Commented 17 years ago2007-11-21 14:42:30 UTC
in vault item: SilentFear v1.4Comment #16028
Well, it honestly wasn't too bad. I've seen worse.
The player start didn't make much sense. I was unsure of why I was standing there and what I was doing before the game started.
If I didn't look at your overview, I may not have gotten the crowbar right away. You did have a vent that blocked the players progress if he didn't have the crowbar, but you made it possible to get the pistol first. The player could advance without the crowbar, which I assume is a necessary item.
Also, you need to establish what is going to hurt the player, and what isn't. Once I realized that all those sparking metal wires and boxes didn't actually hurt me, I was surprised when I was later shocked by... a sparking metal box. Granted, it was a bigger box, but that's about the only thing that distinguished it.
Either all sparking metal things need hurt the player, or none of them can. It's basic level design. You need to be consistent.
Some of this level looked placeholder, and I assume some of it was because it is unfinished. For example, the broken metal floor that happens to be in the screen shot. It's broken in an unbelievable, uniform, and just plain ugly way.
The sirens sounded like they were going off in a city, not on a boat.
Obviously I'm just being picky now, but you need to take every little thing into account, because people will notice them. No matter how small.
Commented 17 years ago2007-11-14 21:23:24 UTC
in vault item: Remmiz Test Chamber 1Comment #15986
Well I'm glad this is the first in a group, because I want more! The portal maps stopped flowing here recently.
Anyways, hooray for file structure and what-not. I enjoy this being in my bonus maps. Also it's great you included the challenges.
The map itself was quite good. It didn't take very long, but then again most portal maps don't. It helps that you included the challenges. The difficulty was ok, a little easy but that depends on the player I guess. I liked that the puzzles made sense. I didn't have to figure them out by just guessing a hundred different times, they are all pretty good. Took me a few minutes to notice the second cube up with the turret, perhaps a light to get the player's attention? The turret's laser might do the trick, but you can't see it from the floor.
I would definitely recommend this to people looking for more Portal fun but may have found a couple of the other Portal maps in our vault too challenging to be fun. This map is just fun.
Commented 17 years ago2007-11-12 17:54:57 UTC
in vault item: dm_vapourComment #15961
This is good. Problems were minor, like outsides of buildings not matching up with the insides as far as and windows and things that were there. For example there would be a window on a building, but then once you get inside that window is either not visible, or the room behind that window is unreachable, which would be the right way to do it if that room didn't appear to be 64 units wide based one walkable space inside the building.
Like the darkness and the neon lights. Hooray for being one of the entries who actually took the five minutes to make a skybox. No ambiance is a downer, no soundscapes from what I could tell but then again the other compo map I tested didn't have them either.
The layout is good, but the layout is good for all the compo entries because, well, its a map from layout compo.
Custom material usage was top-notch though, if you have connections to custom materials of this quality and quantity then by all means, use them. Good job on that. Even if what appeared to me was a concrete wall (it was holding up a brick wall, so it better have been) made metal bullets sounds/decals.
Those things are just little nitpicking though, overall very well done. As Kasberg said, this would make a great LAN map.
I love that name. I love it now as much as I first did back when Marathon 2 came out. Is that a nod towards fellow Marathoners, or is it just a coincidence?
This comment was made on an article that has been deleted.
Commented 17 years ago2007-10-22 00:04:22 UTC
in vault item: Ren_Test1Comment #15842
Here we go again.
Ok so good news! I actually beat this one! We'll start with the pluses this time. Mix it up a little.
+ Unique chamber. Reminds me of the last chamber with the scaffolding. The lights are really cool. + Challenging. It took me 10 minutes to complete this chamber the first time around. Considering it was one room, it felt about right.
- No sound. Unlike ren_test2, there was no relevant AI chiming in to push me along. There were some other little things that you fixed in ren_test2, so I won't bother trying to remember what those are, since you clearly resolved those issues which I would have told you to resolve if I had bothered to remember they needed resolving. - Challenging. Again this is a negative as well. This chamber was about as challenging as my last point was confusing. Although I beat it in ten minutes, I think I ninja'd my way through. In other words, I think the solution I found was not the one you intended, and was much easier. Send me a pm if you want more info on that.
So, this was what I want in a Portal map. Fun and challenging. Again, this map might be too challenging for new players, but I won't deduct points for that, since no0bS could always just, you know, get better. It's not the maps fault they suck. This was not up to par with your second map though, it wasn't as creative or polished. I give it a 4.
Commented 17 years ago2007-10-21 23:38:17 UTC
in vault item: pl_snpComment #15841
Ok I lied, I couldn't wait. Needed the fix.
- Short. I beat it in two minutes. - Easy. Way too easy. People need a challenge. It had some elements like the double-fling and the orbs, but you could've combined them to make a puzzle that was more interesting and challenging. We all went through those things by themselves in the first few training puzzles.
+ First room was cool. Interesting to give the player a puzzle to get the device, and it was short enough to not distract from the Portal experience. People play Portal to use the Portal device, after all. +WCC!
Well, it was pretty much what you promised. Easy, not special, and there was a neat thing. Now that we know you can make these, lets see something a bit more challenging. So 3'd for not being special, but not sucking either.
Commented 17 years ago2007-10-20 23:29:21 UTC
in vault item: Ren_Test2Comment #15835
Alright, this has 814 views at the time of this comment, but only 357 downloads. That means there are 457 idiots who DIDN'T download this map.
Let's begin with the complaints, since there will be very few.
- The spheres reflect a sky. I'm pretty sure you could have fixed this with a cubemap. - Some problems rendering portal effects on surfaces that are not able to have portals, but I bet this is due to the next point.
+ The rotating room. Brilliant. I don't know why valve chose not to include this element into the game, because in my opinion it works very well. + Use of sounds. Hearing the AI chime in with completely relevant comments while I was playing made me feel like I was back in an Aperature test chamber I had missed while playing through Portal. + The sphere. Again, another new element that feels very much like a part of the Portal universe. The mild bounce and roll its shape presents to the puzzle makes it very unique from the cube I expected to pop out of the delivery tube as far as how the player can use it in the puzzle. + Difficult. I admit it, I can't get the energy ball done. I know how to, I think, so if I gave it a few more tries I bet I could do it. Yeah, yeah I know, reviewing the map before actually beating it but I've done everything else and couldn't wait.
- Difficult. This is a negative as well, just because some less experienced players may find it frustrating. It is very complex, specifically the aforementioned energy ball part. Damn that energy ball. However, even though I failed repeatedly at racing to get the ball where it needed to go, I still want to go back and try again. If the map weren't so damn fun, I wouldn't want to bother.
Summery: If you love playing Portal for the sake of solving new and challenging puzzles, you'll love this chamber. Very well done, but then again I expected so from a professional designer as yourself. If I were vALVE I would be giving your ass a job offer to make bonus map packs instead of writing this.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-08 11:45:16 UTC
in vault item: de_monComment #15543
Amazing.
Unfortunatly I didn't get a chance to play it with lots of bots yet, but I ran it myself and I must say- very impressive. The thing that I really like was being able to see these earth-shaking explosions from anywhere on the map when the bomb went off. Watching the house explode from the lighthouse, or the other way around, was really, really, really cool. Lots of ambience, good amount of detail for such a large map, great looking beach.
Commented 17 years ago2007-06-29 19:17:30 UTC
in vault item: fy_alqueda_woodsComment #15256
Ghetto:
Easy way to control direction of sunlight: 1. Make an info_target entity and name it "skytarget". 2. Make a light_spot entity and check "is sky" in the properties. Then change it's target to "skytarget". 3. Draw an imagionary line, starting from the light to the target with your head. That is the direction the sun's rays will travel. 4. Now simply move the info_target around to change the angle of the sun quickly and easily.
Commented 17 years ago2007-06-17 14:34:09 UTC
in vault item: de_aztecruinsComment #15126
If you want tips on the lighting, just learn to use a light_spot and a info_target entity, then you can move the target around to easily adjust the direction of the sunlight and play with the direction you like best. From the pic it looks like the sunlight is coming straight down to me.
The player start didn't make much sense. I was unsure of why I was standing there and what I was doing before the game started.
If I didn't look at your overview, I may not have gotten the crowbar right away. You did have a vent that blocked the players progress if he didn't have the crowbar, but you made it possible to get the pistol first. The player could advance without the crowbar, which I assume is a necessary item.
Also, you need to establish what is going to hurt the player, and what isn't. Once I realized that all those sparking metal wires and boxes didn't actually hurt me, I was surprised when I was later shocked by... a sparking metal box. Granted, it was a bigger box, but that's about the only thing that distinguished it.
Either all sparking metal things need hurt the player, or none of them can. It's basic level design. You need to be consistent.
Some of this level looked placeholder, and I assume some of it was because it is unfinished. For example, the broken metal floor that happens to be in the screen shot. It's broken in an unbelievable, uniform, and just plain ugly way.
The sirens sounded like they were going off in a city, not on a boat.
Obviously I'm just being picky now, but you need to take every little thing into account, because people will notice them. No matter how small.
Remember to at least list a couple of +'s and -'s to help the mapper, a rating isn't much use without them!
Anyways, hooray for file structure and what-not. I enjoy this being in my bonus maps. Also it's great you included the challenges.
The map itself was quite good. It didn't take very long, but then again most portal maps don't. It helps that you included the challenges. The difficulty was ok, a little easy but that depends on the player I guess. I liked that the puzzles made sense. I didn't have to figure them out by just guessing a hundred different times, they are all pretty good. Took me a few minutes to notice the second cube up with the turret, perhaps a light to get the player's attention? The turret's laser might do the trick, but you can't see it from the floor.
I would definitely recommend this to people looking for more Portal fun but may have found a couple of the other Portal maps in our vault too challenging to be fun. This map is just fun.
All in all, what a Portal map should be.
Like the darkness and the neon lights. Hooray for being one of the entries who actually took the five minutes to make a skybox. No ambiance is a downer, no soundscapes from what I could tell but then again the other compo map I tested didn't have them either.
The layout is good, but the layout is good for all the compo entries because, well, its a map from layout compo.
Custom material usage was top-notch though, if you have connections to custom materials of this quality and quantity then by all means, use them. Good job on that. Even if what appeared to me was a concrete wall (it was holding up a brick wall, so it better have been) made metal bullets sounds/decals.
Those things are just little nitpicking though, overall very well done. As Kasberg said, this would make a great LAN map.
Have to wait until tomorrow though.
Ok so good news! I actually beat this one! We'll start with the pluses this time. Mix it up a little.
+ Unique chamber. Reminds me of the last chamber with the scaffolding. The lights are really cool.
+ Challenging. It took me 10 minutes to complete this chamber the first time around. Considering it was one room, it felt about right.
- No sound. Unlike ren_test2, there was no relevant AI chiming in to push me along. There were some other little things that you fixed in ren_test2, so I won't bother trying to remember what those are, since you clearly resolved those issues which I would have told you to resolve if I had bothered to remember they needed resolving.
- Challenging. Again this is a negative as well. This chamber was about as challenging as my last point was confusing. Although I beat it in ten minutes, I think I ninja'd my way through. In other words, I think the solution I found was not the one you intended, and was much easier. Send me a pm if you want more info on that.
So, this was what I want in a Portal map. Fun and challenging. Again, this map might be too challenging for new players, but I won't deduct points for that, since no0bS could always just, you know, get better. It's not the maps fault they suck. This was not up to par with your second map though, it wasn't as creative or polished. I give it a 4.
- Short. I beat it in two minutes.
- Easy. Way too easy. People need a challenge. It had some elements like the double-fling and the orbs, but you could've combined them to make a puzzle that was more interesting and challenging. We all went through those things by themselves in the first few training puzzles.
+ First room was cool. Interesting to give the player a puzzle to get the device, and it was short enough to not distract from the Portal experience. People play Portal to use the Portal device, after all.
+WCC!
Well, it was pretty much what you promised. Easy, not special, and there was a neat thing. Now that we know you can make these, lets see something a bit more challenging. So 3'd for not being special, but not sucking either.
Come on guys, keep supplying. I need this man.
Let's begin with the complaints, since there will be very few.
- The spheres reflect a sky. I'm pretty sure you could have fixed this with a cubemap.
- Some problems rendering portal effects on surfaces that are not able to have portals, but I bet this is due to the next point.
+ The rotating room. Brilliant. I don't know why valve chose not to include this element into the game, because in my opinion it works very well.
+ Use of sounds. Hearing the AI chime in with completely relevant comments while I was playing made me feel like I was back in an Aperature test chamber I had missed while playing through Portal.
+ The sphere. Again, another new element that feels very much like a part of the Portal universe. The mild bounce and roll its shape presents to the puzzle makes it very unique from the cube I expected to pop out of the delivery tube as far as how the player can use it in the puzzle.
+ Difficult. I admit it, I can't get the energy ball done. I know how to, I think, so if I gave it a few more tries I bet I could do it. Yeah, yeah I know, reviewing the map before actually beating it but I've done everything else and couldn't wait.
- Difficult. This is a negative as well, just because some less experienced players may find it frustrating. It is very complex, specifically the aforementioned energy ball part. Damn that energy ball. However, even though I failed repeatedly at racing to get the ball where it needed to go, I still want to go back and try again. If the map weren't so damn fun, I wouldn't want to bother.
Summery: If you love playing Portal for the sake of solving new and challenging puzzles, you'll love this chamber. Very well done, but then again I expected so from a professional designer as yourself. If I were vALVE I would be giving your ass a job offer to make bonus map packs instead of writing this.
What else is there to say, but 5'd.
Unfortunatly I didn't get a chance to play it with lots of bots yet, but I ran it myself and I must say- very impressive. The thing that I really like was being able to see these earth-shaking explosions from anywhere on the map when the bomb went off. Watching the house explode from the lighthouse, or the other way around, was really, really, really cool. Lots of ambience, good amount of detail for such a large map, great looking beach.
Five for you.
Easy way to control direction of sunlight:
1. Make an info_target entity and name it "skytarget".
2. Make a light_spot entity and check "is sky" in the properties. Then change it's target to "skytarget".
3. Draw an imagionary line, starting from the light to the target with your head. That is the direction the sun's rays will travel.
4. Now simply move the info_target around to change the angle of the sun quickly and easily.