CP Xenon

phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
832
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Xenon - a 2-stage A/D CP map with an emphasis on scale and variety in combat. The stages are Gorge- or Stoneyridge-esque, as opposed to Dustbowl or Egypt; consisting of difficult points to attack and huge, open arenas akin to the arenas of Gravelpit. Each stage could be taken as its own map entirely as the points are much harder to attack than, say, Dustbowl. (That's why there will only be 2 stages, because it takes a lot longer to play than normal multi-stage A/D maps).
 
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GPuzzle

L9: Fashionable Member
Feb 27, 2012
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As much as I do love chemistry, xenon would produce a bright white light. Maybe you can put the signs to be fluorescent or shiny, like with neon lamps on them.
So the name would actually fit the map.
 
Sep 7, 2012
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One of the reasons that Gravel Pit works is that the huge, open areas are segmented by large structures. One of the reasons people may have been claiming to take an fps hit is because of the size of the rooms - that's a lot of stuff getting rendered at once, even though it's just dev textures. You might be better off to enlarge some of the structures in each of the rooms to make it a bit more enjoyable to play in. One thing I've noticed in mapping is that sniper sightlines (good gameplay) go hand in hand with visleaf cutting (good optimization). Your areas seem a little too big if you don't fill them up with more obstructing elements.
 

phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
832
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How do you... Make so many maps so fast

You would be surprised at the number of maps I don't release.
I should orphan them all à-la Tarry's massive orphanage. I count about 6 fully compiled alphas sitting in my maps folder that I've never released, because of different reasons. Maybe I should just get an admin to upload them all to the server and do a massive impromptu or something to see if any of them are any good :p I doubt it, though, since most of them are really old.
 
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phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
832
1,815
One of the reasons that Gravel Pit works is that the huge, open areas are segmented by large structures. One of the reasons people may have been claiming to take an fps hit is because of the size of the rooms - that's a lot of stuff getting rendered at once, even though it's just dev textures. You might be better off to enlarge some of the structures in each of the rooms to make it a bit more enjoyable to play in. One thing I've noticed in mapping is that sniper sightlines (good gameplay) go hand in hand with visleaf cutting (good optimization). Your areas seem a little too big if you don't fill them up with more obstructing elements.

True, at least partially. If you look at Gravel Pit's A point there's not much of anything cutting sightlines... the only thing keeping that area from lagging is sparse prop usage. Additionally, my arena sizes (at least B's size) were referenced off of Stoneyridge's approximate sizes, and considering the amount of crap that renders on Stoneyridge B (and the normal amount of fps in it) compared to my B I don't think that lag was entirely my map's problem. I've experienced lag spikes on the server multiple times before and it could have just been that. Although I'll keep what you said about big structures and sightlines in the front of my mind, and probably design the rest of my map around that.

Otherwise, is there anything too erroneous about either A or B that would require a total rework, or should I head onto the second stage's C and D now?
 
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Sep 7, 2012
638
500
True, at least partially. If you look at Gravel Pit's A point there's not much of anything cutting sightlines... the only thing keeping that area from lagging is sparse prop usage. Additionally, my arena sizes (at least B's size) were referenced off of Stoneyridge's approximate sizes, and considering the amount of crap that renders on Stoneyridge B (and the normal amount of fps in it) compared to my B I don't think that lag was entirely my map's problem. I've experienced lag spikes on the server multiple times before and it could have just been that. Although I'll keep what you said about big structures and sightlines in the front of my mind, and probably design the rest of my map around that.

Otherwise, is there anything too erroneous about either A or B that would require a total rework, or should I head onto the second stage's C and D now?

The only reason I brought up the fps was because I was running my competitive config during the test today, which will usually give me up to 400 fps on a dev-textured map, and at least 90 on the less optimized Valve maps. I was getting about 64 on yours, which is great for someone running the game normally but I shudder to think of what might happen when it's fully detailed. Then again, it could have just been the server messing up and giving me an inaccurate reading. It's just something I thought you should be aware of.

I was thinking mostly about Gravel Pit B, but I think there's a lot to be said about the way A and C are laid out as well - there's something there that your map seems to lack for me, and I'm not quite sure what it is. However, a great first alpha and I look forward to seeing what you do with it!
 

phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
832
1,815
ALPHA 2 ON THE WAY
screenshots of points C and D -
wpxenon1.png

wpxenon2.png

wpxenon3.png


still has to be clipped, lit, and spawnroom'd but otherwise it's sealed and ready for compile
 

GPuzzle

L9: Fashionable Member
Feb 27, 2012
638
414
That looks really nice, PDT!
 

phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
832
1,815
a2 y'all
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/84556731/cp_xenon/cp_xenon_a2.bsp.bz2

changelog:
-added 2nd round
-expanded deathpit around B
-added cover around B
-added crap in the caves

bugs:
-tons of lighting errors with the rock models
-D is probably too easy to attack
-B still might be a little open
-a bit of clipping errors around C

Screenshots are in OP besides this one of the fixed (shadow-wise) C:
2013-02-15_00001.jpg

2013-02-15_00002.jpg
 

Phenol

L1: Registered
Jan 13, 2013
24
11
As much as I do love chemistry, xenon would produce a bright white light. Maybe you can put the signs to be fluorescent or shiny, like with neon lamps on them.
So the name would actually fit the map.

Actually, xenon would emit a bluish-purple light. No noble gas actually emits white light.
 

GPuzzle

L9: Fashionable Member
Feb 27, 2012
638
414
Actually, xenon would emit a bluish-purple light. No noble gas actually emits white light.

Oh. I'm daltonic, you see. Sometimes I confuse colors.
 

phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
832
1,815
So this recent gameday test was a flop, stage 2 didn't work and most people didn't like Stage 1 (for it being 'too big' even though I know of a lot of official and custom maps that have areas much bigger). I'll probably go about making the points a bit more defensible and fix stage 2.
The only reason stage 2 was broken is I can never test a map for that long on a listen server. For whatever reason, I have only enough time on any given listen server to quickly build cubemaps and take quick photos before it freezes on me. I believe I have fixed the error for a3 but I'll try my hardest to find some way to test it before next gameday.

I'm not sure what bothered people on stage 1 so much, though. Was it the lack of viable defensible hold positions? (because I know of a few points that are good sentry nests and I saw nobody using them); or was it the lack of signage? Because I personally don't think the map too big to cause problems, it just needs better defensive hold positions. I remember on the first test of A1 we managed to hold both A and B on different occasions, and those points barely had anything changed, so I really suspect it was either teams or not knowing the map.

Also I got this as feedback; "I like the style, but big areas are supposed to be passed through, not for decoration. It needs more decoration and gimicks [sic]". was it just sarcasm or something or did he mean something by that?

I know we didn't get to test it for more than a few minutes but I'd like to know what (besides the broken stage 2) caused so much damn negative reception.
 
Sep 7, 2012
638
500
Sorry, I had work and couldn't participate. I'll take a look at the demo and see what I can see though, if it helps.