Comments

"I'm going for gameplay more that artistic appreciation."

The problem with this is, most multiplayer maps for HL1/CS1.6 don't get played these days, unless they're really significant or well made. The only other reason people will download it is if it looks good. This is especially true on a mapping site, where you don't find too many people who are exclusively interested in the gameplay. The graphics are one of the biggest parts of mapping, and the only part of a multiplayer map you can experience on your own.

That being said, this is nowhere near the worst map I've seen here. You did something right by having the nice angled lighting, but it is a bit bright. The texture on that outer wall is extremely repetitive too, so it doesn't work very well on large surfaces.

It's probably that the arrow hovering over it is too close. Also try raising the item_suit entity off that platform a little. It'll fall back down to ground level when you start your map.

Still, I'm not downloading it until it has a halfway decent one. You know, one where you can tell it even uses texture mapping.

That's a pretty bad screenshit, but it looks like it might actually be good... although that is saying a lot, since I can't actually SEE at anything. :

So, it's just a huge model? I don't see what's so amazing about that, to be honest. I mean, it looks fantastic, but technically, it's not that hard to do. This same effect was used in some Day of Defeat maps, where they used large models for hills in the background. Not so revolutionary, but still useful if you know how to model, I suppose.

Okay, first off, just let me say this: You totally stole my idea, and all credit should go to me. I came up with this idea waaayyy before you, and coincidentally, it was also gonna be my map for the competition, I just never started making it. Thief.

Alright, now that that's out of the way, I'll get on to the review.

This is definitely a unique idea for a deathmatch map (being my idea, it's obviously unique), and it's generally very well implemented into the gameplay, with doors leading into the water everywhere, so as never to leave the player trapped in a corner, with nowhere to go.

You seem to have gotten the gameplay down, but the actual construction of the map got on my nerves a bit. Basically, the interior is just a bunch of copy+pasted wall sections, with some small details, lights, doors, and the occasional pushable crate here and there. Needless to say, it all seemed a bit repetitive, and it was very hard to distinguish one area of the map from another.

There were other areas that showed a bit more creativity, like the location shown in the screenshot, but even there, the brushwork was all very large and blocky, with few details implemented into the brushwork. I realize it's hard to get every area to be unique and detailed, but it just doesn't look like you put too much effort into any one part. And don't even get me started on those large security doors that lined right up with the outer wall... ugh.

Alright, moving on to the exterior now, I'd say you could have put a little more work into the general construction of it. The rocks were very repetitive, and could definitely use some major work. There were no stray rocks laying around, simply these large, single height ones, obviously there for no other purpose than to keep the player in. The exterior of the structure was also very mundane, as it was all very... squarish. It would have been nice to see some pipes coming put of the side and feeding into the ground, or at least some rounded corners on the structure. As it is, it's just a bunch of blocks connected together.

So, I guess I'd give this three stars for the effort, but with such an inventive idea (that I came up with), it seems like you could have done something better with it. Oh, and don't be surprised if you see a very similar map turn up here in the future. I still have my eye on this theme.

Assult? Hahaha! Assault, dude, assault.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/assault

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"And another thing is that you should simply texture an object and use the fit button for every side of the object, that really reduces the quality of the game."

Either you just told him he shouldn't use the fit function on everything, which is correct, or you were saying that he should do that to every face, which would be completely wrong. I can't figure out which, but from the screenshot, it doesn't look like he fitted EVERYTHING.

Oh, and when I say all the WADs, I really mean all the custom WADs. Just saying that so you don't go including halflife.wad.

Heh, yeah.

"Warning: Couldn't open Valve/rain.wad"

Please either wadinclude your textures (best for individual maps without their own mod folder IMO), or include all the WADs in the mod folder, which is preferable in this situation.

This is marked wrong, it's obviously for Counter-Strike. Edit or I'll smite you.

I'd feel dirty.

Only one thing can save you now - How much did you get payed for it?

"This is a site for art and creativity rather than maps for the actual game."

I don't know how you got that idea, but you're totally wrong. :

Still, don't go posting your first (or second or third) maps here, please. They aren't worth it, no matter what you think. If you become a well known mapper, then people might want to see your earlier works out of interest, but 95% of the time they aren't fun to play.

Now, the problem is that when people are told this, they start thinking they might be part of that 5 percent. It's not true, and you'd just be tricking yourself to think so.

Great map, if a bit... Uninspired. It's just the standard temple type setting, although admittedly done extremely well, especially for Half-Life. I personally found no problem with the ambience, although the waterfall sprites struck me as being out of place and quite strange looking, for some reason. I realize, you would have had more chance to test things like that if you were able to compile as much as you wanted to, but you could have done better there, methinks. I'm just nitpicking though, and almost everything about it is professionally made. Good job.

I could swear there was already another Vertigo out there, although I doubt it's for Opposing Force. It's a pretty common name, so it might do you some good to check.

Using those textures on the ceiling isn't too bad (it's actually quite realistic), but when you use the same ones for the walls, it looks horrible.

Well, good to hear you weren't expecting it to be playable all along, as most do.

Sigh

N00bs and their untamed detail brushwork...

This will simply be unplayable. Have you even checked the w_ploy count? It's really the kind of thing you should just leave to Source.

You're obviously speaking in Valve Time when you say "soon".

Seriously though, with all the other stuff you have going on, I shouldn't (and don't) expect this to be top priority.

Actually, never mind. I just saw "This map is remake for Quake DM map" in the description, so I'm pretty sure I get what you meant now. You're right that I don't recognize the map, but I have played Quake some.

And the "living plants"... Not sure I saw those.

"Quake is realy old game - so I don't confused with you never seen it."

Err... Could you repeat that? I'm not sure I quite understand...

Astounding! This map has the atmosphere of many UT 2004 maps, and has so much detail it could even pass off as one! The brushwork was quite good for the most part, and I especially liked all the little spots of damage on the walls. The rocks were very well made too, even if you used the low-poly method.

Something I really liked was how you smoothed out the whole map, so there was never a place where you could get hung up on detail brushwork. This is great, since it's such a tiny map, and the halls are so small. I think it leads to faster paced gameplay, because you don't have to worry about avoiding walls.

You also used plenty of ambience, and there was never a spot that felt really empty. I noticed, however, that you didn't use any sounds for the teleporters. It seemed pretty weird just walking into one and suddenly popping up in another area, without any feeling that you had just activated it.

The biggest complaint I have about it is that it's a bit repetitive in places, and I noticed quite a few of the details had been copied around, like that teleporter thing. There were also a lot of halls that looked really similar, and very few unique landmarks, which made navigation kind of difficult.

Great job, though.

Indeed it doesn't.

Okay, so I just played this, and decided it wasn't all that bad. The steam was used to good effect (I really wished I had done something like that with mine), and there were plenty of door mechanisms to keep it interesting. You also used plenty of ambient noise, which I didn't put much thought into in mine. The ending wasn't really funny, but it was kind of unexpected, so I liked it.

However, I couldn't help but think that the lasers were a complete rip-off of my entry (if slightly better made), and the brushwork was pretty blocky and undetailed, too.

There was also one small thing that I forgot to mention, that made me think about how glitches can really be used to make special effects. I'm talking about that little light over the button, and how you didn't turn it into a func_wall, so it actually looks like it's casting the type of sharp lighting you see in newer games like Doom 3. Kinda neat, even if it was unintentional.

So I'd say this deserves 3.5 stars, but I'll round it up to 4, just to make you happy.

...

Well, too bad. I'm not planning on mapping for Source anytime soon. But if you can only play Source, I'm wondering, how did you even know if it was detailed or not?

It's not fair. I won the minicompo, but you still get higher ratings. D:

Yeah, everything Worldcraft Dude and Rowleybob said are dead on. It's ultra-detailed, ultra-interactive, and ultra-toaster-ific!!! However, the scale is way off (that lowest cabinet you had was perfect scale), the NOT THE KITCHEN!!! texture seemed out of place and not all that funny, the outside was alright except for the blocky treetops, and it seems like you could have done more with things like the fridge. I also have a bit of a problem with the textures. The wallpaper the flowers on it was especially bad, and you really overused that nasty looking mirror effect.

Other than that though, there's really no huge problems, just little improvements. It doesn't deserve five stars, in my opinion, but should be really good competition for the other entries (entry?), and I wouldn't be surprised if it won.

Yeah, sorry about that, I just noticed. You might want to put some kind of visual reminder about it in the picture, so you don't confuse even more people.

Please delete this. You submitted it twice, for some reason. :

What the hell is wrong with Xen skyboxes? They're cool, and work well for maps with crazy/weird/abstract themes. Jeez.

You sux, this is great.

Judging from the screenshot, I'd say it could really use some better textures.

Of course not. Half-Life: Source uses the Source engine...

"The compressed (zipped) folder is invalid or corrupt"

I tried opening it with WinRAR too, but with no luck... Just thought I'd let you know.

Just from looking at the screenshot, I can tell it's fullbright, and those rocks will need a lot of work before they'll look good.

Neat, but it could really have used some more detail, and a bit of ambience. The architecture was generally okay, but some kind of machine inside the test chamber that projected the letters would have really been cool. It kinda strikes me as unfinished.

It doesn't work in reverse for several reasons, but mostly because of the train I had to use for the rotating lock thing. It went to a small box above the rest of the map, and stayed there. It would take a lot of good timing to get it to work going the other way (look at the RMF and you'll see what I mean). The other reason was that it would just be really complicated, and I don't really like working with complex entity setups too much.

I'm not sure what you mean about the lip. I have a lip set on both of the doors, but I should probably carve out a space below and above the doors so it doesn't intersect them.

And last, It was intended to be really long. I'm not saying you have to like that, but it was intentional, and I don't plan on changing it.

Wow, that's really great. Excellent use of the falling rubble, and shaking. The whole map felt like it was going to cave in any moment! It had a sort of apocalyptic feeling to it, in a way.

The actual door, however, was a little underused. Seems like it had so much potential, but you didn't bring too much of it out...

Five stars, because I still think the map is great, for your use of effects. This would fit very well in a bigger mappack/mod. It feels like it has a cool story behind it.

Rednik, you are a crusty cunt and I hope to god you get banned someday (hopefully soon). Your maps suck, and I highly doubt you could make anything that even approaches the quality of this. You're also a CSBANANAer, and a CS player, which obviously means have no taste in maps. Now STFU.

Now about the actual map...

I think it's a very good entry, and it looks like you put some work into it. There's some very nice attention to detail, like with that tank hanging on the wall, and all the little mechanisms around the room. The smoke puff sprites also added some demension to it.

I think the opening/closing sequence of the doors was pretty good, but felt a little off. Some of the doors didn't make any sound when they moved, and that kind of detracted from it. It's hard to describe what seems "off" about it, but it's just a kind of feeling. I suppose it could just be that the door doesn't strike me as being very secure, especially with those claw things.

The texturing also wasn't very good, in my opinion, but Rowleybob is right that this is more of a brushwork compo than anything, so I'll let it slide.

Overall, good map. Could use some improvement in areas, but it's still deserving of four stars, given the circumstances.

One more thing, in case anybody is interested:

I was building the whole map for the sole purpose of looking good, so I detailed everything as I went, rather than adding it in later. The architecture of the map was built to accomodate detail, not the other way around, so there wasn't any point where there was just a base map. I pretty much did one room at a time, which gave me quite a few problems, but somehow it all connected togethor in the end.

My my, thanks for all the praise. I never expected to get as much recognition for this as I have.

It's really strange how well it turned out, because I only had a very vague idea of what I wanted the map to be when I was working on it.

I started out with a hallway inspired by Quake 4 and Doom 3 maps, and I decided from there it would look best as a spaceship. Once I had defined what the length and width would be, I was really restricted on what I could build. If it hadn't been for the small rooms that were required, I would have never been able to cram as much detail in as I did, because I would be more focused on spreading it throughout the map.

I guess sometimes lack of direction actually IS a good thing!

The HEV suit holder is odd because it doesn't look like any kind of holder for them I've seen before. It's a rusty looking cage with none of the hookups you normally see with the HEV suit, so it's just a little too different (not to mention it doesn't really fit the high-tech theme of the area).

The skylight still doesn't make sense, because the Lambda reactor complex is, well, a reactor complex. Last I heard, those things are always very well sealed off, and they certainly don't have any windows. It's even more critical in Half-Life that it's well protected, because this is the same area they were doing all their top-secret teleportation experiments. If you want though, keep it there, it's just a bit out of place.

Nice little map you have here. The detail is good enough (although not amazing or anything), and you did pretty well on the lighting. You could put some lights on that control panel, and near the crowbar, because I couldn't find those immediately.

The HEV suit cage was a little odd, and it took a while to open. I actually jumped over the cage to get it before I even found the button. You might want to put the second button next to the door, so that it's a little more obvious what it does.

Also, why's there a skylight? The Lambda Complex is deep underground!

Oooh, Lambda Complex... Don't see that too often. I'll give it a try.

Exos, those sounds came with the original Uplink, which was going to be part of Half-Life, but was cut out. The sounds are still in the pak/gcf file.

Heh, I didn't even check your other maps, but that screenshot was taken in Half-Life, as can be seen from the HUD and the handgun. Why is that? Just too lazy to take a new screenie? :

It seems like I saw something like this in the vault a while ago...