Cloudwalk beta test (cloudwalk_beta.pk3)

[TaraHadrian]

Cloudwalk final is released
grab it here
http://www.tara-hadrian.de/deckard/m...k_final_ql.zip
(Note: Main-link above (first post with the pictures) is also updated to beta2)

or visit my page:
http://www.tara-hadrian.de/deckard/cloudwalk.htm

Changelog:
Added teleex-decal+weapon/item-spawn-decals. Think I have made a nice decision. They look cool and are not visible in clan arena (as it should be :-)

Replaced items. Mega is now in the backyard. Maybe it should be near the plasma, not sure about it (Await comments of the community). My attempt is to give both parts of the map (divided by the main walkway with the gravitation grapper) a balanced item-placement.

Added a crate for jumping from lower to upper level.

Have fun with the next round of playtesting.

[FlashSoul]

Nice website, by the way. Looks like you have some good maping experience already. Well, we could see that from the quality of your work already . I'll take a look at your new version. I just wish the map was bigger. But that's because I often play 16 players instaFT and maybe it could have been a good map choice . As it is, it probably supports ~6-7 players, which is small.

[AXxXxO]

Looking forward to try new release...ill hop in when i find time
flash i think that map is perfect for 3v3 or 8 ffa...

[TaraHadrian]

Thanks :-)
16 Player are far too much. The map has 12 spawnpoints, but the layout is made for less players. 6-8 will be the maximum for a good gameplay, more will be chaos.

[EmeraldTiger]

A splendid effort. The texturing and design is all quite clean and pleasing to the eye - especially the skybox and the glass floors. The dreary grays / browns complement the bright blues of the sky, jump pad, teleporters, and Quad tunnel nicely.

You also clearly have very inspired and unique ideas in the form of player-environment interaction, something that the majority of QL maps (or maps in general, for that matter) lack. The falling RG cubes are pretty neat, and I like how one of the methods for lowering them is in the form of a button next to a viewing screen; very reminiscent of Assassin's Roost from Team Arena. The Quad tunnel is interesting, not only as a means of slowing down people trying to grab it, but because the teleporter at the bottom is accessible from underneath it by simple jumping. I have not seen a teleporter before that could let you enter it from below, so it scores coolness points just for that alone.

One oddity I noticed is that the giant laser is just floating, unattached to anything. (The floating cubes I know are on purpose and look great) I'm not sure if this is intentional or not, but it does look strange, especially considering that it's right next to the quad room, of which, at first glance, appears to be attached to it. Maybe a simple cylinder patch to connect the side of the laser to the exterior wall of that room?

I'm unsure of how defensible you want the Quad room to be, but maybe cut out a third physical entrance to the room? (not counting the tele exit) It's the wall that's facing the direction of the laser, in between the 5+ health and 25+ health pickups. I feel it'd help slightly improve flow in that area. If you want to keep some kind of control element to the room, however, then don't add the door.

I don't feel that the RG is as big a problem on this map as it is on other space maps, as there are plenty of tight spaces to retreat to, especially in the lower quarters, as well as walls / obstacles to hide behind like the cubes near the YA. If things get heated you'll usually have a way to escape.

It's original, it looks great without being over-the-top, and it seems like it'd be a lot of fun for small-to-medium FFA games. Probably one of the more well-designed space maps I've seen.

[TaraHadrian]

Thanks Emerald for your thorough and well written review.
It highlights some points that were not easy to decide while mapping.

The gravity-laser:
Every map should have an unique eyecatcher - the gravity-laser ist that thing. In our world it is impossible that things are floating in midair. We have deeply internalized these fact and thats's the reason why all the q3/ql-spacefloaters have the jets attached :-) I've decided to break with these rule one time, cause the gravity-laser (that's the story behind cloudwalk) sucks anti-gravity from the universe and presses it into the crates. So he is full of anti-gravity - and floating.

The quad room:
Placing the doors where they are has technical issues. The walls are structural, not detail. Hint-brushes beyond the walls brake vis and reduce the count of brushes that can be seen. Placing a door where you have proposed it, would kill these effect. Nevertheless, there are three other ways to enter the quad room: If you use the teleporter from below you can hop from the crates right into the room or the pool with the quad. You can also use one of the jumppads. And I have seen, that cityy has made a rocketjump from outside (where the banner is) up to the top of the wall.

Reading your post, I have though once again about the layout of the map, cause a view from outside is always a good thing. As you can see above, I do not wipe your suggestions lightly aside, but at least a decision has to be made.

So this evening I have made the final version of cloudwalk. A few small things are tweaked and the shaders are cleaned up (now all have a qer_editorimage) so that mappers can use them for their own projects if they want too. Thank you all for the support here at mappers corner. I am already working on a new projekt ... but now grap the final version of Cloudwalk and have fun.

Note: All the other links are also updated

[cityy]

Good job on this one sir! I hope id will pick it up and add it to QL.

Looking forward to your next project!