What Are You Working On?

Even if a map was modified we would still place it accordingly, it just wouldn't be eligible for money.

Has the easiest and most punishing spawn trap of any map entered in the contest. If we were to disregard the bad spawn (which I actually tested the map without the spawn trap) there were pathing issues. Plays ultimately like a 2v2 map.

Edit: for the record I think it's one of the best built maps in the contest

 

Yeah but I didn't modify the original file. I don't want the image of my contest entry tainted by a glitch in H5's saving system and tbh I want dat cash bro lmao

 

I'll take a stab at it, mainly because it has 2 of the biggest gripes I have with a lot of maps I've seen.

The map appears to lack structure in the main auditorium. It just seems like one big jungle gym where the player isn't give any direction or opportunity to create an interesting encounter. This will lead to stale gameplay rather quickly. The entire map offers little cover; and an addition to that, the walls and floors where a person can take cover at are transparent to some degree. This gives a major advantage to the attacker because they can now watch and be ready for any move the other player tries to make. Personally I have never liked transparent walls unless there is a clear divide between the players. (Basically, they create shitty standoffs)

Here is how to avoid these problems. Give the map more solid walls and open spaces. Judging by the screenshots, I think your map Wayward Alpines does not have as many of these problems. The gameplay is more linear/structured, which personally I enjoy in multiplayer maps. (Although there is a fine line to that, a map cannot be all hallways and small rooms)

Another thing is that it seems a lot of forge blocks were placed for the sake of filling up an empty space. Often times they aren’t to pleasing to look at, and it actually takes away from your goal of conveying a certain theme. You don't want people to recognize forge blocks, doing so will pull them away from feeling like they are part of a unique setting.

Last thing is its symmetry. By making the map symmetrical you are basically making it 50% less interesting. Obviously certain game modes require maps to be symmetric for balancing purposes, but in slayer it is unnecessary. This is probably the easiest thing to fix, just dont make a map symmetrical unless its for CTF or extermination.

I am by no means claiming to be a great map layout designer, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. I actually have a lot of problems with my own maps that I'm still trying to sort out lol. Hope this helps.

 

Like I said in the other thread, I believe you and I'm fine with it. If the other judges and the community at large is okay with reinstating the DQ'd maps then we can do it. But the last thing I want to hear is people bitching that we're being unfair and chose maps that are altered like a year from now.

Also worth noting, by the time that all the dq'd maps were edited we'd all already played like 30 games on each and formed our opinions. The changes don't change anything and I really doubt people were being ill intent. But the decision really needs to be basically unanimous across the entire community.

It's one of those weird judgement calls where I could follow my heart or follow my brain.

 

These "changes" to Washed Up happened on Wednesday. So you've played 30 or so games on the original file. I didn't touch it before Ascend asked me to modify its weapon set for a unrelated competitive competition.

I'm the first person to say I believe modified maps should be disqualified. The fact is that the original Washed Up was not modified apart from a save as.

If I was going to change my map, don't you think I would've fixed that spawn trap you mentioned weeks ago?

 

Thanks for the feedback man.

I appreciate there's been a bit of a downer on this map from a few people and I do understand why for the most part now.

But keep in mind I'm new af compared to most of the people here. And without blowing my own horn I think I've over achieved up until that map - Wayward Alpines was basically my first playable map and I was among the community favourites that month (which I was quite proud of).

But I got ahead of myself and made this last map without as much thought as I could have done.

I appreciate the constructive feedback. I'm going to really take my time on my next project so I don't get complacent on it.

 

Did you not notice the insanely hard to break spawn trap from hell?

 

Not necessarily, not that I doubt you though. If the spawning was better how much higher would it be rated you'd say?

 

I recall the discussion and youre incorrect. It was stated that "save as" will modify your file and "save a copy" in the menus will not. Otherwise i have the same stance as Multi. Its either all of them or none considering theyre all basically dumb mistakes after the fact that the maps had a large number of plays. Now, since its only 15 maps, I can easily save a copy of all 15 maps so this issue wont arise again.

I made a poll.

 

Obviously it would be rated higher without that spawn trap, but I'm not sure how high. The shape of the map lends itself to being sort of a fight for top mid and nothing else. The middle building is not only the most easily defended position, but it also has the best access to overshield spawn.

The map is well forged and would have likely made my top 15 or top 10 (I'm not a judge) but definitely not my top 3.

 

I guess I misread. I legitimately had no idea doing a save as without touching a thing on the original map, would not change the modified date.

 

See, all this is fine. If I don't win, I want it to be based on the maps merit and not a quirk in the H5 saving system.

 

Alright, the map has boundaries, invisible barriers, projectile barriers, weapons, spawns, a camera, and keys. All that's left is lighting and scripting, and I have about 80 objects for that. I can easily get some extra objects if I need it, so it's safe to assume that this one is done. Here are some stills (keep in mind that the map is completely devoid of lighting barring a few torches)

Overview from one side. The green effect is one of the key lifts.



Here's an overview from the other side, and you can see the other key lift. The idea is that the green effect will light up when the keyholder is near to let him know that it's available. The lift will stay active for a little bit (maybe 3-4 seconds) so that super aggressive players can chase and so the teammate without key can tag along.



Now to the two main indoor areas. The first is the "royal room". This houses the damage boost, a key spawn, red team spawn, and a key door. Also, this indoor area is to the right of the previous picture (you could see the damage boost through the window on the right).



The next main indoor area is the "cathedral" which houses a key spawn, blue team spawn, and a key door. I bet you coould tell which one of these rooms I forged first, huh? Haha, It's really not that big of a difference, but I couldn't get a good angle in this room. I promise that it looks and feels cool.



And now, just a few nice angles from inside the map.



The platform at the bottom right of the previous picture is where this next screenshot was taken from.



I stole this door, but it looks to good to scrap. Deal with it.



Well that's it for now. I think that lighting in a level is like a soundtrack for a game, it's only one element of many, but it can make whatever you're working on twice as good. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished.

@MultiLockOn Light my map *****

@MartianMallCop Script my map *****

PS: I was officially the first person to make and finish a key map since Arcanum. Do I win something?

 

what canvas is that on?

 

Looks like kingsbane

 

Space canvas - Ascendance - chroma box

 

Are we not going to talk about that upgraded REQ Sniper?

 

Put the file on public *****

How many doors does the map have?

 

2 doors, and 2 key lifts. I'm making it public now. Thanks dude