dod_stug_b4!


For those that haven't played it before: dod_stug is a flag capping map with 5 flags. It's focused around a tank on a bridge. BUT! unlike 'all the other bridge maps' it's not a camp fest, is very evenly balanced, and it's quite easy to break over the river and flank your opposing snipers and mgs.

-=Major Changes since Beta 3=-

Fixed the poor framerate from b3, generally around 10-20 fps faster everywhere now.
Improved the exit from the allied spawn (No more jumping!)
Changed the lighting for more contrast.
Added the html map description page.

-=Fixes=-

Heaps of minor model placement issues.
Closed up a few cracks b/w walls and models.
Changed some textures.

-=Custom Features=-

Custom models of a German Stug III tank (normal and damaged).


-=Screenshots=-

[/URL]
(http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dodstugb40020jr7.jpg)

(http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dodstugb40022gw1.jpg)

(http://img101.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dodstugb40024ei8.jpg)

[URL=http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dodstugb300109af.jpg] (http://img355.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dodstugb300092qx.jpg)

-=Download=-

Download here! (http://www.biggss.org/dod_stug/dod_stug_b4.rar)


-=Installation=-

Unzip to your C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\<account>\day of defeat source\dod

Hope you like it!
Lard.

excellent :)

Running on :-
195.242.236.212:27045 !! INX-Gaming.co.uk >> dodirectory.com - 66 Tick

Is it ok to include your map in the next dodirectory map pack???

Yup that's fine Devil. Thanks for the support!

nice update to b1 - map got extended and extended - good work :)

Nice looking map !!

I always liked this map.

:)

Wow, glad you could get the fps up for us!! Nice looking map, m8!


Download mirror: http://landofozz.net/pafiledb/pafiledb.php?action=download&id=326


THANKS!!

now included in dodirectory map pack #40

Where my crosshair is here...........
http://landofozz.net/dods/custommaps/playtest/ss/dod_stug_b40001.jpg

...........is this crack in the displacement.
http://landofozz.net/dods/custommaps/playtest/ss/dod_stug_b40000.jpg

It feels as tho you should be able to jump over the obstacle from here, maybe you should crumble the walls on either side or a downed aircraft, etc to seal this off properly. On the opposite end, where the river would have to go through portals it feels like we should be able to crawl under them as well.
http://landofozz.net/dods/custommaps/playtest/ss/dod_stug_b40002.jpg


Overall, I like the map, minus the big tree fade distance behind the allies church and some 'stretched textures' on the sides of the bridge (some are blurry while others are crystal clear). It does actually give the feel of a small town moreso than some other maps. GJ!

--Ozz

Excited to play this tonight. our server chief has uploaded the map...

Again, so refreshing to see that Stug, the same models over and over are really becoming monotonous. Good work.

Thanks theozzmancometh, I'll sew up that crack, not sure what to do about blocking the river tho. there's only so much you can do without it looking really fake to block the river. and I'd rather not use too much geometry out there because I want to keep the fps up. Maybe a small rock wall or something might work better.

Lard.

Great Map!! Added to DODCC..

Auto Installer (http://www.oneworldsyndicate.com/owsdownloads/index.php?act=download&id=164)

Hey Lard love the map!! I was thinking of a couple things that might add a bit to the overall experience. There doesn't seem to be much ambient sound...would be cool to have a few planes flying over head, birds chirping in the trees...anything to add to the great atmosphere already there.

The other thing we noticed while playing was the lighting inside the allies 2 - the church. Not that it's that important, but it's pretty dark on one side of the chuch (allies side) while on the other side (axis) is where the sun is setting. Inside the church you have light coming in from windows on both sides and the church is light up real well. Might be interesting to have light coming in from the axis side only - maybe find a way to make the stained glass breakable or something too.

Of course, I'm no mapper so I don't even know if some of that latter stuff is doable.

Congrats on a great little map

I wouldnt be upset if it got slightly brighter, I have a hard time spotting those axis skulking around.

Oh and maybe try to lighten up the axis sewer so that it's not pitch black - make it so you can at least make out if someone is in there.

Great map! Very fun.

Other than some of the minor things already mentioned, I think what it needs most are better and more varied respawn exits.

Great job. :)

Originally posted by Doyley
Oh and maybe try to lighten up the axis sewer so that it's not pitch black - make it so you can at least make out if someone is in there.

The Army issued you a flashlight for a reason, I like it dark in there.

Last time I checked the flashlight issued was broken, it don´t light up the player modells. But I haven´t checked after the last patch.

It doesn't really matter if the flashlight lights up the player or not, if it just lights up all the area around one you can see them and shoot them. I use mine all the time and kill every time.

The first five pictures in this thread (http://www.dayofdefeat.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66967) are what I meant when I said to let the light in from one side of your church. If you could somehow change the windows to let in light like this, it would be a big improvement!

Thanks for the feedback guys, I wasn't sure how much the new lighting would effect gameplay, I'll have another go at brightening it up a little.

Doyley, with the church, I'll have a go at opening up the windows, but I think it might kill the fps from the axis end of the bridge, they're all closed off to block vis across the map.

Next release might be a little ways off, crunch time at work sucks.

Are we approaching a rc1 version of this map? The new routes, and frame rate increases to me make this map ready for final release . It is solid from one end to the other imo. So if you can manage the lighting tweaks with out any loss I would say the next version should be rc1.

Congratulations!

The SLDLeague (http://www.sunlitgames.net) had announced running stug_b4 this season and I see both CAL and TPG DODS have picked it up as well. Nice to see that the "stock" map leagues are taking an interest in new custom content.

That's awsome news Rosie, _really_ glad ppl are liking the map enough to actually have it in comps, Love it!

HaXis, Yup defiantely RC1 up next, There's no need for any structural changes now, I'll try fix a few minor bugs this weekend and have a look at the lighting tweaks as well.

Nice map! Here are some suggestions I hope you consider before releasing a final version.

Just about every bit of rubble and all the window/door models could use some clipping or just be made non-solid. There's really a ton of stuff that catches on the player.

I'd also suggest adding at least one Axis spawn exit. The Allies have so many, but the Axis only have two, and they are sort of bugged -- very easy to get stuck on. People are saying this map is Allied sided, so this might help balance that a tiny bit, too. Dunno what else you could do to help this.

As for the lighting, you might just add a little more fog to lighten things up. I'm talking a smidgeon, so it doesn't look like a foggy map (unless you want it to), but just so it brightens up some of the dark spots. The fog also kind of helps to smooth out the rough edges, not that the map looks rough, but even a tiny bit of fog seems to help make things look better anyway.

Thanks, and gl!

Hey Lard, I was noticing some more things with your map.

There are a couple spots where the fps can be poor. I was running with mat_wireframe 1 on and noticed that it looks like the engine is rendering more than it needs to at some of these spots.

+Street just outside of Axis spawn. Rendering all the way to the church. :( It seems to be okay until you take a step out onto the street (good (http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/7996/dodstugb40001rg7.jpg), bad (http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/7288/dodstugb40002un5.jpg)).

+Bridge looking towards Axis side -- the workshop should be blocking most of the geometry past the middle, but it doesn't always (:) (http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/4410/dodstugb40009sk0.jpg), :( (http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/167/dodstugb40008kp6.jpg)).

+Bridge looking towards Allied side -- the church and the Allies sniper house should probably should be blocking vis more than they do, but for some reason, they aren't (not good (http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/3787/dodstugb40007lz5.jpg), really not good (http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/5738/dodstugb40010db7.jpg)).

+Riverbed -- not horrible, but it looks like it's drawing a lot more than it needs to. I'm betting you could use some sort of optimization tool and place it horizontally above the whole riverbed to give the engine a clue on what it should(n't) be rendering. good (http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/1751/dodstugb40004wf2.jpg), bad (http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/9139/dodstugb40005ic2.jpg))

+Noticed that the Allied spawn is being rendered pretty much from the bridge onward. It seems like it shouldn't really be rendered at all once you exit it, except a little bit when you're at the Allied first flag.

Also, if you decreased the detail sprite density by about one-third or one-half, you'd pretty much get a flat fps increase across over half of the map. The increase might only be 3fps, but you make other optimizations and they all add up. Bad thing about the detail props is that they eat fps. Good thing about them is that it doesn't take that many to make the map look better. You have a lot of them, and could definitely afford to decrease the density w/o decreasing the visual quality at all.

I'd probably notice some more stuff if I kept picking it apart, but if there's anyway to optimize just the above things, I think it would help immensely. The detail sprite thing is a real easy one, and I really recommend doing that at least.

GL if you try to optimize. I don't really know much about optimization, maybe you've done all you can. But I know there are some gurus on these boards if you need help (Fuzzdad, Furyo, Insta, IR, etc.).

Oh yea, after playing this map more, I'd really like to emphasize, again, the need, imo, to clip-off / de-solidify all the door and window frames on this map. If there's anything that really gets me on the map, it's getting stuck on a door frame sticking 1 inch out from the wall. :( There's a lot of close quarters action once you get past the middle, and those little protrusions are just killer.

apologies for reviving the thread, but there's only one real criticism that I have with the map, and that is with the spawn protection on the allies side, there are two spots that look right into the allies spawn if you're an axis at the allies first flag, is it possible to increase the height of the wall that goes there thus making it impossible for the axis to see into the spawn there. Below are pics to explain...

On top of hay cart (http://users.bigpond.net.au/homeboyjoe/dod_stug_b40000.jpg)

On top of sandbags (http://users.bigpond.net.au/homeboyjoe/dod_stug_b40001.jpg)

Great map though, keep up the excellent work, thinking of using this in Australia's Largest DoD:Source Competition, if only for the pics above :(

Congrats on having you map selected for CAL!

Thanks Oxygen cube! :)

homeboyjoe: I'll see what I can do about those spots. 'real life' has been flat out lately so I haven't had much time to work on the rc1 of stug, but I hope to get back on it soon. I'm also from Oz so I'm keen to help out the local comps :)

I put up a mirror for the map
http://csm2.net/view_map.php?map_id=2771

I like it. good job on it!

Bazooka!!!!!!!!! Thanks heaps for that post, heaps of great stuff there. I'll jump on it! I'm getting enthusiastic about mapping again after being flat out at work for a while. I'll try and give it a good hammering this weekend. Getting stuck on doors etc has been a big complaint from a lot of people so I'll definately do that. And I'm always looking at ways to improve fps. The guys at CAL have also given a stack of suggestions as well which I think will help the map a lot.

Thanks!
Lard

Don't take this the wrong way just trying to help..

I played the map in CAL and really didn't like it... I am pretty sure if I was pubing it I would like it more.. But all my experiance and how I base maps come off on the "How well they are for competition" area.

There is only 1 major thing I can think of that stops this map from being good for competition which is the middle. It too cramped and feels like more of a free for all.

I have a couple suggestions but not sure how you can impliment them.

1.) Stop nades from being able to be thrown from across the map to the other side. You can throw nade from allies spawn all the way across to the axis 2nd flag house.

2.) "Fortify" the bridge area, Its a pain to try and cap it when it can get broke from every direction.

3.) Re-work the middle bridge, Like a side before in competition usually breaking a 2man flag should be a little difficult and require some planning , But instead you are able to throw nades or shoot from under bridge or across the map onto bridge to break it.

If that gets fixed then I see it being a lot better.

Personally though I think the 2nd and 1st flag areas for both allies/axis are good, Each require teamwork and strats to keep and hold.

Thanks Zephon, I never take constructive feedback the wrong way :)

I know what you mean how the bridge is a bit too open, but that's the main idea of the level. I've already done a lot of changes to stug for b5 and the det version I'm doing for CAL. These will be released very soon. The bridge area in these versions is a little different, with a bit more cover than b4. I've tried to satisfy a lot of peoples requests in the upcoming version, but I can't please everyone :)

Stug was actually my first dod map ever, so I'm pretty happy with how successful it's been. I'm not going to do any major changes to stug beyond b5 and the det version now other than cleaning it up a little calling it final. I think I'd prefer to take all I've learnt from making this map and start on something fresh.

Thanks
Lard.