Demurrage

PL Demurrage a3

fanqmon

L1: Registered
Feb 13, 2015
11
2
de·mur·rage (dəˈmərij) noun:
a charge payable to the owner of a chartered shipment in respect of failure to load or discharge the shipment within the time agreed.
I thought it it sounded cool :p
 
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Egan

aa
Feb 14, 2010
1,375
1,721
Even just looking at the first screenshot it looks like you have a fair amount of detail in the level already, but I should warn that if you end up wanting to redesign any of these areas you'll have to also redesign and redistribute the details. I see you also have dev textures, but yeah that's the reason for those - to get the gameplay down before going into the detail work which is time consuming. You can do as much detail as you feel comfortable with, of course, just a tip though.

The sand texture is kinda butt ugly in the nighttime setup, when you get farther into development you may want to use a blend texture and spice up the scene with some greens, like grass in the more bio-diverse sections of the map (cactuses don't have enough).

I haven't played the map yet but I worry a bit about the flow around the outside parts of the track. The track itself has some basic shape and flow stuff to it, so that should be fine, but during the gameday test maybe keep an eye on how players are maneuvering around the flank routes, or if people even utilize them (ignore the first round because people won't know where they're going anyhow).
 

fanqmon

L1: Registered
Feb 13, 2015
11
2
Even just looking at the first screenshot it looks like you have a fair amount of detail in the level already, but I should warn that if you end up wanting to redesign any of these areas you'll have to also redesign and redistribute the details. I see you also have dev textures, but yeah that's the reason for those - to get the gameplay down before going into the detail work which is time consuming. You can do as much detail as you feel comfortable with, of course, just a tip though.

The sand texture is kinda butt ugly in the nighttime setup, when you get farther into development you may want to use a blend texture and spice up the scene with some greens, like grass in the more bio-diverse sections of the map (cactuses don't have enough).

I haven't played the map yet but I worry a bit about the flow around the outside parts of the track. The track itself has some basic shape and flow stuff to it, so that should be fine, but during the gameday test maybe keep an eye on how players are maneuvering around the flank routes, or if people even utilize them (ignore the first round because people won't know where they're going anyhow).

Thank you for the feedback, you made some good points.
Making this map has been one big experiment in just how to use hammer, so I've been trying out alot of things in the early development that aren't necessary. (like detailing)
I'll definitely be studying how the map is played on gameday.
 

fanqmon

L1: Registered
Feb 13, 2015
11
2
Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the gameday event.
Allot of first impressions weren't too positive, though that's fine. There's lots of obvious issues with the map that needed to be pointed out. Hearing feedback has been super helpful.
'sucking at something is the first step to becoming sorta good at something.'

So things I'll be working to improve the map:
- Optimization
- Scaling
- Texture Scaling
- Less insane sight lines
- Timer adjustment
- Eliminating the loop in the map, to make the map more linear
- Less distance blu needs to travel to get to CP C
- Fix door triggers
- Better placement of health and ammo packs
+ more
 
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Crash

func_nerd
aa
Mar 1, 2010
3,315
5,499
'sucking at something is the first step to becoming sorta good at something.'

This is the exact attitude you need to have to improve. Learn from your mistakes and build off of your collected knowledge from each project, and you can only improve.

Don't be afraid to scrap parts if you feel like it could be improved by remaking it entirely. Tough calls are necessary to make a good map.

I look forward to seeing your maps in the future!
 

fanqmon

L1: Registered
Feb 13, 2015
11
2
tl:dr
Finished the a2 version of the map! it's a completely different map now in a good way.

For the a1 version I was experimenting with a different payload map structure, where the map was a big circle. Teams had the option of two main directions to head that eventually loop to eachother. Going one way was the fastest way to get to the some CPs. The other way could be more useful to flank, though would be more time consuming. The a1 playtest wasn't too positive, it was confusing and felt very 1 dimensional, plus there was lots of obvious flaws that i listed above. Again, playtesting a1 and hearing feedback has been super helpful. Thank you !

The a2 version is a much more structured liner payload map. I put in an insane amount of hours in a short amount of time developing it. Something like 6+ hours a day for 2 weeks. I was streaming most of it on twitch which was awesome and helped me to keep going in someways. Thanks everyone who checked out the stream, and especially Pigsareit who gave some really useful tips with using hammer on one of the first days I was streaming.

So actaully about this a2 version of the map... I'm really happy how some area came out, like the areas of Blu's and Red's base (the start and finish to the map), and the CP A area. Though, I feel the area between CP B and C especially is lacking and still needs to be developed farther. I'm thinking I should make the courtyard wider to make it more open and less chokey. Then add a few side buildings that you can go through.

One thing that didn't work out on this version of the map: I was trying to make a spawnroom that at one point is for the red team and then later is for the blu team. I kept getting errors and eventually gave up, and just built 2 spawnrooms next to eachother. This is just temporary til i figure out how to make the duel spawnroom thing work properly.

So, the map is no where close to being finished and I am really excited to see how this version is going to playtest.
 
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fanqmon

L1: Registered
Feb 13, 2015
11
2
Alpha 3 is live! :thumbup1:

Unfortunately, I havn't had the time to playtest the alpha 2 version of the map. I started working on weekends so I havn't been able to submit the map for any of the gameday events. I would really love to get feedback for this map, hopefully I'll get a chance to actually playtest it sometime soon.

This new version has alot of minor tweaks, and a full list of changes is above.
But, here's the more significant changes..
- New flank area to CP_A
- Added in scrap piles near the cliff by the mining building (that you shield charge off)
- Moved back Blu's 3rd spawn location into the tunnel (so it's not right next to the 1st red spawn)
- Removed Roof Over CP_C
- Moved and added some health and ammo packs


I like how the map is coming together, though I'm mostly likely going to scrap a good amount from this version. I've been thinking and I am probably going get rid of the whole tunnel section between CP_A and CP_B, It's abit bland. Also I'm still not too satisfied with the CP_C area.

The map could use more outdoor areas imo. So I've been brainstorming and sketching out ideas, I'm planning on changing the tunnel section to be an outdoor train yard you have to push through with buildings you can go through on the sides. Also a bridge over water with tunnels in the water that leads in different directions. Then the CP_C area, I'll probably scrap/rework it to be a continuation of the outdoor train yard. There's still lots of developing and work I want to put into this map. It's no where close to being finished, though I'm slowly making progress.
 
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