This is a great looking map, I love the lighting in it.
I actually get significantly better performance (much less freezing) running around ns_summit than I do oany of the official maps. I wonder why that is?
Holy ######, I haven't played NS2 in a long time, but I just watched NS2HD's preview and I was stunned. Can't wait to test this. Hopefully it will work for me, and not bug out like NS2_Tram does with my video card.
I'll be honest, the map is beautiful but don't work with Natural Selection 2 gameplay. Too huge, too large area so marine can fire you from very far. It's good, but not designed for this game at this state.
Excellent, excellent map. Been playing it for a couple hours already and I love it.
Performance was smooth as silk early/mid game (many said this), I've just discovered it's the heavy DI use which kills my framerate in NS2. Having a trail of DI for most of the game really felt like proper DI gameplay.
Had some excellent fights for the Crossroads hive, with proper teamplay required to take it down and an excellent opposition from the alien team (can't wait for the ARC). Res node defense duty is a requirement for marines, it takes quite a long time to reach them and they have to wait for a fragile stuck-prone MAC for repairs. Aliens can get an easier way out against ninja marines by using hydras, thus requiring more coordination from the marines to take their harvesters down (which feels great when accomplished).
Due to the larger areas, the fights seem way less chaotic and more like proper battles between 2 coordinated forces. Also, skulks can finally make proper use of the walls and ceiling. I had great fun wallwalking on this map, the walls feel way smoother and the alternating light/shadow use in some areas helps aliens successfully evade tracking more often during fights if marines don't have their flashlights on.
You might get some criticism regarding the size of the map, but with upcoming phase gates and after learning (and maybe adding/changing) some vents I think this will prove to become less of an issue. There are certainly areas which might use improvement (access on the outer ring for marines in Ventilation, or maybe moving that whole room layout to the alien side, some places where you get stuck or the unusable ladder). Overall, the map got much praise in the chat and I must agree to that fully.
Final words: UWE, please check this map out and consider making it official. :)
P.S. I'll probably add some annotations tomorrow for the few areas where I got stuck.
McGlaspiewww.team156.comJoin Date: 2010-07-26Member: 73044Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Gold, Subnautica Playtester
Damned impressive. I've had a run through on a local server and I'm really excited about playing some real games on this map. It definitely feels like it's geared towards 32 players, which for now (considering server performance) is a detriment but that will change in time.
There are many places where a Marine could fall down into little nooks and what not and not have a way to get back up. Those same spots are great for all non-gorge alien players, but I'm worried it will inadvertently causes headaches for marines just moving around in a fire fight.
The vents seem like they aren't completed. I'm not referring to what's currently in place, but it seems like there should be more of them. In tram, you can cover some fairly long distances in vents without having to get out of the vent system.
I'll post more when I have more time to play with this and get a chance to actually play some games on it. Damned fine work pSyk0mAn!
P.S. I'll be adding this to the map rotation for the Team #156 East soon.
I am having a serious bug issue with being commander on this map. In fact I can not play as commander on this map at all because when ever I go commander my camera goes crazy and i can not get it to stop, if I send it in any direction it will keep going in that direction.
I downloaded the map and put it on LAN since my last post. It is outstanding. I’m going to delete everything in my editor. You have set the bar pretty high. For some reason I couldn’t evolve to lurk. I really wanted to fly around. On my game machine I never got less than 54 FPS and got up to 81. The other one ran in the 30s. I hope you make new changes available.
pSyk0mAnNerdish by NatureGermanyJoin Date: 2003-08-07Member: 19166Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Community Developer
Hey, thanks for the feedback. I'm glad people like it so far and especially that it is playable so far. I won't adress any points being made right now, since there are just too many, but I read everything carefully.
Due to my current isp the NS2 server browser has some trouble finding servers at the moment (always the same 2 with high ping), so I'd appreciate a few more server ips, if you keep the map running so I can connect to via console and spectate some gameplay. Thanks!
pSyk0mAnNerdish by NatureGermanyJoin Date: 2003-08-07Member: 19166Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Community Developer
<!--quoteo(post=1846476:date=May 16 2011, 10:34 AM:name=Asraniel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Asraniel @ May 16 2011, 10:34 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1846476"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->you can check out all servers, the players on them and which map they play on this website:
Very very goodjob psykoman. I just watched NS2HD video. Video is better then all shots here.
I just want to recommend u test it on a low graphics card, may be u should tweak it. And also Hive in heliport seems to be weak against distance shots by marines, or may be I'm wrong.
Sorry Unknown Worlds developer but this Map here looks like a NS map. Its open and BIG, it has a lot of covers for BOTH teams, its totaly NS style. I realy hope it gets official! Good work psykoman you bring back the ns map feeling!
Just a quick note, because i noticed it on my server: the console is currently getting spammed with "Failed to find next path point"-messages.
Could be a problem on the map or with the path-finding for MACs/Drifters, probably the UWE-guys could say if this is more map or engine-related (but i haven't seen this error on other maps before). It doesn't seem to actively affect the game though.
<!--quoteo(post=1846488:date=May 16 2011, 09:12 AM:name=pSyk0mAn)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pSyk0mAn @ May 16 2011, 09:12 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1846488"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I probably have to place more waypoints for Macs/Drifters since they get stuck at buildings a few times.
I've also failed to place a start-ip for marines, which apparently is giving them a hard time; sorry about that :/<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thanks.
ANd I am curious, in the final version of this map, will that domed lighting from outside in the ALien Main hive have ambient lighting (as in voulmetric lighting?). If so, that rooms will be unbelievably gorgeous. Now we just wait on max to reimpliment good performing atmospherics.
Awesome! Gonna play this map alot i reckon, and post bugs as i find them.
So far i noticed that if you fall down here as a marine you're stuck and have to /kill yourself (luckily that happened to me when i only had the rifle so it wasnt really any loss :P) <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/812/2011051600001.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/2954/2011051600001.th.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
I noticed drifters and macs getting stuck. It wasn't a big thing, you can direct them out with new way points. I noticed the missing IP, in NS you had to build one so easy fix. As work in progress it's still great.
Just had an awesome 20+ people match of doom! The game run like water until we got like 22-23 players and it was fun as hell! <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/84/2011051600027.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1614/2011051600027.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a> <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/717/2011051600024.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/6217/2011051600024.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Found some bugs tho, like this texture misalignment just past VENTILATION : <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/860/2011051600005x.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/9162/2011051600005x.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
And these tubes are actually supposed to touch the ground, hence the curly bits at the bottom.. So it just looks weird when its hanging in the air, try switching for some other (i know there's a few versions of those tubes) <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/135/2011051600007.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/6467/2011051600007.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
If you fall down this hole in HELIPORT you get killed, please plug it up : <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/843/2011051600010.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/7647/2011051600010.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Not really a bug, but if you lower this pipe abit skulks could hide over it : <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/19/2011051600011.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9488/2011051600011.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
The rock ground around here in CROSSROADS looks way too flat, HL1-style. <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/714/2011051600014.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/2135/2011051600014.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Its possible to look behind the prop if you run up against the roof here in the path between XROADS and GENERATOR : <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/405/2011051600030.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3192/2011051600030.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Gameplay-wise the map was very balanced, i doubt you will have to do much tweaking to get it perfectly balanced. Tho there wasnt any working powernode in XROADS, so marines have to put up a portable powernode to get the base going, is that intentional? (because its really annoying, there's tons of hidingplaces for that pack and it can be hard as h*ll to find).
Thats it for now, gonna post more bugs as i find 'em.. And so far im LOVING the map psyko! I really hope this can be an official map one day!
AsranielJoin Date: 2002-06-03Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
after playtesting that map, here is my feedback for it:
4 techpoints is probably too few. It means that aliens need to get all techpoints on the game to have 3, and it seems like aliens will need 3 hives for certain tech.
It is very hard for aliens to get res nodes, at least with the current infestation system. They need to create very long paths, which can easily be destroyed by marines as soon as they have flamethrowers.
One problem when i'm not sure what the solution is: I was playing on the alien side. We lost the initial hive, but built the one on surface access. the problem was, we had no res towers left, because surface access has none, and the paths to any other resnode was very faar. Now i don't know if the solution is to have a resnode for every techpoint. At least with the current amount of technodes, i think that would be a solution. If there where more, i think it wouldn't be needed to have a resnode for all of them.
First of all thanks for this incredible map. It is so much fun to play!
I found another place where you can get stuck. You can fall down there and move when crouched but it's too low to get out. <img src="http://i.imgur.com/wWBWd.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
@Twiggeh: I encountered a marine who fell into the same whole as you, but he somehow managed to get back up. edit: concerning your post on top of the page
ok, did some commanding on both sides in this 20playergame
- Powernode and Crossroads: I´m pretty ok with the way it is now, this is no map for relocating, not for marines, not for aliens. Too keep the crossroads-rt, aliens have to build the hive as a minimum to guard the restower, which results in 40res spend. Marines need powerpack, as minimum, resulting in 30res, if im correct. Aliens get a healingstation for the 10resource-difference.
What i noticed is, its pretty hard for medpackspamming if you only have 3 full upgraded restowers, so at some point the battle over crossroads begins. Reloc to crossroads at the endgame for marines seems a valied way to shorten the distance, until pgs get implemented.
Implementing a Powernode in Cross would significantly increase the value, leading to lesser dogfights in surface and heliport.
And yeah, regarding Crevice - i think you're gonna have to put glass around that place, otherwise Lerks fly away so far you cant hit them and Skulks can run around on the skybox, it looks really weird.
btw, please remove the capslock from all the zone names, it doesnt look good at all. :(
<!--quoteo(post=1846626:date=May 17 2011, 12:41 AM:name=Twiggeh)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Twiggeh @ May 17 2011, 12:41 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1846626"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->And yeah, regarding Crevice - i think you're gonna have to put glass around that place, otherwise Lerks fly away so far you cant hit them and Skulks can run around on the skybox, it looks really weird.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I wouldn't change that area at the moment. We are planning on adding in some ways for the mappers to add invisible boundary walls to the maps, to keep Lerks and skulks contained, as our Docking map in development has some areas that are open to the outside like that as well.
<!--quoteo(post=1846680:date=May 17 2011, 06:18 AM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ May 17 2011, 06:18 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1846680"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I wouldn't change that area at the moment. We are planning on adding in some ways for the mappers to add invisible boundary walls to the maps, to keep Lerks and skulks contained, as our Docking map in development has some areas that are open to the outside like that as well.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, that would be quite easy. Just make an invisible, unwalkable texture/prop/entity/whatever and we're set to go.
McGlaspiewww.team156.comJoin Date: 2010-07-26Member: 73044Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Gold, Subnautica Playtester
From a gameplay standpoint that works just fine, but it would looked damned odd. I've never been a fan of the invisible walls, they just confuse players. most especially when they can see an area around them that looks ok to move around in.
Comments
I actually get significantly better performance (much less freezing) running around ns_summit than I do oany of the official maps. I wonder why that is?
Too huge, too large area so marine can fire you from very far. It's good, but not designed for this game at this state.
Performance was smooth as silk early/mid game (many said this), I've just discovered it's the heavy DI use which kills my framerate in NS2. Having a trail of DI for most of the game really felt like proper DI gameplay.
Had some excellent fights for the Crossroads hive, with proper teamplay required to take it down and an excellent opposition from the alien team (can't wait for the ARC). Res node defense duty is a requirement for marines, it takes quite a long time to reach them and they have to wait for a fragile stuck-prone MAC for repairs. Aliens can get an easier way out against ninja marines by using hydras, thus requiring more coordination from the marines to take their harvesters down (which feels great when accomplished).
Due to the larger areas, the fights seem way less chaotic and more like proper battles between 2 coordinated forces. Also, skulks can finally make proper use of the walls and ceiling. I had great fun wallwalking on this map, the walls feel way smoother and the alternating light/shadow use in some areas helps aliens successfully evade tracking more often during fights if marines don't have their flashlights on.
You might get some criticism regarding the size of the map, but with upcoming phase gates and after learning (and maybe adding/changing) some vents I think this will prove to become less of an issue. There are certainly areas which might use improvement (access on the outer ring for marines in Ventilation, or maybe moving that whole room layout to the alien side, some places where you get stuck or the unusable ladder). Overall, the map got much praise in the chat and I must agree to that fully.
Final words: UWE, please check this map out and consider making it official. :)
P.S. I'll probably add some annotations tomorrow for the few areas where I got stuck.
I've only watched NS2HD's video, but at some points its maybe a bit toooo cramped / too much going on? (He gets lost at some point!)
Very cool though :)
There are many places where a Marine could fall down into little nooks and what not and not have a way to get back up. Those same spots are great for all non-gorge alien players, but I'm worried it will inadvertently causes headaches for marines just moving around in a fire fight.
The vents seem like they aren't completed. I'm not referring to what's currently in place, but it seems like there should be more of them. In tram, you can cover some fairly long distances in vents without having to get out of the vent system.
I'll post more when I have more time to play with this and get a chance to actually play some games on it. Damned fine work pSyk0mAn!
P.S. I'll be adding this to the map rotation for the Team #156 East soon.
I'm glad people like it so far and especially that it is playable so far.
I won't adress any points being made right now, since there are just too many, but I read everything carefully.
Due to my current isp the NS2 server browser has some trouble finding servers at the moment (always the same 2 with high ping), so I'd appreciate a few more server ips, if you keep the map running so I can connect to via console and spectate some gameplay. Thanks!
<a href="http://www.play4dead.com/ns2/" target="_blank">http://www.play4dead.com/ns2/</a>
on the top, click on servers/players link
<a href="http://www.play4dead.com/ns2/" target="_blank">http://www.play4dead.com/ns2/</a>
on the top, click on servers/players link<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Wow, exactly what I was looking for, thanks!
I just want to recommend u test it on a low graphics card, may be u should tweak it.
And also Hive in heliport seems to be weak against distance shots by marines, or may be I'm wrong.
I think it is finished, yeah? :)
Its open and BIG, it has a lot of covers for BOTH teams, its totaly NS style.
I realy hope it gets official!
Good work psykoman you bring back the ns map feeling!
Could be a problem on the map or with the path-finding for MACs/Drifters, probably the UWE-guys could say if this is more map or engine-related (but i haven't seen this error on other maps before). It doesn't seem to actively affect the game though.
I've also failed to place a start-ip for marines, which apparently is giving them a hard time; sorry about that :/
I've also failed to place a start-ip for marines, which apparently is giving them a hard time; sorry about that :/<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thanks.
ANd I am curious, in the final version of this map, will that domed lighting from outside in the ALien Main hive have ambient lighting (as in voulmetric lighting?). If so, that rooms will be unbelievably gorgeous. Now we just wait on max to reimpliment good performing atmospherics.
Thanks once again for the map
So far i noticed that if you fall down here as a marine you're stuck and have to /kill yourself (luckily that happened to me when i only had the rifle so it wasnt really any loss :P)
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/812/2011051600001.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/2954/2011051600001.th.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/694/ns22011051616093042.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3811/ns22011051616093042.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
more than 20 people playing, great xD
fps achieved with this map are more than good
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/84/2011051600027.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1614/2011051600027.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/717/2011051600024.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/6217/2011051600024.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Found some bugs tho, like this texture misalignment just past VENTILATION :
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/860/2011051600005x.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/9162/2011051600005x.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
And these tubes are actually supposed to touch the ground, hence the curly bits at the bottom.. So it just looks weird when its hanging in the air, try switching for some other (i know there's a few versions of those tubes)
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/135/2011051600007.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/6467/2011051600007.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
If you fall down this hole in HELIPORT you get killed, please plug it up :
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/843/2011051600010.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/7647/2011051600010.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Not really a bug, but if you lower this pipe abit skulks could hide over it :
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/19/2011051600011.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9488/2011051600011.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
The rock ground around here in CROSSROADS looks way too flat, HL1-style.
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/714/2011051600014.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/2135/2011051600014.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Its possible to look behind the prop if you run up against the roof here in the path between XROADS and GENERATOR :
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/405/2011051600030.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3192/2011051600030.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Gameplay-wise the map was very balanced, i doubt you will have to do much tweaking to get it perfectly balanced.
Tho there wasnt any working powernode in XROADS, so marines have to put up a portable powernode to get the base going, is that intentional?
(because its really annoying, there's tons of hidingplaces for that pack and it can be hard as h*ll to find).
Thats it for now, gonna post more bugs as i find 'em.. And so far im LOVING the map psyko! I really hope this can be an official map one day!
4 techpoints is probably too few. It means that aliens need to get all techpoints on the game to have 3, and it seems like aliens will need 3 hives for certain tech.
It is very hard for aliens to get res nodes, at least with the current infestation system. They need to create very long paths, which can easily be destroyed by marines as soon as they have flamethrowers.
One problem when i'm not sure what the solution is:
I was playing on the alien side. We lost the initial hive, but built the one on surface access. the problem was, we had no res towers left, because surface access has none, and the paths to any
other resnode was very faar. Now i don't know if the solution is to have a resnode for every techpoint. At least with the current amount of technodes, i think that would be a solution. If there where more, i think it wouldn't be needed to have a resnode for all of them.
I found another place where you can get stuck. You can fall down there and move when crouched but it's too low to get out.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/wWBWd.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
@Twiggeh: I encountered a marine who fell into the same whole as you, but he somehow managed to get back up.
edit: concerning your post on top of the page
- Powernode and Crossroads:
I´m pretty ok with the way it is now, this is no map for relocating, not for marines, not for aliens.
Too keep the crossroads-rt, aliens have to build the hive as a minimum to guard the restower, which results in 40res spend.
Marines need powerpack, as minimum, resulting in 30res, if im correct.
Aliens get a healingstation for the 10resource-difference.
What i noticed is, its pretty hard for medpackspamming if you only have 3 full upgraded restowers, so at some point the battle over crossroads begins.
Reloc to crossroads at the endgame for marines seems a valied way to shorten the distance, until pgs get implemented.
Implementing a Powernode in Cross would significantly increase the value, leading to lesser dogfights in surface and heliport.
btw, please remove the capslock from all the zone names, it doesnt look good at all. :(
I wouldn't change that area at the moment. We are planning on adding in some ways for the mappers to add invisible boundary walls to the maps, to keep Lerks and skulks contained, as our Docking map in development has some areas that are open to the outside like that as well.
--Cory
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, that would be quite easy. Just make an invisible, unwalkable texture/prop/entity/whatever and we're set to go.