Yep, that's the shadow-problem I mentioned. Shouldn't be hard to get them illuminated correctly 
.
Thanks anyways, and also thanks Furyo - I'll see what I can do with the sign. I already use two overlays, but it really isn't beautiful to have the date right next to the letters.
Cheerio
Albatros
Ty .
New area with work being in progress... A chapel and some sheds, the council hall (building with the letters on it) and a view from the first to the latter. I'll have to denable the shadows on some of the props.
Ah, and it's featuring leaves now .
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/npa19k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/npa20k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/npa21k.jpg]
Cheers.
P.S.: slightly different lighting, like I said. I guess it could still use some more intensity on brightness and ambience, but that's just my personal taste. What do you people think?
Hey ,
Okay, I'll try and see what I can do.
I really forgot the leaves on the new half of the map :] ... the rest of your ideas is also nice, the only thing that could turn out to be complicated being them butterflies 
.
The next series of screenshots will feature a slightly enhanced lighting... brightness being just a tad darker, ambience a bit darker and stronger.
Thanks for the suggestions =)
Hi E-Freak!
Well, your comments are always like heaven and hell to me, not devilish 
. Half of it is very useful and appreciated, while the other half is, to be honest, totally pointless.
Some things of those are certainly correct, but: a) noone would ever think of critizising them were they found in stock maps, b) as I told you concerning another map, it would help to take the time for both an extensive critic AND actually play the map (which you couldn't do in this case, but in that other one, you remember? ) and last but not least c) please! read my introduction - it does have a purpose, you know.
If you had considered point a) and c), you could easily have saved half of your text there .
Let's take that water wheel, for instance; it should look used? Well, I took it from DoD_Kalt; maybe that mill in the other map wasn't used a lot, or it was bought as a late addition or restored sometime later, but I'm certain a reskin for neglictable optical reasons doesn't make much sense compared to the amount of time & the bigger filesize.
Coming to the next point: I mentioned in my intro text that I'm hoping for the sovjet skin pack to work properly soon, so this could in fact be an eastern front map; I grew up a few Kilometres away from Mülhausen in Elsaß-Lothringen, where not a single village is of french origin and German was the only language taught between 1939 and '45, so I can assure you it won't be a bitter blamage to see German Inn signs in a Franco-German-border village if I ever had to change the scenario, so sorry - but that kind of points is rather pointless.
Quote from e-freakThe horizontal timbers on the wall at the left do both look wired:
The higher one (beneath the first row of concrete windows) uses a totally different wood than the entire rest of the half-timbered construction, the second one further below looks like "Katscher Leimholz" - a bunch of small pieces stickied together because it seems you forgot to rotate the texture (same problem as above here) 90° round.
Second thing: From there is the guest supposed to see the "Gasthaus zum [...]" thing and why is it in german - pushing towards the german border sounds to me like france (or elsas lotringen)
Nope, it's rotated correctly according to the author.
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta6.jpgtexture on the bottom looks extremly blurry, wall texture at the left behind the tree looks (at least from that pov) extremely oversized (the brown one)
Correct, too blurry. Will be fixed!
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta10.jpghillside looks to bland and lowdetailed
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta12.jpg
rock edge in the foreground looks too blocky, texture on the left is not correctly set up
bridge texture seems to be oversized
Yep, these are the WIP points in it. Thanks, will be fixed.
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta13.jpgtext is extremly blurry (german language here as well)
angel is not at the actual pin point of the roof
upper window row on that building is undetailed and repeating
small windows on the displacement roof seem to be to small
displacement roof would extremely benefit from a dirt overlay (the lower roof part)
Good idea on the overlay - other points will be fixed, too. Thanks!
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta14.jpgGive that Waterfall a Model or some sprites and cliffedges
texturing at the far left over the waterfall looks extreme blurry
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta15.jpg
I assume that little river is meant to spring from the waterfall - needs movement (modeling militia style)
If the boat is already destroyed - move the parts further away from each other
cliffs look edgy
The boat is an integrated model - I could add some gibs, that could do the trick. What do you think?
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta16.jpgsigns look wired
wheels of the keg-waggon seem to tinny
dirt on the low wall below the fence
Yup, dirt sounds like an idea there . I'll tell the Author of the beercart that the wheels aren't correct, though I suppose he has had quite some reference material.
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta17.jpggive that window on the left a trim
same goes to the doors
Yup, should look nicer
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta18.jpgchurchwindow does not fit into that building
Funny you mention it. It is the only one of those buildings that really have an existing original, a fortified medieval church of the Holy Wolfgang that can be seen in Rothenburg o.d.T. I'll tell it's architect that the windows don't fit in . J/k, I get your point - will try some trimming.
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta5.jpgi love the new "Büsche Dünger" on the bridge
looks wired to raise the trim of the bridge in the middle
tower spikes don't look good on bridge trims
Matter of taste, I suppose. Might be a mix of styles, but then again it's one of the nicer kind .
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta2.jpgwhy would someone light that latern in war and at full daylight - make it cracked down - looks more interesting (or something like this is my suggestion
It's an evening scenario with a setting sun, and the only lighted lanterns are lighted in dark areas. Then again, the war-time-thingy wasn't too much of a problem in dod_zafod, dod_pier or dod_granville, so I'll allow myself that bit of artistic freedom for the sake of grand athmosphere :].
http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachta1.jpgortsschild looks wired as well
displacement windows need trims
graveyard in the cornfield?
there's a strange decal on that house on the right behind the cornfield (the abflussrohr next to the street - doesn't fit the style)
With wired you mean like barbed or weird? Aye on those window trims.
Graveyard - no, it's simply a cruzifix. There's dozens of these in my area. About the gutter pipe - even today there are buildings from the 18th or 19th century that feature those; I guess it's a matter of taste, too, whether to allow those inhabitants of the village some gutters or not. :]
Thanks for the constructive part and hey, I'd really appreciate your critics even more if you tried to remember point a) to c) in the future!
- Alba
Hi again
As I said, it's in a very early stage, so detail improvements will definately happen. Concerning the ivy: most people considered it a bush until now, and I suppose going from the looks only a person knowing it is an ivy model that normally is being used with a 180° rotation will notice that.
The idea for that ivy on the bridge came from an old picture - it looks extremely similar to my result.
The rooftop spires... well, same thing. They served as decoration, aswell on houses as on railings, bridges... the reason that the model's creator intended it to be used on roof tops doesn't mean it has to be used there and nowhere else . Although I must admit that I'm not satisfied with them spires, too... I'll try and make some custom ones when I find the time.
Cheers & thanks for the feedback ,
Albatros
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk10.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk11.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk12.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk13.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk14.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk15.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk16.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk17.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk18.jpg]
The battle zone includes a small cloister, a water mill, a fortified church, several fields. orchards and a small forest.
It will be a 16 to 32-player map measuring about 5000 x 5000 units/inches (130 x 130 metres), which is an average size, at least for DoD .
Looking forward to some comments, suggestions or all kinds of critics .
Thanks to Happyernst & piu piu for the models & assistance with the skybox colour .
Cheers.
Hi!
Seems like this darling has finally reached a presentable stage - although it still is very [WIP], so to say, since I've only had two weeks of work to spend until now. Many things will be fixed and there also are numerous placeholders, but on the whole I suppose one can get an impression of what it is going to look like. And that's what WIP threads are there for, right? :]
Anyway, the setting:
- Autumn of 1944, the German troops are retreating on all fronts. While the Allies are advancing surprisingly fast, they realize that the rapid speed of their push towards the German borders confronts them with new problems - such as vulnerable supply lines or unexpectedly strong defense on certain spots.
On this day, an allied infantry battaillon happened to run into a squad of a regrouping German Panzer Regiment, consisting of two Tiger tanks and two StuG III due to the shortage of battle tanks in this late episode of the war. The squad had just arrived in a little village near the silesian-bohemian border (I know. No americans at the eastern front, but I heard rumors of Sovjet skins having been released, so if that could be combined, the historical aspect would be corrected, too) to refuel.
While the allied troops now have an opportunity to catch a sitting duck and destroy or capture the German tanks, while the Germans could quickly break up the frontline and attack the vulnerable supply lines, if they managed to win the day.
Screens:
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk1.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk2.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk3.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk4.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk5.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk6.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk7.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk8.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/nachtwip/nachtk9.jpg]
Heh, okay... two more .
I'll make a WIP thread for it soon, so don't worry about me spamming this one much longer .
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/wip/npa9.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/wip/npa10.jpg]
This is the current construction site, the orchard... started it yesterday.
The point of view of picture #1 is a little forest.
Right now I'm working on the fences, the background and the buildings on the left side...
Cheers!
P.S.: Hessi - that's true, now that you mentioned it I see it clearly... that roof seriously needs fixing.
Thanks for the feedback so far... well I've got three more shots to show and I promise to shut up after these for a while - I'll seriously have to look after my laws term paper in the next days, or I'll be doomed.
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/wip/npa6.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/wip/npa7.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/wip/npa8.jpg]
I'll fix those bits of railing, Shadow - the texture really doesn't fit very well.
Cheers,
Albatros
Hm, there is no actual reference... well, every now and then I use old landscape photographs from the 1920s picturing German villages from these days, but there's no direct influence of these pictures to my mapping.
On every little trip or holliday I make I take a close look at picturesque sceneries, buildings, landscapes or whatever and those that impress me most stick to my mind. After travelling to dozens of villages and cities from bulgaria to scottland, you get a feeling for the local architecture so I guess what I did for that map was rather imitating a kind of medieval german tudor-style than porting real-life buildings into a level.
I've been more or less trying to create a bohemian village in a shape it *should* have looked like, don't know how to explain it 
.
Cheers,
Albatros
P.S.:
Hi Josch , well certainly not a mapping machine, but I could get used to the thought of doing this professionally some day . In fact I'm mapping between 12 and 16 hours per day right now...
Yeah, I already got rid of 3 of those bushes, actually being ivy of some wild-style sort, but those on the other side make a very nice impression in-game.
DoD Nightingale, my current project.
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/wip/npa1.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/wip/npa2.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/wip/npa3.jpg]
It's extremely WIP since it's only about a week old, and I'm not satisfied yet with a lot of stuff. Thanks to Hessi for pointing me towards the blue-weighted ambience .
P.S.:
It's a sunset scenario, but I might reduce the red-orange part of the brightness colour to a more yellow, more neutral style.
Edit #2:
Just made another compile with a more decent lighting. You'll probably have to refresh the site to get them to show correctly.
Hey guys!
Thanks for the replies so far, I'll start answering the rest tomorrow.
Quote from hessithere is one thing i absolutly dont understand: why is there air attack on the city while allied soldiers attack on the ground? suicide?
Yeah, well - got me there. Actually I wonder why there is the same scenario at the Valve-map Argentan, though there it's merely a flyby. In fact, there have been airstrikes in dod_ramelle and some other older DoD maps, too, and I really did miss that feature, so I felt I should take the liberty and put it back in.
though this map isnt that cool. the graphics are all rough and blocky and unlovely made. for example this tower roof or the lighting. i remember you posting a first screenshots like a month ago but for this setting a professional artist would require at least 3 months of full time work.
You once mentioned a large scale map should take about 600-700 hours of work, if I'm right. In fact, adding the texture and overlay work, I should come to 550 hours for a rather small map - three months are pretty relative, and as a matter of fact I've had six weeks of intense action here, speaking of 12 to 15 hours a day.
I'm not a professional artist, though I could certainly spend even more time with a clean consciousness if I was one .
i am pretty much sure you can do better if you take more time and invest in more --> custom <-- content. for example make some need textures that look more like a german city before ww2.
Thanks! I mentioned it above - I'd really love to put in more custom stuff, but this SAD-version will have to stay at it's 27 Megs to make sure it's getting played sufficiantly.
I'll probably go for the 50+x MB limit in the HDR version.
make the ruins more detailed. pick a lighting that fits the situation. there is a bomber attack and i dont see any light flashes at all.
True - those flashes will certainly be added .
you'd handle your custom map projects better if you would start learning modeling and creating textures now.
Well, it's not that I'm not able to create own stuff, it's my desire to keep the mapsize reasonable (at least for this map).
I know there are people who need more than 100 MB to create something that looks decent, but I really doubt that players will accept a trippled filesize for optical polishing.
I'm anxious to see whether the light or full-detail version will perform better playerswise.
Anyways, you're right in most points there - even more valuable to me, since this is input from a "pro". Cheers mate.
Not sure whether you've played DoD before or know what it is, but there are no driveable tanks in it, neither jeeps nor planes, usually not even useable artillery and such. It's a shame, but DoD is limited to infantry combat :/.
Concerning the propaganda: what exactly is bad about it? Not enough of it? Too much of it? Or the quality of the overlay textures? I guess from the historical aspect it's on the whole adequate.
The lighting is everything but white - the brightness of the light_env is at 131 148 137, a greyish-green note, with the ambience at 70 105 113 shows a darker, blue-green-greyish tone.
@ FMPONE:
Hey ,
thanks for the tips so far, very appreciated.
Concerning the Valve maps - I did look at them, and I actually didn't find them to be realistic, nor impressive. I rather found them to be a bit boring and blant, a problem that is highly critical for many DOD:S players. I would even go so far to say that it's the main issue discussed among the majority of the players. What's making it worse is the really huge filesize of those maps; I do wonder where the extra mbytes have been stuffed into them. If you substract the prop_static overflow, there's not much left to work with, architecture-wise, not to mention the sometimes extremely simple brushwork.
My brushwork can be improved, though, that's true, but it beats the examples of, say, dod_flash or dod_anzio by lengths; in fact, it's a way harder job to do a inner-city map using real examples of buildings (which most of those in my map are) than making just another village on the french countryside .
Did you donwload the .bsp and take a close look at the brushwork? I'd really appreciate it if you had the time .
On the whole I have the feeling that you're right, though it's probably hard for me to see it with your eyes, if you know what I mean. That's the problem with a subjective view, which I have...
There's a lot to like in the map and it's quite unique, unlike anything I've seen come out of the dod:s custom maps, but it does appear to be pretty rough around the edges. If you could implement some of the suggestions above, especially in regards to the lighting/brushwork you could pull a lot more out of the map.
Thanks, I will - I'm glad to get some high-level feedback, so I'd have to be stupid if I was going to ignore it .
few critiques, the arches in the warehouse screen could be a lot smoother, seems you only used about 6 brushes for each arch. Also, some of the buildings simply don't have the same structure as others. Maybe try and keep a consistent level of polish on all of them, otherwise they just appear awkward when placed next to one another. An example, the destroyed building in the third screen at the top of the thread, you basically just have a triangle to indicate a destroyed surface. Doesn't have quite the same amount of time put into it compared with the surrounding buildings.
Funny thing now that you mention it. They were (or are, the building still stands) exactly shaped like that. Concerning the structure of the buildings - I get your point, but it's not any kind of lazyness on my side that some buildings look worse than others, it's the fact that I'm working on the basis of pictures. It really looked like that - awkward.
The solution I could come up with would be to improvise on these buildings, setting up some more diversified architecture on place of the simple half-timbered buildings; this would mean reducing the historical point of view, but then again I feel it could look dimensions better.
Also, try to disable shadows on certain props. A lot of the time they, like the corner stone prop, tend to fit a lot better without the shadow casting.
Good point, willdo.
That scene puzzles me - it looks like a warehouse but there are umbrellas standing on carpets and a sign of a "Café" in the background. Did the people in Stuttgart move their cafés into warehouses during the war due to too many bombs raining down outside?
Looks like a big level and lots of work, but it overall looks a bit rough - I agree with the others. The "Peek & Cloppenburg" sign made me chuckle though..
@ FrieChamp:
Those umbrellas still are there today. The cause is the glass roof which can't be darkened and therefore guests at the café get a little irritated sometimes by sheer floods of sunlight hitting their eyes .
The hall burned out though in WW2 and was rebuilt with a rather different inner architecture, but the café still exists. Inside of it, that is .
@ Defrag:
The effect of the sky is indeed intended.
It's a daytime scenario with a heavy storm coming up - except from the orange part, which resembles a burning skyline to the east of the city, the sky is taken from a real picture of just such a setting. I'll probably have to change the lighting in order to fit the sky.
@ Furyo:
Gracias .
Well yeah, I really wonder whether it's a good idea to use the source engine for such a scenario. As I said - it's not a problem of missing technique or sheer lazyness , but rather the fact that high numbers of custom content and models in a inner-city layout of that kind will lead to either skyrocketing filesize or crumbling fps. Maybe I should settle for another engine some day...
First of all, I'll finish that HDR-version I've mentioned. I'm really looking forward to what you folks will think about it - maybe the additional custom content and sourcifying will eliminate a part of the "roughness"?
Thanks again to everybody,
Albatros
For those who aren't annoyed yet , four more thumbs and two additional "making-of" pics for some insight in the idea *behind* this vertical gameplay study:
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a10k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a11k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a12k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a13k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/wipbig4.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/wipbig5.jpg]
Two Youtube Videos:
By the way - this is the low-detail, no-hdr-version, I call it SAD - Server Admins Darling, and somewhat sad indeed that players are too impatient to download a 30 MB bzip2 so I had to keep it at about 23 MB in that format (26 standard-zip).
The HDR-full-p.i.m.p.-version will be finished by april... hopefully...
Next set of screens:
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big8.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big9.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big10.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big11.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a4k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a5k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a6k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a7k.jpg]
Hey.
I've been starting this in February; due to some more or less deserved successes in my real life occupation as a student of laws (yuck!), I was able to work 24/7 on this project. A rough estimation should come to about 440 - 480 hours so far, which is OK I guess taking in consideration the medium dimensions of the map. Download at the end of the first posting.
Anyway, the setting is as follows:
- Southern Germany in early 1945. American troops press to the east crossing the Rhine. On their way there are several large cities, among them Stuttgart, home to some of the most important war related industries in Germany.
In order to prepare for the american assault, all the bridges of the largely destroyed city get blown up, while scattered Wehrmacht and Volkssturm battalions use makeshift fortifications to set up a last line of defense...
There are six flags - four 1-man-caps, 2 two-man-caps. The locations of these flags are balanced in a way that allows both teams to cap the map out in reasonable time, since the capture time of all those flags is relatively short.
Side objectives are several bomb zones that will have a more or less significant influence on the environment. Blowing up a target will deliver different advantages.
Blowing up doors will open new routes. Those routes include decent sniper or MG locations. Also, two of the doors block 2 rooms full of German and American MGs, Panzerschrecks and Submachineguns which can be used (with the limitation of each weapon only having one magazine to keep it all nice and balanced). The last target, a generator, will cause parts of the street illumination to become switched off, changing the environment and, in parts, the gameplay.
Enough information now, here are the Screens:
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big1.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big2.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big3.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big4.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big5.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big6.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2big7.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a1k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a2k.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stb2/stb2a3k.jpg]
Thanks to piu piu for the excellent overview + skybox... giving it the special touch !
Hey again,
Hessi, after a second read I really fancy that lighting you've proposed. I'll try to give it a shot as soon as I can.
@Minotauro:
Yep, it's gonna be a custom one made by a creative guy named piu piu. I'll elaborate on it later - I'll make an own [WiP] thread for that second project soon.
I'll rework and re-detail Edelweiss in a week - I should have all the info on balancing and gameplay I need until then.
Cheers & thanks a lot everybody,
Albatros
Hey there ,
thanks a lot for the offer. I guess I should be able to get it all finetuned on my own. The low-quality corners of the map do result from me hesitating to waste brushes. I've been mapping for HL1 for a couple of years which taught me to keep an eye on the overall brushcount.
I'm afraid I had to learn that Source can deal extremely well with even high counts of func_detail brushes. I'll definately work on Edelweiss with my new techniques.
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stv5/d1.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stv5/d2.jpg]
This is how I work nowadays (a project I started last week) - getting 100 fps in average on this one.
Cheers,
Albatros
Hey guys ,
To be honest I wasn't certain in which forums to post a finished beta. At least it's far away from a release candidate, as you've all noticed , so it definately still is [WIP]. But then again, there's many beta-entries here, so I thought it would be best to post it in the "finished work" section.
I'd not at all mind moving this into the [WIP] area if you think it fits into there .
One thing though: the spawn areas are definately very pale and lack detail all over the place. They're only temporary solutions, since I use my beta releases to get an overview on the overall balancing.
What's good about a map when the gameplay doesn't fit? It's not all about them visuals. Same goes for the 20 MB limit. Most servers won't even load up a map crossing that line, and I need players to play this map so I can find out how it plays. If I was able to make it a 60, 70 MB .bsp, I could definately make it a shiny beast, but that's what my next project is going to run for .
Thanks again for the ideas, working on the spawns and bland areas (although life is going to be hell today, there's hundreds of thousands of psychos running up and down the street celebrating their own incapability in what they call carneval, although I prefer "brain carnage" ).
Albatros
Heya,
Well, besides it's a beta, I think there's just one thing to be said: you can find an ugly point of view in every map. That's no task, it's no big business and not even going to take you more than a minute.
Coming along with this is a disregard of all the hours and days of positive work put into that very map, that's the deal of a constructive and a destructive criticism (probably directed to the drunkards ).
Concerning the stairs: you're right, besides a lot of personal and business trouble I tried to get a release-playable version out, with visual marks set on the main combat zones, which obviously reach something of a touch among the community. Might or might not be regarded, anyway it should.
Concerning the tunnels with the bricks melted into them rocks, read above. I just neither have the time nor the pretension to make it look perfect. In fact I had to stamp it out of nowhere within hours, since the balance showed up major deficites. I only noticed that when the map was tested in a third-hand-public server.
Concerning the windmill-parts: mapping is only an art dedicated to creating a perfect illusion, so I had to virtually improvize on whatever spot I could to warrant both an impression and a quick gameplay. If you meant to offer me a set of custom models for the motors, please feel free to go ahead and create me some! Keep in mind I have a limit of no more than 20 MB to hold, though. Thanks!
Concerning the stairs - you're right. I'll see and make them look proper.
Cheers! and thanks for the refreshing comments,
Albatros
