The Ascendancy - Excellent Maps for HL2DM

    With so many HL2DM maps out there, how do you know which ones are top notch? In April, I decided to look at all the HL2DM maps I could find in order to isolate the ones I thought were exceptional. The result is The Ascendancy:

    http://ascendancy.us.to/

    I launched the site in early May, and every few weeks I search about 30 map sites for new maps. To date I have reviewed about 650 maps; the site currently contains 46. The maps fall into three categories: deathmatch, remakes, and team deathmatch.

    My credentials? I've been playing HL for about five years, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what makes a good map. So far, I've received only positive feedback about the quality of maps I select. But I'm not a mapper, so I don't claim to be an authority on the subject. So, please keep in mind that the selection is based entirely on personal preference, and that it is not my intent to alienate those whose maps don't appear on my site.

    I hope you guys find this useful. Comments are welcome.

    Nice work. I miss seeing review-sites for custom maps. There's still Hangar16 for singleplayer stuff, although it's hardly ever updated anymore. I guess when it comes to multiplayer, there's just too many crappy maps to wade through until you find one worth reviewing.

    Yes, good plan. I was looking for some good HL2DM maps to host a couple of weeks ago, and the choice was absolutely Goddamned abysmal. I ended up downloading throughly eighty, and only six or so were any good. The rest were plagued by terrible layout, design or workmanship. Some looked really nice in screenshots, then you'd download them and find that the mapper has no optimization knowledge whatsoever and it runs at 1fps.

    Yea looks like you took lots of effort to go through all those custom maps and pick the good ones.

    Quote from von*ferret

    wtf wired, my map is there too :X

    But you should definately fix that!

    Seems like a good site!

    Quote from Hipshot

    Oh, how strange, was going to make a similar site but with CSS, got a domain and all, never started though since my friend moved to france for studys (I was going to make it with him). This is what happend with the adresshttp://www.sourceengine.org/

    LOL!

    You guys are hilarious! skdr and ferret, you do good work. You guys have any other suggestions for the site?

    Quote from Captain P

    Heh, quite some maps I've seen on Snarkpit... But 30 dedicated sites? Can you share that list with us? I think I know way too few of those...

    I'll put up the list in the FAQ when I get a chance today.

    Quote from st0lve

    Ra7 just got some oposition!tbh the design looks like a "generic" hl2 site..

    Are you talking about RA7 at lanmaniax.com? I love that site. I think our aims are a little different though. And yeah, I'm not a graphic designer so I was hard pressed to come up with something that looked decent... thanks for your honesty though. My aim was to keep the layout simple so it'd be easy to use and not get in the way. Any ideas on how to improve the look? What's a better color for the blue border?

    Quote from Hipshot

    Oh, how strange, was going to make a similar site but with CSS, got a domain and all, never started though since my friend moved to france for studys (I was going to make it with him). This is what happend with the adresshttp://www.sourceengine.org/

    I'd think that an equivalent task for CS:S would be 10 times harder because there'd be more maps. Having lots of maps isn't as important for CS:S because the game play is a little more complex. And oh, the Gabe Newell pictures...

    Quote from Physicles

    I'd think that an equivalent task for CS:S would be 10 times harder because there'd be more maps. Having lots of maps isn't as important for CS:S because the game play is a little more complex. And oh, the Gabe Newell pictures...

    Yea, I know, it was based on the matter that we were a couple of pepe sorting and playing them. I however think that there are some very nice looking CSS maps that never sees the major light cause people just plays those stupid AIM and FY maps that always looks like shit... almost always.

    I wouldn't be too concerned about the design. I mean, it doesn't look bad, so there's not much point in ripping it apart if you don't particularly feel enthused to do so. The current one does the job, it's easy to navigate, and above all the content is there -- that's what really matters.

    With no disrespect intended, I'd take your design over the LanManiax design anyday simply because it's far quicker and easier to navigate through. No frames, no huge imagery, just a simple design. Sure, some bits could use tidying up, but the format you have is solid.

    You might want to look into getting a more memorable domain, though. If you can't afford a top level domain (.net, .com), you could always go have a look at http://www.afraid.org. Click the registry link on the side and you'll find an absolute shitload of domains -- you can create a subdomain from any of those. Just make an account, then set up a web redirector.

    You can use the ones that say 'private' next to them, but the person who owns it could later revoke it from you if he chooses. Also, try to avoid the domains which don't have many people already using them -- there is a risk that these could one day randomly go down, whilst the super popular ones are more likely to be continually renewed.

    eg: http://ascendancy.uk.to/ is one you could have.

    Quote from ReNo

    Looks good mate, best of luck with it I posted a news post on the snarkpit to hopefully drum up a little more publicity.

    *blink* ...awesome. Thanks a ton. Hey Reno, are you still working on that port of Echo? I really enjoyed the HLDM version.

    Quote from Thrik

    You might want to look into getting a more memorable domain, though. If you can't afford a top level domain (.net, .com), you could always go have a look at http://www.afraid.org. Click the registry link on the side and you'll find an absolute shitload of domains -- you can create a subdomain from any of those. Just make an account, then set up a web redirector.

    I'll definitely check into that. Not only would another domain be more "professional", but the current URL compromises my privacy.

    What would be some useful statistics to display about maps? So far, I've had suggestions like available weapons, amount of health/hev available, map size, recommended players, and performance information. Is there anything else that'd be useful?

    Edit: Thrik, I set up forwarding for http://ascendancy.us.to/ . It's not perfect, but it'll keep most people from finding my address and phone number. Thanks for the suggestion! ReNo, would you mind changing the URL in your news post?

    I've not really done any level design in a few months - kinda burnt out at the moment. I'd like to see it finished someday, but I've a lot of stuff going on at uni just now (honours year, eek!) so I've gotta prioritise. Thanks for the encouragement though I've updated the news post with your new URL.

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