Monastery XL | Quadropolis

shadow | 2011-02-09 00:19

Monastery XL

[

points ]

(6 votes)

This content requires the Development Branch of the game it was designed for, which can only be obtained from the SVN repository. If you do not understand this, you should wait until the next release of the game to download this content.

Blurb Originally made for the Eisenstern RPG and converted partially to Sauer for CTF, will you give this orphaned map a home?

Screenshot Monastery XL

Get original file (87KB)

Detailed description

After my ill-fated Monastery map was released, I expanded it with the intent to set it up for use with the Eisenstern RPG, which was in development at the time. Recently found on an abandoned HDD, I played around with it in an attempt to make it suitable for CTF. Unfortunately, its organic development lead to a labyrinthine map that could only be fun if everyone knew the layout by heart. I'm releasing it here, unfinished as an artistic map in case some pieces are of any use to anyone - or just to explore. As this ancient castle was built over many centuries, spanning several architectural styles, so have I grown as a mapper making it.

Note:
It's technically usable as is for CTF, although it could use a ton more ammo (I only added a little to test). It needs more playerstarts to be usable for DM, as there is only one not set to a team. This exists merely as a curiosity, but if anyone really wants to fix it up and repost it, you have my blessing.

Map file Monastery XL.zip (1.66 MB)

Rating

points

(6 votes)

Comments

Suicizer | 2011-02-09 15:51

That the map's intent was to be a rpg map is pretty logical.
Anyone who will try to make a proper ctf map of it is a fool.
Why he/she/it will be a fool? Since:
- Almost the intire map should be retextured.
- The cfg could be pimped (the last part is pretty messy with several textures wich are showed up already).
- Lighting should be rechecked, even tough that the less worse of all points.
- Geometry is a disaster. It has huge mistakes in it and will take ages to take them all out.
- Detail isn't existing in this map anymore. Maybe because the original map probably has been made somewhere 3 years ago, if I'm not mistaking. That time we never heard of gridsize up to 1/512, but only 1/128...
- Flow should be improved. Spiral staircases aren't succesfull if multiplied used. Up to only 1 or 3/4 turn it is efficient (based on a pretty smal radius).
- Gameplay should be improved. Like said above, tons of pickups are missing. The map also lacks more gameplay entities.
- Clipping/noclipping should be rechecked again.

I wish the person who tries good luck...

P.S.
I won't give any points at all, since I won't call an modified official map (even tough of the same creator) that's not even done, "art" like an "artistic" map should be...

shadow | 2011-02-09 16:46

I'm not sure I agree with your definition of art. It was created organically based on my whims at the time, with personal aesthetics being the main factor in what I built. I'm pretty sure that can be categorized under artistic. Feel free to judge it (or not) based on that. I'm also not sure I understand your point about detail being nonexistant, as there are plenty of little touches in the map that I would consider details. There is no need to use the smallest gridsize for a map to have "detail". I'm also not sure where the geometry "mistakes" are, or why the entire map should be retextured; would you care to elaborate? The "repeat" textures in the cfg are at different offsets so they could be used on geometry that doesn't perfectly line up with the grid. Adding pickups and clipping is also pretty trivial.

That said, I agree that the biggest issue with this map is flow. The spiral staircases don't help, but a bigger problem is the unplanned nature of the layout. The map would need to be completely remade with a new layout while keeping the setpieces and tone. My intent in uploading this, however, wasn't necessarily for someone to fix it for me, but to offer inspiration or specific architectural set pieces for someone else's unique creations. Or perhaps to just have something to wander around.

Suicizer | 2011-02-09 19:55

I won't call this map art just because I could put a newmap on quadropolis and tell it's artistic. I hope you get what I mean now, an unfinished map wich was intented to be finished shouldnt get called art.

Why retexturing 0.0? Because the textures are really messed up. The floor-texture on the 2nd floor of the original monastery is just the default "newmap texture".
We got ingame commands for texturing since justice edition. Of course this doesn't count for the shadersettings, but for position or appearing (like size, color or scroll) we don't have to put textures twice in a cfg anymore. It's fine if you still want to do that. I won't stop you. It only gives a cleaner map config and works faster.

Hmm, true there are some details in it, but those details aren't matching the standarts of other maps today.

I know it's just for inspiration and can be more considered as a conceptual map...

Chasester_aka_you | 2011-02-09 20:25

Putting layout aside:

I looked at a the picture and got exicited, a map that actually looks good. I was greatly disappointed. The map looks nothing like the picture, maybe this is just me, but I see all kinds of random textures everywhere. On the spot i spawned i saw the nontexture. You config file is extremely messy and need fix, and some thing i found extremely odd was the train track? WTF?

here are some picture of your map that could be problematic

here

chasester

RaZgRiZ | 2011-02-09 21:20

"Unfinished as an artistic map in case some pieces are of any use to anyone - or just to explore"

PERIOD people. He didn't request critique or your opinion on how things should be done. He tried fixing this map for release, but decide to release it here in case it would be of any use to anyone who feels like they could make something based on this.

If you don't understand this, get the hell out.

Suicizer | 2011-02-09 23:58

I did get, since my first comment was actually ment to warn people that get the crazy idea in mind to pimp this map.
I once did such thing either with an unofficial map (I do had permission to do so), the result was nice (exept I couldn't get the lighting just as I wanted. Maybe lack of experience that day...) but wasn't efficient against the time and work I had spend in it.

I'm busy at the moment with a ctf-map wich will be truly unique against any other sauebraten map.
I started the project on 4 October 2010 and currently only the geometry, flow and gameplay are countable (even tough I'm already busy with adding some details into the geometry) and those points aren't even done.

My point is, you can always better do it by your own than counting on someone else's work. If you start from scratch, you know perfectly how the map is shaped after you finished a creation...

Chasester_aka_you | 2011-02-09 22:54

seeming from an artistic standpoint it seems that his texturing has problems

shadow | 2011-02-10 08:15

Ah, I see what is wrong here. I mistakenly listed the map as being compatible with the last major release (Justice Edition), while it is only compatible with the SVN version of Sauerbraten. The SVN version has new textures that take up slots in the cfg, causing other textures to be messed up if they are missing. I've corrected the node. Sorry for any confusion.

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