Ambush

Hello all. This is the first map I've actually completed and I had a lot of fun making it. I like the gameplay and it runs pretty smoothly, at least on my system /w 15 bots. I haven't had a chance to play it on a server anywhere yet so I can't say anything about that.

I'm going to be submitting it to the CS:S mapping contest that's due Feb 4th and I'd love some critism on it before then. I've got tough skin so no worries :smile: I know there's no skybox, I didn't think it was necessary... do you?

I'm pretty proud of myself for a first map :smile:

Hmm.. That extremely obscure (yet interesting) shaped hole in the ceiling in Pic1 looks like somthing that is just begging to collapse. Consider putting some supports underneath it to make it look safer. I also feel that the floor in Screen1 is kinda.. hmm, flat. Maybe something like a "sunken living room" perhaps? :smile:

Also, judging from the ceiling thickness from those holes in screen1, it looks like your ceilnging is wafer thin. Make it thicker? :razz:

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting G.Ballblue</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Hmm.. That extremely obscure (yet interesting) shaped hole in the ceiling in Pic1 looks like somthing that is just begging to collapse. Consider putting some supports underneath it to make it look safer. I also feel that the floor in Screen1 is kinda.. hmm, flat. Maybe something like a "sunken living room" perhaps? :smile:

Also, judging from the ceiling thickness from those holes in screen1, it looks like your ceilnging is wafer thin. Make it thicker? :razz:

</DIV></DIV>

Yeah, yer right.. the Cresent shape in the ceiling doesn't look well supported. I'm not sure how to go about making it look supported and real.

Also, I didn't like the emptyness of the Mosque (that's what it's supposed to be) but was unsure what to put in there to fill up some space. From all the mosques I've seen where there's a bunch of guys on their knees praying there's always huge open spaces. It would be a bit more interesting with some stuff in there ... just not sure what.

And thanks for the comments! I've been checking back here every 30 minutes or so after I've posted my map to see what people say hehehehe

Leave the weird shaped hole the same. It's awesome-looking-ness outweighs its unrealistic-ness.

Where'd you get that cargo truck, and is it a model or a prefab? It looks rather interesting and I'd like a closer look... :dodgy:

Maze,

Thanks. I'm happy you like it. I've been considering ways to make it look more realistic without changing the look. Maybe even making it better, still thinking.

Yak,

I built the truck from brushes by myself. Id be happy to give anyone that wants the vmf file.. hell... go download it if you want.

http://www.roadtripauctions.com/moc/AmbushVMF.rar

If anyone would really like to use it in a map I have a version of it before I turned the whole thing into a detail brush so it would still be changeable as far as shape.

Nice work with the prefab. There are some things I'd do differently with it but you've certainly managed to recreate the generic army truck very well. You just need to get that thing some suitable textures! :smile:

it looks ok but does it play good as the map is supposed to be supper balanced and fair for both teams,

if it's not fair then it's not good i'm afraid, you'll need alot of play testing on it soon and then adjust so it's more balanced (if it's not balanced ofcourse ^^ )

Yak,

Quick newb question... So a prefab is just something built out of brushes? About the texture on the truck.. yeah that green metal is the best I could find. I've got a Canon Digital Rebel and I've been thinking about playing around with trying to make some custom textures, but I've never done that before. I've got experiance making repeating textures for use on webpages and such using the blend and rubberstamp tool in photoshop, Im guessing it's sorta the same process for making textures.

BioPulse,

I definately hear ya there. I've been play testing it with bots, which I know doesnt give you a real sense for balance, so human playtesting is something I'd really like to get done. Unfortunately I don't have access to a machine anymore with a fat outbound internet connection to set a server up on :sad:

I knew that creating an ambush scenario map was going to bring up the concern of balance so I tried to stay aware of the issue while creating the map. I currently have all the CTs spawning in the cabs of the trucks (4 spawns, 2 in each cab) or in the beds of the trucks (12 spawns). The T's start off either in their compound (8 spawns), on the roof of their compound (4 spawns), in the mosque across the street (2 spawns) or on the ground at the enterence to their compound (2 spawns). The intersting thing is that while it seems that the Terrors have the upper hand because of their positioning, unless they coordinate that with good teamwork the CT's win more bot-vs-bot battles because they start out together and tend to move in groups together, engaging and overpowering the more scattered Ts. I might still play with repositioning spawn points if I get some input.

Well a prefab is just a group of entities and brushes that are usable in any map and are designed to save the mapper time. I can build a truck and then I can use it in almost any theme, setting, or mod without having to rebuild it again and again. They were usually more complex brush-built things like vehicles that were used by mappers to give their maps more detail. The HL1 prefab has been more or less replaced by the usage of prop models, but they still have their uses. There are some complex entity prefabs included with hammer now if you want to take a look at how Valve utilizes them.

Looks pretty good for a first effort, though there are still a fair few tell tale signs that this is from a new mapper. Most obvious is the sparse area shown in the first screenshot, which may have an interesting ceiling hole but is otherwise very devoid of not only detail, but cover. Get something in there for players to hide behind - pillars, clutter, statues, planters, monuments, fountains, whatever you feel fits the setting provided it looks the part and keeps the gameplay interesting. The exterior area looks far more interesting from a gameplay perspective, and the second shot in particular makes it looks quite frenetic and atmospheric. Problems here? Well the crate nearest the camera is much too large for the texture used on it which makes it looks rather horrible. Now I mention it, it seems you have overly stretched textures left right an centre - 0.25 should be your default texture scale for most purposes. Besides that, you may want to try playing around with 3D skyboxes, as it lets you suggest a far greater sense of scale to the map than actually exists, and you seem to have ample opportunity to show one off with your exterior regions.

All these comments were based on the screenshots by the way, as I'm currently away from my own computer so can't test it in game.

Thanks for the comments Reno.

Yeah.. so streching the textures over .25 is bad, eh. It does make them look a less sharp. I was trying to avoid the repeating pattern thing and thought streching them may be a good way to do it (on buildings and such).

As far as the big open space... it's supposed to be the inside of a mosque and they've got those wide open spaces where they all put their rugs down on, face east and do the whole bowing down with the head to the floor bit hehe... but yeah, it does look empty and boring. I wasn't sure what to put in there as I've never been in a mosque. I'll have to figure something out.

I was thinking about putting in a skybox with a large arabic looking tower off in the distance

Google image search is your friend...

http://images.google.com/images?q=mosque%20interior&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wi

Except for the wierd/impossible architecture, it looks good and fun.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting ReNo</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Google image search is your friend...

http://images.google.com/images?q=mosque%20interior&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wi
</DIV></DIV>
You, sir, kick ass. I use google image search all the time but never crossed my mind to search mosque interior... show off :razz:

since there is a hole in the roof you should put some rubble and junk on the floor for cover and to fill it up. Good job so far

I've got de_ambush up and running on a linux server (woo hoo!) It has some regular players and I've gotten some really good feedback from people. I'd love it if the mapper folks around here went and played some rounds :wink:

server: dingolicous

ip: 69.93.55.6:27015

the server is set up for fast download and runs very nicely. I've also got a map called cs_darkride that's alternating with de_ambush in the rotation. cs_darkride is still under construction but I wanted to make sure some of the stuff I was trying to do would work in a CS:S multiplayer map without getting really stupid.