PLR Nightfall

[Psy]

Gameday bumpage. Was Stage 3 any better?

 

[littleedge]

EU Gamedays are during school. I did not participate. But I went into stage one and two and did what I promised. you did a really good job playerclipping - I didn't find much. Most of the screenies below are just to show where I am, so it's really not as much as the 37 screenshots below seem.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c000.jpg
See that wooden beam running across the outside of the building?
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c001.jpg
I can stand on it. See the window ledges?
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c002.jpg
I can stand on them.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c003.jpg
The other window requires jumping to get in from where I am. The metal sheet clips through the wall and makes me stuck unless I jump into the room.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c004.jpg
This door to my right?
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c005.jpg
Isn't aligned with the doorway properly. This is the second one I've seen - go through each door and check.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c007.jpg
You know this room. The one with the full health and all.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c009.jpg
I can jump onto the window,
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0006.jpg
And on top of either side's door.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c010.jpg
I can get on here. Not that useful of a spot, though.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c012.jpg
See where I am? That skull on the wall...
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c011.jpg
Can be jumped on. Oh, and...
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c013.jpg
Those two boarded up window things? They're playerclipped, so I can't jump on the little ledge they have, but I get stuck if I sidle the wall there - triangular playerclip from wall to ledge would fix that.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c014.jpg
I can jump up there and hang around, too
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c015.jpg
And in the same place, a brush sticks through the metal sheet (nice makeshift sniper fence - never noticed it wasn't the prop)

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0016.jpg
I tried it on BLU's side, and it didn't work, so i think only this fence has a problem. Oh, and I just noticed that part of the brushwork in that makeshift sniper fence is clipping through the metal sheet.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0017.jpg
The door doesn't appear to be the complete size of the doorway. I can see through that one.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0018.jpg
Same door as above, but from the outside.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0019.jpg
You missed a dev texture

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0020.jpg
I can't tell if it's the lighting or what, but the tracks aren't coloured the same.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0021.jpg
I can jump up on this sign.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0022.jpg
Another door that I can see through the top.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0024.jpg
The door on the left?
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0023.jpg
I can also see through the top of it.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0025.jpg
I'm on another skull, in the same room as the previous picture.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0027.jpg
Those windows?
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0026.jpg
I'm on them.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0028.jpg
Same place, the door on the right? Go in, and you've got this...
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0029.jpg
Floating door prop.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0032.jpg
Keep walking, and yo arrive here.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0030.jpg
And I can just barely jump up here. Why?
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0031.jpg
The vent is solid.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0034.jpg
That vent too,
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0033.jpg
Is solid.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0036.jpg
In that little room to the left,
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0035.jpg
I can jump onto the wood. Oh, and it's very boring behind the fence material. It's...just empty?

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1490725/plr_nightfall_a11c0037.jpg
Somewhere on stage 2 (I noclipped there, that's why the gate is still down), those tracks aren't aligned, even though it looks like if you rotate it one degree, it'd be fine.

 

[absurdistof]

Dayum

 

[littleedge]

it looks like a lot, but 95% of it isn't anything bad. Nightfall has some good playerclipping.

 

[absurdistof]

Nono dayum nice job

 

[Dr. ROCKZO]

Wow, it's looking really nice now. Great job Edge too.

 

[UKCS-Alias]

Stage 3 was extremely FPS heavy for a map which is still half dev textures. That realy needs to be fixed.

I liked the stage however, the pushes at the start realy mattered to get an advantage already. However, the final push needs a hill also. Now there is a point where its somewhat impossible to defend the enemy cart from moving (in pipeline that is usualy very late). Best would be having this just before that final drop. It at least allows a comeback. And as this is stage 3 you realy need to have some support for the weaker teams (as on most servers stage 3 is only reached when 1 team is clearly stronger), and a final push could help them. (and make sure the track is clipped, the final pusher now allways falls to death).

Another issue was that W+M1 pyros had a very easy time. as the lower part below the final bridges is barely covered the pyros were able to reach the spawns without any problem. in the start its fine because of those 2 hills but in the end its just a pain.

Also, for the FPS issue i think having a wall below the 2 bridges could help them. Then only when standing on them you get some heavier FPS but as you are most likely only watching to 1 side its less extreme. By simply having such wall with some gates in it you wont realy stop the attacks coming from there.

I havent played earlier versions though so cant say if it was improved.

 

[Psy]

Stage 3 was extremely FPS heavy for a map which is still half dev textures. That realy needs to be fixed.

I'm still using the collision rain for some reason. Moving it back to the standard and cheaper rain should help improve FPS. However, I fear that I won't really be able to do much else considering that when there's lots of things happening at once people get huge FPS drops like on pretty much every KoTH map. :\

I liked the stage however, the pushes at the start realy mattered to get an advantage already. However, the final push needs a hill also.

I've modified the last part of the track so that instead of heading down a slope the cart travels slightly up (a rollback) before plundering straight down at a 90 degree angle into the abyss. (As soon as the cart tips over the round ends)

Another issue was that W+M1 pyros had a very easy time. as the lower part below the final bridges is barely covered the pyros were able to reach the spawns without any problem. in the start its fine because of those 2 hills but in the end its just a pain.

This won't be an issue in the new version. Currently the track does not extend that far out compared to the previous version.

 

[Psy]

Inspired by a certain rollercoaster here in Blightly.

No more rollforward shenanigans instead there is one rollback at the final push and once it tips over a winrar is you!

 

[zpqrei]

It's...it's BEAUTIFUL.

 

[The_Ulf]

Woah, that is a wicked sweet drop. I love it!

 

[VelvetFistIronGlove]

I was about to say that those pictures strongly remind me of a certain ride I went on a few weeks ago at Alton Towers, then I saw your comment at the bottom

No more rollforward shenanigans instead there is one rollback at the final push and once it tips over a winrar is you!

Sounds much better!

 

[littleedge]

I love how I got 4 Thanks on my list of screenshots, and none were by the creator Psy

Lemme know when you have Stage 3 detailed, Psy. Send it to me and I'll jump in, grab some screenies, then you can release it.

 

[mhmm]

The final drop looks fine, but make sure you put a believable support structure to balance it all out aesthetically.

 

[Psy]

So today's small test was pretty average overall.

The carts are too far apart as some people mentioned so I've moved the first rollback hill in line with the second rollback which makes each teams track something like 384 units apart. I'm also going to decrease the carts speed up the rollbacks to make the gameplay less steamrolley and more back-and-forth. The one thing that struck me was that the majority of people were completely ignoring their cart which was quite frustrating. :\

 

[Trotim]

Psy just asked me via PM why I said I preferred the old stage 3 design to the new one, and I said:

If I remember correctly, the old Stage 3 had the tracks go back past the start, into the abyss on the side to the left/right of the spawns, right? While that wasn't perfect either, you were at least able to fight back before they get the cap. In this new version, all of us had a lot of trouble defending the cart once it was past the top of the hill, and someone said "The only way to defend it now is to snipe them off the cart". I kinda agree - the change to the bomb cart's track made it even harder to defend.

I think the simplest solution would be a fusion of both versions, that is having the tracks go past the lowest spawn room doors again, but upwards (perhaps over the building near the edge of the map, or through it).

Though I'm still wondering how you'll justify that funky track design either way =P

But upon seeing the screenshots again, that may be pretty stupid, I'm sorry. >_>

Yeah... I think decreasing the cart speed on the last rollback will help and achieve what I wanted to be changed, but still, it's hard to get from spawn to the tracks. Maybe add some sort of stairs near the drop so that you can get up there easily (especially thinking of Pyros here).

 

[Psy]

I understand what you mean. I did remove (well, closed off really) the exit leading to the top floor because it would offer access to the cart too easily. Maybe if I opened it up but elongated it slightly it would still allow access to the cart but not as directly as in previous versions.

 

[Psy]

Bah. I don't think Stage 3 is going to be done in time for the contest. I'm just going to fix the problems in Stage 1 and 2 then enter A12 into the contest.

 

[Trotim]

Bah. I don't think Stage 3 is going to be done in time for the contest. I'm just going to fix the problems in Stage 1 and 2 then enter A12 into the contest.

Sounds reasonable to me. Looking forward to it!

 

[evanonline]

I think this is a strong map, even regardless of its state of finished-ness from the last time I played it, simply due to how well you worked with the rainy alpine theme. Your lighting really makes the map look nice and it's also given me some inspiration for making my map look nicer.

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm ripping you off or anything, but Nightfall's lighting really made me realize how strong of an effect lighting can have on making a rainy alpine map look less ugly and I really feel I should thank you for that. Aside from blatantly sucking up to how nicely you did this, though, I played this a few times with only a handful of people (like 3 vs. 3 at most) and while it's hard to say much about gameplay at those levels, I felt the map was very well-designed and laid out. I played earlier versions than this, though, I should note.