What are you working on.

[Micky C]

Time is relative, you always seem to punch out quality maps in a fairly short time span.

[ck3D]

as of tonight i finally have some spare time for duke again, hopefully i can release my new map within the next two weeks, i think it's rather funny that it has been six months since i originally started it, but i have only been working on it for two or three weeks in total, given that i can't really work on maps full time anymore

[ck3D]

actually this is going to take far less than two weeks to complete. i just spent a few hours toying about with the map and besides a few cosmetic tweaks and gameplay implementation (which i have already fully planned out), it's pretty much done. it should be out by the end of the week unless i find myself busy with too much stuff again, which is quite unlikely. i even built a little train !

[DavoX]

Anxious to see what you've came up with

[ck3D]

i post about it quite a lot because i am always excited whenever i am working on a map that seems to be going somewhere, and i like what i have done so far, but really it isn't much and i don't think the majority of players will find it appealing. ie you won't be in for 40 minutes or so of immersive gameplay, intense firefights, impressive effects, modern technical mapping tricks and the like. in fact i don't even think i am going to supply the player with any weapon whatsoever, even though there are instances of bosses and minibosses aplenty. a lot of people might end up hating it, but so far from the looks of it i can say it might make for a map that looks and plays different from most others for sure.

[Forge]

@ck3d, is it that snowy city map? I hope so, that looked sweet.
get a good beta-tester cause you know i'm going to try to break it

[Micky C]

Refreshing ideas are always welcome, even if some people don't like them (I wasn't a fan of that hard map you released which started you off with the pipe bombs and trip mines).

I could never really get into 3DR styled city levels, even Metropolitan Mayhem, since overall they feel too overly familiar with me if that makes any sense. I know others think differently.

[ck3D]

@ck3d, is it that snowy city map? I hope so, that looked sweet.
get a good beta-tester cause you know i'm going to try to break it

yes that is the one. if you want i can send you a copy of the file before i release it so you can have a go at the final thing, thing is, so far it has a few flaws i am aware of, but they should not matter anymore once the gameplay and design elements are full implemented (but i am sure you will get to prove me wrong a few times). if you don't think you will be available no worries, i can always try to proof test it myself. right now it is at least twice as big as the last version i sent you (i had to expand the grid in mapster.cfg in order to be able to continue), but it's mostly due to unreachable areas, scenery and whatnot. once i am done with this stage i will have to add the gameplay elements and it should be done soon.

[Forge]

i can test it if you think it needs it.
my track record as a beta-tester leans towards my finding the unusual exploits that break maps, but i have a tendency to miss the obvious small stuff.
I think it's because i spend my time as a "wall-hugger" going around the perimeters of areas instead of through the middle.

[ck3D]

i am a wall hugger too because back when i started playing user maps in the mid / late 90's a lot of user maps had poorly tested outside walls, it would piss me off so much to get squished due to a mapping flaw that i have become paranoid about letting people get to glitch through the purple and into the unreachable map areas in my own stuff, i usually double- / triple- (if not more) check every single wall in my maps as well. doesn't mean i always find everything though.

i don't know where to post this, but i have a quick question - is it really impossible for subway vehicles to play sound effects whenever their ceiling is parallaxed ? the map i am currently working on involves a moving train in outdoors settings and its special sound sprite won't work, i have tried implementing it both the conventional way (just throwing the M into the main sector with no need for a hi-tag) and as an ambient sound (with a hi-tag, seeing as trains do carry the 10 special sprites, SE's and such, i assumed that might work, but it didn't), i am trying to find a workaround because a train that doesn't make sounds feels terribly fake and unrealistic, but so far to no avail. is there a trick people have used before or is my train doomed to stay silent ?

[High Treason]

You could always make another train that follows a track the same shape and move it so the sectors overlap, it would be inaccessible and invisible to the player but it should play sounds.

The down side is that this is a really inefficient way to do things and could make editing difficult, not to mention if you accidentally overlapped a vertice... well, I am sure we all know what happens then.

[ck3D]

in theory that's a great idea, much better than the other workaround i had in mind that would have involved a series of timed opening and closing doors playing the sound effect all around the train track (which would have been a huge pain in the ass to implement, in addition to possibly lose its synchronization after a while).

another potential cosmetic problem would be that i don't necessarily want an entire extra track to show up with DNSHOWMAP and confuse the player in 2D mode, especially given that the original track happens to be surrounding the entire map area (and i am already getting visual glitches because it is too big of a sector, thankfully i only get these whenever i am looking at the center of the map from certain areas that won't be accessible in game). still i can always resort to your solution at the very end of the mapping process if i find myself left with enough spare walls to build the extra track by the time by then though (right now finishing the construction of the map is just a matter of adding last-minute eye-candy and an arena for a boss fight). i wouldn't have thought of your idea myself, so thanks !

i was really hoping there would be a more simple workaround though. something as simple as messing about with the location of the M sprite or something just as elementary. weird that such an old and basic limitation can still be causing problems to everyone in 2013, especially given how incredibly good mappers are nowadays

[Merlijn]

It's an old game, so some weird limitation will still pop up from time to time.. BTW the map Warzone had some trains in its outdoor section, although I don't remember if they actually made a sound or not. But you might want to look at it.

[ck3D]

you are right, and it's funny you mention warzone because i think it can definitely compare to my own map in terms of general atmosphere, not that i even used it as a reference or anything, in fact i haven't played that map in many many years, but now that you remind me of it my level definitely has quite a few similarities going on, with destroyed buildings and the like.

anyway train sound or not i am fully done with the design of the map and the only thing left to do for me is implementing the gameplay, which should be pretty quick. i hope you will like it !

[DavoX]

Ah warzone, made a speedrun for it but don't remember where i've put it