UT3 UT3 Custom Map Pack

Looks good, I'll try them!

I'm not so sure, in the 2nd screenshot you got like 1000 light sources yet it's really dark. And the third screenshot has way too many of those asian lanterns and 0 color variation. 1st one looks abit more interesting though, might try it out once I get home.

I agree that the maps look too monochromatic. Some color variations within each one would be nice, even if they are not bold colors.

For the second one, I would suggest reducing the number of light sources. If you want lights running the full height of the pillars, then perhaps a thin neon line would work better. Right now it is a little hard on the eyes.

I like the feel of the third one, but Thrallala is right that there are too many lights. I would remove most of the upper wall lights. This will make the ceiling tend to fade into darkness and give a sense of depth. If it makes the ceiling too dark, you could add a few dim, large-radius point lights. You could also remove a few of the post lights and make them a slightly different color from the wall lights.

From the screenshots, I think with a few tweaks they all have potential to be really good maps. I'll download them and let you know if I have any additional comments.

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Jesse (SuperAlgae) Banet
DM-HardFall .. download and screenshots

The first one definately looks the best

b r y o n,

I gave all three a try. They all have a similar "intertwined ramps" kind of design. It seems to work out pretty well except in terms of framerate.

You have large open areas with a lot of meshes visible at once. With my setup, Epic's DM maps rarely drop below 40 fps, but these three maps often drop to between 20 and 30 fps. To help this, you can simply reduce the number of meshes in some cases. For example, remove some of the lamps in the third map. In other cases it might require more rework to do things like block visibility. In general, try to give a strong impression of detail and variation while using no more meshes (particularly ones with high poly counts) than necessary. In areas where framerate is not a problem, you can keep the mesh count higher but still try to get bang for your buck in terms of detail. Repeating the same mesh a lot adds polygons but does not make the map as interesting as having more variation.

If you adjust the lighting, that can go a long way towards adding interest without needing so much physical detail. I mentioned the lighting for the third map in my previous post. Once I played it, I saw that the ceiling already fades into darkness a little, but I think you can take it further. In regard to the first map, I noticed some places where the lighting did not match the light fixtures. Also, having the lights embedded in the walkways as a primary source of light could make your work more difficult. You might want to consider have other primary light sources and making the embedded lights be dimmer accent lights.

I like that you are trying out some triggers as with the first map. If done well, such special features can make the map stand out.

I hope this helps.

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Jesse (SuperAlgae) Banet
DM-HardFall .. download and screenshots

I think the issue with framerate is due to the fact that you are using triggerable lights instead of standard ones, not the number of meshes. Replace the lights with standard pointlights or spotlights and try building again...

sorry, this is pretty offtopic, but Slainchild's avatar made me lmao xD

Slainchild said:

I think the issue with framerate is due to the fact that you are using triggerable lights instead of standard ones, not the number of meshes. Replace the lights with standard pointlights or spotlights and try building again...

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Good catch. I did not notice he was using toggleable lights everywhere. I thought it was just the first map.

b r y o n said:

SuperAlgae:
i highly appreciate the prompt and detailed input.

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No problem. Plenty of others on the forums have provided helpful feedback on my own work, and I'm glad to pass on the favor.

As Slainchild mentioned, only use a toggleable light if you plan to actually toggle it, and try to keep those to a minimum. The effect of the light switches in the first map is a little too much. Almost everything goes black. You can make such effects more limited, perhaps focused around a power-up. I think this will work better for gameplay and also help the framerate.

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Jesse (SuperAlgae) Banet
DM-HardFall .. download and screenshots

Yes, definitely include bot pathing (I assume this is what you mean by pathnodes) with the updates.

How soon is soon?

Could anyone mirror that? FileFront breaks up my download midway. God, I hate that hoster.

Delacroix said:

Could anyone mirror that? FileFront breaks up my download midway. God, I hate that hoster.

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Maybe try FDM. Could help against that break-download-issue.

Actually it was FDM that failed me. I tried Internet Explorer and finally made it. Thing is FudgeFront is VERY picky about letting you resume the download that breaks. And I lack tolerance for such filehosters as this one.

I guess you're using my definition of "soon"...a year or so.

If anyone can provide any halo xexs with map checks removed it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Complex