CTF Turbine re-artpass Alpha 6

[Ælement]

Just a random thought (dunno if there's a newer version than the original release), but do the vents have to be...

...well, vents? Something never really felt right about crawling around in them.

I think it makes more sense now, since at least one end of the vent is outside.

 

[ForbiddenDonut]

I have to know: how did you make the nuclear power plant cooling tower? (I assume it's geometry - like, cylinder with vertex editing, ect.)

I love it so.

 

[Pocket]

They're displacements, done the hard way:

• One template brush to get the vertical curvature just right
• Series of differently-sized cylinders of equal height to determine where all the corners go
• Displaced face manually wrapped around and lined up with those points
• Triplicate, rotate (because I don't need to show the back side), line up textures

I really do need to just learn how to model. I'm sure it would have been a load simpler and cut down on lighting data.

 

[Pocket]

A2 is out; the air vents leading to the intel room are now (undetailed) hallways. In response to feedback, I have added medium metal pickups to mid and small ones to the aforementioned hallways. I've also added a bunch of areaportals that are really going to cut down on prop rendering.

 

[ScoutSean]

nav_generated? I wanted to test with bots.

I also like the theme. I always thought Turbine needed a face-lift (with a tummy tuck and maybe a few things here and there). I also hope it makes playing as a Scout slightly easier, since then I can just jump over to the intel without those dang sentries getting me.

Otherwise, it looks great.

 

[colacan]

This surely looks way better then the original. I don't think Turbine is that bad, but it always felt like it was too empty and I didn't like the fact that is completely inside. (I prefer maps that have outdoor environments in it) You did a great job!

Edit: cooling tower is on top of the windows?

 

[Pocket]

Hi! Long time no attention span. I popped back in to have a go at de-uglifying the back stairs, and since I still didn't have any particularly good ideas I just broke them into two sets of 8/12 stairs, just the right length for the short and medium siderails, respectively. And when I was all finished, I realized to my horror that I had created a sightline from the upstairs hallway right down to the intel.

Here's what it looks like to a sniper, for maximum effect:

Now, to be fair, there's sort of a sightline in the original, but it's not as extreme:

...Yeah, anyone who can pull of a kill through that aperture deserves it.

So what do you think? Serious enough to need a redo? Worth testing to find out for ourselves? Because I'll be damned if I'm going to just turn it into a boring, straight 8/12 staircase 288 units high, but I don't really know what else to do.

 

[tyler]

Put some vent props or pipes to block it or something?

 

[ForbiddenDonut]

A vent would work, but I'm not entirely sure if that sightline really matters. With the enemy spawn right at your flank and your rear, a Sniper isn't going to be living very long at that spot.

 

[LeSwordfish]

It's a good defensive position maybe.

 

[Pocket]

A vent would work, but I'm not entirely sure if that sightline really matters. With the enemy spawn right at your flank and your rear, a Sniper isn't going to be living very long at that spot.

It's not enemy snipers I'm concerned about.

 

[RaVaGe]

Don't worry, it's too cramped to be a real good spot for a sniper, let this at its state.

 

[BaconChapstick]

Looks great, Turbine is my favorite map and this is definitely gonna make it better. The one bad thing I see so far is the big kegs in the middle. The good thing about the turbines was you could crouch jump onto it and then jump onto the crates from those instead of going to the stairs. The kegs look too big to crouch jump on giving you a little less mobility.

 

[Harribo]

I have never once seen anyone use that route so idk how important losing that croutch jump route really is. I think you shouldn't worry too much right now about the sightline yet and just make sure one of our resident sniper mains is around when you next test it, that's what testing for right?

 

[Aki]

Have some suggestions - it's looking great so far though.

 

[Aki]

It's been 4 months since the last update, and I downloaded the map file to take a look - a lot of it still needing done. Decided for fun to work on the same thing since I like Turbine but loathe many of the same things mentioned here, and Turbine Pro's extra passageways destroy the ability to defend that hall forcing the engies to drop all the way back to the intel room.

Here's the list of things I've done in case steve wants to steal any of them.

Middle Room

• I'm going with a Dock side layout making use of the cranes from the construction pack and the large ship model in the props pack that I have no idea where it came from. I'm modelling off of the Long Beach harbor https://maps.google.com/?ll=33.753559,-118.238297&spn=0.001449,0.002064&t=h&z=20 so expect some palm trees from the Egypt maps.
• The signature turbines of turbine are sitting on reinforced steel pallets like they where just delivered to the site and waiting shipment elsewhere. This does make them higher than they were. Scouts can jump from them up to the battlements
• Which is important since the battlements no longer have stairs in the middle room. The access steps to them are immediately on the left in the intelligence room entrance.
• Lest snipers feel too comfortable each battlement house picks up a lip like the one in 2 fort that spies can sneak out onto while cloaked.
• The shipping crates are opened and have medium ammo packs inside.
• Neither medkit in the center room has any real cover.
• The roofs of the battlement glass area will be reachable by triple jump.
• The scrolling doors between the middle room and the spawn have one way glass as seen in Double cross. This way defenders can see if snipers are waiting on them before exiting.

Spawn

• The approach hallway will use the double staircase steve came up with, but I have different decor in mind. In addition to this a passageway has been added under the mid level that goes straight back under the spawn, then hooks a left to the intelligence room. I'll detail it later.
• Actual spawn location is a shower room like the main 2fort spawn, with sliding glass doors to block grenades from getting to newly spawned characters. The original spawn area is therefore a frontage room who's glass will be one way as in double cross. There will be 2 more exits from this room to make spawn camping much less viable.
• The stairs down to the intel room are 2 up top, a platform down to one in the middle.

Intelligence Room

• The infomatic alert system from Meet the Spy and Doublecross is in a room visible from here. The floor of the intel in metal grate, and beneath it (but not reachable) are tape files for loading to the computers.
• A large mainframe computer sits in the gap between the entrances on the room. A sentry can be placed up here, and scouts can jump up here easily though they must first double crouch jump onto the hall platform.
• To the immediate right of the spawn's entrance to the intel is the end of the passageway that starts at the other end of the spawn. Unlike the ventilation ducts, this one is wide and fairly roomy. It also has a large side room who's only purpose is to be a vulnerability in the base that gives the enemy team somewhere to set up a forward base.
• Overall the intelligence room is larger, though not as large as Well
• The traditional approach hallway is unchanged, though as mentioned earlier the stairs up to the battlements are at the entrance.

The Vents

• The vents now have four drops - the one in the intel room we're familiar with, one over the sentry spot on the hall platform, another in that hallway and the last over the new passageway that will help the defenders in attacking the forward base room.
• Vents are tighter - always 96x96.
• Most, though not all, of the vents pass through areas that can be observed. If a tele is set in them it will give itself away since the vent walls are only 16HU thick.

Finally, all this wraps around a spytech room with plenty of windows to see what's going on in other parts of the base while not allowing actual interaction. For example, you can see into the intel room all the way from the middle room, though you don't have a clear shot (which would be broken). Some of the windows may have to be omitted during optimization but I'm hoping the map is small enough to tolerate it.

 

[cool_myll]

Loved the new version? Is it still developed? Looks like some textures are not detailed yet.

Other than that seems great and i am waiting to put it on my server.

 

[Aki]

I abandoned mine after extremely derisive and venomous flaming was aimed my way in the chat rooms. I don't know what Steve was up to - we were working independently.

 

[Pocket]

I do need to get back to this. After remembering that we have wind turbine props available, I've been giving serious thought to ditching the nuclear power plant theme for a wind-power facility, which would solve the problem of where to put the cooling towers without interfering with the skylights. The drawback is that I have even less visual reference for what such a facility might look like than a nuclear power plant. That is to say, none. All the pictures are just of the wind farms themselves. Yes, Google, we know what windmills look like, thank you.

 

[Limeaide]

I do need to get back to this. After remembering that we have wind turbine props available, I've been giving serious thought to ditching the nuclear power plant theme for a wind-power facility, which would solve the problem of where to put the cooling towers without interfering with the skylights. The drawback is that I have even less visual reference for what such a facility might look like than a nuclear power plant. That is to say, none. All the pictures are just of the wind farms themselves. Yes, Google, we know what windmills look like, thank you.

Wind turbines would go better with the name.

However, wind farms don't have associated facilities. After all, what would these facilities do? The generated power just goes directly to substations and stuff. Just take a hint out of hydro's book and just have some spytech bases with substation props scattered around. It's not like TF2 is exactly an accurate portrayal of reality.