Morras Castle

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Sergis

L666: ])oo]v[
aa
Jul 22, 2009
1,874
1,257
This is a Gothic series inspired Dustbowl style Attack/Defense map. In the first stages, the attackers are trying to take the outskirts of the castle. The last stage takes place inside the castle itself.

The map is made for regular play, not Medieval Mode.

Fun fact: there's a blood pentagram in this map, its first iteration had 13 alphas and the 13th alpha was tested on Friday and contained 666 displacements. RC1 was posted on a full moon and post on SPUF was my 1111th :D

Another fun fact: I've been hammering at this map since the summer of 2009 and I never doubted for a second that I'd finish it.
 
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Doppler12

L1: Registered
Sep 10, 2009
44
18
A few issues
Code:
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/sawmill_window_large.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/sawmill_window_large.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/rock_waterfall.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/waterfall001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_foliage/tree_pine01_4cluster.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/sawmill_window_large.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_foliage/tree_pine01.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbedfence_set01.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbedfence_set01.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbfence001_reference.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_farm/wood_support001.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/rock006.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/sawmill_window1a.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/sawmill_window1c.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/cliff_wall_01.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbedfence_set01.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbedfence_set01.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbedfence_set01.mdl)
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_mining/barbedfence_set01.mdl)
And you need bigger spawn rooms
Code:
Spawnpoint at (-2848.00 -1920.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2784.00 -1920.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2784.00 -1984.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2784.00 -2048.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2784.00 -2112.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2848.00 -2112.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2976.00 -1920.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2976.00 -2112.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2912.00 -2112.00 -103.00) is not clear.
Spawnpoint at (-2912.00 -1920.00 -103.00) is not clear.

Now on to critiques.
Some things:
Player clip your stairs please, yes I know, they're not really stairs anymore just really pretty ramps, but it makes it easier to play that way.
I feel it could use more signs and less health and Ammo, especially around point A.
And I'd recommend the health and ammo around the last point be accessible to all classes while also being smaller that full size.

Lighting:
Those nice spiral stair cases in Point A's towers have no lights and its impossible to see. Also several houses around point C have no lights.
There are also some other marginally dark places around your map, forgot to take pictures

Points:
Point A has a ledge that hangs over your stairs in the middle the effectively make them very annoying to use cause you get caught on the lip.

Point C has a large gate the goes over to the cow cutouts that has an invisible wall, I'd recommend putting up a barrier of some kind that lets the player know they can't go that way.

Point D I couldn't find a real reason to have the upstairs there. There were also a lot of ledges and buildings that you could traverse on top of.

Point E feels like it will be nothing but horrendous amounts of Spam and death for the attacking team.

Point F (for Final and alphabetical) has a really small capture zone and is against a wall, either move the throne away from the wall of make the capture zone slightly larger.

Paths:
Red team has no reliable way to get from point B to point A.
the path from Point A to Point B has the cave, well either raise the stairs up or lower the cave floor a bit because you have to jump from the stair landing to get into the cave.
As said before just a few more signs I found it kind of hard to find the last point.


I'll probably post pictures later but I have to go to work (seventh day in a row) and it's going to take 30 odd minutes to upload on my crappy connection.
 

Sergis

L666: ])oo]v[
aa
Jul 22, 2009
1,874
1,257
Feels like the rock texture is a bit overused. Otherwise it looks nice.

you mean castle wall texture? it is pretty much everywhere. i'll try to place some building in front of walls so that less of it is visible.


A few issues
Code:
SOLID_VPHYSICS static prop with no vphysics model! (models/props_forest/sawmill_window_large.mdl)
since it's alpha, i dont really care about this yet
And you need bigger spawn rooms
Code:
Spawnpoint at (-2848.00 -1920.00 -103.00) is not clear.
i've checked it. those spawnpoints actually look clear. i dunno whats causing this.
it'll be fixed tho :p
Now on to critiques.
Some things:
Player clip your stairs please, yes I know, they're not really stairs anymore just really pretty ramps, but it makes it easier to play that way.
this is alpha. and im lazy. although yes, i really should playerclip all stairs before going public
I feel it could use more signs and less health and Ammo, especially around point A.
more signs are coming. health and ammo will be placed and deleted a myriad of times before i finish this
And I'd recommend the health and ammo around the last point be accessible to all classes while also being smaller that full size.
actually any class can get there. takes me at least 5 tries as a heavy tho
Lighting:
Those nice spiral stair cases in Point A's towers have no lights and its impossible to see. Also several houses around point C have no lights.
There are also some other marginally dark places around your map, forgot to take pictures
that is on my todo list
Points:
Point A has a ledge that hangs over your stairs in the middle the effectively make them very annoying to use cause you get caught on the lip.

Point C has a large gate the goes over to the cow cutouts that has an invisible wall, I'd recommend putting up a barrier of some kind that lets the player know they can't go that way.
will fix
Point D I couldn't find a real reason to have the upstairs there. There were also a lot of ledges and buildings that you could traverse on top of.
strange. i thought i playerclipped most roofs
Point E feels like it will be nothing but horrendous amounts of Spam and death for the attacking team.
i actually haven't even decided what i'm gonna build around the arena. that point's layout is far from finished
Point F (for Final and alphabetical) has a really small capture zone and is against a wall, either move the throne away from the wall of make the capture zone slightly larger.
will most likely fix
Paths:
Red team has no reliable way to get from point B to point A.
the path from Point A to Point B has the cave, well either raise the stairs up or lower the cave floor a bit because you have to jump from the stair landing to get into the cave.
i'll look into that
As said before just a few more signs I found it kind of hard to find the last point.
tbh i haven't figured out what sign to use for arrows to last point. so far best idea i have is red star made of brushes. not sure how obvious that will be tho. and i dont really want to make custom sign. i'll have plenty of custom stuff when i start making props out of most complex brushwork
I'll probably post pictures later but I have to go to work (seventh day in a row) and it's going to take 30 odd minutes to upload on my crappy connection.
well it looks like pictures won't be necessary :p
 

Tekku

aa
Aug 31, 2008
723
873
I am really looking forward to see this.

Anyways, you could try to request or make a hay roof texture, since most of medieval houses had a hay roof.
Also i think that the building in screen 5 doesn't fit, maybe a market place or something like that in its place?
 

Sergis

L666: ])oo]v[
aa
Jul 22, 2009
1,874
1,257
I am really looking forward to see this.

Anyways, you could try to request or make a hay roof texture, since most of medieval houses had a hay roof.
i used nature/ground_01 texture on one of the roofs. looks better than wood everywhere but im not sure if it looks hay-ish enough
Also i think that the building in screen 5 doesn't fit, maybe a market place or something like that in its place?

it looked better when it was made of wood. i changed it because the wood texture was getting overused too and i was making all three stage 2 controlpoints have the white brick walls.
also im not sure how i could build a good enough marketplace that would have a control point, be not too open, not too repetitive and be close to gothic series markets. i'd rather keep the arena there.
 

gastrop0d

L3: Member
Apr 22, 2009
110
33
The cobble stone texture you're using for the castle walls is way too noisy/busy, imo. It's very distracting to the eye and would get tiring after some play, I think.

I'd recommend finding a lower contrast texture. One thing you could try is editing that cobble texture and just lowering its contrast a bit.
 

Sergis

L666: ])oo]v[
aa
Jul 22, 2009
1,874
1,257
The cobble stone texture you're using for the castle walls is way too noisy/busy, imo. It's very distracting to the eye and would get tiring after some play, I think.

I'd recommend finding a lower contrast texture. One thing you could try is editing that cobble texture and just lowering its contrast a bit.

agree, it looked a lot less noisy in low shader detail. however its not so bad in small patches or in shadows imo. i'll try to just put some stuff in front of the brightest walls first and see if it helps

also i have no idea how to edit shader info

:angry:

You should, console spam is stupid, gets on your way when trying to look at info and nobody likes it anyway.

sometime later :p
 
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Mr.Late

L7: Fancy Member
Nov 27, 2009
408
157
- It is wayyyy too big and overscaled for Team Fortress 2
- Blu respawn time is too long

+Theme is cool though.
 

Dain

L3: Member
Oct 21, 2009
106
43
Convert this to TC; it's way, way, WAY too big. I spent 9 tenths of the time just wandering around and hoping I'd find my way. The point naming scheme was confusing, and there need to be more signs.

On a better note the map looks gorgeous.
 
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Dain

L3: Member
Oct 21, 2009
106
43
Apparently i'm the only one who could find their way round aswell, :p

hell, I got lost while spectating

then when I zoomed out to see the whole map I couldn't because I had to go so far out that fog obscured everything

also if you're not going to convert it to TC at least make it so that when it changes to stage 2 you can't enter the stage 1 areas. Do the dustbowl/goldrush thing where chainlink fences appear to block you off. oftentimes I'd wander back into the first stage with no clue that I was meant to assault the castle.

In general cull the unecessary sidepaths and courtyards inside the castle, and add more signs.
 
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