first map effort: C&C welcome

[cswann1]

This is my first effort at creating custom game content of any kind. My goal was to create a functional, if not artistic, map for UT3.
A little about me, I'm a PC technician and avid gamer for about as long as video games have existed. I bought the UT3 CE in 2007 and had always planed to go through the tutorial content but until recently have had other things going on.

So last week I completed the tutorial level, and the next day started work on this map. I'm fairly happy with the results but I've played a lot of maps and I'm aware of how amateurish it is. However I would like to hear some feedback from the Epic Games community.

Thanks in advance,

~Craig~
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7w...mhuUzhJbVZiZU0








After playing the map for a while I've found a technical issue with one of the BSP objects that I need to correct. The "window pane" I created for a couple of odd-shaped pieces has no collision.... DOH! >.<

Also, in keeping with the fast-pace feel I was going for, I have decided to add a couple more Berserk PU's, another damage amp.

These changes are in the current file linked above.

[Darkn3ss is QnL]

If you need feedback, why not post this in the Beta Releases section?

Anyway, I played the map. Here are my foundings. Some issues though:

- All of static meshes look in place, but everything seems to be a bit cropped up. There is not much room to navigate. Also, the map is pretty small for a proper DM.
- Way too much ammo and you have Weapon stockings set up with a set of double ammo next to it. Unnecessary, because setting up a Weapon stack will give you a full set of ammo already.
Its better to use single weapon actors with maximal 2 sets of ammo not directly next to it

- An UDamage, An Invisiblity, and two beserk pickups? On such a small map? There is one one located on the far top of the map and below the map.
- The elevator is too small and hinders the flow of the map. Also, the elevator is completly black because you forgot to check bEnabled to let your elevator accept lights.
- The 3 vials and the flak cannon are hovering above the ground. There are not set to the ground.

The style and attempt seem good to me Just the excessive use of powerups, weapons and ammo, and a lack of good flow is what seem to hinder me on this map.

[cswann1]

Thanks for your input Dark, and I will henceforth post new maps in the Beta or Final forums. Also, I don't know if my game client is set up differently than yours, but picking up a weapon does not give a full ammo bank.

Just an update: I have made a few visual tweaks to the sky, and fixed a couple of visual glitches.

The decisions I made regarding the size of the map and it's content, were based on these criteria.

1) Time. I wanted to try not to bite off more than I can chew on the first map. I wanted a map big enough to accommodate 8 players/bots and flesh it out visually and not have it take a month.
2) Pace. This map was designed to be a fast paced DM experience. I didn't want players to have to hunt for things to kill. Some of the things that I used to facilitate this are:
a) Size (as described above)
b) weapon/ammo availability. Lots of payer/player or player/bot encounters means lots of shooting.
c) Power-up availability. I think power-ups add a lot of fun to a DM and wanted multiples of these so that you would have more than one player/bot with power-ups. This will increase that pace and drama as well as prevent power up camping.
Also, the placement of these items encourages players/bots to go to all areas of the map.


I'm going to try to set up a dedicated UT3 server on a virtual machine and see if I can get this map up and available for online Multuplayer on an almost full-time basis. Because this map uses stock actors/meshes/materials the DL will be restricted to the map file only.