I always struggle with the beginning of a map because it has to strike the right balance between not being so difficult to put players off and enough of a challenge to keep players interested. Once the first room is over, the item / monster scaling is fairly straight forward.

Originally when the player picked up the GA the gates would lock and the relevant skill level monsters would spawn. Inside of each alcove was a row of spike shooters and button on the back of the central column. The player could move around and fight or use the shooters to weaken the monsters. It was a grand plan but in the end turned out to be sadistic towards the player so I dropped the locked gates and shooters and went with just the skill spawn trap instead.

After creating the gates and textures I thought it would be cool to leave them in as detail and to spook players into thinking something bad might happen but it does not. From the look of most demo's players indeed were cautious when passing under the gates so the thought of danger proved to be more potent than actual danger. 

I liked the fluted columns that converged to meet at the ceiling

I wanted the map to feel like it could support the world and that the structure of the room could support a huge amount of weight above. The best way to show support is with columns, but I did not want them everywhere because it would fragments the internal space of the room too much and cause the player to feel restricted.

I thought about creating Pilasters around the walls to show ceiling support but while they look interesting as detail they lack the impression of strength. The next idea was to create angled buttress because they can extend outwards into the room creating interesting shapes and imply support at the same time. Eventually I liked them so much I use them to round off all the corners in room and warp them upwards to create really strong vertical lines which is why everyone looks up. The architecture is leading the eye upwards and implying a strong structure. 

Yeah, I've only just started really thinking about the best way to show this. A believable structure that looks good is great for immersion.

Churches and cathedrals are a reference, specifically the joists and ceiling supports - the principals apply to any type of structure and provide the type of epic architecture that Quake needs.

Good architecture is my weakness though.

As to the first room - just an idea but you could have used it to teach the player about the rune floor / monster spawn mechanics;

The armor would be sat on one of the glowing rune textures. Upon picking it up the gates jerk down a fraction but don't close and a tele fx flashes in the room but doesn't spawn anything.

So the 'broken' spawn ambush teaches the player that things will happen later in this same set up, but does it in a safe environment.

And still scares the player right off the bat. 

i just like supports because they are an easy way to get the parallax effect by sticking them in the middle of rooms. 

Yeah, and they're good for gameplay as well, though you do have to space out the walls a bit to avoid it become too close and allow a bit of space for the player to dance around fiends in. 

As to the first room - just an idea but you could have used it to teach the player about the rune floor / monster spawn mechanics;
Like most (?) players I tend to overlook the obvious hints and only pick up on things subliminally.
I think you need to check the first room again! The floor under the GA is a flashing rune symbol! ;)

Great Architecture comes from shape, form and relevant texture choices. I highly recommend anyone interested in architecture to visit places and take photo's. As much as it is cool to constantly check out reference images, they do not beat actually being inside of a building and seeing the scale for yourself. 

Facepalm. 

haha, don't feel bad. i didn't make the connection either. i even told sock "hey, i think it's kind of predictable how monsters spawn every time i pick up items" :P~~ 

Yarr.

This map was posted only 2 days after I went for a vacation trip through Europe without any chance of playing it before coming home...

Having finally played it, I can only again say what the others have already said - what a nice map. Nice environment, well-planned monster encounters, and even the sound was used well (I play with the standard Quake soundtrack).

Here's my first run demos:

http://www.quaketastic.com/upload/files/demos/backstein_mandel.7z

There are 3 demos in there because I started a new one after the skill selection, and DirectQ bugged out once somewhere in the middle so I had to restart from a save game which unfortunately messes up the monster/secret count, but it was something like 10 missing monsters and maybe 5-6 missing secrets. Easy skill. 

@Mandel, thanks for the demo's, I am glad you finally got a chance to check out the map. I was surprised you choose the easy skill because the way you move around the map you could easily play on normal skill and still have an easy time! 

Is a speedrunner - playing on easy probably makes it more difficult because it gives him less enemies to parkour off of...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vz-AAMTxNY 

Hadn't played Quake for a while so had fun playing this one. I liked the ambushes; there was always room to move around but if you weren't careful, you'd get surrounded pretty quickly. Didn't die once (on normal) but there were a few close calls. Only found a few secrets but didn't really need them either. Design was nice architecturally speaking, maybe slightly monotonic overall though.

Here's a demo: http://www.freefilehosting.net/runmikko 

@Mikko, that was awesome, thank you very much. I get the impression you have not played my Q1 maps before because at the beginning you did not notice the visual language. Eventually after seeing several demon textures I sensed you got the connection. I don't care what any indie hipsters say, visual language is king! It was cool to see you use the crushers at the end, the pacing of the arena felt right and it seemed to keep you on your toes. :) 

but not all secrets are created equally! Despite getting flak for the secrets in Deck I really stand by my decisions to make some of them intentionally hard.

I personally like the way you do secrets Sock, well.... except that bloody double barrel shotgun secret. ;) 

in both fitz 0.85 and Quakespasm I get an error about too many edicts. Wtf is going on? :/ 

sorry. I didn't use malloc. Working now. 

210/224, 6/10

I should have played hard maybe, but that was fantastic. Some really nice set pieces (I really enjoyed the room where the floor slides away and forces you down), awesome gameplay throughout that kept me moving all the time, and amazing layout.

I love your secrets. I tend to put various unrelated secrets into my maps, but I really like how you set up some kind of marking that the player has to look for as a clue. It was interesting being able to get so much extra weapons and ammo from secrets and on the start map. I guess the map would have been a lot harder if I hadn't gone hunting for secrets at the start. I couldn't figure out the dbs secret either, though I already had one from the start map so didn't care.

If I play it again, I'll definitely do it on hard, since although I really enjoyed it, some of the set pieces did feel like they could have used an extra tough monster or two. 

@Than, the game play balance is designed without secrets, finding any will certainly make the map easier. I recommend you try the map on hard without any extra stuff, it should be more of a challenge.

Personally I like the fact that the secrets are hinted at, I can't stand hitting every wall with the Axe or looking for walls with texture errors. I do like the extra secret areas, something that necros reminded me to do and it was fun seeing people find them in the demo's.

The SNG trap floor room is one of my favourites because it does something that no one expects plus it was interesting to see how people reacted. That area was originally just the small floor section and the combat was really frustrating, opening the floor seemed like the perfect way to expand the area and make the fight much more interesting.

Opening floors or ceiling spaces is always a cool thing because it changes the combat dynamic and does something unexpected by showing the environment is changing based on player actions. 

I agree that secrets should be hinted at, but I like the way you have a consistent style for the hints, so it's more obvious when there is a secret and personally I get a feeling of discovery even before actually unlocking the secret, then again when I figure it out.

I always add secret hints to my own maps, but they are not often obvious enough. I think this leads to many players spotting an unreachable item or locked door and then trying to hit every light fixture or grating with their axe in the hope that this might do something. If you establish a motif, then players are far less likely to do this.

Anyway, thanks for another awesome map! 

Often it's possible to 'smell' certain tells that let you know a secret is nearby.

But there hasn't been a standard for this, apart from the aforementioned wonky texture.

The demon face makes me think of what other types of recurring motif could be used. 

Hidden in plain sight is a good motif. Such as having bars or something that show the secret. 

 

Sure it is.

If the secret area is plainly visible but inaccessible then it's clearly hidden in plain sight. 

"plainly visible" and "hidden in plain sight" are not remotely the same thing. 

And saying that is not remotely the same as explaning the difference