ct3ctf3 by cityy (alpha III)

[cityy]

I felt inspired last night and blocked out a ctf map. Give me some gameplay feedback if you want to.

Download: http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ ... alpha1.zip (<1mb)

[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha1_1.jpg[/lvlshot]

[EmeraldTiger]

Nice layout. I like how it`s a bit more vertical (at least to me) than your other two CTF maps. The flow seems pretty good. I noticed there`s a hole you can drop down to the Regen basement from RG - I think it could use a jump pad which takes you through that hole to improve the flow even more. Other than that, can`t find much to complain about.

Good luck with your new project!

[cityy]

Thanks, sir. I did not add an upwards connection at the regen to prevent players from taking quad and regen without any effort.

[Anthem]

The bases seem really small when compared to your usual CTF map design. A lot of the powerful weapons and items are piled on top of each other. I don't like where the Mega Health is located in relation to the other items. I liked its placement in Fluorescent, however. The Rocket Launcher, Lightning Gun, Grenade Launcher, Plasma Gun, Mega Health and Red Armor are all very close together, and they are just a short distance away from the Railgun and Shotgun. It seems very cramped. The large pillar next to the Railgun also seems out of place. Perhaps you could thin it a bit; I understand you were trying to make a nice line of sight for use of the Railgun. The flags also seem slightly difficult to get to. I recommend moving the teleporter forward (toward the front of the base) to allow easier access to the Mega Health entrance by the enemy. This would complement the Regeneration "stealing" hole fairly nicely. I also recommend that you change the jump pad in the regeneration hole so that it doesn't access the top level of the enemy base. It also feels like something else needs to happen in that tunnel... Maybe another teleporter down there would be welcome? Another entrance to the base could be added here: http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/9748/shot0004e.jpg Another jump pad could be added at the bottom and the areas with black lines could be removed to allow another (back) entrance into the flag. I didn't know how much to remove, however, so I added some red lines as well.

Overall, this isn't bad for a first draft. The center also seems slightly boring, so I would try to work on that a bit. Maybe some grates in the central pillar would work to allow projectiles through it? I'm sure it will feel better after you start to detail it. Good luck.

[Anthem]

Some references:

Focus on the clean lines and contrast of textures and colors. One specific difference between this theme and a typical urban theme (as seen in your Lost Hope) is the emphasis on straight lines or very clean curves coupled with "loud" textures and colors (fiery red or gold, for instance). Also take note of the use of the opaque white and extremely light colored wood (on the floors).

Traditional:
http://www.fotothing.com/photos/7f1/7f1 ... 2e_f59.jpg
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs31/f/2008/ ... eRoses.jpg
http://www.photopassjapan.com/images/im ... 20gate.jpg

Modern:
http://www.furniturestudiodesign.com/wp ... ecture.jpg
http://www.i9u.net/wp-content/uploads/2 ... 88x716.jpg
http://www.bronsonharrington.com/wp-con ... ecture.jpg


Urban (Traditional and Modern):
http://photography.projectchristnet.com ... 04_034.jpg
http://plusmood.com/wp-content/uploads/ ... OOD_09.jpg
http://trendhousedesign.com/wp-content/ ... Design.jpg
http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/reso ... dfloor.jpg

[cityy]

Thanks Anthem! Hoping to be able to pull it off well.

[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha1_3.jpg[/lvlshot]

[cityy]

[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha1_5.jpg[/lvlshot]

[Fjoggs]

First thing I that came to mind after a few minutes is that it felt overly complex. Especially the area between flag and mid.
Stuff like the RA area feels unnecessary, and I didn't even notice it before having jumped around a fairly long time. :P
Like in your previous map you have some pillars in the flagroom that doesn't make much sense to me and makes it just harder for a flagdef to defend.
I like the "attack from below" jumppadroute, but it feels maybe a bit too big and safe. Maybe narrow it down a bit for some GL spam harassment.
I see you've moved the TELE in flag, which I like.

Here's a few picturesuggestions.

When I ran here, I felt it would been better if that walkway im standing on was on the other side. Right now you lose all momentum unless you're playing cpm.


Maybe move the jumppad over here, and let it take you to the new walkway. Not that sure about this one though, but it felt unnecessary that the current one is so 'protected'.
That's all for now.

[cityy]

Thanks Fjoggs, I think changing the route at high RL sounds cool; maybe I'll just add something to jump over the gap. I'll see =)

Today's progress:
[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha1_7.jpg[/lvlshot]

[EmeraldTiger]

わたしは見. いいですシィティさん.

Looks excellent, a very refreshing look and feel. Mike Burbidge would be jealous.

[cityy]

Thanks Emeraldtiger!
Alpha2 is ready:

Download: http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ ... alpha2.zip

Changes:
- moved LG to where PG was
- moved RL to where LG was
- moved PG to where RL was
- added a new dropdown and a 50hp at the shards/RL corridor
- enlarged the MH hallway
- reworked the perimter area
- added water pits and pillars to mid (more changes to come here)
- changed the base jumppad so it wont launch you directly onto the flag

Still focusing mainly on getting the gameplay right. You can ignore most of the visuals

[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha2_1.jpg[/lvlshot]
http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ ... pha2_2.jpg
http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ ... pha2_3.jpg
http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ ... pha2_4.jpg

[dghost77]

Really nice! Just tried the alpha2 version and it's getting really much better. I do have a problem with the middle courtyard, when coming in, there is 2 easy access but the third one, where the health is located - see picture http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ ... pha2_3.jpg - is hard to use since there is no way to get to it easily except with a rocket jump (when going out of base to the middle ground), I always like to get 3 choices to get to the neutral ground.

The other weird feeling I have when playing it is to discover that each base is pretty big in size size and I would expect the same size for the middle ground, and to discover that it's a little bit smaller. Beside that, I really love the layout and the access for getting to the flags. Concerning items/weapons placement I am not so sure about it yet, so far it plays nice against bots but it would be much better to play a real multiplayer game on it.

Have you thought about making it compatible with TA and adding the weapons/powerup from the mission pack to it ?

Again, really great work.

[cityy]

Thanks for your input dghost77! I changed the mid layout a bit in the new version.

Download: http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ ... alpha3.zip (5.3mb)

Changes:
- LG now is where regen used to be
- JP was added to the old regen area
- regen was moved to the dropdown at the shards (there used to be a 50hp bubble there)
- swapped SG and PG
- added another SG in high mid
- reworked the mid layout

[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha3_1.jpg[/lvlshot]

[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha3_2.jpg[/lvlshot]

[fKd]

dunno about the grass, it never looks quite right due to its flatness imo. you could try using the fur feature... might give some interesting results? not sure how system heavy it is tho.. an interesting theme the whole japan/tech mix. look forward to seeing ya detail work on this one.

[phantazm11]

[fKd]

[Silicone_Milk]

Daikatana would have been finished in a month if you were on the Ion Storm team.

[Eraser]

Yeah, and not half as shit.

[Ouija]

Generic cgtextures grass. You should add some autosprite2 planes of tall grass/weeds to that and make it a patch or a piece of misc_model terrain. (the latter is easily done with Sculptris)
If you feel like doing it, make a duplicate of the wall texture near the grass and make it overgrown and mossy on the bottom.

edit: Even better idea...

[obsidian]

Daikatana would have been finished in a month if you were on the Ion Storm team.

Except he would be showing up at the office in diapers with his nappy blanket.

[Theftbot]

Needs more goldfish ponds!

[cityy]

It is an alpha version bros! Wait until I'm getting it on, hehe.

[cityy]

Trying to get a decent texture set going, made the banner texture, the small trim and the skybox tonight.. Things still need some tweaking.

[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha3_3.jpg[/lvlshot]

[tehSandwich]

[lvlshot]http://cityy.explicits.de/uploads/maps/ct3ctf3/alpha3_3.jpg[/lvlshot]

[Picture of two flags with "赤基本" written on them.]

Sorry, but that actually means something like "Red Basics" and not "Red Base". What you probably mean is actually "基地" and not "基本". An alternative is "レッドベースー" but that's more for modern settings. ("Blue Base" for both is "青基地" and "ブルーベースー" by the way.) I also have doubts about what the writing on the small trim actually means and what it's supposed to mean.

Does any of you other guys have support for japanese fonts and if you guys do, will you be able to understand? I feel like a giant nerd here.

[obsidian]

Suggestion on a name for the map: