KotH KoTH_Hole_Alpha

B.A.Baracus

L1: Registered
Mar 6, 2009
12
0
King of the Hole
(As far as I know, the first map of this KoTH variant)​

Objective : As with any other "KoTH" map the objective is simple enough, Capture and hold the only control point for a total of 3 minutes before your opponents can. Only here, you're not fighting for the high ground.

Notes : After 3 years, I have finally had an opportunity to get back into the SDK. This map was created as practice to refresh my memory. This is the initial release of the map. Submission of feedback, ratings and bug reports will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all, I hope it's fun.

Earl Lewis \ B.A.Baracus
 
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tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Doesn't make sense for the Nucleus prop to be embedded in rock.

I believe the name Hole is taken.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
Holy Moses. Is that... fog that changes color depending on which way you're facing? I did not know you could do that. Tell me your secrets.

Sadly, the point of fog is sort of to make objects blend into the sky when you get far away, and you didn't pick good colors for that. Also what exactly is the point of that dead-end air vent?
 

Fruity Snacks

Creator of blackholes & memes. Destroyer of forums
aa
Sep 5, 2010
6,394
5,571
Holy Moses. Is that... fog that changes color depending on which way you're facing? I did not know you could do that. Tell me your secrets.

Sadly, the point of fog is sort of to make objects blend into the sky when you get far away, and you didn't pick good colors for that. Also what exactly is the point of that dead-end air vent?

I think that the fog is colored based on the light hitting it (this looks like thundermountain lighting)
 

B.A.Baracus

L1: Registered
Mar 6, 2009
12
0
Thanks for the replies, keep them coming please. First off, I'd like to reiterate that this was more or less a whimsical project to refamiliarize myself with the SDK after an unavoidable 3 year hiatus.

To clarify a bit in case anyone has not looked at the map in-game:

Since the map is a valley setting, I added the fog, some clouds and rain to kind of set the mood a bit for the environment. The fog thickness was set by distance between the bases to slightly occlude vision for snipers but I'm not opposed to thinning the fog if needed.

In response:

For the optimizations, as with any large wide open space, the optimization choices are quite limited. However, during testing with many testers on largely varying hardware (Including one who can't play on several official maps with more than 8 people without severe problems), everyone claimed to have great performance throughout the map during play tests. I've tried to do what I could (Although, there are a couple more things I have planned that should help a little), I hope is adequate for a full server. I knew it could be a problem on the front end, but couldn't resist laying it out this way (even if only for the initial release) because we all liked the concept before I started creating it.

I was using the nucleus bottom model for the cap point base and later decided to add the top to illustrate when the point unlocks and add a bit of occlusion from the battlements. As far as it being embedded in rock, for all I know it could have been found that way during excavation (If it's totally stupid, it takes 2 seconds to remove in the next release). If there are some constructive ideas for alternatives, please post them.

If the name "hole" is taken, please provide reference. I have looked again and cannot find a map with that name.

As for the vent, it's not in the objective area and has no real point related to gameplay. However if you duck into the smaller vent at the end, it does lead to another area that you probably don't want to enter (Hence all the warnings along the way). There is more to the air ducts, but the rest are closed off ( They're just something I was playing around with with CTF in mind).

As for the fog color choices, I used the recommended colors from the skybox list for the light_env and matched those colors in the fog controller (except for slightly darkening the red side as it was entirely too bright).

In detail :

The primary fog color is set to the ideal ambience color and the secondary fog color is set to the ideal brightness color (but slightly darkened) of the light_env's recommended settings for the pl_thundermountain variant of the sky_alpinestorm_01 skybox.


Thanks again for the comments.
 
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Seba

DR. BIG FUCKER, PHD
aa
Jun 9, 2009
2,364
2,728
I'm very confused about the intel - does it play some part in the game? Can you cap it to make time go down faster? If not, remove it - it's distracting.

That thing floating above the hole is...well, wtf is that?

I think you can tone down the fog, it's way too thick in the hole atm.

The intel room is a bit odd; remove the wooden swamp barriers, put in metal ones; take out the barrels; don't use a wooden trim or stairs; basically either make it out of wood or metal and concrete, not both.
 

B.A.Baracus

L1: Registered
Mar 6, 2009
12
0
Thanks for helping look into the name availability Fr0Z3n. I see koth_hole_v1 in that list, but that list is the only place I can find it. I'm not dead set on this name, just seemed to be available and was in a bit of a rush. It may change later even though it's ok to use.

In response to the other posts :

The jury's is still out on performance. Hoping have a few good test sessions this weekend (with a few players on lower end machines and hopefully a full server) to gather some performance feedback.

I intended to disable the flag props and didn't notice until it was prepped for upload. I didn't think it would confuse anyone being static with no outline or designated capture area.

The floating thing over the hole is just a platform I made a long time ago to illustrate where mid-air spectator cameras are.

I plan to create metal railing for the blu side to match the size of the wooden railing on the red side.

Any particular reason the barrels should be removed ? If so, what do you suggest should take their place ?

Will consider texture changes if there are more complaints about the aesthetics inside the bases.

Thanks again for assistance and feedback/comments.

P.S. - Possibly have to do some traveling soon (for a week or so), if so will not be able to check in regularly for a bit