[map] dm_clue_v1

This is a a discussion topic for the map "dm_clue_v1" by darkredspyder which can be found here

Map description:

Not sure what to really say here...

As the title indicates, the map's based on the board game 'Clue' (known as 'Cluedo' outside of North America apparently).

For those of you who somehow have no idea what that is, here's a picture of the board: http://rm7guy.co.uk/0366.Cluedo03Board.jpg

The passageways from the board game are in the map. Click on the floor where they are to open them. The weapons from the board game are also scattered around the map, minus the rope because I couldn't make it appear how I wanted it to.

The inside of the map focuses more on run and gun gameplay while the outside focuses on gravity guns, although some stuff on the inside can be picked up with the gravity gun and there is ammo for the rocket launcher on the roof.

This is the first map I've ever released on a site like this (I've only made two playable ones before now, one of which was barely playable due to extreme amounts of lag caused by the map itself), so I'm kind of nervous about putting this on here.

I had to make a few cuts with models in the map. One reason for that was because I basically had too many placed in the map. And then I tried to get the piano from Left 4 Dead in the map, but I encountered another problem that I won't go into here, so I just made the piano out of brushes in Hammer, basing it on L4D's piano (and even using part of its texture).

The skybox is kind of bad looking, but this is my first map with any outside areas. The ground outside was originally going to be made of displacements, but lights appeared weirdly on it for some reason, so I had to cut that too.

So, yeah, this isn't the greatest map ever, but I think it could be fun on a server with at least a few players, maybe more since it's kind of big (I have no way to test that myself unfortunately). Feel free to tell me where you think weapons and items should be added/removed, etc. Have fun (hopefully...).

Map screenshots:

So I had the chance to run around this map the other day, and I thought it was a fun proposition for a map. As an idea, I think it sounds great -on paper. -The adaptation to an actual HL2DM level I'm a bit skeptical. Then when I did see it and play around in it, I noticed it's not such a bad transition.

I think what you did here for the different murder weapons and rooms was nicely pulled off. I like the addition of the secret rooms and access to the roof, but the level does seem like a pretty big box with a house of tight proportions. I noticed and appreciated your attention to scale matching. It seemed as though you made sure your level mansion matched in tiles the same dimensions of the board game image you link in the description. I thought that was a cool idea; in essence people could actually play the board game using this very map -to some degree :hee:.

The map has some brush related issues I noticed while moving around. I understand this is one of your first beginning maps, and I think it's good that you decided to post it here. Having said that I came across a few aesthetic issues that didn't sit well with me. The claustrophobia I began to feel as I moved around the halls of this mansion. I understand it's probably the same tile amount, but you probably should increase the actual size of the tile texture by increasing the texture scale itself, this will make for more space between each room.

I highly recommend you read up on Source optimization here. There's a lot to be said about your brush construction, that guide might help. I also understand the trouble you were having with displacements, but I think would be worth it if you looked into it some more. It will make the outside part a bit more believable and fun. I would also think about some kind of structure for the outdoor area to make it more interesting rather than just have empty space around the house with nothing but random physic's props lying around. -Those are just a few thoughts anyway.

Overall, the concept of the map is fun, the layout can be fun, but needs some work on the brushes and optimization, as well as more interest to the outdoor area. Nice work for an early map, I say keep working on it to make it better.

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
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