Setin

At about the 1 minute mark, you have to shoot a portal through a bunch of foliage to get into the next little area. I don't think that panel is highlighted well enough for players to get the subtle hint to use it to get up there. Ontop of that, it's not really common for players to be able to shoot and walk above a drop-tile ceiling like that in portal 2, so you might want to highlight it a bit more. (That all being said, I really love that idea)

 

At about the 2:30 mark, you shoot through the hole in the window towards the opposite wall. That looks like a pretty tight shot. Maybe consider opening up the shot a little bit to allow for wiggle room for players?

 

Also, as someone said making the time travel bits a little bit more interesting visually would be really cool.

 

Thanks! I hadn't thought about those. Fixing now.

Looks cool, it's a bit late to say that I know, but the pacing is really weird, it's like you have to open 20 doors, without really understanding what you do ...

There are a lot of doors, but part of it is just trying to keep going. A lot of Portal 2 is just figuring out how to keep going forward. Some doors are broken and you can't get through, others have barriers that prevent you from reaching them. Part of the puzzle is figuring out where to go.

I think you need to sell that time travel transition a lot better, especially if that's your main conceit here... apply screen overlay, add a quick screen fade, etc. right now it's just a straight-up teleport that almost looks like a bug with how sudden it is... I'm not saying to make it into a 60 second Final Fantasy summon sequence, but, you know, at least make it juicier.

Ya I'm still working on that. Trying to make it look nicer. I also changed it so where you actually come out of the teleporter facing the right direction, instead of the wall. I want to do like a screen shake, special sound, and some kind of overlay or post process effect.

Did a lighting and detail pass on my intro level. Finally figured out how to get the lighting to look good.

https://vimeo.com/90430395

Sounds great! Could always use some more art. 

Working on a series of Portal 2 levels involving time travel. These are images of the first level.

Just got back from GDC last night. It was awesome. Got to present my game Hymn of the Sands at the Intel University Showcase too. Talked to a lot of great people and got some good connections. Looking forward to doing it again next year.

I will be there! First time going.

Went through and did a lot more work, posted more content. Any feedback is appreciated!

http://www.counter-strike.net/operationphoenix/

 

Operation: Pheonix has begun! Congratulations to... everybody!!!!!

No new maps =( But congrats to those that got something in it!

What browser are you using? I just checked and it was working for me. I'm using chrome.

Just got finished doing a full pass on my portfolio and I am ready to present it. Any feedback is appreciated!

http://www.austinthouse.com/

I am not available for testing Tues/Thurs at these times anymore (new schedule for school). If possible, I'd like to test my map out on the 15th this week, same time.

Put my map down for Sunday.

Hey guys, we recently just finished our latest build of the game (our final version for school). 

New Trailer:

https://vimeo.com/82026981

Download and play at:

http://hymnofthesands.weebly.com/

Update ***12/15/13***

Hey guys, thank you everyone who came to the playtest today. I've got some new screens of the most recent version. After the playtest I realized that B site is now more popular (yay!) to go to. This may be because I have been neglecting A site visually though. B site also seemed to have too much cover, so I will be taking out some of the pillars in the back and getting rid of the cubby that I had added previously. On the visual side of things, I need to go in and add cubemaps for my windows now and go through all my textures and add some normal maps. I will also begin optimizing it a lot more now.

I have a few questions:

- Do you prefer the new or old B site? Why?

- Do you like the visual style?

- Was there any areas of the map you particularly liked/disliked?

- How was the readability of the map? (Did you have trouble seeing enemies ever?)

- Did the map run well? (Were you lagging at all?)

Thanks again for the playtest guys!

Overview:

T-Spawn:

Mid from CT side:

Redesigned B Site (look to overview for better view of layout change):

Redesigned T -> B path (again look at overview for best view of layout change):

Inner staircase at Mid:

CT entrance to Mid:

Beginning of T path to Mid and A site:

I have high hopes for these maps. Hopefully both of these will be viable for the competitive playlist. 

If there is a spot for Sunday to test, I'd like my map to be tossed in the ring again. Otherwise, next Tuesday will work.

Been awhile since I posted an update. I'm currently reworking the look of the map (haven't done many gameplay changes). Have been focusing on getting one area to look completely finished at the moment, so that I can better visualize the final look of the map and work towards that throughout the rest of it. 

Here is a preview of the new look of T-Spawn.

Here is the most recent layout overview:

At the top, CT path to Mid was changed to be a wall and split staircase so that they couldn't see down into mid. This also slows them down some at the start. 

In the middle, a staircase path was added to help with CT rotation. Because of this addition, the hallway that connected the back T sides together was taken out. This also has the added benefit of making T spawn more viable to enter again.

Comments/critiques/questions welcome!

Ya, I need a new name for the map. Any suggestions welcome. At the moment I feel like gameplay is almost there so I will mainly just be polishing the map and probably won't do a playtest for a bit. I could still use an artist to make a few props and touch up the textures I made if anyone is interested.

Thanks for the playtest and feedback guys!

I'd like to get my map in either this Thurs or Sunday, w/e works best for people for another playtest.

This is looking awesome Setin, can't wait to see it finished. Do you have any more play tests planned now you've made a few tweaks?

Ya I would like to get another playtest in. Either this Thursday or Sunday. Want to make sure the changes I made to B especially were more helpful than harmful.

Hey again guys, got another update for y'all. Did a basic lighting pass and some gameplay tweaks. I think I'm now at a spot where I could use some artistic help with the level. I know basic texturing and modeling, but it's nothing compared to what I've seen people here doing. The ultimate goal for this map would be to make it into an Operation, but Source doesn't have the necessary props/textures needed for this kind of setting and I am not capable of providing high enough quality assets. So I would like to ask if an artist would like to hop on board and help me make this map look stunning. 

More screens:

These changes were added to help CT's defend the site from the T's. The cubby gives CT players the ability to sit closer to the T entrance. The T-Stairs were pushed back slightly so they have to run in the open a little longer. The number of pillars in the back of the site were cut down and the corner part was made thicker so there was some more solid cover back there. The back-site area was pushed back slightly to adjust sightlines in that area.

These changes were added to make rotating through CT spawn easier, as well as making it so where CT's couldn't shoot from spawn to mid.

Fantastic work guys. This looks amazing. I love the higher levels of lighting in the area and that foliage hanging outside the windows.