36 replies to this topic

[SamC]

Progress! I'm working on getting objectives in place. So far I have a working "destroy the generator" and "hack the console" objective in the map, a few troop spawns placed, and the skeleton of the "gather canisters, blow up a wall" set up, with indicators and updates to the objective list.

Lots of building the map, starting the game, testing the objectives, seeing how broken they are, quitting, tweaking it, rebuilding the map, and slowly progressing that way. But once I have all the entities set up, it's only a matter of copying and renaming them to add more objectives. I decided to at least clone the existing objectives first and get them working before trying my own. It's been a learning experience.

[Jgoodroad]

any special objectives?
any special traps?

you could have (as a suggestion) a vehical crash through a wall instead of gas canisters... simply switch the canisters with unbreakable gas cans, 3-4 ect. have them trigger a logic counter to "fill up the car", when full it drives through the wall...

I would do it myself, but there is no place for it in my map.

[SamC]

Jgoodroad, on 21 November 2010 - 05:38 PM, said:

any special objectives?
any special traps?

There will probably be more, yes. Like I said, I'm trying to emulate the ones in the existing maps first, to get some practice with more complex entity set-ups.

[SamC]

I'm still alive! Just been tweaking and poking at the map. I have a full set of objectives working, along with Overwatch spawns and a few test traps, and I've detailed a few more areas. Navigation nodes are added, and the rebels can actually win! So I believe I'm about ready for some beta testing, but still lots of work left. Hopefully I'll have a more comprehensive post tomorrow evening.

[SamC]

Screenshots!









Mainly a lot of visual detailing, adding in ammo and medpacks, and I have a working overview map and sample intro text. Ready for playtesting! I have a few ideas for other objectives, right now it's blowing up a generator and a lot of "hacking". I know I'll probably have to change the layout in a couple places, but I can use the practice with visuals and detailing. Onward!

[The Joker]

SamC, on 04 December 2010 - 03:02 AM, said:

Screenshots!


Mainly a lot of visual detailing, adding in ammo and medpacks, and I have a working overview map and sample intro text. Ready for playtesting! I have a few ideas for other objectives, right now it's blowing up a generator and a lot of "hacking". I know I'll probably have to change the layout in a couple places, but I can use the practice with visuals and detailing. Onward!

Very nice.

[Jgoodroad]

holoy shit that looks awesome.

[Auxor]

Adding a "pick up the gas canisters to blow up a generator" objective would probably extend the length of each round massively, and might break up the constant hacking and throwing grenade objectives.

[SamC]

Thanks guys, hopefully it plays well, or I'll have to do a lot of that detailing again.

Auxor: Yeah, that sounds good. I've got the gather canisters objective mocked up in a test map, I just haven't added it yet. Still going over ideas for new objectives.

[SamC]

I think I've done all I'm going to before I get people in to play this thing. Obligatory screenshot dump follows.

I'm really not so sure about the cubemaps. The road looks like it's made of plastic. Pretty sure I've build and placed them correctly, they just shouldn't shine like that...

[Auxor]

Have you made objectives that change around each round like Breach? Or are they static.

[SamC]

I was able to add one changing objective, rotates between hacking and canister collection.

[Jgoodroad]

a bit rough around the edges, but if it plays well it deserves to win.

[SamC]

Alright, time for tweaks and feedback!

1. Apparently the turrets in the very last raped, so that needs a fix. Were the turrets respawning? I'm thinking adding more cover so there's a chance of avoiding the turrets, and maybe an ammo/resupply station for the Rebels somewhere in the Combine base, and if the turrets are respawning, lengthening the respawn time.

2. Some complaints about the number of Combine, mainly being able to spawn troops in all parts of the map at the same time and stockpile them in the back. Fix: Tie the spawns together, so clicking one spawn disables all the others. It sounds like most of the trouble was in the Combine base, so some of the problem might be a distinct lack of cover there, again.

3. Possibly too short, or at least too repetitive. I've been thinking about this one, but I'm having a hard time coming up with traps that fit the map as is. Hopefully fixing the balance issues will be enough of an improvement, but I'll keep thinking about new objectives or traps.

4. 'Plastic' textures - only one person said something about this, but I think I agree. The sidewalks look out of place to me too, I think I'll try the texture set without the reflection map.

Those seemed to be the main complaints. I'll probably have something testable towards the end of next week, so stay tuned. Anything else that stood out or needed improvement?

[braddollar]

SamC, on 20 January 2011 - 09:12 PM, said:

2. Some complaints about the number of Combine, mainly being able to spawn troops in all parts of the map at the same time and stockpile them in the back. Fix: Tie the spawns together, so clicking one spawn disables all the others.

Just to say first off, I've not played your map. I don't know where the spawns are, how it plays through, etc. That said, perhaps in addition to linking the spawns together add some trigger_multiples to enable and disable spawns in the appropriate areas as players progress through the map. With a global cooldown it's not exactly going to stop them from spawning troops in the back of the map, with this you could stop them. Again, I don't really know anything about your map so this may not be applicable at all, just a thought.

[ScrooLewse]

SamC, on 20 January 2011 - 09:12 PM, said:

4. 'Plastic' textures - only one person said something about this, but I think I agree. The sidewalks look out of place to me too, I think I'll try the texture set without the reflection map.

They don't look "plastic" to me. They look recently rained-upon. If you change the skybox to make it breaking cloud cover, you don't have to screw with cubemaps at all.

[SamC]

braddollar, on 20 January 2011 - 09:41 PM, said:

in addition to linking the spawns together add some trigger_multiples to enable and disable spawns in the appropriate areas

You're right, I was thinking about that too. Will do!