[contest entry][wip] pl_reservoir

[Ezekel]

i've got it built in a bare bones sorta way, so game play could be tested.
before i get any further though, i was hoping for some advice etc regarding layout and gameplay

also there seems to be an issue with sentries placed in water not shooting at people outside the water unless they are very close to the surface. i'm not sure what to do about that to fix it.

i'm terrible at ammo/health placement in general, and at working out how much time to reward the attackers with when they get a cap.

there is a couple of props and dodads on the map already - but that's cos i'm easily distracted, and it's very hard to resist the temptation to start texturing and detailing.

the premise behind the map was in part to explain why badwaterbasin has no water (at least an explanation in my mind) despite having water in it's name.

the map is at:
http://www.fpsbanana.com/maps/74724

[Psy]

You could of at least thrown in some basic lighting.

[Ezekel]

it's not at lighting stage yet... i don't do lighting till i've textured 1st...

or is that bad practise?

[Ezekel]

just checked... i see what you mean... i accidently compiled it with vrad and vvis turned on ¬_¬ ok i'll just fix that

[UKCS-Alias]

Are you just saying you are going to turn those off and then compile? They should be on normal for releases. only for testing you can choose to have it off or on fast. Having vvis off or on fast reduces the map performance and vrad takes care of light. If there is no light you can keep it off.

Still, just as texturing lighting is important. if either one of them is bad the map will look bad. And unlike texturing lighting has a bigger impact. Bad textures can be covered, bad lighting is easy to spot.

[Ezekel]

however, i'm not even ready to do either. afterall right now it's relatively easy to change the map.

i basically don't want to repeat what happened with the ctf map i made. i built and released it without showing anyone, and then had to spend a couple of days rebuilding it which would have only taken a couple of hours if i had done it at this stage.


as you said - for testing.


but to diffuse any possible issues, i've updated the download on fpsbanana so it has vvis on but vrad off

[Psy]

What? It takes <1 minute to get the settings for a light_env.

Copy some settings from here and there you go.

[Ezekel]

... i already have a light env on the map...
i haven't put lights on the interior
you complained about it when i compiled it with lighting so i changed it...

regardless. this isn't the reason i put it up... i'm worried about gameplay. and by extension item placement and time rewards.

[Chilly]

But people won't try it for you unless you put in basic lighting so it looks halfway decent. I load a ton of alpha and beta maps on my server but refuse to put anything on where the mapper couldn't take the time to put a light_env and build cubemaps. Many other servers are the same. Basic lighting does affect gameplay, so please add your light_env and we'll have a go at it.

[Muffin Man]

Ezekel, you don't need the lighting to be nice for the first test. It's not a matter of "being ready" to take a big step in the design process, it's a matter of making your map look decent. Maps with no lighting are confusing to play in.

As long as your light_env and other necessary lighting entities work (which I assume they already do, since you're saying you've got it in your map already) and don't make the whole lot look completely screwed, all else you'll need are some light entities (those named simply 'light'). Just pop some in there, place them somewhere in the middle of all your indoors areas, and you're ready. Lighting can be updated later - this process takes two minutes and will make everyone happy. Not to mention it will make us shut up so we can comment on the map itself.