Swamp

[BubkeZ]

4 hours ago, Roald said:

 

OMG the theme song!

[Ethan Westera]

Hi untor and bubkez,

Love the map and the layout! I've been playing a lot of 1v1s and deathmatch on it and it seems pretty balanced and great fun to play. The art and custom models are fantastic and I'd say this map is in the top 4, if not the best, of the competition.

I did find a bug though - the farthest window on B fades out too early, meaning that you can't see it from the back of water:

Also, I don't know if this is intentional but grenades bounce weirdly off of the square paving stones on the floor next to B Main. It would make nades a lot more consistent if they were flattened.

 

Keep up the good work and I hope to see this on Faceit!

Edited February 16, 2020 by Ethan Westera

[zombi]

Hey, I have played 2 matches already. Layout seems cool but maybe too hard without grenades? For me water is more annoying than fun and cool future. Maybe think about removing it or reducing areas with water? Also visibility is pretty bad on this map with all this green CT skins. Finally I think CT need some cover on outside A, something like tree or plank of wood. TT needs just 1-2 flashes to dominate this area (if they find a green opponent in a green area which is really hard and annoying). I like the map and wish you all the best.

 

[Brakuren]

Found some bugs on the map. This map as an amazing soundscape and the alligator textures are so good!

 

[Brakuren]

Warowl played the map on stream here is a link:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/554571591?t=01h23m32s

[JorisCeoen]

If you've played Left4Dead2 then obviously this brings back great memories of the Swamp level  there's no denying that it has inspired the artwork to some extent, but it's even more impressive that you were able to find the right assets to combine with the theme, edit them, and apply them in the map so it elevates the overall feel and detail even more than it did back when L4D2 was released. I personally think this entry has the most impressive detailwork to bring the level alive. The small grass, rocks and blend textures all fit into one complete picture that feels realistic and comfortable. The water foliage in particular is amazing, and I'm surprised at the readability and clarity the map has, given its amount of flora.

However, it's sad that the map suffers heavily from performance. I'm running a 1050ti and I would be able to comfortably play Anubis or Mustang (and many other entries in the top-10) without problems. Even Cache ran a lot better than Swamp, and that map also has a ton of foliage and swaying. It's a huge bummer, because it drops below 50fps in many places. It's important to hold performance in high regards, because while CS:GO does go with hardware improvements over time, it remains a fact that many people run on a budget when playing Counter-Strike and think of performance as one of the most important factors when choosing to queue in MM or play on dedicated servers.

Therefore I think the most crucial working point for this map is to improve the performance. I could literally not even suggest ONE thing to improve the visual quality at this point, so I think you're safe to go all-in to improve the FPS. I'm not sure what exactly FMpone did to improve Cache over time, but one thing he certainly did was limit the amount of foliage props and replace it for blendtextures or something else, to reduce the overall polycount and drawcalls. Or, combine props to reduce drawcalls. Or reduce the amount of shaders that are being used in one space.

The one and only tiny suggestion that I can think of (visually), is that the text on the crocodile warning signs feels out-of-place. I don't think any realistic warning sign would say something like 'if you wanna be food then please go into the water'  keep it in tie with the realism of the visuals. Also, while inventive and fun to experiment with, I'm just not a fan of the slowing down in the water thing. It's hindering flow (obviously the point, but still), and just makes me not wanna enter the water, ever. It basically seals a part of the map that could otherwise be used for good fun. It also makes no sense that the water in Swamp would slow you down, but not in Canals... I guess it's something to think about.

As it stands now, though, Swamp would be a deserved third place, almost solely due to the performance issues it is currently facing. Still, it holds up entirely on its own in all the other categories, and I don't see Swamp going anywhere else but the top-3.

Congratulations, and good luck crancking up those frames !

[untor]

The second deadline is drawing near. And it's time to tell you about what we did, and what we failed to do.

What have we done:
- A community work was done with the community, a lot of demo records and streams were watched.
-Improved overall visual quality.
-Improved performance.
-Improved balance and perception.

What we will do:
- Performance.
At the time of building the basic geometry, we noticed that open spaces are detrimental to performance. We wanted to preserve the unique layout and unique gameplay tools and do everything to make the map work better. What now does not allow to make optimization better. In fact, the game engine itself. We have a bug in which the Areaportal lowered into the water does not work correctly. Namely, at the moment of passing through it, the sound of immersion in water is made and it seems that the character is floating. Thus, we cannot cut off part of the geometry on the T side from the bombsite A. Because all cutline placed inside the water.

What tools are now helping the map work.
We use tradition optimization tools (hint/skip; areaportals; skyboxes) and newer system of auto-combination of static props. This reduced the number of draw calls. We used simple materials and more props used similar material.

Spoiler

Quote

Completed static prop combine.
24 clusters of group "sawmill_corrugated_metal_sheet",    average 7.5 models
20 clusters of group "waterplant_overlay_b",    average 6.6 models
12 clusters of group "swamp_ivys",    average 14.1 models
27 clusters of group "waterplant_overlay",    average 8.2 models
4 clusters of group "metal_roof_cap_edge",    average 4.5 models
2 clusters of group "swamp_waterplant01",    average 6.0 models
1 clusters of group "swamp_shrubwall01",    average 6.0 models
1 clusters of group "woodplank_palette",    average 4.0 models
21 clusters of group "woodplank_road",    average 5.0 models
10 clusters of group "metal_railing_mill",    average 8.8 models
54 clusters of group "wallframe",    average 6.2 models
Props combined away: 1095
Cluster models built: 176

 

We are still working on productivity and really hope that we will succeed. But now we have quite good results in comparison with the first release.
At the moment, the performance of the map at a low graphics setting is not much different from other maps, with the exception of special cases described earlier.
The map performance at high graphics settings gives a good visual elaboration, but also takes a little more system resources than other maps.


Thank you for understanding and support. With the community, we make the Swamp better.

[Interfearance]

I played this map a while ago and I forgot to say: clip the tree on B site. You can inch up both sides to a head peek like the box on A ramp dust 2.

[RadimaX]

On 2/18/2020 at 1:04 AM, Brakuren said:

 

The Molotov in the water is exactly as in Canals when you throw it, so it's not a waste of money half the time you buy them.

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by RadimaX

[untor]

3 hours ago, RadimaX said:

 

i think, that problem inside Source engine (not in the map)
 

[untor]

We will soon released a hotfix. Probably it makes no sense to write about the latest changes on the map. I will say one thing, they carried a polishing character.
I was lucky to work with Michael, because he understood of idea for a water and was able to help realize it, and in the future, protect our interests by explaining the idea to community. We had a great time these half a year, it was fun sleepless nights. Thanks to the organizers. Thanks to the community. Thanks Michael @BubkeZ Hull.

[dmu]

Поздравляю с выпуском карты в игру!

: D

Edited July 29, 2020 by DMU222

[Freaky_Banana]

I can't read the caption, but I will be damned if I let Hammer-ception go unliked!

Edited July 30, 2020 by Freaky_Banana

[dmu]

@Freaky_Banana there's a screen to the left with the mapcore swamp page c;

[untor]

Hi Mapcore! 

We are make Swamp update! 
What's new? 

Performance!

And new screens from map:

Spoiler