This will be my first ctf map, so i would like to hear your comment about it, for now it's pure layout.
Download it from here: http://tbstudio.pl/download/julc1.zip
Cheers,
Julek
WIP julc1
-
DaEngineer
- Posts: 210
- Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 2:30 pm
Re: WIP julc1
Just wondering - are you the same Julek who uploaded maps under this name on lvlworld.com?
Your map consists almost exclusively of jumppads. And almost all of them cause falling damage, because they send players into the air in very steep arches. Lower them, and players will still reach the platforms without losing health. Also, the four jumppads around the flags are too strong for my taste and keep a player too long in the air (which makes him an easy prey).
I'd change the direction of the jumppads aside the flags that bring the player to the islands with another jumppad on them. Make them target the second jumppad. Getting tossed in a 90° angle away from it seems to be a really mean flow-breaker.
Also, I'm unsure about the center island. I don't like hitting it with my head if I don't dodge it with air-control and land aside it. You could make it larger towards the bases to make landing behind the jumppads possible without hitting the rock in the middle.
And what's with these low islands aside the flag bases? I can get to the flag area from there. But how do I get on these islands in the first place? Jumping down on them just to get back up is quite senseless and I don't see any reason for doing so. If you extend the islands towards the map's middle, they could be reached when using the jumppads on the outer islands by steering to the left in the air.
What I'm missing in this map is some cover and bigger plain areas. q3ctf4 may consist of lots of jumppads, but not solely of them. There's still space to run around and dodge rockets or rail shots.
Your map consists almost exclusively of jumppads. And almost all of them cause falling damage, because they send players into the air in very steep arches. Lower them, and players will still reach the platforms without losing health. Also, the four jumppads around the flags are too strong for my taste and keep a player too long in the air (which makes him an easy prey).
I'd change the direction of the jumppads aside the flags that bring the player to the islands with another jumppad on them. Make them target the second jumppad. Getting tossed in a 90° angle away from it seems to be a really mean flow-breaker.
Also, I'm unsure about the center island. I don't like hitting it with my head if I don't dodge it with air-control and land aside it. You could make it larger towards the bases to make landing behind the jumppads possible without hitting the rock in the middle.
And what's with these low islands aside the flag bases? I can get to the flag area from there. But how do I get on these islands in the first place? Jumping down on them just to get back up is quite senseless and I don't see any reason for doing so. If you extend the islands towards the map's middle, they could be reached when using the jumppads on the outer islands by steering to the left in the air.
What I'm missing in this map is some cover and bigger plain areas. q3ctf4 may consist of lots of jumppads, but not solely of them. There's still space to run around and dodge rockets or rail shots.
[url=http://www.victorkarp.com]Portfolio[/url] - [url=https://victorkarp.com/tutorials/quake-3-mapping-tutorials/]My Quake 3 mapping tutorials[/url] - [url=http://www.lvlworld.com/author/DaEngineer]My Quake 3 maps[/url]
Re: WIP julc1
Hey! I also remember Julek from lvlworld, hmm but those maps were really a bit diferent in style than this one... :p
Anyway, agreed on everything DaEngineer already mentioned in his post.
My first impression -this one reminds me very much of q3ctf4, only slightly bigger. Personaly I think gameplay-wise ctf4 is really a horibble map, especially the original version with railgun in it. But of course I know there's also many people who like it, so I wouldn't discourage you from working on this one.
However I think there's just too much of jumppad/flying action and almost no place to take cover. Although, if you are aiming for a gameplay experience similar to ctf4 then it could be just enough if you focus on tuning the jumppads/platforms as DaEnginner already said.
On the other hand, If you would want to go for more interesting gameplay , then I would suggest extending the rocks -the bases towards the middle and the central area towards the bases, maybe put some caves and rocky walls in, some rocky paths player could walk on. Also it could be better if there were more ways to reach the flag.
Anyway, agreed on everything DaEngineer already mentioned in his post.
My first impression -this one reminds me very much of q3ctf4, only slightly bigger. Personaly I think gameplay-wise ctf4 is really a horibble map, especially the original version with railgun in it. But of course I know there's also many people who like it, so I wouldn't discourage you from working on this one.
However I think there's just too much of jumppad/flying action and almost no place to take cover. Although, if you are aiming for a gameplay experience similar to ctf4 then it could be just enough if you focus on tuning the jumppads/platforms as DaEnginner already said.
On the other hand, If you would want to go for more interesting gameplay , then I would suggest extending the rocks -the bases towards the middle and the central area towards the bases, maybe put some caves and rocky walls in, some rocky paths player could walk on. Also it could be better if there were more ways to reach the flag.
Re: WIP julc1
yep, it is me.Just wondering - are you the same Julek who uploaded maps under this name on lvlworld.com?
Most of this issues with you pointed are made for purpose. For example hitting the middle island prevents fast cap but i know it is not the best idea, on base lower islands i planned to put some stuff like weapons/health to force on defending players leaving the main platform for a while. But anyway thanks for your opinion, now im considering a total layout change.
-
VolumetricSteve
- Posts: 449
- Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 2:33 am
Re: WIP julc1
I think it's a good layout..more on that later, but I couldn't help but notice a few things on the house-keeping side...
1.Unless your download site requires you to do so, there's no reason to put a Pk3 file into a zip file, they're the same format with a different extension.
2.Your map's BSP name should at least resemble the name people will recognize your map as. If you release a map under the name ctf.bsp, I sense bad things will happen.
3.Your PK3 file contains almost everything Quake 3 needs to use a map from the Q3 GUI, but it's missing the .arena file which should be placed in the /scripts subdirectory. Otherwise, users can only get to it via console.
4.While it doesn't do any harm, including your .map file along with your BSP isn't necessary; I'd only include the .map file if you want to encourage people to make variations on your map.
Sorry if that's all remedial for you, I don't mean any offense ; your work at lvlworld which I was previously unaware of is quite impressive.
As for the map itself, I like it. I agree that the jumppad "reach" is too high in some places, so you might want to use cushion brushes to remedy the landing impact, or change the arc of the jump target. I know you only mentioned layout, but I got a whole mess of texture errors and issues with your map as it is now. Lots of surfaces weren't aligned correctly, the skybox texture didn't load at all, and some surfaces looked like they didn't compile; they're just invisible.
Personally, I'd make the whole map a little larger in scale, but I also tend to make maps that are entirely too large so...there's your grain of salt. Jumping around in it though, it felt like the basis of a fun map, so I'd say you're off to a good start from that perspective. Do you know what direction you're going to go with in terms of lighting?
1.Unless your download site requires you to do so, there's no reason to put a Pk3 file into a zip file, they're the same format with a different extension.
2.Your map's BSP name should at least resemble the name people will recognize your map as. If you release a map under the name ctf.bsp, I sense bad things will happen.
3.Your PK3 file contains almost everything Quake 3 needs to use a map from the Q3 GUI, but it's missing the .arena file which should be placed in the /scripts subdirectory. Otherwise, users can only get to it via console.
4.While it doesn't do any harm, including your .map file along with your BSP isn't necessary; I'd only include the .map file if you want to encourage people to make variations on your map.
Sorry if that's all remedial for you, I don't mean any offense ; your work at lvlworld which I was previously unaware of is quite impressive.
As for the map itself, I like it. I agree that the jumppad "reach" is too high in some places, so you might want to use cushion brushes to remedy the landing impact, or change the arc of the jump target. I know you only mentioned layout, but I got a whole mess of texture errors and issues with your map as it is now. Lots of surfaces weren't aligned correctly, the skybox texture didn't load at all, and some surfaces looked like they didn't compile; they're just invisible.
Personally, I'd make the whole map a little larger in scale, but I also tend to make maps that are entirely too large so...there's your grain of salt. Jumping around in it though, it felt like the basis of a fun map, so I'd say you're off to a good start from that perspective. Do you know what direction you're going to go with in terms of lighting?
Last edited by VolumetricSteve on Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.