DM-Excavation [Beta 1.1] [Pics]

[BarnabyJones]

Name: Excavation
Version: 1.1
Compatibility: v2.1
Description: You are not the first to try and uncover the many secrets locked away deep inside this ancient pyramid.
Comments: There's still a lot of mesh/texture work that I'd like to get implemented but it's ready to be play tested so any feedback on the gameplay is much appreciated.
Screenshots:







Credits: All meshes and textures are Epic's. Level design was done by me.
Homepage: http://www.pigsington.com
Download:
PC - http://www.jimmysteorts.com/Excavation.zip
PS3 - http://www.jimmysteorts.com/Excavation_ps3.zip

Changes in version 1.1

• Made optimization changes (hopefully it runs better)
• Cleared up some dead space outside and added a bit more z-axis play
• Added health where health was needed
• Tweaked path nodes for bot play

[Stromboli]

Looks awesome... If you have a beta planned for the PS3, I'd be more than happy to run it through its paces.

[BarnabyJones]

Looks awesome... If you have a beta planned for the PS3, I'd be more than happy to run it through its paces.

I'll look into cooking it for ps3 when I get some time this week. Things have been a bit hectic. I've hardly had time to run through it on PC with bots

[BarnabyJones]

The map is now available for download for the ps3! Enjoy!

[Odedge]

I took a quick look/play at it, so I will just leave you with some thoughts.

1. Game play: To me it's ok as this map seems like it focuses more on atmosphere and not game play, which is fine. The one part of the map that I really didn't like was the vertical section with the walkways criss crossing. It really lacks any kind of flow.

2. Bots: Make sure they can give a good fight as enough people will play this offline.

3. Optimization: Looking at the map in the editor, there are enough things you can do to help frame rates, which is really needed in the outdoor area. In one spot, the game was rendering 1,273,576 static mesh tris and 132,072 terrain tris. That's too much for most computers to handle.

A few suggestions...

1. I would reduce the playing area of the outdoor area (where you can walk to the pyramid), It's a big map anyways and this part is causing the biggest frame rate problem.

2. Reduce the number of trees and grass "meshes" in the deco layer of your terrain. It doesn't matter how nice your level looks, if it doesn't perform well.

3. Reduce the "visibility" of the sections of the terrain that the player will never see.

4. For BSP, if the player will never see the face of a BSP, you should set it to not accept light and raise the light map value to the highest value (in the Surface Properties) window.

a. If the BSP will occlude a good amount of "stuff", apply the "BlackUnlitMaterial".

b. If the BSP really doesn't occlude anything, apply the "RemoveSurfaceMaterial".

Both of these can be found in the EngineMaterials package which is automatically loaded.

You have a nice theme going and it looks good.

When you almost ready to "go final" and you want one more set of eyes, let me know.

[BarnabyJones]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to play through it Odedge. I'll definitely be making some of the optimization changes. My computer is a beast so no performance issues caught my attention

[Stromboli]

DLing for PS3 right now... I'll test it up and down for the PS3 and PM you.

[Odedge]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to play through it Odedge. I'll definitely be making some of the optimization changes. My computer is a beast so no performance issues caught my attention

No problem. Given that all computers are different, I use the "stat engine" command in the console to let me know what's objectively happening.

I run the game pretty much maxed out and the stock maps run just fine. So when a custom map runs poorly, something is wrong. We always have to make compromises when building maps and visuals vs frame rate is always a cosntant tug of war.

[stevelois]

I wanted to let you know that since you post this map. I found your pics very nice & it look like a fun level with some varieties

I don't post very often lately in Epic forums but I must agree with Odedge about the optimization aspect & also don't forget to use as much culling as is necessary. Even if you have a good gaming machine, optimize the map the best you can. Even 5 FPS more is better than nothing

Will try the map shortly & keep it up

[BarnabyJones]

I'm going to see if I can clean up a lot of the optimization issues ASAP and I'll repost for both PC and PS3.

[Stromboli]

Well, I was going to post a review and send you my testing results, but I'll wait for the update first... Good map.

[1XTreme]

-Snip- We always have to make compromises when building maps and visuals vs frame rate is always a constant tug of war.

+1

Highly agreed.

[BarnabyJones]

Updated to version 1.1.

Lemme know what you guys think =)

[Odedge]

Updated to version 1.1.

Lemme know what you guys think =)

Well, I can say the frame rates surely have been improved in the "outside" area. Nice job there.

1. Looking at it in the editor, you can still get rid of a lot of unseen terrain using the terrain's visibility tool.

2. To be on the cautious side, I would also replace the default texture with the "BlackUnlit" one in the EngineMaterials section. Don't know if it will make a big difference, but having a very simple texture on BSP faces that will never be seen can't hurt. As I believe I mentioned before, applying the "RemoveSurfaceMaterial" material could also help.

In general, it's hard to know exactly when something is being rendered (because the player not be able to actually see it). So I do these types of things, just to be safe.

3. The ivy meshes you are using shouldn't block either the player or weapon fire (this is true for most foliage). The same applies for the necris vortex

4. I like the water running along the top and face of the pyramid, but it looks a bit odd coming out of the wall (as there are no holes or gaps).

5. Inside the pyramid, near the Flak, you have 2 pits. These shouldn't be that "black" near the top of them. They should have some light casting on it, then it should fade to black later on. I say this from a visual perspective as light would light up the walls. of the pit.

6. You will eventually need to place blocking volumes around your map so the players can't "fly" out of it. This is not for offline players, but for online players. When you spectate a match (and also before it begins), you can fly around the map. You don't want the player to see your map for what it is, a movie set (even though it is).

7. When ever you release a map to the public (whether it's a alpha, beta, or final), you should always have unique file names. It's customary to have DM-Excavation be the final name and something like DM-Excavation_beta1 be the name for a beta.

This helps the player know exactly which version they have. It also prevents any version mismatches. If 2 players have different versions of the map with the same name, the server won't allow others with the same version to play.

8. The backside of the 2 pyramids in the distance should also have that "RemoveSurfaceMaterial" as well because the player should never see them.

9. I don't know if you have already planned to do so, but the level needs some ambient sounds (wind, water flowing, crickets, that sort of stuff).

Keep up the good work.

[BarnabyJones]

Thanks again for the feedback Odedge!

I'll be going through and making more tweaks in the next few days.