WiP in WiP, post your screenshots!

Sel

Banned
Feb 18, 2009
1,239
2,570
sword2.jpg
 

mint onion

L3: Member
Jul 18, 2013
101
45
Whats the goal, try to reach the door next the hill ? I wouldn't be the attackers in this map.

i'm not really happy with the results to be honest. i started building without any game plan. i didn't even have a game type in mind. the weekend was almost over and i wanted to build something.

i had never used displacements, fog, or skip/hint brushes before. i tried keeping my vis leaves clean while building this space. i also tried using sentry props to help with scaling, which was really useful. i had started out with the intention for it to turn into a map but, i suppose it was more exploratory than anything.
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
aa
Sep 8, 2008
1,264
816
i'm not really happy with the results to be honest. i started building without any game plan. i didn't even have a game type in mind. the weekend was almost over and i wanted to build something.
That explains alot. Many times you need a good idea to be able to make a good map. Building for the sake of building can sometimes end up with good results but many times its just trash.

Still, its not like its totaly useless. By random creations you can turn up with nice blueprints for a map. For example i like the first screen. Which although its simply could be a nice midsection between 2 cps.

For hill sections you need a good idea and instead of instantly starting with displacing anything just build the base shape keeping displacements as possible result. This comes down to aligning brushes in a cleaner way. Displacements take alot of time compared to normal geometry and if the area itself is bad its just a waste.

However, if you want such hill section the most important part is that you can flank effectively. This means a side path which is hard for red to overtake. But obviously isnt going to make blue steamroll it. And i do see the room for such path on your screens. Still, what i would do there is to have the hill be a bit more diagonal so on 1 side you can get on the top area while at the lower end you go under a bridge.
 
Jan 8, 2011
397
393
I was feeling upset last night so I made some vent art
tumblr_msshwcKFbK1r8pylio1_1280.png
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
aa
Sep 8, 2008
1,264
816
You could have added waldo at least then so we realy were able to test it out.

On a side note, the map looks like its getting a better shape. However, on screen 3 there is still a tunnel to some glass that doesnt make sense to me. I think it would be better to place the glass closer to the spawn and have the tunnel as a health/ammo source. That way it adds to the gameplay.
 

mint onion

L3: Member
Jul 18, 2013
101
45
i feel like having the large glass window is very important actually. a major problem i had with my first map, was its layout, making players easily lost and confused.

it will be the first thing the player will see when they step out of spawn. what i hope it will achieve, is establishing the map's goal, remind the player what team they're on (admit it, it happens to the best of us), and lastly, update the state of the capture area, each time a player spawns.

hopefully that gives you an idea of my intentions there.
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
aa
Sep 8, 2008
1,264
816
It does that well to me. Its just that its a dead end and people are very likely to walk into it.

This was the idea that i had:
glasssuggestion.png


This keeps the glass as it is but removes the ability to walk into it as if its a tunnel.

What many would normaly do is walk straight forward. They except a side path at the end anyway. Except it isnt there so its a useless dead end to them. In my example its not longer a path you can walk into yet still a dead end. On the other side however it became a tunnel. It might on that part be a useless dead end but by adding a little health and/or ammo it no longer is useless and can add to the gameplay.
 

re1wind

aa
Aug 12, 2009
644
588
The colour of the brushes is important due to Radiosity. I'm rather poor at explaining things so i hope that answers any potential questions relating to why the colour/texture of brushes is important. :)

tip: don't try to understand the language and mathematics if they're not your thing. the pictures should be self-explanatory.
 

mint onion

L3: Member
Jul 18, 2013
101
45
It does that well to me. Its just that its a dead end and people are very likely to walk into it.

This was the idea that i had:


This keeps the glass as it is but removes the ability to walk into it as if its a tunnel.

What many would normaly do is walk straight forward. They except a side path at the end anyway. Except it isnt there so its a useless dead end to them. In my example its not longer a path you can walk into yet still a dead end. On the other side however it became a tunnel. It might on that part be a useless dead end but by adding a little health and/or ammo it no longer is useless and can add to the gameplay.

thank you for taking the time to write up a suggestion and create a diagram, wow! so you know, your prediction and suggestion was 100% correct. at first encounter, 90% of the ENTIRE TEAM ran directly into the window like a flock of confused birds. it was a horrifying sight.

it was interesting to note that when the player forging ahead makes a navigational mistake, the group behind him falls in tow, which ultimately makes a small navigational error feel much more punishing than i had anticipated. ಠ_ಠ

i think the solution you've offered is fantastic and would allow for that layout to work while padding the confusion.

considering the concerns you've raised now and previously about this area, it adds weight to suggestions made by some others and have decided to go ahead and remove the windows entirely, roots and all, and i think it is the right choice. unfortunately, doing so creates a direct line-of-sight between red and blu spawn doors which is something i will have to address at some point.

thx!
 
Last edited:

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
The colour of the brushes is important due to Radiosity. I'm rather poor at explaining things so i hope that answers any potential questions relating to why the colour/texture of brushes is important. :)

tip: don't try to understand the language and mathematics if they're not your thing. the pictures should be self-explanatory.

yeah im not stupid
radiosity isn't a new idea for me
just never realized there is a functional difference