, just a keyboard and monitor (which don't have cables) and a mouse (which does).
• The brick texture is scaled too small. They should be at least double the size.
• The sofa and table are almost useless. You said about how there wasn't enough room- move the sofa back to the wall, then make another hole in the wall (a mouse hole) to give more routes to the sofa.
• Theres no clutter on the table, or a packet for the M&M's.
• The glasses aren't solid for weapons...
• Theres poor circulation on the bookshelves.
• No interactivity... You should be able to do something in a rats map.

Thats all I can remember now. If you want I can roam around the level with you and show you problems. Also one thing I'm intruiged with- how did you make all the models so big? Are they included in the BSP?

Looks good! How does everyone enlarge the models like that?
Let me guess, they open the model in model viewer and enlarge it, save it as a new model and voila...

Or is it something simple like properties :O

Please do tell!

This map looks really sharp, I'll have a quick run in it tuesday.

I think some of the best advice I have ever heard on map making game from a web design book called "Don't make me think." I highly advise reading it. It's less about web design per say as about human interface, and that's all a game really is.

In his chapter about usability testing he made it very clear to take what your users say with a grain of salt. "One person will want it orange, another will hate orange and want blue." His sudgestion was to "Grade on a curve". To take what they're saying and extract the core issues if they're a new user and ampligy those, leaving the rest of the chaff behind.

He did have good points. You can read my reply on that same forum, the teleporter issue, I seriously never expected somebody to actually discover this glitch inherent in the system. I use it for bug testing so that I know if I inch towards it I can set off specific triggers without setting off others.

But yeah, definetely a user, not a creator. Most of his complaints were intentional. The 'fastest' way I always made the most difficult, if it was an optional route. If you're on the floor there are two non jump necessary routes to the red teleport, and there's the blue teleport. The sniper rifle is difficult to get to, it shouldn't be a breeze.

I must say the most helpful thing in making this map is how much I Played it before I ever started making it. I've been able to fine tune things such as weapon placement, becaues I know exactly what I'm doing and what I'm wanting when I'm in a specific area. It's all about that "Don't make me think." Great book I highly recommend. It's also a fun book, not just a textbook.

P.S. On the drawer comment he was referring to the ladder, which was in version 1.0 mostly broken.

[Edit] Added new "known glitches".

[b][color=limegreen]NOTE: I have a dedicated server running on my Cable internet connection. Go ahead and give it a try:
67.160.22.157:27015[/b][/color]

Caution: This person "sounds" like a player, NOT a mapper.. Although he has some good ideas, I would take his overall outlook with a grain of salt.. Players do NOT make good maps. Use your own judgment.. It is your map after all, but i have a lot of experience with my claim. "PLAYERS SUCK AT MAP MAKING"

Quoted from Interlopers Forum

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Alright, just hada walk through your map, and I've got to say I'm very impressed. But, as you said you wanted us to bitch and whine, let the bitching commence.

1. Some things seem to me using odd materials. Why, when I shoot those cups, or the M&Ms, do they seem to be made of wood? </DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext><SPAN class=postbody>Yup, I noticed wierd things too, but nothing noteworthy.</SPAN></DIV><SPAN class=postbody>
<DIV class=quotetext>
2. the trigger for the teleport sound doesn't seem to overlap exactly with the teleporter, so I sometimes walk next to the teleporter and hear the sound without being teleported. </DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>News to me, but quite possible. I would check into it.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>

3. More physical objects! I know its an MP map, and so you need to consider network overheads etc, but please let me knock over some of those books! Also, those are the densest M&Ms I've seen in my life. I'd love to see my rocket/grenade send those things flying, as opposed to just making them roll around a bit. </DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>NO!, if you could make the M&M's tossable, that would be great but, this map is already stressing things I would not chance it.

4. I can get stuck. There's a little rule/guideline in game design that says a perfect player should be able to complete a game to 100% without losing any life. Maybe you could do well to try and apply that here. The teleporter that takes me to the second top shelf of the bookshelf (the one with the 2 crates of rocket ammo behind the books), seems, as far as I can tell, to bring me to a point where, unless I jump/fall off and take the damage that brings, I can't get out of. Am I missing something? is there a way to get off that shelf without falling all the way to the coffee table or the floor? </DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>I found no locations that you teleported to that were deadend's..

5. In some places, scale affects playability. I found it -very- hard to jump up onto books. For example, I couldn't get up that stack of books that the chair is leaning on, as much as I tried. Also, it took me 6 or 7 shots to jump up onto the copy of The Simulacra that allows me to run along the top of the corkboard (I then tried to jump from the book onto the brick that pokes out from the wall and promptly missed and fell all the way to the floor). If I have that much trouble doing it as the only person playing, imagine if I try it on the run, while someone's firing crossbow bolts at me. Could get very frustrating. </DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Crouch jumping, although annoying in a multiplayer map, is not unheard of.. If you could build ramps out of a few clip brushes that would be great, but not a necessity.

6. Am I supposed to be able to run up that chair onto the desk? It occured to me that, possibly because of the above complaint, the connectivity of the level isn't great. It seem really difficult to get between certain places. </DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>For the most part, connectivity is fine, its "flow" thats hindered. No one wants to crouch while being chaced in a frag..

7. Why shotgun ammo on top of the bookshelf? especially if there's no shotgun around. I don't get it. The top of the bookshelf would strike me as the perfect sniper spot, yet I only get health and ammo for my shotgun (aka the least accurate long-range weapon) for getting up there. </DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Not only NO, but HELL NO!.. never cater to snipers.. Place the weapon so that the sniper needs to go get it. Preferably as far away from the camping spot as possible.

8. Getting into the drawer with the CDs and teleporter was hard. I had to, like, crouch down and jump to get in there from the ladder from the floor. </DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Getting into the drawer is as easy as walking up the chair leg and hopping across.. Easy as pie.

Anyway, that's mostly it. I'm gonna keep an eye out for any servers running this map, as I'd love to try it out with other players. Congrats on a great map.</DIV>

</DIV>

whispers

This guy has been making me giggle since he arrived. /methinks he will fit in nicely.

LOL I Know... I know... I admit it. There is no door. The secret is out!

In the original there was no window either, It was like Rats: Prison. I've been more than tempted to put a door where the unpopular science picture is, although if I decided to go realworld, I would also need room for people's legs by the couch, space for the person to sit at the computer desk, enough room for a person to walk from the couch to the computer without stepping over the table... The list could go on and on and on. I just sort of said to hell with it, nobody will ever, ever live in this room. Or they could crawl in through the window.

OK so Orpheus says to make this clear, so here it goes.

THIS FORUM IS FOR DISCUSSION ONLY! IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD THE LATEST VERSION, SEE THE LATEST SCREENS, READ THE LATEST BUG LIST. GO TO THE MAP'S PAGE, OR READ THE ROOT MESSAGE, AS I WILL BE UPDATING IT, NOT REPOSTING EVERY TIME I PATCH.

Sorry, used my outdoor voice there for a second. Won't happen again, unless I need to make something else clear.

Keep your updated screens on the latest reply. No one will bother going backward to page #1 unless you are VERY clear that they need to.

and.

This has been bugging me for 2 days but...

"Where's the f**king door?"

Sorry I was just mubleing to my self... through a keyboard.... Yeah that's it...

Anyway, Thank you again for the critique Orpheus, I think I got everything that wouldn't take an entire weekend to do integrated. I spiffied up the description so that it was actually readable and took some new screenshots so they are actually reflecting the state of the map. I didn't intend to release a 1.5, but your critique had more than enough things to warrant a new compile. No reason to keep rolling in the same mud.

Download the New Version (Screens updated on map's page and at root message):

BocaBurgers Beta 1.5