DM-Megane (Now final!)

[stevelois]

Name: Mégane
Game type: DM / TDM
Version: Pre final
Players: 6 - 12
Requirements: UT3 + patch 2.1 + Titan Pack
Story / Histoire:

Following the deconstruction of an office building, the board of directors of Mégane city decided to sell the site. The city approved several private companies to build a underground housing project. Therefore, countless fights took place between the different companies. Following their endless quarrels, it was decided by the board to abandon the idea.

Suite à la déconstruction d’un édifice à bureau, le conseil d’administration de la ville de Mégane a décidé de vendre le site. La ville a donné son approbation à plusieurs entreprises privées de construire un projet domiciliaire souterrain. Hors, d’innombrables disputes ont eu lieu entre les différentes entreprises. Par conséquent, suite à leurs querelles interminables, il a été décidé par le conseil d’administration d’abandonner l’idée.




Final thread

Did for the final:

- Add bars in front of the pond (near sniper) so players won't be tempted to go "swimming" with the barrel lol
- Add preview pic
- Add random sparking sound for the defective machinery (near sniper)
- Add readme
- All fan holes are now open on top of the map (it's not boxed anymore)
- Tweak the lift decals placement (1 decal beside all lifts except the belt that as 2 for a better guidance)

[Sly.]

Pretty sky! Pretty meshing!
Downloading. Will give it a go tomorrow.

[DarkSonny07]

If you put the vanilla sky song by pual mcartney with that sky would be flawless ...It joke lol

When I see a map like this I use to say "F**cling sexy map"

Anyway I will play the map ...what it will be what it will be?

[Private Tux]

Thanks for releasing this map a "pre final" one. I will give it a try soon.

[stevelois]

Pretty sky! Pretty meshing!
Downloading. Will give it a go tomorrow.

THX bro

Take your time because I'll release the final only in 2-3 weeks (depending on the general feedback).

If you put the vanilla sky song by pual mcartney with that sky would be flawless ...It joke lol

When I see a map like this I use to say "F**cling sexy map"

Anyway I will play the map ...what it will be what it will be?

LOL

THX dude

It will be frantic if you load the map with 32 players LOL

[stevelois]

Thanks for releasing this map a "pre final" one. I will give it a try soon.

Hope you will like it & have fun

[DarkSonny07]

Holy f**k steve yesterday I saw the colour tweaks guide for ut3 made by 100gping100 and I set my ut3 colour game...I load your map mate I dunno why the cbp team didn't invited you to be part with them, this map the lights the colours ( ahh I missed until the day after the colours as could used to see in ut series...) clap clap clap wow

May this map to be, besides citius your best map made to date is addictive as hell aswell this map can be played with tdm ...32 players is insane lolol

I would not change nothing...talking about a ruined building you could add some place ( example on the most top map some plants raising over the wall or so that would give a sensation of time and older feeling lol

Great job!

[stevelois]

Holy f**k steve yesterday I saw the colour tweaks guide for ut3 made by 100gping100 and I set my ut3 colour game...I load your map mate I dunno why the cbp team didn't invited you to be part with them, this map the lights the colours ( ahh I missed until the day after the colours as could used to see in ut series...) clap clap clap wow

May this map to be, besides citius your best map made to date is addictive as hell aswell this map can be played with tdm ...32 players is insane lolol

I would not change nothing...talking about a ruined building you could add some place ( example on the most top map some plants raising over the wall or so that would give a sensation of time and older feeling lol

Great job!

Ha ha

Happy you like it bud & that you put it on par with CPB3 quality

Indeed, it's a very addictive map & I'm proud of that because I too, I just can't stop playing LOL

At the beginning, this is what I wanted (big collapse structures with many water leaks & vines & all) but I decided not to add all of that stuff & keep to concrete, dry stuff. I didn't want to go with a derelict theme but rather a just stopped construction project (that is a reason why you have the lights turned on in the middle of the day ).

[Darkn3ss is QnL]

Very nice job on all the meshing etc Stevie.
Just played it a few times:
I was impressed by all the meshing, layout and weapon and pickup placement is well thought off.
Like that 50 armor in a corner. It seemed all reserved for me :P

gameplay was pretty good overall. A steady 60fps on my system.
Just one big dip in the exact middle section where the UDamage is. It went 40 there.
Perhaps by some hard lightning there.

The shieldbelt was a bit unreachable. I did not got a chance to get it when playing with +10 bots.
Near that small elevator was a chaos with 3 bots trying to get the shieldbelt.

Bots have a good time. They really loved sniping and using flak in those small corners :P
A few got stuck in a corner with 3 health vials near it.
But after a rocket or a tasty flak, that wasnt a problem

Only minor things Stevie..
Really a colorful map which flows really good. I did not find any bugs or collision issues.
This is a keeper for me!
Great job man.

[Darkn3ss is QnL]

Very nice job on all the meshing etc Stevie.
Just played it a few times:
I was impressed by all the meshing, layout and weapon and pickup placement is well thought off.
Like that 50 armor in a corner. It seemed all reserved for me :P

gameplay was pretty good overall. A steady 60fps on my system.
Just one big dip in the exact middle section where the UDamage is. It went 40 there.
Perhaps by some hard lightning there.

The shieldbelt was a bit unreachable. I did not got a chance to get it when playing with +10 bots.
Near that small elevator was a chaos with 3 bots trying to get the shieldbelt.

Bots have a good time. They really loved sniping and using flak in those small corners :P
A few got stuck in a corner with 3 health vials near it.
But after a rocket or a tasty flak, that wasnt a problem

Only minor things Stevie..
Really a colorful map which flows really good. I did not find any bugs or collision issues.
This is a keeper for me!
Great job man.

Gave this a plug on iamgaming buddy!

HERE

[TKBS]

I like this map; the only reservations i have are the following;

1. i wanted to go in so many nice looking areas - but they are "blocked off"
*visually speaking*
- by the water.

- by the bollards

** it looks like i can get into the Bollard area on the Right.
- you could open the area to gameplay- or stand the bollard upright/ use better visual blocking indications.

- by the steel fences/ grates

2.from a gameplay perspective[rather than visual approach]
*Gameplay aspects*
- the hole in the floor - that has a steel bar across it;

- i want to be able to drop down here.

- The port holes;
*would be great if i could jump through the port hole- either from level ground or using the lift/ jump pad.



3. additional thoughts
-rogue health-
the jump pad that leads to a health pick up= this pickup is just not supposed to be there- it feels wrongly placed; then i try to jump the entire arena using wall dodge - and cannot quite make the edge

** i also feel/ found that you overused the "lift decal" - and as a result i was reading the sign for lift - like 3 times before i found the lift entrance.
as an example
- no decal/ without decals on

- 3 = too many decals/ some not needed/ confusing
- and without so many decals i think it still looks great- maybe just use 1 in a sensible position
- it stands out that this area has 3 decals; when numerous other lifts do not


- Other than that; this one of the only truly "Unreal" looking maps i have seen in a while; which is very nice.
- you got the use of mesh, bsp and terrain just right

[although relaxing the gradient on the terrain would be beneficial]// use average//


- Stinger + Stinger ammo + UDamage = ?

* no need for the ammo i think.

* Blocking issues
- a separate location for 2 heal vials - which is a dead end; this really disrupts the otherwise great gameplay.

** & If you try to turn around and escape- the hole is almost too small - so sometimes u get stuck!!

- Really Great stuff [later i will add images to help highlight my points ]

[Darkn3ss is QnL]

1.
Imo, the map is fine as it is with the blocked off area's. It creates a place of deco for some places and keeps the map flowing without adding any unnecessary side rooms which are tuned better then the overall

2.
The steel bar you are showing can also prevent collission issues with bots. Also like i said, it creates a straight path, blocking the chance of an escaping enemy through too many holes. If you look at the map, you can get almost anywhere on the lower level by orienting on the main middle side. No need for ground holes.

And I didnt have any problems with that small hole. If you can crouch, you can get out anywhere. Just bots tend to get stuck because the are not as smart as the logic brain

[DarkSonny07]

Steve, I put more feedback about light treatment not relevant but it can be done more realistically, here is it:

http://www.mediafire.com/?8o3b42p0bil8x11

See ya!

[stevelois]

Very nice job on all the meshing etc Stevie.
Just played it a few times:
I was impressed by all the meshing, layout and weapon and pickup placement is well thought off.
Like that 50 armor in a corner. It seemed all reserved for me :P

THX bud

gameplay was pretty good overall. A steady 60fps on my system.
Just one big dip in the exact middle section where the UDamage is. It went 40 there.
Perhaps by some hard lightning there.

Yeah, this area is very open & the more the players, the more the FPS will drop. It can reach 750 000 poly's when full of action so it is normal. The fact that I can't cull anything is the main reason.

The shieldbelt was a bit unreachable. I did not got a chance to get it when playing with +10 bots.
Near that small elevator was a chaos with 3 bots trying to get the shieldbelt.

Mmm... I play on adept level & I can grab it at least 50% of the time. Everything was timed so you can grab it easily performing a liftjump. So if your coming from below, just take a chance & jump, even if you miss the belt, you can collect 15 health points. The corridor to reach the belt is intended to be narrow. 1 - to respect the risk vs. reward, note the lift is also slower as the KEG lift to raise the adrenaline & 2 - since you can clearly see the belt spawning, you can judge the right time to enter the corridor.

Bots have a good time. They really loved sniping and using flak in those small corners :P
A few got stuck in a corner with 3 health vials near it.
But after a rocket or a tasty flak, that wasnt a problem

LOL, I never saw a bot stuck there ? But I did blast them in pieces with few rockets or shock combo

Only minor things Stevie..
Really a colorful map which flows really good. I did not find any bugs or collision issues.
This is a keeper for me!
Great job man.

Happy you like it & also, THX a lot for the pub on iamgaming, much appreciated bud

[stevelois]

A lengthly post you've made there. I regroup some points so to keep my reply short / easier to read.

I like this map; the only reservations i have are the following;

1. i wanted to go in so many nice looking areas - but they are "blocked off" *visually speaking*

by the water
by the bollards
by the steel fences / grates

As a visual person, I like to look at pretty stuff outside the play area. I like to see the horizon or far away if you like & look at unreachable rooms. Most games use this kind of approach that bring the feeling of wide opening & areas you simply can't reach for various reasons. Those unreachable areas are a design choice. Yes, I already thought of leaving them open for the players but flow & gameplay wise, it's not a good design choice & that way it add something pretty to look at, no more.

2.from a gameplay perspective[rather than visual approach]
*Gameplay aspects*
- the hole in the floor - that has a steel bar across it;

- i want to be able to drop down here.

Again, the fact the hole is closed add a better gameplay. It was open at the beginning but gameplay wise, it's better that way.

- The port holes;
*would be great if i could jump through the port hole- either from level ground or using the lift/ jump pad.

Gameplay wise, it serve to keep an eye & shoot, not to pass trough. Note that I play more TDM than DM & it change the gameplay drastically. The main purpose of this hole is a defense point for your team so the leader can collect the KEG & be supported. The pic isn't clear but I presume it's the hole between the 2 rotating fans ?

3. additional thoughts
-rogue health-
the jump pad that leads to a health pick up= this pickup is just not supposed to be there- it feels wrongly placed; then i try to jump the entire arena using wall dodge - and cannot quite make the edge

Why "it's not supposed" ??? It may seem weird at first but trust me you will be happy after a while it is there lol. There was other things there but after putting many different pickups, it was a good move. But I agree it can feel wrong the first time. I don't do walldodge so if you can provide me a pic, it would be helpful !

** i also feel/ found that you overused the "lift decal" - and as a result i was reading the sign for lift - like 3 times before i found the lift entrance.
as an example
- no decal/ without decals on

- 3 = too many decals/ some not needed/ confusing
- and without so many decals i think it still looks great- maybe just use 1 in a sensible position
- it stands out that this area has 3 decals; when numerous other lifts do not

Well, I put 1 decal beside all lifts that cover the main angle of vision but sometime I need to add another decal that cover the other portion of the angle that isn't covered. But indeed, I think in this case, the best is to move the decal that is in front of the lift in front of the link ammo & add another one in front of the shock ammo, what do you think ?

- Other than that; this one of the only truly "Unreal" looking maps i have seen in a while; which is very nice.
- you got the use of mesh, bsp and terrain just right

THX, look like I've reach my goal

[although relaxing the gradient on the terrain would be beneficial]// use average//

What do you mean ? Like using more the grass material instead of the rock ?

- Stinger + Stinger ammo + UDamage = ?

* no need for the ammo i think.

In all my maps, I always put 1 ammo that goes with the weapon & another one that don't. It's a design choice, which add more gameplay than putting 2 set of the same ammo that goes with the weapon. The fact the Udamage is close in this case change nothing in my pickup setup. When you'll check the map in the editor, you will see that all weapons have the same amount of ammo & they are placed in strategic / logical spots & nothing is there just like that (don't take it wrong here, I'm just explaining my pickup setup).

* Blocking issues
- a separate location for 2 heal vials - which is a dead end; this really disrupts the otherwise great gameplay.

** & If you try to turn around and escape- the hole is almost too small - so sometimes u get stuck!!

This is an escape route from above (flak sector) & add another way to reach the Udamage. It is not intended to go up, only down. The vials could be aligned along the corridor but I prefer to regroup them for various reasons. I must admit that I dunno how you can get stuck or where because I never was or never saw bots get stuck ??? Or it is something I miss ???

- Really Great stuff [later i will add images to help highlight my points ]

THX for your great feedback ! I really appreciate but note that I'm practically done with this map so everything in regard of flow, gameplay, pickup placement, look, sounds, music won't change. I concentrate on bugs & small stuff only. Not that I don't appreciate your suggestions, some will be address for sure & THX for your time (damn smilies limitations...).

[stevelois]

Steve, I put more feedback about light treatment not relevant but it can be done more realistically, here is it:

http://www.mediafire.com/?8o3b42p0bil8x11

See ya!

THX, will look into that

EDIT

- The blue lighting you point out near the flak is already there but use a low brightness so I increase the light brightness so it is more visible.
- The shadows on the brick wall behind the fire thing aren't very noticeable because the fire thing don't cast enough shadows du to is size. The mesh is a tad bigger now & the shadows rez higher so you can see a very nice, smooth shadows behind it.
- The corridor that lead to the belt lift won't have any additional light, it is intended that way & only to use some ambient light which is already there. Therefore, the light brightness from the lift as twice the brightness now.

THX m8

[stevelois]

I intent to release the final next Friday, May 4th. I judge that 2 weeks for a pre-final is enough.

Hope that everyone who as comments in the dev will give me their feedback, after all, it was much more than 4 persons...

THX in advance

[Bl!tz~]

well...i was going to wait the final to post some congratz (i wasnt sure u wanted to hear some feedback from ur UOF mates as u didnt post anything there about this map) but as u ask for more feedback i ll share 2 or 3 ideas (more related to personal tastes than to real problems):
-it was also mentionned, i found this BV not enough "visible" , it gives the feeling that u can go there...before crashing ur nose on some invisible glass...lol^^



-the fans are weird to me, in factories theses kind of fans are used to drive air from a room to a tube line or vice-versa but urs are looking like if they are linked to a tube but the tubes are "closed", if u intend to use big fans just to moove air around something to refresh it with no tubing and no air flux the fans are less "enboxed"....as they are now they are useless imo (from a realistic side )



-this part of the "build" immediatly catched my attention "oh what a nice tank!....but wait wtf are thoses windows doing here????" all that tubing going in a curved room doesnt make sence imo



here about visuals bad side....for the rest...time to tell that it s one of ur best map , i really dig meshing, texturing and more than all the lighting with that ambiant darkness, reminds me several top maps like malevolence, insidious or metus in a closed semi-industrial environement with a central part open on an external view....the ruined structure add a scaring feeling to the layout....nice

about layout except what i mentionned in first pict i didnt feel embarrased by ur BVs in any direction ...i wasnt even tempted to try to go there so it was clear that it was "blocked"
agree with TKB5 about the weird feeling of the health pickup while landing after using the jumppad....dont ask me why... i dunno myself...i was just awaiting something more important there to be grabed + i m not sure i want to expose myself in the air if i try to recover some health...i mean the place is so exposed that u re quite sure to loose the health u ve grabbed there...= useless jumppadding travel...lol...imo perhaps something that worth more the risk there can be a good idea...personnal feeling of course
for the rest i like a lot the gameplay of the place, tbh i find the map a lil too big (and with a lil overmeshed feeling ) to me but my son will contradict me here....he find it perfectly addapted to his crazy sniper tastes
on a pure artistic side it s nice and very well done, keep it up cousin

[LordBret]

Excellent Work

[Darkn3ss is QnL]

well...i was going to wait the final to post some congratz (i wasnt sure u wanted to hear some feedback from ur UOF mates as u didnt post anything there about this map) but as u ask for more feedback i ll share 2 or 3 ideas (more related to personal tastes than to real problems):
-it was also mentionned, i found this BV not enough "visible" , it gives the feeling that u can go there...before crashing ur nose on some invisible glass...lol^^



-the fans are weird to me, in factories theses kind of fans are used to drive air from a room to a tube line or vice-versa but urs are looking like if they are linked to a tube but the tubes are "closed", if u intend to use big fans just to moove air around something to refresh it with no tubing and no air flux the fans are less "enboxed"....as they are now they are useless imo (from a realistic side )



-this part of the "build" immediatly catched my attention "oh what a nice tank!....but wait wtf are thoses windows doing here????" all that tubing going in a curved room doesnt make sence imo



here about visuals bad side....for the rest...time to tell that it s one of ur best map , i really dig meshing, texturing and more than all the lighting with that ambiant darkness, reminds me several top maps like malevolence, insidious or metus in a closed semi-industrial environement with a central part open on an external view....the ruined structure add a scaring feeling to the layout....nice

about layout except what i mentionned in first pict i didnt feel embarrased by ur BVs in any direction ...i wasnt even tempted to try to go there so it was clear that it was "blocked"
agree with TKB5 about the weird feeling of the health pickup while landing after using the jumppad....dont ask me why... i dunno myself...i was just awaiting something more important there to be grabed + i m not sure i want to expose myself in the air if i try to recover some health...i mean the place is so exposed that u re quite sure to loose the health u ve grabbed there...= useless jumppadding travel...lol...imo perhaps something that worth more the risk there can be a good idea...personnal feeling of course
for the rest i like a lot the gameplay of the place, tbh i find the map a lil too big (and with a lil overmeshed feeling ) to me but my son will contradict me here....he find it perfectly addapted to his crazy sniper tastes
on a pure artistic side it s nice and very well done, keep it up cousin

Woow what a sentence bro ;p haha.
We dutchies are confused ;p

[stevelois]

Excellent Work

THX

well...i was going to wait the final to post some congratz (i wasnt sure u wanted to hear some feedback from ur UOF mates as u didnt post anything there about this map) but as u ask for more feedback i ll share 2 or 3 ideas (more related to personal tastes than to real problems):

Well my couzin, I didn't post this map on UOF & neither BU because I didn't feel the needs to create 3 threads for a map that I already consider 95% done & I know that UOF teams are here too & that everyone would give me your excellent feedback as always. It's nothing personal bro or against the team & since this is a standalone map, I preferred to release it on 1 place only by choosing the most crowded one.

-it was also mentionned, i found this BV not enough "visible" , it gives the feeling that u can go there...before crashing ur nose on some invisible glass...lol^^

Added some bars. Fixed.

-the fans are weird to me, in factories theses kind of fans are used to drive air from a room to a tube line or vice-versa but urs are looking like if they are linked to a tube but the tubes are "closed", if u intend to use big fans just to moove air around something to refresh it with no tubing and no air flux the fans are less "enboxed"....as they are now they are useless imo (from a realistic side )

Yeah, I know what you mean, so I'll opened the vent hole to the top. It add a bit more lighting & look prettier that way.

-this part of the "build" immediatly catched my attention "oh what a nice tank!....but wait wtf are thoses windows doing here????" all that tubing going in a curved room doesnt make sence imo

I already saw some kind of silo with windows & pipes when I was living "à la campagne" lol. It exist my friend & beside, I love the mesh mix so I won't change that.

here about visuals bad side....for the rest...time to tell that it s one of ur best map , i really dig meshing, texturing and more than all the lighting with that ambiant darkness, reminds me several top maps like malevolence, insidious or metus in a closed semi-industrial environement with a central part open on an external view....the ruined structure add a scaring feeling to the layout....nice

about layout except what i mentionned in first pict i didnt feel embarrased by ur BVs in any direction ...i wasnt even tempted to try to go there so it was clear that it was "blocked"
agree with TKB5 about the weird feeling of the health pickup while landing after using the jumppad....dont ask me why... i dunno myself...i was just awaiting something more important there to be grabed + i m not sure i want to expose myself in the air if i try to recover some health...i mean the place is so exposed that u re quite sure to loose the health u ve grabbed there...= useless jumppadding travel...lol...imo perhaps something that worth more the risk there can be a good idea...personnal feeling of course
for the rest i like a lot the gameplay of the place, tbh i find the map a lil too big (and with a lil overmeshed feeling ) to me but my son will contradict me here....he find it perfectly addapted to his crazy sniper tastes
on a pure artistic side it s nice and very well done, keep it up cousin

THX couzin for your honest feeling & great feedback, much appreciated & I'm happy the younger have fun popping heads out LOL !

Woow what a sentence bro ;p haha.
We dutchies are confused ;p[/QU

No worries m8, everything is clear to me (Frenchies connection lol...)

[stevelois]

I've decide to release the final today

THX to the few testers who had take the time to test the map & provide me some feedback, I appreciate & your listed in the readme credits

Good day.