Proxy

Sho Nuff

L1: Registered
Aug 30, 2009
9
0
Hello all,
This is my first map released to TF2. The B1 release of this map was not ready for public release yet, so you get to see the 2nd release. Not much optimization has gone on, as i am still very new to using hints and areaportals. However, FPS doesn't seem to suffer at this point. Also, no soundscapes have been added yet, so its still a bit quiet. Once its playtested a bit, i will add more props and details where FPS allows.

Please feel free to give any constructive feedback, as i still have a lot to learn. thanks for checking out my map :p

-Sho' Nuff
 

Axis Denied

L1: Registered
Jul 20, 2009
6
1
Okay, IIRC, this was one of the maps that was on the server I frequent on during a "new custom maps night" session.

One thing I just had to mention - that ladder that leads to the top floor should be removed since I see a lot of people trying to use it (unless you're intending on making it so that people can climb it).
 

Omnomnick

L6: Sharp Member
Aug 16, 2009
335
111
Looks great for a first map and I like the combination of close quarters combat and open areas in this map - Should play quite nicely and if it doesn't you can always edit it accordingly :)
 

Sho Nuff

L1: Registered
Aug 30, 2009
9
0
Okay, IIRC, this was one of the maps that was on the server I frequent on during a "new custom maps night" session.

One thing I just had to mention - that ladder that leads to the top floor should be removed since I see a lot of people trying to use it (unless you're intending on making it so that people can climb it).

Yeah. i popped that in right before release cause the wall was a bit bare. there used to be a staircase leading up to the rooftop, but that lead to opposing teams building sentry nests, so i made it an exit only from the intel room. ill take out the ladders and add some destroyed staircases instead.

In addition, ive started to convert it to a KOTH map as well. removed most of the red and blue buildings pathways and whatnot, leaving the exterior an rooms connecting spawn to the outside. Some changed to mid will be needed as well, since most of the playtime will be spent there if i turned it to KoTH. Not sure if it will play well as KoTH, but i figured id try it in case it was more fun as KoTH than CTF.
 
Last edited:

nik

L12: Fabulous Member
Aug 14, 2009
987
564
looks wonderful.

worried about the tightness though, I'll give it a try
 

Sho Nuff

L1: Registered
Aug 30, 2009
9
0
looks wonderful.

worried about the tightness though, I'll give it a try

Thanks. The b1 was a ton tighter than this release. i had to open a lot of the hallways and corners up. it was a pyro/heavy field day. ive opened them up as much as possible without altering the outside of the buildings. if its still too tight, i will do so, or start blowing out walls lol.
 

Beamos

L2: Junior Member
May 14, 2008
80
43
Alright, so I ran around the map for a bit to take a look around, and...

1) It's way too big and confusing. It's like, holy shit, how do I leave my own base? Then when you finally do leave your base, you get lost in the enemy's base.... The reason for this is simple, though. Players keep on doubling back when they try to move forward. It's not very linear at all, which helps massively in large maps like this. If you can figure out a way to keep players facing towards either their intel or the enemy's intel at all times when not in battle, that will help orient players so much... But in this map, you're going left, then you're going forward, then you make a U-turn, then you go right, left, right, double back again!

2) As I said, the size and layout of the map makes players lost, but the aesthetics aren't helping at all. They could help, oh could they help make the players *feel* less loss, but unfortunately, due to the homogeneous nature of the map's visuals, it really throws me, as a player, off. I have no orientation in the map. One solution you could try is to make visual ques slowly grow more intense as a player gets towards the intel, or towards the middle. When you get close to the intel, perhaps, you could have a heavy heavy heavy spytech theme, with the outside being a junky warehouse, so if you're moving *linearly* (as if there were no walls) towards the intel, you'll find more and more spytech stuff showing up. It'll help orient players, if anything, subconsciously, so atleast they'll feel a lot less lost :S

3) Garish ramps everywhere. They look bad and feel bad, plus going up them make me, as a player, feel like I'm only going to get more lost if I use them.

4) Too many static props with poor visibility control. This is causing some FPS problems that shouldn't exist in some areas. Near the intel room, for example, I render way more props than I should be. I suspect there's a window somewhere around there that's causing that issue.

5) There're still a few things that can be func_detailed throughout the map (such as weird inclines, ledges, etc. Lack of func_detail on certain objects is causing weird leafs to be drawn in some areas, like in the middle area, where there are diagonal leafs showing up. If you don't want to func_detail, atleast use hints and skips to control vis a bit more.
 

Sho Nuff

L1: Registered
Aug 30, 2009
9
0
Alright, so I ran around the map for a bit to take a look around, and...

1) It's way too big and confusing. It's like, holy shit, how do I leave my own base? Then when you finally do leave your base, you get lost in the enemy's base.... The reason for this is simple, though. Players keep on doubling back when they try to move forward. It's not very linear at all, which helps massively in large maps like this. If you can figure out a way to keep players facing towards either their intel or the enemy's intel at all times when not in battle, that will help orient players so much... But in this map, you're going left, then you're going forward, then you make a U-turn, then you go right, left, right, double back again!

2) As I said, the size and layout of the map makes players lost, but the aesthetics aren't helping at all. They could help, oh could they help make the players *feel* less loss, but unfortunately, due to the homogeneous nature of the map's visuals, it really throws me, as a player, off. I have no orientation in the map. One solution you could try is to make visual ques slowly grow more intense as a player gets towards the intel, or towards the middle. When you get close to the intel, perhaps, you could have a heavy heavy heavy spytech theme, with the outside being a junky warehouse, so if you're moving *linearly* (as if there were no walls) towards the intel, you'll find more and more spytech stuff showing up. It'll help orient players, if anything, subconsciously, so atleast they'll feel a lot less lost :S

3) Garish ramps everywhere. They look bad and feel bad, plus going up them make me, as a player, feel like I'm only going to get more lost if I use them.

4) Too many static props with poor visibility control. This is causing some FPS problems that shouldn't exist in some areas. Near the intel room, for example, I render way more props than I should be. I suspect there's a window somewhere around there that's causing that issue.

5) There're still a few things that can be func_detailed throughout the map (such as weird inclines, ledges, etc. Lack of func_detail on certain objects is causing weird leafs to be drawn in some areas, like in the middle area, where there are diagonal leafs showing up. If you don't want to func_detail, atleast use hints and skips to control vis a bit more.

Thanks for the feedback!
This helps quite a bit. At this point, very little optimization was done. Ive only added a few hints, as i was almost positive some major layout changes were going to take place.

As far as getting lost, in the B2 version, a Ton of walls were taken out of the intel buildings to try to open it up. so im working on that, as it was originally a hallway fest.

Ill work on func_detailing more of the map to make the visleafs more consistent.

I have converted most to the ramps to staircases, and will continue to do so to get rid of ramps.

Ill also work on the props and theme to make it more visually guiding.