The Crusher DM Map by xBRYAN2000x

[xbryan2000x]

NOTE : Im back for now on Quake 1
I had to take a break due to what happend to Trevor0402


The Crusher

This map is made using Worldcraft 3.3 with Quake Adapter
But this is my very first DM Map im doing and its in process

Hope yall like my process of the map

[golden_boy]

Nice to see a new mapper.

Don't take the feedback too hard, since this is the internet it can come across as a bit direct sometimes. First map? Congratulations.

Here is something off the top of my head: The screenshot is a bit on the dark side. With Quake, this is quite typical. It would be good to run the screenshots through GIMP or Photoshop and raise the gamma of the entire image with the "Levels" tool.





After doing this, it occurs to me that:

- Your main textures are rather dark. This affects the overall maximum brightness of the map, because the final light value of a pixel would be calculated as texture value * lightmap value. So no matter how bright you make your lights, the map will always look dark because the colour of the textures goes into the calculation.

- This runs counter to multiplayer gameplay; because in multiplayer, first and foremost people need to see where they are going. In singleplayer, dark shadows and gloomy lighting can create atmosphere; in multiplayer, playability is more important than atmosphere. Texture colours should also be used to highlight the main routes of the map (for example, dark floor / bright walls, although this can also be done with lighting.)

- Your lighting has almost no contrast. Try to put in more light sources, more light entities, and create bright and dark areas instead of having most of the map at the same brightness. The main routes of the map (where players move along most often) need to be brightest. Keyword: Functional lighting. Read:

Functional Lighting by Magnar Jenssen

Regarding the architecture, what Mad Gypsy said. For a Quake 1 multiplayer map, this room is rather large. You might want to grab the original Quake map sources from here:

Quake Map Sources Released!|planet romero

and open DM3 in your editor. Take note of how big the main rooms are in quake units, and try to keep to that scale with your own map - not necesssarily because of visibility / vis blocking, but because of gameplay. The larger your rooms are, the more players need to run around in between fragging!

So in short:

- Your choice of textures is probably too dark for a multiplayer map, and there is not enough contrast in the textures (try a darker floor texture and a lighter wall texture).

- Your lighting level is too low, there is not enough contrast and more light sources are needed. Try to put the brightest lights along the main paths of movement / the main routes.

- Consider raising the gamma on all Quake screenshots before uploading them.

Take none of this negatively please, this is just idle chat between mappers

Edit: Here's something regarding general layout: what often works well in Quake maps is to have several larger rooms (or even atriums that are open to the sky) interconnected by various corridors with some smaller rooms thrown in. The number of main rooms/atriums roughly determines the ideal amount of players in your map. Having one central room with corridors winding around it is good for a low amount of players; having several main rooms (like for example DM3) makes the map suited to more players at the same time. Main rooms should probably have at least two floors/levels; the upper level can be formed by catwalks, like in DM5 and DM6.

[Mr.Burns]

Hi Xbry

Before passing an opinion, could you give us a little more information about your map? for example, are there other rooms and areas on the map for players to explore and battle to the death? Or is this a Quake Arena style map where the focus in all in one room? Are there plans to add other features to the map to make it more interesting?

Either way, it's good to see someone showing an interest in mapping and don't be discouraged It might help to check out some of the maps Spirit kindly provides through his Quaddicted site as these may spark some interesting ideas on the structure, content and mood of your map.

Kind regards

Monty

[Mindf!3ldzX]

Once you've mastered making singleplayer maps, you should take a crack at making a CAx map.

[MadGypsy]

It looks like nothing I have ever seen before.

You are making one mistake right now though. That area is too big and open (probably). Q1 maps aren't very friendly for creating expansive open volumes. This is why most areas in Quake One maps are thin corridors with bends. I don't know what you intend to put in that area, but the more you put, the more you will see at one time and the slower and crappier the map will run. Unless you start putting some columns and short walls to break up the visibility.

You should probably educate yourself on the Vis process of the map, so you will know your limitations. On a completely honest note, what you have posted so far isn't all that great, so starting over shouldn't be a problem.

Just to be clear. I am the master of making crappy unplayable maps, so I know a crappy map when I see one. I mean no offense. We all have to start somewhere and stroking your ego is not going to make you better.