[map] dod_marseilles

This is a a discussion topic for the map "dod_marseilles" by Spas12 which can be found here

Map description:

Dod_marseilles by Spas12

Set in the city of Marseilles France, the german force must defend their captured city from invading americans. Allies must take out all axis forces and take control of yet another city.

This is my 8th map but my first for beautiful DODS. Map size is medium but has many open spaces in which each force must work as a team to capture all the flags. Use scattered cover to suppress and advance. There are a total of 4 flags, 1 already owned by each force. Player size is 32, and also has HDR enabled. It also has some custom models and textures. Thats about it, download and have fun.

map and custom textures by Spas12

special thanks to:

The Evil Clown/firebug80
www.interlopers.net
www.fpsbanana.com
Valve

Map screenshots:

The map was released 5 days ago, not in august. so 4 downloads in 5 days, not a lot but tbh i dont care.

smaller pics are uploaded..

5 days.. Post it on the front page news. Its buried to back in august as far as the site knows.

You might get more with a more recent news. If you need assistance on how to post news, PM me.

Melikes, but from what I can tell from the screenshots (don't have dod), it's a little too...torrid.

Hello Spas12 ill give you some feedback that will actually be useful to you instead of the above crap that I usually find annoying following a release of one of my own maps.

Visually your map is very pleasing to the eye. As I was running around I enjoyed your attention to detail and spent considerable time enjoying the obvious amount of work you put into your map. I would like to specifically mention the bridge area and the allyway connecting the 'Houses' control point and 'first axis' as my favorite areas. Both areas look professionally done. The lighthouse was a nice touch as well. Did you like my lighthouse in dod_kraps? (jk jk) Some changes I suggest making as far as "look a nd feel" is the consistency of size of space inside the buildings. For example I noticed one stairway and corresponding hallway very large, much larger than would be found in reality. Compared with another stairway and hallway in the map which is much much tighter. The stairway leading up to the 'Houses' control point are built with 16 height brushes which look unrealistic. The standard is 8 deep and 12 wide. everything else visually looks quite good.

I didnt play this map with other players so I cannot say too much about gameplay but I did see some possible problems I see from expereince playing the game.

1) Their is not enough cover around the bridge considerign the size of the space. I know snipers would camp that place with much success given the distance between cover points.

2) The railing on the "Houses" control point is an opaque texture that cannot be shot through with small fire weapons. This is a problem because it is it too easy to through a nade in their without worrying about the enemy spotting you. I suggest a transparent texture that can players can shoot through but add some sandbags or other "cover" props .

3) Add some clip brushes around the door ways. Especially the hallway where their is a small bar and about 5 doorways above some stairs. I would clip those off so the player wont get stuck in combat.

4) The road in front of the Allied spawn leading to the "Houses" control point is too large and open providing little cover. I suggest making it smaller or changing the design instead of a straight open road.

Some last comments.

The biggest problem in the map is the poor framerate. Looking towards the 1st axis flag form the Houses flag is very choppy along with several other areas in the map. I was walking around with "+showbudget" and the static prop and world geometry numbers were off the charts. Some seriouse optimization is needed. Their are many online tuts to help with this so I wont go into it too much here but settign the fade distance on your static props to a much smaller number will help the map noticeably as well as making some design changes to utilize the vis process. I do not have the .vmf but I hope you were using func_detail brishes as much as you could. I also noticed you put in great spawn protection which players always appreciate.

I will not rate your map but I will tell you that I believe you have talent, especially in the aesthetics department. Work on the technical aspect of mapping a little more and your final release with be much better.

Great map. Thank you.