Akrotiri:Blessing is a map intended to be played in cooperation in a forgotten antic city (search on wiki).
You can play it in singleplayer because i ve balanced the items ratio but stick to lower skills as Piece of cake or Let's rock.
It s one of the 2 maps i ve planned for this mini serie.
You can consider it as a Damnation 2.0 since i ve take care to remove all the flaws you pointed out.
I wanted to release it before 2015 but i've stated than it 's certainly the more ambitious level i never did,so i ve took the time to detail it.
Also,dont upload it now.I want to have some feed back before on eventual bugs or failings .
Yeah, clearly a coop map, was a bit of a bore in single-player. The balance was fine (died twice; took me 35 minutes), but I spent a good while searching for the yellow key; I missed the underwater path because I had assumed it leads to the same section as that of the other pool. Maybe you can make it stand out a little bit more. I also steroidjumped (I thought it was implied) into one of the walled areas with rising floors and got stuck there after having killed everything.
Lighting needs a lot more work. The outdoor area is basically fullbright.
Really should put this on the steam workshop no doubt that me and some people will enjoy this one on co op. I liked the map in single player also though, seemed solid yet simple construction. I'm going to play a second time before leaving more feedback but my first impression was a fun map put on steam workshop.
Quote from: MSandt on 04 January 2015, 17:25:40
Lighting needs a lot more work. The outdoor area is basically fullbright.
Yeah ,it's full bright xD
I'm currently correcting it.Not easy with double walls but doable.
Also i will add a button in the closed areas and remove some ennemies in skill1.
I ve noticed too some bad texturing like the waterpool in the outdoor area.
Soon the ultimate fourth version.
Quote from: Duke64Nukem on 05 January 2015, 18:21:57
Really should put this on the steam workshop no doubt that me and some people will enjoy this one on co op. I liked the map in single player also though, seemed solid yet simple construction. I'm going to play a second time before leaving more feedback but my first impression was a fun map put on steam workshop.
Thanks for reminding me steam.I m going right way buy a couple video games there and setup my workshop.
I ve yet reactivated my account and linked to my fb.
Yang was cool but he did his time for me.I cannot support anymore these RPG/Lagfest on these overplayed map.
Also notice than the layout is centered at the room where players start.
That means than a dead player can get back to the front in less than 15 seconds.
I ve enabled shading but Build engine said "Nope".
That's the problem with large areas,the distance turns everything into huge black square on your screen.
Also,i ve spotted some incredible mess of textures there and there.
Some hurts the eyes at spot,some are only notable if you tackle to the walls.
And i m thinking to update the concept of my maps :
From :
Skill 1 : 1 player
Skill 2 : 2 players
Skill 3 : 3 players
Skill 4 : If you dare...
To :
Skill 1 : 1-2 players
Skill 2 : 2-3 players
Skill 3 : 3-4 players
Skill 4 : If you dare...
If 2 people are average players they should play skill 1 while veterans should give a try at skill 2.
That means too designing the levels more smoothie for skill 1 and making the skill 3 harder for a true challenge.
Ok men,it 's the great day :D
Fourth versions :
_Texturing fixed.
_Various rebuild and fix.
_Added a new secret : Mikko sandt's switch (Left walled area).
_Skill 1 a bit easier.
_Skill 3 harder.
Ready for an upload and awaiting a review.
Don't know what's going on in that screenshot but it's not normal. Make sure you have no negative shades and that visibility is constant.
Quote from: Micky C on 07 January 2015, 13:57:37
Don't know what's going on in that screenshot but it's not normal. Make sure you have no negative shades and that visibility is constant.
Dunno what do you mean.
It was an attempt to introduce shading in a large open map.
The settings are : Visibility 0,shading -5.
The distance turns every thing into black so a minimal setting can be full darkened into huge distance.
Well,anyway the online games are too lively and full bright makes disappear all fogs created by the engine.
You do need to give different walls different shades though, to make them stand out more. If you're worried about things turning black then in that case increase the visibility. The point is having everything the same shade is very bad. Lots of maps have pulled off outdoor shading really well.
It's very interesting for me since i am not very aware of shading/visibility.
_You said "No negative shades" but for me it was necessary for removing fogs of darkness created by engine.
I should totally avoid this setting ?
Also i ve looked to a giant map of Battlefield3 mod and he settled visiblity 240,shading beetween 0 and 15.
_Are these the right values ?
To remove the fog you only need to change the visibility, not the shade value of any surface. Visibility of 240 is what you need. Outdoor areas should always have full visibility unless you're going for some kind of an ethereal, dark, scary look.
Quote from: MSandt on 08 January 2015, 15:05:35
To remove the fog you only need to change the visibility, not the shade value of any surface. Visibility of 240 is what you need. Outdoor areas should always have full visibility unless you're going for some kind of an ethereal, dark, scary look.
Thanks Micky and Mikko.After a good night ,everything has became clear.
To be fair ,i ve discovered the setting of visibility during the creation of the map.I ve learned a lot during the process and this is the start of a new age for me.
Also no one mentioned it but there 's a lot of visual bugs due to double walls or sprite on the floors.The strange thing is there 's no such craps with older ports like xDuke or Edukemp.
Happily my map has not been yet uploaded and the fifth version is on the way :)
i had issues with the switch in the last (blue pal) room (that raises the yellow key?). I couldn't get it to work no matter what angle I tried it from, so I had to cheat to finish.
game play wise; it's pretty dull and tedious for a single player. visually it's under detailed; and with the redundant texturing & lack of trimming, blocky architecture, and minimal shading it looks pretty flat.
The layout is interesting & some of the spawn sector tricks are good.
Quote from: Forge on 08 January 2015, 20:38:24
i had issues with the switch in the last (blue pal) room (that raises the yellow key?). I couldn't get it to work no matter what angle I tried it from, so I had to cheat to finish.
That's odd.I ve played it many times.
I will anyway try another technical solution for hidden switch : Use multiple switchs with same lotag instead of an oversized one :D
Quote from: Forge on 08 January 2015, 20:38:24
it's pretty dull and tedious for a single player.
I know but i can hardly marry single player and cooperation.
Even if i 'm weakening some repetitive respawns (like the fat commanders in the courts) for this map,there will be still a lot of monsters to kill.
The pool of monsters is divided by the number of players which can technically go up to 8 (but for coop games it s often 4).
Playing my coop maps alone will always mean eating double/triple tap :(
Quote from: Forge on 08 January 2015, 20:38:24
visually it's under detailed; and with the redundant texturing & lack of trimming, blocky architecture, and minimal shading it looks pretty flat.
Do you mean all parts :'(
Antic textures are fews and it was a part of the challenge to work them and rework them.
I think i did it pretty well and spared to players the common palette bugs.
But i recognize i should redesign some parts like the natural area beetween the wall and the dyke.
The dyke itself is pretty poor,i ve got in mind to add some trunks or wooden palissade to hold the rocks.
I ve added some garden and torch autels at the middle in the third version but perhaps it needs more modules or customization.
Also the final area need perhaps some cool adjustement but it 's really tedious i cannot add obstacles :-\
Yeah for visibility I think it's 240-255 that works but there could be more that i'm unaware of but I think visibility is okay and probably just could of used more wall and floor shading. I played it a second time and did notice some cool things within the map one being the flowers near the trees those were cool as hail. Also the textures you used are great for the style you were aiming for. Maybe if you added more structures inside the areas it would feel less boxed in. But none the less I think the map is pretty damn fun and built fairly well. I like how the walls have structures on them and once again have good fitting textures for the theme. One thing I can say is I don't really like the all blue room very much it's confusing, difficult, and plain also doesn't really go well with the theme to much. Some reason when I open that and jump through the blue portal I keep thinking that the map will end as that would be perfect situation to continue and make a part 2. I really like how you got your portals made to those are fresh to jump through. But everyone has there own personal dislikes and interests I think this map is pretty bad ass has a Serious Sam feel to it.
This texture here in pic I really liked
Quote from: Duke64Nukem on 11 January 2015, 22:36:01
Yeah for visibility I think it's 240-255 that works but there could be more that i'm unaware of but I think visibility is okay and probably just could of used more wall and floor shading. I played it a second time and did notice some cool things within the map one being the flowers near the trees those were cool as hail. Also the textures you used are great for the style you were aiming for. Maybe if you added more structures inside the areas it would feel less boxed in. But none the less I think the map is pretty damn fun and built fairly well. I like how the walls have structures on them and once again have good fitting textures for the theme.
Thx man.I 'm working currently on the shading and the outside area with some success. A valuable update soon.
Quote from: Duke64Nukem on 11 January 2015, 22:36:01
One thing I can say is I don't really like the all blue room very much it's confusing, difficult, and plain also doesn't really go well with the theme to much. Some reason when I open that and jump through the blue portal I keep thinking that the map will end as that would be perfect situation to continue and make a part 2. I really like how you got your portals made to those are fresh to jump through.
This is really relevant.
Since i'm gonna make one sequel or 2 , there's no link between this and the next start.
I shall admit than the blue pal was a way to rush the map because i was exhausted (I ve worked this in 10 days,8hour minimum).
But now i m refilled,i have few ideas of improvement like putting 4 black obelisks wich will go down when the boss will come.
No way than i erase this ,i will just remove the pal setting and make an antic building surrounding this area.
It will be the starting point for the next map :p
8 hours per day or 8 hours over 10 days? If so that's not a lot of time, although you may be taking into account an excessively busy job or something like that.
Quote from: Micky C on 13 January 2015, 11:46:07
8 hours per day or 8 hours over 10 days? If so that's not a lot of time, although you may be taking into account an excessively busy job or something like that.
I didn't count my hours so i ve just said 8 hours like the minimal amount per day or the average.
I was in holiday and i wanted to release before the new year.
I was in crunch time and i've worked it sometimes 13 hours in a single day for sure but i cant easily remember when this cruch time began or ended,just i ve paused during christmas day and new year.
I am also currently making mapping sessions 1H15 per day,just time to hear a cd so my map will have the new version at the end of the week.
It has been more than 1 week but i ve been a bit too optimist toward the amount of work required.
Oh and yes since i dont play anymore DN3D online ,my map stayed stuck in my hardware with a development near 99%.
Fith versions :
_Large parts entirely redone.
_Shading enabled.
_Redundant respawns deleted.
Nice shading on the second shot ;)