[WIP] de_coast

    Again, big thanks for the feedback!

    RaVaGe - great you posted that, since it became clear much more colour and contrast was needed. I went for the third one though, since the sky and light matched more - so tweaked it to try and look more like moonlight. Added more colour and contrast. The map is really dark in the areas with shadow, so will have to find a way to get lights on the surfaces, especially higher up.

    I was wondering if I should light up some of the castle windows, but then thought maybe it would look a bit out of place in areas where it is not possible to do so. Will do some tests.

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    Surprised you'd hold back such a serious update until after the contest is over.

    I think the overall map is solid, and any feedback I'm providing are ideas you could consider in a future update (or not!).

    From playing this map casually it was a lot of fun, each route takes you on a journey. Can't speak personally for the competitive side of this map though after the latest update I think you've tightened up a lot of detailed areas and I'm sure future feedback will improve Coast regardless.

    From a players perspective I think the B site has enough cover to compensate for any space you remove from A considering you're simply removing an angle both CT's and T's can easily take advantage of.

    You could add wooden pillars underneath some squeaky wooden planks? Or maybe wooden pillars that have metal supports holding a detailed metal grate brush vs. the current 2004 metal grate texture. The grassy area behind behind the grate seems unused so pulling the fence up? (just thoughts)

    Okay now onto just simply visuals, and these are just personal preferences and ideas to think about (maybe even for the next project)

    Inviting players into an area, personally I think sewers work though would somehow increasing the value of the area buy labeling it wine cellar vs a sewer.

    Sounds really strange but green doesn't seem inviting, and for some reason I can't stop thinking fighting in a wine cellar would be more pleasing than being in a sewer. Warmer colors?

    You've got real estate to work with to give this area some serious allure.

    Going back through CT spawn to A and possibly seeing a city in the backdrop (seen at the docks in CT spawn)

    A coast helicopter instead of a boat?

    This is what the T's first see on their way to B, expanding on the theme gives this map some added originality (would probably also push mappers to create unique and detailed 3D skyboxes.

    Again this map has an amazing 3D skybox already, the theory behind this idea is to cover any empty space.

    APC on the bridge did a hell of a parking job, wouldn't think it's the most strategic spot to park but adding a road leading to the bridge? adds another layer over the current composition

    Great design, a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to having to win 32 rounds competitively during the next Operation \ : P

    Fingers crossed X X

    The update posted just after the deadline has improved the gameplay layout exponentially. I really want to see this in the game, night setting be damned ;)

    That's it! I've not been able to put my finger on it was until now, but Andre made me realise. It's the pale greeny lighting in places. It's been visually jarring me, but I couldn't work it out, especially the use of lights in the middle of the day.

    Maybe this needs the technique plubo documented in his articles, the "ambient lighting boost".

    Congratulations on the placement in the contest, although I was hoping that as the most visually appealing map this would come up on top.

    Im sure that with the final polish this will end up in an operation :)

    Thanks for comments, encouragement and feedback!

    Been fixing some of the bugs people have mentioned, as well as addressing some of the crits that Andre posted. The 2004 grate texture was too much! Also added some more mountains to fill the emptier areas of the skybox so that the route to B has a bit more going on in the distance.

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    Nice map. Have not played it competitively. Feedback that I can give:

    Would love to see a wooden door replace squeaky. Also, the stairs on the interior side of squeaky make peeking the doorway a little weird. Not sure if people are supposed to peek there, but if they are.

    Coming from CT spawn, there is an "A" with arrows pointing opposite directions. The arrow on the right points to mid though.

    It may be due to the thorough detailing elsewhere, but there are a few key spots where the floors look a little flat despite the nice texturing. A few carefully placed props/decals could make these floors pop more: http://imgur.com/a/k1iPV

    You've invested heavily in laying down your clip, but I would do a serious pass on out-of-map bomb tossing when it comes time to nail that down. Don't forget!

    The double arrows below are accurate but probably unnecessary just a few steps away from the site. The repeating arches next to the "A" could use small detail to break the pattern.

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    Keep it up!

    PrvokingPerch - None that I am aware of - will try and get a build ready for a Mapcore test sometime soon, so maybe look out for that.

    Dis a lot of bug fixes and optimisation, plus some more polish - adding a few more meshes in places to make areas look less "brushy", and improving the sites/route to A. Always seems a bit tricky, since adding a few bits of foliage seems to make some areas a little noisy.

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    Couple of people asked me about the night version - I did a decent amount of work trying to get it looking good - but visibility always seems to be an issue, plus the map always has to be compiled and tested to see if areas and visibility is an issue. So for now, I will focus on polishing day one, then when I have more time, see if I can get a night one working well. Some test images of the night setting - one saturated, one less so.

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    One thing I was wondering about is the spawn priority. I have the 5 spawns on each team set to priority 1 - yet they don't seem to be always be prioritised in 5 v 5. Still seems random. Anyone know if it is possible to lock the spawns so it is always the same 5 every time so that matches are more predictable?

    Quote from OrnateBaboon

    [SNIP]

    One thing I was wondering about is the spawn priority. I have the 5 spawns on each team set to priority 1 - yet they don't seem to be always be prioritised in 5 v 5. Still seems random. Anyone know if it is possible to lock the spawns so it is always the same 5 every time so that matches are more predictable?

    This might not be the correct answer but you have to change the priority of all the spawns, as spawn priority 1 is lower than the default priority 0 (highest priority). Negative numbers might work as well but haven't tried that out yet.

    Quote

    This might not be the correct answer but you have to change the priority of all the spawns, as spawn priority 1 is lower than the default priority 0 (highest priority). Negative numbers might work as well but haven't tried that out yet.

    Yeah, what I do is make the priority spawns have a spawn priority of 1, and the extra spawns a priority of 2. Sometimes I'll have a few with priority 3 that are only used when there's more then 10 players on a team.

    Quote from Smileytopin

    Yeah, what I do is make the priority spawns have a spawn priority of 1, and the extra spawns a priority of 2. Sometimes I'll have a few with priority 3 that are only used when there's more then 10 players on a team.

    Hehe I just put -100 for the important ones

    Thanks for the replies! Since the spawns are prioritised by lowest number first, I just set them from 1 to 16 on each team - gave it a test with bots, and the same 5 are used every time, making the meeting times much more predictable with fewer players. 1 to 16 seems to make the most sense to me, since you can prioritise all of them in order.

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