PL Jeanette

Zed

Certified Most Crunk™
aa
Aug 7, 2014
1,241
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It's not Gregory.

0/10
 

Muddy

Muddy
aa
Sep 5, 2014
2,574
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Just to let y'all know this project isn't dead. I've just been trying to find the inspiration to continue working on this, plus I've been working on other stuff too (cough donald cough) and I've also been busy with uni and whatnot.

So the layout of a1 was pretty bad, I must say, and I put that down to the map being really narrow. So to rectify this, I've gone and decided to completely rebuild the map from scratch! It's not done yet, I've only got about half the map done, but here's a quick peek at the opening area (don't mind the shadows on the track, I'll fix those for the release):

5U0b4rF.png

DgJK0zX.jpg


I'm positive that this'll play much better than the previous incarnation of Jeanette. A bad habit I have with maps is that they tend to be very small and thin (arena_donald shows signs of this, although luckily the size issue works to its favour) so I'm really trying to make this map wider and larger (while not making it too open, obviously).

Barnblitz is a major inspiration, as you may see in those screenshots, and also Badwater 'cos it's my favourite Payload map. I've also gotten some ideas from honeymustard's Boundary.

... Seems I'm fixated on the letter B right now. Maybe I should rename this map to Beatrice or something.
 

HQDefault

...what
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Aug 6, 2014
1,056
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I actually thought the layout was pretty alright. But this first point is certainly an improvement, however!
 

Shogun

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 31, 2014
260
220
Good god. Are you using the stock Harvest light settings? I don't remember it being so grotesquely yellow.
 

Muddy

Muddy
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Sep 5, 2014
2,574
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I actually thought the layout was pretty alright. But this first point is certainly an improvement, however!
Yeah, but as I said, the main problem lay mostly in it being very narrow. I'm using the original layout as a base for this new one though, so fans of the old layout need not panic.

Good god. Are you using the stock Harvest light settings? I don't remember it being so grotesquely yellow.
I just used a quickie environment light so I could take some screenshots (I'm going for an autumn-y theme here). It'll look less yellow in the actual release.
 

HQDefault

...what
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Aug 6, 2014
1,056
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a2 is out! The map has been completely rebuilt from scratch and is bigger and better than before!

(Well, bigger, certainly.)

bluspawn.jpg

cliffside.jpg

Those rock and ground wall textures really aren't compatible. There are blends that use a similar grass with that rock, however :)
 

Muddy

Muddy
aa
Sep 5, 2014
2,574
4,592
Quick-succession updates!

a3:
* added forward spawn for RED team

a4:
* improved clipping
* a bit of optimisation
* patched up some displacement seams

Those rock and ground wall textures really aren't compatible. There are blends that use a similar grass with that rock, however :)
You think so? I don't really see any issue with them, but if everyone else does then I'll change it.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
The real issue is that you've got the edges alternating between grass and bare dirt, so unless Valve decides to back port its up-to-four-base-textures-in-a-blend-material feature, you're not going to be able to blend it into the rock on the sides.
 

HQDefault

...what
aa
Aug 6, 2014
1,056
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Ah. There aren't any rock-wall textures that go with the grass one I'm using though, and I like the one I've got right now...

There's at least a similar one. And the blend textures don't always work in the texture browser, so you're gonna have to test them.
 

Muddy

Muddy
aa
Sep 5, 2014
2,574
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a5 is here! I got rid of everything after the second capture point because frankly fuck it

a5:
* removed final stage cos it sucked and made the map too long
* turned second capture point into final point
* changed grass textures
* changed skybox texture (sky_gravel_01)
* fiddled with displacements a bit
* made shadows look like shadows and not like sentient puddles of vomit
* added some health and ammo packs
* fixed red forward spawn door sometimes not opening permanently when the first point has been captured (hopefully)
* added a sign that points to the flank route that opens when the first control point is captured
* fixed the payload cart getting stuck at the top of the slope when it rolls back
 

Egan

aa
Feb 14, 2010
1,375
1,721
As mentioned in-game, I felt like I was outflanked often when attacking the area past the 1st checkpoint (although this could have been due to stacked teams):

ySzzeXL.jpg


It was annoying that after taking the 1st checkpoint we would try to push into that hard-to-take canyon area, and if we felt like we needed to retreat from the attack then we were still in range of snipers at the back of the canyon even after passing back through the 1st checkpoint. I'd recommend maneuvering the canyon walls a bit so that the sight line isn't so overpowering.

p4t2bzi.jpg


Even after owning the checkpoint we still had to continuously fight for control of the checkpoint room since it was easy for the defenders to take the back exit into it. And while the attackers have a route that is a one-way drop into the area, it was never at least in my mind because you could only get up to it if you happened to use that spawn exit (which is not in the direction you want to go to).

l3nD63r.jpg


With the signs and the way the buildings are designed in the canyon area, it felt like you wanted a big clash in this little hallway, if so maybe you could make it easier for the attackers to use that route in general, and get a foothold there, instead of just being only used as a defender flank.

Another option might be to just close off that opening side route totally (the one next to the forward spawn) since, while it was a good sentrygun flank, it split the attackers up and they couldn't as easily brute force their way into the canyon area.