Ns_andromeda_beta2 Released
Lord_Requiem
Join Date: 2002-11-20 Member: 9481Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Finally a solid playable release.</div> Enjoy it I worked my **** off to fix the tram garbage and the dissappearing doors. There are no major known bugs left, I know there is a small Hall of mirrors effect in one small polygon in the chapel doorway but thats about it, I've rebuilt that arch 3 times it doesnt want to go away, I may have to build the whole area again but I'm not doing that this week.
Lets get it playing and see how the balance is, I hope you enjoy jetpacking because this is a great jetpacking map, there is something for everyone tho. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
<a href='http://files.nullfusion.com/ns_andromeda_beta2.zip' target='_blank'>http://files.nullfusion.com/ns_andromeda_beta2.zip</a>
and if that doesnt work:
<a href='http://requiem.qis.ca/ns_andromeda_beta2.zip' target='_blank'>http://requiem.qis.ca/ns_andromeda_beta2.zip</a>
Req
Lets get it playing and see how the balance is, I hope you enjoy jetpacking because this is a great jetpacking map, there is something for everyone tho. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
<a href='http://files.nullfusion.com/ns_andromeda_beta2.zip' target='_blank'>http://files.nullfusion.com/ns_andromeda_beta2.zip</a>
and if that doesnt work:
<a href='http://requiem.qis.ca/ns_andromeda_beta2.zip' target='_blank'>http://requiem.qis.ca/ns_andromeda_beta2.zip</a>
Req
Comments
damn dude this is soo coooool.
i just love the Wind Tunnel and im really looking forward to play it online because i think this architecture
is quite different <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
i also really enjoyed the dark style over the whole map .....but there is one thing i have to complain about how the heck are u able too play ns with an 8way joystick <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
it would be cool if someone can post the ip`s of servers with the map installed (soory for my english)
Can't wait to see it!
PLEASE if you come to play or just look around make sure you get the map first because it will take you over half an hour to trickle it from the server and the server resets the map every 10 minutes if a game isn't running.
Server Name = Eaglec (T) - NS v1.03[UK]
URL = eaglec.homedns.org:27015
Good work Requiem.
Slaughter, one(1) skulk (although with adrenaline and carapace) killed 5 marines. Those guys I know pretty well, they're good, and clanners(same clan), but MAN did it feel good owning hard like that...
On three seperate PC's that I've tested it on I have been getting killed by the big lift on the way down to chapel and the lift that leads to the tram tunnel. This has to be fixable. Also much more minor point - in the Atrium there is a small ledge from the slope up to the res point platform. As a skulk this ledge very briefly stops you dead.
The tram line still seems to be instant death, rather than a severe 'cold' damage effect also it seems od that the station deigners went to expense of installing a tram tunnel for a 30meter section of corridor that would have been quicker to walk down.
Connectivity - It is far too hard to get from one place to another, a few more joining corridors and doors that auto open or at least have buttons in sensible (consistent) places might help. Every area seems to have a direct route to it and thats it. There seem to be far too many bottlenecks. In fact tactically it appears that if you control the big lift to chapel then you pretty much control the map.
Theme - Although I like just about every are of the map individually (excluding the whinings above) it seems that that is what they are. A group of very good ideas and well contructed rooms connected by a corridor or two. the map might actually benefit by the loss of one of these great areas if it made way for a greater themed and linked whole. - I hope this makes sense to someone.
Sorry about that, but I figured you'd rather hear it now than after the final release. I should also say that I think the Chappel tunnel is great and the wind tunnel hive is very good now.
These are only my opinions and could be completely wrong. Overall I think the map is 'good', (and I am over critical). It's just I feel with a little tweaking it could be 'great'.
I'll continue to run this map on my server for the next few days, for those that have yet to see it down load it and take a look.
I know the map seems slightly unthemed, if you want the honest truth thats because i wanted to try out a ton of different ideas to see how they worked in an NS map. Im not changing it drastically, but Im going to take all the good and bad from andromeda to make genesis, which is currently in production.
The big crossroads lift has zero crush damage attached to it, please define how it is "killing" you. There is also a vent in the ceiling below the crossroads elevator that leads to tram tunnel, chapel, and atrium.
I know the connectivity is pretty lousy, thats one of the things Im going to get right in genesis, but it would take way too much work to get it perfect for andromeda because of the way I built the layout. Its not terrible, but it sure could be better.
I welcome more comments and feedback, and hope I get some more people running this map on servers so I can get some large game feedback.
And I fell on the tracks once as a skulk, but jumped on the wall and still had 27 health afterwards. So not <b>instant</b> death.
Excellent map! (Again, haven't played on it. It's just that I like a lot of the style and ingenuity found all over the place on this map.)
Anyways, some other things I found:
The vent between marine spawn and atrium snackbar seems to be too low. I couldn't get full speed with jetpack as marine. Maybe because I couldn't lift off? If this is by design I do not know...
In the computer room it could be hazardrous for aliens to get up on the computers. The lightfixtures hanging from the ceiling effectively hinders a quick escape. One has to jump over the lights to get down in some directions. Maybe could be fixed by raising the ceiling a bit and thus raising the lights some? Again, don't know if this is by design or not...
The automatic elevator near the awesome (and now visible <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->) tram seems to get you stuck somehow. When riding it and just standing still until it comes to a full stop seems to fuse your feet to the elevator. If you get stuck when the elevator is in the lower position it refuses to go up again. Dunno if this was server related though.
And I found some annoyances in paradise lost. The semiautomatic door can be somewhat troublesome sometimes (or maybe it is just my poor hand-eye coordination <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->)
I also found this homeless bum sleeping on the bench in the park...
Well, you need to make it a little easier for a skulk to gut up to that room I was talking about. It took way too many tries. I'm not sure what needs to be done, but I think the corners are just too hard to stay 'attatched' to. Maybe make the corners less 90 degree angles or something. It's kind of a small gripe, but when it starts getting played, I bet more people will want to use that upper room and the vent in there whenever they don't have the time to take repeated attempts. On the other ladder bug instance, you can just grab the left or right wall to get to the top. Annoying, but once I found it, I got used to it. In the chapel, even with practice it will be difficult. It would be worth turning gorge just to climb up the ladder and then change back. It really is a necessary shortcut.
If anything is needed maybe a weld to turn on lights, or a lightswitch on the aliens side of the tunnels/rooms hehe, either that or I need glasses O_o
I have not seen this on any other half-life map as far as I can remember.
I was also wondering if there was a way to make it less suicidal to try to take the ladder down the lift shafts, it seems the ladder is easy to miss and if you do the distance you fall virtually kills you. Perhaps having a bar across the far side of the ladder well to stop you falling straight down the pit.
Just to make myself clearer, the problem is the only vertical face that you can get to when trying to climb up into that room is the ladder itself. Well, after a lot of practice you can kinda get around the 90 degree corners, but it is really tough. And if at any time you grab onto the ladder (on purpose or accident) the bug pushes you down so you have to try again. Adding the ladderless corner hole I mentioned would not fix the ladder entrance itself, just allow a way for skulks to get in the room without making them frustrated.
This might seem like a pathetic complaint and that I'm being redundant, but I think it is important to fix it because this might be a great map as long as it doesn't fall prey to bugs that weren't addressed before release. Just like the elevator to the tram that gets you stuck. <b>Even if it is a HL engine bug, it's not playable if people get randomly stuck on elevators</b>. I appreciate the fact that it's not your doing, but leaving it in the game isn't the right way to go about dealing with the problem. I'm not sure what you can do, but if it stays the way it is, it will be unplayable.
I hate to gripe like this; I love this map and can't wait to play it with more than two people. Don't want to sound like I'm putting down the map. This has been my favorite of the all the new maps (still haven't played a <b>real</b> game on it, though).
I will make it easier for skulks to get up to the chapel top area.
btw: I tried a simple map myself earlier today. Took me about 4 hours to create a boxroom with a pyramid in it and then crashed my PC repeatedly when I tried to run it! I really do appreciate the amount of work that goes into these things! One day I plan to create a little box in the country all of my own!(dont worry I wont release it)
Keep up the good work.
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
the chapel arch entrance, which you already know about <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
the elevator bugs that deal small amounts of damage.
the map is too dark. darkness in liberal amounts is good but this kinda overdoes it, even with the rooms where you can turn on the lights.
the tram is too slow for the distance it covers. you can basically walk there faster, especially if the tram is on the other side.
most everything else seems good. it doesn't strike me as a competition worthy map tho for some reason...
I didn't actually know what was what when I started playing. The doors don't actually look like doors, they just look like part of the walls, and I was wandering for around 10 minutes thinking, "Why are there so many dead ends??!" Also, the lift which goes down to 'Lost Paradise,' doesn't look like a lift. It blends in to well with the floor. The button for the lift also slides along the wall for 5 seconds before activating the lift.
The river in Lost Paradise also floats above the ground due to the wave amount. You could either set the wave amount to 0, or lower the the river a bit.
With the big lift, when it is up above, and you are down below, it looks like a plain black texture because there is no light being allowed to get to it. You could put lights into the walls around the lift to light the texture up a bit. Otherwise it just looks like a void/glitch in the wall.
It is VERY dark, perhaps too dark...? Perhaps not.
I liked the use of models in the RR, that's something I've been tampering with for my map. R_speeds were good right the way through too.
One note, though, phase gates and infantry portals set in the low hallway between the tram and the wind tunnel hive will result in the marine being stuck with his head in the ceiling when he materializes. Needs another inch or two in height.
I did notice as a Skulk it would not let me jump or evolve after spawning in Hangar until I ran half way towards the door 'you must be on flat ground to evolve' ?