[WIP] tc_meridian

[[SpA]Lim-Dul]

Shmitz used custom CP icons on cp_science(2) - I believe he knows everything about mapping there is to know. ^^
Most of the known issues have to be fixed by Valve...

Speaking of which - have you contacted Valve about them and received any reply?

 

[Shmitz]

Blinking arrows vs intelligence signs

So, in each round blinking arrow signs appear to direct players towards the other team's base. These arrow signs are the same color as the team that needs to be following them.

Once players leave their team's designated "base" area, the arrow signs stop, but throughout the enemy area new signs can be found that say "Intelligence" and are sometimes accompanied by an arrow (lack of an arrow generally says "hey, use this doorway"). The color of these signs is the color of the enemy.

This is the same convention for each of these types of signs that Valve uses in their maps. Does anyone find this counterintuitive or confusing? I realize that this expects players to understand that halfway to their objective, the signs they are following change both type and color.

 

[VelvetFistIronGlove]

The conventions that Valve seem to use are:

* Small written signs in your team colour, with arrows if necessary, showing you the way around your own base.

* Large arrows in your team colour, showing you which way to go to get out and attack the enemy.

Both are in the same colour as the team they're meant for. The first lot just happens to be very useful to the enemy as well.

As long as the signs in one base match the colour of the team holding that base, it'll be fine.

 

[crazychicken]

ok thuis has been in rotation on my server fora w hile now and it does hav e problems with gameplay in that a lot of the time the paths are so narrow and pre determined each stage is jsut one huge chokepoint in the middle with no real opportunity for it to becaome anything but a spamfest

 

[FernFerret]

Chicken, I'm sorry but i disagree. I LOVE THIS MAP. I didn't even know it was on our servers, but when I saw it, I was looking around, and I thought to myself:

"Fern, this seems very professionally done, reminds me of those days where the guys from tf2maps.net would make crazy things", then I saw it, the poster on the wall, and I knew it was from here. Then *Poof* Out of nowhere MangyCarface, a name I knew from somewhere was on my server. And I thought to myself, it could only be tf2maps.net, and sure enough, we had a nice chat in game. Even without the indicators, this map has risen to the top of my list, our clan is doing a community tc_meridian scrim this weekend, organized by yours truely because of my amazement of this map.

Oh and my first reaction to the bridges was:

Oh lord... I'm gonna need another pair of pants...

This map is beautiful, and plays VERY WELL. If someone out there is reading this and considering listening to even one other negative review, stop right now, send me a PM, and I will prove to you that this map is one of the top 3 custom maps out now, and it's only in B1!!!!

Thank you for such an amazing map!

--FernFerret

With all of that said, the one request that I have is that signs would Hide when they don't apply. For example:

One of the exit signs points to a no way symbol, that messed with my mind a bit.

Great job!

 

[[SpA]Lim-Dul]

After some more brooding about the awesomeness of this map I realized one thing I was perhaps too blind to see before. You know, I posted the impressions of a clanmate of mine who posted some issues that are on the known bugs list - later he stated in one of his replies that the average player will come to the server without having read any "known issues list" and will probably complain about the very same things.

So what, you are asking? Well - I think that it will be VERY hard to get any kind of meaningful balancing feedback or feedback about anything non-technical (misaligned textures and whatnot) until the very basic issue of the missing GUI is fixed by Valve...

I mean - people have to learn their way on this map and while I'm all for alternative routes to the intelligence to make for dynamic gameplay the map may seem (only seem!) broken if you have no clue where your or the enemy's intelligence is (after pickup or a drop). Not to mention how hard it is to stop an intelligence-carrier...
Not many "random" players use voice communication so the missing GUI bug becomes map-breaking in this case..

What I want to say is: push Valve with your knees and fists to correct the issue since in my opinion there's not much sense in directing too much attention at anything beyond the most basic bugs... As horrified I am by this prospect this map may never gain too much popularity or become playable for the average player despite it's incredible quality if it were to never receive a GUI and we all know how slow Valve is when it comes to fixing certain things (disappearing pl_goldrush GUI anyone?)...

 

[Shmitz]

I understand what you're saying about the GUI, and yes, I would very much hate to go all the way to final with this map without one. This is why I even considered converting it to CP in the first place. However, Valve has indicated they are or will be working on a way for a level designer to force a map to a specific HUD. I don't think it's beyond the realm of hope that this will happen before meridian reaches final.

 

[[SpA]Lim-Dul]

Oh, let's just hope this is true. I mean, given the quality of the map and the apparent eagerness of Valve to release good custom maps in their class packs tc_meridian is a VERY likely candidate for some future update.
I really like the way the TF2 team went about the whole custom map business - I mean, it's a win-win situation for everybody.
Mappers can make a name for themselves, players get more maps and good custom maps were ALWAYS at least as good as standard maps in ANY game - sometimes even better since they made bold moves that the developers didn't dare to try - and Valve stands there as a knight in shiny armor because it gets more content for their game that keeps it alive without much effort on their side. ^^

 

[DarkNoghri]

Meridian is now up on our server at 74.63.67.190:27017. That should be our server anyway. It's not in the rotation, but it's on the nominate list. If the server's empty, you can join, type "nominate," hit meridian, and type "rtv," and you've got meridian for 45 minutes or so.

AOD_DarkNoghri

 

[Noggin]

Just a graphical observation I saw in the pic below...

The tops of the bamboo walls look odd, need like a top texture. The actual texture could do with a heightmap or something to add some depth.
In comparison the long bamboo supports look great with depth and the sections.

I still think the robot needs more dramatic lighting, its kinda flat looking taking away from its awesomeness

Awesome job tho, setting a standard for a new environment and design.

 

[Shmitz]

Screenshots of b2 progress:

Ravine got a big overhaul to make it flow better along its length, and be less stalematey. It should also be considerably more sniper-friendly:

Ruins area got reworked too, to make for fewer 10-second intel caps. The center mound got squished to remove the obstruction both to player movement and sniper/rocket/minigun/etc fire.

I've also implemented overtime for b2. If both flags aren't at home when time expires, you get an extra 60 seconds. However, if at any time during that minute all flags get sent back to their pedestal, it automatically ends the round.

 

[ChronoTriggerFan]

Is that entrance under the stature in the second picture new? or didIi somehow miss it before? It's looking good, but from that screen shot, there is a distinctive line where the ground textures should be blended correctly.

 

[Shmitz]

The blending is fixed, I was just too lazy to take a new screenshot.

 

[VelvetFistIronGlove]

That entrance has just been moved -- it used to be in the rock wall in the upper left of the picture.

 

[DarkNoghri]

Figured I'd post this bug/glitch a clanmate of mine found:

It's located in the village at the tunnel entrance to the ruins. He was trying to block the door from opening by standing on top of it. And then....



He's stuck. Those are his scouty arms and legs sticking out the side of the door.

 

[Bonafide]

Figured I'd post this bug/glitch a clanmate of mine found:

It's located in the village at the tunnel entrance to the ruins. He was trying to block the door from opening by standing on top of it. And then....



He's stuck. Those are his scouty arms and legs sticking out the side of the door.

lol funny. I saw that one happen too.

 

[Shmitz]

Hahaha, that's amazing. Well that's what he gets for trying to use his body to stop machinery!

Incidentally, I've already fixed that problem for beta 2.

 

[DarkNoghri]

Hahaha, that's amazing. Well that's what he gets for trying to use his body to stop machinery!

On a previous round, he kept saying that he stopped the door from opening. Ya know, on a round where the door doesn't open.
So he tried it on a round where it did open. After we had made much fun of him for the previous time. The most annoying thing? He had so much cover I couldn't kill him before the celebratory round was over.

 

[Buddikaman]

sharks

* Will I die if I jump in the water? Good question, you don't know.

If Great White Sharks where swimming around the boat, would people will get the idea. Anyone?

Scott Petty
Environment Artist
www.Buddikaman.com

 

[Shmitz]

A sign to help people understand what to do during "final" rounds, liberally applied to walls people will face as they spawn, as they wait for setup timers, and as they attempt to build sentries to guard nonexistent intel:

Final warning before becoming shark-bait: