Dropoff

[SURPLUS_NiNjA]

This is a CTF map. Its also my first map . I think the highlights of this map are
-Never need to walk past enemy spawn
-Multiple entrances to intel room
-A sentry can't block all routes into the base (Ala 2fort)
-There is a place to knock people to their death
-Lots of vertical differences

Its currently in its fifth alpha release. Thank you for playing it if you do and I hope you enjoy it.

There is a lot of vertical combat while keep with a goal of lowering need to cross spawn rooms and making it impossible to block a whole base with 1 sentry.

PS I would appreciate if you put this on your server you PM the IP. I don't have my own server and I would very much like to play this in action and so would some of my friends.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[Legend]

Looks nice, I cannot wait to play it.

 

[Fredrik]

You better put in a Light_enviroment and some env_cubemap entities.
And when you take screenshots wright r_drawviewmodel "0" cl_drawhud "0" after you've written sv_cheats 1 in the console.

 

[red_flame586]

also, even if it means your frame rate drops massively, take screenshots at the highest possible settings, it just makes your map look that much better.

But anyway, nice attempt at first map. Some long sightlines, especially along the top and through the middle, but you've done quite well considering it's your first map, and i'm only judging this from the screenshots

Maybe it might be a good idea to put a whole building in the middle to try and break up the sightlines instead of the rocks.

 

[Omnomnick]

You need to get rid of mat_fullbright, put some lights in your map!

Also, it might be a good idea to put some fences or cover beside that long cliff face to make some areas safer.

 

[Godslayer57]

Your map would look alot better if it wasn't full bright. To solve this uses lights such as Light_enviorment and make some lights. This maybe of some use to you :http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Lighting

 

[Vincent]

Ah to the joys of remembering your first map.. memories..

Anyway, as stated already you're going to want to add an env_enviroment in your map, then several light entities. Your layout is hard to follow in the screenshots (surprisingly enough), and having more than 3 entrances to an area (the intel in this case) just gets incredibly hard to defend. It also gets confusing. I like how you're thinking though, but there's only so much you can do to get around a team that turtles.

Great first attempt I'd say.

 

[SURPLUS_NiNjA]

bump for update

 

[red_flame586]

From fullbright to no bright...

You really need to add some more lights to the map otherwise it becomes way to dark, also, the light for the sun might be just a bit to low, creating some huge shadows and not actually shining on the ground. Once again, you still have some long sightlines, especially on either side where there are no rocks/cubes/whatevertheyare.

Otherwise, some improvements from the first alpha, good job.

 

[SURPLUS_NiNjA]

From fullbright to no bright...

You really need to add some more lights to the map otherwise it becomes way to dark, also, the light for the sun might be just a bit to low, creating some huge shadows and not actually shining on the ground. Once again, you still have some long sightlines, especially on either side where there are no rocks/cubes/whatevertheyare.

Otherwise, some improvements from the first alpha, good job.

Thanks I've got some ideas in mind for the sight lines already but I really wasn't trying with the light I just wanted to get rid of full bright Also have you played the map or are just making the judgments off of screenies?

 

[red_flame586]

Just the screens, but just letting you know, people don't really have the time to download heaps of maps and test them all. Don't expect much help outside the screens unless your map looks awesome, people says it plays awesome, and is really popular. That in mind, make sure you have screenshots that show the most important areas of your map so people can give you advice without needing to download the map.

 

[SURPLUS_NiNjA]

Just the screens, but just letting you know, people don't really have the time to download heaps of maps and test them all. Don't expect much help outside the screens unless your map looks awesome, people says it plays awesome, and is really popular. That in mind, make sure you have screenshots that show the most important areas of your map so people can give you advice without needing to download the map.

Is there every a point where there are too many screen shots?

 

[red_flame586]

You don't really want to post an image of every single part of your map, but if you go and make a bit of a coabaration (I think that's the word) of a whole lot of screenshots as a single large image (just make sure it's compressed enough), and that way people can look at your map without having to open up a whole heap of separate images. The easier it is to see your map, the more likely someone will look at it.

 

[SURPLUS_NiNjA]

Bump for update

 

[absurdistof]

Almost everyone makes judgements off the screenies unless the map's been recently played, it typically happens for the first few posts.

Also, lighting in the alphas can be pretty simple, just take the entity tool and drop some light entities around the map. When you want to start making things pretty then I suggest you get more in-depth with your lights.

EDIT: I'll dl this and give it a run though. Also, please don't use megaupload or any of those sites. Tf2m has it's own file uploader (click 'Add' in the Downloads section)

I'm not going to attach images because I took about 8, so here's what I thought about the map.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30002.jpg
The mid of the map feels like it needs to be extended. I felt like the majority of the battle would occur up top, and not enough would occur below as to make it really useful.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30004.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30005.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30006.jpg
All the stairs in your map should be a 3/2 ratio (rise/run), and should be clipped to allow players to jump up them while running.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30007.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30009.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30010.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30011.jpg

Overall feelings about the map:
Each individual part of the map is nice, I like them. Together, I think the map is too large, the combat will be split between too many levels in my opinion, and the flag carrier will be able to sneak out with many an easy cap. A really interesting change imo would be to eliminate the middle courtyard, and only have small yards on ground level in front of each base, if any. Most of the battle could then be below ground.

 

[SURPLUS_NiNjA]

Almost everyone makes judgements off the screenies unless the map's been recently played, it typically happens for the first few posts.

Also, lighting in the alphas can be pretty simple, just take the entity tool and drop some light entities around the map. When you want to start making things pretty then I suggest you get more in-depth with your lights.

EDIT: I'll dl this and give it a run though. Also, please don't use megaupload or any of those sites. Tf2m has it's own file uploader (click 'Add' in the Downloads section)

I'm not going to attach images because I took about 8, so here's what I thought about the map.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30002.jpg
The mid of the map feels like it needs to be extended. I felt like the majority of the battle would occur up top, and not enough would occur below as to make it really useful.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30004.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30005.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30006.jpg
All the stairs in your map should be a 3/2 ratio (rise/run), and should be clipped to allow players to jump up them while running.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30007.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30009.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30010.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058811/maps/Feedback/ctf_dropoff_a30011.jpg

Overall feelings about the map:
Each individual part of the map is nice, I like them. Together, I think the map is too large, the combat will be split between too many levels in my opinion, and the flag carrier will be able to sneak out with many an easy cap. A really interesting change imo would be to eliminate the middle courtyard, and only have small yards on ground level in front of each base, if any. Most of the battle could then be below ground.

This last part would be interesting, I'll have to think about this a bit.

Also I fixed the DL link

 

[tyler]

The thing about pyros is a little silly I think -- I haven't played the map but the same basic idea is on Upward with even less railing. Don't get rid of it right away, imo. I think of areas like that the same way I think of long sight lines.

 

[absurdistof]

I actually spoke from experience there, I've tried the same thing with the early alphas of my map thunderclap and it was a total disaster. It's true that in absolute terms, out of all kills on the map a small percentage will be pyro airblasts, because the area will be pretty low-traffic by the looks of it. BUT the important thing is getting airblasted off will be so frustrating for players that they won't forget it. So even if it doesn't happen often, they will really despise that part of the map for it.

Not to mention sentries, heavies, and splash damage all knock players off (even ubered ones) just as quickly. My point is that compared to all map kills, it's not severe, but I think that in the mind of the player it is severe, which makes the problem severe.

 

[red_flame586]

This is just a quick thing from the screenies:

The pile of rocks/boxes/cubie pile of stuff in the first screenshot looks like a chore to get up, players generally don't like jumping to get places and players would be extremely vulnerable while trying to climb it. Try to avoid putting structures like that in your map (this isn't speaking from a testing point of view, I haven't had the time to play any games over the past week and a bit, please correct me if it doesn't work like that).

Also, the map seems very dark, try and make it lighter so people can actually see the enemies (a good test to check if your map is to dark is to turn sv_cheats on, turn on thirdperson and run around the map and get a good look at the character.)

Anyway, once again, i haven't had the time to do any testing, that's just some advice from the screenshots

 

[tyler]

My point is that compared to all map kills, it's not severe, but I think that in the mind of the player it is severe, which makes the problem severe.

No, it just makes people prove how babyish they are. For every player that hates it you're going to have a good soldier or pyro who loves it and is glad to have the opportunity for trick kills.