DM-Reco by Conrad "Justin" Slawinski

    Ok. I just realized my screen was set to a really low contrast setting through the whole contest. Therefore map might appear too dark in some places. I suggest using gamma 1.3 (r_gamma 1.3) . This should look decent. I updated last three screenshots.

    It appears as the sounds to the elevator didn't make it to the .pk3. Also I would consider using weapon clip or missle clip on the wooden platforms, got a bit surprised when trying to rocket jump to another platform and the rocket went through between the planks.


    Really cool to play such a highly detailed Q3 map though. How does it work when using imported models instead of brushes, do you use the same model as collision or do you need to clip it with brushes?

    Thanks for feedback, Daniel. I didn't set elevator sound for I thought game has default sound for that. I guess I should have checked that too. I used the clipmodel and it clips some of my models properly, in some cases I just used clip brushes though. If it was UE3 I would define collision box inside 3D modeling software or simply generate simplified version of collision in the UDK. In Xonotic which runs on the same engine as quake the procedure is alike (as in Quake). I like to have control over collision however testing is difficult (you have to build map, pack it, run game, etc...) which makes it more inevitable to run into collision bugs.

    Best regards!

    Thanks for judging! This gives me amazing info about design in Quake and map's issues!


    All right. Things to fix:

    • Performance
    • Bots!
    • Arena file has "reco-r6" instead of "reco" (there is levelshot but it is "reco.jpg" but it wasn't displayed . I will fix that)
    • Lighting: I will have to increase it (damn the monitor I've been working on)
    • Elevator sound! + proper elevator mechanism
    • Weapon clipping!

    I am not sure what "drilled map" means... Anyone wants to explain it to me?

    Quote from Conrad Justin

    I am not sure what "drilled map" means... Anyone wants to explain it to me?


    Basically, what I mean is that your map has a lot of prominent areas due to the fact that everything is overly well connected. I am not only referring to walkable paths but also to visual connections, lines of sight, factors that make it hard to avoid damage.

    I think that FFA is a lot about estimating potential sources of damage. If you are at point X you should position yourself in a way that allows you to predict potential fresh spawners or opponents approaching you from close connections. That's why it's good to offer prominent areas and safer routes or positions. The overall openness and the concentric structure of your layout doesn't go very well together with that (yet).


    Regarding performance, one thing might solve another here. I can already tell you that you are not going to be able to get the map to perform well keeping this open structure and/or the great level of detail you worked out. Id tech3 simply isn't good at running maps like yours. You need to try and separate areas to create sections for the engine to render. Right now it really renders most of the map all of the time, no matter where you are.


    Another thing I'd like to mention is the feedback of your floor surfaces. It's not really a game breaker but something you should consider more next time IMO. The wooden planks you use can get quite funky in combination with rockets and the way splash damage works. You never really know if your rocket is going to hit the horizontal plane of a plank or the vertical plane. What surface is hit always has an impact on the splash damage and creates a little bit of randomness for the players. Additionally, the heavy usage of irregular terrain can have the same effect. I realize some of it is clipped but some of it also isn't. This doesn't only affect splash but also makes movement a bit unpredictable.


    Don't let my potentially harsh sounding words discourage you though. This is an outstanding piece of work not many people could have accomplished. Keep going!

    Okey.Thank you, cityy for this feedback. You have amazing designing knowledge and you took time to post it here. Now could you tell me if what I am doing now is good?


    • I added hint brushes and decided to divide map into 5 areas,
    • Map shows in singleplayer now!
    • Fixed some clipping bugs
    • changed platform func_plat into func_door with angle set to -1 but I am not sure how to define height of the lift movement, It's logical to use func_plat for elevator so I left it.
    • enhanced lighting,
    • there is absolutely no way to fix the skybox (the only way that Hipshot suggested doesn't let the light to compile!), I kinda started liking those thin black lines in the sky. My sister when she was testing the map (without bots obviously) said that she didn't notice them until I mentioned it. She thought it was by design.
    • Still AAS file doesn't work. I should have thought about it when I started brushing the map. now its too late for that.


    Anyone having an idea how to compile .AAS properly for such complex map? What I used before was creating other version of the map (simplified) with botclips all over it and it kind of compiled the file but it somehow seems to be BROKEN.


    PS. I am not discouraged in any way by what you have said.

    EDIT: here is the lastest version: I tried fixing some of the bugs, I made arena file working (map is shown in the singleplayer), enhanced lighting and fixed some other litlle bugs like clipping and so on. I hope it will run more smoothly because of hint brushes...Compilation time: Around 9 minutes. Download RECO.PK3

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