Posts by SamCom

Quote from Puddy

Is the game still retardedly easy?

Dunno - it does seem that random disasters are back, which might add a little challenge - I got a tornado, and I heard of a zombie invasion. I think filling out a city with low density buildings is pretty easy, but that's always been pretty easy in the series. That's kind of been the secret - expand while completely neglecting social services until you have a large enough tax base to do whatever the hell you want. I remember my cities always ran out of money when I started playing SimCity 4, but then I realized that people would keep moving in as long as there were jobs, no matter what a hell hole it was. Public services are more of an option. And in the game!

I think the fun will be more roaming around the city and just watching the little sims live their lives, something that's never really been there in the previous installments, and the challenge from specializing the city.

Finally got in after a few hours of off and on trying. Pretty much exactly the same as the last beta - no new content unlocked, and only very small changes. I do think the server issues are going to bite them in the ass. I don't mind having to connect, the problem is when it doesn't let me connect. But they already have my money, so the joke's on me, I guess.

Ugh, been staring unproductively at this for far too long. Keep jumping in to Hammer and moving brushes back and forth and not getting much work done.

It's supposed to be a sequel for Station 51. I have most of the encounters scripted in, but there are some pretty big dead spots and areas I don't know what to do with.

Here, have an unlit, dev textured screenshot.

[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/G3AyxjA.jpg]

Anyone feel like playtesting an unfinished map?

If so: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/19779737/station51part2alpha.bsp

Copy that bad boy into your half-life 2 episode twoep2maps folder, then 'map station51part2alpha' in the console.

Very much unfinished, but thoughts on it appreciated. Hopefully there's enough there to look at.

Man, I'm pumped about this! I remember playing the demo off a PC Gamer magazine disk. That trailer music brings back some memories.

And I didn't know the studio did Overlord as well.

I'm still figuring out the density thing - it seems the more demand for something, or the better a business is doing, then it upgrades to the next density? It's a little unclear. But not any less clear than when a building would decide to upgrade densities in SimCity 4, which was based on region populations or something along those lines. I don't really miss pipes or power lines - you're still paying maintenance on that faraway road, if that's your choice.

I love the level of simulation they introduced. Something that always bothered me from the old games was how things felt faked - after hours of play, you recognize that those cars driving around aren't going anywhere. But in this one, it's feels alive - it's fun to just cruise around the city and see what's happening - see a trash truck, and know that it's actually going to pick up those trash cans on the side of the road. You can follow an ambulance to its destination, see the medics walk the injured sim out. If you see it, it has a purpose. That's something I've always missed from the other games, and it adds so much. I wanted more time just to explore the city I created, I feel like I could just watch it go.

There are certainly some kinks to work out - road placements and intersections can be wonky, but that's because of the huge amount of flexibility they've added to it. Also, the city size they start you with is pretty small, I'm hoping it's much larger in the final game. But I think smaller cities is a fair trade off for the amount of detail and simulation they're adding.

The Origin connection isn't too bad, I'm already used to it for BF3. I do worry it won't have the same longevity as SimCity 4 - hell, SC4 came out almost exactly ten years ago, and I can still boot it up, mod it, whatever. I'm afraid that won't be the case for this one.

I was getting that error almost constantly, was finally able to actually register late last night. Not sure if the traffic's really that crazy, or their servers aren't up to it or what.

This actually sounds really cool - although they've done a terrible job promoting it. Everything I've seen up until this week makes it look like a heavily scripted Uncharted clone, with little to no open world stuff, which is apparently the opposite of what it is. All that emphasis on story stuff earlier really threw me off.

I'll second the congrats on finishing it! Cool to see other people doing single player stuff.

I played through it, and put my thoughts below.

!Spoilers below, obv!

Finished in about 13 minutes.

The dropship clips with the mountains a few times as it enters. I know that's a pain to set up, but I think you have enough space to place the waypoints so that doesn't happen.

The objective displays were interesting, but I felt they were really obtrusive - they took up a lot of screen real estate, and didn't really tell me a whole lot. It kind of took me out of the game. I think ideally your job as the level designer is to naturally guide the player towards completing the objectives, without yelling in their face. The objectives were simple enough that I could figure them out without the messages, but there would need to be more visual hints in the level.

The steam pipes I have to shut off, for example: if I would have been able to follow the steam pipes back to the valves where I have to shut them off, that'd be a way of letting the player naturally find a solution to the puzzle.

Rebels as enemies are really hard - they're a ton more accurate than the usual Combine fodder, so I got torn up. It didn't help that there was very little full cover, especially in the steam room where the spawn on the walkway. The rebels also stood and spawned in really tight groups, there wasn't really a way to isolate and pick them off. Minor quibble: I heard "Combine!" shouted when no one should have been able to see me as I entered that steam room.

There was very little maneuvering to the combat: for example, the bridge crossing into the huge lava room. I have only one path forward, one option if I want to engage the enemy - no way to flank them, no alternate routes. Combat is just charging forward - not as interesting as it could be.

I also kind of expected the Combine I spawned with to do something, so I waited for them at the entrance for a while. Maybe have them spread out a bit more and look out, or maybe have them walk a patrol path, or have me cut off from them somehow. There wasn't a visible reason that they couldn't follow me in, and they certainly would have helped later.

I was completely lost on the final objective. I hit the button then had no idea where to go - I found the solution before the puzzle. First, the core door is well camouflaged off to the side - the player never directly faces it. Ideally, I would see it as soon as I enter the space, looming over me as the most obvious exit, then I'd search for a way to open it. It should be a focal point - it should have spots illuminating it, it should look like it has an opening mechanism. I didn't even have a clear sight line to the door when I pressed the button - there's a huge vertical beam in the way, and the crates cover it up.I didn't have any idea what pressing the button was doing. It really doesn't help that there's a pitch black fake wall there - it doesn't look like I could even go forward. There has to be something to draw me forward, some reason I want to enter - some crates, enemies, or at least a light. You want there to be some mystery, sure, but I have to be tantalized first - what's down that hall? What's just around the corner?

So instead of heading for the core door, I ran down the corridor the rebels spawned from: it was bright and well lit, and the rebels spawned there - both things drew me in that direction, until I hit the unopenable door. An easy change would be to have the rebels come out of the core door as it opens - I'm naturally drawn towards movement. Throughout the rest of the level, I've progressed through these same styles of doors - they've been the main way through the rest of the level, and the game's indirectly taught me that those will be the path forward.

The custom content was cool, I liked the hexagonal containers and the sweet door animations.

I think you're doing well. I'd work on making combat encounters with room and alternate paths for both the player and the enemy to maneuver, and using the environment to communicate to the player what they have to do and where they need to go. Looking forward to the next part!

Quote from Thrik

I don't.

Rockstar hates PC gamer money? Or is it the p-word?

Quote from Puddy

Really? Sucks...

I'd say we'll still get one, they just never announce it until later. Unless it's all Red Dead Redemption style, and then

Quote from Sentura

also the name is silly, what the fuck is a warfighter. i miss the time where people who fought were called soldiers or maybe WARRIORS

It's a real term, although it does seem a little silly in this context.

Quote from Skjalg

BF3 is so tight. Is there a way to mod BF3 nowadays?

Nope. An old statement on why not, which breaks down to "it's too complex". Weren't the BF 2 and 1942 tools fan made?

Just finished a Normal Ironman playthrough, after multiple Classic Ironman disasters. Lots of fun!

They polished the finicky edges off the original, it feels so nice to make discrete moves as opposed to worrying about time units. Decisions are immediate and clear.

Also, snipers are gods in this with Squad Sight and Double Tap.

Quote

My sniper finished the last room of the last mission with two critical shots, before that Uber Ethereal could even move.

Thanks, Puddy! I think you're right on OWC_Overwatch, the visuals aren't really helping me there. I dropped that project. I'm thinking I might need to switch hosting and whip up a new site, but I'm not exactly a web designer, and I do like the drag and drop ease of Carbonmade. But I've heard multiple similar comments on the layout.

Hmm. Well, I sent off a half dozen applications two weeks ago, no responses yet. Is all my stuff being Source engine holding me back? Or is it just that I'm still not there yet quality wise? I know I'm competing with a bunch of professional level designers with the current job market, but I feel like I'm using that as a crutch.

I feel like employers are opening my portfolio, going "Ew, Source engine?" and just closing it. But I see a lot of TF2 maps in portfolios, maybe that's more acceptable than HL2 stuff? But I keep hearing developers want to see single player stuff. Maybe I'm just not presenting my work well.

I want to start working in a current generation engine, like the UDK or CryEngine 3, but I'm not sure I can get very far without art support or a wide variety of stock assets. And I'd really like to do single player, but I can't think of a recent Unreal engine single player game that comes with the editor. Is there an Unreal Engine 3 game with single player and access to UnrealEd?

You are right, it is all combat. I can see where you're coming from with that not being typical for Valve games, but the focus on combat was intentional. Hopefully I'll be able to include more puzzling/exploration in the second half. The whole concept started as the initial rooftop areas, with the rest added on as I went over the course of a couple months. Pacing is still something I'm learning as I go, and something I should be able to account for better in my next project. That's something that could be solved by taking more care to playtest with people new to the project earlier, something I'm seeing at my day job too.

I was afraid not finding the rocket launcher might be a problem, I was thinking a small shack might be a better place to put it, since the player would be seeking shelter, but I also wanted an observant player to be able to spot when they enter the area, but there probably isn't enough time for players to spot it. Something to note for next time, lesson learned.

That's a good point on the narrative, although 15 minutes seems a little short to develop that sort of relationship. I try to at least introduce the helicopter before the battle, by having it fly by the player at the start. But I could have done more. Certainly something I could focus on, actually telling a story through gameplay. I tried with the intro radio message, but I'm not sure how much of a story "Run, they're coming!" is. I've always liked audio diaries, notes and such spread throughout the level so the player can explore and get more of the story of the space, and I'm afraid I didn't do enough with the environmental storytelling. There are a few spots I'm proud of that I think really do tell the story of the space - a few rebel hideouts and hidden supply caches, but all together the story is there's an abandoned industrial area, which probably isn't all that compelling.

Thanks for giving it a play, Sentura. By critical asset do you mean the rocket ammo? I imagined that would be way too easy of a fight if I left the rockets in an easy to access place - I tried it with them on the ground and it was a short, anti-climatic fight, just stand next to the crate and shoot until the helicopter dies.

Where did you think an exit was in the helicopter battle? Was there a particular place you were drawn?

That's weird about the combat pacing, almost everyone else has said there was too much dead space. Was there a particular place where you felt like you were short on health, or a place where you really wanted a breather? The crates obviously in the player's path are there so you can recharge before the next battle, and there are a number scattered around the larger spaces to reward exploration.

Thanks Drakeee, I'll give the playthrough a look when I get back into town. Noted on the lack of enemies, I've been going through and improving it, that's definitely something I'm going to fix.

Thanks, guys!

PlanetPhillip just decided to close today out of the blue (!), and all my stuff's hosted on there. I hope Phillip figures things out.

But I also have it up on Snarkpit, so you can download it here: http://snarkpit.net/index.php?s=maps&map=3475

I've also been working on some improvements, I'm out of town until Wednesday and away from the computer, but I think I'll post the updated version. Made a lot of little changes to add a little more combat and tweak some areas. I haven't released that version yet, but it should be coming soon.

I made my own playthrough video with the improved version, which can be seen here.

Currently working on the second part (Station 52?), trying to figure out how to keep players from blowing through my content on an airboat. Looking like lots of gates and barriers.

I like the added info, but it'd probably be better to have the title of the project on the top left, then the details on the right. That way it works with the natural left to right reading flow.

Also, did you just hand code up some html for your site, or use something else? I like the layout, I'm thinking of switching mine from Carbonmade to something more like what you have set up.