Cyrus-[CE]
At Planet Fortress we managed to trick Cyrus on irc into an interview about his upcoming map "Canalzone," and his efforts to bring it to TeamFortress Classic.
— The PF Staff
PlanetFortress: Hiya! Thanks for taking the time for this interview.. To get things rolling, tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved in TF.
Cyrus-[CE]: Well, I started playing TF when a went to a friends house and he showed it to me. I had aol at the time, and playing with a 500 ping and 20% pl was fun. I eventually ditched aol, and got into the clan scene after awhile.
PlanetFortress: How long have you been mapping?
Cyrus-[CE]: Off and on for about two years now. I wasn't a hardcore mapper for awhile, but I've gotten into it more since HalfLife came out.
PlanetFortress: What other maps have you done? -- Or are planning to do?
Cyrus-[CE]: The very first map I did was a remake of 2fort5. It wasn't great, but I thought it would be good practice. After that I made a couple more, which never were finished due to my computer being too slow to compile it. Then when TFC came out, I was urged into creating a cp3 1on1 map, taken from cz2.
As for the future, after canalzone, i'm not exactly sure as of yet. I'll just have to see what pops into me head.
PlanetFortress: Have you gotten permission from Hellface and Ramirez on this project?
Cyrus-[CE]: Initially no, but [Ramirez] recently sent me an email offering his support so the map could be as good as possible. We agreed to work together on the map, and he plans on doing the entities to make sure they remain true to the original version.
PlanetFortress: Have they been able to provide you with any tips or tricks?
Cyrus-[CE]: Well we just started talking yesterday after Potato posted the sscreen shotson Planetfortress, so we haven't been able to discuss much. He offered to help if I had any problems though, so the map will turn out as best it can.
PlanetFortress: Ready for a toughie? -- How many engineers does it take to scew in a light bulb
Cyrus-[CE]: You're right that's a tough one, give me a minute.
Bah, i'm sure there's a funny answer to this somewhere, but nothing is coming to mind ;p
Zorak said, "2! One to stand on the sentry with the light bulb the other to rotate it!"
PlanetFortress: How's the process been going for you? Run into any major snags?
Cyrus-[CE]: There was definitely one big snag that lasted about three weeks. I had an error that wouldn't allow the map to be run in GL mode. I had no clue how to fix it and almost dumped the map, but then then after messing around with some stuff, the map decided to finally work.
PlanetFortress: What have you learned about the different sized player model from Quake to Half-Life, has that caused any problems in making a direct port since you need to expand the size of the level?
Cyrus-[CE]: I had to keep in mind the different sized player model as I recreated it, but since it was started from scratch, it wasn't too much of a problem. There is one thing though, since the player models are bigger, the map has to be bigger, so be expecting a fairly large map. Right now it's sitting at about 3.5 megs.
PlanetFortress: What drove you to make this conversion?
Cyrus-[CE]: I originally started it because I was bored, and when I had the first base finished, I decided that it would have been way too much work to convert all of it. I stopped working on for about a month, until it was brought up in an irc conversation, where I was coaxed into making it.
PlanetFortress: Is this a complete carbon copy?
Cyrus-[CE]: I tried to make it exactly the same, and for the most part it is, but some of the command points may be a little larger than the original. I guess I won't really know for sure until it's tested and all of the old TFers get their hands on it.
PlanetFortress: What are you going to name it? :)
Cyrus-[CE]: "Cyrus' Palace of Fun!" Nah, I'll probably keep it the same, CanalZone.
PlanetFortress: May I suggest, CanalZone Classic :)
Cyrus-[CE]: Heh, sounds like it could work.
PlanetFortress: Are you modifying anything to accommodate TFC's balance differences from TF, or do you find that it still works great?
Cyrus-[CE]: So far, no, but we'll see after playtesting. I know the new concussion jumps are going to change the gameplay greatly, but there isn't much I can do about that. Hopefully it will still be as fun with scouts flying all over the place.
PlanetFortress: When can we expect to see it?
Cyrus-[CE]: Hopefully as soon as possible, but I want to take it slow and make sure I don't miss anything. The texturing/lighting is halfway done, so it shouldn't be much longer, it all depends on what else I have scheduled. I'm hoping for the playtesting to begin in about two weeks.
PlanetFortress: Thanks for you time in doing this, it's greatly appreciated. And never feel like you don't have to give us more sscreen shotsas you go along, because you do.
Cyrus-[CE]: Heh, well just for that I'll give them to other news pages ;)
PlanetFortress: D'oh!
Cyrus-[CE]: Expect some library and fountain area sscreen shotsin the near future. Thanks for the interview, i'll be expecting my check in the mail soon.
Thanks Again Cyrus for the time taken for this interview!
|
RSS Feeds
