Turnabout

Shadow Hog

L1: Registered
May 28, 2009
15
2
Turnabout's a Dustbowl-esque stage, with only one round (but three points). BLU attacks, RED defends.

Taking the whole "two bases ridiculously close to each other" motif to a whole new level, BLU and RED now spawn right next to each other! However, RED has a completely impenetrable defense set up between the two spawns (ie: a glass wall), so BLU must instead go the long way, around a circular path that will eventually take them back to RED's base... claiming a few of RED's buildings along the way, of course.

(Honestly I wanted to name it Roundabout, given the circular nature of the path, but the name was taken <_<)

This is actually my third TF2 map, but the first one I've really felt confident in making public. (The first one is actually pretty good, if I do say so, but I'm still tidying it up, so it's not yet ready for primetime. The other was a silly little port of Greenflower Zone Act 1 from the fangame Sonic Robo Blast 2 that was just intended to be cute, but as it has low gravity and vast open spaces, it's a Sniper-fest, and not really worth sharing.) Obviously, as of writing, it's not perfect (the canyon walls are flat, for starters, instead of displacements); hopefully a bit of constructive criticism can point out some of the less obvious flaws in it (or hell, even some of the more obvious ones), so I have a better idea on what to fix. I'd basically kept this to the SRB2 community up until now, but there's only so much feedback they can give me.

More screens, if you're interested:

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoy the map.
 

Shadow Hog

L1: Registered
May 28, 2009
15
2
Thanks! I'm still a bit new to Source lighting (case in point: prior to starting TF2, pretty much all my mapping experience was in Doom of all things, where lighting is pretty much a piece of cake), so I'm glad to know it came out alright.

I am wondering if I should remove the pulsating lantern lighting, though - it's nifty, but it's probably shooting the filesize up considerably.
 
Apr 19, 2009
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I am wondering if I should remove the pulsating lantern lighting, though - it's nifty, but it's probably shooting the filesize up considerably.
Did you say pulsating light! D: That is a big no no for gameplay. It is ok if they are in the room that is closed off from the main fight that it good. However, if it is in the thick of things that can be very distracting for players because of the way lights act in TF2 as apposed to other FPS games.
 

Shadow Hog

L1: Registered
May 28, 2009
15
2
Well, it was very gently pulsating, but I hadn't been aware of any negative consequences to it. If it's really that bad, though, I'll be sure to fix that in the next version; it's a quick fix, anyway. Thanks for the warning.
 

Shadow Hog

L1: Registered
May 28, 2009
15
2
Actually, just did a playtest of this on a smaller server. I did get a few complaints that it's just too far to run from one place to another, and while I'll gladly add a shortcut from BLU spawn to B once BLU captures it, I kind of need to figure out where something like that could fit. As it is, I'm using up pretty much all my real-estate. :E

Also got a lot of complaints that it was too open - which is different, since I hadn't gotten any complaints about that with a1. At least one person insisted it was only the area between B and C that was TOO open (and to an extent the Sniper Deck on B, although that one was by design, so I dunno, maybe I'll toss in an extra rock prop in there). Certainly, that stretch was one I had balanced a little quickly, and perhaps carelessly (most of the paths were drawn with the intent that the cap be on the opposite corner from where it is now, and I was uneasy about the one new path I made to counteract it) - I might wait until AFTER gameday to fix that, so I can get a few more suggestions about it.

Anyway, I'm probably going to kill the gently pulsating lights - no complaints about them, but I am getting complaints about the filesize, so better safe than sorry. Probably means faster compiles, anyway.

Got a complaint about the spawn rooms being "way too bright", too, which is weird (seemed fine to me). Something about the HDR. Wonder how I fix that? I'm completely clueless when it comes to HDR lighting (everything's actually set to the default with those values...)
 
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Shadow Hog

L1: Registered
May 28, 2009
15
2
Gameday bump.

So, tasks of things to do:

  • Add playerclips to the windows of B, so RED can't jump through it and jump the BLU players
  • Add cover from A to B
  • Maybe remove the sloping stairway to B, so it's easier to get into (although this entails lowering half the map, it's not like it's impossible)
  • Forward spawn? Forward tunnel? I really would like to keep the "RED and BLU stare at each other through the window" aspect if possible. If not possible, then forward spawn, yes.
  • Maybe let the cavern path into B also let you go AROUND B, so BLU can attack from behind
  • Figure out how the heck to make C less open
  • Possibly shrink BLU spawn; that'd bring BLU closer to its points, and let me bring RED closer to A
  • Figure out why the door that shuts off RED's shortcut to A makes a god-awful noise even when it's not moving

Anything else?