[PROTOTYPE] DM-Mall

[Tertaros]

Hello everyone,
this thread is about my DM-MAP Mall53 its supposed to be a around 4-6 Player Death match Map.
Like the name inclines the Map plays in a futuristic Mall on a space station in **SPACE**.
For that I am aiming for an clean Sci-Fi look.

Right now the it's just a blockout without any materials.
In general I am quite happy with the layout but I think item placement can still be quite improved.

ANY SORT OF FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED!
Updated 30/01/2017:
-Updated the Pak file : https://www.dropbox.com/s/hfj8k8t7mh...ditor.pak?dl=0
-Added an showcasing video for my level: https://vimeo.com/200812433

Updated 22/01/2017:
-Lower level parts are completely decorated
-Added some lenseflare.


Updated 18/12/2016:
DOWNLOAD LINK: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hfj8k8t7mh...ditor.pak?dl=0

Update 18/12/2016:





Finished several models and Placed them all in a hallway for testing.

Update 04/12/2016:


I continued to work on my level I made some tillable floor and Wall materials which I am testing still a bit I would like to have something with Vertex Painting for some direct localization in the end but still gotta look into that a bit.


I also blocked out a hallway of the more underground part of my level.


Here are some current screenshots:

[Tertaros]

Materials + Hallway Blockout

Hello everyone,
since last week I started working on some materials for my level for now they are just floor and wall textures.
For These materials I added some small scratch/rust/stain generation. I am not sure if this is going to be my final material though since I aspire an more cleaner look in the end.
I am also looking into some Vertex Painting right now for better localization, my scratch/stain/rust generation is only to a certain extend random and certain areas seem to tile about too much.

Another thing I worked on is a block out with some more basic meshes of an Hallway. The Hallway though is part of the smaller underground area of my level so will not represent the entire look of the level.
I just preferred to start with an more separated and straightforward part for my level.

If any of you have any remarks and advice please let me now !

[ConradJustin]

I felt like a Pacman playing on your map! Made it a personal challenge to collect all health on the map.... Vials are literally everywhere!In short: Top is a bit too opened, bottom a bit to maze-like, reduce amount of health on the map, add some interesting geometry and try not to overthink the textures and details. Usually the simplier the better! Good luck with the map!

Try to think of your map as not yours. Get into players perspective while testing it and by that I mean try to pretend that you don't know the layout and geometry of your map. As you run it ask yourself questions like: Where this path might lead me?, where I am?, have I been here before? Where would I look for a weapon A (B/C/D) ?How do I get up there? Usually every area in DM has its purpose in the gameplay, for example one room might serve a purpose of keeping 50 armor in it, that corridor might be a fastest path between sniper rifle and flak, this area is a trap, and that room has plenty of ammo and powerup in it... So try to perhaps make a top down view drawings of each storey of your mall to figure out what is the purpose of each room and corridor. Test your map for lines of sight. If there are very long ones: Ask yourself "Do I really want them?" Its not fun when someone shoots you from a very long distance, but at the same time your map has sniper in it so... but it's harder to climb the ramps up then down so you have to assume most action on your map will take place on the bottom, but on the bottom there is a labyrinth, where rocket launcher and flak will be the most powerful weapons.... How do I balance those areas? Do I cut lines of sight on top and open up the areas on bottom or perhaps make it easier for players to reach the top? " Do I position weapons where they are mostly needed or do I create separated areas around main hall, each containing unique weapon?" "How do I make sure players can navigate my map quickly , without any problems?" You see where I am going with it? Don't feel discouraged. Anwsering those questions is very difficult!

I hope it was somewhat helpful, I didn't make any screenshots for you made plenty of those in the first post. That meshed corridor tells me you know what you are doing and this map will get only better.

[ÐutchSmºke]

Thank you for share'n your works with us Tertaros!

[Tertaros]

Hallway Update + New Pak File

Hello again,
First of all thanks @ConradJustin for the feedback, is very appreciated. I am looking into this for now I reduced the Health pickups in the level I will restructure it a in the coming holidays.

In the meantime I worked a bit on some more on on the basic models, by enhancing the models and unwrapping them.

With these models then I finished my blockout hallway.
I modified a bit some of the already included Smoke/Water Drop particles of Unreal Tournament to help with the mood.
It has still many mistakes like pipes not perfectly fitting each other, missing corner pieces and no collision for the meshes but I am quite happy with the look so far.


The hallway is included in the new Pak file I made so anyone can check it out for some more mistakes ^^.

As always any feedback is appreciated

[ÐutchSmºke]

Appreciate the update Tertaros! Loaded onto the LoPing Arena for your enjoyment.

[Tertaros]

Hello everyone,
it has been now around a month since my last post holidays and exams kept me away from the project for a while.

Now I can share some progress, I finished decorating the lower parts of my level, now I can focus more on the other side which is still quite basic.
For that I still have to model a few extra meshes.

I also added some lenseflares to my lights I tried to keep it kinda subtle but not really sure about that tell me what you think about it .

Also thank you [MENTION=213318]DutchSmoke[/MENTION] for putting it on a server really gotta try it out.

[vst22]

Hey Tertaros,

I got to play around your map for a bit and I must say that I had a lot of fun! I ended my match with 60+ kills which is a nice change of pace from other maps. I did run across some issues when I was playing through your map though. I will put what I thought could be some room for improvement, but these are all just my opinions.

-I know this map is still a WIP, but the lack of ammo packs around the map made it a hassle at times to find new weapons, usually leading me to die with only an enforcer in my hand.
-I feel that the armor and berserker powerup could use some rework on their placement, multiple times I was able to get both power ups with getting penalized or making me work for it, I just simply had to hop over a bridge.
-Sniper rifle on the second floor has kind of a weird placement, it takes so much work to get that sniper rifle, while the sniper rifle on the top floor you can just walk and pick up. Therefore, I very rarely found my self trying to even get the sniper rifle on the lower floor.
-Spawns are pretty good, but sometimes I would spawn and not be able to find my self a weapon without having to walk some ways.
-I feel that having 2 armor power ups next to the bio rifle is kinda wonky.
-I how most of the fighting on the map is in the pit area of the map, it made going down there risky, but if you had the right power ups and weapons, it was a free kill fest for you down there. I feel that you can do so much with the pit area rather than just leaving it as a simple walk space.
-I got to see some of the meshing done on the underground portion of your map, it looks great! I don't know if you intend on having the static meshes pushed past the BSP's but making the hallways smaller like that can affect the overall design.


These were just some of my overall opinions of the map. Overall, I loved playing it and I will keep my eye on this map. Best of luck to you! ^_^

[Tertaros]

Hello everyone,
A big update from me, I presented my level as part of a project last week so I have now a lot to show.

-I updated the pak file to the latest version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hfj8k8t7mh...ditor.pak?dl=0

-I also did a small video showcasing parts of my level: https://vimeo.com/200812433


I did for that a lot of the upper surface designs although I am not that happy with it, I think its noticeable that it was rushed in the end and is still too empty. My initial goal of the level was to have this split between the industrial area beneath and the civil one above, which I don't think I managed yet so I am thinking of turning the upper part as well into an industrial one, if somebody has an opinion about that please tell me.
The level has still some errors most notably the roof still has some overlapping UV which made some problems in the light bake.
I will try to address these next.

Also [MENTION=306415]vst22[/MENTION] I will try to apply your feedback in my next updated .

[ÐutchSmºke]

Thank you for the update Tertaros!