Zero G

KotH Zero G a16c

nik

L12: Fabulous Member
Aug 14, 2009
987
564
like, if I get on the push part from the bottom in the middle of it, i get bounced back down to where I started, and I lose health, because the hole in the middle which you can fall down takes up about half of the length of the push part
 

nik

L12: Fabulous Member
Aug 14, 2009
987
564
what I'm saying is that since the middle of the upper part isn't there, you will just fall back down instead of landing on the upper part
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
Yeah that's a bit of a glitch I've been having with it on and off, I'll definitely try to fix that during beta, hopefully in alpha even though I might be too lazy :p

Onto other news, though: koth_zero_g_a7 is out!

Updated from koth_zero_g_a6, I have brought you pictures, and with me a map file :D

Jk, no time for pictures now, I might edit and put them up later.

Anyways, here's the changelog
+Took out and redesigned bottom section of the map
+Added side buildings to the mid building
+Shortened hill capture timer
+Made slanted ramp in the mid building hollow, allowing players to run under it an into or through the mid building.

Download link here.

EDIT: Updated downloads again with koth_zero_g_a7

EDIT2: List of things I'm thinking of changing for zero_g_a8
+Add some areas for players to go behind the cap point
 
Last edited:
Jun 19, 2009
812
814
OK time for my feedback! (will be grouped into 3 categories)

Solid (stuff I like):
Overall the gameplay is great. It's nice and focused while maintaining a good sense of space. It gives people the impression that they are in battle at all times, but at the same time they aren't crammed into one area.

I also love the middle point in terms of both gameplay and aesthetics. I like the variation of height all around the point which gives all classes an even balance (I haven't seen a single class dominate on the point)

Not Solid (stuff I don't like):
I feel like all the players are forced to enter the point from the front. Yes, they can enter from behind, but there is a linearity from spawn to the point which makes players naturally want to enter from in front. This makes it a little harder for less skilled players to flank.

I think you can fix this by shifting the spawn forward and to the left. I don't really like that building that corners the left side, and if you incorporated the spawn area a little into that building so you spawned more on the leftish side, it might encourage entering the point from behind.

Nitpicky:

I think the arrows on the floor are a tad overzealous.

The left building (if not merged with spawn) should have two floors or a lower roof so scouts can utilize it to their advantage.

Possibly make a window to the main point from behind that is open so that you can rocket jump through it? <-- this one is probably sketchy...
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
Hrm I've considered moving spawn more over to the left, I guess my only quarrel with doing so is it stops the 'u' shape of the map. I might rotate the spawns to face each other, and put them a little more towards the map then they already are (effectively replacing the upper area of each of the side buildings)
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
Hey guys, so I know it's been a long time, but I've got good news! koth_zero_g_a9 has been released!

I sort of got out of the mapping groove for a while as school pounded all fun out of my life :p but now that it's break I've been working on three maps (Thunderclap beta, Zero G, a new map that's unreleased called Breaker) and I got zero g to a point where it could be released! By the way, if you're wondering about a8, I thought it was released when I picked the map up again so I just saved as a9 and moved on so for all intents and purposes this could be considered a8 :p

Anyways, let's get some screenshots!

A nice overhead of the new map, albeit a bit slanted, which shows the additions the lower part of the map. These are intended to be an area where players can go if they feel overwhelmed, just somewhere for the combat to go.
koth_zero_g_a90000.jpg


A shot from the new spawn, looking into the area where people used to run out for the old spawn, complete with a screenshot model!
koth_zero_g_a90003.jpg

*Note I left the old area where people used to run out open so that teams could have more options when it came to spawning, but we'll see how that plays out, I might remove it.

An in-animation picture of the new dev doors for each spawn! These involve two vertically moving func_doors, and two horizontal func_movelinears because the func_doors were being screwy when it came to telling them to move :p
koth_zero_g_a90006.jpg


That's all the new stuff, guys. For everyone who is new to this map, here's the mid.
koth_zero_g_a90007.jpg


Finally, I've been considering implementing this back into the map. It was in older alphas, but with the new spawns the map feels pretty small so I'm wondering if I should bring it back and replace the lower areas of the map for further versions. Thoughts?
koth_zero_g_a50001.jpg


That's all for this update guys, thanks for checking in on the thread!
 
Sep 1, 2009
573
323
Does func_door hate you, or is it just you being to lazy to solve the problem? Anyways Map looks quite good still. Can't wait to play it again.
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
So, following up on the mini test today:

Per a comment super made I'm considering adding in some structure now between the new spawns and the mid building, and taking out the upper exit as it was pretty much wholly ignored :p
I also think I might bring in that last screenshot again. Who knows :p

I'll get more definitive changes after some more tests, hopefully I'll get to beta soon :D
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
koth_zero_g_a9 has been updated to koth_zero_g_a10!

I'm going to be keeping this update pretty short, and unfortunately picture free. I added structure to the lower spawn exit/side building to middle that broke combat there up a little bit, and I clipped and edited some minor things as well.

For a11 (which I hope will be the last alpha) I'm thinking that I'd like to go through and replace the back section of the map with an older section, to expand the map, and I'll be putting in some features to spice up the upper flat areas above the hill.

Thanks for checking in on the thread, and I look forward to getting this to beta! :O

P.S. since space theme really isn't too possible I'm going to be going with a desert-what-are-the-effects-of-gravity-adjustment-on-plants-testing-facility theme for beta, I think :)
 

Zhan

L5: Dapper Member
Dec 18, 2010
208
244
P.S. since space theme really isn't too possible I'm going to be going with a desert-what-are-the-effects-of-gravity-adjustment-on-plants-testing-facility theme for beta, I think :)

Why not keep the space theme? I would think that anything you can do to make the map more unique and distance it from all the other desert-themed TF2 maps out there would be a good thing. Even if you have to put in a bit more work making models or custom textures, I would think it'd be worth it.

At least in my opinion, which isn't worth much since I didn't have a chance to play the map. The screenshots look really awesome, though.
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
Heh thanks :)

The problem with space is that the whole aesthetic I'd choose would be like Halo meets TF2 meets Dead Space (DS's holograms + Halo angular geometry which I loooooove + TF2 cartooniness).

Oh and a little bit of shattered horizon.

I guess it's just that I have neither the skill to make these assets nor the prestige to be able to actually get them, and if I pick the low gravity testing facility I'll be able to still make it space-y but without concern of what a hull of a ship would look like, or what to texture the mid building etc..

Don't worry though, I'll try to make it as futuristic as possible :p
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
#1 would either be my contest map or thunderclap, I'm not sure which right now :p

Let me cut to the brass - After intitially trying to compile, finding out I had 9 viruses, backing up all my necessary files and files I wanted in safe mode, trying to remove viruses then reformatting, and recompiling twice to fix minor issues, koth_zero_g_a10 has been updated to koth_zero_g_a11!

Changelog:
+ Swapped back end of the map out for one from an earlier version
+ Added a pathway down to the lower middle area (not CP building) from upper middle courtyards outside of spawn
+ Small texture changes (namely light strips)
+ Removed an old seldom used section of spawn
+ Removed some unwanted playerclips

Screenshots!

This used to be an exit for each teams spawn but it has been re-purposed into an empty detailing room!
koth_zero_g_a110000.jpg


I swapped the back part of koth_zero_g_a10 out for the back section of an earlier version.
koth_zero_g_a110001.jpg



The CP building also has a back opening (that I kept from a10) into this new back area.
koth_zero_g_a110002.jpg


Here's a close up picture of the new entrance from the spawn courtyard to the lower middle area.
koth_zero_g_a110003.jpg


The good old map overhead, to give you some perspective of what it all looks like together from the top :)
koth_zero_g_a110004.jpg


Finally, here is perhaps the only classy screenshot in this post (which means it's really close to a wall or surface usually).
koth_zero_g_a110005.jpg


Download link if you're nice http://forums.tf2maps.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=4565&act=down
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
Not much feedback post-packed test, eh?

Well, with feedback.tf2maps.net I didn't get too much either.

What I got from the test itself is interesting, and it made me think a bit. I won't lie, with 23-24 people, zero g was chaotic. I wasn't trying to answer why that was, but more if that was inherent in the maps character. What I'm trying to identify is whether this chaotic, fast paced nature is just the maps character, or whether it's something of concern. Personally, I had a lot of fun, and I hope other people did too. I'd love any feedback on this because I'm planning on going to beta after this alpha, so I'd love to do it in good conscience.

Thanks all :)
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
I had a lot of fun, but I also had twice the score of anyone else, something like 80+ to 40. And I was just playing Heavy, jumping around, traversing height really quickly. Medics helped, but even with intermittent medicing like I had I usually don't do that well. The ability to cap the point, then GRU jump up the ramp and weird arch thing and fuck up the other team was so incredible. I've been pretty sick lately, and I have to admit being in total control was exhilarating to the point where my headache went away and I didn't feel like shit. I credit your map.

I think the main thing is that the health near the point should be small, like I said in feedback, but that's up to you. Maybe it was small before and didn't work. But it really let me stay alive for a long, long time.

Like I said, basically as soon as this gets textured I'm going to push to make it a regular map on the server I frequent. I have a lot of faith the other players will like it -- I feel stronger about this than I do most other maps.