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New Q1SP: Peripheral Fundament
Hi everyone, I am hexcalk, and this is my first released map: Peripheral Fundament (PF/hc0), an idbase map with some non-idbase parts (wizard/metal/medieval). It is a difficult level featuring high numbers of monsters. In there, nonlinearity comes into play for a majority of the area, and ammo and health supplies are placed mostly in walls and corners. Sometimes (especially in Hard/Nightmare), the player feels the optional want to cause infighting to avoid dying. The further you get into the base, the more likely you must be careful. That is a peripheral fundament.

Download (4mb, of which 3mb is a .tga screenshot): http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/maps/hc0.zip
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you have animated textures in your map (+0slipbot and +0sliptop) but for them to animate, you have to include the other frames (+1, +2, etc...) in the map.

I thought all modern compilers did this automatically, are there still some that don't? 
 
metl: Yes.

However, in the case of those two textures, there are no extra frames, because in the stock maps they are used as unanimated textures. Their names are remains from earlier versions of the game - there is an animated slipgate bottom texture in QTEST with a rotating fan beneath the grate. 
I Was Surprised... 
I was surprised to see the textures animated in the map when testing happened. I thought they would be static since they are not a moving .gif, but actually including not one but (at most) all of them is required for the animation to happen. Only the +0 parts of slipbot and sliptop were in the map, so they weren't animated enough. 
By The Way... 
The two textures' animations are optional because of the reason cited by negke ("no extra frames [...] in the stock maps they are used as unanimated textures"). 
Interesting 
I didn't realize the compiler mattered in this case. That explains why I can't get this to work with q3map :( 
Small And Simple. 
Most statements typed in the hc0 thread such as those by dumptruck_ds, Gotshun, NewHouse, and the aforementioned Kinn and Shambler, are tips about improvement. They are all acceptable; I am now working on small and simple maps with the fundamentals of Quake level design and less reliance on imitating AD. 
Forgot CrankySteve? 
And I don't tend to imitate CrankySteve! xD 
 
I wasn't aware that some compilers added the extra frames automatically, good to know. Which ones do and don't? 
 
All do.

Except q3map for obvious reasons. 
K Thanks 
 
Nice Example Of What Not To Do 
i'm not saying this in a trolling manner

i'm fiddling with trenchbroom

who knows if i can build something decent
or if i keep motivated enough time to reach that point

i'm sure i would have tried several of the bad things in this map.

to get better at things you need good examples, good practices and bad examples and practices to avoid, and common noob errors.

it's much more evident and revealing seeing the bad examples and practices rather than reading them 
The Map. 
It seems like Peripheral has become remembered into the future as an study of how to avoid first map problems. More people should see bad examples and practices. 
Hexcalk 
Dont be so hard on yourself.

Ive been using map editors for 10+ years and I've never released a finished map. You've already got me beat in what seems like 1/10 of the time.

Keep mapping. Focus on brushwork. Learn the keyboard shortcuts for your map editor. Study other creators .map files. Play with new texture sets. Slowly but surely will it all build up into your magnum opus. 
I Don't Want To Discourage You 
the bad things of the map are bad INTERMEDIATE mapping stuff

monster placement, holes, overall architecture, that sort of thing

the hordes of monsters don't work the way you did it.

hordes don't have to be released all at once, because you can just blast'em with GL or RL.

you need to teleport the monsters in batches and tweak the fight playtesting it several times. think e1m3 final fight. think the horde fights of various of AD maps

also the triangle doorway is terrible and ugly, don't use that shape.



i mean, the beginner stuff everyone figure out quickly and are obvious even for a noob

the intermediate stuff is only evident when you playtest the map 
Understood. 
Okay, I now understand the map is flawed. The statement "More people should see bad examples and practices" only was to make anyone encourage more of the community to play and examine maps with poor quality to avoid replicating the issues. But however, this is entirely optional since many do not attempt the action described in the statement for ensuring the Quake community's general avoidance of repeating mistakes made in (let's just say) half of the maps released in 1996 and 1997, because if not then suddenly the quality's all over the place again as in that time period. Of course, being helped by the users at Func_Msgboard is great, but then this next paragraph is more than about aversion of flaws.

The shotgun and axe almost always go first, then usually the nailgun comes next and the grenade launcher afterward. Super variants come in later if any and if possible the lightning gun is accessed via a secret or often during the second half of levels where you get it. The later the map, the more likely a horde (a la AD) will be placed to accompany that weapon setup. The e1m3 final fight does have ammo, and the fiends introduced in the previous map e1m2 come into play here, so the more difficulty the skill (nightmare has the same number of monsters as hard), the higher the number of fiends. All the monsters were spawned upon opening the level hc0, and teleporting them in batches (which never happened in the map) is less of a horde. The ammo and weapons tend to be balanced for monster placement. And speaking of e1m2 and e1m3, the id maps are important for referencing because it's acceptable that both I and we are expected to be influenced by them.

Architecture/brushwork doesn't need to be ugly. Here's two examples. The triangle doorway was awful indeed. The bridge over the water was placed there so that speedrunning potential was easier, hence why the end was a surprise to Bloughsburgh.

Test maps are necessary for any of the maps I have had developed since this was released (at the moment I made at least 3 test maps for hc2 and am still making hc1). Such things were and are there to help anyone "experiment with architecture, lighting, traps, puzzles" and become normal with the editor of his/her choice.

Most custom maps I play are small and medium, the rest is large. The quality always varies, but ultimately Arcane Dimensions is so busy on brushwork it's not a noob's project (in fact sock, the creator of AD, had made texture wads, official levels for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Crysis Warhead, and custom Quake 3 Arena and Sin maps prior to Fallen from Grace, which was not his first Quake-related content). More experience means you're more likely to build a large (if not limit-breaking) map.

To ask questions is good, due to the fact that you are assisted by their answers to complete maps easier.

Ultimately I map for me, because mapmaking is fun as a hobby. 
Also... 
The bridge-over-water ending also surprised Kinn. 
Triangle Doorway. 
I tried to make func_door entity over there, but I gave up, so I made the triangle doorway to compensate for that. 
Defending Hc0. 
Peripheral Fundament is acceptable to defend as much as it is to criticize. It was fun that Gotshun liked it. 
Funny. 
I found it funny that PF was released a week after AD 1.5 came out. Big quality differences here and there. 
To Confuse You Even More* 
Let's say it is good to learn and experiment different design patterns and formulas invented by other mappers. But sometimes it is better to break rules, and invent own rules, it just needs some experimentig. Do not be afraid trying things out, sometimes it is worth the effort. 
 
Then again, sometimes it is better to close your eyes and keep on doing what you love, let the passion change you and not the others. 
To NewHouse: 
Cool, thanks. 
Good 
Ultimately I map for me, because mapmaking is fun as a hobby.

That's a great reason to map! So do I! 
 
also, while killing 30 monsters with rockets with total impunity is not challenging, it's fun. like when you put 100vs100 soldiers in a RTS to see the fight. 
Thanks Topher. 
 
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