Author Topic: Map - Beyond Derelict (Beta 4)  (Read 3158 times)

[db@]Megabite

  • Posts: 613
  • Turrets: +3/-0
    • http://www.tremulous.info
Map - Beyond Derelict (Beta 4)
« on: August 27, 2006, 01:20:33 am »
I finally managed to put some final touches on the latest beta 4 of my Gloom conversion "Beyond Derelict".

Beta 4 is already available for download and will replace beta 3 on the Derelict testserver and probably other servers. So make sure to get the latest version (~8MB)!

Changes since last release include:

- several bugfixes
- modified textures and shaders
- widened the corridor near human base backway
- changed vents to discourage camping
- added landing ramp outside human base
- added several small visual gimmicks
- added particle systems
- added complete soundscape
- new skybox

Please post any comments on gameplay or issues in this thread. Any constructive criticism is welcome!
This will probably be the last beta version before final release, so no big changes will come after this...
I guess I will start building my next map shortly. Conceptual work has already started, it will be a new map from scratch and not opposing-fort-style. ;)

Danny
url=http://www.tremulous.info][/url]


Ksempac

  • Posts: 261
  • Turrets: +1/-1
    • http://www.ksempac.info/blog
Map - Beyond Derelict (Beta 4)
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2006, 05:04:09 am »
I tried the map a bit...

The pipes in the vent to prevent camping do their job quite well, but don t seem natural..maybe instead you could create a hole in the vent with some stuff coming out of the hole as if it has been broken.

The white lights in the side room are awful...first, it doesnt seem natural having some lights lying on the boxes with no real purpose, and second it doesnt go well with the others lights of the room...Actually i fail to see the point of theses lights.

Could you remove the "Human deathtrap" akka "the little box in the corner of  the side room where humans without jetpack can hide behind but cant get out" ? I managed to make the same mistake again while trying the map
url=http://tremulous.net][/url]

Paradox

  • Posts: 2612
  • Turrets: +253/-250
    • Paradox Designs
Map - Beyond Derelict (Beta 4)
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2006, 05:07:40 am »
One thing i always disliked about this map is its color scheme, too yellow.

∧OMG ENTROPY∧

[db@]Megabite

  • Posts: 613
  • Turrets: +3/-0
    • http://www.tremulous.info
Map - Beyond Derelict (Beta 4)
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2006, 11:10:44 am »
Quote from: "Paradox"
One thing i always disliked about this map is its color scheme, too yellow.


Which r_gamma are you playing? It is not that yellow on 1.0-1.2... every map looks shitty with a setting above that, imho. The amber lighting on derelictb gets really yellow with increased gamma settings, true. ;)

Thanks for the feedback so far. I will have a look at the "deathtrap", did not know of that one before.
The pipes in the vents only look a bit unnatural because they are the only ones. Vents in other games like Doom3 feature pipes in the vents as well... I will have a look on how to make it better.
The new neon lights in the sideroom are just there to make the dark center brighter. The color is pure white as neon lights are and they are not in a natural surrounding.
Imagine a derelict spaceship just running emergency lighting, running low on power... the ship is infested with aliens and a human squad has just started cleaning the ship. They have just placed the neons there to shed some light on the matter... so they are not an orinignal part of the ship and thus do not look like being natural on the ship.

...just to explain the design steps mentioned... ;)

Danny
url=http://www.tremulous.info][/url]


gareth

  • Posts: 710
  • Turrets: +38/-89
Map - Beyond Derelict (Beta 4)
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2006, 11:39:23 am »
I dont see how the pipes will stop camping, perhaps they should inflict a small amount of damage on players if they touch the steam.

Ksempac

  • Posts: 261
  • Turrets: +1/-1
    • http://www.ksempac.info/blog
Map - Beyond Derelict (Beta 4)
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2006, 11:59:30 am »
Quote from: "[db@
Megabite"]The pipes in the vents only look a bit unnatural because they are the only ones. Vents in other games like Doom3 feature pipes in the vents as well... I will have a look on how to make it better.


The fact that they are alone are one thing that makes them unnatural but the second is that you actually made the vent larger where the pipes are.  That seems really unnatural.

Quote
The new neon lights in the sideroom are just there to make the dark center brighter. The color is pure white as neon lights are and they are not in a natural surrounding.
Imagine a derelict spaceship just running emergency lighting, running low on power... the ship is infested with aliens and a human squad has just started cleaning the ship. They have just placed the neons there to shed some light on the matter... so they are not an orinignal part of the ship and thus do not look like being natural on the ship.


I thought about that but if a team had put them i think they would have put them on the floor or on a box...

Actually there is two things that bothers me. First is the actual existence of theses lights because i loved the dark areas. I feel more in a damaged ship with dangerous aliens waiting for me somewhere.

But after all, its your map so if you wanna add some lights, i have nothing to say about that. But then comes the second thing i dont like in theses lights : the way you placed them.
 Here they seem to be in a random location with one extremity on a box and the other one on the floor...if you have the time to set 2 huge lights (they are nearlly as tall as a human !) like theses ones, you dont throw them away or place in a way they might fall if the ship takes a hit. You place them carefully and in a way that the 2 lights light the greatest area possible.

So my advice would be to use one of theses 2 solutions :

- First solution, we assume they have some time to clean the mess (they dont know there are aliens, or they set that before the aliens came accross the damaged ship).
Then you keep the huge lights, but put them in a way that indicates some human set them : they should be set so they cant fall even if the ship take a hit,  (maybe on a stick like we sometimes see in the films, with big white lights around the crime location).

-  Second solution : Ok they must check the dmg to the ship, but they know something is out there, so they dont have time, they use a light (as opposed to heavy) equipement to do their job fast.
If you go for that one, remove the huge lights, and put some tiny ones, some that a human can carry with him and throw away in an emergency situation. Something like a torchlight (that can still be a powerful light...Maglite ? ;p), or one of theses littles plastic pipes with a liquid in them that shines when you activate it (you know, the kind of stuff you see in night parties, or the ones they used in Ocean's Eleven in the lift). The humans check the dmg with theses small lights and then go away (or get eaten by aliens) and let their light in the room that needs it.

Well that s the way i see this...but i may be mistaking. At least, I hope you wont hold a grudge on me for being so annoying about theses lights.  :wink:
url=http://tremulous.net][/url]

[db@]Megabite

  • Posts: 613
  • Turrets: +3/-0
    • http://www.tremulous.info
Map - Beyond Derelict (Beta 4)
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2006, 12:10:23 pm »
Quote from: "Ksempac"
Well that s the way i see this...but i may be mistaking. At least, I hope you wont hold a grudge on me for being so annoying about theses lights.  :wink:


Of course not! As I said, to get constructive criticism is why I am posting it here! ;)
Well, about the neons falling down and the ship being hit... the setting is about a ship being adrift for 30 years or so. It is not likely being hit any time soon.
But I still like your ideas on how to change the lighting.. maybe I will try to put in some magnesium torches ot something to replace the neons. I will just play around a bit.
Another guy in a match we had a few minutes ago stated the neons were actually very cool... so tastes are different at last... ;)

@gareth: Some l4m0rs used to camp the vents at the end of a match for some 20 minutes after all spawns had been destroyed. Now you are able to at least hit them with a dretch before dying to finish people like this off in a few minutes.

Danny
url=http://www.tremulous.info][/url]