Thanks people, it was fun playtesting with you. I'm glad to see the map
is holding well with these player amounts. Also nice to see some other
people came in and liked it. :smile:

So far, my TODO list is like this:

• Fix spawnpoints, place them better.

• Fix the getting stuck points, adding some playerclip to avoid falling

between rocks and platforms where these are close to each other.

• Make the caves more impressive. I am adding a large waterfall to the

water cave and I plan another few caves that aren't accessible but look
deep, large. Most caves will be enlarged vertically now.

• Fix the lighting. I'm going for a style that emphasizes the routes

players can take, and that puts some details forward, while leaving
most of the cave-walls dark or dimly lit to give it a stronger
athmosphere.

• Fixing some dismaps, tidying stuff up so no more grey brushes are visible.

• Of course, creating more prop models to give each of 4 area's it's

own characteristics. This should make the map look better and easier to
learn by giving landmarks.

• Creating custom materials for the rocks, platforms and waterfalls.

• That's pretty much it I think...

DONE list:

• Earlier playtests showed that the waterfall cave was less used, and

didn't flow well. I've added platforms and a gimmick there now to make
it flow better.

• Added some weapons, there's now 2 AR2's and shotguns in the level and

a couple more grenades. I've also hidden 6 batteries and 6 vials in the
map that are harder, or at least different to get than other items. :smile:

Looking good so far.

Things i'd suggest to fix soem of the problems experienced at the alpha test earlier today:

raise the spawns that are on slopes a few units off the floor, so none of the bounding box is intersecting a brush.

globally multiply the light with the VRAD switch (sorry i cant remember which one it is) by a small amount

possibly add a little bit more ammo

Great layout though :smile:

I playtested it on the snarkpit server a few minutes ago and heres what i discovered:

Gameplay:

I think that everyone who was playing the map do agree with me when I
say that this map is really fun. It was action packed and intensive. I
think that it was so much fun simply because it had so many variations
in the Z-axiss.

I think that if you add even more varation in the Z-axis with platforms and such, it would be even more fun.

However, I have one complaint, the spawnpoints. They dont seem to be
planned at all. People spawn in the middle of corridors, and i dont
know how many times i killed a guy from behind and he didnt even have a
chance to turn around.

Try to place the spawnpoints at better locations where they are a bit more protected during the first three seconds.

Players got stuck all the time aswell, but i think you are aware of that.

Ill post some screenies of this when I have time.

Architecture:

Since the map is in very early stage its pretty hard to give you any
opinions about the architecture, however i have a few suggestions here
aswell.

It would be cool if you added some epic elements to the map, not just
narrow corridors and small cave rooms. Remember that you are using the
Source engine, not the hl1 one. Its very powerful and can do more than
you think.

Dont be a coward! Strech the ceilings and the bottom of the cave much further to create giant shafts and stuff in certain areas.

There where different opinions about the lighting, but im happy with it
although i still think that you need to add some finesse aswell as more
contrast into it.

Make the dark corners much darker, and the green light from the crystals much greener.

Think thats about it for the time being.. Ill check back if I get other ideas.

You can download the alpha-stage version now so you can see for
yourself if you wish... :smile: There'll be a playtest on the Snarkpit
server soon too.

I plan on letting fade most ceilings into dark, though some will be
dimly lit by crystals or what-have-you. Right now, most of them are
somewhat visible and they aren't that high just yet.

I like maps with great, high area's. Not really
accessible area's always but just to impress players.

I agree. Can we get some shots of your level thats show off the
ceilings in your level? Do they just fade up into darkness so it
seems like you're at the bottom of a chasm?

I haven't encountered this bug?
Back to the map:

The displacements are very unique and it reminds me of that CS:S level for testing FPS :smile:

Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the comments so far. :smile:

If it's a little further detailed and all, it'd be nice to have it
betatested on the Snarkpit server. Is anyone playing on the server
these days? I haven't been there for a while so...

Hehe, well, the cave theme is not as original as you think, but not half as exploited as the HL2 one.

I agree, the way you used displacements is very nice but I was just
wondering: don't you have that alpha mask bug most of us seem to have?

I know it's not original, heh, the idea for this came from another game (Abe's Oddworld)... :smile:

But it's something else than the usual themes for HL2DM maps and it's
athmospheric, plus it lends itself fine for impressive area's and
interesting theme's. I like maps with great, high area's. Not really
accessible area's always but just to impress players.

Also, yes, I have the alpha-bug. In the editor it's quite strange to
work with a grassy cave but since I had done most of the displacement
maps before that update, that's not a too big problem. I usually work
with dismaps in lightmap mode anyway to see the relief better.

It's doesn't look like he's applied any alpha yet.

Back on topic, I've always enjoyed atmospheric map. Can't wait to play it :smile:

No more-of-the-same HL2 themes. :smile:

Hehe, well, the cave theme is not as original as you think, but not half as exploited as the HL2 one.

I agree, the way you used displacements is very nice but I was just
wondering: don't you have that alpha mask bug most of us seem to have?

I agree with satchmo. I dont know how you want the lighting, but i
think it would be cool if you let narrow paths and areas of the room
very or completely dark.

I love paranoia in computer games =P.

<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>