dm_loneworld

Hi,
I was noticed to post here :smile:

Good job. I'll try and have a closer look at your map sometime soon but don't hold your breath.

---

Why snark works.

Alright, I had a look.

The map certainly looks like you spend a lot time on the details, even creating a lot of custom material which, while a bit distracting at points (flashy colors and the slightly clich? custom-map-with-movie-posters-on-the-wall-posters) - deserve a little praise here.

One can easily see, though, that this is no routine work and you're still learning (this probably being one of your - if not your first ever - release). I'd say that this is very OK for a first release. Of course, there are a lot of things that don't work out so well. Most problems are either so fundamental that they're impossible to change now, or they're small but so wide-spread that fixing them would take longer than making 3 new and better maps. So I wouldn't change that much about the map anymore, do the basic polishing and then move on to another map using all the knowledge you acquired from building this one (which I'm sure is a lot).

Here's a few specific things I noticed:

• I had troubles finding any weapons. In fact the only ones I found were the shotgun and the xbow. Feel free to put more items directly in the player's path. No need to hide everything (although it's good for the more powerful ones).

• Many rooms suffer from the "build box now - fill it later" technique, which is always a bad way of building rooms. You'll never be able to "fill" a boring room with enough stuff to make it intersting, instead, cut and design every room in a way it has an interesting blueprint, even if there's nothing in it yet. You, for example, don't need to use a 90? layout for every wall...

• Kudos for sticking to the theme (which is actually quite cool - if a little jumpy at places) but always make a good layout (no dead ends, no choke-points, etc.) your first priority. The kitchen, for example looked OK, but the only weapon I found in it was the crowbar and it was generally a cramped place plus a dead end. The vent-shafts were too complicated to walk around in a stressful multiplayer game. Try drawing a little sketch for the next map beforehand and keep corridors short and rooms well-connected and more purposeful for gameplay.

• The elevator didn't go up for a reason.

• There are too many white lights. When using lights, either make them yellowish or blueish to get cold-warm contrasts. It's a great way to load your map with atmosphere.White light always looks gray and fullbright.

• The little columns and arches in the living area look a bit too thin to carry all the heavy rocks above. Also other rooms could generally need more massive beams and wall supports for the ceilings.

• Some of the texturing and brushwork is a bit rough and unaligned. This might not even be that much of a polishing job but more a planning issue. Again, you have a lot of big, basic brushwork which would take a hundred years to detail. Try adding rooms and corridors more carefully in your next map and gather some reference photographs for ideas for actual architecture, doorways, ect. It speeds things up on a much earlier level and helps avoiding big, gaping areas of nothingness that are painful to fill with detail.

Keep it up, I'll keep an eye on whatever you're doing next!

---

Why snark works.

Thanks for your reply :smile:

1. Its my second Hammer map

2. While playing with some friends it wasnt a problem to find all the weapons. And there are really much of all weapons except rpg, smg and pistol.

3. Curios while testing i hadnt a problem with the elevator and with the vent-shafts

4. the thin walls: right i cant change it anymore :sad:

5. lights: noticed

6. Yeah i learned much on this map and on the map before....

But howerver .......i am not sure if i want to update this map..... maybe a rc4 but not the next 2 weeks.
And the next map: I just wanted to start it :smile: