[WIP]FF_???
 

I can't think of a name for this map, so ??? is a placeholder. Downup is also being used as that fits the idea of the map.

The premise of the map is simple. You will go down in to the enemy base and then go back up in order to get the flag. Then you will go back down a bit and then back up to the yard, which is the highest point of the map. The yard will consist of an indoor area with semi-low ceilings. I plan to make caps relatively low while still enabling some good conc work in various rooms.

My goal here is to make a map that looks pleasing first and plays good second. This map is mainly a study in what does and doesn't work in appearance, but I hope it also plays very well.

So, here's what I have textured thus far.

Here is the outside of the blue spawn, with colored lights getting your attention and arrows directing you to where you may need to go. Also, in glass!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...tsidespawn.jpg

Off to the left is a aardvark-esque booster pad which gets you to the yard. You can go down that cooridor and jump over the pad. The blue lights give a voltron/runway type of feel when you boost off of it. Everything blurs and the lights look awesome.


Here's right before you hit the pad. You may notice the glass where you boost. I'm going to be making that have an electric animation under the glass. The arrows are nice flavor IMHO. Thoughts on them though?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../spawnaard.jpg

And then the boost, with speed on the right. You'll probably notice there isn't a blur in the screen. This is because it's gay. It totally blurs. I promise.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../spawnzoom.jpg

Anyway, all of that is what happens when you go left. Going right has this very unattractive room which needs stuff in it. Any ideas of what I should add?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ge38/lobby.jpg

That looks pretty sweet

Ease up on the colored light. It looks bad and makes it hard to tell teams apart. Your main illunination for an area should always be a fairly neutral light.

The arrows look good but change the material underneath.

On the last room, you have some interesting stuff going on on the ceiling, but it's all washed out with light. Anything you can do to put some variation in the lighting would be good. If you lower the pipe-type things a bit, and/or add some more stuff, you could get some good shadows on the ceiling. I'd probably also take out some of the floor lights and then add in some spot lights shining down from above. This will create contrast between the dark ceiling and the floor, which needs to be bright for gameplay.

Also if you can do something like have the walls lean in, or do anything other than go straight up, that adds interest.

The colored light is there for the aardvark style push. Going up it with the boost looks very neat. It's not there for anything besides that, and there isn't a time where you'd need to differentiate players in that area. It's one way up for the most part. You can see it here in sweet frapsified 30fps in low quality on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9P_4EFsvLY

If it's not done processing come back and watch it.

I'm still very much working on the appearance as that's all I'm really focusing on with this map. If I could figure out how to make a smooth displacement that goes around those corners then I'd make more interesting walls and ceilings. I've tried a lot of stuff with no success. If you, or anyone else, know a way to do this then I'll be all ears. I'm looking for a dome-like feel with it, and the super-bland top like that was the only realistic alternative with those walls.

Edit: Anyway, I made some changes to the ceiling of that room. light_spots are incredibly annoying to fiddle with.

Alright, I did some work on it a bit. I'm currently testing lights, so the room is a bit darker than what I want, but I like the effect on the ceiling. Also, it's much darker in image than in game. Didn't feel like adjusting the levels in photoshop.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...38/caproom.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...8/caproom2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...8/caproom3.jpg

I decided to make this the place where you cap the flag. It fits the flow a bit and this room was a bit empty. The position of the capture point is liable to change. I'll also probably put a light shining down on it.

Comments, thoughts, ideas?

Now that's some mood lighting. Though it seems that all your lights are pure white. You can vary the lights even more by making them off-white. Incandescant lights are kind of yellow-orange, and flourescents are blue-green. You can use subtle colors to affect the mood of the player: warm colors are inviting, cool lights are kind of unsettling, and neutral white lights are sterile.

The pure blue light is still bad, imo. Try alternating the blue with white or using blue sprites.

Make that little pyramid stack in the middle have solid sloped faces for sliding/trimping. Even if it's just invisible over the prettiness.

I tried the blue-white and it just didn't work right. You don't go fast enough for the alternating colors to look decent while the pure blue gets the effect I want. I'd use no light there if I could get those arrows to glow.

Anyway, I'll be working with the various colors of the lights a bit. Still messing around with them.

Already done. Also gave it a slight blue hue as it's the cap point. Oddly enough, I made it just the right height where you can jump on the top of it. Even more oddly I made it so it's very hard to hit your head on any of those rafters after a double jump.

Alright, I made some changes to the room. Dumped the lighting on the roof like that. It didn't light the floor enough. I may put it back up, but I'm not sure. We'll see what happens.

However:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...proomcolor.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...8/caproom4.jpg

Lighting isn't done. Just want opinions on the color and placement thus far.

Looks 1000x better. Non-white lighting makes me happy. :)

So here's a question. After putting up all the light_spots in the room (well, I need to put up 2 more), my FPS went from about 450 (with max_fps 900) to 150. Are they just that expensive? Will this cause some performance issues for those with lower end computers or would lower settings just make it acceptable?

The reason I ask is because I do want my map to be playable.

I once read on here that too many light spots will make the map laggy

Properties -> Flags -> check No Dynamic Light

Otherwise FPS dies in a fire.

This saddens me.

What? That flag being checked doesn't affect much of anything except FPS.

You should be happy-ened by this.

But d-lights make rockets look nice :(.

Are your spotlights rocket-powered?

No, but my rockets are. When I fire them. When I play the map. And they travel in straight lines. Near walls. And sometimes they explode and I can see a quick bit of light on a wall.

But seriously, that's the reason for the drop?

This map would be a cap-fest...

Yes.