alpha: spirit1dm2 -- Ultima ratio

[Polarite]

Just checked out the map,first impression is good!
Looks like a nice small 1on1 map.
I added the map to flanders dm server.(flanders.quake1.net:26000)
Gonna play some 1on1's on it tonight to fully test it.

Good job dude !

[dfsp_spirit]

Thanks man! We are giving a party at our shared flat here tonight so I won't be able to join. I'll show up there another day.

[dfsp_spirit]

I worked on this one a bit and beta4 is ready. I'd call it pretty much done.

As spirit (the other one) mentioned, 2 of the jumps on this map are very hard/impossible in q1 on this map as I tested it with qw. I'll therefor release a slightly modified q1 version of this map that makes those jumps possible once the map is final. They will come in the same zip archive.

The rest of this post is a shameless crosspost from quakeworld.nu:

I worked a bit on this one during the last days and quite a few things have changed since I last posted an update here. Here's beta4 of spirit1dm2.

A lot of work went into the MH area. I switched MH and RL as Darin suggested and blocked the very fast access to MH from RL with the bars you can see in the screenie below:



You can slide those bars into the wall with a button at GL, creating a second route to RL via the GL tele and those pipes you can see in the screenie. I had to move the tele exit a bit for this to work.

A jumppad now reveals your position (via the sound) on the other route to RL, making that spot more dangerous.

I hope you like the changes, I think they really improve gameplay.

Direct download link (unzip to your quake folder preserving paths): get spirit1dm2 beta4.zip
More screenies, info and readme: spirit1dm2 info

Looking forward to hear some opinions.

[=peg=]

Nice! The map can be play-tested on Euroquake (bigfoot.quake1.net:26000)
say !map spirit1dm2 in message mode to vote for this map..

edit:
there seems to be an in-appropriate texture scale on one of the floor tiles in the netquake version (see screenshot below)


edit2:
Was there supposed to be an item in this empty crate? (I'd suggest MEGA/QUAD/RING)
This area seems a little pointless when there is no reason to go there..

[Lightning_Hunter]

When the final version is out, I'll do some Frikbot waypoints for it.

[dfsp_spirit]

Wow, thanks for the fast replies and for putting the map on the server!

I'll fix that texture for the next version.

@LIghtning_Hunter: Thanks for the offer, that would be great! If you want I could even add those waypoints to the zip file (and give you full credit for them as a matter of course). Would be cool to give everybody quality waypoints so people don't have to search for them first.

[Lightning_Hunter]

@LIghtning_Hunter: Thanks for the offer, that would be great! If you want I could even add those waypoints to the zip file (and give you full credit for them as a matter of course). Would be cool to give everybody quality waypoints so people don't have to search for them first.

Just PM me the final map when it is complete, and I'll get a waypoint done for you so you can release it together then.

Edit: Keep in mind that Frikbots don't know how to bunny hop or use ramps to jump higher, so there are a few leaps they cannot make in this map. I'm hoping I can get them to obtain the rocket launcher by touching the button and going into the teleporter, but it will be a close call. As long as I can get them to obtain the rocket launcher, they will navigate the rest of the map fairly easily. They do know how to rocket jump.

[dfsp_spirit]

Ok, I will. And I expected that the bots wouldn't make some things on this map.

Most q2 bots I've seen are too stupid to use a teleporter, let alone a jumppad. When they get onto one they just bounce up and down until you errr... redeem them.

[Lightning_Hunter]

Most q2 bots I've seen are too stupid to use a teleporter, let alone a jumppad. When they get onto one they just bounce up and down until you errr... redeem them.

Haha, yes, that is absolutely true. I can't tell you how many UT99 maps I've seen with jumppads the bots get stuck on - despite the fact that you can make them use it fairly well in that game (most people just don't know how). The Frikbots can use windtunnels pretty well. If there is a simple tunnel that just involves the bots walking straight forward to end up at the top, they almost never fail. If it's a tunnel where they change direction and end up above where they started, then it's a bit more tricky - but if done properly, they will have about a 90% success rate.

Frikbots will sometimes have problems with teleporters, but it's usually when there are strings of teleporters that all connect. I've seen them "forget" which teleporter they are on, and walk to a waypoint that is nowhere near their location. I can sometimes fix this with the use of the precision flag and other small techniques, but this is definitely one of the few parts of the Frikbot code that isn't "perfect". Of course, they use them well enough that it isn't a huge deal.

\End babbling

[dfsp_spirit]

edit2:
Was there supposed to be an item in this empty crate? (I'd suggest MEGA/QUAD/RING)
This area seems a little pointless when there is no reason to go there..

Ummm, yes. That crate holds MH for me:


Strange it doesn't show up for you. Which client are you using?

EDIT: Right, it doesn't show up in FitzQuake. It's there in Darkplaces and ezQuake (the qw clients), so I have an idea. I clipped that crate so players can't hide (or accidently get stuck) in there and only part of the MH is outside of the clip brush (as you can see on my screenie). Seems Quake1 doesn't like that while QW doesn't care. I'll fix this asap.

[dfsp_spirit]

Ok, here's beta5:

=> download spirit1dm2-beta5.zip

Note: The zip now has 2 versions of the map, spirit1dm2 (for q1) and spiritqwdm2 (for qw). The missing MH was fixed.

complete list of changes (from readme):
* beta5
- fixed MH not showing up in q1 (had to move it out of the crate, no idea why)
- finally fixed the NG spot (the steel girder it sits on is now in the middle of that gap, making the 2 jumps the same length)
- minor lighting tweaks in central atrium (steel girders in the sky)
- made the tiny corridor at GL tele exit a bit longer (bit more dangerous, but no need to slow down to get the turn at the end)
- added lights to justify lightning in the same corridor and made it a bit brighter
- fixed floor texture in that corridor
- minor change to SNG position, just moved it away from the edge a bit (it was possible to grab it from below before)
- fixed texture scale bug near YA (thanks =peg=)
- slightly changed position of ammo boxes on the terrain (they semmed to be floating before)
- removed steel thingie above RL to make the RL -> SNG jump less annoying
- split the map into 2 different versions: one for q1 (spirit1dm2) and one for qw (spiritqwdm2), both are in the zip archive
- in the q1 version two jumps are shorter and the MH position is changed (very slightly, no difference in gameplay) for technical reasons

[=peg=]

Tested the beta5: texture is fixed, MEGA is present so that's all good now, however there appears to be another problem:
It makes the server crash every now and then.. not sure this is a bug in the mod or a problem with the map but this is the error message:

"ERROR: MOVETYPE_PUSH with a non bsp model"

My guess is that the dimensions of the trigger_push-brush are too large, i.e. the brush is too close to a wall/floor bush -> it falls trough the map at run time (just like the MEGA did in beta4)

Another problem could be that the origin of the map (the (0,0,0) coordinates) is located inside the map -> this can lead to unexpected things happening.. (i have not checked the .map yet at this point). If this is the case then just move the whole map away from the maps origin so that the (0,0,0) point is not inside the map..

BTW, I'm obviously talking about the NetQuake version running on Euroquake, just to be clear

edit:
Come to think of it, make sure all player spawn-points are all well clear (at least 16 units or so) of any walls/floors etc.. I have a feeling this is actually where the problem is at..

[dfsp_spirit]

Ok, I need some sleep now but I'll look into that tomorrow morning. The button could indeed be too large.

Never heard about trouble with (0,0,0) being inside the map and I'm very sure that this is the case for this map (and all my other maps). I'll move the whole thing, too.

Thanks for the suggestions, hope they'll fix this.

[JPL]

Read The Fucking Manual

Additional quoted from qguirRe's tool tips (http://user.tninet.se/~xir870k/tooltips.txt)

"SOLID_BSP with a non bsp model" or
"MOVETYPE_PUSH with a non bsp model" while playing
This is either an engine bug or there might be brush entities without brushes in the map (e.g. a
func_button without a brush). In the latter case, this typically happens when firing a missile
near origin (0 0 0). Remove or repair such entities. Enhanced Win/GLQuake has fixed the bug, will
print more information when it happens and also try to detect the issue already when loading the
map.

RTFM

[dfsp_spirit]

I found the bug and fixed it, you can get beta6 here:

get beta6

For those who care: The problem was that my func_button was tied to a brushless ghost func_door entity (and the bars it was supposed to open). You can see this in the radiant screenie below. Note the third blue line leading to (0,0,0). The engine seems to assume that the entity is located there because it has no brush assigned to it and thus no defined location.

I fixed this bug by opening the map file in a text editor and searching for "func_", then watched out for funcs that had no brush within their defintion. I found the one (see lower left part of screenie) and just deleted those lines.