ns_nox plan

Here is the level plan for an NS map I plan on making. Any comments (level size, resource node positioning, etc)? The theme is a cargo/exploratory vessel.

looks nice maby a few more resource nodes

Looks extremely large, but I guess quite a lot of NS maps are. A concern I would have if I was working on a map like this would be running into engine limits, but I guess it just depends on how detailed you want the map to be. Personally I'd recommend that for your first REAL map, you should do something smaller, but to each their own :smile: Good luck with it mate, I look forward to seeing some screenshots.

Thanks, I'm going to scale it down by a considerable amount.

It's extremely convoluted and complex. However, I've only played NS a few times, so I wouldn't know how a layout like this plays, but a general rule for an FPS is simplicity is next to godliness.

if i may des, dont scale it down as yet, work on it, and see if it actually becomes a problem maker first....yes, most NS maps are pretty damn good size, KFS's stuff being one of the exceptions to the rule....but thats a singular example...

...and hes damn good... :wink:

Doc Brass... :dodgy:

quite well layed out, But the hives are all on the other side of the map, Much like eclipse theres always one the marine team need to rush to then rush another.

I don't quite understand you, Korn. Because the aliens begin at a random hive, doesn't it make sense for them all to be scattered?

yeah, But I think its best that they have to go past the marine base to get to another, Otherwise the marines are always working from the other side of the map to each hive & its usually the same game every time.

Looks fine as it is to me, except for theres only really one route into the top right hive. I think move that hive down and right a bit and somehow add a second route into it (excluding vents). And 12 resource nodes is plenty.

Top right hive is a worry, also the layout is just too complex. Take it from someone who made their own layout too complex, I struggled to fit all my corridors in. I suggest you chop some "middle" routes out. Resource nodes are balanced, good amount too. Start mapping young padawan.

The lower-left hive is really, really close, and the upper-right hive is, um, really really far. Kind of unbalanced concerning hive-placement.

As for layout... Yes, avoid hallways and concentrate on "rooms". For example, take ns_hera - few hallways, and even then, they're really atmosphereic hallways. It helps players keep track of where they are instead of hallways.

Now that I think of it, a ship would never be designed like that. Look at the inside of a submarine, for example - there aren't long, complex, convoluted systems of hallways and rooms, there are compactly and evenly sized rooms, each with a specific purpose in mind.

In other words, it's fine, I just don't think it's very ship-ly.

Maps that try to acurately map out a realistic structure are always boring as hell. In reality most rooms will have only one entrance, corridors are narrow, and everything is lit so that you can actually see properly (why would somebody design a spaceship with deliberately low light levels like those present in NS maps). I think if you try and make an NS map that could actually be a ship or station or base or whatever, it would be very very boring.

Hot dang thats super ambitious, Good luck!