Comments

Good Work. Finally.

"Kill this motherfucker, don't listen him. Internet would say if you're good or bad, not that faggot."

All I heard was: I'm 13 years old, I'm on the internet, therefore I can say things that are outrageous.

But yah, you need to start moving out of Goldsource (if you're still in it, I don't really follow your work). Go to source, if anything. Try other engines, too. Listen to Penguinboy.

neato!

I agree with Tetsu0

Quite sexiful.

I say, choose what you like doing best and focus on that area, but don't let that keep you from doing other things as well. I do have to agree though, your textures ARE phenomenal.

Great job, 5/5

"phenominal texture artist beyond the levels of professional".

Thats quite a nice thing to hear.

Kill this motherfucker, don't listen him. Internet would say if you're good or bad, not that faggot.

Video Review

Bottom line

CP_Goldfinger is a fairly average TF2 map packing fast-paced, action-packed combat into a very small area. However it doesn't bring anything new to the playing field and in terms of gameplay seems a little unbalanced especially for the support classes. As such seems a little flat and uninspired.

Video Review

Bottom line

Overall i suppose I do like it, but I'd only go further than that if it had some custom content and a larger playing field. Not bad at all.

Video Review

Bottom line

Overall, cp_goldfinger is a carefully built map that guarantees the authentic TF2 experience along with the adrenaline-filled, action-packed moments of fast fights.

Review

After finally getting my hands on Team Fortress 2 with the Orange Box somewhere in mid-December last year, it has quickly become my absolute favorite multiplayer timewaster, beating games like Counter-Strike and StarCraft. No wonder I was quite delighted to see cp_goldfinger, the community's first custom TF2 map hit our Map Vault, not to mention getting a chance to review it shortly afterwards.Gameplay-wise, goldfinger is a small, sometimes slightly cramped, fast-paced two-control point map where both points can be captured simoultaneously and are never locked. This gives way to some awesome and frantic gameplay, although it could have been executed better.One of the main problems I encountered was the absolute lack of vertical combat. Apart from 100% of the map being completely linear with the exception of a few props you can jump on and a few roof support beams in the train depot right near RED spawn, any positions you'd expect to be accessible via rocket/pipebomb/double-jumping are clipped away, making the aforementioned abilities used to gain a better shooting/ambush position perfectly useless in goldfinger. Another weird design choice was giving no more than 45 seconds of additional time when a point is captured. Of course, it's safe to assume points would end up being captured/re-captured a multitude of times in a map that small, however, the current amounts given are too small even with that in mind. Something between one an two minutes would work much better in my opinion. Also, due to the fact that setup time was barely long enough for you to reach the control points, it's very tough for engineers to set up their sentries/dispensers before before getting raped from all four directions. Same goes for medics when preparing ?bercharges.Issues aside, gameplay was fairly enjoyable. With the time it takes you to get to any of the chokepoints is never above 20 seconds, "fragfest" or "meat grinder on XTC" would be the best terms to describe how fast things get in goldfinger, making the map great fun when playing as classes relying more on firepower/agility, not tactical advantage. Unlike gameplay, visuals were really nothing special. Architecture had no direct flaws and was clean overall, not presenting anything too new or original. Thanks to scenery, all those small control points felt somewhat bigger and more open, which is a great achievement in a map as small as this. Detail props were also ample, making the environment much more realistic and believable. Inaccessible security booths with blood splattered all over them were a nice addition and gave the map at least some background story.My only complaints for architecture would be that huge pile of containers in control point 1, which looks weird even with TF2's cartoony style, and the truck in control point 2, looking out of place due to there being no roads/passages big enough for a vehicle to pass through in the area.Texturing was average as well. With a default TF2 industrial theme chosen, there was pretty much nothing making it stand out. Can't say anything negative about it, though it gets a bit redundant when 9/10 custom TF2 maps utilize the exact same array of textures. Some custom content would really work well here.Another passenger aboard SS Average, lighting, was adequate with nothing to make it stand out. Yellow and white lights kept the map bright enough for any crazed individuals to refrain from accusing the map of being too dark and thus blaming that for their poor performance. While not really bland, some reddish/greenish lights would've accompanied the theme right, as well as spiced things up.A bit beter than the others, ambience, was overall well-executed, yet still somewhat lacking. Excessive use of soundscapes gave every area a distinct sound and even without anything custom, worked pretty good in the map. However, it's the distinct sounds that were missing. I mean stuff to go with the things surrounding you, like a motor sound for the truck, a pneumatic hammer pounding on the processing line behind those factory walls in the distance, steam running through pipes, hell, maybe a crow or two passing over the control point. These sounds, even if mostly overwhelmed by intense gunfire, screams, taunts and explosions, are not something you should overlook. After all, when you've just slayed 6 opponents, are standing alone over that precious control point, enjoying a moment of peace and waiting for either your teammates or another ambush, it's pretty nice to find out that territory you're fighting over is much livelier than you've imagined.

Bottom line

If I were to describe this map in one sentence, I'd say it's like the iceworld of Team Fortress 2 minus custom textures, much better-looking, better-sounding and overall way more pleasant. So if it's a nice and simple fast-paced slaughterhouse you're looking for, give cp_goldfinger a try.

Honestly, I don't see what the big fuss is about. I've seen your maps, and the architecture is hardly appropriate for games these days anyway. If you expect to get a job as a level designer, you can't map for Goldsource. You need to be making levels in at least Source, but much more importantly Unreal Editor and sandbox editors. No person does levels, textures, models, sounds, etc. for a game. You need to specialise in one area. If you plan on level design, learn to use Unread Ed, proper prop placement in modern engines, advanced entities, and the like. If you want to specialise in textures, you need to start making realistic textures to the quality standards of modern engines. For modelling, you need to create some characters for Unreal Engine, Source, or similar - higher poly's, human models. Or some very, very good props. Stop Generalising. Hone in on one specific job. Nobody wants to employ someone who "can do everything, but can't do it best".

Sorry for wall of text.

Haha, that was great. Your baby videos never fail to bring a smile to my face.

You said illustrator twice.

This reminds me of all the great English teachers I've had in the past who told stories of college professors telling them their writing sucked.

bind r +reload

it's important, especially in deathmatch

:'<

the page doesn't reload! fool

Scrub me Ant :>

I don't have CS installed. And i can't run it in HL because of missing wads.

Oh well, ill install CS.

Well it's the same .... only that you can play it in counter-strike .

It better to make example maps for the main game (Half-Life), not for a mod.

I'd rather want my trusty .bsp, thank you very much jaguar.

What's the difference with the shouty except that it says loading for half a second before posting?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLeKJv1cdS4

Haha, you are a rolling machine. Even though we've seen relatively little of your son, it seems as if he's growing so fast.

-- What age are you going to introduce him to half-life? heh

Some of the links at the website do not work yet.

Ough! BB-codes working now =) nice.

Wow!! the competition is extended. thanks moderators and administrators!!

Ends in 2010, therefore enough room for 6 seasons.

KEWL. I like those loading msg's when you post.
Good job.

I saw those icons somewhere before. At least the half life ones.

Ok, This map is very good and clean, but there are a few things that could easily be done to make it more interesting and enjoyable. The first thing was obviously the textures. You had a good techno theme going and the textures played to it nicely but they were just to plain and dull. After playing the map, I remember it as being very grey with some light teel. You should use some darker colors in parts of the map to contrast the light textures. You did this some but really not enough. And you should use new colors in different rooms otherwise they all feel the same. Another huge flaw mentioned above was the lack of ambience. Don't be too lazy to unpak the sounds and throw some in there. When I go back and play halflife one, the sounds are what take me back and give a overall good feeling to the map. Another thing mentioned above by captain terror is vertical gameplay. The entire map's gameplay is on the same level. There are no bridges running over portions of the map or elivators or big stairs that take you to new levels of the map making it funner and more playable. I understand that the level was very complex and you may have not had enough memory to add on but you should consider this before you cram huge detail ibnto every single thing. Besides all of that the map was awesome. The robot like columns that hold up the walls and ceilings were really cool. The teel faded light coming from the ground and lights were neat. And those robotic ceiling light things were really high tech and neat looking. The water was kinda bad looking and it was very inviting to jump in but killed you instantly. The small staircases had a cool design and the layout was clean and well connected. The sky was an awesome view from the windows. Over all, this map is almost a 5 star but because of lack of a few very important things it closely dodges a perfect score and imo deserves somewhere around 4.5 so I wont rate it. You should take all of this criticism in and make another map because I know you are very capable of making a 5 star deserving one.

There will be 6 Seasons?
I thought the 4th was the last one.
I don't care tho, as long as it is good, which it is (so far)

I thought season 2 beat the crap out of the first season. The first season was all introductions.

Season 4 is pretty good, though. I'm kinda forgetting what happened so far, though, because I was watching the first 2 seasons at the same time as the current, so I got confused.

Loved Desmond's episode, though.

I'm gonna end up watching everything, anyways.

No. You.

Strafing and powerups are both in the newest version, go get it!

Multiplayer power-ups, gogo!

..and I miss using a (left arrow) and d (right arrow) to walk/strafe sidewards.

Season 1 was massive win but 2 and 3 lost their way a bit. It seems Season 4 is the best yet (so far) and things are starting to move forward.

The Desmond episode in Season 4 blew my mind. Pure brilliance.