necros, what is the idea behind the map? is the structure part of something? 

it's a giant machine. the area in the screenshot is the very top (or back) of the machine and it's purpose it to drill into the ground.
after the drilling has been done, and the machine moves downwards, workers at the top would then build a smaller metal passage way anchored to the sides of the shaft that was dug. (you can see the rebar of the unfinished metal tube that grahf was asking about)
it was built in a hurry by mercenaries hence the exposed machinery and wiring. 

Necros, OMG that is awesome :D I was half expecting the usual 'oh its just a series of platforms with a hole in the middle' but you actually have a reason for it all, total respect :D I love the history to it as well. 

yeah, i normally don't really do that, but i was reading WoT when i started, and i felt it could be interesting to come up with a history and a series of events before the player even gets there. 

Try and come up with something to stop myself losing interest - just laying brushes. 

makes the environments feel so much more believable. 

The trouble with back story is how to tell the player about it. Players don't read text files and they don't like text on the screen so you pretty much have to tell it visually these days. Give them information via environmental clues and let them fill it in, IMO. 

I'm not sure I approve of pandering to idiocy and an inability to process non-spoonfed concepts... 

I think we're off track. What I'm saying is that people like to process things visually. Show me blood splattered on the walls, some dead bodies, a shattered computer monitor and a word scrawled in blood - I'll figure out what happened. I don't want to read a text file explaining what happened in that room, necessarily.

How is that pandering to idiocy? 

What I had for warp up and bundled it anyway. The kind of elaborate set pieces you describe were missing though. I'd see that as more Doom3 territory - drag marks and so on.

Having said that I'm experimenting with some npc ideas, and map objects are always useful. 

Large screenshots so you can have a good look.
http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/moteof1ca1l_1024.jpg
http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/moteof1ca2l_1024.jpg
(take off the _1024 for smaller)

What do you think the central object is?

I ask this question because the object does have a function as part of a puzzle but I have been trying for several days to make it graphically recognizable to its purpose. (This is version 3 btw)

So what is it? What do you think it does? 

My guess would be that you need to "use" or shoot the 2 generators in order to open the door?

Still looking nice sock :) 

Clearly there's that little plus sign up top, is that an electrical thingy? So you have to turn off the other Frankenstein thing on the side to make ...something... happen?

My advice is to make it as fantastical and devilish as possible. Unfortunately, most interesting generating equipment is behind a steel plate or in multiple levels of containment (fission reactors) and they just don't look exciting! 

looks like some kind of battery or something. i can see wires from the other electrical things going into it, but it's hard to see in just a screen shot. sound effects and any animation helps a lot on puzzles.

i see another wire going to the big portcullis so i would assume whatever the machine is, it controls the door.

the texture on the central battery is very dark so i can barely see any details on it. consider a lighter shade of gray metal? 

 

i think it isn't important if the player "gets it". It's important for the mapper, so he doesn't just throw random shit around. Makes stuff way harder though. 

Exactly, and the player does actually benefit from this, because the world is coherent even if it's not all explained directly to the user. This coherence makes the immersion stronger. 

Umm, I was certainly expecting some odd comments but no one really hit the nail on the head and said battery, which is what I was aiming for. I am really tempted to take my gf suggestion and simply write 'Duracell' down the side in a gothic font, but I will try some more visual clues instead. 

It seems I am going blind and necros mentioned battery, oh well maybe time for some fresh air and a walk outside my cave ... 

http://zfight.com/misc/images/maps/m8/m8_15_hq.jpg

Style's on the inside is pretty much locked now. Palette and color-vise that is. problem is now, that the outsides looks pretty so-so, mostly because of lightning, that's is what's holding the public alpha off release.

@ Sock, you know, why don't you create a small Duracell rabbit, in your color style and place it on the batteries? =) 

That looks good.

And Sock, maybe make the batteries at the back wider, with more of the vertical slat pieces on the front - to suggest car battery more.

Just an idea. 

That is the best Quake 1 Singleplayer episode I think I've ever seen. Good work. Because it BETTER BE A QUAKE 1 SINGLE PLAYER EPISODE. No more Quake 3 maps. Thx. :D 

Haha, don't worry- Good thing I don't post that often =)=) I guess =)
To be honest, it feels a bit bad posting Quake3 stuff here, it's like posting HL2 stuff on a HL1 forum... 

i mean, a lot of us would prefer if it was q1 because then we'd actually be able to play it as opposed to just looking around, but it's always nice to see well-made stuff, regardless of what game it is. 

On my office lan