(WIP) pl_smoke

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
Presenting: Smoke. A completely Vanilla payload map, and also my first map that I take seriously and actually plan to release (and, of course, hope people will like).

Short backstory
BLU defends and RED attacks, as opposed to normal. This is because of the industrial theme (more on that later), and it seems to work so far. RED want to attack BLU for some reason, and have arrived by train (the first stage looks like it has been hurriedly inhabited by RED). Now they want to blow up BLU's base by pushing a bomb into their secret underground place with the help of some very convenient mining tracks. And that's it.

General info
As I said, RED attacks and BLU defends.
Three-staged Payload map.
Stage A takes place by/between some tall industrail buildings, with extremely overgrown dirt ground.
Stage B and C have been scrapped (well, I still have the files for B), and just so you know, it might take some time for them to come out. >.>

Media
Old, ugly (but accurate!) concept sketch: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/concept1.png

Screens:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0000.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0004.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0005.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0006.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0007.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0008.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0009.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Yellow22/pl_smoke0010.jpg
(In-post screens can be found on later pages of the thread)

Video tour 1:
http://www.vimeo.com/1318158

Download
http://forums.tf2maps.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=535 - Alpha 2c

Please tell me what you think!
 
Last edited:

Spacemonkeynz

L5: Dapper Member
Jan 31, 2008
234
52
Good to see more payload maps.

Have you thought about multiple tracks through a level, it's doable, i'm working on them in my map. pm me if you have any questions.
 

Voztron

L2: Junior Member
Jan 14, 2008
78
1
Stage C is underground, and I plan on having it start off with a huuuge drop (into water), just so that people get something special to remember the map for. =D

I am not sure how well that will go down, it could be more of an annoyance than anything else. Don't forget movement speed is reduced and some classes are ineffective in the water, this could lead to spawn camping...

I like the ideas shown in your sketch, just make sure items are there for a reason and not just because its a cool idea.

Hope to see that Alpha soon!
 

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
Not entirely on topic, but that rock looks really good for the tools you used :)

Thanks, I kinda just splashed on some colour and it ended up looking good. lol

Good to see more payload maps.

Have you thought about multiple tracks through a level, it's doable, i'm working on them in my map. pm me if you have any questions.

I like the sound of it, but with all layouts finalized, I won't do any drastic changes like that.

I am not sure how well that will go down, it could be more of an annoyance than anything else. Don't forget movement speed is reduced and some classes are ineffective in the water, this could lead to spawn camping...

I like the ideas shown in your sketch, just make sure items are there for a reason and not just because its a cool idea.

Hope to see that Alpha soon!

Yeah, I like the idea of the falling start, but I'm aware that it could cause problems. Don't worry about spawn camping, though, if I make something out of it, they'll land in a "safe room" where they can resupply and all. We'll just wait and see - I plan to release the stages one by one (when Stage B is ready for alpha, I'll add it to the already existing Stage A), so I'll have a while to think about it. :p

Don't worry about ideas being there for no reason, they pretty much all are. The big rock may look kinda out of place, but the stretch from the first point to the second ended up being so short, that I had to kinda make the track take a detour around something, and a rock seemed to be the best fit right there. If you're thinking about the water puddle, it's there to remove falling damage for attackers entering through the upper door (it's higher up than it seems). I have lots of displacement ground, so it doesn't look out of place.

EDIT: Well, well, my scanner seems to have died. I just dug it up from the basement yesterday, and I haven't used it in years, so that's understandable... I was planning on scanning more concept sketches including overhead views, but looks like I'll have to do everything by screenshots now.
 
Last edited:

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
As you wish.

overview.png


Lighter colour = higher up.
Pink = Inside
Striped = Inaccessible

The part to the right is what you see in the first drawing I posted, seen from the catwalk by the southern edge of that part.
The distances aren't completely correct. The distance between the starting point and the first CP, for example, is a bit longer in reality, and those corridors are smaller and shorter.

EDIT: By the way, the stairs in the BLU respawn room (pink room, upper right) lead down to a lower room on ground level. You have to enter via this room to get back up, which "handicaps" the defense a bit, since the stage is on the short side.
 
Last edited:

Arhurt

L6: Sharp Member
May 7, 2008
315
140
Nice layout, but I found some HAX!

hax.jpg


It looks like a very interesting and pretty small map. I like small maps, they are fast and furious.

Keep it up!
 

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
Oh yeah, I should have been more specific. I guess I forgot that you guys aren't making my map, so you don't know that the cart goes under that striped area. The striped area is higher up in the building, on the same level as the corridor that goes through it (erm, maybe I should just make a video... :p).

EDIT: And, of course, thank you for the comments.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
I know this is me just being pedantic but, it's ok to switch around the team colours for attack/defend. But it will certainly confuse your average players for atleast the first few rounds as red defending is a standard. Let alone how it will confuse new players.

I can understand the thought "well why can't blue defend for once?" But in all honesty the teams switch after each game, and red defending all the times is standard and probably for a reason. The first time i see red on dustbowl i always click engi, and blue;- medic.

I'm just saying. It's not a rule, more like a bi-law sort of thing.
 

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
I know this is me just being pedantic but, it's ok to switch around the team colours for attack/defend. But it will certainly confuse your average players for atleast the first few rounds as red defending is a standard. Let alone how it will confuse new players.

I can understand the thought "well why can't blue defend for once?" But in all honesty the teams switch after each game, and red defending all the times is standard and probably for a reason. The first time i see red on dustbowl i always click engi, and blue;- medic.

I'm just saying. It's not a rule, more like a bi-law sort of thing.

Yeah, I guess it could be confusing, but I really think the way everything is concrete and industrial, BLU fits so much better as defenders, while RED, starting out in a little wooden shack, fits best as attackers. Plus, RED has gotta stand for Reliable Excavation Demolition for a reason.

I really don't think people's reactions will be worse than "Huh, am i defending? wtf? Oh, wait, ok."

By the way, here's a video: http://www.vimeo.com/1318158
 
Feb 14, 2008
1,051
931
Yeah, I guess it could be confusing, but I really think the way everything is concrete and industrial, BLU fits so much better as defenders, while RED, starting out in a little wooden shack, fits best as attackers. Plus, RED has gotta stand for Reliable Excavation Demolition for a reason.

I really don't think people's reactions will be worse than "Huh, am i defending? wtf? Oh, wait, ok."

By the way, here's a video: http://www.vimeo.com/1318158

Heh, you may have to make a custom skin for the bomb model, which at the moment is blue.

Looking good, although, perhaps you should do some play testing before doing much more detail, just in case you have to change something major.
 

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
Yeah, I've seen some red bombs. I'm planning on using one, I've just...not done it yet. >.> It'll be red by alpha 1.

By the way, I won't be releasing a lot of new info and stuff the following week, because I'm going to a place without computers or Internet for some days.

UPDATE

Now I'm using Snipergen's "dirty bomb" model. Thanks for making that! =D

The payload system itself seems to work completely, the only problem right now is that the cart will note move. I followed this guide, but it just won't budge if I stand by it.

All help would be very very very very much appreciated!
 
Last edited:

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
Hey guys, I'm back from travelling, and I've resumed my normal Hammer working schedule. I'm off again on Monday, but until then I'll be working my ass off on Smoke.

Right now spawn rooms are 100% functional (EDIT: 99%), all I need to fix now is THAT DOGGONE CART (ahem. See above post). I'm still adding small decorational touches until I can work out how to get it moving, but the moment I do, I'll give y'all alpha 1. :)

EDIT: New (err, first) screenshots coming today, hopefully.

EDIT 2: Well, you can scratch that. There are still lots and lots of bugs I need to fix before I dare to take screenshots and/or release it.

1. Models are gone in-game. Apparently they are "outside the map". I dare say that is a lie on Hammer's side.
2. The cart... >.>
3. BLU spawns at RED, when all of RED's spawn points are set to Red. Whaaat?
4. I can't get the attackers' doors to stay closed until the setup is over, then activate but NOT open
5. Game doesn't end when timer reaches 0.
6. Water texture doesn't show up and refuses to render entirely underwater objects unless you go under the surface.

So, yup, I have some stuff to fix. Anyone wanna help an amateur with some of these? :p
 
Last edited:

Nineaxis

Quack Doctor
aa
May 19, 2008
1,767
2,820
Sounds like a leak if your water textures are not rendering and everything is in the void.
 

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
You're right, there was a leak. That should solve a couple of these problems.
 

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
Right. Sorry about all the double posts, but I want to tell everyone that I am now back on schedule. I was a bit more busy than I thought I would be, but from now on I'll have lots of time to work again. I've been pretty much stuck in place for the last couple of weeks, only updating a couple of visual stuff, but now I'll resume work on the payload system.
 

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
It's me again, and this time I have something valuable to bump with. First of all, the cart now moves. Yay! Although BLU still can't win and I have yet to place the cart at a proper height above the track, those issues should be easy to fix. There are a couple of other bugs (like that mysterious leak, as well as some texture/lighting issues in the BLU spawn), so I unfortunately can't make it to this Gameday either. :(

Anyway, here is something for you guys that actually may be interesting to comment on: The Very First Screen Shots! You've seen most of this in the video (you haven't seen the video? Well, do it now. It's on the top of the page).

pl_smoke0000.jpg

An overview of the entire stage.

pl_smoke0005.jpg

Overview of the last part. Compare it to the sketch on the first page if you'd like. I know about the empty hole, that's actually a puddle of water, currently nonexistant due to a leak.

pl_smoke0010.jpg

Overview of the first part.

pl_smoke0002.jpg

I thought it would be interesting to give a closer look at the little scene behind the RED spawn. I'm planning on making this look much, much better in a future release, of course!

pl_smoke0003.jpg

I'm kinda proud of this part of the map. I added some supports to the previously floating bridge...

pl_smoke0004.jpg

That bit to the right is just decoration, subtly blocked off by barrels (I think I'll have to find something better). I thought of things I could put in there, and I decided to make it some kind of outdoor meeting room or something. Needs more doors and stuff, obviously.

pl_smoke0006.jpg

Just showing some support beams I made. I'm kinda unsure if they look ok, what do you think?

pl_smoke0007.jpg

The currently hideous BLU spawn. The textures simply won't scale/line up correctly, even though I have made sure they should. Weird. I'm not even going to show you the downstairs part, the lighting is ruined down there.

pl_smoke0008.jpg

pl_smoke0009.jpg

Not much to show here, but this is pretty much the final design for the RED base.
 

cornontheCoD

L420: High Member
Mar 25, 2008
437
70
the pic with the red logo slapped over the blu logo: you stole that idea from my map!:p Just kidding, I haven't even told anyone about it, so its legitimate. Anyways, how did you do it? did you just put two overlays on the wall? overlay on an overlay? Because I was doing something in photoshop to make it look like that, but if you can just do it in hammer that would be easier.