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Here is a playable WIP of Cartographer’s Nightmare. I’m uploading this because I’m going on a sort of road trip through florida for an indefinite amount of time and don’t want this project to die hidden somewhere on my harddrive. Also, I wanted to upload it anyway just so I could get some pointers before I finished it. This is also the perfect time to because it’s only the first third of the map, revealing any more before completion would be a waste.
A little background of this project: I started making this because I wanted to see what it would take to do a game with this engine. Plus, mapping was something I wanted to try out anyway. Originally, this was just going to be a very small TC just so I could get an idea of what was required at a technical level. It was going to be one room, with original textures, one original weapon, one original enemy, sounds and music. After a few days I realized mapping was really fun, so I just kept going.
Being a first map, I was TOTALLY ignorant of many things. For example, to make a texture change, like for a light, I used doors to change that light texture, not realizing you can use animated textures. I also built sky light type things to focus light instead of using spotlights. Some things I went back and fixed, others are still there.
The map might feel incoherent, that’s because it is. I mapped this by the seat of my pants with the intent of LEARNING HOW and just trying out ideas, things that could later be applied to a game. It’s dark and meant to played at night or in a dark room.
BTW, the sections between the falling shambler tunnel and when you fall from the ceiling are just ideas for later places in the map, I just put them in the players path for this release so you could look at it. The areas are marked by big teleporters and very few monsters, as well us just being unrefined.
So far, this thing clocks in at about 45k verts, which sucks because the max is about 65k and this is hardly the first third of the map. Now I know how to make textures, so later parts will have most of the detail in the textures themselves and not geometry, clever lighting will help make this easier as well.
Much of the map that does is exist is unfinished. For example, the control room for the door that has the blue key is just roughed in, as well as the hall leading up to it. The map is rough in a lot of places, but, meh.
DirectQ was my target port. Unfortunately, a few things don’t render from certain angles. i.e. the big light band in the first room and the first demon lift/floor thingy. Runs well in darkplaces, but every other engine i’ve tried (just a couple) crash at startup. I think heapsize needs to be specified.
My design decisions are pretty unremarkable, the map looks like Quake, Alien, Stars Wars and Doom 3 got a little freaky one night and birthed this monstrosity. It works. The gameplay, well... yeah.
Special thanks to MadGypsy and golden_boy. 'Gypsy for ripping the earthquake from hipnotic and modifying the teleporters for me and gb for the radiant tuts he's made and answering the technical questions I had.
Any critiques are more than welcome.
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