KotH Montane

[phi]

Bah.
Sorry everyone if your expectations fell slightly short, I wasn't able to get beta 1 finished by gameday. It fixes most of the issues that were complained about and more.
Also that one issue on the RED side with the odd dead-end that traps you, well, I'll have to take a look at the replay for that.
Thanks for the test, anyway.

 

[phi]

BETA 0 RELEASED

Download

Changelog: (oh dear lawd)
- Detailed BLU spawn
- Detailed mid a bit
- Detailed BLU yard and paths to mid
- Detailed most interiors
- Properly lighted most interiors
- Occluders used mildly for optimization (still needs more optimization!)
- Made a 3d skybox
- Clipped vigorously
- Edited a lot of the OOB parts of the map overall
- Fixed hopefully everything with the custom props
- A lot of insignificant small things

BUGS:
- Areaportal cuts through a slight portion of a visible func_detail and causes slight visual disdain
- FPS isn't as good as I'd like
- 3d skybox's shadows do not properly match with the edge of the playable area
- 3d skybox fog is a little off

 

[Wilson]

That lighting doesn't really fit together with Badlands skybox and is pretty damn bright in general.

 

[LeSwordfish]

I really really dont like the third screenshot.random train, word-looking stairs, tile on the side and metal on the top, some wierd prop choices- spytech and industrial and farm, with the map as stand-out out of place.

 

[phi]

Beta 1(b) released.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/84556731/koth_montane_b1b.bsp.bz2

Changelog:
Detailed RED Spawn
Removed all traces of dev materials
Detailed insides more
Changed layout slightly
Prepped for detail overhaul for RED side
Optimized
A lot of tiny little insignificant things

Get ready for me to change the RED detailing. I don't like it too much anymore and others don't too. I might not get it done by the 30th but I'll get it done soon.

No pics because not much that could be screenshot was changed.

 

[phi]

B2 RELEASED : :
DOWNLOAD

changes:
Detailing is changed a bit.
Planned out the rest of the changes.
Overlays remade.
Layout tweaked.
Tons of little tiny things that just made it better.

 

[phi]

bee-three
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/84556731/koth_montane_b3.bsp.bz2

Changelog of changyness:
Detailed RED and BLU sides more
Re-detailed RED a bit
Much skybox work
More skybox work
Finalization
Not adding soundscapes (darn.)

Probably my final version before the end of contest #8. Good heavens what a trip.

 

[phi]

okay
LeSwordfish with his contest review:

The beams all over the map, dozens and dozens of them with the textures in entirely the wrong direction.

...that forced me to go around the map fixing all the misaligned textures
My god, there were literally hundreds. Thank you for pointing that out. For some reason I hadn't noticed until now.
So I spent some hours fixing them and...
...quit when I saw this:

I wonder what I was on to make me do that

 

[tyler]

I definitely pointed that out in feedback, as did others, for weeks and weeks and weeks.

 

[Sergis]

okay
LeSwordfish with his contest review:

...that forced me to go around the map fixing all the misaligned textures
My god, there were literally hundreds. Thank you for pointing that out. For some reason I hadn't noticed until now.
So I spent some hours fixing them and...
...quit when I saw this:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/84556731/misalignedmadness.png[IMG]

I wonder what I was on to make me do that[/QUOTE]

take the whole thing, rotate 90, lock texture alignment, rotate back. done.

[quote="Wilson, post: 269447"]That lighting doesn't really fit together with Badlands skybox and is pretty damn bright in general.[/QUOTE]

that sort of lighting is one of my favorite sights irl - when you see clouds, but they have cleared behind you and the ground already is sunlit. looks cool and eerie at the same time

though it does makes little sense when the whole skybox is cloudy :p

 

[TheKieranator]

Montane

Aesthetics

Final Aesthetics Score: 81

• Montane is classic generic TF2. The brushwork is pretty good and the architecture is varied. The assymetrical detailing of the map keeps it interesting and makes it less of a copy-paste layout.
• Your use of props to create mini-scenes adds to the map and gives it a bit of history. That being said, prop placement tends to draw attention to the sides and up away from the important areas.
• The sudden clash of red and blue buildings instead of using more neutral colours is unusual but it works. There are a lot of repeated colours and textures though, so phasing in neutral colours would help break that up.
• Texture alignment is something that urgently needs your attention. There are hundreds of cases where textures aren't facing the right direction, particularly on wooden supports and the edges of roofs.
• A few overlay signs and posters are too big and sometimes feel like they were added just to cover up a blank surface without really adding anything to the map.
• The lighting doesn't match the skybox and there are some issues on some props and surfaces. That being said, there are no dark areas and all the important things are lit up.
• Your 3d skybox is good, but the industrial building in the blue side doesn't look like it's right size.

Technical

Final Technical Score: 70

• When I loaded the map my console was turned an alarming shade of red. It was mostly prop collision models, some of which was skybox, but there was also an issue with a custom skybox texture.
• I had a pretty decent framerate here, better than I get on Viaduct. The only thing I can advise is to put some func_occluders into any windowless walls that face the central area to cut down on prop rendering.
• Clipping was not so great; most, if not all, support beams were unclipped so players can easily get caught or hide up where they shouldn't.

imgur album with additional notes

 

[Katsu! :3]

Alpha 1 - koth_montane_a1 - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4316
Alpha 4d - koth_montane_a4d_dynamic - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4317
Alpha 5d - koth_montane_a5d - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4318
Alpha 6 - koth_montane_a6 - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4319
Alpha 7 - koth_montane_a7 - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4320
Alpha 8 - koth_montane_a8 - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4321
Beta 0 - koth_montane_b0 - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4322
Beta 1b - koth_montane_b1b - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4323
Beta 2 - koth_montane_b2 - https://www.rotabland.eu/maps/map.php?id=4324
Beta 3 - koth_montane_b3 - https://lazypurple.com/tf/fastdl/tf/maps/koth_montane_b3.bsp.bz2