by mookie on Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:17 pm
First screenshot, the ceiling looks much too low, because of how close it comes to the archway. That probably can be fixed by making the archway thinner, since it looks to wide anyway. It needs more vertices, especially around the outside. It looks like you've got big lighting problems here too, maybe using a single arch to make this instead of three will at least clear that up on the inside. Best would probably be to make it a model or lose it entirely. This hallway looks too dead and open, probably because it's too wide. It may be OK, since I think you're backed into the corner of the map here. You could probably push some areas of the right wall 64 units into the hallway though, creating some non-crate hard cover here, and add some depth to the map by adding dummy doors (or anything) to the recessed areas. The ceiling is bad with the dark grey on the upper walls. You should find a way to fill the entire wall with one texture, or make the area above the moulding match the ceiling. Also, having the moulding run into the archway is not a good look. I'm not sure about the texture you used, but a lot of textures have versions with and without trims and moulding, so you might be able to shift the texture to have the moulding reach the ceiling, then just switch the bottom half of the wall to an alternate texture so you don't have a black line running two feet off the ground.
Second screenshot, the columns are fat and ugly. A rule of thumb is that the height be six or seven times the width of the footprint, here it looks like three or four. The concrete texture here is not a good choice, something in a smooth but noisy stone, or painted, would probably be better. You don't need a reverse-capital on the bottom, all it really does is force you to stand a little further away from the column, making it slightly less useful as cover. Circular might be a bit much to ask for here (and considering the theme of the map) but you might try clipping off all four corners (like a piece of paper in the new Battlestar Galactica) to see how that looks. I'm not sure what's behind the doorway here, but it might be more interesting to increase the number of columns and create a second door.
Third screenshot, either you messed up the light entities around the lamps on the top floor, or they need some non-default cubemaps very badly (possibly both). It looks like these lamps are getting lit from above. A lot of times it's necessary to have a light_spot to cast the cone of light, and then a weak light to cast light up onto the prop. The roof of this building is visually very weak, and since there's a stairway going up there you definitely need to do something. Obviously also, the void that is the edge of the map will need to be filled before this area begins to look complete. The little stairways here (and also in the first screenshot) don't seem to fit in visually, both in terms of texture (too light, and tiles) and the rounded corners. They take up a lot of space on the ground, because the slope is very shallow (2:3 is usually good for stairways, but these look more like 1:3) and they are wider than necessary where they get to a doorway. The columns here look very strange. Normally even columns that are completely decorative give the illusion that they are supporting something, here they actually poke up above the floor. Also, it looks odd to have them sloped on the corners, but straight vertical where they touch the wall.
Fourth screenshot, not too much going on here. The number of ladders visible in one view is absurd (I count 8, but it's dark so there might be more), and highlights a design problem with the map: too many ladders. Bots have problems with them, players get stuck on them by accident, players go up then slide off the side and take fall damage. Having a ladder stuck to pretty much every wall takes a lot away from one of the main feature of a vertical level, which is there are a lot of one-way trips. If you're above someone you can just jump on them, but if they want to get to you they have to go around. With this many ladders, the whole outside area is not much different from a flat area, with the downside of a lot more navigation obstacles.
Fifth screenshot, the foot of this colonnade/concrete block doesn't look good, the columns should get to the ground, or shouldn't be flush to the edge of the block they're standing on. I can't see the billboard very well, but the lightglows on top of it look unnecessary. The curbing around the ground where this screenshot is taken also seems unnecessary, and out of place.
Sixth screenshot, the building straight ahead, as well as the walls on both sides, highlight that the ambient light needs to be turned up. These areas are close to pitch black.
The texture selection overall seems too diverse from a small type: dirty and worn down. The number of different dirty and stained concrete textures is too high. They don't really match each other, and the effect is like dressing up in four different shades of black. Try to make each building exterior consistent with itself, and don't use the same texture type (concrete, brick, metal) twice on the same building unless the two textures contrast strongly, or, ideally, are different versions of the same texture.
Looks like a nice design overall, although maybe too small to go much over 5x5.
"When you mess up, it makes me feel better about me." -- Vince Masuka
