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Posted by JPL [82.234.166.130] on 2005/10/22 10:14:33

After, 10 month of mapping, and 1218 hours and 38 minutes of fullvis process (yes you read it correctly, it's equal to 50 days 18 h 38 mn), I'm glad to present my last map.
CDA has been started last year for the 1000-Brushes Winter contest, but due to the birth of my second daughter, I missed the delivery date, and I turn the map into a bigger project... It is based on the DKT3 texture set, but with much more brushes... :D
I also would like to rise here some little issues:
-> In order to play the map correctly without any problem, you can use aguirRe's engine.
-> FitzQuake 0.80 (or equivalent engine) may have packet overflow warnings if the progression through the map is too fast, and if you don't try to kill all the monsters... i.e speedrunners please use aguirRe's engine... sorry for this...
-> Standard Quake engine will not be able to load the map, so forget it..
You can download the stuff at my website http://lambert.jeanphilippe.free.f... and don't forget to read the test file please.. ;P
Enjoy !!
Ooops, I was about to forget to thank aguirRe, Hrimfaxi, R.P.G and Scragbait for beta testing, technical support, interesting discussion, etc.. etc... and for all the support you gave me these last months...
You all rock men.. Thanks a lot again..
Screenshots:
http://lambert.jeanphilippe.free.f...
http://lambert.jeanphilippe.free.f...
http://lambert.jeanphilippe.free.f...
http://lambert.jeanphilippe.free.f...
http://lambert.jeanphilippe.free.f...
Download:
http://lambert.jeanphilippe.free.f...

Jean-Philipe
#1 posted by R.P.G. [24.136.180.235] on 2005/10/22 10:49:50
Congrats on releasing this map. I know you spent a lot of time working on it and waiting for it to compile. It was worth the effort!
So Hang On...
#2 posted by Tron [202.7.183.132] on 2005/10/22 10:59:34
You left this compiling for a month and a half?
:-o
Tron / Moderator
#3 posted by JPL [82.234.166.130] on 2005/10/22 11:04:53
Tron: Yep... vis doens't like huge wide open area... Big mistake of a "young" mapper ;P
Moderator: could restore in the thread title the map title "Castle of the Dark Ages" please ?
Ja!
#4 posted by Vondur [85.140.31.40] on 2005/10/22 11:23:28
just finished the level. very nice, didn't have any overflow erros and such (used fitzquake tho). well the level is okay i liked the usage of colored lights there. and the whole idea of open level is ok as long as it doesn't crash quake ;) i liked that you can walk on the roofs there.
good work jpl!
ps. and that vis time is something really evil.
Small Correction
#5 posted by aguirRe [213.101.70.5] on 2005/10/22 11:39:46
Most engines (including original Win/GLQuake) should be able to load this map, but may experience packet overflows or other choking symptoms occasionally.
However, there may be visual differences as there are both fog and coloured lights in this map for engines that support that. Since it's a big map, there may be farclip issues in the distance. Adjust engine cvars if necessary/possible.
I'm Eating Up Those Screen Shots
#6 posted by HeadThump [65.140.52.195] on 2005/10/22 12:29:01
Some yummy visuals.
Down loading now.
Congrats, JPL
Engine Tips
#7 posted by aguirRe [213.101.71.145] on 2005/10/22 12:32:28
To get a fog/sky look similar to FitzQuake in my GL/NehQuake, you can use this cfg:
gl_skyclip 16384; wait
r_oldsky 0; wait
or for JoeQuake (also add -nehahra option):
gl_fogdensity 0.05
gl_fogred 0
gl_foggreen 0.05
gl_fogblue 0.05
gl_fogenable 1
r_fastsky 1
r_skycolor 0
r_farclip 16384
Ooooh
#8 posted by Bal [81.249.48.149] on 2005/10/22 13:12:55
Damn, awesome release, great work man! =)
Loved the very open layout, some good exploration, there are some really easy shortcuts though, I'm sure some speed runner will be able to finish this really fast. Gameplay was very balanced too, maybe a bit on the easy side though.
Colored lighting was nice. ;)
Nice!
#9 posted by Mandel [81.216.196.158] on 2005/10/22 13:21:56
Played this with JoeQuake, and it was problem free...
...until I was right in front of the gold key and everything hung. A short while later the whole computer rebooted. Dunno why exactly but it was a pity because I was really enjoying the map!
I really liked the visuals all the way through, the nehahra fog in joequake looked nice and the colored lights were just right in my opinion. I was playing on easy and never ran out of ammo. Perhaps a bit too easy, but then again, that's why it's called 'easy' isn't it! I found myself being surprised again and again that I didn't get lost more than I did. The church interior was really sweet, as was most of the map in fact. Nice work, the vis time seems worth it... I could feel the engine having some problems updating the screen fast enough for 72 Hz but it was never unacceptable.
And yeah the joequake variables worked well except r_fastsky which I turned off, is it really supposed to be set to 1? Why? For performance?
Btw...
#10 posted by Mandel [81.216.196.158] on 2005/10/22 14:00:26
By the way, yes there are some really easy shortcuts and the map can be (I just did =) finished in below 2 minutes. But that's not the point... yet ;)
Congrats!
#11 posted by Ankh [83.17.205.242] on 2005/10/22 14:02:04
This is a very nice map and I really enjoyed playing it. The visuals are great in many places. The church was so sweet. I liked the textures very much and the ligting was also fine for me. I was playing on easy and for sure gona play it on the other skills also. Easy was to easy though I think. There was too much ammo and sometimes I could'n find any monsters to fight. But I'm sure on the other skills there will be much more of them. I was lost very often - for example couldn't find the way back to the gold door. I will write something more after I play the map on hard. I want to repeat this a really good map. Good job!
Yay!
#12 posted by Spirit [80.171.7.90] on 2005/10/22 14:11:23
^ that Smilie says: Yummy!
Mirrored at quaddicted:
http://www.quaddicted.com/filebase...
I can't wait to play this tomorrow!
Please make all files lowercase next time. Linux doesn't like PAK0.pak when it searches for pak0.pak, heh. Everyone else does it please too, it won't hurt ;)
#13 posted by iob [210.10.210.28] on 2005/10/22 14:15:35
i played on nightmare:
time 37:26
kills 212/214
secrets 2/4
it's a distinctive looking map with some cool looking places. even with 200+ enemies parts of the map felt empty.
i found it too easy until the end combat, the monster selection seemed a bit on the weak side compared to the ammo you get. eg with so much open space i was suprised there were so few fiends.
thanks for the map jp!
Mandel
#14 posted by aguirRe [213.101.72.123] on 2005/10/22 14:20:23
JoeQuake's r_fastsky 1 is just to hide the skybox in fog, similar to FitzQuake. If you prefer to see the skybox, omit that setting. Same goes for my engines, since they also default to show the skybox through fog (like Nehahra).
Btw, what JQ version did you use when it crashed? Was it repeatable?
Excellent.
#15 posted by Shambler [82.38.192.54] on 2005/10/22 14:40:09
Very nice map, well done JPL. Love the scale, the exploration, the theme, and the overall design and interconnectivity, had a good sense of place and of getting a feel of the whole castle, and the gameplay was fun, nice to have space to move around, although it was surprisingly empty for 200+ monsters. 300 monsters would have been no problem, but on the other hand it's nice to have something you can explore without it being action all the time. The ending could have done with some more monsters, or no Quad, as it was fun but a bit easy.
Speedrun: Run to GL, GJ over lava, GJ over GK door, down pit, GJ over exit-closing trigger - sub 1 minute I expect.
But yeah there are hundreds of possible shortcuts....a no-GL but RL run, or a non-explosive run, would be equally fun.
AguirRe
#16 posted by Mandel [81.216.196.158] on 2005/10/22 14:51:08
I was using build 1140, GL variant, and the computer hung as I entered messagemode right in front of the gold key room. Haven't tried repeating it! But it's OK, never mind. I was just saddened because it disrupted my playing the map.
Very Nice Atmospheric Map
#17 posted by CETME [69.169.207.107] on 2005/10/22 16:56:15
The dark/foggy/humid look was great, and I loved the expansive layout.
I spent time early on exploring, so I didn't get lost at all later on - found a few secrets, and a trigger for a secret where I couldn't find the actual secret.
38:44, 164/177 on Normal, 3 secrets - and I thought it was a slight bit easy too - mainly because I could always find some pretty decent cover while being attacked - but still great fun to play (I'll try a harder skill later).
The cross-shaped holes in the roof were nice - first roof combat I fell right through ;)
When you say: "I'm glad to present my last map.
" I'm hoping you mean your Latest map, because I've enjoyed your mapping so far and would like to play more of your maps in the future!
Very Good Map, JPL
#18 posted by HeadThump [65.141.73.30] on 2005/10/22 18:51:46
The colored lighting gave it as much Diakatana like ambiance as the DKT E3 textures did. I was half expecting some deadly toads and killer misquitos to attack in some of the more 'swamp' or natural habitat like areas.
I also congratulate you on getting such good frame rates in your build. No slow downs what so ever on my antique. It doesn't look like you skimped on details either; It seems likely that you were very careful about how you placed your structures.
Wow
#19 posted by nitin [138.217.5.187] on 2005/10/22 19:53:26
the coolness factor of this map is very hard to describe.
This is very much a modern map, with enough scale to provide great immersion and exploration, and enough combat to keep actioners happy. I liked the more sedated pace but I think ammo/armor could have been cut down a bit to make it more challenging (played on normal).
The look is excellently executed. Nice use of fog, good texturing and excellent lighting. Coloured lighting was used well too.
JPL, this is a great map, one of the best releases I've played. Great work, and the improvement from your last two maps is good to see.
Bla Bla
#20 posted by Zwiffle [69.210.40.181] on 2005/10/22 20:05:48
Great improvement.
The map reminds me of Serious Sam, which I mean as a good thing, but take it as you will.
Re: Cda
#21 posted by necros [70.31.50.57] on 2005/10/22 23:03:00
nice map ^_^
lighting was bad though :( a lot of places were almost pitch black, and some important gameplay furthuring switches and buttons weren't very visible (and i wasted some time searching around because of that)
still though, the way this was built made it feel like one big area (which it was) instead of a bunch of small rooms connected together.
gg :)
http://www.planetquake.com/necros/...
/\ demo /\
For All Of You...
#22 posted by JPL [82.234.166.130] on 2005/10/23 00:26:05
I'm really happy to read that most of you enjoyed my latest map (yes CETME, it was a mispelling from me, this was not my last map, for sure... :D ...)...
Thanks a lot for all your very positive feedback, it really encourages me to start a new project... ;)
Necros
#23 posted by Mandel [81.216.196.158] on 2005/10/23 01:30:34
1 hp Quake you say? SDA is way ahead of you :)
http://speeddemosarchive.com/quake...
Necros
#24 posted by JPL [82.234.166.130] on 2005/10/23 01:45:09
Just watched your demo ! Nice piece of kake ! I was just a little bit afraid when I saw you starting the final underearth battle, and I really thought your were really good there, unless you were very very lucky... ;P
In anyway, thanks for the demo !
Very Enjoyable
#25 posted by VoreLord [203.51.194.253] on 2005/10/23 06:26:28
Congratulations on a fine map JPL, had much fun playing it, nice looking, some good gameplay moments... You really show improvement with every map you release. Look forward to your next one.
Nice
#26 posted by cyBeAr [80.217.112.208] on 2005/10/23 09:48:54
I liked the the way it managed to be so open but never confusing as to where to go next. As everyone else has said it was pretty easy though with unecessary powerups before end battle and the silverkey. I played on skill 2 and the was only a bit low on health some times due to my tendency to blow up grenades on enemies a bit too close to myself. Battles in general could have been a bit more interesting and challenging but still a very nice map!
--
#27 posted by Mindcrime [69.0.125.40] on 2005/10/23 20:38:23
Great work. <insert reiteration of all good things said>
It was a good time.
Cheers!
Speed
#28 posted by Megazoid [62.252.32.13] on 2005/10/23 23:42:34
Great map. When you mean "last map" do you mean lastest? or last.
I'm working on a speed run. I think it's possible to do under a minute, but since I'm pretty crap, it going to take a while to prove this. :)
Erm..
#29 posted by Megazoid [62.252.32.13] on 2005/10/23 23:43:33
That should have been latest, or last.
Hey,
#30 posted by Tronyn [24.66.94.144] on 2005/10/23 23:52:00
This looks really good, looking forward to playing it. I'll do the review for UWF's site (along with another, loooong delayed review, sorry about that) within the week (midterms are raping me right now).
Megazoid
#31 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/10/23 23:55:15
Please read "latest", it was a mispelling due to my "poor" english... I'm already working on a new project ;P
Nice!
#32 posted by mwh [82.33.200.181] on 2005/10/24 04:37:40
Wasn't expecting much in the framerate and didn't get it on this machine but it was playable, a lot of fun and great to look at. Agree with others that some of the combat was a bit "oh, a death knight, let me back up and fire rockets at him" but at ~12fps I was quite glad of that :)
Maybe you can make something slightly smaller next :)
Maybe You Can Make Something Slightly Smaller Next :)
#33 posted by Shambler [82.38.192.54] on 2005/10/24 05:08:06
mEH. i SAY GO BIGGER. lET'S HAVE SOME uNREAL STYLE SHIZZNIT.
Great Stuff!
#34 posted by Kinn [81.130.212.78] on 2005/10/24 05:13:24
This is a fantastic work, JPL :D
I recorded a first-run demo but I can't upload as spawnpoint has gone down. I'll email it to you when I get back home. It's not complete though, as after about 3/4 of the way through, I did a rather embarrasing backflip into the lava river o_O. After that I reloaded and continued :}
Architecture and layout was excellent - I really liked the way everything felt so vast and open-plan, I'd like to see more of these types of layouts (although I can appreciate that vis is a bit of a nightmare o_O).
If I had to criticise, I'd say some of the item and weapon distribution could have been tweaked. I felt the rocket launcher was given way too early, making the combat pretty easy for the latter half - I didn't find a SNG, maybe that would have been a better option at that stage. I found the finale combat very hard, but it was my fault for picking up the quad straight away, rather than saving it off for the smablers at the end :}
I can appreciate what people are saying with the shortcuts - to get to the SK area, I ended up doing a slope jump from the buttress from the opposite end of the bridge - I don't know if that was what you intended, but I couldn't find any other way up at the time.
Overall, a great map, and I look forward to what you produce next :)
Kinn
#35 posted by nitin [138.217.5.187] on 2005/10/24 05:29:43
SNG seems to be a reawrd for exploring (but not a secret).
SNG Clue
#36 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/10/24 05:49:24
SNG is located on the first huge wall you saw, when you enter the first cemeterry area. You can go there from the SK location; there are 3 doors in the central tower: one opens to the bridge, one opens to the stairs, and the last one opens to this huge wall.. look there... i.e coming from the bridge, enter the central tower, and go to the right door...
nitin point of view concerning a "reward" for exploring is IMHO good ;)
OTOH, I can understand Kinn's point of view concerning ammo/health location... But I was not aware most of the players of Func were so good.. ;P .. I note the point for next map... he he he .... It will be much more difficult .... >D
Errata
#37 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/10/24 05:50:58
Please read It will be much more difficult .... in my next map... :P
Kind Of A Speedrun.
#38 posted by Megazoid [62.252.32.13] on 2005/10/24 09:20:19
http://www.quaketerminus.com/temp/...
Time 3.07
I probably didn't need the YA, and I went completely the wrong way in the castle (lol). I suppose a speedrunner would be getting nearer 2 minutes. Beat my pants time! :)
Rawr
#39 posted by Kell [82.41.10.46] on 2005/10/24 09:48:53
Nice map, one of the best uses of the texture set. The openness was fun, though it did hurt the framerate slightly and made for a lot of wandering around wondering how it fitted together. But I usually get lost in maps, so that's no surprise.
Lighting was rather dim for the most part, but around certain features - especially the stained glass - it was good. Colored lighting wasn't overused either :)
Combat was pretty easy. And that's fine by me, though there was way too many rockets towards the end.
The brushwork was at least functional in places, and elegant in others and as mentioned above, the cross shaped holes in the floor were nifty.
Overall, a fine map with a style of its own. Beer for you, JPL!
Some Demos
#40 posted by Mandel [81.216.196.158] on 2005/10/24 10:55:40
http://mandelmassa.net/temp/cda.dz
It's my first run (which sadly ends by the gold key) and a rough 1:00 run.
A Demo.
#41 posted by Shambler [82.38.192.54] on 2005/10/24 16:38:15
http://www.chimpans.se/cda_037.dz
A rough 0:37 run (w/out bunnies). Was fun. If I'd know there were shortcuts this easy I'd have done it sooner ;)
(Thanks to voodoo for hosting, I need to get my webspace back really)
Hehe
#42 posted by Megazoid [62.252.32.13] on 2005/10/24 16:43:34
Good one shambler. ;)
Framerate
#43 posted by bambuz [130.233.243.228] on 2005/10/25 01:44:16
urgh, it's about 30-50 fps for me, practically unplayable. Any tricks to make it better? I use fitz, win2k, geforce4 mx440, p3 450. (The twilight client with supposedly faster rendering crashes for me.) I use fastsky.
Great Map!
#44 posted by Trinca [194.65.31.249] on 2005/10/25 01:58:48
good work man, my internet is canceled and i´m waiting for another isp what better than this map to play wend i´m away :))) great work love it so much that i recorded a demo for u guys see :) is a newbie demo but i think is a litle fun is my second run and i´m a litle lost sometimes...ehehe
http://trinca.no.sapo.pt/temp/trin...
P.S. --> merci beaucoup mon ami
Trinca
#45 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/10/25 02:00:58
Thanks a lot, and also nice french sentence at the end: you are definitely ready for holidays in France ;P ... though...
Bambuz
#46 posted by Kinn [81.130.212.78] on 2005/10/25 05:08:21
urgh, it's about 30-50 fps for me, practically unplayable
*Cough* 30 fps is bloody fine. This is single player. Last time I checked, knights and ogres don't bunnyhop around you whilst popping off 180-degree mid-air rockets. I think you'll cope.
But
#47 posted by bambuz [130.233.243.228] on 2005/10/25 05:34:31
it's hard to hit enemies when *I'm bunnying around them* since the mouse moves unpredictably because the frames are not of the same length. It over- or undershoots.
Maybe it's lower than 30-50 fps, dunno, fitz doesn't have show_fps 1, so let's say 15-30.
Really, any help is appreciated!
Bambuz
#48 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/10/25 05:47:46
In console command type scr_showfps 1... But what is your PC configuration (i.e CPU spedd, RMA, GFX)?
Umm
#49 posted by bambuz [130.233.243.228] on 2005/10/25 07:13:18
p3 450, 256 ram, geforce4 mx440.
argh, ok, so the command was different from qw. Will test when home.
Heh
#50 posted by necros [70.31.50.57] on 2005/10/25 09:15:46
*Cough* 30 fps is bloody fine. This is single player. Last time I checked, knights and ogres don't bunnyhop around you whilst popping off 180-degree mid-air rockets. I think you'll cope.
well, i dunno about you, but watching a slide show tends to bug me. ;)
JPL
#51 posted by Mike Woodham [86.139.191.23] on 2005/10/25 11:01:30
Nice work.
Well
#52 posted by PuLSaR [80.80.111.129] on 2005/10/25 13:58:59
very good style, JPL. I liked the visuals and the atmosphere of the map. Got a very good sense of place there. Tho the gameplay was mostly rather easy, but it made a pretty nice (and unusual) atmosphere of walking thru half-abandoned castle.
Found 3/4 secrets. They were easy.
And I even managed to make one trickjump in your map (shortcut) but then I returned back to the main route.
I didn't find SNG btw, but who needs it when I have RL. I'm not the one who likes to place RL in SP maps, they work good only in the end of maps with a great horde battle (Kinn's marcher or Tronyn's latest maps are good examples of maps with good use of RL)
Exceptional
#53 posted by ZBREAKER [67.87.41.113] on 2005/10/25 14:02:04
JPL, this is one masterpiece. An exceptional combination of impressive architecture, texturing and lighting combined with sweet gameplay...all on one massive scale. I've not finished it yet, but have had no problems using the Tremor engine and frames in the 30-60range for an "ancient" 1.4 gig celeron rig. Quite impressive.
I Played The Final Version
#54 posted by Scragbait [69.159.50.165] on 2005/10/25 15:49:29
I tested this map during development and the layout and design were great. After several revisions, the lighting improved dramatically and the result is a very atmospheric and good-looking map. It's worth exploring all the areas as that paves the way to riches such as the SNG.
I finished on Hard and had lots of leftovers. I have played this map many times during development so it does get easy with familiarity. The end battle was fun and if you spread out the powerups, it's not difficult. Just don't grab those goodies too soon.
I found all 4 secrets - the 4th was an extra for me.
Congrats to JPL for crushing my record 512Hr vis on one of my unreleased maps. Um, I don't think I'll try and dethrone you on this one.
Thanks to aguiRe for his help on this map and the resumable vis - the SPQ1 scene is getting maps that blow way past old limits because of his advice and tools.
Congrats JPL and great work. Let me help test your next project. Perhaps you can have someone write you a Vis JPL's Map screensaver and your next map will be compiled in only days.
Too Much Ammo
#55 posted by Lardarse [82.32.58.225] on 2005/10/25 18:24:10
There is such a thing as a small ammo box, you know :-)
Skill 1
29:49
2/4 secrets
All monsters (177 iirc)
Played through again on hard and got al monsters again but the same to secrets, but I made the mistake of throwing a quad grenade at a vore I was standing next to so I lost all of my armour and ended up with just 2 health.
What was the custom progs.dat needed for?
PulSar / ZBRAEKER / Scragbait / Lardarse
#56 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/10/25 23:05:30
PulSar: read #36 for SNG clue ;) And thanks for the feedback
ZBREAKER: I'm glad it ran fine on "old celeron 1.4GHz" some people experimented low FPS, but with slower PC.. I guess CPU running at 1GHz at least is able to support the map...
Scragbait: I reply your email.. ;P... And for sure I will ask you for a next map beta test :) Thanks a lot for your help on this project, you rock ! BTW, the screensaver idea is cool ;P
Lardarse: Custom progs.dat is based on the spawn64 progs.dat. When you progress in the map, you trig monsters, and then you avoid packet overflow/edicts count issues.
Having all the monsters present ingame from the start of the map (regardless of the additionnal teleporters need, etc...), was not usefull: the map would have contained too much entities and may also generate edicts count problems..
so, just try to play the map killing as less as possible monsters and you will experiment massive packet overflow with FitzQuake very soon.. That's the reason of the existence of this progs.dat.
BTW, thanks a lot to aguirRe who provided me the file ;)
I also know small ammo pack, but I clearly know that most of the player are for sure more experimented and good as I was expecting... so it will be much more diffcult next time... believe me... o_O... OTOH, replay the map in hard, missing the secret, and I guess it will be another story ;) Let me know if it's more challenging then...
JPL / ArguirRe
#57 posted by Lardarse [82.32.58.225] on 2005/10/26 01:29:09
JPL: It was still a nice level, and I liked the SSG practice on the various different monsters.
aguirRe: Would it be possible for you to send me the spawn64 source code? Playing this level has gven me an idea, and I don't know exactly which parts of the Zerstörer source I need.
Lardarse
#58 posted by aguirRe [213.101.70.138] on 2005/10/26 02:08:15
I've uploaded the files (based on the original QC 1.06) here: http://user.tninet.se/~xir870k/spa... .
Build with proqcc 1.60. Please let me know when you've grabbed it.
Got It
#59 posted by Lardarse [82.32.58.225] on 2005/10/26 02:26:23
This should be fun...
Dude
#60 posted by Mr Fribbles [220.253.27.61] on 2005/10/26 04:52:53
*Cough* 30 fps is bloody fine.
30 fps is not fine... come on man, be serious. This is Quake. The game was released in 1996. I better get 72 solid, or I'm gonna have a dummy spit! :D
30 fps might be borderline acceptable if the game and map are both superawesome, but, for me at least, its certainly not 'fine'.
Having said that, as long as I get 72 fps on my PC, I don't really give a shit. I don't know what the poly count was on this map, and I didn't need to check, because it ran nice and smoothly in FQ... so I have no need to complain!
Last time I checked, knights and ogres don't bunnyhop around you whilst popping off 180-degree mid-air rockets.
No, they don't... but I do. :D
Part of why I really enjoyed this map is because I was able to do just that. The items provided, monster placement and space gave me the freedom to dance around and use my deathmatch skills to dispense my enemies in style.
Wouldn't have been nearly as much fun with a bad frame rate. I guess its worth noting though that 30fps constant actually might be ok for single player... the real problem is extreme fluctuation in the frame rate (i.e. if its jumping from 30 to 60 to 10 to 40 or whatever).
If you do have a bad framerate, perhaps you can try capping your max fps to your average frame rate... is this possible in FQ?
For Info
#61 posted by JPL [82.234.166.130] on 2005/10/26 08:28:14
The map has been built with 6857 brushes...
After TxQBSP process I had:
38044 faces
10439 planes
33815 vertexes
13782 nodes
27641 clipnodes
7878 leafs
35183 marksurfaces (exceed the 32767 max limit)
119544 surfedges
63331 edges
138 textures...
;P
#62 posted by PuLSaR [80.80.111.129] on 2005/10/26 13:11:01
35183 marksurfaces (exceed the 32767 max limit)
It makes me want to add another one (final) area to my map.
Secrets
#63 posted by Lardarse [82.32.58.225] on 2005/10/26 14:39:08
So, where were the other 2 secrets?
Lardarse
#64 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/10/26 22:40:41
Where is the fun if I give you the clues for the secrets ?
If you really want the clue for all secrets, send me an email ;P
Lardarse...
#65 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/10/26 22:43:20
... no seriously, I was joking... here are the secrets location:
- 1st secret is hidden under in the first water part. You have to shot the side "stained-glass" light of the grey bridge wall, the light will switch off, and the underwater secret is open: you will find a MH
- 2nd secret is in the 2nd cemeterry: there is a "little house", shot the door, you will find a YA
- 3rd secret is located in the church, behind the huge blue stained-glass windows "rosace"... When you re-enter the church on the 1st floor, (there are some HK there), shot the left part of the wall in front of the entry, an hidden door will open, and you can enter in a small area hidden by the 2 blue stained-glass windows: you will find there healths and ammos.
- 4th secret, the entry is in the Castle, under the platform where the command button of stair bars is located. This entry (closed by 4 little metal bar) is opened when pushing the church button (on the first floor). You will find healths, ammos and RA.
Enjoy !
No Jpl
#66 posted by VoreLord [203.51.235.60] on 2005/10/27 00:20:19
Now I have to remember to avoid reading your post, as I never found all secrets (1 to go). Will be looking harder on my next run through
This Map Is Awesome
#67 posted by Blitz [24.218.85.216] on 2005/10/27 20:15:11
Wow. This is a really really well done map JPL! I've never been happier that someone didn't finish a map on time...what a waste it would have been to stop at 1000 brushes!
Pros:
Curvy, awesome architecture, with well done "castle feel"
Excellent rocks and terrain throughout
Lots of neat trick jumps with the buttresses and other angled parts
Big size, with tons of varied battles and enemies.
Good pace.
The blue fog was really well done...subtle...and certainly added to the feel of the map.
Cons:
Felt a bit too arena-ish...there was some verticality certainly, but the way that the castle was setup, you sort of don't feel the sense of interwoven z-axis. Kinn's map was like this too, and I guess you can't really avoid it considering the scale. So it's not really a "con" I guess, just a differint style of gameplay.
Overall:
Awesome map that everyone should play.
Too much ammo! I had like 20+ rockets left over at the end on hard...and was never close to being out of ammo.
Durrrr
#68 posted by Blitz [24.218.85.216] on 2005/10/27 20:16:46
Too much ammo! I had like 20+ rockets left over at the end on hard...and was never close to being out of ammo.
Goes under cons, not under overall!
Also "a different style"
Downloading Now!
#69 posted by negke [85.176.88.168] on 2005/10/28 08:45:07
a pity i didn't have a chance to do this earlier.
i hope i can somehow manage to get this thing to my pc at home - maybe i'll try one of these ancient little plastic squares people used to store their data on in the last century... ;)
(i hope i still have a drive somewhere around)
Neg!ke
#70 posted by bambuz [130.233.243.228] on 2005/10/31 06:02:54
buy a cheap usb stick.
Neg!ke
#71 posted by JPL unlogged [82.234.166.130] on 2005/10/31 09:52:07
Well, as the zipped file is 3.34 MB, I guess you will have to split the files in several part and use 3 floppy disks at least...
OTOH, there are some old PCs (sorted before 1996... my parents have on elike this..) which have no USB plug...
So I really think you have to buy an new PC... though... ;P
#72 posted by negke [85.176.76.216] on 2005/11/01 08:40:24
zipped it might be three disks, rarred it fits perfectly (on 1,5).
bambuz, i wanted to buy one a couple of weeks ago, but they are still too expensive compared to their memory size, so i think i'll go for a cheap mp3/usb 512mb solution soon...
WOAH!
#73 posted by Spirit... [80.171.84.32] on 2005/11/04 14:37:18
JPL, I am very impressed!
I enjoyed playing this map and I will definitely play it again a few times. The end battle was quite tough because I picked up the Quad too early (skill 2). The progress in the level was ok, I got lost after I found the GK. I felt quite lost a couple of times but it was ok. The architecture is wonderful, I loved that "notredame" thingies outside (ask if you're not sure what I mean). The monster placement and balance was great even though I often did not see a monster before it attacked me (see below). The flame/torch thingies (I should more architectural words) looked a bit artificial when there were few brushes/low polywork around them, but that's totally minor. The various buildings each had a total unique gameplay/feeling which I liked very much.
(I should write down things while I play, there was much more but I forgot it...)
What I did not like were the textures. Not for their overall look and atmosphere (which was great, even though I played without fog... Stupid me...). But for their washed out and totally "monster-hiding" colors! That's at least one point that made Daikatana a flop :D
I made a demo at the second try. First I died at the SK, then I tried with skill 2 again and recorded. About 25 minutes and a death at the end battle... Enjoy :)
http://www.quaddicted.com/stuff/sp...
I'd give you about 7-8/10 stars. The textures and the very open layout were negative aspects for me. But a quality map overall! I'm looking forward for what comes next :)
Spirit,
#74 posted by HeadThump [65.141.73.27] on 2005/11/04 21:57:02
The flame/torch thingies (I should know more architectural words) looked . . .
As long as you don't make a habit of calling everything a buttress even when those things are not supporting any other structures, you will do fine.
Lol
#75 posted by Spirit [80.171.84.32] on 2005/11/05 00:32:12
I wondered about your answer first, it sounded quite sarcastic to me until I looked up buttress in a dictionary. Mmmmhh, what a nice word :)
#76 posted by JPL [82.234.166.130] on 2005/11/05 02:35:23
Thanks for your feedback: I'm glad you globally enjoyed the map ;) And also thanks a lot for the rating (i.e I'd give you about 7-8/10 stars).. And I have to agree with you when you said the texture are washed out and have totally "monster-hiding" colors... It was the first comments coming from beta-tests... And I had to fight a lot with lightning effects to compensate this issue... Thought the DKT textures were not designed for Quake, so it could explain this weird feeling...
In anyway, I would like to thank all the people who played the map, and gave comments here.
I also woul like to thank again aguirRe, RPG, Scragbait and Hrimfaxi for all the precious advices and supports given during this project. As I already said, I was not expecting so much good comments, and I guess without the help they provided me, the results would have been completlty different, and for sure not so good... you all rock guys !
Finally Played It, Too!
#77 posted by negke [85.176.73.196] on 2005/11/05 06:56:00
impressive map, indeed!
again, i haven't read the other posts of this thread, but i'll just post my thoughts regardless if it has been said dozens of times already:
the scale was great (concerning open places/outside areas) - this created not only a certain feeling of exploration (at least in the first few minutes), it always also let one new or rather unnoticed monster suddenly appear from some direction, so one had to keep his eyes open all the time.
the fog and the overall dismal light fit very well, as they produced a special kind of atmosphere in combination with the textures (i liked them a lot, btw.), and also made it harder to spot the monsters and their attacks, which created some tricky situations for me a couple of times.
i found the church to look particulary good somehow and the mountains surrounding the castle were awesome, too!
the sound disappeared a few times in the beginning, but that wasn't a big deal, especially since you mentioned it in the text file. the lava texture, however, looked mandelbrotly ugly (fruit loops again), it didn't fit with the rest of the set - you should have used one like the q3a lava, for example.
the exit could have been done better, as well, just a black wall isn't a good solution. why didn't you just make one of the regular passages into darkness, with a negative light maybe?
the onscreen messages looked a litte strange with all words capitalized.
by and large, as i said, an excellent map with good gameplay (although there could have been more monsters, of course, as there was much more ammo than needed). 2/4 secrets, ~30 minutes.
so thanks for that one.
JPL
#78 posted by Tronyn [24.66.94.144] on 2005/11/20 20:56:02
I played this a while ago but never got around to commenting on it.
My first impression (which remains valid still) is WOW. I really liked the ambitious and outdoor layout. I know that Quake started as hallways and rooms, but I really love maps that try to get away from that. That's one of the reasons I thought that Scragbait's Estate was so cool - it consisted of actual buildings, not rooms giving the impression of buildings. Same thing here, I liked your use of real buildings and real outdoor areas. Being able to access the rooftops just made it even sweeter.
Second, in addition to the layout, I really enjoyed the theme. You chose an excellent texture set and applied it well with cool design ideas, as well as awesome touches like the banners in the key room or the gravestones. Little things like that make the map so much more immersive, and you did them well. The fog helped too.
The secret areas were good (I got two), and I enjoyed the gameplay throughout (played on hard). The way to go was almost always apparent, I got lost only once and for a short time only - basically never a dull moment.
Overall, what the map reminded me of, with its dark-medieval theme, sprawling, outdoor horizontal layout, and medieval details, is old Heretic or Hexen levels, but taken much further. I enjoyed it a lot, I'm glad you saw this through those incredible vis times. I say, make another just like it. But maybe bigger :)
Neg!ke / Tronyn
#79 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/11/22 23:30:40
neg!ke: Thanks a lot for the comments, I'm glad you enjoyed the map. I noticed that you found the gameplay rather good, while in UWF review gameplay was rated as average (is it your review Tronyn ??), but I can easily understand some experimented players would have prefered to see much more monsters in a so "huge" map..
In anyway, my idea was much more to build something beautifull (in terms of architecture and layout), rather than having amount monsters to defeat, and then loose completely how the map looks... The limits about monsters number came obviously from engine, and also by the fact I'm not an expert in QC development... ;P .. Without aguirRe's spawn64 QC, the map would have been unplayable with standard engine, but only with aguirRe's engine.. A shame... And as you maybe noticed, I didn't sacrifice the gameplay at all !!!... otherwize the map woud have turned into DM !! :D
Tronyn: when you say .. make another just like it. But maybe bigger :) I guess I will try to take much more care about vis time for next project, and try to not fall down into stupid traps like "wide-open-area Quake map" ... Vis doesn't like it ! It was a real patience challenge to wait, with many doubts, saying to myself: "stop the process, or not stop the process..." that was the question (thanks William Shakespeare !!)... Well, in anyway, you will see me in the next months on func_ with an other project I started some weeks ago, based on DKT1/4 texture set...
Well, as I already said above, I thank everybody for all the comments I found here. I also would like to thank (again and again and again) aguirRe, Scragbait, RPG and Hrimfaxi for their support during the project: I guess the map would not have been soo good without their advices. You all rock !
...

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