mrd3dm2 - Brass Tax
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2022 6:12 am
Hola,
This here be the first map I've released in about 20 years. I started mucking around with NRC (NetRadiant custom) a few months ago and next thing I knew I had sketched out a layout and was blocking it out. Duff has been gracious enough to host a couple servers (q3.monroec.com and q3w.monroec.com) so it's been fairly easy to get some play time with real humans lately (mostly Duff, Foo, and raw.) I started working on this map back in early August so it's been nearly 3 months of progress. There were definite gaps where I did not touch it for close to a week at a time but lately I have been full bore on it with detail work, which has proven tedious, and I pretty much hate this map now. :dts: :olo:
Texture wise I decided on EL's old EQ2 texture pack which ended up being really fun to work with. Tried to incorporate some neat geometry using the textures, I think it ended up alright. Gameplay wise I had initially intended to create a 1v1 tourney map but I feel it is too large for that. It does still work but I think it'd likely shine on a 3-4 FFA. I placed a few teleporters around the map to try and speed up gameplay and allow ambushes, etc.
We'll call this a beta#1, I've already gone through 5 alphas with some of the guys on Duff's server, while I hashed out item and map layouts. May or may not do a beta#2 depending on feedback. The layout of this beta#1 is substantially the same as alpha#5, except a lot nicer to look at.
There's a few outstanding items, namely:
- Tweak bots (currently there are zero bot clips or bot_roams), although they do seem to play acceptably as-is.
- Finish off detailing work.
- Work on lighting a bit more. Some areas feel dark or too yellow or what have you. There is a lot of light from shaders, but also a lot of point lights. I tried to keep worldspawn ambient low, it's set to 20 now but I'd like it lower if I can.
- Make jump pads "pop" a bit more. Currently they are not super obvious and I've already had a couple people complain they didn't even realize what they were at first.
- Still open to small item layout tweaks although certain major items aren't going to move (MH, RA, YA, RL, RG, etc.)
- Try to close off lines of sight a bit more in some areas. Right now it's a bit of a rail fest but I'm not against that.
Bonus points for anyone who can nab the YA near the lava pit and get back out without dying.
Anyway, enough rambling, here's the goods.
Final: Download map-mrd3dm2.pk3 here
Final screenshots:
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/3b27wOk.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/TmwxMfd.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/I73p73N.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/mmcERDu.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/mdLAH6R.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/CtfJkYs.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/BSz2y9P.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/yxTddKR.jpeg[/lvlshot]
imgur gallery link: https://imgur.com/a/2Xvv4AD
This here be the first map I've released in about 20 years. I started mucking around with NRC (NetRadiant custom) a few months ago and next thing I knew I had sketched out a layout and was blocking it out. Duff has been gracious enough to host a couple servers (q3.monroec.com and q3w.monroec.com) so it's been fairly easy to get some play time with real humans lately (mostly Duff, Foo, and raw.) I started working on this map back in early August so it's been nearly 3 months of progress. There were definite gaps where I did not touch it for close to a week at a time but lately I have been full bore on it with detail work, which has proven tedious, and I pretty much hate this map now. :dts: :olo:
Texture wise I decided on EL's old EQ2 texture pack which ended up being really fun to work with. Tried to incorporate some neat geometry using the textures, I think it ended up alright. Gameplay wise I had initially intended to create a 1v1 tourney map but I feel it is too large for that. It does still work but I think it'd likely shine on a 3-4 FFA. I placed a few teleporters around the map to try and speed up gameplay and allow ambushes, etc.
We'll call this a beta#1, I've already gone through 5 alphas with some of the guys on Duff's server, while I hashed out item and map layouts. May or may not do a beta#2 depending on feedback. The layout of this beta#1 is substantially the same as alpha#5, except a lot nicer to look at.
There's a few outstanding items, namely:
- Tweak bots (currently there are zero bot clips or bot_roams), although they do seem to play acceptably as-is.
- Finish off detailing work.
- Work on lighting a bit more. Some areas feel dark or too yellow or what have you. There is a lot of light from shaders, but also a lot of point lights. I tried to keep worldspawn ambient low, it's set to 20 now but I'd like it lower if I can.
- Make jump pads "pop" a bit more. Currently they are not super obvious and I've already had a couple people complain they didn't even realize what they were at first.
- Still open to small item layout tweaks although certain major items aren't going to move (MH, RA, YA, RL, RG, etc.)
- Try to close off lines of sight a bit more in some areas. Right now it's a bit of a rail fest but I'm not against that.
Bonus points for anyone who can nab the YA near the lava pit and get back out without dying.
Anyway, enough rambling, here's the goods.
Final: Download map-mrd3dm2.pk3 here
Final screenshots:
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/3b27wOk.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/TmwxMfd.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/I73p73N.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/mmcERDu.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/mdLAH6R.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/CtfJkYs.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/BSz2y9P.jpeg[/lvlshot]
[lvlshot]https://i.imgur.com/yxTddKR.jpeg[/lvlshot]
imgur gallery link: https://imgur.com/a/2Xvv4AD
:drool: :dts:
