A Well Oiled Toaster (phtourney1) - Quickie

[Pat Howard]

DOWNLOAD (Latest Update - 2.94MB)







A little challenge for myself inspired by pjw's quickie maps, specifically pjwquickie5. This little tourney is made out of only 15 visible brushes. I figure the mapping community will appreciate this one more than the players, so I'll probably just keep this one on Q3W rather than do an official LvL release.

My working title was "Rover", because it reminded me of something that would slowly scour across the face of a lonely moon or planet hoarding space rocks for research back home. The name quickly grew old though, and in the end I decided on "A Well Oiled Toaster" instead, because let's be honest, it could just as easily be a toaster too . Anyone who has watched the command prompt during a map compile will understand the reference. Since I probably won't release this publicly, I thought it would work nicely as a little inside joke between mappers.

I'd love to hear what people think about it. Also, does anyone know the Title/Author of this amazing skybox? I simply ripped it from another map so I don't have the readme.

*NOTE* Tourney mode features the official item placement, but this includes a MH only reachable by jump (bad for bots). If you want the MH on the ground for bot friendly games, simply switch to FFA mode.

Enjoy,
-pat

[Pat Howard]

Yikes... dead silence. That bad, eh?

Oh well. I was at least hoping someone could tell me the Title or Author of the skybox. If anyone knows, drop me a line.
-pat

[fKd]

sorry dude, you know me... im all about the detail

[AEon]

The bot actually really rips me off in this map on Hardcore... woha.

The ideas are pretty nifty, but the angled paths make it disorientating to move in the map, I keep loosing my "horizon". Especially when you jump up...

Interesting what you were able to pull off with so few brushes.

[Anthem]

I like it. It's very interesting.

[v1l3]

It's definitely a toaster I'm not usually a huge fan of Cel shaded maps, but I found a purpose for this map. I loaded up the Instagib mode I made in my Cpma, and just went Fragfest 2010 on it with 5 bots. It's perfect..it's tiny so it's works well. It's wide open so you'd possibly be getting some spawnfragged..good to spawn in with a railgun instead of running for one. I'll hang onto it.

[sock]

I know it is part of the challenge to use as few brushes as possible but it just feels like some strange minimalism map with really nice textures applied to it. I know a lot of people do 'quickie' maps like speedmapping, turtlemaps and 1024^3 cubes but they always just seem like something to improve your mapping skills not really a finished polished map. I do understand that brush/poly optimization is certainly a good skill to have and I can think of several uses for it (large maps and clipping) but I as fkd said, there is no detail or much reason to download it. The game play is certainly fun with the vertical levels and spiral path layout and I can see some time has been spent on the item layout. I just wish there was more of it (larger playing space) and some cool visual details to make the environment more engaging.

[Pat Howard]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I just figured the mappers out there might appreciate it given the design limitations. I never expected it to be a "keeper" for anyone really.

@v1|3: 5 bots, eh? Interesting...

@sock: Well, if it left you wanting more I guess I can take that as a compliment, yeah? Heh, it wasn't meant to be anything "polished" at all, but then I seem to be totally incapable of releasing anything without keeping it in the incubator for at least an extra day or two. I agree, it definitely gets repetitive, but as you hinted at before there is only so much that can be done with 15 brushes. Overall I'm happy the map turned out as playable as it did. I recommend other people try something similar every once in a while. It can be really refreshing to finish a map in only a few days work. Kind of reminds me of some recent Carmack keynotes I was watching. He was talking about how much he has enjoyed going backwards a bit and working on smaller iPhone games as a break from the AAA title grind. Q took me so long that I needed something like this.

[sock]

It can be really refreshing to finish a map in only a few days work.

You have nicely sumed up why most people don't map for modern engines anymore or finish maps to a high level of polish, creating most kind of contain by yourself takes forever. This is something I always linked to quickie maps that you want to create a map in one sitting, (which is fine) but you should not fall into the trap of instant mapping. It takes time to create something good and a lot of time and effort in the editor but IMHO it is often more rewarding.

Maybe you should try a turtle map next, plan out/create a semi-polished map in a week. They are not so daunting as long personal project and the deadline thing is good for pushing you to commit to a final release. Or maybe team up with another mapper, two designers should be to push each other along and finish something pretty quick.

[fKd]

i'd be interested in doing a map with another person. anyone send me a pm if ya keen

[Pat Howard]

Maybe you should try a turtle map next, plan out/create a semi-polished map in a week.

Don't worry, my next map will be a major release (unless I get really distracted). I just needed a speed map to refresh myself before this next project. Finishing a huge map and then trying to start another one straight after can fry your brains, man! This is one of the reasons I had to bail from the NoGhost comp.

i'd be interested in doing a map with another person. anyone send me a pm if ya keen

We should talk more about this! Sounds like a very cool idea. (Anything to drag you back to the Q3 engine of course.) Obviously one person would have to take the lead on all the major decisions. I wouldn't mind that going either way to be honest. I suppose two very laid back mappers could get away without a lead, but the quality would probably suffer.

[foralarx2k3]

@Pat,

This is a great little map. It reminds me a lot of Distonic_Small by Nunuk (That's a huge compliment btw), and makes for a nice little addition to my list of void maps (you may not have expected anyone to make it a keeper, but I will be). I just wanted to say thanks for sharing.

Ian.

[obsidian]

It's a shame that Nunuk doesn't consider himself a mapper anymore. Though it's amazing to see current work as a concept artist instead. Good creative brain in that man's head.

Pat, I love the colours in this map. Makes it look bright, playful and for lack of a better word, 'cute'.

[Takkie]

I like it Pat.

Good fun for InstaGib vs some bots.
That's how I enjoy my q3 most of the time...

and it's quite a bit amazing how you created some gameplay with 15 brushes.

Thanks!

[Pat Howard]

Cool, thanks for the nice comments, guys! Gameplay is definitely better in tourney mode. I do wish bots could make that jump to the MH but what are ya gonna do.

[deqer]

I do wish bots could make that jump to the MH but what are ya gonna do.

Put a botclip brush at the edge (sticks out), so bot can walk on it closer to the mega.

[Pat Howard]

Yeah, but that would look really weird. You'd see the bot walk out in the air, grab it, and walk back, maybe hanging out and fighting on it if he sees you. People tend to freak out about that stuff.

[monaster]

What about adding a clipped and thus invisible jumppad/trigger area, immediately throwing a bot back a few feet so he would only go there to get a specific item but otherwise can't camp there or stand still for too long? This decreases the chance of a human player seeing the bot floating in mid-air and freaking out over that (at least I'd do).

[sst13]

@Pat:

The skybox is "Space2k2" by Speedy: (http://sst13.net/downloads/sky_space2k2.zip) 800kB, Readme.txt included.
There is also another nice space skybox by Speedy, suitable to your map: (http://sst13.net/downloads/sky_hallucion.zip) 1.5MB

...why oh why is The Wadfather down.

[Pat Howard]

@monaster: I don't believe there is any way to make a bouncer that functions for bots but not for humans. Correct me if I'm wrong?

@sst13: Thankyou! I will add this info. to the readme. The WadFather problem has to do with GameSpy bailing on the hosting. I e-mailed Mr-Gibs about it and he said he would get it back up and running soon enough. This was a while ago though. He didn't seem to believe many people used it anymore. We should all send him e-mails and get him back to work! Nice to see you here BTW .

-pat