Commented 1 year ago2022-07-06 22:16:24 UTC
in vault item: shantyComment #104617
Just finished the final (?) version, I enjoyed it. Here's some feedback:
There are no ambient sounds anywhere. Some distant machine groans or humming sounds near vending machines etc. would make your maps feel much livelier.
shanty2 has a misaligned shotgun that clips through the box its standing on.
shanty4 is too gray and has way too many empty rooms, not even crates are there to fill up space this time. At the start of the map you created two paths, one goes to the right and one to the left. The path on the left leads to a small room that has only a single headcrab and nothing else, made me wonder why it was even created to begin with.
The ending is pretty lacking, if you're going to finish up a mod / mappack but don't want to do something extraordinary you can always throw in a boss. Since we're on topside, a helicopter battle would suffice for example. Instead of a text saying "lazy ending" make the player arrive to a helipad, make them fight with some soldiers and finally a helicopter or a tank they call up. Once the boss is killed make it trigger a fade, give it an ending text or simply a "The End" and make it spit player out to the main menu. As is, we can see that there is nothing behind the door the player opens up after the fade disappears.
You map fast and clearly have skill. If I were you, I would re-visit the already finished maps and give them more details (or even connect a couple of them as one) and add interesting scripted sequences, create a couple more topside maps and end it properly with a nice setpiece or a boss. This Shanty of yours can be a well made medium sized mappack with 10+ maps (4 storage - 3 offices - 3 topside maps for example) if you commit to it.
As is I still enjoyed it, but there are definitely aspects that can be improved.
Man, I've not touched Overgrowth in ages. I think I enjoyed the development videos more than the final product, but it felt only fair to throw some money their way.
This comment was made on an article that has been deleted.
Commented 2 years ago2022-07-01 23:03:01 UTC
in journal: hee hee hee hawComment #104600
Jamie, your maps look pretty good to me. It's hard to give meaningful feedback on a multi-player map before you have played it with other people though. If you host a game some day, announce it to @Multiplayer Crew on TWHL's Discord - it will ping anyone who has given themselves the Multiplayer Crew role and wants to know when there's a game. I always join a game if I'm home and not too busy. PS. "Initiative" is misspelled in your map's name
You can just make a func_breakable, on flags set Touch, Pressure and instant crowbar, set its health to 1, material to rocks or whatever you are using and explosion
Commented 2 years ago2022-06-30 14:09:14 UTC
in vault item: shantyComment #104596
I'd say you've got a very solid couple of maps here. My only critiques would be nit-picking really. The one or two large sealed doors that I guess would be the means of getting stuff in and out of the area are just flat surfaces, flush with the wall. I would personally build them as though they were going to open, even if they're not going to. Just inset them a little or build a supporting frame around them.
At first I was concerned that there were node graph files included with the map, and upon loading into the map I couldn't see any node paths. However, I see that these are indeed included and just limited to the combat areas. While this prevents grunts from pursuing you if you leave the area, this is actually a really clever way of preventing the player from leading the grunts into a single file death trap. Nice work there.
Otherwise, I'd have to agree with what PsyWarVet has said already: It's very heavy on the crates. It'd be great to see some alternate forms of cover in there. Maybe a couple of military trucks to explain their presence as well as a forklift or two. The original maps in WHG featured some overhead cranes and pulleys as well.
Like I said previously though, two VERY solid maps and they absolutely hit the nail on the head in terms of that classic Half-Life design. Hope to see more from you in the future.
Commented 2 years ago2022-06-27 22:39:11 UTC
in vault item: Civ_Garage_bm_ver2006Comment #104591
Oh, also another thing. Dont expect people always commenting in your submissions. I also joined here to post stuff so i could forget my problems a bit you know, leaving behind some bad stuff i have going on. But honestly, people will not comment on your submissions unless it says "First map" or its from a very well known mapper, wich sucks because it kinda made me sad. There are a lot of accounts that only have one submission without comments or reviews because of this. Thats why i always try to comment or review the vault submissions that dont got comments or reviews. Because i know how that feels.
Commented 2 years ago2022-06-27 20:42:42 UTC
in vault item: Op4 Alert LightComment #104588
It's been a while, so I took the liberty of fixing the .bsp and .map using a hex editor. decals2.wad is no longer required. I hope that's alright. If not, I left backups of the unmodified originals in a subfolder in the download.
Commented 2 years ago2022-06-27 19:54:35 UTC
in vault item: narcosynthesis_test4Comment #104587
Because gearbox.wad and overturn_ads.wad are nowhere to be found, I have replaced the .bsp in the download with a modified version that can be played without them. I left a backup of the original .bsp. It took a few seconds with a hex editor (you replace "valve\gearbox.wad with "valv\halflife.wad" etc. - the folder names don't matter). The map never used any textures from those WADs.
It was kinda goofy, kinda silly. But I liked it. Wish there was perhaps just a little bit more light in some spots (although this could just be my monitor) but otherwise it was pretty enjoyable going to little unique sections. I also hate that the little picture popup actually got me.
Commented 2 years ago2022-06-26 19:17:50 UTC
in vault item: shantyComment #104583
I like it very much, nice old school mapping.
The only thing I'll say is that you rely boxes as decoration way too much. Not really a problem, this is something I also do from time to time. Boxes are simple to create and lay down, they can also easily make an empty area look busy. Though some areas could use pipes, vents, conveyor belts and other fitting objects to make your maps look more complex and unique.
Not a bad little detail map, though there's not really a lot to do in it. The light beams coming in through the windows and door look terrible, but the ones coming out of the vent (for some reason) look much better, even if they make no logical sense. Also, some of the props like the coffee mugs and coffee machine are hilariously wrong. I'm not saying I wouldn't appreciate a coffee mug bigger than my head, but still...
So overall, some pretty nice props and a lot of cool details, though some are a little overkill and wouldn't be ideal for a traditional singleplayer map.
Missed a func_detail here I think... Yikes, the carving...
Here's some feedback:
You map fast and clearly have skill. If I were you, I would re-visit the already finished maps and give them more details (or even connect a couple of them as one) and add interesting scripted sequences, create a couple more topside maps and end it properly with a nice setpiece or a boss. This Shanty of yours can be a well made medium sized mappack with 10+ maps (4 storage - 3 offices - 3 topside maps for example) if you commit to it.
As is I still enjoyed it, but there are definitely aspects that can be improved.
At first I was concerned that there were node graph files included with the map, and upon loading into the map I couldn't see any node paths. However, I see that these are indeed included and just limited to the combat areas. While this prevents grunts from pursuing you if you leave the area, this is actually a really clever way of preventing the player from leading the grunts into a single file death trap. Nice work there.
Otherwise, I'd have to agree with what PsyWarVet has said already: It's very heavy on the crates. It'd be great to see some alternate forms of cover in there. Maybe a couple of military trucks to explain their presence as well as a forklift or two. The original maps in WHG featured some overhead cranes and pulleys as well.
Like I said previously though, two VERY solid maps and they absolutely hit the nail on the head in terms of that classic Half-Life design. Hope to see more from you in the future.
https://vimeo.com/724930277
Texturing — 10
Ambience — 10
Lighting — 5
Gameplay — 10
The only thing I'll say is that you rely boxes as decoration way too much. Not really a problem, this is something I also do from time to time. Boxes are simple to create and lay down, they can also easily make an empty area look busy. Though some areas could use pipes, vents, conveyor belts and other fitting objects to make your maps look more complex and unique.
Hope you continue friend.
Not a bad little detail map, though there's not really a lot to do in it. The light beams coming in through the windows and door look terrible, but the ones coming out of the vent (for some reason) look much better, even if they make no logical sense. Also, some of the props like the coffee mugs and coffee machine are hilariously wrong. I'm not saying I wouldn't appreciate a coffee mug bigger than my head, but still...
So overall, some pretty nice props and a lot of cool details, though some are a little overkill and wouldn't be ideal for a traditional singleplayer map.