Photofinish
- Thread starter martijntje
- Start date
glad you liked it.
are you playing the latest verion? because I would swear I already fixed that.
I played the gameday version, which didn't have trees.
The spawn was a bit weird, over the table.
Also, it was possible for spies to get into spawn somehow.
The wood lamp posts need vphysics. Everyone was running into the collision box where it looks like air under the lamp. Made for some weird pathing.
I can see this getting time on fun servers more than standard servers, and people on those servers will probably like it alot.
I think the carts should be a bit slower. They are already deadly and if you're not paying attention they'll get you for sure. But right now you don't even have a chance. You can't see them coming they are so fast and when you keep getting mowed down by what is basically an invisible cart (cause it comes so fast) it gets annoying.
If you at least have a chance to see them first then it would be funny when they get you because you let your gaurd down and it's your fault. But you could still focus on playing AND dodging carts. Right now it's almost ONLY focus on carts.
Also, it was possible for spies to get into spawn somehow.
The wood lamp posts need vphysics. Everyone was running into the collision box where it looks like air under the lamp. Made for some weird pathing.
I can see this getting time on fun servers more than standard servers, and people on those servers will probably like it alot.
I think the carts should be a bit slower. They are already deadly and if you're not paying attention they'll get you for sure. But right now you don't even have a chance. You can't see them coming they are so fast and when you keep getting mowed down by what is basically an invisible cart (cause it comes so fast) it gets annoying.
If you at least have a chance to see them first then it would be funny when they get you because you let your gaurd down and it's your fault. But you could still focus on playing AND dodging carts. Right now it's almost ONLY focus on carts.
Thats not the latest version. So yeah, its fixed now.
I will disable collisions with the table then.
true, it was an unfair easter egg. use +use when at the back of the spawn, and a secret door would open allowing you to get into the spawn. I never thought anyone would figure out. I was a great trick to own the other team. It has been removed since b3.
Yeah, the wood lamp posts dont have a vphysics model, so by default they have no collision at all. I set their collision to bounding box. I will try to figure out how to make better collisions
I never made this map with that in mind, however a lot of people have mentioned it.
The carts follow the tracks, dont walk on the tracks too often.
However I am thinking of ways to warn a player that a cart is near.
Now I have a question for you:
Did you enjoy playing on this map?
Disable the prop collisions and wrap the poles with tools\playerclip
And yes, I enjoyed it very much
updated now (see release notes)
This map hasnt gotten a lot of attention lately. Partly because I am very busy in real life and partly because I am busy with rockbottom (another map). Now I am still busy with this map and I am seriously thinking of making an rc soon.
To promote my map I have created this handy poster/image/fake udate/etc. Wich Hopefully will get people interrested in my map. I hope you can give me useful advice on how to improve my map and my map promotion
To promote my map I have created this handy poster/image/fake udate/etc. Wich Hopefully will get people interrested in my map. I hope you can give me useful advice on how to improve my map and my map promotion
Washipato
L3: Member
- Jun 22, 2009
- 149
- 332
I have tested this map in singleplayer and now I have some suggestions:
1- The players need to stand too near the spawn doors to open them and they open very slowly. This can lead to easy spawn-camping and to get killed by the train lots of times. Getting one player killed by the train is not a big deal, but if 5 people spawned at the same time, hugged the door until it opened and all of them go outside simultaneously, losing half your team by a murderous train can give the other team the upper hand.
2-
There is a hole in the func_respawnvisualizer. Demomen can throw pipes directly inside the spawn. It would be also nice if you use the normal overlay instead of other textures. It would be kind of odd to see a heavy come outside of solid concrete.
3-
The whole map is rendered most of the time, add some fade outs to the props to get more fps (perhaps you left the optimization for later)
4-
No-draw the texture under the displacements
5-
In my opinion, this turbine is a little out of place
6- Right now, there is almost no reason to stay in the empty zones (where the trees are). I would suggest adding something to give them more strategical value. A building with good visibility, life and ammo to build a setup for engineers and snipers to snipe would be great
7- Add some sound to the carts and make it scale exponentially when they get near the player. Use two different sounds for every cart. This will give a good warning. Im not sure if it's possible, but giving these sounds doppler effect would help to know if a cart is aproaching or leaving.
8- Finally, you can also add some kind of "light" parented to the train to give players a visual clue that it's coming. For example, a point_spotlight with the "No dynamic light" flag checked, directly in front of the cart, giving the cart a light beam lighting everything in front of it.
1- The players need to stand too near the spawn doors to open them and they open very slowly. This can lead to easy spawn-camping and to get killed by the train lots of times. Getting one player killed by the train is not a big deal, but if 5 people spawned at the same time, hugged the door until it opened and all of them go outside simultaneously, losing half your team by a murderous train can give the other team the upper hand.
2-
There is a hole in the func_respawnvisualizer. Demomen can throw pipes directly inside the spawn. It would be also nice if you use the normal overlay instead of other textures. It would be kind of odd to see a heavy come outside of solid concrete.
3-
The whole map is rendered most of the time, add some fade outs to the props to get more fps (perhaps you left the optimization for later)
4-
No-draw the texture under the displacements
5-
In my opinion, this turbine is a little out of place
6- Right now, there is almost no reason to stay in the empty zones (where the trees are). I would suggest adding something to give them more strategical value. A building with good visibility, life and ammo to build a setup for engineers and snipers to snipe would be great
7- Add some sound to the carts and make it scale exponentially when they get near the player. Use two different sounds for every cart. This will give a good warning. Im not sure if it's possible, but giving these sounds doppler effect would help to know if a cart is aproaching or leaving.
8- Finally, you can also add some kind of "light" parented to the train to give players a visual clue that it's coming. For example, a point_spotlight with the "No dynamic light" flag checked, directly in front of the cart, giving the cart a light beam lighting everything in front of it.
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Wow, I thought I wasn't going to get feedback until the next playtest, but what do you know. (read: Thanks for your really useful comment)
Changing it to the normal no entry texture is a good idea.
True, This is problem that I already noticed lots of times, but somehow forget later on.
How could I have missed that, I will definitaly fix that.
Changing it to the normal no entry texture is a good idea.
I am working on optimalisation. On of the big problems is that this map is very open. Meaning that VVIS doesn't optimize a lot
uhh yeah, it from the first version of the map.
Yeah, It was a bit of a random detail thing. In the top part of the blu building I have placed resupply lockers, so yes, I didn't pick every prop prop-erly5-
In my opinion, this turbine is a little out of place
I never ment the emty zones to have a use, However I have some ideas on how to properly fill it up
Actually the carts have sound, however it is not a very loud sound. They used to have a louder sound, the sounds became too annoying.
Very,Very Good Idea, will definitaly do that
absurdistof
aa
- Aug 10, 2009
- 1,240
- 399
aaand photofinish relates to this map HOW
short awnser:
It is a racetrack, where the carts race each other. (blu always wins)
long awnser:
the name is from the early days of this map, where There was a payload-like mode. As that didn't work out I made these carts to populate the racetrack.
I have again updated the map. This update has quite some nice changes.
first of, a new poster
next up, I improved the cart visuals. I added three effects to the cart
First of I added a beam of light in front of the cart, allowing players to see the cart coming around a corner and just make it easier to see the cart. Next I adde a spinning light on top, just because I like it. Lastly I added a rockettrail behind the cart, to make players new to the map understand it isn't your regular cart, and rides on itself.
I added a "building" to the previously open area
I added cover to the top of the hill
This is to make the map less sniper-friendly
I added some crates on top of the hill
This is to break up the continous stream of enemies. You either need to walk on the track (putting yourself in danger), or jump over the crates, losing speed. Scouts can double jump over the crates.
Other things
-Opimalisation (your game will run smoother)
-Higher lightmap scale (It will look better)
-More spectator cams
-Door now opens fast enough to not touch it
-Gave the carts a different sound
Now go play some Team Fortress 2 (preferably this map)
first of, a new poster
next up, I improved the cart visuals. I added three effects to the cart
First of I added a beam of light in front of the cart, allowing players to see the cart coming around a corner and just make it easier to see the cart. Next I adde a spinning light on top, just because I like it. Lastly I added a rockettrail behind the cart, to make players new to the map understand it isn't your regular cart, and rides on itself.
I added a "building" to the previously open area
I added cover to the top of the hill
This is to make the map less sniper-friendly
I added some crates on top of the hill
This is to break up the continous stream of enemies. You either need to walk on the track (putting yourself in danger), or jump over the crates, losing speed. Scouts can double jump over the crates.
Other things
-Opimalisation (your game will run smoother)
-Higher lightmap scale (It will look better)
-More spectator cams
-Door now opens fast enough to not touch it
-Gave the carts a different sound
Now go play some Team Fortress 2 (preferably this map)
Big update (b7 to b8)
Download will be avaible shortly after this post
Man vs Cart, The Battle continues
This map has two big changes, visual improvement and the cart mechanism
The visual improvement
I redid the skybox, making it pretty and less apperent. If you look at this screenshot you can see where the skybox starts, but if you are playing it normaly, you probalby won't notice. (on the right of the fence, there is a line where texture don't line up.)
here you can see the skybox from a larger distance, most props arent rendered from that distance. The map looks far larger and open than it is. Also you can see rocks in the skybox. These are actually small rocks props, commonly not used in the skybox. (but work pretty nicely)
Grass
I like the look, the skybox doesnt have such grass, but I hope you didn't notice
KABOOM
when a game is won, explosion go off filling the sky with black smokes. (oh, and the carts go twice as fast)
Cart
-The cart now can be stopped for a brief period, making death less random
-The cart stops when you shoot at it. (rockets, syringes, stickies work as well)
-Carts will no longer destroy engineer buildings. Go ahead, place a teleporter exit on the tracks
-different particle effects when cart is halted.
-little explosion when someone is hit by the cart.
In layman terms
1. you see a cart coming wich you can't avoid in time
2. shoot it
3. move aside
4. survive the cart
5. get backstabbed
Download will be avaible shortly after this post
Man vs Cart, The Battle continues
This map has two big changes, visual improvement and the cart mechanism
The visual improvement
I redid the skybox, making it pretty and less apperent. If you look at this screenshot you can see where the skybox starts, but if you are playing it normaly, you probalby won't notice. (on the right of the fence, there is a line where texture don't line up.)
here you can see the skybox from a larger distance, most props arent rendered from that distance. The map looks far larger and open than it is. Also you can see rocks in the skybox. These are actually small rocks props, commonly not used in the skybox. (but work pretty nicely)
Grass
I like the look, the skybox doesnt have such grass, but I hope you didn't notice
KABOOM
when a game is won, explosion go off filling the sky with black smokes. (oh, and the carts go twice as fast)
Cart
-The cart now can be stopped for a brief period, making death less random
-The cart stops when you shoot at it. (rockets, syringes, stickies work as well)
-Carts will no longer destroy engineer buildings. Go ahead, place a teleporter exit on the tracks
-different particle effects when cart is halted.
-little explosion when someone is hit by the cart.
In layman terms
1. you see a cart coming wich you can't avoid in time
2. shoot it
3. move aside
4. survive the cart
5. get backstabbed
Perhaps make carts stop when they kill someone as well? Or slow down.
not a bad suggestion at all. I'll look into it. It might just be in b9.
gameday update
yesterday this map was playtested and luckely I was capable of attending the test. While it is kinda unusual to be worrieing about balancing your map, that was exactly what the test was for. I will sum up what I thought about the playtest. (I might think otherwise after I have seen the actual demo)
(the alternative route, is going under the bridge, or going throught the grassy area)
blu/red balance
Well, blu has just a high chance of winning as red as everything is pretty much symmetrical.
Capturing the midlle point is too hard, there is a constant stream of enemies.
playes do take the alternative routes, wich is a good thing.
fixes
-make the route from spawn to cp longer (very difficult)
-lower the cap time (simple)
class balance
-scout: overused in the beginning, due to the map being small I thought they were at a small disadvantage, but seeing at the use the roofs, they were actually at a small advantage.
fix: make the roof accesable by normal classes (easy) (it already was possible, but it required good timing)
-soldier: quite balanced, nobody found my rocket jump places, but that's not that big a deal, no fix needed
-pyro: I was afraid it was going to be massivly underpowered, but it actually did quite well because the enemies are focused at one point. no fix needed
-demoman: Overpowered, due to the arc of its weapons, it is able to kill players at the other side of the hill.
fix: put some obstacles on both sides of the hill, that grenades will bounce of, however this may also hurt other classes. (difficult)
-heavy: slightly underused, but not underpowered. Due to the small size of the map I thought heavy would rule, but they dont. no fix needed
-engineer: massivly underpowered. Because they dont really have time to set up a sentry.
fix: add some kind of setup time, (take the time before a cp unlocks), so engineers can build their sentries. (moderatly difficult)
-medic: underpowered, I haven't seen a single ubercharge, players dont live long enough.
fix: I really dont know, I would have to redesign the whole map, wich I wont do.
-sniper: doing it's thing, sniper can't snipe players at the cp, so they feed of players taking the alternative route. They might have a bit too much cover, no real fix needed
-spies: they also must feed from players taking the alternative route, but have great hiding places. no fix needed.
if you played this map don't be scared of giving feedback. (even if you hated it)
yesterday this map was playtested and luckely I was capable of attending the test. While it is kinda unusual to be worrieing about balancing your map, that was exactly what the test was for. I will sum up what I thought about the playtest. (I might think otherwise after I have seen the actual demo)
(the alternative route, is going under the bridge, or going throught the grassy area)
blu/red balance
Well, blu has just a high chance of winning as red as everything is pretty much symmetrical.
Capturing the midlle point is too hard, there is a constant stream of enemies.
playes do take the alternative routes, wich is a good thing.
fixes
-make the route from spawn to cp longer (very difficult)
-lower the cap time (simple)
class balance
-scout: overused in the beginning, due to the map being small I thought they were at a small disadvantage, but seeing at the use the roofs, they were actually at a small advantage.
fix: make the roof accesable by normal classes (easy) (it already was possible, but it required good timing)
-soldier: quite balanced, nobody found my rocket jump places, but that's not that big a deal, no fix needed
-pyro: I was afraid it was going to be massivly underpowered, but it actually did quite well because the enemies are focused at one point. no fix needed
-demoman: Overpowered, due to the arc of its weapons, it is able to kill players at the other side of the hill.
fix: put some obstacles on both sides of the hill, that grenades will bounce of, however this may also hurt other classes. (difficult)
-heavy: slightly underused, but not underpowered. Due to the small size of the map I thought heavy would rule, but they dont. no fix needed
-engineer: massivly underpowered. Because they dont really have time to set up a sentry.
fix: add some kind of setup time, (take the time before a cp unlocks), so engineers can build their sentries. (moderatly difficult)
-medic: underpowered, I haven't seen a single ubercharge, players dont live long enough.
fix: I really dont know, I would have to redesign the whole map, wich I wont do.
-sniper: doing it's thing, sniper can't snipe players at the cp, so they feed of players taking the alternative route. They might have a bit too much cover, no real fix needed
-spies: they also must feed from players taking the alternative route, but have great hiding places. no fix needed.
if you played this map don't be scared of giving feedback. (even if you hated it)
lucky
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- May 25, 2009
- 583
- 145
After reading previous feedback here, I think the way you made the sound for the carts works very well, perhaps make it start a bit sooner so you have more warning.
The area with trees and.. supply, was pretty fun as engy (building a sentry gun in the middle of a tree) but not sure how balanced this is - spys were just spamming their sapper in hopes of finding my stuff. Anywhere else, didn't find a good spot for a sentry myself. My teles didnt last more than 20 seconds..
The roofs next to point - demoman on that = very very bad. I'm not sure it's a good idea to have them accessible.
The map felt a bit linear on the ground, try using some displacements perhaps? Otherwise it feels like one big flat place with a huge ramp to a point
The area with trees and.. supply, was pretty fun as engy (building a sentry gun in the middle of a tree) but not sure how balanced this is - spys were just spamming their sapper in hopes of finding my stuff. Anywhere else, didn't find a good spot for a sentry myself. My teles didnt last more than 20 seconds..
The roofs next to point - demoman on that = very very bad. I'm not sure it's a good idea to have them accessible.
The map felt a bit linear on the ground, try using some displacements perhaps? Otherwise it feels like one big flat place with a huge ramp to a point