A solid 1st map. Combat was tough on hard skill but i somehow survived. Clever layout with lots to discover and variety even though it was very blocky overall. I liked the first half of it the most. 

I like this kind of settings, even if rough on the edges as someone told :) 

Hey listen(and possibly help)!
I'm a mapper too though did not released any yet because I have a moral dilemma:
I enjoy videogames so much (Quake in primis!) but I've noticed that the more I learn mapping, the less I enjoy playing myself (!)
That's because the mistery,the surprise, the curiosity you had in the past approaching a new Quake map gradually vanishes if you know the tricks yourself..
Like a movie director probably loses interest in other people movies..
So maybe the world won't see any of my (silly?)creations ;)
What do you think ? 

I'm a mapper too though did not released any yet because I have a moral dilemma

In Texas they have an expression for that: All hat no cattle. 

Heard it through the grapevine...
Didn't believe it...
But it's true, it's true, it's really true!

Played a bit, just for old time's sake. When I saw your YT playthrough, that's when I realised that I wasn't supposed to climb up the rocks to get to the gold key... doh!

I just didn't see the texture change on the rock face so did some lateral thinking, and vertical climbing - you can climb in two places.

Anyway, well done. 

All appreciated.

I really wish I'd blocked off the bloody rocks.

What is it with Quake players having decades and thousands of maps of having to hunt secret doors and squinty walls and different textures as a matter of habit, and almost never being clearly encouraged to slope-slide as part of progression, and suddenly doing it now?? You're all contrary bastards :P 

Not sure how much you changed the map after I play tested but I never told you that the initial message to the player about exploring didn't fire for me the first time I launched it.

That might be part of the problem with ppl finding the door. Who knows and maybe you fixed it? 

We sort of had this discussion but maybe part of the problem was you mapping for a lower gamma value. On my first play through, I did not notice the secret door at all. Even with the different texture, there just wasn't enough contrast for it to really jump out at me. Granted that the hole in the wall also pointed to some armor and other goodies, it made sense for me to try and get into that area first somehow.

I'm hugely in favor of dumptruck's suggestion of mapping for gamma 1 (and contrast 1 for that matter). Then again, now that I look the map over, it's hard to believe that I missed the secret door at all because it seems to obvious. 

Aye I sort of remember that discussion. The gamma I play on is gamma that makes all Id maps and 95% of custom maps look spot on it - if I mapped for gamma 1 and had my monitor cranked waaaaay up (so the rest of everything I ever did on it was ridiculously bright and bleached out), the end result would be exactly the same. Even so, I should have made those rocks brighter.

Armour and goodies, again there is a fairly common trend of items being visible that aren't available until quite a while later? 

Always enjoyed exploring a map in its every nook and cranny, to the point of finding many exploits.

I did not notice the secret door at all. Even with the different texture, there just wasn't enough contrast for it to really jump out at me.
^THIS^ 

I had like no problem sorting the rocks out. I'm pretty flabbergasted that others did honestly. 

Haven't played Quake in a while but I couldn't pass up a Shambler map.

Played on Hard and killed all but three enemies (maybe failed spawn in since there's nowhere left to hide.) I found all 5 secrets without cheats or hints or reading this thread first - 4 were easy enough, the 5th was a challenge but fair.

I made it harder on myself by attempting to kill on the cheap by stirring as much infighting as I could; especially around the river. Died a lot but that's what I get for waking everyone up while bunnying and swimming around the mayhem. No shortage of ammo. Very retro lighting, texture and geometry - nice snack size map. Oh yeah, I did get a bit stumped at the beginning but it's not like you can't go a bit ax crazy and discover the path.

Nice work. 

 

...so good to see Jack is still lurking. Well done Shambler! 

What do you mean by retro lighting, and what would be better / more modern??

I'm aware it's a bit dark but OTOH I did focus on getting several things hopefully right, e.g. correctly positioned sunlight, proper light sources, some fill lights but not too many, subtle coloured lighting, etc. Keen to know what I missed (apart from still using minlight, if that's retro then I'll stick with retro!). 

Except the cheap spawn in the dark that I heard but didn't see until he'd already knocked half my health off. Good job the little shit fell in the moat.

I only played on skill 1, because I'm pretty out of practice, but I managed to clear the map without too much trouble, although there was a moment where things felt a bit hairy after the aforementioned spawn appeared.

I didn't like that I couldn't shoot the vore through the grating, although it would have messed up the SK area combat I guess. That was pretty fun actually. I love fighting vores.

I made a demo, just because it's you, Shambler.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1S4irtQRbGPKlK4TX7UqVL3RmQEUc1FLZ

Really good first map attempt overall, and I hope shamsp2 is in the works :D 

 

come back!
favourite mapper ever, I think. 

shambler, playing through your first map and really enjoy it. I just saw that there is your second map available here too. Will sure grab it afterwards. Lets hope for number 3 :D 

Thanks for your comments. 

I like the map. The final fight was a bit husrh, but otherwise the map was really cool and fun.

First run demo, skill 1:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OYtvAjHAri12XaJvb88h3etmweyf1dT6 

Great first effort, Shambs. Late to the party, as per my custom, but I'm catching up.
While looking for the way to exit the first area (btw, the 3 sides rock door sucks big time) I accidentally broke the map, and I figured you'd find more interesting seeing how I did that than how I died in my first run through the intended route. So there goes:

Speed Demo

happy you finally came around to producing maps. 

Yeah I admit the rock entrance should have been made clearer. I completely underestimated the typical Quake player's determination to ignore persistently ignore an obvious "secret" entrance, marked in 3 different ways, in a small area with no other options, and instead contrive to steep slope climb which never appeared in any Id map nor any custom map as far as I know.... But I learnt my lesson, and also the wise words of negke: "The players are the worst thing about mapping" ;).

If you fancy a catch up.... https://teamshambler.blogspot.com/2019/05/mapping-portfolio.html some may have proper running potential... 

...but I don't.

I've already done some catching up and I gotta say you've got some real mapping skills, mate. Gonna write something thread by thread. Maybe post a coupla demos, too.

As for the secret entrance, it's not that it wasn't obvious enough, but I personally did not like organic stuff as rocks moving like automated doors... I'd have preferred like a func_illusionary or sumthin'...