Posts by cincinnati

  • The golden age of mapping

    Quote from Bugman

    When you think of a map being unique and innovative, are you only talking about visuals? It seems like that's what some people are saying.

    actually, that's what you said. it was in your use of the word "visually" that i started to disagree with you, as it was the only criteria you spoke to when you discredited today's amateurs. if you've been playing these mods and there's more to it than that, you might make a better case, but it sounds like you're commenting on something you're simply no longer immersed in, and that's likely the reason for your conclusion.

  • The golden age of mapping

    Quote from Sentura

    stuff i made up. hyperbole, etc.

    wow, you are hallucinating.http://%7boption%7d

    all of my posts are listed here, chronologically. you won't find one instance of "bad behavior" in any of those, let alone in "pretty much every other post around"

    there is one instance where i responded, in kind, to a snarky comment you made to me, but that's by far the closest i've come to what you're accusing me of. it's obvious that left an imprint on you and you've conflated it with my other 90 or so posts, which is sad.

    you made that way too easy. now, kindly shut up.

    on topic. i've seen some innovative stuff come out for cryengine (call of the fireflies from here, for example) and it stands quite well on its own...given the relatively small community around ce modding, i'd say the ratio of innovation to crap is actually more now?

    the thing then is that technology is excluding a great number of people, which doesn't seem like the greatest tradeoff.

  • The golden age of mapping

    honestly sentura, you seem to have made it your thing around here to only half understand what's going on around you, and by that i mean that it seems intentional.

    i found it mildly troubling that the guy came on and, in his first post, basically indicted today's amateurs, and in turn, many of the people on this site, as being incapable of staking out any original ground with today's tools (read the post, it's not just a trivial point, and i actually don't disagree with all of it). i see lots of innovation still going on around me (on this very site, sometimes even!), as i'm sure most of the people around here do...so are they on the pedestal with me? should i not have referenced his point to make my own? should i maybe not have referred to myself as "i?" is that what bothered you?

    brusquely refuting a rather broadly-applied assertion using one's own personal experience as the counterpoint is not arrogance. presumptuousness, however, is the very essence of arrogance. in calling an attitude that i simply don't have a fact, you're being presumptuous.

    i suggest if you want to argue it further, that you frame it within the point of the thread it'self, because it otherwise seems like you're just looking for an unrelated scuffle, and that's just weak...

  • The golden age of mapping

    Quote

    Sure, they're visually impressive, but how much of that is thanks to the game developer and how much is thanks to the amateur mapper?

    bad designers still make bad maps and good designers still make standout maps . maybe you can't tell the difference, but i can.

  • Battlefield 3

    can't remember where i heard this, but i was under the assumption that it would be treated like the vietnam expansion of bc2 (read: a compartment of a game that you have to sign into separately).

  • [l4d2] drop dead gorges beta

    good points, valid criticism. thanks for taking the time.

    easy question first: i used the trigger in the tower simply in the interest of expedience (not sure if i want to mess around with i/o much more than that). i built the setup there as a placeholder, but given i don't have a lot of time, and that i continued using those text hints, they might just stay.

    i understand what you're saying about wayfinding, and it was my biggest concern in releasing this publicly. i'll certainly continue to look at ways to make it more obvious, but in a lot of cases i'm going to bet that it's just best solved in getting familiar with the map, which is something i hope people do. i'm not much of an sp or coop player. i love versus, and i love the idea that maps have a learning curve. i think this will work if it catches on in versus, because i assume that versus = replay.

    you're right about choices being somewhat inconsequential in sp...or even coop...these choices don't get very meaningful until you're pitted against human tactics. you'll just have to trust me for now when i say that the choices DO matter in versus. i've been in the middle of quite a few team arguments about the pros and cons of different routes in different situations.

    these last couple paragraphs really underscore something that i can't stress enough: this map gets exponentially better when you realize all the possibilities that versus presents. versus. versus. versus.

    again, thanks for the feedback!

  • [l4d2] drop dead gorges beta

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    after having tested privately (4v4) every night, twice a night, for 3 months straight, this campaign is being released for public

    consumption based upon my personal satisfaction with the quality of its versus game-play. future versions will address remaining bugs,

    as well as take a few more passes at the environment and atmosphere, which can be a bit schematic at times. i think i'd like to find a

    few places in the campaign to set up some scavenge gameplay,too.

    please be aware that this campaign was designed for versus play. while single-player and coop are functional (with the exception of

    rescue closets!) and encouraged for learning the layout, there is just far too much built into these maps for human special infected, that

    playing in any mode other than versus sells them short.

    this campaign tips much of its geometry heavily in the special infected's favor. bad things can happen fast and happen often if the

    survivors aren't well coordinated. inevitably, this alone is going to piss a survivor team off, so from the outset i've set about the delicate

    task of keeping the patient alive, so to speak. this heightened assault from the special infected is buffered by a careful and varied

    rhythm of dangerous to safe spaces, and a well-tested and selective placement of items that seems to keep everyone happy.

    edit:

    it's understood that this campaign may induce a little more disorientation than the usual l4d fare. i believe that the payoff for this yields more when weighed against the investment of time that learning the map may incur. in essence, you can basically follow the lights through the maps to find your way, but there will admittedly be times when the pathways diverge and you find yourself a little confused. choices you make as a survivor, once you know what's being offered, will depend on the condition of your team (particularly true in vs.). a typical mechanic embedded in these choices would be that one route offers quick passage, with little to no item placement, at the risk of very concentrated and high damage, and the other route offers more items, in comparatively safe areas, at the cost of team speed (and in turn, distance).


    in the intense testing that i've done of the campaign, teams have become acutely aware of the above distinctions when faced with multiple routes, and it seems to produce meaningful choices, and sometimes hilarious results.


    other examples of situations that may initially confuse people are places where the maps fold back onto themselves. in approaching many passages in the campaign as a sort of game of chutes and ladders, there are many opportunities for the infected to pull, or charge, or ride (or scare!) survivors backward in time.


    so, my apologies if you find yourself a little frustrated. i can only encourage you to keep playing, and urge you to eventually play it in versus to reap these benefits.

    the campaign contains 3 large maps: ddg1_tower, ddg2_gristmill, and ddg3_bluff. in this format, game length is varied

    enough that you're not pushing 90 minutes every time you play a match, but there is the potential to cover as much ground as an entire

    five map campaign.

    download the campaign from drop-dead-gorges.net.

    visit the ddg moddb page for more information, video, and screenshots.

    join the ddg steam group so that, given enough activity, you can easily access linked servers through the lobby system.

    i look forward to making the best of these upcoming versions through feedback and bug reporting. enjoy!

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    unending thanks to all the [cC] guys who have poured an excessive amount of time into testing this.