Question Regarding Maps...

SkyrageSkyrage Join Date: 2003-08-27 Member: 20249Members
in NS General Discussion
<div class="IPBDescription">...x...y...and z...</div> I was just wondering whether it's possible to make maps which has more "height" in it so to speak, eg. long long elevators with several stops which leads to pretty big areas at several levels? Think of it a bit like a "skyscraper" design so to speak...

Right now most maps seems to be focusing rather planar...there are some maps where you have a couple of levels to walk thro, but no maps where there are several levels...

Is this an engine limit, no wish to do such maps or any other reasons?

Course one prob I can think of is the com building...would be dead hard to build if there were several levels on top of each other on his map...but perhaps there could be a way to work around that?

Anyway, just wondering...cause I'd personally would like to see some maps with "altitude" <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
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Comments

  • surprisesurprise Join Date: 2003-01-16 Member: 12382Members, Constellation
    no, there is no way we will ever see a serious ns map with vertical design...
    it is everything pretty good desrcibed in the mapping guidelines (cant remember url)
    the problems for commandermode were just to big

    on the other hand, in combat maps "level over level" gameplay how it is called is encouraged...
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  • tommydtommyd Creator of ns_tanith, co_pulse and co_faceoff Join Date: 2002-01-24 Member: 40Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, NS2 Developer
    ns maps can't have entire sections over each other for two reasons: commander view and HL engine limits. ns: combat maps CAN have sections over sections (since there's no commander), so you see more vertical action in 3.0.
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  • DanDaManDanDaMan Join Date: 2002-03-19 Member: 335Members
    There's no HL engine limit to having level over level design. The only major engine limit is that maps are bounded within a 8192 x 8192 x 8192 cube. That means that maps can be as tall as they are wide
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  • Nemesis_ZeroNemesis_Zero Old European Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 75Members, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Constellation
    There's a whole lot of engine limits (such as max lightdata, max clipnodes, or the infamous maxplanes). Many of them are already being stretched thin by a normal ns_ map. Level over level is in so far impossible due to engine limits that it'd potentially add even more weight on these limits.
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  • DelphiDelphi Join Date: 2003-04-02 Member: 15134Members, Constellation
    NZ hit the nail on the head. With all the entities that a regular NS map needs to handle, they need to be EXCEEDINGLY well made. No walls can mismatch up for wallwalking reasons, can't have level over level, etc..

    Combat is a whole other story. Since you (currentlY) only have the hive and the CC to worry about, you can shove a whole lot more detail into the maps. Granted, they have to be much smaller then a NS_ map, but level over level design could make for some VERY VERY interesting play. The current co maps have very little level over level (Pulse is one that does, but it's not much of an overlay, one section, really), and I can't wait to see what the mapping community does with it.
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  • HazeHaze O RLY? Join Date: 2003-07-07 Member: 18018Members, Constellation
    Ive been drawing layouts for these darn maps for so long (reformated harddrive, have to redownload hammer) that I'm just used to the one level thing. Its more of a challange (for me at least) to do level over level *the right way* and not just have it there so its there.
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  • DanDaManDanDaMan Join Date: 2002-03-19 Member: 335Members
    edited December 2003
    yeah, but the limitations like max lightdata and stuff that you talked about have nothing at all to do with level over level design. Having multiple levels doesn't necessarily require a bigger map at all, it only means that there are multiple levels in the map regardless of size or lighting or clipnodes.

    There is no specific HL engine limitation that says the half life engine does not support multiple levels within a map, I believe fps got past that back in the days of doom. Wolfenstein 3d, now there's a game where you can say that level over level design was in fact limited by the engine.
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  • DelphiDelphi Join Date: 2003-04-02 Member: 15134Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin--Ha.ze+Dec 29 2003, 01:31 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Ha.ze @ Dec 29 2003, 01:31 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Ive been drawing layouts for these darn maps for so long (reformated harddrive, have to redownload hammer) that I'm just used to the one level thing. Its more of a challange (for me at least) to do level over level *the right way* and not just have it there so its there. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    With the variety I have seen in NS maps, I'm sure mappers will come up with fantastic level over level action (.. that sounds indecent..) for Combat.

    Just make sure it's co_ and not ns_. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
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