Quote from threequid on June 5, 2011, 5:32 pm

Excellent

Quote from xdiesp on June 5, 2011, 9:45 pm

Immersive, vast and labyrinthine: the whole building volume is used unsparingly. Rarely you get to explore the whole building so in and out, up and down thoroughly - despite always knowing where to go next.

Some stocky structures could place it behind the similar dreadnaughts out there, but this one's lenght gives all a run for their money.

Quote from Ratboy on June 5, 2011, 10:01 pm

That may-hap be the most well stated review I've ever received xdiesp. I'm glad it was in my favor! Very happy to see its being taken well so far. Any issues with framerate? The one crux of having an amazing video card is that I don't hardly think about optimization anymore (not that there's much you can do but hope for the best in a wide open underground test sphere, am I right?).

Quote from xdiesp on June 6, 2011, 6:47 am

Ratboy wrote:

Any issues with framerate?

Nope, and I usually notice that with my notebook.

Quote from Skunkrocker on June 6, 2011, 12:38 pm

Awesome, just plain awesome. I had to actually look around and think about how I was setting stuff up before I went, and while I like Lobster's retro Faith Plates better yours were clever. Love the particle board springs!

Quote from Ratboy on June 6, 2011, 5:21 pm

Skunkrocker wrote:

Awesome, just plain awesome. I had to actually look around and think about how I was setting stuff up before I went, and while I like Lobster's retro Faith Plates better yours were clever. Love the particle board springs!

I am pleased to hear it worked out that way for you. This is the most complicated puzzle I've ever built, I'm used to action shooters. And yes, I like Lobsters faith plates better too, but I couldn't steal them now could I? But for the record, I did have the idea for retro faith plates independently (I had not played his maps yet).

Anyway, thanks for the feedback!

Quote from ForbiddenDonut on June 6, 2011, 7:16 pm

A very clever map indeed, achieving that fine balance between momentum and intelligence. As I have also noted with lobster's maps, you have defined the space within the sphere and utilized the entirety for the map with professionalism.

A common mistake of new map makers is to make a map where too much reveal, or too much is introduced too quickly. Your map is an example of the correct way: shielding the players of the real content around the corner, yet not feverishly hiding its presence with unnecessary filler. As has been stated in this thread already, it's also impressive that almost none of the map is there for show: it's almost all used.

I shall be keeping a close eye on your work.

5/5

Quote from Ratboy on June 6, 2011, 8:59 pm

ForbiddenDonut wrote:

A common mistake of new map makers is to make a map where too much reveal, or too much is introduced too quickly. .... As has been stated in this thread already, it's also impressive that almost none of the map is there for show: it's almost all used.

I'm not a new map maker This is my first portal map yes, but I've built community maps for zombie panic, and am currently on the Guard Duty mod team rebuilding HL:Blue Shift. (for free of course)

As for the lack of wasted space, thank you for noticing. That's one of my most base assumptions when designing. If people see something interesting, they're damn well gonna want a closer look at it, so never place a set piece you don't intend to use, whether its something the player will interact with directly, or just visual story telling.

Thanks for your feedback! Intelligent people saying good things about my work =

Quote from beatdarwin on June 8, 2011, 5:16 pm

Ratboy wrote:

That's one of my most base assumptions when designing. If people see something interesting, they're damn well gonna want a closer look at it, so never place a set piece you don't intend to use, whether its something the player will interact with directly, or just visual story telling.

This is a great map, and as others have commented, the sense of space is very believable. It encourages the player to explore for solutions. However, there was one situation near the end of the level where what seemed to be a very appealing solution was blocked by an invisible wall, somewhat breaking immersion.

[spoiler]Once the hidden source of blue gel is discovered, and the bridge locked into place, it is tempting to coat the bridge with repulsion gel and attempt to bounce onto the roof of the low building next to it (the one with indicator lights on top); this is where a hidden wall seems to block that action. If the player could get onto that roof, it looks like it would be possible to jump over the locked gate, ascend the stairs and go through the door into the main chamber. From there, my theory was that you could use the aerial faith plate to take a long jump into a portal in the platform on the post, and then out of a previously placed portal on the inclined surface below the ruined office. I was pretty convinced this had to be the solution, and looked for a way to do it for quite awhile. By contrast, the realization that I just needed to add an extra patch of orange gel to the runway to launch all the way into the office was kind of a letdown. So the roof, the gate and the stairway up to the door were all red herrings for what seemed like it would have been a fun solution. Just sharing this observation in case you are considering an update![/spoiler]