Posts by Tomato

It's a long time since I posted an update. Truth to be told, it was a long time that I did some updates in Hammer as well. But finally I pushed the current version of the map to the workshop as I feel that this version can be playtested again. As the previous list of remarks was still kinda big, I went over several parts of the map and redid them. Some of these changes are:

• I removed the connector from Long A to Upstream and added another one closer to T Spawn. This new connector is still something that I'm doubting about. And I can definetly use some feedback on this.
• Completely changed the path from CT Spawn to bombsite A ('Curl')
• Elongated the lower path on A Long. This way the T's can decide if they pick a long distance or a close quarter fight, as an attempt to make A Long less bland.
• Redid the layout of Mid. People where complaining about a boring mid. I added more height differences so it is not to long side line sniper lane it used to be. Both teams need to come forward and expose themself more if they want info/control over mid. Because I removed the connector from A Long, T's will now have to use mid to use the alternative way to reach bombsite A.
• Removed the 90 degrees corners from 'downstream'
• Lowered the main entryway for T's to enter bombsite B. This way they are less exposed to camping CT's when entering and could potentially setup a smoke or flash from closerby.

I include an updated minimap with some callouts as reference.

Spoiler

Let's hear your thoughts and ideas.

Yesterday there was the second playtest for the map and I gathered the following feedback:

• Mid is not working: There seems a lot off with my mid area. People felt that it was boring to play, not balanced. T's did not have any purpose to attack it, other than rotation advantage later in the game. It was missing cover, height differences, etc. All in all, mid has to change. It needs to be more important for both teams to engage here. And above all it needs to be more fun to play in mid.
• Headshot angles: All around the map there are several positions where a player can sit behind some cover and only his head is exposed to the enemy. This makes it hard to kill this player in these spots, while he/she has a good covered position to play from. This is basically due to a lot of angled floors behind cover. That way there is always some position that has this flaw.
• Height difference on bomb spots: Something that I heard on the first playtest as well. The map has a lot of height difference over all, but the bombspots itself are basically flat.
• More areas and less corridoors
• A long feels boring: Personally this is a though one. It is a path to connect T spawn to A site. Which is necessary of course. I feel that there won't be many contacts between teams on this part of the map, so it is quite barebones. But anyway, I'll have to think about ways to make it more interesting if there is contact.
• Less steep floors: The height difference is maybe too big at some points in the map. People had to look up and down (personally I like this, as it is missing in a lot of other maps). But it could be more subtle. Maybe more open spaces could change the feeling about this.
• Walls: A wall on A site was too thin (weapons clipped through) and a wall in 'Upstream' is too wide.
• Clipping issues ?

In general, I had the feeling that the map improved based on the first playtest. People were positive. The huge complaint from last time, that the map was too narrow, was never mentioned. So that is a plus. I also saw lot of contact on the places that I had in mind, saw more utility used (I opened up more areas to throw nades) and the match ended 5 - 5 ? Now it is time to go back to the drawing board and improve upon the map once again. Whenever someone has more feedback, please let me now.

Hello, Yesterday I was part of the playtest on your map. A lot of feedback was already given by players/mappers far more experienced then me, though I just want to post my screens that I took yesterday and maybe add some thought.

Spoiler First of all, these two sidelines. These are two small, long sights that could you give info or potentially an angle to kill. I don't know if they are intended, but as I personally dislike these small long sights, I wanted to show them. Maybe the are intended, maybe just an oversight. You decide.

Spoiler Next two headshot angles. I guess someone already pointed the one with the container out during the playtest, But I also had this other one, just above the bench (partially behind the fallen train) on A site. These are nasty spots to kill.

Spoiler And lastly, something minor at this stage of the map making. A gap in the wall where you could spot through.

Don't be afraid to experiment. I've seen throughout the topic, that the layout already changed a lot from the first couple of iterations. Just keep what is good and gamble on what is bad. Personally, I liked the look and feel of A site. And with the feedback i heard yesterday, with some tweaking it could be a very good bombsite.

Good luck with the mapping!

I would say, good job with the rocks. I like how they look.

After some work, I've finally came up with a new version of my map. I took the feedback from the playtest and started reworking each part of the map. For the most part I stretched the map in both directions, giving me some wiggle room for improvements.

In general these are the changes:

• I widedend almost every path on the map. This was the most common thing mentioned in the playtest. First I was not really sure about this, but after some small changes here and there, I saw that I could keep my original idea, but with more space for the player everywhere. I'm glad I did this, the map feels (at least to me) still the same, though there is more playable area to manouver as a player.
• I added a lower part in front of CT spawn. CT's seemed to have almost no options to contest mid. There were two similar pathways which I removed and opened up. Now CT's have more options and everything is open for utility from CT spawn towards mid.
• T's going towards bombsite B had a difficult choice at a T junction. Which side to check first. By changing the heights of both sides, I tried making 1 side the more safe side by forcing defending CT's out into the open to check the other side for pushing T's.
• I reworked T spawn and Long A. This gives me options to play with timings towards bombsite A
• Added more verticality accross the map.
• Added a platform on bombsite A
• Removed several 90 degree corners and replaced them with more fluent paths. This mixes up some sightlines and potential distances to fight over.
• A lot of minor changes

Spoiler

I added the new radar here for reference. Now I'll be trying to get feedback on this new iteration.

So please don't hold back and shoot!

So, yesterday I had my first playday for this map and this was the feedback I got:

[*] Tight!!! I heard this word several times during the playtest. It seems that a lot of players found several corridors to narrow. As the map was supposed to feel tight and claustrophobic, I guess I could have expected this. Though there is a difference in “feeling” tight and actually being tight, where it is not comfortable to play. In the feedback round afterwards, I got some more feedback around this topic, as the sharp corners and the possibility to maneuver enforces the tight feeling. So in the end, I suppose the map has indeed too much narrow corridors. One point to work on, widen the corridors, but keep the feeling of it being tight. Give a player the possibility to dodge incoming bullets. Play around smokes/Molotov’s. Spoiler

[*] CT mid equals death Whenever CT’s rush mid in the beginning of the round, they ended up dead. The positions where they end up is too easy to be blocked by sniping terrorists from the opposing side of mid. Suggestions were, adding cover, changing the entrance and removing the extra path (right side on overview). Additionally, the position on T side in pit seems very overpowered as it only shows the enemy’s head. Spoiler

[*] T-junction alert Terrorists attacking B were suffering from indecision as if they had to turn left or right. When they push a CT could be on either side and in worse case on both. This makes it hard to successfully push through this chokepoint. In order to make this more balanced the T junction has to be changed. Opening up opportunities for nades, maybe change the cover when checking left/right etc. [/list] Next to these points there were a lot of other things/flaws/ideas pointed out, that I’ll briefly write down here:

• Path from Mid to A site (upstream) could be removed
• There are awkward head angles from upstream into Short A Spoiler
  
• There is a ledge in Upstream that providers very strange angles when someone gets up there Spoiler
  
• The plank between pillars on A site should not show feet beneath it Spoiler
  
• Diversify the bomb sites. Maybe open up A site
• Add more height variation on the bomb sites/entrances itself (not only over the complete map)
• On CT spawn, when walking to B, CT’s have to turn around first
• Try to add different encounter distances (not only far and close)
• Less 90-degree corners (river and alleys)
• Open up for utility
• Simplify

I'll add the overview here again for reference.

Spoiler

Thanks everyone for being in the playtest and providing feedback. Time to get to the drawing board.

de_samba

This is a map I'm working on from time to time. I lost it once, retrieved it and builded version upon version until now. It is supposed to be a bomb defusal map set in a favela-like environment. At least that is the plan. For know it is still a grey boxed version where I'm trying to perfect the layout.

Layout:

As you can see, I went for a traditional layout. But I tried to mix CQC and long range fights in several locations. I started with the idea of verticality, as the complete left side of the map is on higher ground than the right side.

Spoiler

Screenshots: Some visuals of the current state of the map:

Spoiler [Blocked Image: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/7897527314…94C416AC684AAB/]

[Blocked Image: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/7897527314…C78F47A20666F4/]

[Blocked Image: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/7897527314…BD8D175ED35C86/]

Workshop link:https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…s/?id=659931332

Feedback: I'm currently looking for feedback on the layout, as I would like to find a final version, before try detailing. Showing the map and getting feedback would also be a way to give me the necessary motivation to at least finish what I started Post your thoughts here or hit me up on the Mapcore discord.

Quote from spence

On 14-5-2016 at 2:27 PM, spence said: Tried it out and it works fine here:

Spoiler [Blocked Image: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/406357/brick_bump.jpg]

Make sure all of the files are in the correct folder I guess? I'm not sure what else could be going wrong.

Well that's strange.

Is there a certain argument i have to call when compiling the map?

And about the "right folder" they are all in the same folder ".../csgo/materials/custom/de_samba" could that be a problem?

BTW thanks for testing

Quote from spence

On 11-5-2016 at 5:22 PM, spence said: DXT should be ok if you don't mind some compression artifacts. Maybe post the files so one of us can have a look, if you're still having trouble. Nothing looks out of place in the VMT.

Here you go.

Google Drive Link (VMT and the two VTF files)

Thanks for having a look.

This looks awesome, gonna try this out.

So if the name doesn't matter and the VMT seems correct to me, what's the problem those maps don't show up ingame?

Does it need to be in a certain format? I noticed that Valve mentioned something about BGR8888 format but DXT1 should be okay to in the newer versions (under Conversion > vtfEdit)

Quote from taz-ed

8 hours ago, taz-ed said: this line "$bumpmap" "custom/de_samba/broken_brick_plaster_bottom_bump" should be _normal not _bump

Does the name really matter?

The file is a normal map (created with CrazyBump) and i saw many tutorials where everyone used a different _name at the end.

But I will try and let you know.

Quote from tomm

12 hours ago, tomm said: Check your in-game console, it might be yelling at you to build cubemaps for the bump to show up.

Nothing strange in the console, just some normal errors of things about bots and GUI elements of the main menu and something about the chickens.

and then this:

No pure server whitelist. sv_pure = 0 PutClientInServer: no info_player_start on level ๖ۜTom@to | ße | connected. Ethan connected. Orin connected. Adam connected. Greg connected. Nate connected. Colin connected. Wyatt connected. Josh connected. Martin connected. ] sv_cheats 1 ] noclip noclip ON ] noclip noclip OFF ] mat_normalmaps 1

Which looks all normal whenever I start the map

Edit: I didn't thought building cubemaps was necessary for bumpmaps. NEver saw that in one of the tutorials. Or is it changed for GO?

Maybe I should create a new thread, but this one should actually fit.

I'm having some trouble seeing bumpmaps in csgo. I've followed tutorials on the net (like TophatWaffle's one) and carefully traced the different steps.

-Create vtf of base texture

-Create normalmap and make vtf aswell (checking the flag "normal map")

-Creating a .vmt with the following:

"LightmappedGeneric" { "$basetexture" "custom/de_samba/broken_brick_plaster_bottom" "$bumpmap" "custom/de_samba/broken_brick_plaster_bottom_bump" "$surfaceprop" "Brick" "$surfaceprop2" "Default" }

Then I applied the texture to a brush in Hammer and compiled the whole map (is a full compile necessary?)

When I go in the game and look at the texture, I see no difference at all. When I check with " mat_normalmaps 1", I see no blue textures or whatever.

Can someone help me with my problem?

Thanks in advance.

Quote from Quotingmc

On 26-3-2016 at 8:45 PM, Quotingmc said: Are the highlights of red not enough? I may try add a second highlight colour but I fear it may be overwhelming.

I haven't really messed around with the lighting, will look at doing so.

I have collected over 40 images of nuke as reference (mentioned in an earlier post). I may try incorporate some of the style choices of nuke such as the bands of colour into my map.

Edit: Album - http://imgur.com/a/hEwkY

Is it really too clean? Nuke has little to no weathering and looks great. I don't want to turn it into you average dirty warehouse map.

Thanks guys for the feedback. These are the kind of discussions that will really benefit the map.

Display More

Well some extra highlights or some textures that break up the pattern would be cool.

But on the other side I like clean buildings and estethics we can mess up with blood spatter all over it.

Definitely gonna try the new version out.

Quote from Vaya

Any idea why valve is moving toward model-heavy maps? pretty much all the detailing seems to be model based - no where near as many decals etc as normal. Things that were handled by decals in train_hr like no smoking signs etc have been made into models for hr_nuke

So the wall sockets are really models then on newke?
One of the things that i noticed immediatly ( woow 3d wamll sockets )

Quote from El_Exodus

I knew it :twisted:

Now the question is: Remake like Nuke or new map like Overpass? I guess we'll see some time in the future.

Edit: I'm calling Dust 2.

I hope new map like overpass
Or maybe one of the community maps to official map ( i rly like santorini )

Besides that, I think they'll first need to overview the changes in Nuke cause i feel like CT's are lost for the moment and every play ends up easy win for the T's
(my tactic for now: striaght on vent dive and sneaky peaky backstabbing, works 99% of the time)

Quote from Vaya

my problem with this is now ANY T team can roll right over yard like a tidal wave. What does a CT hold when the terrorists can come from like 2-3 different levels? The map may well go from super CT sided to super T sided.

As in most of my competitive matches on old nuke, we only spotted on outside, never trying that hard to hold it.
Me and my teammates mostly fighted around A site and B site with the given knowledge if T's were pushing through secret or just going A mini.

Still I think a good CT smoke could stop a T rush on yard. The only thing now is that the CT covering yard still has to cover Silo much more now.

But the most important thing I hope for, is that , in casual play, T's stop camping on the lobby roof, cause that was boring as hell.

Then i also feel the new Secret stairs are a bit too narrow.

And last but not least the open and closing of the vents is a nice gimmick and could lead to interesting gameplay i guess.

You now have "de_nuke_radar" and "de_nuke_lower_radar"

http://imgur.com/a/yJf9n

(still i don't know why they have the CT and T-sign on the radar, I thought that popped up during the loading screen if you set your loading screen icon coordinates right)