Posts by Bugman

Thank you!!

Yes, you're correct, the lava texture has been stretched by a factor of 4 in the direction of flow and compressed 0.5 along the perpendicular to give the illusion of falling, and also to "speed up" the flow effect. The standard flow is too slow to believable for fluid in free fall. I'm finding in my next map that water works well like this, too, but even better if...

...create a waterfall by the method described for "lavafalls", but with the texture aspect ratio 6:0.5

...then add a trans33 face 1 unit in front of an opaque waterfall

...giving the trans33 face a different water texture than the main waterfall

...scale the trans33 texture up to 8 to 1

The result is fast-falling, shimmering water... or at least, relative to Q2's standard water.

I was playing bugdm10 on one of TastySpleen's servers yesterday and I saw a guy jump into one of the lavafalls quite deliberately, presumably looking for some goodies. So it gave me an idea for the waterfall in this next map. The map is not focused on this mini-secret, but it's something being worked into the overall design. I don't like maps that rely on a gimmick, but I think little things like the jump through waterfall, or the contraptions in the iD q2dm maps are very fun additions, so long as they are incorporated seemlessly, that is, that they fit the theme of the map, don't disrupt the flow, and make the map more fun to play.

Thanks for your feedback, and thank you for playing! I hope you enjoy it.

In response to the release of bugdm10, and my return to Q2 dm mapping after 12 years estranged, I'm re-releasing my previous eight dm maps, both individually and as a single zip file. Since it's been so long since the first eight came out (roughly 12 years since the last one), I thought the re-release would be appropriate. The earlier you go, you'll see the quality drop off. In bugdm2, for instance, the lip around the water in the basement is too high to allow the player to get out. Whoops. I thought about re-working the maps and then re-releasing, but that would be confusing with the other maps already out there and frankly, there are more exciting things to do than rework old ideas. Anyway, for nostalgia's sake, here they are:

Bugdm2 - 10 Single File

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Bugdm10 - Brooding. Seething.

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Bugdm9 - The Gruf

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Bugdm8 - Inner Thunder

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Bugdm7 - Isolation Therapy

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Bugdm6 - The Dent

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Bugdm5 - Desparation's Edge

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Bugdm4 - The Septic Tank

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Bugdm3 - One Man's Junk

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Bugdm2 - Bludgeon

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Thank you, both, for the positive feedback. There's just something about Q2 that appeals to me more than all the rest.

Yeah, those shots were taken in vanilla. Vanilla... sounds so strange to my old ears... never heard it called that back in the day...

Today marks my official return to mapping, after nearly twelve years "out of the ring." I had released eight Q2 dm maps back in the good ol' days, but my interest in mapping took a distant back seat to my interest in college life shortly after arriving there in the fall of '99. I left on a high note, getting PlanetQuake's "Level of the Week" honor for my last map (http://planetquake.gamespy.com/View.php ... ail&id=236), but that was the last I was to be heard of.

A few months ago I stumbled across some old .map files I'd been tinkering with back in the day, and I decided to see if I could give it a whirl again. Much to my amazement, I was still able to track down a lot of the resources and freeware I'd used way back then and with a little patience, I was able to get back into the swing of things. (Now, actually PLAYING Q2 dm... that took a little longer to get used to again!) Anyway, after far too many dead-end attempts at maps I came up with the idea for this map and was able to see it through to completion (FINALLY!).

So here it is. My first map in almost twelve years.

It's smallish, I think a little bigger than Q2DM3, and more vertical, and it's done in the id's "power" map textures, the black metal with rivets, and has some grating and lava, which is both for visual effect and as a hazard to players. Growing up in the Rust Belt of America has given me some encounters with dark and grimy heavy industrial facilities, and I think that's where some of my inspiration comes from. I wanted to bring that to Q2 without having a map that would seem like it was outside the Quake 2 universe. I like the world id created and I try to stay true to it while creating new environments within it.

The visuals are OK, but I was trying to focus more making the map fun to play. id's dm maps hooked my attention from the start, in that they aren't the most awe-inspiring maps to look at, but they are INCREDIBLY fun to play. I'm not saying this map ranks with theirs, but that my focus was more on making architecture that facilitates fast-paced, yet not chaotic, gameplay while also maintaining physical scaling that players are familiar with (128-unit wide halls, 1:2 rise to run for stairs, etc). I like forcing players to take risks for the more valuable items in a map, and I tried to do that without hindering the flow of the map. So, for instance, the SSG can easily be accessed from the upper or lower ledges and the trim on both sides of the lava falls can also be used as a stepping stone to the SSG, thus allowing fairly quick and easy access to the weapon though it is surrounded by lava, and a little clumsiness will cost you, like in Q2DM6 and 7.

Anyway, I could go on, but I'm tired and I just want to get this thing released so I can be done with it. Please hit me with all your feedback: positive, negative, whatever. I really want to hear it. Be blunt. Be honest.

Also, I'd love to play this map with real people, since it's just me and the Eraser bots these days. So if anyone wants to play, just reply here or shoot me an email.

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I don't think what I said was out of line with the main thrust of this thread, and that is that the "golden age" of mapping has past. I agree with that opinion, and I gave some specifics about why I think that way. I don't think I condemned today's mappers.

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. I think visuals are actually a very SMALL part of what makes a map unique and innovative. Some of the most enjoyable maps aren't all that visually stunning, yet they remain close to gamers' hearts throughout the years. Innovation is far more about having that little something that no one's thought of yet that makes your map fun to play and keeps people coming back. Innovation doesn't have to be radical (though it can be), it just has to be more new and unique than the next guy.

As I thought about this more over the weekend I realized that another aversion I have to fancy-pants, uber-realistic graphics is: the more realistic the graphics get, the more silly the fictional physics are. (Note that "good" and "realistic" are not synonomous.) Earlier FPS weren't as commonly going for realism, and so jumping off a 5-story building or getting a rocket in the face without even falling over didn't seem hard to believe... because you weren't supposed to believe it.

I am NOT saying ALL games are striving for realism these days, just that it seems to be more common than it was back in the GA. I think this is likely due to the technology now can strive for realism with greater success than could the technology of the GA.

Still, visual realism, in and of itself, doesn't really impress me. Maybe I'm just old and cynical, but to me, that sort of thing is just the inevitible advance of technology. What is NOT inevitible, on the other hand, is that games would be FUN. There are plenty of good looking games that aren't fun, and plenty of good looking maps for fun games that are themselves not very fun. It of course should be noted that visuals are not UNimportant, either.

In fact, maybe the right map is like the right girl. The hottest girl isn't necessarily the most fun to be with, and the it just might not work out with you and the super fun girl if she's not at least somewhat attractive.

Finally, "jeans" vs "genes"... I was really tired that night, and that's all I can say for myself on that one. I'm going to go and hang my head in shame now.

I completely agree that the golden age of mapping (and modding) has long since passed, and that much of it has to do with the advances in video game technology. I released a handful of Quake 2 deathmatch maps back in the 99-03 period, and for me so much of the drive to map was about trying to make Quake 2 express my imagination. When I look at games these days I often feel like there's not much left for the mapper/modder to do. Sure, there are new flavors of the game that can be produced, but so much of the appeal in mapping was in pushing the game into new areas and pioneering new ideas. I'm just not impressed with much of the amateur maps I see these days (no offense to anyone here). 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?

Also, I agree with the sentiments that it was a much simpler process back then, too. Brushes, textures, a few surface properties and a handful of simple entities, and you've got a map.

Anyway, thanks to my sense of nostalgia on this issue that I've been feeling lately, I've dusted off Quake 2 and have gotten back to the work of mapping. My first map in over ten years should be released within the next couple of weeks. Someone's got to carry the torch.

My brother is a writer but he still uses a typewriter. Maybe it's in our jeans.

So, I too long for the "good ol days", but I'll be doing what I can to keep the memories alive.