New map from the Needle

[The Needle]

Yes, its true, in addition to playing I started mapping. I have a map ready for play testing which I hope is large enough for 32 people. That's what I need to see as well as what balancing I need to do. Doing the final compile this evening and will be ready to send to WiH admin anytime after that. They tell me I have to wait for the tournament to end to add it to the tournament server for testing.

I will also have it at Gamerscoalition next Saturday on custom map night. Should be a hoot. Please be merciful, these are not final textures if the gameplay is good. I am fairly satisfied with the lighting and physics and I have intentionally omitted unnecessary background sounds at this point. I need to know whether its playable or not before going any farther :).

Thanks,

[Tykwer]

are maps easy to make...as far as the programs that do it? because i would like to try my hand at it. i'd love to see your creation.

[SoReal]

Oh, exciting. I love new maps. Could you give us any details about it? Name? Etc? Also, I would like to test it out.

[The Needle]

It's not hard at all to learn the basics. You can download the Source SDK via Steam and that includes the hammer map editor. It has a help link in it to get you started but the best info can be found on the VERC forums.

I am going to have to optimize mine and try to figure out why my bsp file is so large at the moment. Ugh. At this point I think I would have to send it out on a CD, heh.

[dbodenheim]

If one of our own at the community spent time to make a map. Suck or not. It deserves our play testing.

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

^^^^

I have faith that it won't suck though Needle ;)

[Phenix]

we can test it out in the tourney WiH :D
hopefully >_>
and what do you call your masterpiece, needle?

[The Needle]

My BSP file ballooned lol, good thing the tournament isn't over this week, I had to go back and rebrush half the map because of displacment mapping :(. No biggie, it'll be ready when the tournaments over.

It's cs_toxicdump. Hostages being held in an underground nuclear waste disposal site. Kinda like the thing they are proposing out in Nevada. The crappy thing is it plays just great on my PC and with a bunch of bots its pretty fun, problem is by the time I compile the BSP file is 25MB! Holy cow! Thats ok, I took it apart and found out why (one room too large and with too much world geometry) but its pretty much a complete rebuild. Not bad though because I KNOW it all works and I am much faster with the tools than I was. That helps a lot. We'll play it soon.

Thanks all,

[Bonez]

needle, if you need any ideas, i can do overview maps.

[Kev Kanos]

I think this is awsome. :rockon:

[The_Professor]

Can we get a SS or two? :D

[Tykwer]

yes, screen shots, i might be out of town when you debut it. :x

[The Needle]

Good idea Professor, anyone have space to put up a few screenshots if I e-mail them to you?

Thanks!

[monos]

maybe the ss ftp site?

[Persephone]

I WANNA PLAY ON YOUR MAP! No fair i dont play in the tourneys. :wallbash:

[monos]

I WANNA PLAY ON YOUR MAP! No fair i dont play in the tourneys. :wallbash:

no he will use the tourney server as a testbed for the map not using it for the tourney

[The_Professor]

You can host 'em on imageshack. I think it's www.imageshack.us

[The Needle]

Images turned out dark as screenies for some reason, the map is not that dark, hehe. Thank you for the interest everyone. Please feel free to give me feedback.

http://img165.echo.cx/img165/7524/cstoxicdump200005qk.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img165.echo.cx/img165/8792/cstoxicdump200011sx.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img165.echo.cx/img165/5584/cstoxicdump200029uy.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img165.echo.cx/img165/8351/cstoxicdump200049dj.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img165.echo.cx/img165/7042/cstoxicdump200066uc.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img165.echo.cx/img165/1644/cstoxicdump200078qs.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img165.echo.cx/img165/4319/cstoxicdump200095jl.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img165.echo.cx/img165/4785/cstoxicdump200109xu.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[Phenix]

I haven't played it..but this corridor looks like a deathtrap..might need to add cover ....but rest looks awesome
http://img165.echo.cx/img165/8351/cstoxicdump200049dj.jpg

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

Looks good Needle. If this is ur first map it's a good start.

I like the curved hallway, very cool looking. I also like the fact that the outdoors are cs_militia-ish ;)

As for suggestions:

-too boxy... especially the cave. The ceiling for the cave needs to be constantly bumpy. The cave may be too big overall, actually (see suggestion below)

-texture sizing is much too small for the walls underground

-don't make it so open.. use large rock formations as separations (could help gameplay as well)

-Don't use so many variants of static meshes (tires/crates/skids/barrels) in different places.. looks unnatural. Also, they are very spread out.. this could be due to ur map being too big overall. Maybe if u cut some of it down and added more objects and rock formations for cover, the overall look and gameplay would be smoother (talking about cave)

-everything outdoors looks unlit.. or rather all lit the same brightness with no shadows

Otherwise, good stuff :thumbsup:


I know the map must be early in development, but I might as well get these comments out of the way : P

[ResJudicata]

nice nice... very nice...

just please dont over texturize the environment or it will lag the S*IT out of my... just like inside the bunker in COMPOUND...

hehhee

heres a sugestion for your next project... how about a construction site, or a mining site.. you know like the ones with a big hole in the ground... that would be cool. :rockon:

[The Needle]

Thanks all, more fun doing this than playing the game most times. As for your concerns:

like the curved hallway, very cool looking. I also like the fact that the outdoors are cs_militia-ish - That hallway was a pain in the ass. Hard to match up all the curves. As for it being a deathtrap, it is meant to be :)

As for suggestions:

-too boxy... especially the cave. The ceiling for the cave needs to be constantly bumpy. The cave may be too big overall, actually (see suggestion below) - Boxy because I had not taken the time to displacement map all the surfaces. No point in it till the gameplay is tested.

-texture sizing is much too small for the walls underground - Again, no serious texturing till we see how it plays.

-don't make it so open.. use large rock formations as separations (could help gameplay as well) - :( I tried several different ways of breaking up the space and wasnt happy with any. I got a steady 40-60fps in that room with 31 bots playing and thats better than I get on de_port. I like the big open space but the next version won't have it. I can't hint enough to get that part of the map understood by the compiler :(. Most of that stuff is func_detail but a bunch is not.

-Don't use so many variants of static meshes (tires/crates/skids/barrels) in different places.. looks unnatural. Also, they are very spread out.. this could be due to ur map being too big overall. Maybe if u cut some of it down and added more objects and rock formations for cover, the overall look and gameplay would be smoother (talking about cave) - Thank you, won't know till we try it. I was throwing objects in for cover to test with.

-everything outdoors looks unlit.. or rather all lit the same brightness with no shadows - gah, I see what you mean, I missed something there.

Otherwise, good stuff - bah, its all fun and is a time killer at work :)

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

Goddamit... how can u guys check these forums and make maps all day at work?? I can't bring my PC onto the roof.. I'd probably blow the client's fuse box too : P

[jwolly2]

Cool, I'm down for playtesting it. Let me know when and where.


Goddamit... how can u guys check these forums and make maps all day at work?? I can't bring my PC onto the roof.. I'd probably blow the client's fuse box too : P

Filthy, just get yourself a nice laptop w/ a wireless network card.

If you lived in Manhattan, you'd have no problem finding an open access point.
http://publicinternetproject.org/research/research_sum.html

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

Jwol.. that was a joke.

I have absolutely NO time to screw around on a comp at work.. I don't even take lunch sometimes, let alone breaks.