PL Ironriver

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
So this is my payload map, pl_ironriver. It's still in alpha and has a ways to go, but those who have played it thus far enjoy it.
It's three stage payload, with a control point layout like Gold Rush, having 2 CP's in the first and second stages, and 3 in the third stage.

It's a decently large map, so it typically needs a bigger amount of people to play on it. I've only achieved a 7v7 test once, so I figured I might as well spread the word so people can come play with us as well.

My server runs the map, the IP is 98.193.118.32:27015.
 
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What Is Schwa

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 13, 2008
375
445
Use a smaller power or bigger displacements brushes. They look too sharp imo.
I think you mean smaller displacements and smaller brushes?

In my experience it is easier to use more brushes that have the general shape you want and put a value of 2 on all of them and start manipulating. If you're trying to have seamless displacements you'll often end up with lots of brushes anyhow, and a value of 3 can be rather unwieldy and unnecessary.

Obviously though, different situations call for different approaches.
 

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
All of the displacements I'm using have a power of three. Most of them are already contoured using the vertex editor for general shape. I know in the last picture it looks odd, but from the ground it looks alright I think. Displacements aren't my best and they are also the latest addition to the map; before A10 they were just blocks anyways.
 

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
Are we talking about the ground, or the cliffs? Alpha made me think the ground, and the shapes being to edgy made me think cliffs.

For the ground, should I attempt to blend the alpha better or use a different texture? I've made tons of maps and I've been mapping for 2 years now, however displacements and textures are not my strong point.

Also, we're planning on doing a play test tomorrow at 7 PM pacific time (gmt -8). Map download is up in the first post. Server IP is : 98.193.118.32:27015. I'd love to have more people join. ALSO: I highly recommend downloading the map beforehand, it'll take around 12-15 minutes to download from the server.
 
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IrishTaxIDriver

L6: Sharp Member
Sep 27, 2008
271
149
I really like the variations you have going on in the screenshots. Some nice different buildings, different areas, it looks good.

Also a huge fan of payload maps that don't have long boring cardinal direction tracks. Slight turns and stuff look really cool.

Though I do see one thing that concerns me, its a lot of detail for an alpha. The way you used details right now makes me think you built the areas thinking mostly of aesthetics instead of gameplay. No no no! Gameplay first!
 

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
Oh yes I know gameplay first. This is alpha 10. I don't know if it's worthy of beta yet. It's been under production for 4-5 months now. Game play tests show that people like it, although we need to test with a full server. I've only achieved a 7v7 max once I think. I need to test with a full server in order to balance respawns, and to see if the 2nd stage needs a forward spawn for BLU or not. (It's decently long.)
 

Languid

L5: Dapper Member
Oct 9, 2009
240
256
This feels like another map thats really being let down by the lighting. There's no proper contrast or shadows being cast, and overall the light just feels fullbrightish. It may well be alpha but this is something that can be fixed so easily!
 

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
Alright, so I stole Goldrush's light environment settings just to see what it would look like, and my god, it's a million times better. I'm going to have to play around with the angles a bit, but I like what I see so far.

pl_ironriver_a110000.jpg

pl_ironriver_a110005.jpg

pl_ironriver_a110003.jpg

pl_ironriver_a110002.jpg


I think it's too bright still. I'll play around with it some more, and we'll see what we can do.
 

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
I don't have enough tests to tell for sure yet (which is why I need all of you people to come test sometime), but so far, we haven't had too much of a problem because the 2nd CP is right there, so they get extra time, blue's spawn moves forwards on cap of 2, and red's respawn time is longer than blues by 5 seconds or so.
 

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
Well, I don't know what to do with this map now, after that test. The way I see it, these are my options:
1. Start over from scratch, building it smaller.
2. Cut off the 3rd stage, and rebuild it.
3. Cut out bits here and there in the 3rd stage to make it smaller (most likely having to re-route things)
4. Take the 3rd stage and make it into it's own map as a 4 cp single stage payload, and make it smaller still.
5. To hell with it and make a new map.

I'm thinking of going with option 5. Anything involve shrinking a stage is a lot of work, especially with the way it's laid out. I think I'll just start on a new map then. At least this was a good learning experience.
 

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
That's going to be hideous and tedious, but I think I could manage. I'll probably wind up re-doing most of the third stage. Part of the reason it got so long was because I wanted it to spiral around itself (the entire map) and in order to do so, the first part of stage 3 before the warehouse had to be that long. I think I'll change it up by making the cart run right instead of left, which could also create more opportunities for flanking.

Now my question. Should I keep the big hilly section? I like it, but people were saying the sight lines were too large and that snipers would just own the area.

Oh and finally, how do you make an orphaned stage? I'd like to just test stage 3 from now on, but I'm not sure how to do it.
 

Hyce777

L3: Member
Jun 16, 2009
128
22
Alright, so I've been hammering away at it for a bit, and I've chopped out a lot of fat so far in 3rd stage. I think I'll give 2nd the same treatment, 1st? I don't know. 1st stage didn't really seem too bad. 2nd and 3rd were too big; 2nd was just too long, 3rd was just too damn big. Not anymore!

Payloadmap.jpg


The entire warehouse is gone. I didn't like it. Instead of going down, the cart now turns right, heads down track, and comes into the canyon. I really like the canyon, it's my favorite part of the map, so I'm willing to make it work somehow. It's really rough right now, but this is a general idea.

Also, the floating track over black doom I want to make into a nice trestle over a river. Probably not going to balance well, but I at least want to try because I think it'd look really nice and I like building bridges.