[L4D2] Search for Safety

[Drakeee]

http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=23478

six screenshots above, 20 here http://imgur.com/a/k2A8p

My first real campaign for L4D2 - I'm about 90% done on the first map. Been working on it for about 2 months when ever I get a chance. Been trying to get the lighting sorted, it's still far too bright for my liking. I've followed the ideal angles and brightness etc on the L4D2 skies page but its not coming out as dark as I'd hoped. Anyone any lighting ideas?

Anyway, any ideas or constructive crits I welcome!

Thanks for reading!

[FMPONE]

Hey there,

well some of the shots seem quite pleasant, they're not doing too much but they're also not making any bad mistakes. So I think you've got a lot to work with.

Some of the buildings are a bit geometric. I'd recommend trying to add more detail. You can start of course by looking at the maps that come with L4D2, as you can more or less copy these with the assets provided, that's the easiest learning method. I would recommend decompiling the official maps and, while not copy and pasting anything, trying to recreate the portions you feel are appropriate, and do your own spin on it for practice. As you get better at rendering details with brushes, you can work more on working off of photographic references or your imagination. But the flatness and simplicity of the buildings is the one thing that jumps out at me, that said, you're doing some nice things with the roads and the props.

As far as the roads go, they could be broken up and a bit more detail added there. Take a look at displacements and how they might aid your roads with some more detail and variety. Overall you've got a nice basic framework, now I would recommend really studying the official maps and trying to implement some ideas based off of that.

Edited February 13, 2013 by FMPONE

[Squad]

You can also find some nice tutorials about L4D/L4D2 on World Of Level Design.

Keep it up!

[Drakeee]

Looking for beta testers for the first map - add me on steam if you're interested: xlan

thanks!

[Drakeee]

It's up for download! First map

http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=23478

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=128290255

[SamCom]

Tried this out with bots in Normal difficulty.

I felt the pacing was a little off - the streets felt way too wide open - there were very few checkpoints that the specials could use to be effective. I could see almost all the threats before I ran into them. There wasn't really that tension of not knowing what's around the next corner.

It's more of a personal opinion thing, but I think a lot of the outdoor areas could be shortened, with more twists and turns, narrower streets - places for special infected to hide and take the player at least slightly by surprise. I'm not a Left 4 Dead expert, so take that with a grain of salt.

The Crescendo events fell flat. The outside sliding gate could use either a siren or just a really loud fence noise - there really wasn't any reason for it to attract the horde. Waiting for the elevator also felt odd. It opened right in the middle of the zombie wave.

It could use a little more detail everywhere. Decals, more trim pieces indoor, breaking up flat walls with more detail, more ambient sound effects.

Screenshot dump with notes below.

I was able to exit the map through here, just above the spawn, and end up on a dead end street I don't think I was supposed to be on.

This charger was just chilling behind the fence while we emptied a few mags into him. Maybe a nav mesh issue here?

The doorframe here needs prettying up.

Ah man, this is kind of a pet peeve. Obstacles that wouldn't really count as obstacles in real life. It looks like I could jump over them, but you have a clip brush blocking this area. I know this is probably a tricky area, since you've trying to keep the player out of upstairs while still letting zombies come from that direction, but there has to be a better solution. Something that looks like I couldn't actually get past, like a broken stairwell. Also, how did these boxes get in the stairwell?

Same issue here. Just needs a more formidable looking obstacle.

The tank battle ended up taking place here. The tank just kind of hung out here - he couldn't really get back into the cubicles to the side. Also, these posters are megahuge.

That hole looks pretty bad. I'd just break out the whole wall. Why is there a hole in the wall besides providing a path for the player? A balcony might work better here.

More impassable cardboard boxes, and some misaligned van glass.

This was the first ammo supply I found. I ran out of primary ammo even before the cubicles building. I might have missed one, but I think ammo's probably a little sparse.

This basement area was really sparse.

All together, I think you've done the hard part, you just have some tweaking and detailing and you'll have an awesome starting map for your campaign!

[Drakeee]

Man that is some comprehensive feedback! Thanks so much

I have about 3 pages of an a4 book just with bugs/suggestions/fixes already found - definitely have to add some more on now !

As regards the dead end street, yes I've forgotten to block it off, most people have mentioned that! Added to list!

I know there are a lot of nav issues, thats something I need to do quite a bit of work on I reckon! I'm mostly aiming this at versus too so maybe I'm missing the more obvious things from a campaign point of view (infected ladders, etc) - Added to list!

The boxes got into the stairwell as the office workers were trying to block themselves in upstairs? I dunno I'll have a revisit of this area

That is one heck of a spot for a tank battle :E How did it go? You said it basically couldnt get to you?

Hole in the wall, yes I think breaking out the whole wall would be a good idea, don't want such a massive margin for a charger out the wall to downstairs though.. Will give it thought

The first ammo supply you found is indeed the first ammo supply. Will look into adding more shotgun ammo but I think uzi ammo is pretty ok so far. I kinda want the player to be close to running dry when they find a new ammo spawn.

Agree the basement area is really empty, I guess I neglected it in the rush to get something out and playable

Agree there needs a sound on the gate panic event, also a far longer wait for the elevator doors to open, these are on the list!

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply with screenshots and everything, really helps a lot!

[SamCom]

The tank battle was really easy - I just moved over into the cubicles and kept firing the pistol. The tank tried to get to me and failed, while the bots hung out in the door and gunned him down pretty quickly. That shot showing the hole in the wall is about where I camped out.

You're right on the ammo: the bots were using the Uzis and they were fine ammo wise, I was using the shotgun. I was also loitering a little longer than I usually would since I was trying to check everything out, so that might have been a factor in running out as well.

Good point on not wanting the Charger to have a wall to take people out of, didn't think of that.