ONS-snowbase playtesting

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

I have got my newest ons map ready for testing, (pretty much my old map recycled) what I would like to do is get some ONS players together for an evening and give it a playtest, I will give the link as soon as some little fixes are made i will post the link.

We can organise the times and dates later, but just put your name down here if you are interested.

I really would like to get this map running and playing like a "real" ons map, and with enough testing we can make it a great map.

heres some screenies so far.

:D

[Terror]

Looks schweeet- I'll be willing to give it a go :):D

[Zyron]

4th picture = geegee

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

yep.. I was screwed there.

Damn bots see straight through the fog

[Dace]

Looking good :)

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

thanks :D

[Macera]

Nice map man, I'll definately give it a go!

[<A>BioGizzard]

i'm putting my name down here















BioGizzard

[sneaky]

Why not, looks good. Give a shout when you have a link.

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

thanks :D

Hopefully we can get some more people together, i have spoken to Nom@n and he will put it on the mweb server.

[Macera]

=D
I'll play it for sure, expect a full report in your office on your desk sometime next year!:P

[Rommel]

im in

[sneaky]

Maybe ask Cat if he will allow you to up it to his FTP server?

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

good plan, I will ask him.

:D

[Lord_Xan]

I'll help test as well (if you want). Just give me a download, date and time. :)

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

cool no problems, having the grandaddy of ONS there will be GOOD.

[~MA~[peterpan]]

ish....fluxxor!!!

N1.... give me link... ill put on MA server for testing....

looks pretty dan nice. (mebe ons ladder map? :D )

[<A>BioGizzard]

ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ....ons ladder
:D

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

ftp://ftp.uunet.co.za/pub/incoming/ONS-ECE-snowbase.ZIP

ok back up again!

[|sAvAgE|]

let the kak storm being :P

-> fps: with most of my settings on "normal" i avg 30 odd fps with my 6600GT. flux mentioned others having decent fps, but i duno what decent is & i dont like playing my maps on anything lower than "normal" for the least. nice looking map, lovely layout, terrain and everything but it kills the flow of the game in the end

-> their are too few vehicles @ the start of the game (@ the core) and if their are a few players (4 or more per team) a few guys are going to be stranded @ the core and this will be a problem later on in defending the core (even though we know better).

-> the cores are too easily reachable and the core "area" is just too open allowing for easy spawn raping (which we all love to do so nicely) :P and also the number of vehicles @ the core is once again an issue. spawn points are also a bit clustered.

-> defense @ the nodes is also an issue. too few vehicles spawning (or just the wrong type of vehicle) and turrets

-> if anybodys going to play it with bots, the pathing seems to be having issues. i've had bots hanging around @ the core whole game, or find a node & they just stick by it or they just run around in circles @ the core/nodes. perhaps this is an AI issue? (Shrimp/Dace care to comment?)

-> the 2 big towers in the map...i just felt they dont really serve much of a purpose. if its meant to be used as higher ground, the fog on the map kinda ruins it since you cant really see very far both vertically & horizontally. (this can b solved by adding more vehicles)

-> the maps ceiling is nice & high, which can be a good & bad thing especially when looking @ the amount of fog on the map, but its going to suck giving chase with a shock/lg on a cicada only to have it dissappear in the fog :/ this can b solved though in more than 1 way, like (once again) adding more vehicles.

-> the node setup works great from what i've played (which isnt much) but i think it can be improved upon. looking @ the setup as is, its just a straight line trying to see who captures those first few nodes first. its nice, if both teams are quick on the move to get said nodes, but if one team slips up in the early minutes of the game its gg already, once again the number of vehicles also makes it hard to place a comeback as is. i've attached 2 screenies of some node link setups i think COULD be fun, lets see what the others say.

my 2 biggest gripes so far have to b the fps & number of vehicles. add some scorpions, some more mantas & raptors and things should be set. the raptors & cicadas in the fog will make for some awesome aerial dogfights! :D

i'm in no way bashing flux's work, i know its taken him a LONG time with this map and alot of effort and we can only help improve it and make it one of the best.

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

Thanks man, thats some very good stuff right there.

:D

[Lord_Xan]

Fluxie, here are my thoughts so far (only ran through by myself):


I'm sorry to have to say this, but there is a BIG problem with the framerate - I'm getting 13/14 FPS on a X800 Pro here. I'd advise against releasing the map in its current state. To balance my criticism I checked out what the engine was spending so much time on (you can use "stat render" and "stat game" to check these out yourself). As far as I can tell there is somethine seriously wrong with the water - the engine is spending an inordinate amount of time simulating and calculating fluid. There is also an actor class (unfortunately I'm not familiar with Unreal mapping, so I can't tell you what it actually is :() somewhere that's taking up a massive chunk of engine time. Hopefully if you sort the above out the framerate will increase dramatically.

The bases should be a bit larger, especially if you plan on this being a 5v5+ map. The Paladin especially has visibility issues when going under the roof.

Not a biggie (only aesthetic), but Mantas kick up snow even when flying around in the base. The Cicada will probably do that as well.

As Savage mentioned, the fog is a bit excessive. Maybe tone down the fog and put a nice bright sun in there? Most arctic maps are very gloomy (have a look at Arctic Stronghold and Frostbite). It'll be a nice to see a stark, cold landscape for a change.

Also not a biggie, but if you plan on releasing the map online somewhere, be sure to mention the creator of the music track by name.

There is no preview montage when you select the map (you probably know this already).

The map could use some differences in terrain elevation. Maybe put one or two nodes a little higher than the rest, with the paths leading to them ramping up instead of being level?

Consider increasing the scale of the terrain slightly. Driving through the mini-canyons is a nice feeling, but the paths can be a bit tight. This will also benefit gameplay if you can on the map being 5v5+.

Maybe spread the trees out a little instead of having them on the hills only? (I apologise if you've already done this - memory is a bit fuzzy :o) You may also want to make them different sizes (not ALL of them, of course, but at least some).


That's all I can think of at the moment. I hope I didn't sound too harsh! It is your map first and foremost, so only change the things you agree with. :)

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

Thanks Xan, I like how you can discover what is going wrong with the framerate any other things you can tell me would be good, I will fix the water up right away, I have allready started making the bases bigger, they now receed into the mountain and have a very large area similar to the end of AS-robotfactory (the core is the AI crystal)

could you possibly tell me what the actor class was exactly?

thanks for the feedback so far :D

[Lord_Xan]

could you possibly tell me what the actor class was exactly?

I'm guessing it's somewhere around the towers in the middle. The following can be the culprit:


the teleporter (very unlikely)
the sound effect played (though "stat audio" doesn't show the engine freaking out with audio)
the snow plume effect at the top of the tower (again, "stat game" doesn't show excessive particle action)


Other than those I'm clueless. What exactly is an actor class?

EDIT: Oooo, the core has a very ROTJ Deathstar feel to it now! I like! Just be careful that the defenders aren't able to spam that entrance too much, otherwise dealing core damage will be insanely difficult. ;)

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

actor classes are like half lifes and quakes "entities"

you have teleporter actor class, emmiter actor class (to make smoke and other effects) , even the water is an actor class, there are too many to name.

but Im thinking the water is the main offender here.

I have also removed the towers, as savage said they dont really serve a purpose.

[|sAvAgE|]

some fixes (i think?) for the fps problem

-> antiportals (there arent any in the map)
-> resize the fluid surface, since it runs throughout the entire map, but is only seen in that stream in the middle (i believe this is sorted out now)
-> and does anybody else notice the trees on the outlying hill tops? i didnt really notice 'em in game, so i would say it can be taken out since the fog & skybox should take care of it. (you could leave this in & see if the antiportals & fluid surface "fix" sorts the fps issue out)

also, on the tower issue, Shrimp had a nice suggestion. sounds fun!

[<A>FluX.v2.0]

yeah ,will try it out

:)