NS2_derelict_fixed
pSyk0mAn
Nerdish by NatureGermany Join Date: 2003-08-07 Member: 19166Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Community Developer
Nerdish by NatureGermany Join Date: 2003-08-07 Member: 19166Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Community Developer
Improvements to performance and gameplay of Derelict - WIP
UPDATE: Picked up the map again for further gameplay improvements. 5th techpoint and many more changes!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1110492476
publish_id = "4230c53c"
Always felt it's a shame that this map is so underplayed.
Loki did a fantasic job with the visuals, the gameplay geometry for skulk movement and overall mood of the map.
But performance is terrible, the map is a bit too dark and some techpoint locations are just too open and lack more cover for aliens.
So I'm trying to fix things.
Changelog:
-Improved/Fixed Occlusion Geo (still messy in some places, but seems to be working)
-Added some rocks and more Occlusion Geo to Glass Hallway / Biome area to improve performance
-Removed many lights from the low light quality option
-Made the map slightly brighter, if you use low quality light option
-Removed "inefficent" props in the map (as in props, which weren't needed to maintain look and detail)
-Removed some lights and lot of tree and plant props at Turbine and Heat Transfer (and yet theses places are still lagging as hell, damn those plants)
-Added two more pillars and another Truck into Garage
-Added more sandrocks into Geothermal to cover the hive
-Added more of those tarp thingies in Western Entrance
-Covered one of the windows in Plaza with moss, added a 3rd row of pipes, and scaled up the crate in the middle of Plaza
to block view for better ambushing and to improve performance
-Modified pathing mesh, so you can cyst across the broken bridge in Plaza
Still to do:
-Further improvements to performance and gameplay
-Fixing all those tiny cracks throughout the entire map
UPDATE: Picked up the map again for further gameplay improvements. 5th techpoint and many more changes!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1110492476
publish_id = "4230c53c"
Always felt it's a shame that this map is so underplayed.
Loki did a fantasic job with the visuals, the gameplay geometry for skulk movement and overall mood of the map.
But performance is terrible, the map is a bit too dark and some techpoint locations are just too open and lack more cover for aliens.
So I'm trying to fix things.
Changelog:
-Improved/Fixed Occlusion Geo (still messy in some places, but seems to be working)
-Added some rocks and more Occlusion Geo to Glass Hallway / Biome area to improve performance
-Removed many lights from the low light quality option
-Made the map slightly brighter, if you use low quality light option
-Removed "inefficent" props in the map (as in props, which weren't needed to maintain look and detail)
-Removed some lights and lot of tree and plant props at Turbine and Heat Transfer (and yet theses places are still lagging as hell, damn those plants)
-Added two more pillars and another Truck into Garage
-Added more sandrocks into Geothermal to cover the hive
-Added more of those tarp thingies in Western Entrance
-Covered one of the windows in Plaza with moss, added a 3rd row of pipes, and scaled up the crate in the middle of Plaza
to block view for better ambushing and to improve performance
-Modified pathing mesh, so you can cyst across the broken bridge in Plaza
Still to do:
-Further improvements to performance and gameplay
-Fixing all those tiny cracks throughout the entire map
Comments
Out of all the maps, theme wise, Derelict is my favorite.. but i never get to play on it =(
I hope the other 2 get to see some welcome mapping love as well.
There was an attempt to fix eclipse; the project is currently abandoned. The map ended up playing a bit better but it was never great. It doesn't help that eclipse uses a lot more props where other maps would use geometry, making it harder to change things. I think eclipse5 showed some promise, though. Wasn't that also psyk's project?
Their two main problems are:
-Late addition to mappool, when players were already familiar and happy with plenty of other maps. Learning a new map can be frustrating, when map knowledge is so important to victory.
-Maps aren't played in NSL; doesn't apply to Refinery, Mineshaft and Docking which were released way earlier
Both maps add diversity to the NS2 mappool with their look and gameplay, there will always be maps less played and maps not suited for competitive play.
Considering that even the most played maps have issues, especially with certain spawn-combinations, fixing some minor balance problems won't help much with the less played maps.
Athough Eclipse_five might be a nice variation of Eclipse, its layout is out of range to be considered a proper remake.
Anyway, I've done further performance improvements.
Basicly jumping and leaping through the map as skulk over and over with r_stats on and checking fps or feeling the lags.
Then I remove props or lights from low_lights where possible. Especially those derelict_vines props are very very baaaad props and there are a lot around Turbine.
I've also made a few improvements for skulks in some of those longer corridors to have some more cover spots.
Turbine primitives reduced from ~2 million to ~1 million at the toughest spots and that count is still one of the highest in the entire map.
The position of the readyroom is making trouble as expected, because it affects the fps in Glass Hallway, Biome and Western Entrance.
Maybe the whole readyroom area should be lowered even more...
I've also improved Nursery.
-Removed white lights above the carousels, because this room had too many distracting white lights and wasn't even bright.
-Added obstacles, created space between the vines and carousels for aliens (screenshot without decals) so they have a better chance to engage in that big, rather open room.
I thought about more vents tho, because this map is lacking vents compared to Summit. There aren't enough shortcuts for Aliens.
If that vent is too long, I could also make it from Biome to Plaza and then another one nearby from Plaza to Overlook. Maybe better that way..
-Another vent exit from Garage to Turbine near Admin. Right now that corridor is awfully long and the vent doesnt help much, because one Marine can cover both corridor and vent exit.
-Removal of the vent exit from Garage into Admin, because it's too easy for Aliens to baserush marines in Garage and the other exit into Alley/Overlook is good enough to flank/bypass. The new vent exit in Turbine/Admin from Garage would make up for this.
-Added vent from Biome/Lookout to Plaza
-Added vent from Plaza to Admin/Overlook
-Added a second vent exit in Turbine
-Replaced some glass pipes with solid ones in Glass Hallway, so aliens can hide on top
-Slightly moved the hanging grating tile blocking the glass hole in Geotherme, so aliens can move around on all sides
-More general improvements, yada yada
I honestly have no idea if this is a problem in practice, though. Derelict gets played so rarely.
I put some more stuff into Western Entrance, but it's still too open and high and there is barely any cover for aliens to get up to the ceiling from the hive. I thought about some tarp thingie hanging from the ceiling half loose.
Atmospheric Seeding seems to be rather ok, but I still think it's the worst starting hive right now, because it lacks some kind of connection/vent from the right exit Botany to the left res-room Biome.
Also the Garage-Alley went needs to be wider and rebuild. Aliens can't pass other aliens in those tight tubes.
Nevertheless it is at least a minor problem, but I don't see any elegant ways to increase traveltime.
For now I've made the entrance from Plaza into Nursery less wide, so marines have to expose themselves more to harass the harvester.
I'm thinking about a vent from the right exit of Atmospheric to Biome to improve the situation for aliens starting in Atmospheric. Faster rotation from Nursery to Biome without using open Plaza. Exit on the higher level of Biome, so it doesn't decrease travel time from Atmospheric to Plaza, to increase the usage of this higher level in combat. Usable by aliens and marines from both sides except onos and exo, so it's not too easy to baserush marines in Atmospheric.
It's a bit like the vent from Comp Lab to Ventilation in Summit.
Check it out on Thirsty Onos or Woozas !
I think a crashed train might work
How could I miss the most elegant way to do this!
Anyway, Imho Plaza is an integral part of the map the way it looks and plays, and I can't think of anyway to block the whole middle part that doesn't look artifical or needs so much detailing that fps go down again. Putting something in there and maybe adding another u-turn walkthrough on the opposite side of Administration should be a last resort, if the map was failing completely.
I'd rather have something done with the exits in Plaza on both sides. Like blocking the broken bridge entrance from the front to increase traveltime. Not a fan of this either tho.
I've added a few more decals to the new vent exit in Biome for better visuals,
removed more stuff from commander view,
fixed a few more holes and misaligned textures,
and widened the outer walls of Infested Corridor, so aliens can use the wall pillars for cover when charging through that rather long corridor.
I'm happy with the additions for now, every hive room got its necessary additional cover spots and vents, so now the map just needs playtesting and getting more popular.
Recommend it to your fellow, local server admin, spread the word!
-Fixed a few ambient sunlights, which were affected by power
-Slightly decreased the size of the pipes above Geothermal
-Added a broken pipe section inbetween to make it harder for bilebombing gorges to hide
-Highlighted the top of the ladders so new players hopefully realize more quickly how to get up there
-Adjusted surrounding rocks so players can get up on the pipes via the rocks, too
-Removed a lot more ceiling geo and props from commander view, especially around Administration.
Should be easier to drop medpacks now
-Updated the minimap on the loading screen
I think the only way you're going to get an answer to that is to discuss it with the devs on discord tbh.
SILENCE.
-Added 5th techpoint in the middle of the map in Admin
-Moved res node in Admin
-More cover, thicker trees and other improvements to Plaza
-Moved Nursery res node to Flooded Biodome
-Added a few more cover spots here and there
Still planned:
-Another route/exit from Geothermal to Flooded Biodome to nerf that chokepoint and ARC spot
-A vent from Botany to Flooded Biodome to improve that natural for Atmospheric Seeding
-An alternative route from Garage to Turbine nearby that broken Elevator (kinda short, tight L-corridor)
-Some improvements to Infested Corridor
Still gonna add that vent or maybe move the res node somewhere around the corner from Nursery to Botany.
Surprisingly Atmospheric has the highest winrate on Derelict, that's why I tried the Flooded Biodome RT first.
-Added vent between Flooded and Botany
-Added additional route between Garage and Turbine
-Added additional route between Geothermal and Flooded
-Widened Infested Corridor and improved movement/combat
also broke the right yellow railing at the right entrance for more fluid gameplay.
-Added kinda vent between Glass Hallway and Biome (Thanks Meph!)
-Added ladder at the pipe tower in Plaza and tipped over the tree a bit more so you can walk up on it
-Changes to Geothermal to improve that messy area around the powernode and the pipe towers. Should be able to get up faster without ladder, more space, etc.
-Moved Flooded Biodome RT back to Nursery.
1/ not sure if it has been mentionned before, but having two power point in center in the map is a pain in the ass for marines...
2/ Also not sure about 5 hive layout, even if summit/biodome are popular doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Maybe just a double node instead (And in that case don't care about 1/ !)