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**stevelois** · 09-11-2010, 04:39 PM

I'm not a WAR player but the screens look very different

Lighting look sweet, specially in the first pic

Will try it asap.

**Thrallala** · 09-11-2010, 07:45 PM

Looks awesome, will be back with some feedback once I've tried it!

**Poker** · 09-12-2010, 09:08 AM

Well this piece deserves some praise ... love the indoor non-vehicle WAR maps, and this is shaping up to be a great one. GJ!

Couple notes:
(1) I would like more AirControl on some of the jump pads; the ones at the center node was where I noticed it
(2) The decor in the 50 armor hallways seem a tad barren yet
(3) The red/blue trim is reversed in spots, which came off rather needlessly confusing, although I can see this being a design choice also, as it does have a nice look to it aesthetically

I'm not sure I caught 100% of everything the map has, but all else that I saw is just superb and reeks of well thought-out design, from architecture and game dynamics to weapon placements and locker selection. The slow fields play terrific here with all the hallways, and little things like the cores and center node placed at an angle are a neat touch.

Well done!

**azurescorch** · 09-12-2010, 11:10 AM

Originally posted by Poker View Post

Well this piece deserves some praise ... love the indoor non-vehicle WAR maps, and this is shaping up to be a great one. GJ!

Couple notes:
(1) I would like more AirControl on some of the jump pads; the ones at the center node was where I noticed it
(2) The decor in the 50 armor hallways seem a tad barren yet
(3) The red/blue trim is reversed in spots, which came off rather needlessly confusing, although I can see this being a design choice also, as it does have a nice look to it aesthetically

I'm not sure I caught 100% of everything the map has, but all else that I saw is just superb and reeks of well thought-out design, from architecture and game dynamics to weapon placements and locker selection. The slow fields play terrific here with all the hallways, and little things like the cores and center node placed at an angle are a neat touch.

Well done!

Thank you very much Poker

I'll see if I can't add more to the 50 armor hallway as like you said it is a tad barren. I'll go add some more air control to the centre jump pads too.

Some people who played it with me also complained like hell about the SlowField power-up. Complaining that it's bugged because it blocks hitscan and lalalala

I was tempted to replace it with invulnerability, see how they like that!
I guess I could swap it around for udamage though.

**Poker** · 09-13-2010, 12:50 AM

Originally posted by azurescorch View Post

Some people who played it with me also complained like hell about the SlowField power-up. Complaining that it's bugged because it blocks hitscan and lalalala

I was tempted to replace it with invulnerability, see how they like that!
I guess I could swap it around for udamage though.

Actually I'm tempted to agree with them — I didn't mention it before as I chalk it up somewhat to personal preference — while the static slowfield works wonderfully, I don't consider the slowfield powerup to be a very well conceived game device, and find that maps that do utilize it tend to get avoided in online play generally, especially with the objective-based games (CTF/WAR) where it gives a flag/orb carrier 60 seconds (!) of a badly unbalanced advantage. I believe a Udamage would work well in its place; Berserk would work even better IMO, and Invisibility would probably give the most interesting gameplay of them all. All that said, Slowfield might still prove playable; it may be premature to toss it just yet.

Another consideration, if you're still open, might be to add a JumpBoots or two somewhere; the vertical play they add seems to make them popular. Possible locations that struck me as good candidates were: (1) The platforms above the lift near each 50 armor (where 4 vials are currently); (2) The minigun pickup, or some other place that's similarly challenging to reach.

**azurescorch** · 09-13-2010, 11:32 AM

I admit the Stinger placement was made purely due to my distaste of the weapon :d

I'll see about adding some jump boots some where and swapping out the slowfield for something else. Invisibility could be interesting as it's not a very common pick up.

**[GOW] K1lla** · 09-13-2010, 03:10 PM

yay a new war map

downloading...

==============================================

ok just played through it... very nice layout.

lol @ stinger.. good place for that

as for the power ups i'm not a huge fan of them. like poker said maybe a berserk or invisibility would be better.

we'll have to play this at our next scrim sunday night... should have some more gameplay feedback then.

at the center node area i did get a drop in frames.. bounced around 60-100 (without bots)

here are a few visuals i noticed that could use some fixin':

i know you don't want to add anymore dynamic lights but this rock mesh is a little too dark:
[Screenshot]http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr325/GOW_DaKilla/Strife_01.jpg[/Screenshot]

There's a little gap between the brushes on top of center node:
[Screenshot]http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr325/GOW_DaKilla/Strife_03.jpg[/Screenshot]

The top FX on the teleporter isn't being displayed @ blue prime
[Screenshot]http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr325/GOW_DaKilla/Strife_02.jpg[/Screenshot]

This decal could be closer to the wall so it doesn't disappear when you stand next to it (check red side too...i didn't look)
[Screenshot]http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr325/GOW_DaKilla/Strife_04.jpg[/Screenshot]

also the cores appear all black.. but i'm sure you've noticed

Nice job on this map.. keep up the good work

**azurescorch** · 09-13-2010, 05:45 PM

Originally posted by [GOW] Daquila View Post

yay a new war map

ok just played through it... very nice layout.

Cores all black

That I have never noticed. I'll go and have a look and slap my alpha testers around a bit.
edit: Oh I see what you mean. It seems I neglected to give that section of the core room any lighting what so ever! I'll fix that tonight as well Xp

I have some light_volumes on my map which could be messing up that rock-mesh, maybe I included/excluded some lights by mistake or forgot to put a volume there. I'll have a look and see what's happening there.

Very nice find with that center node brush and the decals

I'll sort it out.

I'll delete and readd the teleporters to see if that fixes it. Might do the same with those backward facing spawn points (I'm presuming these bugs are from mirroring everything over from red side to blue side).

Thanks for the feed back, much appreciated

edit: If any one can think of a way to simulate the map getting darker rather than a FPS raping dynamic light feel free to tell me. I'm considering removing the whole bright-daytime to completely overcast theme, and just having it overcast throughout.

**1XTreme** · 09-14-2010, 03:45 AM

Great map! while i do like WAR, CTF is my main thing ..

I took some runs through this last night out of curiosity.

As i said looks like you've put some serious effort into this one, the map obviously reflects such and is shaping up nicely..

I was wondering about how many lights do you think you have in the map? around 2-3K? or maybe more?

The reason i'm asking is because i had attempted to do what our doing with lights on another map and eventually abandon it after dealing with all kinds of lightmapping issues, crashes, slow build times, etc .. I accomplished virtually the same thing on certain lit areas with emissive material adjustments & specular textures.

**Poker** · 09-14-2010, 04:59 AM

I have a few more thoughts after running through the level a second time, both some architectural suggestions, and a few easy fixes. I'll keep this whittled down to just the best of the ideas I had, but I'll try to present them as clearly as possible — this level deserves as much detailed feedback as we can give it, and I really think it's going to turn out great (did I mention that already? :P).

Fix-its

(1) Center-low entrance to Center Node

Team-colored lighting here seems to be missing on the Red side.

Additionally (not pictured), the hallways that flank this one seem to have their lighting reversed; again, I can see how this may be a design choice, and while I do like the look of it, I'd be more concerned about it lending confusion to players new to the map who are still learning their way around.

2) Center Node ledge

Sniper ammo pickups are found near the Sniper rifle pickup on the Red side, but not near the one on the Blue side.

Here I'd suggest either (a) just removing the ammo pickups there, as two Sniper rifles situated so close together is plenty of ammo supply for everyone, or (b) moving the ammo pickups to a location slightly farther away, like having a pair of them situated right on the ledge in the foreground of the picture above. (This kind of placement strategy is smart in that it intuitively aids new players with getting their bearings in the map, as in, "I see a pair of Sniper ammo here in front of me; I should expect to find a Sniper rifle pickup nearby.")

(3) Center-high entrances to Countdown Node

There are three vials on the Blue side, and two on the Red side.

Architectural Suggestions

I think what is already here is really superb, as I've said, though I also see just a few spots where an additional hallway or passageway not only would really add some depth and enhance gameplay in a full-on match, but also would be fairly easy to build.

These ideas come simply from spending more time touring through the level and trying to envision things that would add dynamism to the game flow. If any of these strike your fancy, great, if not, they're just ideas, and moreover I'm sure others will be able to suggest some better ones than these, too.

And then, too, if anything like this is worth adding, there's the point that it might also make room for more spots to add, say, boots or another powerup or something, if you're still open to that, instead of having to trade them out for something else. (I quite like your current minigun placement too, btw, for the very same reason

)

(1) New hallway leading from "No-Exit" doors at each core (top) to a new outlet above and behind the jump pad at the Countdown Node (bottom)

In this scenario it might work best if the doors were triggered in some manner, too, perhaps with a switch on the Core side, to provide the losing team with a method of either cutting off that avenue for attackers or quick access for themselves to score a Core hit if the Countdown Node is being neglected.

The rationale for this one is partly just that the space near the "No Exit" doors seems a little bit out-of-the-way of the normal flow of traffic, and linking the door to a useful hallway would give that area a little more purpose. And, arguably, one more entrance to the Core room (not to mention the Countdown Node as well) would make the game mechanics a bit more interesting, especially with triggers in play somehow.

(2) Alternate passage directly linking Prime Nodes and Center Node

Here I'm imagining a couple of possibilities. One would be something like a ventilation duct that simply runs from an outlet on the north wall of the Prime Node ante-room, near the stacked boxes, to, perhaps, the lateral wall above the overhang where the four vials are (the teal-colored squares in the image above).

From there, you could complete the course to the Center Node with another duct starting either from the north wall of the overhang, with that bulkhead mesh removed, or from an opening in the ceiling beyond the overhang, accessible using a power-jump off the lift (either of the green-colored squares in the image above), and running that north and medially into the opening on the side wall of the Center Node room that currently holds the rotating fan mesh.

(You could even make the last one more interesting by implementing both of the green-square outlets, and have the top duct dump down into the one below it on its way forward.)

The rationale for this one is mostly just that the current path from Prime to Center by way of the 50 armor is fairly linear and barren going from room to room, and players might stand to benefit from having a couple more options through there.

(3) Passage from locked door at Prime Node leading out to the 50 armor

This last one is kind of an afterthought and might be one addition too many, but it could be useful so here it is anyway.

Specifically, the end points for this passageway would be (a) the wall face between the crosshair and mini-map in the top image, at the top of the ramp beyond the locked door, and (b) some outlet on the wall face behind the 50 armor, directly over the crosshair in the bottom image above.

The rationale for this one I think is mostly just how it adds more much-needed dimension to the 50-armor room, and then how it also adds a little more purpose to that ramp/hallway that leads up to the locked Prime Node door.

Anyway there you go, I hope this wasn't too hard to follow and that you found some of it useful, or at least useful for sparking some even better ideas. Have fun mapping ... and great stuff so far! (did I mention that already? :P)

**azurescorch** · 09-14-2010, 12:19 PM

Poker: I like that last architectural suggestion and I'll be doing it for sure. The others I'll think about.

Fixed problem 1, 2 and 3

1XTreme: I'm not sure how many lights I'm using but it is a lot. The majority are in the core rooms due to the long glowing strips. I haven't had problems with crashing, however pre-view lighting is very slow, it also just displays a mess so it's not even worth using. Build time is around 45minutes on my 2.7Ghz duel core (though I'm normally steaming some TV or watching videos while I do this so no doubt that slows it down a bit).

**azurescorch** · 09-29-2010, 12:02 PM

Bump.
Beta07 is out.
See 1st post for updates.

**»TheHitMan«** · 09-29-2010, 03:14 PM

This is nice! I say that because I have high standards

**Pop!** · 09-29-2010, 03:49 PM

Originally posted by »TheHitMan« View Post

This is nice! I say that because I have high standards

And we all hope that one day, you reach them

Pop

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