I'm quite astounded by how many of Forge's visual mode features have been packed into this script. Very clever of Jon and Greg to have pulled this off using A1. I find its a very convenient tool, able to mostly replace the Forge visual mode. With me using entirely PC's, its nice not having to crack open my ancient G3 laptop and struggle with forge's annoying visual mode limitations. Still, if you're making a fairly complex map, you'll still have to revert to forge for certain visual edits. Controls are not particularly user friendly. (completely understandable since this is all done with Alephone). You select certain editing modes by pressing keys such as mic, map, or action key. You then click or hit the switch weapon keys to perform various actions. As mentioned before, the HUD really helps here. I�m sure is possible to improve upon these inconveniences in future iterations. Aside from the mostly minor usability nuisances, this is a very effective and powerful tool.
Very useful. It has allowed me to make many texture fixes to maps without having to worry about any crashes due to the "Too Many Transparent Edges" error.
After 15 minutes I was sold. The script does what it says on the tin, and it does an extremely good job of replicating Forge's abilities whenever possible, and exceeding them whenever capable.
There are a few obvious problems, but it's less a fault of the script and more just an engine limitation. The controls are sub-par, but the HUD does a good job of clarifying what does what. There are a few minor differences in functionality between this and Forge's visual mode, but nothing that breaks the bank. The only key problem I have is that, currently, yaw and pitch aren't locked when aligning textures, meaning that if you want to align a texture on a wall you can't do so without simultaneously looking around. Adding control panels is a little bit sticky, but workable. There are a couple other personal preferences but they don't really detract from the script.
Overall, this is an outstanding utility that very nearly renders Forge's visual mode obsolete, and I heartily recommend it for anyone -- especially for mappers who tend to have visually complex maps that crash Forge.
This is definitely a good pack, but it isn't consistent throughout. All the maps, in my experience, have enough ammo, and all the ones I've played are quite fun, but there are some.. issues that keep me from giving this 5 stars. Waterloo Carnage is a great map, it looks nice, has enough weapons and ammo and flows well. Punk Plaza still looks fairly nice, not as nice as waterloo, but it still flows well, has enough ammo, is balanced etc. Space Port Alpha can also be great fun, and Avoiding the Light is a nice map, despite feeling slightly cramped. Imperial Uranus is another good map, although it isn't completely solid throughout, some of the texturing and lighting could be touched up a bit, in my opinion. All the maps I've listed, however, are very original and fun maps. The last two maps, however, I can't say are at the same level. The use of the Jjaro set can be quite spotty, and doesn't always look terribly nice. These two maps maps still flow well enough and have enough ammo, but they are lacking visually.
That said, good job, and I hope to see you making more maps at some point!
Thanks, SirBlastalot, for writing such valuable software and sharing it with the community!
Title says it all. My favorite use was to use it to extract the Reaver physics from M: R and go all Godzilla in the net levels. >:)
I agree with W'rkncacnter.
I really can't stop loving this map. I especially lovingly recommend you play it on LMOTH but also try every other gametype. I think it works with ball type too. It's really really fun, great for strategy and gametypes. You should really play this map a lot, forever and ever. Thank you for this wonderful map.
People like ahuxley might say that CLIQUE members will give a rating of 5 to any map made by another CLIQUE member. I'm going to prove that wrong.
I played this map once and have determined that it's one of the best ever made. 5 stars.
Smooth, detailed, true to original, stuff like that. My one peeve: Why isn't the fist changed? Its style looks completely different from the others' now. Make fist graphics. How hard can it be?
Otherwise, ROCK ON.
These are some of my favorites. /cheap
These maps are so bad, I can't stop playing.
This is easily one of my least favorite maps. While the design isn't too terrible, the weapon balance and placement is just ridiculous. Shotguns are the only weapons on this map that are worth anything and you can only find them in 3 spots. 2 of them are right next to each other in a huge open area, and the other is hidden away in a corner.
If there are no real good players in the game, it's probably not a problem. But, if there is at least one good player, he will easily be able to camp around the shotgun spawns and one-shot anyone that tries to get near him since it is a very open map and there is a clear line of sight to pretty much every part of the map. The person will never have to leave this location, since there are unlimited shotgun shells here.
Don't host this unless you want the good player in the game to completely dominate everyone else.
I couldn't decide whether this should have 4 or 5 stars. The smaller levels are OK, and don't reflect the same quality that I see in Riki Tiki Tavi, which I think is an awesome example of what an XL map should be.
The first time $lave gave me a walk-through in Riki*, I imagined 6-8 player team-netgames in it and thought it would be a blast. I've played it about five times since then and it continues to grow on me. Yeah, it's big but it's got lots of good terrain to suit all types of fighting styles.
I agree with the other comments that $lave has really delivered on these new maps. Even if the smaller maps were dogs (which they're not) this would be a strong pack, but with Riki* being so good I have to score it as one of the best out there.
Actually, this is pretty good stuff, showing a huge step up from the previous two packs. Ascent is extremely well-done; it looks amazing. Riki Tiki Tavi is a really fun map as well. A previous comment on how it's too large to be playable is, in my experience, incorrect; a group of 6 worked quite well, which is what I would expect out of an XL map.
The use of All Shapes on the two largest maps is spotty and imprecise; I think they would have worked better without the Juice augmentation.
I like that there's a lot more ammo, and the lighting and shading has seen a huge boost. If all of the maps were like Ascent, this would have been the easiest 5 I have ever given. Unfortunately, the consistency isn't there yet, and the weaker links detract too much from this little pack.
I'm just kidding. I'm actually very impressed with this pack. The first two maps seem a little rough, and there's a headbanger poly on the first level (poly 93 is too low when you're coming down the nearby stairs); I think the impression of roughness comes from the lighting, which is not very differentiated from one area to another.
The last three levels, however, are just superb. They make me think of Coriolis Loop, with their nuanced architecture, large horizontal and vertical spaces, and general coolness. Bonus points for your usage of multiple texture sets in some of the levels; it's subtle enough that it doesn't look out of place. Please make more maps!
Cosmic Clouds is definitely a robust pack. The level design is complex and it is apparent that $lave worked very hard on these maps. I am looking forward to playing more of his maps in the future. The XL map is definitely too large to be playable, but that is my only complaint. Ill definitely be hosting these maps on the meta. Congratulations, $lave, on a job well done!
$lave is definitely getting better at mapping. All of the maps in this pack are nice looking, and the flow seems pretty good too. I don't actually play online so I can't say for sure how these work in netgames, but it seems like the last 2 maps would be too large. November Rain is probably the weakest map in the pack, just because of the massive open areas. The last one in the pack looks nice, but again, I think games would be too slow on it.
I look forward to seeing more maps by this author.
Version 2 is even better. There's some incredible talent at work here.
This edition of the contest map collection isn't as good or big as past ones have been, but it's still more solid than most independent maps of recent times are. I wouldn't say this contest brought out the best in me, but it got me back into mapping, which is a feat of its own.