CS_CALM

    Greetings everyone


    I have published my latest map for CSGO.


    Calm, a hostage rescue map, is a fully remastered rendition of my Counter-Strike: Source map from 2010, which itself was a quick remake of my Counter-Strike 1.5 map from 2003; talk about history.

    The map draws thematic and architectural reference from old French and Scottish villages. It supports 32 players (16 vs 16) and features GSG9 vs Balkans. A manually-tuned nav file with place names is included for bot play.

    Enjoy the map.

    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…581&searchtext=


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    Have you got it running on any servers? I would like to play it with people


    might be a little too right-angley for current tastes but goddamn if it isn't pretty.

    Quote from Vaya

    Have you got it running on any servers? I would like to play it with people

    Give it a couple of days and it will be on several servers


    Not sure if RZL here can host fun playnights for finished maps since slots/time are limited and usually allocated to testing alpha/beta maps

    This is definitely your best map yet, visually. Awesome to see you pushing yourself and getting better and better results. That's what it's all about!


    I like the consistent mood across the map. I think you could push the outside color saturation even further into one definite direction, and contrast that with a different, but similarly uniform interior lighting (think blorange). So, mainly lighting and texturing critique for me on this one, the geometry is generally pretty effective!


    I'd also say you could work on generally toning down the noise in your scenes. Right now you're leaning on extreme amounts of detail to get an aesthetic result, but if you capture the same color balances and strengthen your architecture, you should be able to dramatically reduce noise and distill your scenes into generally more pleasing and less overwhelming results. You're going to need to highlight what is working in a scene and focus on that, while cutting out some of the visual clutter. I think the fact that you were able to do an aesthetic but cluttered result shows me you're capable of doing that distilling.


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    This courtyard is a great example of how you're getting to an aesthetic result but it's only after a ton of clashing and noise. Limit yourself to 5-6 textures, including 2-3 base walls, 1-2 trims, and a ton of decals and overlays, and I think you'll get to a better result. Use lights with a blorange-type effect, with larger radii, to serve as one of the major areas of contrast in your scenes.


    Let's look at your buildings in this scene as well. Pretty square and rectangular, no? I like the tower you created much better. It shows a lot more imagination. You can always go back and look at DOD:S buildings for inspiration, that game demonstrated how you can create interesting buildings without going in an overly rectangular direction.

    Quote from onebit

    post

    Thanks for the feedback


    For nav mesh, i split the long area into 3 to make sure the middle one matches with the small area underneath the arch entrance; it's more optimized this way and bots can have easier time traveling and calculating the passage. For the size, you needn't worry as the increase is only 10-15 kb between the raw mesh (auto-generated) and the manually tuned one with lots of splitting and splicing.


    The light rays you mentioned are static props and not much can be done to change the color (prop coloring doesn't have much effect here); they are mainly used to simulate light haze emanating from the windows to add dramtic effect to the dustmotes in the air.


    For the plants/ivy, they are mostly positioned above/below ground level on purpose for a certain desired visual effect (players can't really see them without noclipping)


    Although i made sure to clip the hell out of the map, that tree top evaded me ; thanks for mentioning it


    Thanks for taking the time to test the map, appreciate your feedback

    Quote from will2k

    The light rays you mentioned are static props and not much can be done to change the color (prop coloring doesn't have much effect here); they are mainly used to simulate light haze emanating from the windows to add dramtic effect to the dustmotes in the air.

    I meant that the light prop doesn't fit the shadow cast by the sun.

    Quote from will2k

    For the plants/ivy, they are mostly positioned above/below ground level on purpose for a certain desired visual effect (players can't really see them without noclipping)

    players notice minute errors subconsciously and reminds them it isn't real, counteracting the purpose of video games.

    Grats on the release Will, I'll try it tonight. It's always fun to see a CS_ map in amongst all the DE_'s!


    Quote from onebit

    players notice minute errors subconsciously and reminds them it isn't real, counteracting the purpose of video games.

    Honestly, I have to disagree with this. Onebit I think the feedback you've been giving lately is really impressive and very helpful, but some of it is stuff that only mappers notice (I spot things like this in Valve maps all the time, but only because my brain has a good understanding of how a map is put together in the first place). Other players are too busy doing shooty-bang-bang's to notice if a flowerpot is floating half a unit off the ground. Ultimately, the more bogged down a mapper gets in tiny details like that the less time he's going to have to sort out bigger issues or move on to another project. I've known so many mappers (myself included) who've gone for years without releasing anything because they spent too long worrying about flaws that maybe 1% of their audience would notice. Again I should stress that I think your recent screenshot splurges have been really helpful (especially clipping and other gameplay related issues), but I am concerned that you may become one of those mappers who's never satisfied enough to declare anything finished, and that would be a shame for everybody!

    Quote from text_fish

    Grats on the release Will, I'll try it tonight. It's always fun to see a CS_ map in amongst all the DE_'s


    Thanks Joe and spot-on post of yours

    Great map! But in terms of gameplay, are you sure that one small room with hostages is enough? I think you should add another room with a hostage somewhere around the Ts yard.

    Quote from Adam108CZ

    Great map! But in terms of gameplay, are you sure that one small room with hostages is enough? I think you should add another room with a hostage somewhere around the Ts yard.

    Hey Adam


    Earlier in the development, there was a stair from Tsidelower (lower entrance in 1st pic) to back of hostage room so CTs could have 2 different entryways into the hostage room; however I felt it tipped the balance towards CTs considering the small size of the map and the fast overall gameplay.


    Back in the CSS days, it was tested on several servers and there were no complaints about this issue; if the CSGO community will further complain about this issue then I'll be sure to keep your suggestion of a 2nd hostage room in mind


    Thanks again

    The map is now being played on the reddit CSGO server (community night) if anyone wants to join


    http://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffens…st_followed_by/


    I have a good idea of the things to be updated afterwards (some clips here and there, 2nd hostage room, additional connector to curent hostage room, opening some skies for nades/flashes and more)


    I shall gather the feedback of this playnight along with previous feedbacks to include them in one large map update.


    Feel free to join the game and post any feedback you have here in this thread, all feedback is welcome.


    Thanks and enjoy.

    Quote from Vaya

    how did the playtest go?

    Hey, thanks for asking


    I compiled a list of things to do based on various feedback received from mapcore, gamebanana, steam and reddit forums.


    I have now a good idea of the things to be updated afterwards to make the map less T sided and more streamlined:


    - 2nd hostage room on the opposite side of T spawn with lower floor access

    - additional connector to current hostage room from Tsidelower

    - multiple entrances for hostage rooms on 2 levels

    - new connector from side hall (arched hallway) to new hostage room

    - reworking the main hall-long tunnel area to break the big line of sight

    - possibility of additional CT entrance in CT spawn

    - opening some skies for nades/flashes mainly between mid and T spawn

    - misc tweaks (lighting, clips, etc)


    I wish to thank everyone who provided feedback and constructive criticism, much appreciated.


    Maybe after the update, we could have a playtest here on mapcore if RZL's schedule is not too jammed

    Haven't posted here in almost a month so I thought of updating with some progress; as always, free time and real life work are an issue so progress is a bit slow.


    Major rework and updates are going through as per the shortlist above in my last post. Layout is drastically reworked especially around T spawn and hostage zone and many new areas are added from scratch. The hostages areas are now evenly spread more like 2 bombsites.


    I'm working as quickly as possible within the available time and should hopefully have a new build by the end of the month; Once I publish the update, we'll have a playtest here on mapcore to check the new changes.


    And here's a WIP shot of a new area added (2nd hostage room)


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    Nice stuff


    What dimensions are you using for the stairsteps (approximately, since they're at an angle)? They look a bit big, but it could just be the angle too.

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