Procyon [Update 2007-03-11: Release-R1]

[Ingar]

[edit 2007-03-11] After a few multi-hour games I have decided Procyon would be better off without impenetrable human base and the unbeatable spot above the stairs nearby. I also fixed a bug where a tyrant gets stuck if he takes the teleporter to the Nexus.

Web: http://ingar.satgnu.net/tremulous/procyon.html
PK3: http://ingar.satgnu.net/tremulous/files/map-procyon-r1.pk3
Readme: http://ingar.satgnu.net/tremulous/files/map-procyon-r1.txt
Layout:http://ingar.satgnu.net/tremulous/procyon/layout.jpg
--
These past few months have been quite the adventure: the Tremulous community has some interesting people and again I would like to thank those who have supported me in this undertaking. The future holds more knowledge and skill than I had a few months ago and I hope I can put it to good use.

[Caveman]

Looks great, but doesn't this map favor the aliens a little bit?
The human base has 3 fall ins for the aliens which look not easily blockable wheras the aliens have only 2 that look to be quite defendable with acid tubes alone...

Edit: the screens look great, but to see any detail it would be nice if the light would turned on .)

[whitebear]

Looks awsome!

I test it in min...

Offtopic: does anyone know the cmd that changes alien/human stages?

EDIT:
Damn. This f*cking cool map! If this is just a preview then how big will real one be?

I noticed that best alien base spot is actualy just next room from humans (where are two air wents with blades.)

[Ingar]

Thanks for your encouraging words  

To clarify the state of the map:
I'm preparing another room to connect to the dead ends
of the Nexus part, the alien spawn should move
to that side of the map. So what we have now should
be about two-thirds the size of what is has to become.

I'm not really sure what I will do with the human spawn,
I was thinking of adding a smaller, more closed room
next to the arena.

I reserved some space for interconnecting corridors,
I hope playtesting will give me some hints on where to place them.

[vcxzet]

after all those crappy maps finally some quality work
thanks

[DarkWolf]

Seems to be a pretty good map, would be nicer if it had some water in it, i assume this is a watering installation of some sort?
Maybe you add something so players can add or lower the water, so it would be a little bit harder to manouver, or that you can fully flood 1 corridor or something like that   .
Again it is a good map, hoping to see the next version of it soon   .

[krom]

Great atmosphere,
one fear still it looks a bit too much tunnel like. Maybe one or two center rooms would break the "monotony" of corridors?

Anyway superb architecture!

[Basilisco]

Good map, but it's TOO open.

If you have experience with the human base below the stairs in arachnid, you'll know that open bases are a pain to defend.

The problem is that your map is all like that, there are few spot where you can make a tight base (and that's with custom bps)

[DarkWolf]

Thanks for your encouraging words  

To clarify the state of the map:
I'm preparing another room to connect to the dead ends
of the Nexus part, the alien spawn should move
to that side of the map. So what we have now should
be about two-thirds the size of what is has to become.

I'm not really sure what I will do with the human spawn,
I was thinking of adding a smaller, more closed room
next to the arena.

I reserved some space for interconnecting corridors,
I hope playtesting will give me some hints on where to place them.

There will be a smaller room next to the default human base   .

[Seffylight]

Finally. I've been waiting for another good map for a while, not this crap that has been coming out.

Keep up the hard work.

[[db@]Megabite]

Did not have the time to really play it, but it looks really good by now! Can't wait to see and play the final version!

Well, I promised to post a screen of the bug I found so here it is:



Apart from connecting some dead ends I guess the map needs some more inventory / decoration to make those big rooms a bit more crowded.
Gameplay can be judged after some good matches... it is up on Derelict and so you will get some feedback soon, I guess.

Keep up the good work!

Danny

[gow]

huge... open areas and closed areas... after watching it on the beta server, it looks fun as hell, except i got lost without seeing anyone for like 2 minutes.
very good for a first realse.

[DIGI_Byte]

yeah. its an easy to look at lay out but its kinda eay to get lost until u know the map. and that could turn away some ppl from playing on it.

[Stannum]

If possible try using a non tech texture pack.

[James]

As everyone else has said, a great piece of work, well done. You've already mentioned you need to add details; in general I think some of the rooms need more clutter, while others are prefect as is. The waterway room is fine, whereas the nexus room feels very barren, linear and open. I hesitate to suggest 'barrels and crates' to break things up, but in a couple of rooms it would help. Basically to provide cover, hinder tyrant charges in some places, and the like. As an alternative to crates, some random pieces of equipment (eg in the vent room) would be one possibility. Oh, and if adding such 'props', please don't align them to the grid - for some reason all the other maps have the most neatly stacked crates ever!

Performance wise, I would again be worried about the nexus room, especially if either team moves to a (currently non finished) dead-end room off the south or west corridors - the PVS in the centre of the nexus room is going to be quite high. On the other hand, most people have pretty fast computers these days.

Finally, I'm a little nervous about the number of 'trapdoor' movement elements, eg the staircase room and waterway, where one wrong step, or push-back, might knock you off an edge and require a very long walk to get back to where you were - if this was happening under fire, it could make life very tough. That's a perfectly valid gameplay design, of course,  but if testing reveals one side can too easily hold such a room, you could add guard rails or similar (thinking of the staircase) again. That said it looks great without them.

[Ingar]

People seem time like Procyon, that's a good sign :-)
The biggest issue seems to be that the map is quite large
and the nexus room has the tendency to become a human
pulse-rifle arena. Having played a few games myself
I think I should concentrate on gameplay and try to get the map
balanced.

Decorating the Nexus-area would be a great step forward,
IMHO adding some places to hide could also reduce
the "big map" feeling.

I was thinking about adding a promenade on top of
the nexus-room and stairs up in the connecting tunnels.

The cathedral needs a way up too. The upper area is too inviting
for campers.

Very important: the spawns should be moved.
I' m still not sure where to put them,
any suggestion is welcome.

Some other issues have been found:
-a few tyrant traps that need to be fixed
-the alcove in the cage room should be somewhat larger,
the stairs needs some work too (it's floating in mid air and
is somewhat wobbly)
-the room at the north entrance of the nexus (with the red tunnel)
needs work too (It was an inspirational low, but the last room needed
to connect everything   )
-I would love to have water flowing in the waterway but this is
eye-candy and will have to wait

Concerning performance:
I did some PVS and r_speeds,
it doesn't seem to bad. Even the nexus' largest view
keeps it around 15K verts.

P.S.:
The weird shiny texture seems like a lighting artifact,
it can probably be fixed with some extra brushes.

P.P.S:
Console commands for map testing:
http://tremmapping.pbwiki.com/Console%20Commands

[yetshi]

that is very nice.

would be helpful to start both bases with some small bit of defense.

a turret or two, a few tubes.

[David]

would it be possable to have random starting locations?
so there is a list and it picks one.
maby not for this map, but could it be done?

[Taiyo.uk]

Great map with a variety of areas (long tunnels, arenas and some small hidey-holes). Both default bases need moving sooner or later (I like this) as the alien base is difficault to defend and the human base is a snipe-tastic goon paradise with the raised walkway. I think some water in the waterway could make a nice finishing touch, but that's just me.

Great work!

[Survivor]

would it be possable to have random starting locations?
so there is a list and it picks one.
maby not for this map, but could it be done?

Yes, but it is not something determined from within the game. The mapper would have to incorporate quite a big trigger system to kill the not needed buildings. It is best if you just don't do that.

[[db@]Megabite]

There are some more comments over at tremulous.info -> http://www.tremulous.info/index.php?module=news&action=comment&id=160

Danny

[Ingar]

I just released Procyon preview 2 on my website.
Highlights of this release:

- New spawn locations for everybody
- Upper level of the Nexus room
- Cathedral Stairs
- New shortcut in the Promenade (formerly know as the Arena)

The new things should improve the balance and overall gameplay of the map. I have the impression it feels smaller (and it did shrink a bit)
but it could be imagination  

Hope you enjoy it.

[yetshi]

this is a very very very nice map.

[krom]

Could brush work! But still the map lakes a main them, something that would make it sensationnal. We haev lots of nices indus creation, but no real big concept.
Cool world anyway!

[DASPRiD]

First impression: Looks very nice, but I would change some things.

• Some textures look very flat, maybe you use detail-textures or dont use everywhere the same concrete-texture
  
  
• Some areas look very simple, others more detailed. Bring some more details to the simple areas. Crates or barrels are often a good idea. In addition, some things like pipes would be very nice.
  
  
• Use more curves. In a time, where everyone has optimal hardware for the quake 3 engine, you are able to use more curves than earlier. If you want a thing to be round, do it, and don't mess with brushes (e.g. cathedral).
  
  
• nexus: The font looks inapplicable. Try a more futuristic font, and give it 50% alpha. Then it should look more real.
  

[DarkWolf]

Seems to be a good improvement.
Idea: Maybe you could make it so that the hologram thing in the nexus could be a teleporter to 2-3 parts of the maps, and when you teleport, the text around the hologram starts to spin quickly, just an idea though   .

[DASPRiD]

DarkWolf: The one of urbanterror?  :eek:

[kevlarman]

• Use more curves. In a time, where everyone has optimal hardware for the quake 3 engine, you are able to use more curves than earlier. If you want a thing to be round, do it, and don't mess with brushes (e.g. cathedral).
  

not everyone has the greatest and greatest hardware, some of us like trem because it will run on as low as 850 mhz cpu's and 32mb video cards

[DarkWolf]

Don't know das.

[Survivor]

It has improved but what strikes me in most new maps is the lack of wall decoration. It doesn't look nice if a wall texture stretches on for ages without interruption even if it curves or not. Maybe add some fuseboxes, monitors etc on the walls to make it more lively.
Also i suggest using a shader for the starmap rotation and making it non solid so players can pass through it.
I haven't had any real good games on it so I can't say anything about the gameplay.