Ghostport - 1v1 - (phantq4dm3) - Final

[phantazm11]

Hey,

I have a new map that I could use a little feedback on. It is a small duel map set in an abandoned spaceport.

Very little has been done concerning performance yet, but that will be fixed.

Any ideas/suggestions would be welcome.




Download here: http://www.planetquake4.net/beta/index. ... apid&id=87

[Oeloe]

Looks nice. A bit cramped though. Many places where you can bump your head. The layout isn't very clear (to me); the different areas need some unique architecture/visuals to make it easy to recognize and to remember.

[jester!]

There are definitly way to many doors/archways where you hit your head just jumping around. It would be pretty spammy due to the tightness but I would have to play it against ppl first really.

If the lifts could be sped up a bit that would be nice as well.

Still looks decent just needs a bit more headroom, now that i think about it I bet it would feel better in Q3...

[GODLIKE]

Plays a bit like a Doom3 map.. and I mean that as a compliment.. but for most Q4 players, there are too many spots to get hung up on. With any kind of trick jumps at speed, I was running into doorways.. Looks pretty good, though..

[phantazm11]

Thanks for taking a look. Actually, I am in the process of expanding the doorways somewhat from a suggestion by drach. I also didn't realize that I made the upper level doors smaller than the bottom floor.

I am also expanding the map by a room and a half so it won't feel so cramped. Hopefully I'll have the next beta version in a week or so.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

[phantazm11]

Hey,

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. Beta_2 is available for download here:

http://www.planetquake4.net/beta/index. ... apid&id=87

______________________________

------- Beta_2 changes ---------------
______________________________

Added 1.5 rooms.

Added an additional Yellow Armor.

Moved the Grenade Launcher.

Made most of the doorways taller.

Made the lifts a little quicker.

Improved the lighting and fixed some of the stretched/squashed textures.

Fixed the clipping around the new doorways and the new room.

Set the lights to utilize the r_lightdetaillevel command.
______________________________________________

Thank you for the suggestions so far. If you have any problems or find anything that could be fixed, please let me know.

Thanks

[GODLIKE]

The doorways are still kinda small, but I think the extra space helps...

Clunker: There's a "glare" mesh that's just sort of floating in the air near the lift in the hallway? Check it out.. It's a ways down from the ceiling, not near a light.

Lifts: They just don't look "right" to me.. Mostly because with an engine with this much detail the whole "piece of metal that moves by magic" thing just isn't right. Also, the "hole" that the lift drops down into appears to be just a tad smaller than the lift itself? I didn't rip into the map file to check, but it looks that way.. Anyway, I think a piston or something UNDER the lift would look nicer? (I realize this is a personal thing; back when I was mapping for Doom3, I debated this with Method, too.. But I still think it looks fux0rd.)

[phantazm11]

GODLIKE:

Thanks for the feedback. It is really helping the map I believe.

For the next beta release, I scaled the whole map up a little bit so now (I hope!) the door problem shouldn't be so noticeable. There is also now more elbow room throughout the entire map.

Concerning the lifts. Yeah, I was just lazy. I also hate the "Magic Lifts" and have added pistons like the elevators in my map, Industrial By Default. The hole was the same size, but you were right, after looking at it, it did look too small. So I fixed that too.

Got the glare mesh also. Thanks.

[Oeloe]

The lift mechanism could be attached to the side/back of the lift platform as well. When the mechanism is hidden in a wall that doesn't suddenly make it magic.

[GODLIKE]

(If it's hidden in the wall, that's cool.. Just put a hole/chain/slider there so it doesn't look bad... If it magically slides over the surface of a normal wall, that doesn't make sense.)

[phantazm11]

Hey,

The new version of my map for the Frag Arcade competition is available for download:

http://www.planetquake4.net/beta/index. ... apid&id=87

______________________________

------- Beta_3 changes ---------------
______________________________

I scaled the entire map up a little bit to add more space. It doesn't seem quite so claustrophobic now

Revamped the MH room and added a trap.

Replaced the first YA with a RA.

Switched the GL and the second YA.

Added "pistons" to the undersides of the lifts.

Other minor changes.

______________________________

Feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

[GODLIKE]

wow.. Lots of changes. It really is MUCH bigger, now...

I like it; things are shaping up..

some ideas?

- I would personally ramp-clip the small stairwells on the bottom floor? When I'm strafing around there getting "caught" on one of the stairs sucks.. Mapper's choice, of course.

- I kind of missed the thicker fog by the RG from the first version? it sort of added a bit of drama to the area.

- the MH trap: It's a neat idea, but implementation wise: I'd have the moving treadmill come out from UNDER somthing, like out of a slot.. it looks weird when you look "down the hole" where it comes out of.. and I don't think the fire should instantly kill you. Maybe just be a damage of 20 or so? It doesn't look menacing enough for an instant kill.. and when somebody is spamming rockets at you from the outside, you're pretty much trapped anyway.

[wviperw]

This map is really starting to feel quite good. I'm sooo glad you fixed the scale issues... movement and flow seems so much better now. With regards to the MH position, I like that conveyor belt.. that is really cool (didn't know you could do that in Q4), but like GODLIKE said, the implementation sucks. The MH is a death trap if I've ever seen one. If you ever get stuck in the MH trap w/ the other player in the room, you're a gonner. And the insta-death fire doesn't work either. For one, I'd still recommend opening up the MH area to the upper floor. Otherwise I feel things are going to be too linear/flat playing and it won't be very interesting. If you're going to continue to have the MH in a very confined space, I'd give the player at least 1 more option out. Don't make it *too* much of a trap like it is now.

[phantazm11]

Man, I'm glad to hear that you guys think it is bigger now. That was the biggest problem with this map.

GODLIKE: Originally I did clip the staircase, but if you ramped-jumped off of the stairs, you still hit the doorframe. I can't change the size of the door, and I didn't know which would be more annoying: Getting caught on the step or smacking against the doorframe. You think I should re-clip it?

The fog will probably return. When I scaled the map I had to readjust all of the lights (not to mention EVERY texture!), and some of them are still not correct yet.

GODLIKE & wviperw: The MH trap....you know, I got up Sunday morning and thought "I'm going to redo that damned MH room." By the end of the day, I had the ultimate deathtrap made. I thought I'd throw it out for everyone to comment on.

I do like the idea, but how exactly should I fix it? I can see making the fire do less damage. But what else? Should I keep the "compactor" or trash it also. I thought of extending the conveyor and creating a second opening where the right-hand light is now, but that wouldn't be very dangerous, unless the compactor is still there to force them into the flames.

I'll think about it and see what suggestions you might have also.

Thanks for all of your comments. Without you this map would probably be unplayable.

phantazm11

[wviperw]

For the MH trap, here's what I'd do (kinda like what you said actually):

Make two openings to the conveyor belt, and space them out a good ways. Widen the hallway the conveyor belt and MH are currently in to give some more fighting room. Also make these 2 doorways bigger than the current one, so they are almost like normal doorways. Put the MH right in between the 2 doorways on the conveyor belt and the fire at the far end. Make the fire take off 25 dmg every fraction of a second. Finally, make an opening from the floor above so that you can drop down on the MH.

[GODLIKE]

I think viper's ideas for the MH conveyor belt are good.. although perhaps a bit of a huge change. I'm not totally sold on the need to make a "drop down" into the MH.. but as above: 25h/second would be an appropriate damage for the fire.

And maybe if you had to backtrack down the conveyor a little to find the OTHER entrance? if there was at least two ways to enter that area, it wouldn't be so easy to spam.. and the player would have an even chance of strafe-sliding back out into the action.

RE: the ramp clipping? I'd say yes, from my initial run through.. but I can see what you're saying about doorways, too.. I think however that a player can then at least choose when to ramp jump.. Normal strafejumping wouldn't suddenly stop "dead" when you land on a mini-stairwell.

Of course: it's your map.... Ultimately, you should decide how you want it to be. So far, I like it.

[phantazm11]

You know, there is a caution sign just above the MH doorway, in complete compliance with the Spaceport Safety Management Commity... ;P

Ok, I think I have a way to fix this that incorporates all three of our ideas...so I will work on it this week.

In the meantime, do you think the item placement is ok? And drach mentioned that you can rampjump out of the railpit by trickjumping off of the angled trims at the bottom. Should I change this, or leave it (it's not a bug--it's a feature!). I can't do any of the trickjumps (ex. rocket jump) to save my life, so I don't really know.

GODLIKE: You are correct...better to have the choice on the stairs issue...consider it changed.

Thank you both for your suggestions.

[GODLIKE]

Definately keep the rampjump out of the rail pit.. I think item placement is okay, but I'll LAN the map again one of these days and give some better feedback..

[phantazm11]

Here is (maybe) the final release of Ghostport. Of course this might change, hence the release candidate tag.

Anyway, here is the download link:

http://www.planetquake4.net/beta/index. ... apid&id=87
_______________________________________

------- RC_1 changes ------------------------------------
_______________________________________

Redesigned the mega health room so it wouldn't be so "dangerous".

Added flares to the "doormats".

Fixed some portaling issues.

Fixed some lighting overlaps.

Fixed some clipping issues.

Added indented light boxes in the MH room.

Connected the top floor to the MH room.
_________________________________________

Thanks to everyone who took the time to test this. Your comments and suggestions have been most appreciated.

phantazm11

[GODLIKE]

I really like this version; I have only really two niggles, after playing it for a bit:

1) The megahealth respawns too fast. Set it to 120 seconds, maybe? It rules the map, in a map that already has a lot of armour..

2) Maybe some more obvious "warning" texture on the side of the MH trap crusher? When looking at it from the outside, the textures look weird.. Maybe a different texture with a warning bar would look good?

Other than that, I'm digging it.

[xchaser]

I really like this version; I have only really two *****, after playing it for a bit:

1) The megahealth respawns too fast. Set it to 120 seconds, maybe? It rules the map, in a map that already has a lot of armour..

2) Maybe some more obvious "warning" texture on the side of the MH trap crusher? When looking at it from the outside, the textures look weird.. Maybe a different texture with a warning bar would look good?

Other than that, I'm digging it.

I agree

[phantazm11]

The two *****'s have been fixed for the final version.

The MH @ 120 really seems to help. I didn't really notice how fast it respawned before. Good idea.

Yeah, the texture was something that I kept forgetting to fix. It looks much better now, IMHO. I used a different texture and a modified decal from the set I made for my viacga/d3w map. (caution tape rocks!)

Thanks so much for taking the time to test the map and give good, constructive critisim. I don't know how well it will fare in the competition, but it is definitely a better map than it was when I began it.

phantazm11

[{uZa}FreakOfNature]

I love this map. We have it in rotation on our server! Great fun!

[phantazm11]

That's cool! I'm glad you like it. Having ppl playing and having fun on a map you made makes all that time spent slaving away at the computer well worth it!

[GODLIKE]

Nice.. It's definately good when people are playing your maps, after the gazillion hours it takes to make.. I look forward to a final download of this one. :icon25: