Thanks Fatstrings. This map is gonna be released in two versions: small and a bit bigger. Seems everybody wants me to make it bigger before even considering putting it on our local server. sigh. Will post a new map thread for the extended version sometime soon.

wow, from here it looks to show promise, /me downloads

Opening up the rooftops and high areas opens up a whole new range of possibilities:

eish! thanks Reaper. Busted wall in bathroom fixed. Fire and smoke removed. slam removed from next to explosive barrel. I'll get to the rest asap, pity the weekend is over though

Thank you for pointing out little things I missed/ I'm now messing around with buildings in the skybox, extending the horizon a bit more aswell, and I'll hav to create func-detail buildings for it cause the skybox props are so limited. Struggling to get ideas for the courtyard though, I don't want to clutter that area too much. This map is changing quite a bit. I wish I could just spend a whole week on it and get it sorted.

I agree with everything Baron von Snickers said, so I won't repeat it. But here's the more thorough look at the level I promised. It's pretty much everything I could think of. Sorry for the huge load.

Thank you for the critique Baron. I also think that I'm going off on a tangent now by adding rooms in rpg building, making the main roof of the building accessible etc. So I've decided to keep it simple and fix those things you pointed out - it's so easy to lose sight of where a map is heading without objective feedback, so thank you again. dm_derelict_ extended version will have to wait me thinks. :dorky:

This map is shaping up to be a very solid first release, but I did notice some issues that break the believability of the space that wouldn't be too hard to fix up. First: very shortly after I loaded the map up I noticed the constant ambient screaming and moaning (slowed down burning zombie?) that really doesn't fit the theme at all, it's more annoying than anything else.
Leaving the ambient sound like that would be like for this map, IMHO.
There are also invisible walls in a few places that make the map feel constricted; invisible walls should generally be avoided like the plague, if the path needs to be blocked add a visual cue that it's blocked.

This smoke looks very unnatural, in reality smoke doesn't accumulate into a ball in open air, heat makes it rise and it gets carried off by the wind.


This ceiling doesn't look like it would support much, it would need heavier support beams running opposite the floor boards.


The debris in this area sometimes blocks the player and has to be jumped onto.



This invisible wall gives no indication that it's impassable, it actually looks like you should be able to jump right over. With the smashed building next to it maybe you could use some debris to show that this way is blocked.



You can stand on the very edge of this ledge, and with a high-value item there I suspect I'm not the only person who would try to jump onto it. I'd suggest cutting this ledge back to make it unreachable, rather than just correcting the invisible wall.


Last one: I really like this vista, the scale of skybox is very good, and it makes everything blend together and really look like a larger space, but it would be much more visually appealing if there were some more buildings of varying height, right now it's basically a horizontal line across the screen. It also might not be a bad idea to add a few structures further back to fill in the cracks where you can see sky between buildings. The courtyard below could also use some work, as right now it seems like 'the rather empty dead-end courtyard' would be a good name for the area.


Overall the map is looking very good. I think the layout works as it is, and if you add too much more play area it'll just start feeling like a maze. That's just my opinion though.

Also, a belated welcome to the Snarkpit :wink:

here's the new busted wall entrance. Don't want to put more debris outside though - enough allready!



and a view from the inside: it's still way too dark in there and it's gonna take a while to make it seem convincingly messed up. Don't think this place will see a lot of action though as this by far the tightest spot on the map, but I put another crossbow in there since this map has the dreaded rpg! :

thanks Reaper, I c what u mean. I'll remove some of them.

K. Put a darn hole in the building - and added a space inside the groundfloor. Now you can drop down to the ground level through the hole.

What I meant about the wooden boards was that it can take a while to break them one by one. It's the 3 seconds it takes for someone to throw a grenade.