[PC] DM-Maliwan [Beta2] (update March 26th 2014))

[PlayForGG]

WIP screenshots

Some wip screenshots of the current layout modifications.
The map getting lots of minor structural changes visuals are not done where it's under construction so don't mind the trims

Opening on the Link platform/ramp to the power-up room.

The opening makes camping around the link harder and pull the player from the bottom to the ramp better than before.

Power-up room.

Belt have been removed at the moment and replaced with the Udmg (old belt base circle for reference). The room is extended and fit better with the rest of the map.
The area is really hard to control in 2v2 at the moment, producing some epic fights.

Shock area

The ramp gives the choice between 25 health or Shock. It also adds a backdoor to the area making it harder to camp.

Minigun room

More in line with the rest of the map, it has a lot of changes. The straight ramp from shock to armor is gone leaving only a small surprise dive-in passage from the top. The corridor next to the bio lift now leads directly to a Helmet and lift, which leads to the back of the minigun room or to the top platform with a jump-lift.
The room feels less apart from the rest of the map.

Other changes :
-50a replaced by sniper.
-25hp pack near the Thightpads replaced by 5 vials. (To make the area more attractive)
-Bio and Rox switched. I'll may also switch the Minigun and Link to better distribute long range/short range through the map.
-Removed 1 25hp pack in the central room.
-The shock double ramps are a bit larger.

All the changes contributes to remove a bit of the central room attraction and distribute the fight around the map slightly better.

[PlayForGG]

Thanks for taking the time to drop a comment, it really helps me.

Most of the visual artifacts on the materials are due to the currently poor lighting resolution ( not sure if it's called like that ), resolution being set to 8-16 and not set to full quality to increase the speed of light building. There shouldn't be any in release state.

Concerning the areas where you're being stopped at times or can fly above lifts or glitch them, they result on the lack of blocking volumes at the moment. The map receiving constant small changes here and there, i prefered not putting the blocking volumes untill i'm certain of the wall shapes. There are plenty around the maps like for example the anoying one when you try to wall dodge from the double 25health to the bio. This should be also fixed in the final. Thanks for the jump to link, i didn't catch that one. I'll make a different blocking volume for weapon/player.

For the armor i'm considering moving things around a bit, and maybe remove the 30, 50 or belt, the map is quite small for all of them as Stevelois pointed out. I'll maybe do a 1on1 with belt instead of Udamage if i remove the belt.
I've noted the point for the enforcer ammos i'll see what i can do about them.
I have currently fixed the issue with the top platform being ignored by slightly changing the wall shapes and trims in the surrounding corridors and on the lifts' pits to better catch the eye and guide the player to the platform.

For the up vs down thing, the map tends to draw the player from up to bottom at first, and after playing it for a while, new routes open up with the player figuring new trick jumps and it balances a bit better. I'll try to easy the process for the final by adding some visual cues when needed.

And for the sync pick up of 50, belt and Udmg, if players time them good and with some prediction/listening defense or contest, there shouldn't be any problem. The case presented on me only 4-5 time on over a hundred hour of playing the current layout. I'll test things a bit to see what i can do on the matter anyway. It can only be good for the map.

Thanks again for the feedback.

btw i quite enjoyed the video, ut2004 skins looks really good on it , i've put a link of it on the video on the first post, pm me if it bothers you.

Have fun

[Wolfy.Brandon]

DM-Maliwan Feedback

PlayForGG, here are the issues I was able to find so far...

-----

I found numerous little bugs with all of the lifts in the map, might want to give them all an eye over. Near the Sniper Rifle while riding the lift up if you are too close to the wall in the corner you will hit your head on the floor and can cause the lift to go down or totally glitch out.


I was able to stand/walk around the edge above the lift while it was down.


Another spot I could walk on, also at the bottom of the lift where the light runs along, the bottom back corner has a small black texture bug.


Wall needs smoothing, there is some blocking volume sticking out that sometimes stops me when wall dodging.


The blocking volume in front of the ramp going up to the Link gun (blocking people from going under it) extends out past the wall farther than it should.


This spot can grab you while riding the lift up.


Found a spot on the wall where the two floor pieces meet that can sometimes stop you, it could use smoothing.


A small texture bug of a white rectangle above the orange line.


That's all I could find right now, will continue to keep an eye out.

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Thoughts on balance and item placement...

You can easily and quickly get both the chest armor & shield belt by doing either a wall dodge jump or simply a precise dodge jump off the top platform. I don't have too much problem with getting all that armor because all players should know spawn times and item placement within a map otherwise face the opponent gaining map control, however... if you are up top, you have the possibility/ability to grab the chest armor then dodge jump and get the shield belt, then drop down and get the UDamage all within seconds... (that is, if they are all spawned at the same time of course.) It only works in that order because of height and the map's design.

While playing I kind of had a feeling like one of the major armor's could be placed where the Flak Cannon is, but the Flak Cannon kind of works in that location I think. Truth is, if you watch the video I made, the first time testing the map I never even came across the chest armor up top. I didn't have any idea it was even in the map until playing the map again. Dare I go as far as to say it might not be needed? I don't think I have played enough yet to make that call... I do think it is a nice option though, and if balance can be found it would be nice to include it. Do you think you could add in a clip or two of Enforcer ammo? I like having it, especially when UDamage is in the map.

On the topic of jump boots, I didn't find myself really needing/wanting them. I was able to get around the map with relative ease using the pads/lifts, but I can see some uses for them. I want to first off say that I really enjoy the map how it is without anything being moved around or changed... that said, I noticed that the map is pretty tall in spots, and I can envision something like a platform up top in one of the hallways where something like the UDamage could almost be like a secret or hidden. I don't know if I would recommend radically changing the layout or design of the map to incorporate something like that, right now I like the UDamage and Shield Belt where they are.

I will continue to play and see how I feel about the balance as I get more familiar with the map.

WolfyBrandon

[Wolfy.Brandon]

PlayForGG,

I'm really loving this map...






DM-Maliwan Beta Gameplay Video


Having too much fun at the moment, I will get around to beta testing and giving feedback eventually...

WolfyBrandon

[SkaarjMaster]

I usually don't go to this section very often, but decided to tonight and a couple maps caught me eye. This one seems just as good looks-wise as the COMP or low poly maps and from the comments I've read so far, I'm sure it plays like them as well. Can't wait for final release and definitely implement those changes.

[Firmament]

This one is going to be a blast

[TourianTourist]

@ TourianTourist : The framerate drop on the windows must have something to do with the fog, i think it's calculated in real time but i'm not sure, i'll search on it to fix the issue. It was working fine on my old comp (some middle gaming hardware from late 2006) so i assumed it was ok (i have apparently been wrong).
The lifts will be changed to an evolved version of the bio lift, each one fitting with its surrounding wall pattern, so the issue should be fix as well.
I totally agree with you, framerate shouldn't be a concern for a low poly map.

Thanks a lot! Looking forward to the final version!

[PlayForGG]

@ TourianTourist : The framerate drop on the windows must have something to do with the fog, i think it's calculated in real time but i'm not sure, i'll search on it to fix the issue. It was working fine on my old comp (some middle gaming hardware from late 2006) so i assumed it was ok (i have apparently been wrong).
The lifts will be changed to an evolved version of the bio lift, each one fitting with its surrounding wall pattern, so the issue should be fix as well.
I totally agree with you, framerate shouldn't be a concern for a low poly map.

@slik_sh00ter : I'm glad you enjoy the map.

[slik_sh00ter]

Great map. Love the lighting, visuals, and everything. Bots play great, I don't know what to say.

Great job!

[TourianTourist]

Love the map. Great low poly visuals and gameplay. Exactly my thing.

However, when looking at the orange windows with these particle effects, my framerate drops to 40. Even worse when the elevator appears infront of me. While these elements are looking awesome, I think a stable framerate should be more important.

[slik_sh00ter]

Map looks great! I've seen this from the "work in progress" thread. It looks great! I'll play it tomorrow and have a look around.

[PlayForGG]

@Stevelois : Thanks for the feedback, i've noted your points and will test moving around the concerned pickups. I'll also try to give better incentives to go around while reducing a bit the attraction of the center which is one of the main purposes of this beta.

@ShrapnelAD : The map has a custom music called The Awakening. It's not dynamic and i didn't made it either. You can listen to it here and/or download it on NiTGriT.com

[stevelois]

Beta 0.8

Had some great fights on this level. I had the chance to play a bit since my last post.

I must say you've already have a really nice beta so far

I love the architecture, the clean look, the materials (even if some need a bit of tweaking as you said), jumpad emitters, custom music The look & feel and the theme of this level is really great !

I see there are few places it need some triming, better shadows, material alignment but I didn't took pic of that since it's on your to-do-list.

Gameplay wise, after few rounds I found the center of the map to crowded/busy while the outside part of the level miss some action. I found most pickups to be well located BUT some can be relocated / deleted to accommodate a better balance. Take these as suggestions of course.

1. Here, switch the bio / rl. Move the sniper in front of the opening on the upper platform and finally remove the vest.

[screenshot]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/829/8rgw.jpg[/screenshot]

2. The belt and the udamage are much to close. Beside, it favor player from the link gun spot who collect easily the weapon, this armor and the powerup. It would be better if you move the medium health there instead and also add the helmet where the medium health is located. Another spot for the helmet would be in the corridor beside the stinger where you have 3 vials.

[screenshot]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/823/51es.jpg[/screenshot]

That's all for now.

Excellent work so far, waiting for Beta 0.9

[ShrapnelAD]

Oh, so low polygons count. Got it. Hope the final version have
smooth frame rates for PS3. Oh, for fun there's a PS3 mods
site for UT3. It's called UT3MOD.com. You can post mods for PS3
on that site.

Btw, does this map have custom music?

[PlayForGG]

Someone correct me if i'm wrong but Low poly stands for "low polygons count", meaning that most of the architecture of the map is done with bsp and there's only a few meshes. It keeps the number of polygons to calcul very low and permits to achieve easily 100+ frames per second on low-end computers. The visuals are built with lot of works on the volumes and textures, and most of the time it gives a clean looking map with everything being really neat without too much scenery to hinder the view, helping to spot players. It also gives a nice retro look, similar too what the maps looks like in older UTs.
Hope that helps

btw the final version will have ps3 download