A Sneek peek at my competition map: DM_Depot

All I know was we tested that map for hours and it finally came down to ladders.

He deleted all his ladders and replaced them with a little more care.

Didn't you mention somewhere that some of your ladders didn't even touch the ground?
 
Pro[pH]et said:
All I know was we tested that map for hours and it finally came down to ladders.

He deleted all his ladders and replaced them with a little more care.

Didn't you mention somewhere that some of your ladders didn't even touch the ground?
Click to expand...

No I dont recall that... although I do have 6 ladders in the map. I'll check them out but I dont think there will be another release before I send them off. Maybe tonight, but I dont think im going to have enough time :(
 
Just explored it on my own, great map, bit on the low side fps-wise. I did find one buggish thingy.

Sorry for the horrible quality screens, I did a quick batch compression. My hud is a bit screwed up as well, probably because I switched from med-quality to high-quality textures after loading the map. Anyway, what I found:

If you go all the way up to this place:


You can't pass the wagon on the left, but you can crouch underneath and get to the other side like I did here:


Where you can freely run around over the bridge and see this big hole/gate of hell!!1:



Of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't try something stupid now that I was right above the train...


So I jumped onto it...


... and proceeded to get stuck in between a train wagon and a forcefield. Ouch.



Strangely enough I wasn't killed, I could simply hop out and do it again (had to do it three times to get all the screens in fact).

(Screens weren't really necessary, but it gave me an excuse to show the train thing :p)
 
Thanks alot green bunny! I have fixed them and now if you try and jump on the train from above you get killed instantly (more like real life) :p

EDIT: IMPORTANT NOTE: It seems my cubemaps did not save into this beta either. To fix bad reflections, type "buildcubemaps" into the console. It takes a while but make the level look really nice.
 
brisck1 said:
Thanks alot green bunny! I have fixed them and now if you try and jump on the train from above you get killed instantly (more like real life) :p

EDIT: IMPORTANT NOTE: It seems my cubemaps did not save into this beta either. To fix bad reflections, type "buildcubemaps" into the console. It takes a while but make the level look really nice.
Click to expand...

so the map is done? final version?
 
No far from it. In fact this is only the first beta of the map. I've fixed a list of bugs as long as my arm since just today in fact. I may release another beta tonight for testing.

Right now all I really have left to do is optimise, and Im looking for ideas! :)
 
fix the linux thing?

because nobody will run the map if it crashes their server :(
 
i tested

so...

very good realism but very bad optimization and it is too complex (too much ladder or single direction..... ) gameplay middle :(

25 fps with 9800 pro in full see its a problem (in official map dm by valve 80 fps)

e_poly very bad because full model (remove)

'this is my first map in hammer "

i know

you second map will be good

beta map = full compil ? or no
 
There is a hole on the roof of the trainstation which can be accessed by jumping out of the windows by the huge wheels.

Otherwise, it is a very good map. Make the ladders slightly more functional and make the sofas moveable in the buildings. I am going to have a lot of fun trying to run over people with the giant wheels :rolling:
 
That reminds me of a problem I had with the ladders that I forgot in my previous post. I'd climb onto one and the screen would shake up and down very fast until I jumped off. Couldn't exit ladders by walking either, only jumping. I'm not sure it's a map problem, but I've never noticed it in any other map with ladders.

Still on the subject of ladders, it's pretty hard right now to get from one side of the tracks to the building on the other. Adding some stairs/ladders to the 'walls' next to the tracks and maybe the trains (maintenance ladders) would make it a lot easier to move around. Right now I imagine there will most of the time be two fights, one on each side of the tracks, with a couple of people shooting at both from above. Most of the lower areas are a bit inaccessible right now.

Don't know if you have time to consider this, but it's already a great map as it is anyway.
 
A small thing, but did you mean to have this sign mirrored?
 

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re: linux crash. I had the same issue with my map, and the same solution. I deleted all the func_usableladder and info_ladderdismount entities from the map, rebuilt them all in one shot, and then everything worked fine. If you need help testing on a linux server, PM me and I'll try and squeeze you into my hectic schedule (usually that would be a joke... unfortunately I'm having an unusually busy week). Your map looks great and I'd like to help if I can.
 
Ok purge got up early to give this a shot and fix a bunch of other stuff too. Will PM you later ;)
 
brisck1: I've sent you a PM.
 
Found a hole in the map



Gone up to this area, which is fine.




Walk along to the end. You can jump over to the train area with little effort.



This seems fine if you could get out of this area, which i could not.



If you walk up to the end you notice a hole in the map.




Another pic



Last one.

Other than that it is a top map.

If you will allow people into this area, at least fix that hole, and make it so you can go through that gate that is just there.

Here is a small hole in this area at the end at the front of the train.




Cheers,
bbyybb.
 
Anyone know if there is a way to stop a compile ?
 
Ctrl+Alt+Del and kill vvis etc......or at least it's what I did, and I didn't notice any side effects.
 
You need to spend less time worrying about your lighting and instead focus on the gameplay. It's virtually nonexistent at this stage. There is no flow and a serious lack of connectivity, as there are too many snag points, too many narrow walkways and stairways, and too few ways to get around the map. You've got large grassy areas that only have one or two ways out, a bunch of buggy ladders (ladders should always be avoided in good DM maps), tiny shacks that serve as dead ends and camping spots, really long and narrow areas around the trains, really cramped interiors, huge gamebreaking deadends such as the crossbow area...to top it off I averaged 40 FPS throughout the map, which isn't good. This map is chock full of newbie mistakes, but its major failings are the design mistakes that at this point are going to be nearly impossible to fix. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but you don't stand a chance in the contest.

Despite all this, the map shows you have some talent in hammer, so don't stop mapping. You've got the basics down, you just need to learn more and get more design experience before you create an awesome map.
 
I agree with Yak_fighter tbh. Don't get me wrong, brisck - this is quite probably the best first attempt I've seen yet, but after seeing the doctored photoshop images I was kinda disappointed when I actually got to play it. Most of this repeats what Yak_Fighter said...

- Performance needs major improvement but unfortunately it seems like the current layout would need the map making equivalent of open heart surgery to fix it. Basically there's an enormous open area with many side rooms with direct visibility to it - there's not a lot you can do to optimise it without drastically changing the layout.

- I found the layout very confusing to get around. The multitude of narrow walkways and different tiers meant I'd spend a minute trying to work out how to get from a to b. As Yak says, in some areas there aren't many routes around the level.

- The routes around the level are too narrow. For example, staircases seem to be less than 64 units wide. Ok for single player, but not when you've got a bunch of players trying to frantically race around killing & avoiding each other.

- The train, while cool, isn't going to be doing fps performance any favours.

Like I say, it is an awesome first attempt and I hope you take all this the right way & keep trying to improve the level. :)
 
Thanks for the honesty guys, I think I may have set my ambitions a little too high but Im not going to give up on it anyway. The next release should be a hell of a lot more playable and you really shouldnt judge the first beta as a final product.

At the end of the day if I win or not im just grateful for all of the encouraging comments from the community and truthful feedback which has help me improve the map over the last couple of days!

::edit:: looks as though my map will be featured on PC Zone's next coverdisc! :O

*'doctored' photoshop images have been taken down to prevent any misconceptions. What shots are left are taken from the actual level
 
You'll be in good company then - mine's going to be on there too...
 
The screenshots look nothing short of breathtaking... one question though, where is everone getting the map from?
 
It was on my site, but has been taken down until the next beta is released sometime today
 
Comments:

1: Your map has too many holes in it. By holes, I mean geometry holes. Theres a really big one right next to the building that people can fall into.

2: It's annoying to try and get to the building part of the map, as there is too much stuff blocking the way. I didn't even find out that there was a building until about 10 minutes of messing around, and there's only a few ways to get there. (IE: Your map is WAY too hard to navigate through.)
 
Lincoln, as I said earlier these are fixed now and im trying to optimise.

I have to say im really struggling on this, If I knew how to use hint brushes etc I would be alot better off. I got a few ideas, but i may have to change a few details of the map though

If anyone can see any obvious areas and know how it could be improvedby playing beta 1 I'd be grateful if you could share it with me! :)
 
brisck1 said:
*'doctored' photoshop images have been taken down to prevent any misconceptions. What shots are left are taken from the actual level
Click to expand...

Are you sure?

The light glow around the edges looks like Unsharp Mask to me. In general the shots are more colorful and contrasty than normal HL2 shots. Consider the attachment image I blew up.

I'd like to see this map in its full, real, unphotoshopped glory! Let's have some raw stuff.
 
area portals will help you a lot. its hard to tell you how to place them without giving you a vmf, but with your type of map, area portals will help a lot more than hints.
 
I could also test it on my dedicated server if you would like. Windows based. Let me know when beta 2 is ready?
Whats the size on the map? I have yet to learn how to allow people to download maps over 16megs off my server.
 
yeah no problem Gbud, Having some compile problems right now. Anyone know anything about "Cluster portal saw into cluster"?
 
Where is Phi Mu Ro's map?, i would like to see it as well. And brisk1 that was my only trouble with your map was the narrows, and dead ends.. GL anyway.
 
See now this is a train map... i compare this it like.. cs's trainstation and im just like wow, you're awesome.

Looks fantastic, can't wait to play.
 
finally got my cluster portals down and learnt an important lesson in func_detail brushes, but it seems fates is against me yet again...lol now when I load my map the load bar get half way then decides to go back again! :p aaaagh, i think its an entitiy problem but im so so so damn dissapointed right now :( I dont think there is much chance my map arriving at valve if I dont get this posted by tomorrow morning :(
 
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