Shabbytown - opinions on progress ???
- Thread starter Open Blade
- Start date
- Nov 30, 2007
- 439
- 34
Zwiffle
L6: Sharp Member
- Jun 24, 2008
- 269
- 161
Hey was able to get on with a few people for a little bit (7 or 8 people.) Looks really good, plays really well also. Was a bit confused at first at the first spawn, and still not 100% sure about all the layout around that last CP. Only negative thing I think I can say is that some areas are a bit too small, especially that middle CP. The area above is cool, but I thought the ceiling was a bit low when I tried to double jump over as scout and right on the catwalk it was a bit dark. I might try to widen the back door to that CP and remove some of the crates. I also had a general problem with movement around that middle area (kept getting caught on stuff.)
It wasn't too bad, but maybe worth looking into. Other wise I thought it was a really fast-paced map. Overall everything looks/feels pretty good, would like to test with more than 4 people per team, though.
EDIT: Also forgot to mention that I thought all the little extra areas where spies can hide were a great touch. (Such as the that little health room at the 2nd CP.) They were a bit darker and out of the way, nice touch.
It wasn't too bad, but maybe worth looking into. Other wise I thought it was a really fast-paced map. Overall everything looks/feels pretty good, would like to test with more than 4 people per team, though.
EDIT: Also forgot to mention that I thought all the little extra areas where spies can hide were a great touch. (Such as the that little health room at the 2nd CP.) They were a bit darker and out of the way, nice touch.
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- Nov 30, 2007
- 439
- 34
The middle CP and that building are no longer there. The train has been removed also. That entire area in the middle is sealed up. The largest building on the map basically is now extended down. I built another side of the town. A ton of stuff has changed. I almost have it ready to go. I had a bit of an issue with the number of func_details going over the limit but I have fixed that. Doing some minor touch up work and should have a new beta out this week.
Uriak
L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
- Apr 27, 2008
- 543
- 70
Played on a 24p server. There are some slight performance issues, no wonder when you see the detailing of this map. Moreover, I tend to find the action a bit messy, due, to the open nature of the town. People get often a bit lost into their spawns. In the panic, teams end up with 3 to 5 pyros. It's a nice idea and a very nice layout, but TF2 needs some corridors to drive the action in the appropriate way, imho.
I'll wait for some other play sessions to give more precise feedback
I'll wait for some other play sessions to give more precise feedback
- Nov 30, 2007
- 439
- 34
Yep, I agree. That's why the changes are being made. Chaotic is fine as long as there is a sense of direction to the madness. Players need to know the general direction of where the attackers are coming from. I think the new changes will totally help in that area. Although I myself don't notice any real problem with frame rates and I have asked my clan mates and nobody has any problems. I'm guessing some older PC's might have a few issues but newer PC's should be fine.
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Uriak
L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
- Apr 27, 2008
- 543
- 70
Wonderful. The perf were only slightly impacted, and no one really complained. Looking for the next beta then.
PS : even if your brush work is quite amazing, you shouldn't be ashamed to let us play test more crude gameplay revisions if it can help you settle things. If you are relunctant to share some unfinished work, consider proposing it to Flubber anyway.
PS : even if your brush work is quite amazing, you shouldn't be ashamed to let us play test more crude gameplay revisions if it can help you settle things. If you are relunctant to share some unfinished work, consider proposing it to Flubber anyway.
- Nov 30, 2007
- 439
- 34
Ok, this update is about ready to go. I have stated in prior posts about the changes but I will give a brief overview of them.
Quite a bit of new real estate was added to the map. It's about almost double the size. The map layout now functions as a true "U" layout. There are 3 main routes each base can take to the center area and thus to the other teams side of the map. The train was totally removed, that entire area where the center cap was is now sealed off and is in large part an extension of the center building. No more cutting through. I removed the forward spawn room and just kept that room as a resupply room only. The reason I did this was because the center building (which now you can access through one door by the center cap) now becomes a true fighting point. A team can establish teleports there where they can be protected much easier then any other place on the map. Still, a good spy or an uber can wreak havoc inside and destroy the other teams control of that area. Although a sentry can be placed in the doorway there to protect that center cap, a team can still capture the center area without having to stay in front of the sentry because the capture area is wider then the doorway.
Some other details: There is a backroute to CP2, CP4 as well as the room next to those points is now open. You can set up a sentry in those areas. In that back route, you can choose to go to those capture areas or you can bypass them and go up the stairs to the upper deck and in route to CP1, CP5.
2 main walls were removed from CP1 and CP5 to open that area up more. It was very difficult to get sentry's up to protect the last points. I did put up a beams with metal on one side to give some kind of protection to the attackers.
Also, now that there are true routes and not just a super wide open area, a team can establish a defense much better now. But, there are still wide open areas and pyros cannot just domminate as before.
Also I remove a few walls in the base area buildings to open it up more and make it less confusing.
Here are some pictures - Really, the last thing I need to make sure is how well the hint/skip brushes I placed help to increase frame rates. Tomorrow I will post up a link to the map and before I release the next beta, I would like a few knowledable folks to take a look at the brushes I set up and tell me if there are flaws in how I set those up. I want to get that fixed up before I release the next beta.
Quite a bit of new real estate was added to the map. It's about almost double the size. The map layout now functions as a true "U" layout. There are 3 main routes each base can take to the center area and thus to the other teams side of the map. The train was totally removed, that entire area where the center cap was is now sealed off and is in large part an extension of the center building. No more cutting through. I removed the forward spawn room and just kept that room as a resupply room only. The reason I did this was because the center building (which now you can access through one door by the center cap) now becomes a true fighting point. A team can establish teleports there where they can be protected much easier then any other place on the map. Still, a good spy or an uber can wreak havoc inside and destroy the other teams control of that area. Although a sentry can be placed in the doorway there to protect that center cap, a team can still capture the center area without having to stay in front of the sentry because the capture area is wider then the doorway.
Some other details: There is a backroute to CP2, CP4 as well as the room next to those points is now open. You can set up a sentry in those areas. In that back route, you can choose to go to those capture areas or you can bypass them and go up the stairs to the upper deck and in route to CP1, CP5.
2 main walls were removed from CP1 and CP5 to open that area up more. It was very difficult to get sentry's up to protect the last points. I did put up a beams with metal on one side to give some kind of protection to the attackers.
Also, now that there are true routes and not just a super wide open area, a team can establish a defense much better now. But, there are still wide open areas and pyros cannot just domminate as before.
Also I remove a few walls in the base area buildings to open it up more and make it less confusing.
Here are some pictures - Really, the last thing I need to make sure is how well the hint/skip brushes I placed help to increase frame rates. Tomorrow I will post up a link to the map and before I release the next beta, I would like a few knowledable folks to take a look at the brushes I set up and tell me if there are flaws in how I set those up. I want to get that fixed up before I release the next beta.
Half-Life_Maniac
L3: Member
- Nov 30, 2007
- 122
- 89
I'm only commenting on the looks at the moment, but it's looking very primising!
I especially loved picture 9 back on page 1.
ne thing that stood out though, is there's a number of places where you've got light fittings that don't seem to be making much light, or even seem lit up at all.
I especially loved picture 9 back on page 1.
ne thing that stood out though, is there's a number of places where you've got light fittings that don't seem to be making much light, or even seem lit up at all.
treythepunkid
L4: Comfortable Member
- Sep 8, 2008
- 157
- 79
The only thing i would say would be the trees dont seem right in that envorioment, other than that, looking REALLY good man!
- Nov 30, 2007
- 439
- 34
I guess alot of people don't realize that pine trees grow everywhere from snowy peaks to deserts. They go fine. The dry dead grass on the dirt does too. In fact, the picture below looks like my town could be in that exact location.
However, I was thinking of chaning to badlands background just to see how it looks.
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- Nov 30, 2007
- 439
- 34
what's your beef with ladders dude? You fall from one as a kid or something?
Well, we had our fist clan test of beta3 last night and as always, there are mixed feelings. On beta2 there was overwhelming complaints about the map too wide open. Then you make changes and now you have some people saying Oh, I loved beta2, I loved it wide open. Go figure. It just goes to show some people are going to complain no matter what. They probably don't even play the map for 5 minutes, their getting their ass kicked, and they all of a sudden say, I like the other version better. Typical.
Anyway, lots said they thought the new version is way way better and after seeing 28 players on it, it plays out just like I thought. With no forward spawn rooms anymore, the middle section is a big time fight for control.
I have a few small changes to make and I will post beta4 for download Sunday night.
Well, we had our fist clan test of beta3 last night and as always, there are mixed feelings. On beta2 there was overwhelming complaints about the map too wide open. Then you make changes and now you have some people saying Oh, I loved beta2, I loved it wide open. Go figure. It just goes to show some people are going to complain no matter what. They probably don't even play the map for 5 minutes, their getting their ass kicked, and they all of a sudden say, I like the other version better. Typical.
Anyway, lots said they thought the new version is way way better and after seeing 28 players on it, it plays out just like I thought. With no forward spawn rooms anymore, the middle section is a big time fight for control.
I have a few small changes to make and I will post beta4 for download Sunday night.
We played this with just a few people the other night. Since we had so few people I can't comment on the gameplay at all. However, there were two things that bothered me:
1. Change the CP layout on the HUD to a single row like a normal 5CP layout. The only difference with your map is that you require that teams cap 2/4 before capping 3, so there's no reason to have CP3 offset above the others on the HUD. It suggests that there's more to the gameplay than there really is, which is confusing.
2. There was a pretty significant FPS drop in the middle area. This was with only 5 people on the server, so it's not related to that.
1. Change the CP layout on the HUD to a single row like a normal 5CP layout. The only difference with your map is that you require that teams cap 2/4 before capping 3, so there's no reason to have CP3 offset above the others on the HUD. It suggests that there's more to the gameplay than there really is, which is confusing.
2. There was a pretty significant FPS drop in the middle area. This was with only 5 people on the server, so it's not related to that.