testing my own maps Created 20 years ago2004-05-20 19:00:47 UTC by J.C

an other noob question :

ok I added a light, fixed vertex problems, fixed coplanar problems, fixed vertex that go away during the processing time, fixed color FX etc, the processing is ok, now I want to test my map online.

I mean start a server with a beta version of the map, let players join and give me a general report about the map, comments, suggestions etc ...

but nobody join.
my game isn't even displayed in the game list, even with no filters at all, I am just alone in the middle of my map ...

what is wrong ? is it about a firewall thingy or something like that ? can you test your own beta map online ? is there an other way ?

what game is this for

If its for cs, you have absolutely no chance of getting it downloaded from unknown people.

If its HLDM, i have no smackin idea.

If its ricochet, you're likely to have some players join in if you wait.

The best thing to do is gather some buddies and test it with them (FI go to #twhl on irc.chatbear.com)

oh it is for CS sorry.

why wouldn't I have no chance of getting my map downloaded ? I already did many times with some custom maps like those pooldays, aim_thingies or some others not often better. sometimes I am bored with classic maps, that are getting old, and I think a part of the online gamers is like me, interested in taking a look on new stuff ...

You're map is probably one of the so many, it's very little change someone downloads it. You'll have to organize a playtest yourself, gather some friends and play. CS players don't pick your map to playtest it, they want to play a good game. The ones you gather for a playtest know it's for a playtest and they will give you comments, wich is what you need after a playtest. Otherwise the whole playtest is useless.

Not many would join a listen server with some completely unknown map, with 1 players in it.
I know I wouldnt.

uh ? why ?

never heard about test ?

what about unbalance, polys and textures bugs and other things you didn't notice while testing it by yourself ? without talking about the good ideas testers may suggest during the test ...

ok seemingly online tests aren't that popular on CS that they are on warcraft III (I did it often and that works great : even the worst days at least 2 players join my games and are ok to meet on a private channel after the game to report feedbacks, comments and post suggestions). I am used to test my works online because I don't have so much friends that are available this time, motivated and experienced enough to bring me a good report of what I did.

by the way is it possible to post an url of my map here ? to have your feedbacks ?

Upload it to the mapvault, I say.

I test my maps usually with someone from IRC, like jaardsi, to get feedback.

Players will not join in on an unknown map if they dont know you.

Yeah, shure, give us the link.

Meh, ZombieLoffe was first. Anyway... I often let my fellow Dutch mappers test my maps, and vice versa. A really helpfull and nice way to find problems you don't have, and to test maps on lower-end computers.

well, you can check my map here :

http://www.warcraft-trm.com/hammer/dm_weird_beta.zip

oh by the way here is the website and warcraft III project I am working on :

http://www.warcraft-trm.com

[warning!] : this map is a noob job, this is just my first completed map, a small deathmatch arena, nothing impressive here ...

@ Anonymous : thanks that's especially what I wanted to know, then this might be about my firewall thingy ... just a confirmation : do you see your own game server in the list while hosting it ? I mean is your game displayed on the list while you check "game servers" while hosting this game ?

Maybe I can help you, since the start of cs 1.6 you aren't able to have an "undedicated" server. Alltough people think that, it isn't true. Try to give your buddies your map with textures and everything else. Then start your own server and type in console !!sv_lan 0!! Then your game WILL be visible for other players and they will join you. (In case you didn't know )

oh.

do you mean steam checks if the users have the right files before to display the games ? wtf does that mean ? how am I able to automatically download some custom maps then ?

is this !!sv_lan 0!! command enabled online ?

I plan to release a real cs destruction map, with a lot of work on the graphics as on the gameplay, with balance, timing, strategic points etc, I am very excited to work on such project, but if I am not able to have online tests with unknown and random players I don't get the point to continue, except of course with logging on CS gamers and modders forums to ask for their feedbacks.

thanks by the way.

by the way it is possible to merge primitive objects together ? I have some boxes that some vertex move during the processing time and that look weird ingame in addition of stucking the player sometimes (I have to jump to be able to keep going forward) :

I edited some boxes with moving vertex, they look fine in Hammer, but in game some vertex moved and bah ... do I have to redo my whole geometry ? I tried the group tool but that doesn't change anything ...

Grouping doesn't change anything to bad solids. The faces of these manipulated brushes are probably not on one plane anymore. And that's what causes these strange effects. ALWAYS be sure every face is planar.

I'd advise you to do some research on vertex manipulation before using it. It's a very powerfull tool in the right hands but when you don't know the basic rules that brushes have to apply to it causes errors very quickly.

how the hell does the soft and the processor f#ck my geometry without reporting any error ?

if there aren't enough faces it mentions "bad structure"
if there are too much of them it mentions "coplanar faces"
and if everything is fine it throw the vertex away ...

wtf ?

here is what I mean :

in the editor everything is fine :

http://www.warcraft-trm.com/hammer/weird_editor.jpg

but suddenly ingame, without any real reasons, maximal s#cking :

http://www.warcraft-trm.com/hammer/weird_ingame.jpg

is it about me or about the editor ? I mean the editor error window nor the processing log report anything wrong, then wtf ?

It's you

No, I was joking. The error report function of Hammer does not report evreything that causes problems. For as far as I can see, these topside faces of that circular catwalk are non-planar. The don't lie on one plane, e.g. on one endless, flat face. The topside face is bended a little. The compilers make the face planar, wich causes it to be different from in the editor.

Let me explain some basics that brushes should always apply to:
1. Every face has to be planar.
2. No two faces can share the same plane.
3. The brush must be convex, not concave.

People that are new to the vertex manipulation tool often don't know this, wich causes a lot of problems. So I'd say again: do some research on vertex manipulation before you start using it.

these faces aren't plane !!

http://www.warcraft-trm.com/hammer/weird_vertex.jpg

if I am a noob with Hammer I already used 3DSmax for years, I know what is 3D. when modeling with Hammer it reported "error structure" or something like that, you perfectly got what I meant, I just splitted the face into 2 different plane with selecting the 2 vertex and did Ctrl+F.

here is the file : I don't see what is wrong.

http://www.warcraft-trm.com/hammer/weird_fix5.rmf

> the catwalk seen from under is fine, only the above part (the most visible) looks weird and cause some move troubles.

I've checked it out and your catwalk brushes aren't convex. Use two triangular brushes instead, or select the other two vertexes and create an edge between them, : / : instead of : : if you get what I mean. (: = 2 vertexes, / = edge).

lol

k I just fixed it, thanks to the help of a member of an other forum, but what you just said is the same way (he told me to use the clipping tool to split the brush into 2 parts).

thanks,
see you for my next problem.

ok I finally managed to create my own game server on my own computer. for some unknown reason Steam doesn't allow me to select my own map (maybe because of an hardcoded "de_/cs_" filter), then actually I am just hosting classic maps like aztec or inferno.

the problem is the players who join my server got an INCREDIBLE ping : it moves between 150 and 2500 : how the hell is it possible to reduce that lag and enable my players to have a nice game ? I need it to test my maps, I shutted down everything that may cause any extra bandwitdh use but no way, 3 players = average ping about 165, more = +2000 superlagandquitfest ...