Q3 Mystic Gemini Final Release

[sock]

[lvlshot]http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/mg_levelshot.jpg[/lvlshot]

More information and download link :
http://www.simonoc.com/pages/design/maps_q3/mg.htm

Enjoy
Sims

Edit: Fixed the levelshot size.

[obsidian]

Very nice. Weren't you supposed to release a beta first?

[fKd]

awasome work man! i've been waiting to play this map

[corsair]

looks like a great deal of fun. I never played the original version, so I'm interested to know how such a map plays with real players.. so if you know of a server that has this in its rotation or somewhat, do tell!

right after I loaded this map in q3, I immediately found myself trying to make a rocketjump from the one flag to the other. I managed to do so 3 times in 10 minutes of game time.

gg sock, fun stuff

[Fjoggs]

Great lighting. Great everything. Great god!

[jkoder]

Really nice map. I downloaded it last night and had a play around. The ivy looks really good for Quake III, so does everything else come to think of it

[sock]

obsidian: There were 5 beta versions of the map, but it was just sent to a couple of friends. It is hard to get feedback for Q3 anymore and I did not want to hang around for ages waiting on forums.

Corsair: I played the map at work with a friend and we controlled a team of bots each. It was a lot of fun but after a while we ignored the bots and ended up fighting each other instead.

fKd, Fjoggs, jkoder: thanks

[Shallow]

Great to see this has been released into the wild, it's a beautiful piece of work.

[Mikko_Sandt]

Looks and sounds great, I especially love the way the new skybox looks. But it's a bit too easy against bots, even Nightmare level bots. I'd have removed the possibility to escape through those bars behind the flags.

[ix-ir]

Very nice looking map.

Gameplay crits:
Player clipping stairs to ramps is not a good thing, even if you're not playing a mode with ramp jumping it still changes the physics unexpectedly. The map seems to be designed for CPM gameplay based on the GA accessibility (love the 2nd route).

The bases are a bad idea - you can rocket jump (just 1) from the middle floor into a base making the distance between the two flags ridiculously short. I am unsure about the benefit of having the two bases see each other, I suspect it'd be very cessy. It'd probably be better to completely block the mid-facing view and route from the flag to mid.

The hanging banners are solid, most maps have these set to non-solid so it may catch players out.

[Kat]

Excellent quality work again Mr Brushmonkey

[sock]

Thanks everyone, I am glad you like it.

ix-ir: I mainly made this map to give me something to do while I unwind from work in the evenings. Your suggestions are extremely valid points but I don't think it is worthwhile creating another version at this point. It is a shame that I missed your observations of the map while testing, but hopefully next time I will get more people to help out. If you don't mind I would love to contact you for my next map, your feedback would help me a lot in creating a better map.

Sims

[ix-ir]

I'd love that, we have a gameplay project for the next iteration of CPMA at the moment, a map in this sort of terrain style that's also tested for competitive play could be very special indeed.

[fKd]

hells yeah. of all the mappers out there for q3 you sure have the best organic rock etc formations... would be great in a cpma map

but i do agree that the bases are to close together, it really is to easy with bots...

and how did you do that skybox... i wanna rip it off

[sock]

fKd: I plan to release all the source files for the map tonight, so you can see for yourself how it was put together.

Sims

[foralarx2k3]

Nooooooooo..... just wrote a really long reply and then got a server not found message on hitting submit

In summary of what I said cause I can't be arsed to type it again.

The map is jaw droppingly beautiful.

Not overly concerned about the ability to drop down to the middle from the flag room to the middle and then be able to RJ back up to the other level, most of the time I never had sufficent health or the time to RJ back up anyway.

The map is jaw droppingly beautiful.

Didn't realise the level was designed with CPM in mind. This is a good thing, it means your map has a much wider and accessable market than maps designed purely with Pro-mode physics in mind. Fantastic work there.

The map is jaw droppingly beautiful.

My system seems to take a big frame rate hit in the flag rooms especally when coming from the SG area. It's getting on a bit now though .... AMD 2000XP+, 1 Gig Ram, GForce 5600 256MB ram. I'd be happy to be your Devils advocate non CPM, advanced VQ3 movement (now there's a phrase I bet you thought you'd never see ) specialist beta tester.

Did I mention the map is jaw droppingly beautiful.

Ian
AKA Fora

[fKd]

lol the map is not for cpma... he was offered the option to work on a cpma map.. oops

[foralarx2k3]

lol the map is not for cpma... he was offered the option to work on a cpma map.. oops

Gameplay crits:
Player clipping stairs to ramps is not a good thing, even if you're not playing a mode with ramp jumping it still changes the physics unexpectedly. The map seems to be designed for CPM gameplay based on the GA accessibility (love the 2nd route).

ix-ir: ....Your suggestions are extremely valid points

stairs are appaerently clipped for CPM. ... to assist CPM movement.

GA = Green Armour? (Presumably it's on top of the pillars in the Plasma room (noticed the swirly pattern up there, but don't have CPMA installed to confirm). - GA is not a VQ3 item ...

Still what would I know. I'm sure Sock can clear up any mis-understanding ... point is it's still a very good looking map.

[sock]

foralarx2k3: thanks for the feedback, I am glad you liked it. I never really had much time in a match (I am average player) to Rocket Jump but I imagine it is easy for a pro player. The facing base idea was, if the Flag runner got away you could still pin them down in their flag room from your own.

All the broken bricks and rock detail comes at a price and that is triangle performance. The map does have a lot of hints and portals but this is not a magic fix for the layout which is wide and open. The map can perk up to 30k triangles at some corners and if you have an old PC I recommend you do not download and play this map.

It will be a while before my next map, I need to take some holiday and soak up some city architecture.

fKd: Mystic Gemini can work in either VQ3 or CPMA. There are 2 x GA in the PG room up on a double jump pillar. Most of the archways were made higher so players who do ramp jumping off the stairs won't bump their heads. The stairs were clipped because most CPMA stairs have a ramp to the side, so I made all stairs ramps. The map should work perfectly in VQ3, I just added specific stuff for CPMA players.

Sims

[foralarx2k3]

Thanks for the clarification Sock. Looking forward to the next map ... considers buying a newer rig

[sumatra]

Great visual piece of work, as always. You are a professional especially on creating organic, natural worlds, sure one of the most challenging parts of leveldesign.

To the base-issues you can even jump with some speed from one flag to the other, by all means with promode enabled. You just need some speed.

But this brings me back to the fact, that we're watching graphics on an engine based on the 90ies.

Stunning!!!

[foralarx2k3]

To the base-issues you can even jump with some speed from one flag to the other, by all means with promode enabled. You just need some speed.

Darn, the secrets out ... oh well ... You don't even need CPM .. you can do it in VQ3.

clicky me for vid demo

[sock]

Here is link to the source files for all the different map versions and editor textures used. I am sure there is something really silly in one of the map versions but hopefully these files will help someone see something useful.

Linky: http://www.simonoc.com/pages/design/map ... source.htm
10.2Mb download (my own website, no queues)

I am off on holiday for a couple of weeks to eat pizza, pasta and driver scooters!
Enjoy
Sims

[foralarx2k3]

thanks for sharing sock, happy hols, moff to have a lookie and learn something new

[dichtfux]

Thanks for sharing the sources, Sock!