Hey, some of you probably already know that i tend to get quite excessive when replying to
imp feedback, so here we go!
I'm thankful that you guys gave so much feedback, i can't remember when i got that many notes on a not-gameday test before. A lot of the things that were commented the most boil down to "I didn't have time to finish this up during the 72 hours but it'll happen soon-ish," but i'll try to give individual feedback to your feedback anyways.
Skybox on the inside flank route
(as noted by
@Umaroth-24,
@Kreg,
@The Mun, and Jork )
I know this is weird. I'm still unsure about what i want to do with the area. The original plan was to add some kind of balcony with an overlook over a war-torn OOB area, but i didn't have time for any of that during the jam, and i might completely change that area over. I thought about adding some kind of wall, but i thought it'd be good enough if i just clip it off there. Sorry for causing the confusion.
The lighting is too red
(as noted by
@Muddy,
@chin,
@TriPPey,
@Wilson,
@Layl)
As we all found out during the jam, the suggested lighting of the early-morning sky in the Frontline pack is quite red. It seems like a lot of people decided to use that sky and as such a lot of maps ended up with very red lighting. I'm also unhappy with how red it is, but left it in for the moment because finding good lighting always makes me compile like 10 times, which would've cut a considerable amount of mapping time. Please be assured that i know about the problem and am already trying to fix it while keeping up the general mood. I think that the problem is the ambient, which is basically ruby-colored in the suggested light_env.
The FPS are bad and you should feel bad
(as noted by
@Muddy,
@zahndah,
@Dragonisser, Jork)
I seriously didn't consider this to be a problem at this point in development, i didn't get any out-of-the-ordinary values when checking. But yeah, optimization on this map is still in quite an early state. It basically only consists of correct nodraws and func_details, areaportals at every door and a single Hint texture cutting vertical visleafs at the highest visblocking place of the mirrored building (192hu above the point.) There already has been additional optimization for A3, and im planning on fixing up the roads, especially the trims that are currently still solid brushes, at a later point as well.
Detailing in and around spawn is kinda weird
(as noted by
@chin,
@Kreg,
@Muddy, Flavio)
The current detailing of the bunker, especially the outside, happened because of a personal breakdown of mine on day 2. The original plan i had for the area didn't work out at all (eyewitnesses of the horrific event still weren't able to be interviewed,) so i improvised, and for some reason unbeknown to mankind improvising with almost no sleep often ends in bad decisions. I'm really unhappy with the spawns at the moment, but haven't found a solution for them. I'm considering deleting them and starting over, which probably would be less work and look better than anything i might do to fix this.
Why is your pickup(-placing) game so bad?
(as noted by
@chin,
@Wilson,
@Kreg)
The big health on the flank was an experiment. From what i can read from the feedback (sadly, i still don't have any working demos and wasn't able to play yet) that experiment seems to have failed. I will tone down that area. i will also try to improve the pickup placement in the other areas, but i'd still like to hear suggestions on where you'd put them.
Why would a reasonable mapper add curbs to his roads and then not bulletblock them?
(as noted by
@chin,
@Tumbolisu,
@The Mun)
When i did the original brushwork for A1, i wanted to already have the curbs in place, because that was work that i didn't really want to do during crunchtime. I thought i'd still have time to bulletblock them. By now i realized that i also have to func_detail them, and obviously i didn't have the time i thought i would, so i would've been better off without them. But yeah, bulletblocks are going to be in there for A3.
Mid doesn't have high ground, the building with the tower is cramped
(as noted by
@Wilson,
@TriPPey,
@zahndah)
Originally i planned for the route that goes through the buildings from the side exit of the spawns to take a different route which didn't wrap to the road as closely, which would then also have an additional exit at the upper level of the buildings with the two towers on mid. I realized that the path i planned would be so long compared to the other routes to mid that noone would take it, and the high ground on mid kinda was killed with that route. I think you bring up a very good point here, and i'll consider big changes on the tower building and the "big health kit" flank to make mid more interesting, especially because i think both of these areas are the weak spot of the map right now.
Ravings of a madman AKA individual feedback
@chin - "stupid roamer spot"
Oh shit, i totally missed that. Thanks!
@Bakscratch - "2 shutters for 1 window?"
Nooo, somebody saw it. I have to admit that the first time i realized it was when i mirrored the building. I'll probably try out the small shutters and move the windows around a bit.
@TriPPey - "too much fighting in flank routes and not on the hill"
On the contrary to many things i did during the jam, this was a conscious decision. I'm a fan of the tactical "who controls the flanks controls the hill" gameplay rather than trying to funnel the gameplay through there. I also don't like maps where i have to walk straight through mid to be able to flank my enemies. While i wanted the flank with the big healthkit to look different from how it looks now, the flank-heavy gameplay is on purpose.
@Wilson - "What is point of this area"
That area is basically fluff. There will be *something* there before the map is finished. I also like how the walls around the ramp look.
@TriPPey - "getting stuck on door frames"
Thanks, i missed that too.
@TriPPey - "massive sightlines for snipers around the point"
As the feedback didn't show me the sightline - Could you tell me where it is? Right now i can't find a single sniper sightline i'd consider unfair, but while i tried to have no sightline that could be abused or is too hard to flank, i'm also not the best sniper, so i might have missed something that is obvious to others.
The other things
@Kreg said
Thanks for giving me that much feedback. For a lot of notes you left, i consider this map to be in an too early state to refine on these. I know this map is already pretty detailed for an A2, but that is because i really wanted to use the jam to get some experience on detailing. Some things also come down to "I completely agree, but it wasn't possible... yet." Like the blue and red trims on the spawn. Should i for some reason decide to leave the spawn as it is, which i consider unlikely at this point, i'd also like the trims to have colors closer to the original team colors, but i didn't have this option for the jam because i didn't have time for texture work, so i took what i had from the Frontline pack.
So, thanks everyone for letting me know what you liked or didn't like about the map. I hope you had a good time anyway, and i'll try to improve Bloodshed through the feedback you gave me. Although i'm seeing quite a few weaknesses, i like what i was able to create during the jam and will try make this the kickass map you deserve.
