[WIP] ctf_beam

[Booshman800]

Ok, so the title's a wip as well

The layout is done so far, but I thought I might as well get some feedback on the red base rather than move on straight away. All criticism (especially negative) is welcome because this is my first map :blush:

 

[The Scientist]

It looks really good, especially for your first map. One problem you might run in to though, is optimization. Those walkways with gaps in them look really good, but it might be hard to optimize it later on.

 

[Dox]

the staircase in the second pic looks smooth and sexy, which is cool, but doesnt really fit which the rickity style of everything else

 

[Booshman800]

Thanks for the comments, at the moment the walkways are all func_details, because they aren't really blocking visibility.

I might change the stairs to look a bit more farm like, turn them into func_details and put a nodraw block behind them, which will hopefully look better and run better as well.

Currently though just about the whole map is visible from the walkways, so I'm struggling to optimize it without shutting it away

 

[R3dRuM]

Looks good, will be fun to play, but: why is there a big gaping hole in the side of the barn? did a tornado rip through?

 

[Booshman800]

Looks good, will be fun to play, but: why is there a big gaping hole in the side of the barn? did a tornado rip through?

Heh, looks like there is a hole now that I look at it again, but there's a big pane of glass across the front. I'll probably put a frame around it to highlight it a bit more.

 

[RogueNZ]

Yeah do that, otherwise this looks wicked, really well done and very professional looking. I like the mix of the old farm style and clean modern (the room underneath and the stairs).

 

[R3dRuM]

in the last picture, your two fence brushes are clipping!, thats bad, try to avoid it

 

[MangyCarface]

Great for a first map! Definitely try to explain that giant pane of glass in a barn I'm curious as to what kind of setting this is taking place in? Right now it looks like a Mario level floating in space. Since this is your first map start off right by using Best Practices- extensively use func_details and think about optimization as you go, and you'll learn a lot more. Good luck!

 

[Paria]

the fancy arch staircase from a technical point of view does look great , but to me just dosent look right with a wood texture on it, the rest of the wip though does look very good - there really isn't much else i could criticise , will be interseting to see how it pans out once you have more to show.

 

[Half-Life_Maniac]

Looks nice, but definately get rid of that glass wall. Such a thing just doesn't go with an old barn at all.

As for the walkways, you might be better off making some of them as solid blocks. They could still be decorated with railings and broken bits.

Also, clean up those railings clipping into eachother!

 

[Colt Seavers]

Looking very interesting Booshman mate Can't wait to give it a spin when it's playable

 

[Booshman800]

I've changed the arch staircase to something that fits the style a little more, and I've tried to func_detail everything not blocking visibility. Ground hopefully will be coming soon, but my displacements didn't look right the first time round

Could anyone explain why clipping brushes are bad? I've tried to avoid it, but I know there's still quite a few that do clip, so I guess i should run through and prune those out.

 

[Half-Life_Maniac]

Well for one thing, it looks ugly and unprofessional. You then get the situation where the 2 things are trying to get rendered in the same space, so you get that texture flickering effect. If they are left as world brushes, I believe they will cause brush splitting as well.

You just don't want to spot things like that in a map. It's just good to keep your mapping clean and tidy.

Even so, you find VALVe maps full of things like this!