Ive finished work on this map so i thought id release it for everyone.
The old version (dod_squarea) proved quite popular on the www.mardymouse.co.uk server (213.228.215.2:27040) and the new version will be playable on there soon.

The map is designed as a 'mini map', the spawns are very close and the is only 1 objective which means there is a lot of fast paced close combat.


Pics (1900x1200 resolution):

http://img1.imageshack.us/img1/8180/Image461.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3483/Image87.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2153/Image89.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5859/Image90.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/6624/Image91.jpg

Download:

http://scuzz.250free.com/dod_squarea2.rar

If that link doesnt work try this: http://scuzz.250free.com/index.html

Nice looking map!

I love the rubble.

you might have to use http://scuzz.250free.com/index.html for downloads as 250free.com has hotlink restrictions (although i got http://scuzz.250free.com/dod_squarea2.rar to work with flashget)

somebody move this to mapping forum plz

:eek:

Being adventurous with a public release eh Scuzz :cool:

Fun map to play this one, the regulars on MardyMouse.co.uk like this one :D

Why did you make the pictures so freaking huge?

you gotta use more textures total man, all your buildings are the exact same texture that bores the eye very quickly while playing and people will just stop after a short time

the brushwork looks very good,
i'm convinced that bombs fell here :)

Originally posted by Astro
you gotta use more textures total man, all your buildings are the exact same texture that bores the eye very quickly while playing and people will just stop after a short time


lol .. people don't get bored of playing because of textures ... what you on man !!!

This map has been on my server for about 2'ish months now. It's one of the regulars fav Custom maps. Great fun to play.

well if it has cool gameplay might aswell put alitle more efford in it and get some proper texturing done.

we can start the whole gameplay -> visual thing again
but by my book they go hand in hand

comments on the maps:

the brushwork looks decent and prety well done
the broken edges could be alitle more true to the material
if you use brick make it edgy and boxy

like i said before no harm will come from using more and diffrent textures.

try and make the boundaries less ovius .. i know its an arena/dm map but so is moh_stalin for example ;)

nice job thus far, id like to see alitle bit more efford on the visual part of mappin :)

yup, i totally agree with IR. especially about gettign a few more textures, cant be too hard, especially as those are a rather dull grey.

maybe you could add a few eye candy type buildign around the side, if its not too hard on r_speeds.

Originally posted by IR
like i said before no harm will come from using more and diffrent textures.

That, I can agree with but Astro's comment about people leaving the server because of seeing the same textures was ludicrous.

My comments were never going anywhere near the whole gameplay -> visual thing.

yeh i know haircut :) i was talking in general

The links aren't working for me. Any mirrors?

::edit:: err, nvm. Found it at MardyMouse.

I admit the textures are quite bland... thats just down to my lack of texturing skills :)

The screen shots are so 'freaking huge' because thats the res i play dod at.

The map is now downloadable from http://1dod.com/downloads/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=323 (thanks to http://1dod.com )
and http://www.mardymouse.co.uk/modules.php?name=FatalQuery&op=maps
it can also be d/led off the mardymouse server

Mirror (http://www.ucfiles.com/files/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=507)

Oh, the textures are fine...perhaps add in some wood flooring and one more building wall texture...I like the look of it...and with such low texture memory it helps counterbalance the HUGE w_poly rates...w_poly over 2000 and e_poly at 7000 in some places...too high. But...since it's DoD DM and it's really small and there's little tex mem and no wav files to speak of it might be OK in 6x6 matches...my guess is anything larger and you'll get lag and choppy play...could be wrong, but 2000 w_poly...phew...that's about 1200 too much.

Oh yea...rain with a morning sky...and you have a lot of shadows so you could set your sun to pitch at -20 or so and you'd get a slightly brighter map. Also...tons of sticky spots...remember this tip: The CLIP brush is your friend.

thanks for the input. the r_speeds are poor, theyre way up from the first version of the map, but before my last compile of this ver they were even higher!

Normally rrunning around of the floor of the map seems to give not too bad r_speeds, but as soon as you get high up they go pretty high. My fps is constantly 60 (max) when i play, even in 7x7 games.

I fell out with clip brushes.. i used a few but then adding any more gave me an error saying something like there were no solid brushes on compile :/

If anyone wants a look you can now download dod_squarea from here: http://scuzz.250free.com/index.html

Theres a list of changes here: http://www.mardymouse.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=92

Don't you love HL compile errors? One thing I was thinking to lower speeds...you can see from one end of the map to the next...perhaps splitting the map into two big chunks...with some kind of center area that blocks the view...how can I put this? Hrmmm...ok...

You know on flugplatz when you come out of axis spawn? You can't see through the suppply building to the front...that's on purpose to block vis to the runway area...you have to either go around to the left or to the right or through it in a series of "S" turns. I wonder if you couldn't somehow raise up the center stuff and move it over a tad, add in a few arches or whatnot and skybox in the map then?

Hard to visualize...the other thing you should do is check for face-splitting...all those rubble chunks in the ground...are they regular brushes? If so I'll bet that's ther reason r_speeds are so high...because you've split the faces on teh terrain all to hell and back. I'd look there if you don't want to change the physical appearance of the map. You ever use gl_wireframe 2? Do a search on it here if not.

As to clip brushes...you should see Donner and the rest of the maps...they easily have hundreds upon hundreds of clip brushes...both the keep you off stuff and to cut hull creation and to keep you from getting stuck.

The bits of rubble are normal brushes... only small debris are func_walls. Having the rubble as normal brushes actually lowers r_speeds as they are the only bits that stop you seeing half the map at once.

Its hard to think of a way of blocking peoples view without blocking their movement. I can see why the s shaped does work on maps like flugplatz, but on a map the size of squarea bottlenecks would cause problems for players...

I just played the map on a server and found i also have several faces with a null texture on view :)

DodMaps.de mirror (http://dodmaps.ngz-network.de/pafiledb/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=280)

My mirror 4 you : http://www.clan8472.de/pafiledb/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=141

thanks for the mirrors :)