Dm_Island17 - Final

[mazemaster]

I haven't really posted on these forums before, but I lurk around, and I figured I'd post my map here.

I have released the final version of Dm_Island17. This is my Valve Map Contest entry.

Download mirrors:
http://www3.hmc.edu/~nalger/dm_island17.zip
http://users.seascape.uk.net/~mazemaster/dm_island17.zip
http://files.filefront.com/DM___Island17/;3787730;;/fileinfo.html

Map Info:
Dm_Island17 is based on an Island off the coast of the Highway17 wasteland. The map is fast paced and offers many layers of vertical gameplay - from the sandy beach at sea level up to the lighthouse on the top of a cliff. Underground tunnels add another way to get around the map.

The map is smaller than it seems and plays best with 6-15 players. In addition, I have put a lot of time into optimising the map to produce maximum fps.

Screenshots (images are NOT edited besides scaling down to 800x600):

 

[MilkMan12]

looks great and no offense but looks a lot like 3d mikes myst map thingy

 

[satch919]

I like it. Looks like its good quality stuff. :thumbs:

 

[mazemaster]

No connection to 3D Mike's map. By the time 3D Mike released his first screenshots of Avalon this map was already 80% done. Although the texture set for the cliffs is similar, the style is quite different - Dm_Island17 is a lot less fantasy-themed.

 

[Dasparov]

It should be awesome, what about fps?

 

[poseyjmac]

looks very nice.

*edit after running through map*
the framerate is pretty low in many places unfortunately. its a shame maps with this kind of layout can never run with good framerate.

 

[Smeg]

That looks great I'll have to play it later when i'm not at work

 

[DoctorGordon]

Excellent looking

 

[nvrmor]

i have a beefy system and it was chugging. and when you go out in the water you die. when you respawn you can still hear the water. looks nice though, good layout.

 

[Ren.182]

It lags becuase of the amount of water around the island, i think.
I had that trouble when the map was based on water in the CS: S map, Ship fight.

 

[Uni-Ball]

It looks so good but it prolly runs so bad....

 

[mazemaster]

It runs pretty spiffy on my wuss GeForce 2 MX. Actually runs faster than lockdown. Of course my water is opaque so.... Anyways the playtesters with DX8 and DX9 computers said the FPS was pretty good after I did some optimizations, so all of you guys saying FPS is poor is kind of a shock. If you could give me some numbers about what system you have and what FPS you usually get I would appreciate that. Perhaps even a +showbudget breakdown? Thanks.

 

[perrkele]

2.3ghz xp-m, 512mb ddr450 and a 6800GT here.

I ran around your map by myself for a bit with all settings maxed out and with 4xAA/8xAF and this is what I got:

-Generally running around on the edges of the middle part of the map, just above beach level: 60-80fps.

-On the beach: ~100fps

-On the beach looking towards the inner island: 25-40fps

-In the middle of the map: 50-60fps

-Inside the buildings: 100-200fps

-On top of the lighthouse looking down: 40fps.

I hope that helps. Overall I'd say it ran really well for me. Basically I got bad fps only when I'm at the beach looking across the map, which is understandable due to pretty much the whole map being visible at the same time.

Oh and btw, seems like a great map too! :thumbs:

 

[Smeg]

2.6GHZ 1024 ram ati 9600XT

generally stays between 30-45 fps. Indoors fps is alot higher.

From the lighthouse about 25-30 fps.

Looks great though, very well thought out.

Although this is with outlook and other applications open cos i was busy doing work lol.

Possibly dip the beach in the water down at a slant, that way you don't use as much water and it looks more realistic from the lighthouse.

I also noticed some of the green textures linking to rocks, you can see a black line inbetween them, not sure if that's just a bug or the textures is slightly small. :|

Overall, very nice looking map, only tested with 1 other person, but i'm sure it would be ideal for 6.

Mind if i host this map on my website?

 

[nvrmor]

It runs pretty spiffy on my wuss GeForce 2 MX. Actually runs faster than lockdown. Of course my water is opaque so.... Anyways the playtesters with DX8 and DX9 computers said the FPS was pretty good after I did some optimizations, so all of you guys saying FPS is poor is kind of a shock. If you could give me some numbers about what system you have and what FPS you usually get I would appreciate that. Perhaps even a +showbudget breakdown? Thanks.

sorry i went back in and realised i had everything maxed for some screenies. when i said it was chugging it was set at everything high reflect all, 6xaa, 16xaf at 1600x1200.

lowered to 1280x1024 4xaa, 8xaf, everything high, reflect all, it was fine.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/nvrmor/dm_island170002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/nvrmor/dm_island170001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/nvrmor/dm_island170000.jpg
those are a few places were it slowed a bit, but it was very playable. the water sounds remaining after you die in the water is rather annoying though, dont know how hard it would be to fix that. just stay out of the water i guess

p4 3.2
wd raptor
corsair xms pc3200 1 gig
ati x800xt

 

[mazemaster]

@All - Thanks for posting the info. I'm glad its playable (some of the earlier posts scared me!). After the competition is over I will probably release an updated version, although with the open layout I don't know how much more optimization I could do.

@Smeg - Apparently the "thin black line" texture bug happens in some but not all systems. I think some video cards try to blend the top of the texture (green grass) with the bottom of the same texture (black dirt) resulting in a 1/16 unit dark line even though the texture is aligned "perfectly". Other systems render it without that issue. I think I can fix it though.

Also, sure host the map on your website. Any exposure for the map helps it get played.

@nvrmor - The showbudget you posted looks good. Spikes at World Rendering (world brushes like the buildings), various model renderings, and Swapbuffers (water and other shaders) make sense.

The water sound bug is a bit more extensive than it seems. The thing is, if you die in the water, when you respawn in some sense the game thinks that you are *still* in the water. You can't fix that by just changing the sounds - other stuff like suit power, etc are affected. Thats really a bug on Valve's part and I can't do much about it.

 

[nvrmor]

@All - Thanks for posting the info. I'm glad its playable (some of the earlier posts scared me!). After the competition is over I will probably release an updated version, although with the open layout I don't know how much more optimization I could do.

Also, sure host the map on your website. Any exposure for the map helps it get played.

@nvrmor - The showbudget you posted looks good. Spikes at World Rendering (world brushes like the buildings), various model renderings, and Swapbuffers (water and other shaders) make sense.

The water sound bug is a bit more extensive than it seems. The thing is, if you die in the water, when you respawn in some sense the game thinks that you are *still* in the water. You can't fix that by just changing the sounds - other stuff like suit power, etc are affected. Thats really a bug on Valve's part and I can't do much about it.

one thing i thought you might be able to do is since you die in the water anyway, make it so the player dies as soon as they touch the water, or atleast before you get so deep that the sound kicks in. maybe having a power generator or something partially in the water to explain why you die? also the spiral stairs in the lighthouse are rather nausiating. its too small of a circumference, and for too long, especially if you start at the bottom. just constructive critisism, i dont mean to nitpick. its a great map, keep up the good work! :thumbs:

 

[Lemonking]

looks neat to DM is boring...