Posts by ReNo

I'm certainly intrigued by End War, hopefully it will approach the RTS genre from a different angle as that seems to be their plan. Bit concerned about the apparently near 100% voice command controls, but they said you can use a pad as well so it should be fine. Fingers crossed it is mix and match rather than forcing you to pick one of the two systems though.

Naruto sounds cool, and I like the series and Gamecube games, so seeing a company like Ubisoft having a crack at it certainly appeals to me. Nice to see somebody using the license for something a bit more ambitious than a beat-em-up.

Not sure about the new Splinter Cell just yet - the trailer didn't leave me all that impressed. They are touting "active stealth" or whatever - blending into crowds and what not - but I haven't really seen any of it yet. I've got a lot of faith in the series though so I'll not condemn it based on one trailer

Quote from NykO18

And same thing with games and mods, when you click on a game, we should browse maps for every mod existing directly.

I completely agree with your earlier point, but just thought I'd point out that it already does this bit of it.

Hmm, yeah I guess just mark it as complete actually if you could please mate. I had sort of considered changing the weapon placement slightly but I don't think I'll bother confusing things as it's been released for a while now. I take it I can't do that myself? I couldn't see any way to, although I did see a button to "upload new version" which I guess would have let me mark it as finished.

Didn't seem to have any problems, and it shows up fine on the "my maps" page, but as you said it isn't showing on the main map list No idea why I'm afraid.

Just uploaded an HL2DM map to the page, and everything went pretty smoothly. As a suggestion I think you should allow more screenshots, allow them to be viewed in their original size rather than just the thumbnail, and even allow different screenshot sets to be uploaded per version of the map, seeing as you are focusing on aiding people giving feedback on in-development maps. Good job though, like the site

I registered for the site but I'm still awaiting an email to activate my account - its been around an hour which seems a little slow to me. Still, looks like a nice website and a nice concept. Hopefully it won't be as CS oriented as FPSBanana.

Quote from leileilol

yeah sadly this 'it doesn't matter we're lemmings who settle for anything' mentality of the audience is what drives the games industry into an uninspired mess that it is of today.

just like TF2 is removing grenades. BUT NO ONE CARES COS IT LOOKS CARTOONY AND COOL AND VALVE DID IT ! lol.

This coming from a die-hard capcom fan? I forgot that they are truly the last bastion of worthwhile sequels :roll:

Even by your own admission its more than that - its got new units too I honestly just don't see why people would have a problem with a modern overhaul of the game. Do you really begrudge buying an update almost 10 years after the original game came out? It's like not buying new curtains because your 15 year old, moth-eaten, sun-faded ones still block line of sight to the outside world.

And seriously, do you think we can judge the entire game on screenshots and some trailers? It looks like an RTS with base building, unit construction, and rock-paper-scissors balancing. How unexpected? I can't help but feel you're jumping to conclusions a little early, perhaps due to the 'familiarity' of the HUD as much as anything else.

Yeah, lets just keep living in the 90's :roll:

I know that much, I was more asking about a map pack. People were talking about putting one together and then trying to get it mentioned in the Steam update news, which sounded like a good idea but now it seems to have lost its thunder.

Sooo....anybody gonna make a call on this? It's been almost 3 weeks now, and is becoming a bit of a farse. I'm not really sure its mine or anybody else who entered's place to decide what makes the map pack; shouldn't that be down to mapcore "officials" since its gonna be representing this community?

Morrowind?!

I think that picture captures Fallout really well, and as Koko mentioned the ship is a real nod to San Fran in Fallout 2. Looks like a wee tent town down on the right below the carrier too. I think if you zoomed the camera out of a Fallout game city you'd get a view pretty similar to that painted here

Quote from Defrag

Legendary? Did you beat LisaSimpson45 on the MechAssault deathmatch? What's that? No? Well then. There's only one legend.

Aaah, Consolevania Rab, gotta love his fake accent Legend indeed!

I really enjoyed both Halo games, for all their flaws. The basic feel of the gameplay and the health/shield mechanic just worked so well IMO that I was having a great time playing it despite the obvious shortcomings. Plus split-screen coop is always fun, particularly on Legendary difficulty It is an overrated game in a lot of ways, but I think that leads many other people to swing a bit too far the other way and hate it by default. Then again I can appreciate why it might not be for everybody, because the "feel" of it is quite different to a typical FPS. I'd probably give both games 8/10.

Wouldn't really care to play either on the PC though - Halo suits console controls, it's movement style just doesn't really sith with the speedy mouse/keyboard combo.

Bit heavy on the grey for my liking - needs some contrast through lighting or texture variety I'd say. Looks neat architecturally though

Hehe, none taken Rick, I do agree with you

Buddy: Problem is that we've already released (to differing degrees) the maps. I don't really like to re-release a level as it causes confusion, though I guess I could always call it dm_weaver_final or whatever. Would let me change the RPG for something more suitable like the magnum perhaps, seeing as people have complained that the RPG is too dominant in the level. Other than that I don't think there's too much I would change without having to severely gut the level (which I've no intention of doing). I suppose not too many people have downloaded it so far to be a big issue though.

Quote from Sentura

i fail to see how weaver got above tobor. people must be judging from looks and not from gameplay...sigh

Wow, way to rain on my parade Still, I guess there's almost an accidental compliment on how Weaver looks in there, so that's some consolation In all seriousness though, I'll be the first to admit it ain't perfect, nor is it everything I wanted it to be. That said, I'm happy with it given the cirumstances. I'm glad those of you who voted for it liked it too

So now that this is finally over, what are we gonna do about putting together a download pack and trying to get it pimped? I'd feel bad just taking the top 5 or whatever, as some of the lower ranking maps are really high quality. On the other hand if we throw in everything that leads to the problem of including maps that, no offence meant, turned out pretty much unplayable. Thoughts?

I'm sure I read something about a patch that fixed the lighting and other obvious issues.

I ordered Crackdown last week, and later on that day my 360 gave me the ring of death Hopefully I'll get it back from repair soon, as I'd like to have a shot of the Halo 3 beta and the Forza 2 demo before too long. In the mean time I'm back on FFXII, but I think I've made my characters a bit too hard by focusing lots on doing the hunts as all the story bosses are proving really easy.

I've been debating with myself over who to vote for since the poll opened. It's been a tough decision, and I'll try and give some brief thoughts on all the levels for people to use as they wish. Please don't take offence if you feel I've been critical of your level - I was really impressed by the entries and people's different approaches, and I think everybody should be proud of their work as it was a challenging rule and not the longest of development periods. I hope this feedback will be of use to some of you.

Repeater

One of my favourites. I played a 3 person match on it and it was really fun, and on top of that it ran well (minus one laggy hiccup, but I'll put that down to the server) and looked great to boot. Wasn't too sure about the really dark tunnel - a bit easy to camp at the blocked end and score a kill or two with an xbox/magnum/barrel before anybody realised - but otherwise it flowed fairly well and provided a nice space for combat. I could imagine this being a great fun 1v1 map.

North Facility

With the same group of 3 we had another close match for the most part, though I think I ended up going on a bit of a rampage and stealing the victory...muhahaha It felt like there was plenty of space for 3 people and we weren't in a constant gun fight, which I felt was the case in some of the other maps. In fact, despite not using the vertical dimension very much, it felt like one of the largest levels in the contest and so afforded more time alive than many others. It wasn't the best looking map but had some nicely done areas, from both an aesthetic and gameplay perspective. The exterior cliffs coulda used a bit more love though

Grace

Grace played nicely - spacious rooms to move around in and a very easy to learn layout with easy to memorise weapon locations and obvious places to use for tactical decisions. It isn't getting my vote however because it is one of the most bland entries visually. I know some people are saying we should vote on gameplay and ignore looks but I'm going for the overall package, and while I think this delivered fairly well on gameplay (aside from the magnum/xbow being so close together when they are such similar weapons, and their ammo being there too) it didn't do it for me in visuals. There's a few nice touches, such as the lighting on the upper-area walls, but for the most part it is a boxy and lacking in details. The lighting on the floor in the main hall is just a total mess that I can't understand the cause of, and the basement is nice enough as a basic room layout but missing any sort of "spice" to make it more than a rather empty feeling, not-too-naturally-textured pillar-fest. I don't mean to be too harsh, but I fell I have to be to justify not voting for what was one of the nicer playing levels.

Post Office

Just all around lovely, to the extent that I think it's a shame it isn't winning. As you can probably guess from that, it got my vote About the only thing I would change about the map would be to make it slightly bigger, as at the moment our 3 person playtest was a little too hectic and resulted in some deaths occuring before the player really got a chance. The lack of spawn points didn't help, as you only ever seem to spawn in about 3 places. Granted there aren't many other places you COULD spawn in the map, but I think a few more could have been slotted in to make it less predictable. I liked the weapon placement a lot and the limited use of physics props - there are enough of both but not so many that it felt cluttered. The restricted weapon set suits the level perfectly. You've got beautiful use of subtle details, a great 3D skybox, varied lighting without feeling forced or busy (great and efficient use of lightmaps too), and a flowing layout that exposes you frequently to paths above and below you; what's not to like? It just feels so damn polished.

Tyr

An automatic lose because it is unplayable with those lifts, which is a shame as it's a fairly interesting use of the space and has some creative architecture. I've said before that it seemed quite Halo-esque, but it also reminded me of some great HL1 levels such as the work of Scary_1 and Gustavo. Sadly it didn't have the care put into lighting and texture choice/application of either of those - lots of painfully dark areas and questionable textures used in equally questionable ways makes it look much less impressive than some of its architecture deserves.

Conscript

Has a nice central courtyard, some neat use of hi-res lightmaps, and a couple of cool little "paths" like being able to jump through the warehouse windows from the green-horizontal-line building's balcony. On the other hand, I couldn't quite get my head around the weapon placement - one half of the map has almost no weapons, and yet the green-horizontal-line building seems to have the AR2 and xbow pretty much hanging out next to each other. Is there even a shotgun to go with the shotgun ammo? Useable doors is a no-no in multiplayer for me, as is the not so useable ladder leading from the sewers (though I guess more dev time woulda sorted the latter of these). Visually it wasn't bad, again giving a nod to the nice hi-res lightmaps used in places (a few too many I'd say, looking at mat_luxels 1!), but some of the interiors are a little too reliant on props as opposed to interesting architecture (yet you made the warehouse top floor pretty awesome!), some of the props make no sense at all (head height radiator? Melons?), and the absence of a 3D skybox makes the prominence of the sky a little jarring. All in all it just felt too unpolished really - finished, but unpolished. Gotta be honest though, I haven't played this with people, so take my opinions here with a pinch of salt.

Rocket Silo

Is a pretty grand map to look at, and Nexus gets my respect for trying something different with his entry. Unfortunately I'm not a big fan of the killbox style of map, and I get the feeling Nexus isn't much of an HL2DM player as this map doesn't really work for the gameplay. Weapon placement is...well pretty much everywhere. The xbow and AR2 are right next to each other, and not only that, but the AR2 has FOUR of the bouncy balls right there with it - that is carnage. Armour is everywhere you look, which is probably a good thing given the constant damage you'll be receiving from the outright lack of cover. The single spiral path that leads to the upper area isn't exactly giving you gameplay options either. To top it off, you can fall into the space under the rocket, and have no way out bar suicide. Thats not a good idea any day of the week, and it appears to have been a concious decision as opposed to an oversight what with the 2 secret spaces you can get to from there (spaces with nothing in them). So yeah, not a great HL2DM map IMO, but it's a nicely realised rocket silo

Asgar

I really enjoyed playing Asgar, but I was torn between whether that was due to the map itself, or the fact it was the first game of HL2DM I'd played for 6 months or so! Regardless I was really taken in by the theme and the hugely ambitious use of space. It doesn't work entirely successfully - the majority of paths and rooms are far too cramped to lend themselves to great HL2DM gameplay - but the vertical nature of the layout, amount of partial cover, and loads of routes enemies can pop out from made it hectic and a great laugh. I'm sad this isn't getting votes because I think the creativity and effort that went into it deserve more recognition. It's just a shame it was forced into such a tight area - free of such confines I think it could have turned out a real winner.

Tobor

Ah, Tobor. Really not much you can say against this map. It doesn't feel anything like a typical HL2DM map; very clever use of the standard resources to create a theme that is neatly reminiscent of the HL1 "tech" maps like datacore, rapidcore, and of course the classic test chamber from the start of the game. Not entirely keen on forcing the use of a teleporter to get to the top floor, but that, along with the annoyingly snaggy floors, are really the only criticisms I could level at it. Lovely to look at and, I imagine, fun to play (sadly only had about 20 seconds game time on this with people). Great job

Capricious

I like the idea of the team based gameplay, but I'm not sure how well it would work in practice when you're confined to one giant cylinder. I think it's gonna be pretty impossible to stop people getting to those buttons when they are all so close together. I guess that is a bit of a non-issue though, as again this one is pretty much unplayable due to the elevators causing lag. I liked the entity work - the elevator shields were a nice touch, and the increasingly frequent electrical bursts hitting the outside walls as you destroy the different floors of the tower added a whole lot to the experience. The towering 3D skybox leading into bright white fog worked well too. Not the most architecturally interesting map, I feel that what there is to it could have been made a bit more detailed. Even giving the walkways trims would have been a start. All in all I think a room like this could be a nice centrepiece to a map if made a bit more spacious, and supported by some peripheral rooms and connections rather than laggy elevators.

Lock

And I thought my entry didn't make much sense! One hell of a strange and abstract concept, but it feels a bit forced and awkward as opposed to drawing a response of "hey, that actually kinda works!". It took me a while to find my way to certain places, like the top of the tallest tower, which is sort of nice in that there are lots of little nooks and crannies to explore despite the small footprint. Unfortunately the amount crammed in means everything is super cramped, and movement is deal-breakingly impeded. Every few steps you get yourself snagged on something - be it a physics prop, a slightly-too-tall step, a low ceiling, or a tiny-width doorway with working doors (ARGH no no no!). It doesn't look bad, and the nicely done skybox does a whole lot for the overall impression, but some of the architecture is a bit awkward and some displacements aren't too convincing. Too much in too little space, really, is my judgement.

Rockhill

I haven't played this one with people, which is something I'm looking forward to doing as I reckon it will be great fun. Hell, I had a good time on it just clay-pidgeon shooting with the grav-gun and some exploding barrels Those exploding barrels though? A little out of place and over abundant maybe! Love the theme and the 3D skybox supports it beautifully. Its a shame that suiciding off the edge of the map is so...glitchy - it pings you away from the mountain as you fall downward, and then once you hit the water it's... solid? Good job on offering opportunities to drop to lower areas while avoiding fall damage too, such as the central pool on the bottom floor and the jutting spikes of rock sticking out of the outside paths.

Tenements

Very generic theme, as I've already played a dozen maps set around City 17 tenement buildings. That said, this is easily one of the best realised, and lives up to Valve's standards. Some beautiful destruction going on here, really good job on that. Sadly the less destroyed side of the map doesn't meet the quality of the other, both in terms of gameplay options and visuals. I didn't like the huge stairwell it features, as getting from the bottom to the first actual room takes much longer than I'd like. I also wasn't sure about the weapon placement. Why place 3 boxes of magnum ammo next to the magnum when you can only ever pick up 1 ammo box at the same time as that weapon? And just over the bridge from that great weapon are 4 health kits, 4 batteries, and the AR2 with 2 bouncy balls - a little generous! That side of the level also houses 2 armour chargers nearly sat on top of each other (though very nicely placed at windows, love it ), the RPG, a shotgun, SMG grenades, and the xbow - pretty much everything you'd want in the game. The lower ground and the mostly intact building are therefore almost entirely redundant in terms of items. Still a very nicely done map though, I was hugely impressed by the destruction in it.

Nimrod

Beautiful, but not a great use of the available space IMO. I wouldn't want to play this as anything more than a 1v1, but in that scenario it could work pretty well. Lovely 3D skybox on all but one of the sides of the map, and tragically that is the side that needed it the most Obviously this leads to the disappearing into nothing edge looking pretty daft, but the overall impression of the map is still one of "wow". The ladders aren't particularly well done which is a shame given their importance in the layout of the map, but they are useable once you figure out how. Also didn't like the pink blob of light above the 2 chargers, but I guess the deadline removed the opportunity to tweak it and that is really the only visual issue besides the missing skybox section. Good level.

Coex

A very solid level. Well built, and again up to Valve quality in a lot of ways. Loved the way you used the spotlight through the grate on the "blue" side of the level, and the overbright lighting on that side in general was really atmospheric. On the other hand, I didn't like your unrealisticly blue prop shadows, and the way the white tower met the roof with a zig-zag edge. The walkways on the sides of the buildings leading from a window to the roof also felt a bit tacked on as opposed to natural components of the buildings, and jumping out of those windows isn't the easiest thing to do in the heat of combat either. The windows did provide a nice way to jump from the roof of one building into the rooms of the other, however. The jump pad in the middle should make things interesting, and its easy enough to use that you shouldn't be suffering from falling damage due to accidental take-offs too often. You can also use it as a cushion for dropping off the roof, which is a nice feature Again, no points of originality here though - pretty textbook stuff for HL2DM which makes it not so standout.