meander

Pianodan

L3: Member
Apr 11, 2009
108
16
This is my first attempt at mappage.. it's a short 1 stage (for now) payload map with a convoluted track path that winds up and around itself. Still needs a lot more detail work, not to mention more (i.e.: any) playtesting.

a2 - Fixed a lot of broken things. Too many to enumerate here.

a3 - Fixed broken round timer, trippy nodraw walls, and a broken displacement.

a4 - Fixed (I sure hope this time) train getting stuck going over lips and around corners. Blocked unwanted exit from game grid.

a5
-No, really, the train doesn't get stuck. This time I mean it.
-Added more directional signs
-Changed the sound for the second door from blue's spawn
-Fixed the "exploding teleporters"
-Blocked access to the roof around the final cap
-Added more nooks and crannies around final cap for Red engies
-Got rid of half of the fence around the final cap
-Added a few random mine carts to make it clear which way the bomb ISN'T going
-Made all doorframes and resupply signs not solid
-Added some clip brushes to places people were getting stuck

a6
-Fixed non-solid mine cart
-Made central mesa less jaggy
-Added lots of detailing
-Made a mental note to take screenshots, since existing shots are from a1
-Screenshots taken
 
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Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
just a pointer i see in your screenshots, i had the same problem with my first map. Make sure to disable the shadows on your track, thats why your getting the deathly black shadow under your tracks. Looks like a promising map from the 3 screenshots though, gj
 

engoldin

L2: Junior Member
Apr 10, 2009
80
10
The idea of nonlinear payload map (crosses back over a lot of the same territory) could have a very interesting impact on gameplay, team priorities and distribution. I'm interested to see how this pans out. Cool concept imo.
 

taraph75

L1: Registered
Apr 23, 2009
48
10
This does sound interesting. I'd like to playtest this sometime if it's ready for that.
 

Pianodan

L3: Member
Apr 11, 2009
108
16
The billboard is there specifically to block a line-of-sight for snipers. If I ditch it, I'll need something else there. I'll think about what else could work there.

The electrical substation on the other hand, I'm not married to. I'll think about that one too.

Thanks for the feedback!

(updated to a2, which should be playtestable, if still a bit bland. I'm waiting for a gameday when I'm not busy to submit it for testing)
 

Squirrelinabox

L1: Registered
Mar 27, 2009
27
5
Few things I noticed from today's gameday.

1) It may have just been me, but it seemed like it was awfully difficult to setup a sentry during the setup time as red. I think it was a combination of there not being enough ammo near the good sentry spots near the blue spawn and it taking awhile to get to those spots from the red spawn.

2) I believe somebody else mentioned it during the game, but those fence props on the second level near the final cap seemed to be more annoying and frustrating than anything else. They seemed to hinder gameplay by not allowing people to jump down (or rocket/sticky jump up) without having to deal with the fences. It also made it difficult to shoot down to the floor or shoot up from the floor to the second level.

3) I think you already know this, but the cart did some weird movements on the big downward turn. It bent down almost 90 degrees and paused for a moment before righting itself.

4) I know one of the main points to your map is to have all the various tracks laid out everywhere (hence, the name meander) but it's a bit difficult to figure out which way the cart is going to go at all those intersections so engineers were building in places that were never going to be in play. Some intersections are fine, but for those that you do keep, some signs would probably do the trick.

The map definitely has some great potential. It was fun to play and I look forward to future releases.
 

Pianodan

L3: Member
Apr 11, 2009
108
16
Few things I noticed from today's gameday.

1) It may have just been me, but it seemed like it was awfully difficult to setup a sentry during the setup time as red. I think it was a combination of there not being enough ammo near the good sentry spots near the blue spawn and it taking awhile to get to those spots from the red spawn.

The balance is that I'm already worried about a good team completely bottling blue up in their spawn. You're right about ammo, so I've increased the ammo pack on top of the hill, but to balance that, I'm thinking about rotating the other blue spawn exit so one sentry can't cover both doors.

2) I believe somebody else mentioned it during the game, but those fence props on the second level near the final cap seemed to be more annoying and frustrating than anything else. They seemed to hinder gameplay by not allowing people to jump down (or rocket/sticky jump up) without having to deal with the fences. It also made it difficult to shoot down to the floor or shoot up from the floor to the second level.

Again, I'm struggling for balance. Several people have said that last area is tough for Red to defend, so the fences are designed to make sure that blue can't just swarm in and overwhelm red. I have added some clip brushes to make them less snagg-y, but I'm hesitant to just remove them entirely. Maybe eliminating the set closer to the red spawn, but leaving the farther ones?

3) I think you already know this, but the cart did some weird movements on the big downward turn. It bent down almost 90 degrees and paused for a moment before righting itself.

%%$*(#(!

The problem is that those track models aren't physical, so I've got them basically echoed in "block bullets" brushes. Finding just the right positioning of those + the path_tracks has been an ongoing headache. a5 seems to work better than a4, but I never know until I have six people crowding around it, which is tough to test on my own.

4) I know one of the main points to your map is to have all the various tracks laid out everywhere (hence, the name meander) but it's a bit difficult to figure out which way the cart is going to go at all those intersections so engineers were building in places that were never going to be in play. Some intersections are fine, but for those that you do keep, some signs would probably do the trick.

This has been a recurring comment. I'll make sure to add more before I release a5. Possibly I'll also add some other carts, just to show which lines are not in use.


The map definitely has some great potential. It was fun to play and I look forward to future releases.

Well thanks. Another issue you didn't mention is the mysterious exploding teleporters. Figured that one out too...

Remember all those "blockbullets" brushes? They were wreaking havoc on the visleafs, so I converted them all to func_details.

Whoops... I converted them all at once to func_details, meaning that as far as source is concerned, they're all one BIG func_detail brush, which means that attempting to teleport inside the large cube defined by ALL of them results in tele go boom.

Oh, the drama.

Thanks to everyone who played today and made comments!