OK heres my "detailed" review of the map astetically (as Ive got no idea how it plays). Note that im viewing all of this through CS:S with maximum settings and HDR fully enabled:
Good stuff:
-Great job just putting all the effort in. I dont think ANY custom map for Source has had this kind of effort put into it.
-The layout looks solid (havent played it with people though so not entirely sure how it'd play).
-Graphically its quite nice (but theres some bad stuff aswell).
-Nice overview map, but it couldve been better with some alpha maps giving it some see-through-ness
Bad/Needing improvement stuff:
-Theres no map description! Its just blank.. wouldve only taken a few minutes to type up, but I guess you forgot/didnt know.
-Theres no location places under the radar, but you probably didnt know how to do it or just forgot. Im guessing the nav file is just generated without being edited then aswell? From what ive quickly seen the bots play the map strictly OK, as they get stuck in a few places.
-The grass doesnt really fit. It looks more like slime with HDR than grass.. The leaves from vines and the trees dont match its color, either.
-The HDR is way overdone. Things are almost whitend out, and the shifts between dark and bright are too great for an MP map at times.
-Since you can get onto the roofs, it seems as if people would get annoyed when killed by someone camping inside a tree who is barely visible. Turtle Rock also had this problem when creating cs_militia, and to counter it they took collisions off the branches of the trees so the player couldent camp on them.
-The map is awefully loud.. I know this this must partially be caused by the fact that we cannot create custom soundscapes for CS:S (we can only alter existing ones, but it doesnt work always), but some stuff really shouldent be so loud and repetitive. The dog barking and the birds chirping sound like theyre right behind you at all times, and that cat is just so noticable that it gets repetitive
REALLY fast. It definetly doesnt help that whether indoors or out, the sounds still play.. It might have been better to not have the sounds play everywhere, and only in certain spots.
Continued: After playing the first round, all the sounds disappeared. Its now too quiet, as theres no sounds being played.. none! Did you not use any soundscapes? Also I should mention that if you BSPZIP sounds into the BSP, the sounds wont work for anyone except the host, and thats only if he plays off the computer which is hosting the server.
-The fog used in the map starts way too soon and is too thick for a cloudless day. Granted, it might be 100 degree F weather, but theres really no kind of fog which would happen to be so thick in the map setting. The huge tower in the map just sticks out way too much because of the fog turning it white-ish, while the skybox almost turns entirely white in places.. HDR might be contributing to it, but its still too much fog. Fog should be light.
-The maps FPS seemed rather low, but this is probably because of the gargantuan amounts of models (almost as much as Militia). Im sure there couldve been some further optimization.
-Speaking of optimization, some of the fade distances seem to be set too low. Models would disappear really quickly at short distances frequently, but it was probably done to boost FPS. More FPS is always necessary in a map which has this much stuff in it, so I cant blame you for this as its practical.
-Stairways should have had clip brushes placed over them so that players would "float" up the stairs instead of bounce up and down when acending/decending. Alot of players find it annoying as it effects their aim, and it just makes the map smoother when running around in it.
-Some models acted very wierd. Some would spin wildly, some would disappear when shot and some would roll really awkwardly.
-You have some invisible water in the fountains, but im not sure if you wanted it this way or not (as im sure adding water would make FPS nosedive), but its a bit wierd hearing water when you cant see it.
Continued: Just realized the water isnt invisible, but only can be noticed through spectator mode. I dont think its very FPS friendly..
-There are some bushes which the player can completely hide in and still see the path the enemy would travel on. Not sure if you want this kind of cover availible, but alot of people would find it cheap when they get killed by someone they cant see while that person can see them easily.
-Pieces of geometry have lighting errors (pitch black faces).
-Not everything is prop_physics_multiplayer (although this might have been purposely done).
-Inside the church there is a window at the very back of it which actually shows some of the map disappearing from view through the glass (because of visleafs). Thats a major graphical glitch.
-The lighting isnt very nice when indoors. Player models turn pitch black in places and it looks very strange.
-I can already see this is a big gameplay problem:
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1899/d ... 0002pf.jpg
The players view height is exactly at that wooden bar, so if shooting straight they only hit the wood, and wont be able to see the enemy well at all (and much less be able to hit them)
-Just noticed that theres actually a 3D skybox tree inside the actual map :L
-Theres also quite a few faces which should have been nodrawed, but arent.
-Theres a hole in a wall which you can crawl through (its behind a bunch of bushes), and you can see out into the void when youre up close as the model doesnt line up with the geometry.
-The player can get caught on alot of the pottery. Those flower pottery models should have been debris so that the player can walk through them, as if the player walks on top of them, he goes flying in the direction he was running..
I know theres more stuff that I missed, but overall its a quality map. I really doubt itll be played much, though. The filesize is just completely impractical for a custom map, but im sure there will still be a few who play. Absolutely no way of getting the map off a server doesnt help, though.
My scoring:
Mapping: 6/10
Modelling: 9/10
Textures: 9/10
Style: 8/10
Gameplay: ?/10
I have to say that this map proves that tons of custom content doesnt really make that great map. Theres tons of mapping problems, both in construction setup (that bar being in the face of a player who wants to shoot someone being the best example) and the techical setup.
I say you should stick to modelling, as the mapping needs alot of improvement. But again, great work. If youre after a job, youll get it most likely.
by hessi on Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:58 pm 
