ARENA Gardens (WIP)

Nerdsciencegeek

L1: Registered
Jun 27, 2011
12
0
This is one of my first projects ever with hammer, and I think it's pretty good considering that. However, in the course of this I've run into a number of problems that I couldn't figure out how to solve (being a newbie and all). Apparently there's a leak somewhere, so the water textures I was using were messed up (and it's weird because none of my earlier compiles had any leaks).
Also, the spot lights I'm using in the spawn rooms aren't quite working correctly. I'm intending to add a couple flower beds to make it more "garden-y" and break up the ground texture a bit, as well as add a 3D skybox and a control point once I get my problems figured out. (The most recent compile is included in the download)

If anyone takes any time to look this over and point out problems or give me places to put resupply items, I'd be very much appreciative :)
 
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Bereth

L4: Comfortable Member
Dec 13, 2011
170
197
The map is... bad. Soldier jump up on the walls and kill things.
And the map's shape is largely uninteresting... it's just a box.
 

Deodorant

L6: Sharp Member
Oct 31, 2011
263
214
This map is indeed bad, but in more or less the same ways that most first projects are. Read about map design theory and study some Valve-quality maps. You'll probably improve.

As for the leak, open the 'map' dropdown menu and load the map's pointfile. That will cause a convenient red line to appear from the leaked entity to the void. Follow it and you should be able to find the hole. If it seems to go straight through a solid brush, check to make sure it isn't a func_detail or displacement, as those can't be used to seal a map.
 

Nerdsciencegeek

L1: Registered
Jun 27, 2011
12
0
Thanks for the feedback. I did try to make some balance measures, but I suppose it wasn't enough. I'll look more into that.
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Pretty sure this exact map has been created and posted for TF2 like 3 times at least. There is a reason you haven't heard of them before.
 

Deodorant

L6: Sharp Member
Oct 31, 2011
263
214
Thanks for the feedback. I did try to make some balance measures, but I suppose it wasn't enough. I'll look more into that.
The big problem isn't that it's unbalanced. The big problem is that it's not built like a TF2 map. It's just a flat field with a bunch of blocks on it. It's extremely two-dimensional, it doesn't have any proper architecture or structure to it.
This may sound harsh, and I guess it is, but don't take it personally. Most first projects are crap of approximately this caliber. I don't think you're incompetent or anything. Study maps made by people who know what they're doing (this doesn't quite include me yet, by the way), and think about how they're built.

Come to think of it, finished and fully detailed maps are really complex and it can be difficult for a beginner to know what to look for. I recommend you to play a bunch of WIP maps on the TF2maps server. Playing detail-free alphas made by good mappers is a good way to study the geometry of maps without any distracting noise.
 

Jeremy

L11: Posh Member
Oct 24, 2010
829
299
Also try to avoid using Half-Life 2 textures.