Ns_spelbound
Coroner
Join Date: 2003-09-18 Member: 20994Members
Join Date: 2003-09-18 Member: 20994Members
<div class="IPBDescription">beta release</div> You can download the map at the following url:
<a href='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/files/ns_spellbound_beta.zip' target='_blank'>http://www.sonsofmetal.org/files/ns_spellb...lbound_beta.zip</a>
This is a fully playable, and in my opinion approaching completed, version of the map. This is more of a playtest version than a version that tests asthetics, but those are also welcome as well. Some areas I put alot of work into, some average, and some I threw together to make playable. I think you will be able to tell those areas from eachother. Below are some screenshots. As with most screens, they are darker than they are in game. I attempted to adjust the brightness but it didnt get quite how they look in game, but they are at least an idea of how the rooms look overall.
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell1.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell2.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell3.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell4.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell5.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell6.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell7.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell8.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell9.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
Any comments much welcomed. I hope to get it tested and then touched up and ready for the final release soon.
<a href='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/files/ns_spellbound_beta.zip' target='_blank'>http://www.sonsofmetal.org/files/ns_spellb...lbound_beta.zip</a>
This is a fully playable, and in my opinion approaching completed, version of the map. This is more of a playtest version than a version that tests asthetics, but those are also welcome as well. Some areas I put alot of work into, some average, and some I threw together to make playable. I think you will be able to tell those areas from eachother. Below are some screenshots. As with most screens, they are darker than they are in game. I attempted to adjust the brightness but it didnt get quite how they look in game, but they are at least an idea of how the rooms look overall.
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell1.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell2.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell3.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell4.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell5.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell6.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell7.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell8.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<img src='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/images/spell9.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
Any comments much welcomed. I hope to get it tested and then touched up and ready for the final release soon.
Comments
Aliens won every single round by the way, with pretty even teams IMO. Cant be all that marine sided lol. Thanks for the input.
Straight right out of marine base and down a bit you run into a room with red verticle pipes. If you look from one end of the room to the other, it tops 800 or so.
<a href='http://www.sonsofmetal.org/files/ns_spellbound_beta2.zip' target='_blank'>http://www.sonsofmetal.org/files/ns_spellb...bound_beta2.zip</a>
Overall, you've created a nice, big map with some very interesting areas and architecture. It still needs some spit-and-polish, though, before it will be playable:
-Your unique Readyroom design is a bad idea. Most of the time when I spawned, I fell and could only see the "Spectate" entrance. I couldn't even see what was on the upper level, and I could barely see the ladders due to the weak lighting. Put all the doors on the ground floor, please.
-Marine spawn looks good, but put a spotlight or something on the CC so noobs can see it. Also, maybe add some control panels or screens.
-Actually, come to think of it, there were no controls or computers anywhere on the whole map! <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif'><!--endemo--> Unless this is the <i>most self-reliant spaceship <u>evar,</u></i> there should probably be a control room somewhere, and monitors or other devices in places with machines that need to be monitored and controlled, such as Binary Processing and Environment Support. (The machines in both those areas are cool, BTW!)
-Light the button that activates the light to external walkway. That corner of the map is so dark, I couldn't see the lift OR the button without my flashlight. Use a light entity right in front of the button so it lights up the whole area.
-Some areas of the map (Sewerage Routing, Weapons Power Core, the lift to External Walkway, etc.) have big sections (256x256x256 or bigger) that are totally pitch black. This is NOT the way to give kharra places to hide! Add more lights to these areas, and if you want to give the kharra hiding places, also add obstacles. The problem is that kharra have no flashlights, so they can't see what they're doing!
-The floor texture in Forward Access is scaled up too much. From the balcony looking down, I thought it was a platform because of the way my flashlight got bigger when it reflected off of it.
-Lifts should be noticibly different from the floor, should be well lit or spottlit so the player is aware of them and knows their importance. Also, the buttons should be lit so any idiot will notice them the FIRST time they play the map.
-The lift to Waepons Power Core goes down instead of up when activated. It goes through the floor. Fix this.
Good luck witht his map! It's ver large and diverse, and shows a lot of promise! If you can just make it more intuitive and easier to navigate, we could have a winner here.
Thanks for the review. And BTW, the ready room will be totally redone, its just a generic one Im using until the final compile. I currently have alot of computers and panels on the ship now that im working on the final build. Dont worry, the ship will have panels and buttons.
Behold the wonders of spellbound! <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif'><!--endemo-->
Seriously, these are actual screenshots as they appear in-game. The only difference is that I shrunk them.
I notice that in your posted screenshots, the areas seem very washed-out compared to what I see in-game. The blackest areas are dark grey, and the whitest light sources are light grey. If you did not intentionally do this to the pictures in a photo-editor, then I guess your graphics card or Half-Life graphics settings must be doing something to soften the contrast in a way that shows up in screen-shots. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
I would recommend letting someone else re-light your map, or perhaps re-compile with the tag -ambient .008 .008 .008 added to the end of your light process. Doing this will cause even the darkest areas of your map to be faintly lit, so whatever else it does to the lighting, at least everyone will instantly be able to see what they're doing.
I recommend playtesting your map with gamma set to 1.0, and making sure every area is lit well enough to see by. That way, you can be assured that whatever happens on somebody else's monitor, it is working from a base where everything is ivisible.
itll make the map look cooler and frightening.
Im gonna re-do the levels lighting and use no env_gamma, it seems to look different on everyones screen I talk to.