Yellow, me, Rook and <insert some red shirted guy from Star Trek> were play testing this map on Intertex and couldn't get enough of it.

This was the most fun map I've played FFA on in a LONG time.

Almost as fun to not shoot to kill, but to try to knock someone off the edge of the map with a rocket.

What I feel is the coolest thing about this map -- other than that Yellow had -4 frags -- is that it isn't your usual Coagula-looking map.

It looks elegant, has weird features and other things that give it character. I hate sterile DM maps, regardless of how well they play.

Did I mention I like this map a lot? Heh

[/my 2 cents .. now someone needs to bother the server operator to get the *right* version of that map on the server, a pre-final version is still running qtdm3a.] 

Very nice simple, unique, and fun map. Unfortunately the intertex test server has the wrong version of the map running at the moment, as the admin forgot to update it to the "final" version. I let him know so it wont be long.
Also, rumor has it the Travail episode will have another excellent dm map or 2 when it's released :D 

Yeah, I would like to see it running on a (non-runequake for fuck's sake!) server indeed :P

I have not played with opponents yet but it feels nice. I like the idea with the 4 switches to gain access to the quad (shouldn't the switches reset each try?). And I like that I can reach the MH below too even if it is tricky. 

Intertex is not a RuneQuake server.

And .. there aren't any RQ servers in Europe, although I hear you will be getting one, lol ;) 

looks nice.
but why does it have a solid sky? also, in space maps one mustn't let any brushes touch the sky (like the tower in this case). even though its black texture seems to have been upscaled, there are still more tris than necessary generated because of that. 

i was wrong about the solid sky, sorry. the touch thing still applies, though. 

Spirit: yes you can reach the MH and the Quad using alternate methods (painless rocket jump from the top of the arch is my fave for the quad), hence there is no need to reset the buttons once the "proper" route to them is established, pushing all the buttons just permanently increases the alternatives

...in space maps one mustn't let any brushes touch the sky (like the tower in this case).
neg!ke: err, why? 

Cause if you do, the surrounding surface will be split up unnecessarily, thus increasing your r_speeds. Use r_showtris or r_drawflat (depending on whatever engine you are using) for a clearer idea of what is going on. 

Brushes don't split up other brushes, they split up space, so your skybox may still be split up by the rest of the level even if it touches or not.

Hint brushes would fix this. (Encasing the level in a hint brush would make bsp to do splits along that before the rest of the geometry, keeping your skybox pristine except for the few splits the hint will make.) 

...simply for setting a cd track on the map. I like my Quake music, even in dm. Fun layout, though it would have been cool to have some type of easter egg or such hidden up ontop of the map. I couldnt help but feel that you could have put a nice powerup on the other side of the tower, being as how a player can navigate the lip, which leaves them exposed, but could yield something like ring or pent. 

... thanks for the response bal but I really wanted to hear from neg!ke. My first full quake release was 5 and a half years ago, and I've kinda picked up on the technical stuff over those years ;) In this instance of course CZG is correct.

Given the imperative, I thought maybe neg!ke might be thinking in terms of player rights i.e., if there's a usable surface at the top of that tower then players ought to be able to use it. If that's the case then I need to explain that I did indeed compile several versions of the level using various and sundry box dimensions and shapes. I reasoned that if I was to allow player up onto all the tower structures then the minimum height above the high tower should be 128 units, so as to definitely not have the player bump their head on the sky should they jump while standing on top. This is where CZG's comment is important: extending the box upward to allow the player to reach the top of the high tower increases the r_speeds of the level by 40 - 180 (depending where you are in the level) compared with the version where the high tower top touches the sky. Given the level, as is, is just on the edge as far as r_speeds are concerned, I decided that increasing player rights at the expense of increased r-speeds was not warranted. I've already had one industry level designer commend me for being able to keep the r_speeds as low as I did in a Quake One floater.

Scar3crow, the one tower top you can reach actually does have an easter egg on it :) Pents in coagula maps are problematic: if the kill triggers are below then the pented player wanders around the bottom of the box doing St Vitas dance as the kill triggers zap them harmlessly till the pent runs out; if the kill triggers are up top and the fall into the void teleports the player into a trigger then you can get around the pented player on the floor problem, unfortunately you run the risk of rocket jumpers exploding mid air for no apparent reason.

The risk/reward equation for the ring just didn't add up, besides play testing indicated strongly that the inclusion of another power up would fataly imbalance the level.

I'm really glad people are interested in this level. 

heh, no. i didn't mean making the tower top accessible for the player. that would, in fact, likely suck (camping). i should have written "shouldn't", since i really meant it in terms of splitting and r_speeds like bal said.

r_speeds increasing when lifting up the sky sounds odd to me (though czg is probably right). i meant only adding a few units gap. usually skyboxes generate 12 tris, in this map it's about three times as much.
not that it would change much about the overall performance, but just for neatness. ;) 

BTW...map is fixed on quake.intertex.net:26002.