The server I'm on has a basic scheme for every mod hosted on it, the full version and upload downloads are the default download organizers, since the scheme is for completed mods.

I know what you're talking about with Cave's unpolished edges (I have a milling machine in my garage...), those will all be ironed out in the final version, so don't worry. In order to not sound like I'm making promises I won't keep, I have recognized the following problems, and they will all be fixed.
-The bed in the beginning sucks. This was a residual prefab from a map I was making with a similar (read: exactly the same) beginning in my early mapping career.
-The hole in the bathroom is hard to get into. That's a quick fix, making the hole bigger, I just couldn't be arsed because I was adding all of the displacements.
By the way, how did you like those? Most notably the ones in the chamber with the magnum?
You can fall into holes and not get out. This is a hard situation to get into, I didn't even realize it was there until I was taking screenshots a few days ago for the site. The clipping texture is my eternal friend.
You really thought the combine at the end were anti-climatic? What if they all walk out, and they're friendlies (they're still combine, you just can't hurt them), then they gesture for you to enter the elevator? I was pondered that sequence, but never used it.
By bright lights, were you referring to the lights in the first part? Also, as a last point on cave, did you think that the time you spent in the sewer wasn't long enough?
These are the kinds of things I, as the mapper, won't notice, since I'm focusing on what I've just done. Truth be told, most of the times I went to the end of the map, I just threw a grenade into the elevator while it was coming down. :smile:
I don't know what you mean by black/greenish areas, though.

I've had those same complaints with Tramride, before, and they'll all be dealt with. Some of them have already, since that's an old version of the map, the only reason I'm using it as a download is because the newer one contains too much custom content. Here's a screen shot from the newer one, a continuation of where the tunnel ended:

I personally think it needs more lasers and dragons, though.
The 'puzzle' (read: chore), is going to be simplified (didn't you get the color association?). Did you try going past the combine force field after hitting the second switch, by the way?
The outside really couldn't be improved upon without lagging the hello out of the game (the same goes with the train itself, but I might end up using a model), but if you have some low-frame rate improvement ideas I'd love to hear them.
You're only the second person to compliment me on the crowbars. My brother was the first, and I was in the room.

I downloaded it now. I found the instructions on your site to be somewhat misleading: I saw only 'update' files, no initial files, so I downloaded the map through the link in it's map profile here first, only to find myself downloading Cave twice.

Oh well. Cave was definitely athmospheric and strange. Nice work with the rumbling and the sound and also with the almost mythical structures here and there. I think the combines at the end spoiled the whole setting somewhat, and with some anticipation they were easy to beat as well (I moved to the far end of the room, and none of them bothered to look behind themselves untill I shot two of them :razz: ).
However, I think the map is still somewhat unpolished: some rough edges here and there made movement harder than necessary, and the lighting didn't always look superb: some black/greenish area's here and there and at the start, some overbright hallways and overly simple brushwork.

As for TramRide, I liked the style of the track. Reminds me a bit of the intro of one of the Myst games. I think the outside area was looking very bland though: too bright, no interesting shadowwork to speak of. The train itself looked rather simplistic, too.
I found this map to be very confusing in terms of gameplay: the button that opened the celldoors was obvious, but what the other button (hidden in one of the too-many cells behind too-many crates - it felt like work, not like play :razz: ) did wasn't clear. Somehow the door earlier on was unlocked but I can't see a logical relation between the two, realistically speaking. The last button had the same problem: there's nothing that tells you the train can continue after pressing it. Overall, poor gameplay here.
I liked the crate-containing-multiple-crowbars joke though. It'd be better if you only used it once, to keep it fun, but the idea is funny. :smile:

Good news, I've been hosted!
In the space between my last post here and today, I've obtained webspace for my mod at http://www.Halfwit-2.com/aild.
Coolness. Downloads, media and progress updates will follow.

Looks nice, that cave. I like the grey-blue foggy look of it combined with the hot-red torches. Makes it feel like a volcano to me. I do think some of the area's in your map (in your previous post specifically) are a bit too abstract for me, but maybe it works just fine for what you're trying to achieve.

I'd change the torches a bit, though: they create circular light spots, which personally I find a bit odd-looking. Smoothing these out a bit might look better.

OK, I've pretty much completed my polishing of "cave", here are screens:


The storyline - if you can call it that - hasn't changed, by the way.

And a new link, courtesy of filefront, since savefile doesn't want to cooperate.
http://files.filefront.com/Cavezip/;6242713;;/fileinfo.html

Update
I've done a lot of work for the second and third levels, Cave and Cave2, and here are a few screenshots to hopefully entice:

The first is from Cave, the other two are from Cave2

I've added a whole lot of displacements to Cave, and am almost done with them.

Beyond mapping, I've started making the skins for thge "hippies":


School starts in less than a week for me, so progress will slow down radically, but I hope to have Cave2 and the Tram Ride levels complete before the end of the year. Unfortunately, I can't release a beta of Cave2, since it contains too much custom content, most of which is important to the puzzles therein.

oh oh I'm doing a one man MOD too! I'm even going to try and have voice acting (by real unpaid college students). I can't wait to see how this turns out. I've only been working on mine for, a week... but most of the consept is fleshed out.

good luck stadric

I'm looking forward to this! :biggrin:

I love epiphanies.
This whole time i've been worrying about shaping single displacements to make realistic caves. That's not what i should've been doing, I should've just been adding more displacements.

In one room of the third level (the continuation of the cave), I've added four extra displacements, aside from the ones that make up the walls. It looks much better.

Thanks for pointing me to Goldeneye, Crono, those caves certainly are something to aspire to.

A pic from the third map:

Because we're talking about full modifications. Minerva added very little to the game it self. It's mostly just maps. Very good maps, but just maps. There's very little custom content, I think the only thing added of value is the water tide stuff.