sj_castle [updated]

one of the best castle maps i have had the pleasure of being a part of..

i hope to see this map reach completion

[Updated, new download]

Yes, once again I have revived the old castle map with a few relatively minor changes/additions, in the hope that it may get finished one day.

I couldn't find the previous thread about this map, so if I missed your suggestion, please don't flame me :smile:

I know that I need a new texture to make the large courtyard area and the 'terrace' area more interesting, but I haven't been able to find one yet. Almost all castle textures are grey, and this doesn't fit the map at all.

I have a few questions, but any suggestions or opinions will be useful:

o Is the cannon model used enough? Have I used it too much already?
o Are the barrels any good? Any ideas for something to go in the area with three barrels?
o Should I re-do the skymap?
o At the moment, the player can jump off the castle in places, and gets killed. Should I just restrict players from falling off at all? Currently there are no open edges, but it is possible to jump out in some places.
o Would it be worth trying to do water like in 'de_plaka' at all?







r_speeds stay below 600 almost everywhere. There are a couple of places where it jumps to 800, and one particular place with a spike at almost 1000 (if you look in a certain direction; it isn't a 'main traffic' area), but I should be able to reduce these spikes with hint brushes later, as wireframe mode shows quite a lot of overdraw at these points. r_speeds on the roofs that you can only get to by gauss jumping can be higher - should I not have the gauss for this reason?

I'm kinda busy at this moment but will certainly take a run through later this evening :smile:

This could really be a crazy time - you, A_S and Gwil are all working
on maps, could we finally see releases from you three notorious
non-completers?!

scary_jeff said:
I couldn't find the previous thread about this map, so if I missed your suggestion, please don't flame me :smile:

thats because, if i remember correctly, its in V3..

1. These balls have no texture. The cannon model is nice looking and isn't overused at all.



2. I got stuck in here. The wood grain pattern on the cannon seems a
little strange. I've never seen a cannon made out of anything other
than wood with a solid colour.



3. I wouldn't use that wall texture on the roof, the entire castle
screams out for texture variation. I'm not really sure where to find
better ones, but if you look at the long list of texture sites posted
in the editing help section you're bound to find something useful.



4. Those walkways looks far too thick to be supported by the wall. Make them thinner and maybe insert a few wooden beams.



5. The texture around the edges of the broken pieces doesn't line up at all and ends up looking out of place.



6. Is this the high r's area you were talking about? I don't like those
blue tiles, I prefer the ones that go with that avanti texture. This
would be an excellent position for kiting, were the player so inclined.



7. I waited for twenty minutes to ambush someone before I realized I
was playing alone. The tile texture where I'm standing isn't really
appropriate.



8. You could put some cannon balls on these shelves.

Overall it's a cool map with some very nice architecture in places. You'd better finish it bud. :smile:

Finish it and put it in the competition.

I notice that some of the points I have to make are the same as ones
A_S already mentioned, but since I've taken the screenshots, your
getting them anyway :razz:



Thats a couch right? If so, why is it made of bricks? Reminds me of ICO though, so thats a good thing :biggrin:



Too big and flat a surface, and the complex texture doesn't repeat too well which makes matters worse.



Perhaps a wooden trim around arches, windows and things?



This could definately use some pillars or support beams from the inside
wall, looks like it would collapse under its own wait to be honest.



I love these little balconies and things, this one is particularly well done with the brush based guard rail.



This room I particularly like, upgrade more of your areas to look like
this and it will improve the map ten fold. Could still use some texture
variation (such as different bricks for the fireplace / chimney
perhaps?) but looking great anyway.



The ceiling really shouldn't use the same texture as the walls so
frequently, though I've no real suggestions as to what to use in its
place.



I don't think the side and top textures on your stairs go together, and
the third step up should probably be angled like the bottom two.



This could be a cool area if you worked on the textures a bit more.
Perhaps put some wooden supports from the inside wall onto the ceiling?
I also think that here and elsewhere your battlement walls are too
thick.



Its easy to get in through this guard but a bit harder to get out, which is the way you are most likely to be travelling.



Not too keen on the wood grain, looks a bit wierd really. I think a
plainer wood would look better in its place, if thats doable? I think
you have underused the cannon if anything, you could place a couple
more in this room alone!



If you can, make the roof less flat in here, and maybe break up the space with pillars?



I didn't even notice this until I looked closely. Nicely done but the
background texture is too similar to the foreground texture so you
can't see it easily.



Perhaps you could hide something up here for the gauss jumpers?

In general I love the connectivity and its probably the most convincing
castle layout I've come across in a map. It reminds me quite a lot of a
few castle maps from the original Unreal Tournament, which is a good
thing considering how much I enjoyed them. It could use some work on
detailing but the layout is nailed, and so it is well deserving of a
fair bit more work to get it looking as good as it will play.



Here is a screenshot for Adam Hawkins' map dm_rampart showing some
simple detail in a corridor. I think you could use a few ideas from it,
such as stone pillars as well as wooden supports and so on.



Here is another shot of the same map, this time showing an exterior.
Again, there are a few ideas you could use from it. He has also used
very few textures in the map but you can pick out the architecture
easier due to a small amount of variation, using basic stone trim
textures and the like. I think using larger bricks like he has is
beneficial as it repeats better, your standard texture looks suitably
aged and all, but its too blurry and "busy" for mass repetition.

Hope these have helped and aren't all just repeats of A_S's comments!

EDIT: Was sifting through that links thread in map editing and thought
this might be of use to you. Loads of medieval building photos,
including plenty of castles. You have probably seen it but if not, here
it is...

http://vrcoll.fa.pitt.edu/medart/image/England/maineng.html

Looking very good, the outside part is really amazing.

Excellent, thanks for the crits guys. A lot of good ideas that I'll definately put in.

A_S - why have all your screenshots got vertical lines? It looks like you took a photo of your screen with a normal camera, had the prints processed, then scanned in the prints using a bad scanner! :smile:

1: I thought I put a texture on the ball model, but with it being my first model, I probably got it wrong. They are meant to be the same colour as the barrel of the cannon. I'll stick a couple more cannons in then as well.
2: I got stuck there to, I just need to change the clip brush for the cannon a bit.
3: A different texture for the ceiling is something I have been trying to find, so I'll keep looking.
4: I think I'll try half-arches coming out from the wall, or if that doesn't look right, perhaps some pillars... actually pillars with a wood trim could look interesting, but this is the one area where I don't have much in the way of spare r_speeds.
5: That was just an experiment, I didn't like that texture either :smile:
6/7/8: I might experiment with some different tile textures, I'll change the tile texture on the ledges and on the steps, and I will definately put some cannon balls on the shelves. I could get a 'barrel' and 'mount' model from the cannon model to have some gun barrels lying around as well.

ReNo - I left out ones that were the exact comment A_S mentioned :smile:

1: Yeah, it is supposed to be a seat. I might change it to an iron one with wooden slats or something.
2: The pillars idea is great! I could easily add some half-pillars along a lot of walls, and this would break them up a lot, particularly if I can find a pillar-suitable texture that fits in well. I was also thinking of putting a tree in the planting box that isn't next to that wall.
3: I might add some trim, perhaps a wood 'frame' of some kind, but this could add a lot to r_speeds in some areas. Worth a try though - perhaps I could make it look like there used to be a door in some of the archways, and have a couple of fallen-off or already-open doors (I'm not putting openable doors in, I hate them :smile: )
6: I think a greyer texture could work on the chimney breast, I'll definately try that.
8: Looking at yours and A_S screenshots, I think I'll just retexture the stairs completely - they don't look very good at all.
9: Again, wall supports are a great idea - expect plenty in the next version :smile:
10: I'll make the bars broken and bent out a bit so players don't have to jump to get out.
12/13/14: I think I can make this room interesting enough with the pillars idea as well as some other stuff / ok / I did have snarks up there - perhaps satchels would be fun as well.

Adam is going to send me the textures he used for that map. Perhaps I will be able to 'orangise' them a bit to fit my theme better.

I might be able to make the changes tonight, if not tomorow night :biggrin:

Ooooh, I'm looking forward to trying this one out. Feedback coming soon, if the others have left anything for me.

Thats a couch right? If so, why is it made of bricks? Reminds me of ICO though, so thats a good thing

gee, I wonder why

Actually, the exteriors of this map remind me of ICO ... as well as the couch ... make it a save point :biggrin: (just kidding).

Maybe, Jeff, you should take a look at some of the scenery in ICO for some inspiration for this map. It seems to be bleeding sunlight and doom. I think it would benefit from some ICO inspiration :smile: (maybe just download some high quality movies of ICO to see what I'm talking about).

The vertical lines in my screens are just a side effect from lowering
the quality so much. It annoys me seperately uploading each screen, but
if they're tiny they upload nice and quickly.

Found a few of textures that you might like. Two are roof tiles and one is just wood. :smile:

http://www.snarkpit.com/pits/alien_sniper/files/wood_t17.zip

Can't really add much to Reno's and A_S's excellent comments, some stuff i can remember from last time -



1 - most roof lines end in an unrealistic sharp edge, needs a vertical overhang under them.

2 - its a pain jumping up onto the grass bits.

3 - timbers are too thick and that would fall down in real life :smile: will prolly look better with some diagonal bracing (red line). Could also use something similar on other overhanging walkways.



1 - very chunky roof edge needs thinning down.

2 - needs a feature in here - barrels, fountain etc.

3 - on some of the bigger walls with repeating tex's you could ty scaling up the tex's by 2, it sometimes works depending on the tex.

4 - add variation by using a different roof tile on some roofs.



1 - those fades end very abruptly in a noticeable line.

2 - very thick beams need reducing. R_speeds are pretty low in this room so you can prolly get away with adding another set of roof beams.

3 - ditch the stone walkway and replace it with a wooden one with balustrading, it'll look way better.

4 - handrailing usually improves stairs.

Needs sprucing up with sounds.

Definitely needs a bit more texture variation for floors and ceilings, for the ceilings try m_ceiling3 and m_ceiling4 from TFC2.WAD

"is the cannon model used enough? Have I used it too much already? " - you could get away with putting in a few more, maybe have a couple together. Suggestion - make one cannon usable and point it inwards towards some part of the castle so that its possible to kill other players :smile:

"Are the barrels any good? Any ideas for something to go in the area with three barrels? " - more barrels :biggrin: barrels are ok-ish but could do with retexturing or steal the barrel models from Fishy's map.

"Should I re-do the skymap?" - seems ok except for the horizon which is sharp, needs to be more hazy.

"...and gets killed. Should I just restrict players from falling off at all?" - high parapets make it pretty hard to fall off unless you deliberatley jump over, any players that fall off deserve to be gibbed.

"Would it be worth trying to do water like in de_plaka" - maybe... although most of the wall parapets are chest-high so they'll prolly obscure the sea, i s'pose it depends on how high up the sea is.

/kicks you up backside to finish it :smile:

Wow, these are all great guys. I can't wait to make all these changes you suggested but I'm really busy with uni work for a couple of days.

A:
1) I can easily make that better, but I'm starting to think that if I implement every idea (which I would ideally do), I could end up with 1200 r_speeds :sad:
2) What do you mean here? Is it that you stick when walking over the grass, or do you just not like having to jump to get onto the planters?
3) I'll try and redo the support for that. It was the same boring bricks before.

B:
1) I might thin that down a bit. I quite like it how it is, so I'll see how it goes.
2) Again, I would like to put something here - originally there was a well that you could fall down with a hole to the lowest level at water level, but I removed this due to r_speeds. I'll have to try to make sure nothing but that area is being drawn while a player is in that area so that I can add more detail to it. I have a few ideas of how to acheive this.
3) That's a good suggestion that will also help with the r_speeds problem. I'll see how it all looks after I add the pilars that reno suggested.
4) I haven't had a chance to look at the new roof texture A_S has zipped up for me, but it sounds like the roof texture isn't that popular with you guys, so I'll probably change them all. I would quite like to have them all the same though.

C:
1) I noticed those lines to but couldn't be bothered to change them straight away and forgot about them. I think I'll make the fades a bit shorter as well.
2) Hmm, I'm quite keen on the super chunky wood. I'll see how it looks with thinner ones, but I think I'll probably keep them as they are.
3) Good idea, I think this would make the room feel a bit bigger as well. It started off feeling bigger than it does now, then I started putting things in it and it closed in so erm yeah good idea :smile:
4) Good idea also. I've decided I don't like any of the stairs in the map, so I don't have a problem redoing those ones as well :smile:

D:
Sounds are one thing I should have said haven't been looked at yet. I was thinking perhaps the odd seagul noise up top, and a lapping water type sound around the bottom of the map. I'm not sure what type of sound the middle of the map would make, for example what could the player hear standing in the corner straight ahead and to the right in the 3rd screenshot? I like to make it an aim to have at least a faint sound audible from every part of the map. Perhaps I could put a couple of generators that look like they are powering the lights (not one for each set of lights, a couple total). /me looks for generator model.

The water I was thinking of only doing around the very bottom left of the third screenshot in my first post. I'll see if there are any r_'s spare when all the other stuff is done.

beer hunter said:
barrels are ok-ish but could do with retexturing or steal the barrel models from Fishy's map.

not a problem. i believe from some of your other posts, Jeff, that you know how to hax teh models. feel free if you so desire.

[edit] i dug out the original .ms3d file with the grouping intact. twas much easier to seperate the parts that way. anyways, i broke it down to a single barrel, so it'll be easier to edit.

uhm, i hope you dont mind, but i haxed your map to see how it would look with the cannon. i'd say it's not too bad, though possibly a bit too green.



www.invalid-brush.co.uk/files/models/powder_barrel.zip if you want to use it.

Jeff,

1. Clip off the edges of the castle to make falling impossible.

2. Coat outside of castle with null texture.

3. Rejoyce due to lower r's throughout the map.

4. Paypal me money to pay for my kidney operation.

Fishy, I agree about the keg. It looks great except for the green. :smile:

2) What do you mean here? Is it that you stick when walking over the grass, or do you just not like having to jump to get onto the planters?

Its just a pain to jump up onto the planters, can't help feeling that 16 unit high ones would work better and allow peeps to run around this area without getting snagged up on them.

Perhaps I could put a couple of generators that look like they are powering the lights

Anything that adds a bit of variation is a good idea :smile:

/goes off to gawp at Fishys barrel model.

Can I just suggest that you open the TFC2 textures in Photoshop and run some sharpen filters on them, Couple of samples:



This is just opening the texture in Photoshop, then filter>sharpen. Some textures can 'take' 2 sharpen filters. Basically just keep sharpening until they start to look cack :smile:

http://hosted

That's pretty neat Nic... :smile:

Damn you Nic, damn you to hell!

Hey that's really nice. I'll definately try that.

Cass - I seem to remember you saying last time that you had a texture set in mind that might be sueful for me... can you remember which it was?

go ahead jeff - this map will be great :smile:

OK, I tried the sharpening thing. It makes the textures look better from far away, but close up they looke very grainy, so I think I'll go back to the normal ones. I've implemented about 75% of the stuff pointed out, I just need to reduce r_speeds a bit in a couple of areas, and interesting-ize a couple more areas before putting the next beta up.

The textures will always look pretty crappy close up. When I saw this I thought I'd try it out.

EXAMPLE

You can probably guess which side is sharpened.

That doesn't really show what it looks like close up though.

http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/Gallery/Travel/Finland/Turku/castle-1.jpg

scary_jeff said:
OK, I tried the sharpening thing. It makes the textures look better from far away, but close up they looke very grainy, so I think I'll go back to the normal ones. I've implemented about 75% of the stuff pointed out, I just need to reduce r_speeds a bit in a couple of areas, and interesting-ize a couple more areas before putting the next beta up.

Try Edit >> Fade Sharpen (after you apply a Sharpen filter) and you can set the opacity of the sharpen effects (as with almost any other filter) Maybe you can find a middle ground between smooth / grainy? :smile:

Some broken areas / rubble (it looks kind of like a well-aged castle) would work out nicely, with little wood beam bits sticking out and such. I think what you really need though, are some more castle-wall variations. Maybe apply some concrete and mortar on certain areas of the walls. Maybe something like this? :

Thanks for the ideas with the textures and stuff. I think I'll put the next beta up later today, but I probably won't try changing the textures until after I have got a few comments on the new version. I'm hoping people will think I did a reasonable enough job of making things more interesting that not such a big change in the textures will be needed. Not that I don't want to make some more texture variation... meh :smile:

one of the best castle maps i have had the pleasure of being a part of..

i hope to see this map reach completion

OK, a new version is up. Hopefuly it is interesting ++ compared to the old one. I have tried to implement most of what was suggested. A few notable exceptions are that I didn't do any sounds yet, I didn't have enough r_speeds to put something in the middle of the courtyard, and I didn't find an amazing new wall texture yet. Pretty much everything else should have been done - don't hesitate to prod me if I left your idea out :smile: There is still one room that hasn't had anything interesting attempted in it - I'll see what everyone liked of what I did so far.

I have done one roof in a new texture and adjusted two others - any views on which is better would be good :smile: There are a couple of lighting errors. I am also open to ideas for a better tree model that isn't a million polygons - actually a tree in the courtyard would be feasable. r_speeds peak around 1000 now, but again I am confident of reducing these peaks by reducing overdraw - hopefuly to the low 800s.

Before you point out that I didn't get a new wall texture, please look at the map itself, as I think it feels more interesting than some screenshots look:







Sorry 56K, did the screenshots in steam so they are 32 bit and didn't compress as well.

Looks far better already, downloading now. :smile:

1. Texture misalignments on the windows and the doorway.



2. This didn't come out too well, not sure why it's not showing up on mine. I'm not on steam so that could be an issue.



3. It's a bit of a harsh transition here.



4. Another small texture error. I found loads but didn't take screenshots of them all.



5. The wood grain is in the wrong direction on the underside of this support beam.



6. The balls still have no texture.



7. More misaligned madness.



8. You might consider blocking off this window somehow as a lot of the
inside of the tower is being rendered and when you're in the tower you
can't really see anything out the window. You could insert some stained
glass.



9. I think you could relieve the monotony of this area with a little
grassy section like you have outside. And oh look what is that? Is it a
castle ghost or a man shaped tea-stain on the wall? You decide! Press
your red button to vote.



10. This is just being picky but those cannons would have a hard time aiming at anything from those holes.



11. This are looks really cool... except of course for the tree.

Apologies for the brevity, I've study and things to do. It's coming
along really well and you've detailed the inside quite nicely. You
could put some of the rugs from the tfc wads around the place for a
little more colour.



Yippe Ki Yay!

This is looking pretty good.

Something I think that this map would benefit, even though it would only work on certain machines, from some pixel and vertex shader support. (Go here for the source, no binaries though :sad: )
I think this type of lighting would really add to this map, taking that almost everything is being lit by sunlight. :smile:

Hopefuly it is interesting ++ compared to the old one. I have tried to implement most of what was suggested.

imo those changes have improved it over the last version by a fair bit :smile:

I didn't have enough r_speeds to put something in the middle of the courtyard,

Hmmm, a cannon or stacked up barrels or some other model would improve that area and keep the wpoly down. Anyways, its starting to come along nicely.

Alien_Sniper said:
Apologies for the brevity, I've study and things to do. It's coming along really well and you've detailed the inside quite nicely. You could put some of the rugs from the tfc wads around the place for a little more colour.

Yippe Ki Yay!

[size=13][color=#ffffff]Hey! That's mine! Take this!! [/color][/size]



Reno, What did you do to your shotgun/assault rifle!

Yippie Ki Yay!

G.Ballblue, ReNo is using the high definition models/textures pack (aka the HD pack).

It comes with Blue Shift if I recall collectly, although I think it's free to download as well

Gwil, you mean to tell that you didn't notice how his models JUST HAPPEN to be sticking out from the screen more than they should? I don't ever recall being able to see that much of either weapon... :razz: That's what I'm refering to.

Yippie Ki Yay!

He has his fov set to 120. :wink:

I see what you mean now G... But no, i'm afraid I didn't notice - like
A_S said, he has his fox on a custom setting, I used to play with these
settings all the time (every day/night for nigh on 3 years)... so I
kind of got used to it :smile:

1. There's something not quite right with these stairs. Castle stairs
are supposed to be grandiose and these are a bit lacking. I realise you
don't have much room to work with though, and I don't have any better
suggestions.



2. This little section is being lit strangely.



3. A nice touch but wood doesn't bend like that.



4. You can clearly see the center of the sprite hovering below the light.

I'd like to see some more grassy areas on the outside for variation. Best castle map I've ever seen in hl. :smile:

It looks much improved from last time. The detail added brings much to the map. However, I would watch out from those r_speeds, as in some areas I was getting a noticeable framerate hit. It wasn't much, but it's enough to interfere with someone's precise aiming for example :wink: . I'm not sure, but the gaps on the parapet look too small to me. It may be from looking at hollywood interpretations of castles though, I dunno. Also as A_S said the areas around the cannons would have bigger windows to allow for better fields of fire. However, these are just little niggles on what is an otherwise great map so far.

A_S, castles dont have grandiose stairs, not fort/coastal/strategic
castles at least... ive been to castles in england, wales, scotland and
france (must be getting near triple figures soon) throughout my life..
and the vast majority (ie non residential ones) are surprisingly small,
cramped and cold with winding staircases - usually with tiny steps, low
<span style="font-style: italic;">roofs </span>and very very narrow :smile:

The main staircase is usually quite large though is it not?
Understandably the servants and secondary stairs are kept small.
Regardless of my misconceptions, it still doesn't feel quite right.

not really, although it could do with spinkifying.. you are limited in
what you can do with castles because of wall thickness/the materials
they were made from - hence the designs are inherently very clunky and
cramped, but bloody strong :razz:

a wooden hand rail or somesuch wouldnt go amiss in my opinion. more
likely is that larger staircases would have been crafted from wood, not
stone - perhaps it could be worked like that?

Just had a run round - looking very nice Jeff :smile:

Couple of points off the top of my head before I get some sleep..

The battlements need to be smaller :smile: Theyre too long and wide at the
moment, and also gaps between them are usually designed to tip
rocks/stones/oil/general nastiness onto people - make them a bit
smaller and widen the gaps!

Its a bit too browny/sandy sometimes indoors - the layout felt (i found
it wasnt) quite "circular" in certain places. can you break it up with
colour? tapestries hanging off wooden support rails would be good.

I can't recall seeing a single fire in the castle (aside from the one in the shots) (doesnt need to be
lit) - correct me if i'm wrong. if you can afford the r's somewhere,
stick a nice big fire or 2 in there! anyone who lived in this castle would
have frozen to death :razz:

more wood for your different floors - castles burn well in big fires cos the floors are usually predominantly wood, not stone.

depth toward the bottom! a sea opening would almost certainly be there,
as well tunnels around the edges to and from large areas of the castle!
:smile: it would add greatly to the connectivity as well, and bring a new
dimension to the fighting..

ill write a better crit with screenies tomorrow, thats just a few points for spinkifying i can remember :smile:

otherwise it looks fantastic, and is very convincing :smile: looks almost Basque-esque, or somesuch.

Some good points again, thanks :smile:

A_S:

A)
1: There are a bunch like that, I didn't align everything properly yet in case I end up changing the texture.
2: The tree only works on steam or if you have the updated DLLs. I might change this to a brush-based one
3/4/5: I can easily fix all of those.
6: The balls do have a texture, but it is stretched a lot and I don't know how to change that yet.
7: That's actually deliberate because I want the texture going the way it is along the top. I'll try and make some kind of transition.
8: Good idea, but I would quite like to keep that as it is. I'll change it if the r_speeds are still too high after I have tried everything else
9: I want to implement that if I can. If not, smalelr thing in the middle with a tree or something.
10: See Gwil:1

B)
1: I can add some kind of trim or something to those stairs, but r_speeds are getting to the 'need to be thought about' stage here.
2: I got a few lighting errors with the last compile, I expect they will just disappear next time.
3: OK fair enough. I have an idea for that which sohuld be slightly more interesting.
4: I'll try a different glow sprite. I was considering having one glow sprite and one fainter fixed size sprite for every light, but I don't think this would be worth it.
5: I think grass around the bottom of the main tower could be possible. Your diagram was actually pretty good A_S :smile:

Gwil:

1: I did have more gaps, and ideally I would have angled brushes like the indoor cannon holes do, but both of these cause the wpoly to go too high. I can make the gaps a bit wider and see how that looks. The width of the battlement walls is actually less than a few castles I have been to - thin walls just get broken easily :smile:
2: Some more rugs and some hanging things on walls are a perfect suggestion for these areas, I'll definately do that. I know what you mean when you say 'circular', but if I put something players want around a loop (lj, weapon, armor), I think it should work out OK.
3: My friend made the exact same comment. The thing is, I have not made the castle as if it is 500 years ago - burning torches might look a bit out of place in a castle that is electrically lit. There are three of empty fireplaces, I could put another one of these in, although building another chimeny into the map could be annoying.
4: Wooden floors, will definately do that. Upper levels in particular. An ideal way to use the wood texture A_S got me :smile:
5: I'm not really sure what you mean here. I did have a sea-opening down in a_s' 11th screenshot, but the r_speeds were terrible if you actually went out there. Where would these tunnels you suggest go? I am interested but am not sure how this would work.

Thanks for your comments also Yak. r_speeds in the main big area are at the top of the list :smile:

I'll try and get some time to check this out later today, though no
doubt most points have been covered already. It certainly looks like
you have made some good improvements from the screenshots :smile:

Any updates ol' man?