[WIP] DM-Dynamic - Feedback needed

[Baardman]

Big sized map is good for grappling though.

[darkbarrage99]

@darkbarrage99 : My maps are always big lol, they look small in the editor, but as you said, vast in-game. I use 512 max units for the height and 1024 max for others. Even with that they look huge. As for the weapons, I think maybe putting some lights to make them stand out even more. The lava room needs to be huge because it's very difficult to align the texture.

The lighting is a huge problem, that's why I posted the map in the first place. I did my best but wasn't enough, especially since it's a huge map.
As for the errors, I was not sure how to fix them. for example,

Code: Select all

MapChecker: Teleporter with bHidden = True and bAlwaysRelevant = False:

Not sure what to do for this, I didn't mess with it and still counted as an error.

I think you can fix this by right clicking the teleporter and going Properties>Advanced and changing whichever properties need to be changed. I use the auto fix setting in map checker and it just fixed it for me.

also, your map needs zone portals. this will probably fix some lighting issues. also, placing zone info's and setting ambient brightness levels to a reasonable level might fix some things.

You mean setting zones between rooms, right? Never did it before. Will this prevent other lights to cast between the rooms?

No, it won't prevent lights from casting into other rooms, but by adding zone portals it will simplify the geometry and keep things like lights from glitching around and bsp holes from happening. Honestly, I'm kinda surprised your map looks this nice without bsp errors since it's got a lot of somewhat complex geometry. Always try to zone off the rooms in your map just to keep the engine from going bonkers.

Edit 2: I ended up using the map scaling tool from the 469 patch and shrunk the map down to 75% size to see what would happen, and it feels a lot tighter imo.

You can do whatever you want with it but the question is how did you shrink the level without messing everything around it? lol

The 469 version of the editor has a built-in map scaling tool. It used to be separate, but I think it got integrated into the 469c or 469d patch when buggie joined the oldunreal team (buggie did you make mapscale? if so thank you!).

To use it: In the editor click anywhere and hit ctrl+a to select the entire map, then at the top of the window go to "Tools>Scale Map..." and a menu will pop up with a bunch of options. Run the tool and rebuild the map. Voila, your map is rescaled.

I'll include the version of your map with my edits so you can check it out. It's rescaled, has some quick and dirty zoning as well as having most of the deco's set to unlit. I also added some ZoneInfo's and ran the map checker which set the ambient brightness levels to whatever the autocorrect set it to.
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DM-Dynamicbut75size.unr

(5.18 MiB) Downloaded 1 time

EDIT JAN 9 2024: fixed some bsp problems/skybox/pickup alignment
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Can we talk about Sam's mom being annoyed by him she closed the door? lmao

Thank you for the feedback.

No problemo man! Your map is badass and I'd love to see it go from A tier to S tier!

[jmartin]

Nice looking map.

I'd stretch out the clouds a little more (x16) and reduce the TexVPanSpeed to about 0.25 to make it look less concentrated.

Is this your first map?, cause it's better than a lot of guys' 5th or 6th map.

[darksonny]

@darkbarrage99 : My maps are always big lol, they look small in the editor, but as you said, vast in-game. I use 512 max units for the height and 1024 max for others. Even with that they look huge. As for the weapons, I think maybe putting some lights to make them stand out even more. The lava room needs to be huge because it's very difficult to align the texture.

The lighting is a huge problem, that's why I posted the map in the first place. I did my best but wasn't enough, especially since it's a huge map.
As for the errors, I was not sure how to fix them. for example,

Code: Select all

MapChecker: Teleporter with bHidden = True and bAlwaysRelevant = False:

Not sure what to do for this, I didn't mess with it and still counted as an error.

I think you can fix this by right clicking the teleporter and going Properties>Advanced and changing whichever properties need to be changed. I use the auto fix setting in map checker and it just fixed it for me.

also, your map needs zone portals. this will probably fix some lighting issues. also, placing zone info's and setting ambient brightness levels to a reasonable level might fix some things.

You mean setting zones between rooms, right? Never did it before. Will this prevent other lights to cast between the rooms?

No, it won't prevent lights from casting into other rooms, but by adding zone portals it will simplify the geometry and keep things like lights from glitching around and bsp holes from happening. Honestly, I'm kinda surprised your map looks this nice without bsp errors since it's got a lot of somewhat complex geometry. Always try to zone off the rooms in your map just to keep the engine from going bonkers.

Edit 2: I ended up using the map scaling tool from the 469 patch and shrunk the map down to 75% size to see what would happen, and it feels a lot tighter imo.

You can do whatever you want with it but the question is how did you shrink the level without messing everything around it? lol

The 469 version of the editor has a built-in map scaling tool. It used to be separate, but I think it got integrated into the 469c or 469d patch when buggie joined the oldunreal team (buggie did you make mapscale? if so thank you!).

To use it: In the editor click anywhere and hit ctrl+a to select the entire map, then at the top of the window go to "Tools>Scale Map..." and a menu will pop up with a bunch of options. Run the tool and rebuild the map. Voila, your map is rescaled.

I'll include the version of your map with my edits so you can check it out. It's rescaled, has some quick and dirty zoning as well as having most of the deco's set to unlit. I also added some ZoneInfo's and ran the map checker which set the ambient brightness levels to whatever the autocorrect set it to.
___
DM-Dynamicbut75size.unr
___

Can we talk about Sam's mom being annoyed by him she closed the door? lmao

Thank you for the feedback.

No problemo man! Your map is badass and I'd love to see it go from A tier to S tier!

wow! is the 1st time I see a rescaled map! now it "feels" less wider in spaces. This map its very interesting i hope Author gets encouraged with that loads of feedback that peeps here provided to you. Waiting to be added to my collection for sure!

[darkbarrage99]

Nice looking map.

I'd stretch out the clouds a little more (x16) and reduce the TexVPanSpeed to about 0.25 to make it look less concentrated.

Is this your first map?, cause it's better than a lot of guys' 5th or 6th map.

I actually meant to mention this about the sky but i dunno, I kinda like it. kinda has a creepy trippy vibe that reminds me of quake 1 in a good way

wow! its the 1st time I see a rescaled map! now it "feels" less wider in spaces. This map its very interesting i hope Author gets encouraged with that loads of feedback that peeps here provided to you. Waiting to be added to my collection for sure!

yeah man this is how buggie has been converting all of those XV VCTF and VMH maps, just instead of making the map bigger i made DM-Dynamic smaller

[darkbarrage99]

^fixed some issues with my edit of Dm-Dynamic: patched bsp holes, aligned some pickups to the floor and altered the skybox texture - viewtopic.php?p=145898#p145898   
Auto merged new post submitted 20 hours 24 minutes later

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One last critique: you've got some important items a little bit too close together. Somebody could have total control over the map just by sticking to the red/yellow path I drew out here.

There needs to be a reason for players to go into the large room I circled with the bridge and the Vials. Currently the reason is because there is a Shock Rifle and Sniper Rifle in the room, however there are also two Shock Rifles and another Sniper Rifle elsewhere in the map, making this location redundant. Plus, since there's so much space, It's essentially a Headshot trap. Ultimately the only goal one would have in this room is to gtfo.

You could possibly move The Amp and/or The Thighpads into that room for there to be more incentive to enter. Or possibly an Invisibility pickup if you really want to make a pinata out of this map, however having Invis and Amp that close could be detrimental to gameplay.

Every major room in a DM map should either have an item to fight over, or should bridge the rooms containing those items together.

Red is lower floor, Yellow is upper floor, Orange is transition between floors.