Canada RC1

[lana]

Nowhere near RC. It's too big and too open with lots of useless dead ends and very obscure design. Now here's my evidence as to why this is a joke and not a real release candidate:

These stairs aren't clipped. They are noticeably not clipped. This is something that would be fixed in alpha.

This is MASSIVE. There's no cover for this whole stretch and a single sniper can pin down the entire pass.

This sign is backwards. Very hard to overlook considering it's a huge door.

This pipe is showing through the snow.

 

[A Boojum Snark]

Most importantly the doors to the roofs overlooking the point are OnEndTouch not OnEndTouchAll making them FAILDOORS. rrrrarararar

edit: now that I had time to go use devcommands to try to figure out why it was running poorly.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/98931/pics/koth_canada_rc10003.jpg
Double-layered areaportals like this are bad and end up not culling as much as they should. Remove the one on the small door. Same thing on the ground level, keep the APs on the doors to the center, remove the ones on the yard side.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/98931/pics/koth_canada_rc10005.jpg
These two big areaportals would probably do better being replaces with a single areaportal running along my sightline. (So basically like the AP on the right but rotated 90 degrees around the rock corner).

Also, nodraw yer stuff under displacements! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/98931/pics/koth_canada_rc10004.jpg

 

[StickZer0]

Actually that's deliberately not nodrawed because you can see that ground texture poking out underneath the hut where the snow recedes.

I didn't know that about the areaportals, so thanks for that, and good idea with the new one.

@Nerd, I thought I had clipped those stairs, good find on the backwards hand and that pipe is supposed to be sticking out of the snow, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see it.
As fro the long area, it's always been like that and I've never been able to stop it being long :/ If I get round to making a new version, i'll definitely not release anything until that area is fixed and more useful

 

[Walker]

Actually that's deliberately not nodrawed because you can see that ground texture poking out underneath the hut where the snow recedes.

Then make a separate brush for under the hut, and nodraw the rest of it.

 

[lana]

Let me go into why I hate Canada's detailing even further with the same screenshots:
http://i25.tinypic.com/ngsetx.jpg
This concrete texture looks awful everywhere. Especially on these stairs where the line runs down the middle and the concrete is segmented wrong. Lazy work here. The trim on the edges of the walkway is inconsistent too. To the right, it's wood, in front of me it's concrete. It also seems to vanish at the bottom staircase. A concrete foundation is just after the stairs, but it turns into a random wooden shack with no apparent entrance. There's a metal building on top of the concrete foundation with two different kinds of windows: a glass one and an open metal sheet window. Why are there open windows? It's cold! Who would do that? Additionally, only one of those sheets has icicles on it.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2nstjxd.jpg
The building on the right is off its foundation with no additional support. The metal sheets would fall off just from the pressure of standing. And it's also snowing which would put further compression on them. On the far left, there's a gable with a vent. Even though it seems like an architectural sin to me to build a gable for the sole purpose of ventilation, I'll let it slide. There is an obvious displacement seam in the middle of the shot. The building to the left, behind the vent house, has quite a few problems. One: the wooden boards in the corner would lean without any additional support and it would fall apart. Two: the building ends randomly. There is nothing to the left of it. It just ends. Three: it has no logical entrance. If the building continued around the other side, the snow would be too high for a door to be there, and because no other doorways are snowed in, that means the ground is too high as well. And why is there a fence in the middle of the pathway?

http://i27.tinypic.com/ou169t.jpg
THIS. BUILDING. IS. AWFUL. The sign is backwards, that's a small detail, but there's a truck in front of it. Did that truck make that track? No! It'd be in the garage if it did. Its wheels and axles are too low to possibly clear the ditch behind it, but is facing at an impossible angle to come from the garage. It also has left no track of its own, and the dirt one is way too big for it. There's a sign that says Gate 1 on a building with one gate. How do I know there's only one gate? Because it's built into a mountain. The structure on top of it also suffers from skybox death and cuts off. And the snow on it clips into the windows. The same windows that have lights behind them and would multiply the intensity of said light that it would create enough heat to melt said snow right outside them. And the left corner- oh how I hate that corner- it doesn't make sense! Why is there a corner cut away here?

http://i25.tinypic.com/1256yx1.jpg
There is random clutter on this roof that appears to have been placed here after the snow fell, because it has no snow on it. The boards should be covered, the walkway to the left should be covered, and now that I think of it, all the concrete walkways are missing snow or any indication of snow ever falling.

 

[Exist]

You know, now that coldfront is offical, people are going to be looking for more in maps with a snowy setting. Everything Nerdboy has pointed out is true, but are easy fixes.

The Stairs- use a diffrent texture, or remake them into wooden stairs (which is OP)

Foundation- Of all the things I love in Canada, the building's styles are not one; rebuild please

Window lights- Theres an off skin there.

Textures with no snow- This is a big on. Make your own blend materials!!

If you have the time/game, Play a round of CS:S cs_office. This map achives it's out side snowy areas with great ease.

 

[StickZer0]

I'd appreciate a less "These are the reasons I hate it" approach next time, in favour of a "I found these inconsistencies/errors in your map".

http://i25.tinypic.com/ngsetx.jpg
This concrete texture looks awful everywhere. Especially on these stairs where the line runs down the middle and the concrete is segmented wrong. Lazy work here. The trim on the edges of the walkway is inconsistent too. To the right, it's wood, in front of me it's concrete. It also seems to vanish at the bottom staircase. A concrete foundation is just after the stairs, but it turns into a random wooden shack with no apparent entrance. There's a metal building on top of the concrete foundation with two different kinds of windows: a glass one and an open metal sheet window. Why are there open windows? It's cold! Who would do that? Additionally, only one of those sheets has icicles on it.

Thanks for the point on the trims and stairs, I agree it looks awful now I look at it. As for the random wooden shack, why does it need to have an entrance on the outside? The way I'd envisaged it is the entrance is on the inside with the door coming in from a small warehouse-like room with the metal sheet entrance.
The windows do look silly, I agree, and yes, i'm fully aware that only one sheet has icicles.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2nstjxd.jpg
The building on the right is off its foundation with no additional support. The metal sheets would fall off just from the pressure of standing. And it's also snowing which would put further compression on them. On the far left, there's a gable with a vent. Even though it seems like an architectural sin to me to build a gable for the sole purpose of ventilation, I'll let it slide. There is an obvious displacement seam in the middle of the shot. The building to the left, behind the vent house, has quite a few problems. One: the wooden boards in the corner would lean without any additional support and it would fall apart. Two: the building ends randomly. There is nothing to the left of it. It just ends. Three: it has no logical entrance. If the building continued around the other side, the snow would be too high for a door to be there, and because no other doorways are snowed in, that means the ground is too high as well. And why is there a fence in the middle of the pathway?

Tell that to Dustbowl. I've looked from many angles and cannot find this displacement seam, either in TF2 or Hammer, so that's probably on your end, not mine. I agree with the fact it suddenly stops and can see that, but again, it does not need a "logical entrance" on the outside. In my view, the entrance is on the inside seeing as there's a perfectly good gate through which to enter next to it (which you can't see in your picture). As for the random fence, there used to be a barrier but I got rid of that, so i'll modify that somehow.

http://i27.tinypic.com/ou169t.jpg
THIS. BUILDING. IS. AWFUL. The sign is backwards, that's a small detail, but there's a truck in front of it. Did that truck make that track? No! It'd be in the garage if it did. Its wheels and axles are too low to possibly clear the ditch behind it, but is facing at an impossible angle to come from the garage. It also has left no track of its own, and the dirt one is way too big for it. There's a sign that says Gate 1 on a building with one gate. How do I know there's only one gate? Because it's built into a mountain. The structure on top of it also suffers from skybox death and cuts off. And the snow on it clips into the windows. The same windows that have lights behind them and would multiply the intensity of said light that it would create enough heat to melt said snow right outside them. And the left corner- oh how I hate that corner- it doesn't make sense! Why is there a corner cut away here?

The tracks are there to imply the gates and warehouse area inside are in constant use, with other bigger trucks also coming in and out. The Gate 1 sign makes perfect sense seeing as there's also a Gate 2 sign in the map next to the other gate that I mentioned before. As for the "skybox death", that's a good spot that I never thought of, and will think of from now on.

http://i25.tinypic.com/1256yx1.jpg
There is random clutter on this roof that appears to have been placed here after the snow fell, because it has no snow on it. The boards should be covered, the walkway to the left should be covered, and now that I think of it, all the concrete walkways are missing snow or any indication of snow ever falling.

Viaduct seems to be missing snow on the floor and props all over the map, go look at it. Have you ever complained about lack of snow there? But you are right, I can see how strange a perfectly dry plank of wood sticking out of a thick bout of snow looks.

Overall thanks for your feedback, it has been very useful and I'll keep it all in mind if I ever make an RC2.

 

[J4CK8]

Well, everyone's doing it so here are some more pics...

Not sure what's wrong here, but the textures don't match. It looks to be something to do with the lighting, not sure if you can fix this.

Sew

Not sure if this is meant to be black, but it looks odd.

Windows here on the outside...

But nothing inside... Also you can see the pipe overlapping.

This radar seems out of place to me, especialy as it is red and it is on BLU's side of the map.

Not sure what happened here, but the door randomly got stuck closed and then wouln't open.

Finaly, don't icicles generaly form at the edge of a structure, usualy where there's snow?

 

[Wilson]

Need a clip here!

The poles and pipe should be nonsolid.

This tiny corner needs clip!

Get rid of these planks.

You should move the stairs so that they lead to place with fence, this would make players use the lower paths more, as right now stairs are right there and it is easy to ingore fact there is more ways than that. (Most of the rounds, while they are fun, i never see enemy use other routes than the upper one.)

Get rid of the plank.

I can see outside the map here.

Random floating lamp.

That place is never used by anyone, it needs to be more interesting, maybe add small metal/health spawn there.

Why is this here? I keep sliding off the roof because of it and it looks ugly.

Make this tire non solid.

These stairs need some clipping.

Need better clipping here!

Quite sightline.

Add clip wall around these generators.

Make this non solid.

These railings get easily on your way mid combat, prevent people from running to these props with clip wall rather than round railing and round clip wall on the railing.
(Also, i highly suggest removing the pipes and wheel from this room anyway)

The truck needs to be removed or have better clipping on it.

Make this lamp non solid.

Floating blue barrel.

Need better clipping here!

Need non solid window here!

This corner needs clipping!

Why there is fence on roof? Players can tell you can't go there without this fence.

Stuck.

 

[HQDefault]

Guud Jub M8
Literally the only reason I'm posting here is because this map has become underrated and needs attention again

 

[Gravidea]

Unsure if this map will ever be worked on again, but I'd love a hotfix for the two upper doors that drop down onto the point. For some reason their triggers aren't set up properly, and will close randomly. I've only experienced it during matches, and I'm not able to replicate it on my own for some reason, but I believe it may have something to do with the trigger outputs. If that one annoying aspect were to be removed, all my problems with this lovely map would be fixed!