Axephante's maps! (give a scener noob some feedback)

[Commodore_Axephante]

Hey guys,

Got my first map here. Thought I might turn it over to your curious eyes, to get some general feedback from the pros before I actually "submit it" for rotation. If you would be so kind as to give it a look and give me any pointers, I would be very much obliged. So without further adieu:

Skulldrink Valley:

RP background:

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"The place now known as "Skulldrink Valley" was once famed all across Calradia for its pristine beauty. Many a prince wrote poetry beneath the cool shade of that woodland's supple boughs. However, diplomatic turmoil between the lords of neighboring cities soon saw the valley become a hostile border, either entrance locked down by greedy, trade-hating barons. Bandits set up camp there, praying on travelers at will, and in time it became a place the local villagers feared - a dark wood into which their sons would venture, never to return.

Now, though, those men of ill repute who called that forest their den of vice have all run scared. For they have heard the mustering of two great forces - levies called together by both sides of that long-brooding cold war. Aye, the troops are marching! Skulldrink Valley shall be a Battleground!"

Skulldrink Valley is a forest map. To the south, a road cuts through the woods. To the north, a river runs along the cliff-face where a great fire has destroyed most of the greenery. In the middle of the forest lies a recently abandoned Bandit camp (circled below in red). Teams spawn at the either gate of the valley (marked 1 and 2 on the map).

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Random screens:

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NOTES:
By design, cav should find the road, the charred forest and the plains surrounding the woods wide open and easily navigable. The forest is certainly spacious enough to ride through, but might require some finesse when it comes to fighting. The bandit village has tree-house platforms that any ranged specialist would appreciate.

Thanks for looking, and let me know what you think. I kept it relatively "tree light" based on what I've seen suggested, and created a lot of the canopy using distorted bushes, but I'm keen to hear how people's framerates react.

Download (hope I did this right): https://mega.co.nz/#!8U9gkIYJ!eUmi6S-2dOOajc-ohC4YjCm6wVcjpyTIo6_EQbOnrk4

[Diemen]

Looks nice on first sight.

[Moncho]

Looks nice, though a detail. Does one of the teams have an advantage getting to the camp earlier than the other? Because that could cause that team to rush there to the high position and camp.

I suppose the river is not deep enough for archers to shoot while submerged, right?

Other than that, looks fine, though I will need my spear when wandering around it

[Jarold]

Like moncho said make sure the spawns are evenly spaced. Also those cliffs could be smoothed a little and then you can just barrier the cliffs off imo.

Great looking map!!!

[Commodore_Axephante]

I tried to eyeball an equal distance between spawns and the camp, but I'll time it out with the scen-editor character.

[Teeth]

Great that you're making maps, looks good. I agree with Jarold that the cliffs could be made a little less steep though, the textures are pretty stretched, it is more pleasant for the eye if they are not. If people going up there seems a problem, invisible barriers are your friend.

The open spaces are very open, perhaps a few rocks and bushes here and there might give it a more natural look. If you would extend the forest a bit towards the center it will make sure the two spawns can't see each other. The distance is not that big, so people might try a few lucky shots and few things are as frustrating as getting a bolt in your leg at the round start. This is nitpicking though, carry on.

Finally, some of the texture work is a little hard, using some low weight/hardness (I always have hardness at 0, not sure what it does) texturing gives you smoother transitions and can be used to blend different textures for a more pleasant look.

[Commodore_Axephante]

Alright, map number 2. Giving Skulldrink Valley a rest since it got away from me a bit (common for first-timers, I'm sure).

This time: working title: Sea Raiders in the Harbor v1.

In this battle map, one team is spawned on the upper terrace of a cliff-face port-city, and the other is spawned on an epic warship that has just forced its way into the harbor below. Ranged have all sorts of options from the terraces and the ship alike, melee can leap on and off board, and cav can (theoretically) make their way around, as the terraces and docks are fairly spacious, though I dare say the map is not "designed" with them in mind. In all, should be a swashbuckler's dream.

Screens:

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If you can't tell, the ship is far bigger than standard and augmented with all sorts of cool stuff - gangplanks, a crow's nest, a tower and rampart-augmented gunwales.

Again, any feedback is much appreciated. I'm especially interested in suggestions for props that I can set around to make it more "harbor-y". This is an active battle scene so signs of abandon are good too. Already got a few stacks of "goods" about, and an abandoned marketplace, but... you see what I'm saying. Flaming boats out in the bay and lit beacons on the port's guard towers are just the start.

Thanks guys.

Download: https://mega.co.nz/#!td10FYYA!MbIsiSqZztNm9R9jwQp_CzUAoKgEPHhNPdTACN3FkR4

If you have trouble finding it, it "used to be" Blank 107, but I've changed the name to "Sea Raiders in the Harbor" as best as I understand how. But as has been disucssed in other threads, if you host it, you'll probably need to host map 108, the one "after" "Sea Raiders in the Harbor", to get it to work.

[obitus]

neat!  someone made a harbor map like i was thinking of doing.

i guess technically there are two harbor maps already, but not with such extensive docks / drowning like this map.

[Moncho]

hmmm looks interesting, I am a bit worried that it might become a camp fest (a bit like battle on ice, especially with the augmented ship and the tower in what I assume is the town spawn giving plenty of cover to ranged, and the 3 chokepoints being the only way I can see of getting onto the ship).

A couple of questions: Can cav use some ladders (both upwards and downwards) or are they limited to their floor?
Are the spawns visible from each other? Especially the one on the ship from the upper part, because of height advantage.
Can people jump into the water from the docks? Will they drown, die from the fall or are there barriers around?

And nice to see that you keep making maps. I tried some, but never had the patience to work well enough with the map editor, even with guides.

[Commodore_Axephante]

hmmm looks interesting, I am a bit worried that it might become a camp fest (a bit like battle on ice, especially with the augmented ship and the tower in what I assume is the town spawn giving plenty of cover to ranged, and the 3 chokepoints being the only way I can see of getting onto the ship).

A couple of questions: Can cav use some ladders (both upwards and downwards) or are they limited to their floor?
Are the spawns visible from each other? Especially the one on the ship from the upper part, because of height advantage.
Can people jump into the water from the docks? Will they drown, die from the fall or are there barriers around?

And nice to see that you keep making maps. I tried some, but never had the patience to work well enough with the map editor, even with guides.

There is absolutely the potential for it to become a camp-fest, but the MOTF flags eventually force whichever team out of their hole, no? They're located on the middle terrace. Also the map, for all of it's grandeur, is pretty small... the town-spawn team, especially once they know the map and where they can quickly leap down the levels, can be on the boat inside of 30 seconds. The town itself has less fortress potential than the boat - I think, if all goes according to plan, the lower docks will be the real focus point of the action.

To your questions: Cav can get around the levels of the town fairly easily. The sea-raider team will have no trouble riding their horses off of the ship. For town defender cav, riding onto the ship will be less practical, but not impossible.

The spawns shouldn't be able to see eachother, but I'm not sure, because I haven't tested this with 120 players or anything. Town team spawns "behind" the upper "tower", and the raider team spawns on the lowest deck of their ship, so if they want to get up into the forcastle or aft-tower they need to scramble a bit.

The fall from the docks is designed to kill when you hit the bottom, but if it doesn't, you will drown.

[Jarold]

Me likey.

[Commodore_Axephante]

Alright so, philosophy update...

While I would love some free loompoints, I am actually not all that interested in the sceneing prize that is motivating so many people, here. Seriously, I just want to make fun maps that we can all enjoy. But I have to acknowledge a looming issue that is hindering me from that noble goal...

In the Copywriting world, we say that we are "too close to something" when we've been staring at it long enough that we can no longer see the big picture - kind of like when you repeat a word so many times in a row that it no longer makes any sense in your mind. I'm finding that I have a penchant for getting "too close" to these maps. Take "Sea-Raiders in the Harbor"; I'm pretty proud of it; I think it's pretty cool; but I have no idea what could be done to improve it, or if it needs any improvement, and I'm worried that I will just pick at it incessantly forever.

To that end, I would love to lose a little bit of control - in other words, get some help. If any map-maker out there wants to "team up" with me, let me know and I'll give you free reign to mess with what I've already made. Maybe if the map wins something, we could split the prize. Otherwise, we'll at least know that we did something cool.

So, do you have any ideas on how to improve what I've already done? If so, hit me up.

Thanks.

[Belatu]

I like the ewok´s pit   but i dont like so much the shipvillage, it is kind of unrealistic, reminds me to donkey kong arcade or kind of.

[Commodore_Axephante]

...reminds me to donkey kong arcade or kind of.

Hmm... I see what you mean, haha. Honestly that's sort of what I was going for. For whatever reason, leaping around - knowing where you can jump off walls without getting hurt, etc, has always been something that brought me joy in CRPG. That was a big goal for this map - lots of jumping potential.

[Belatu]

get some maps or pictures of real places, they will give you inspiration

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