Vortale's stuff

[Vortale]

I've done nothing but lurk for a bit. I thought I'd just show people what I've done and what I may be doing, even if there is a lack of interest. Because making maps is fun.

Roboenza maps (Works for DM games)

Download .pk3: http://www.mediafire.com/?5b513ylq31bc2gc
Current version: 0.8, not yet finished

I started the first map back when Roboenza was at it's peak in popularity. Due to work, I never really had time to get things finished and I have only very recently been able to work on them more. Although they will work in other modes, they were originally designed for Roboenza and this was my first crack at fixing it up to be a DM map, so I'm not 100% sure these will be completely balanced for DM games. Complaints help of course.

VRP01 - Roboenza Bunker - 90% (needs new music)

Screenshots

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VRP02 - Combat Testing Facility - 85% (needs new music, big fixes and changes more than likely)

Screenshots

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VRP03 - Frozen Docks - 100%

Screenshots

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VRP04 - Killing Game Show - 15% (layout sketched, script ready)

VRP05 - Cave of Wonders - 90% (needs new music)

Screenshots

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VRP?? - Last Hope - 98% (Software mode textures need fixed)

Screenshots

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Possible ideas for after this is finished

VRP?? - House of Horrors

This map will be of a haunted mansion, containing random spooky effects including the appearance of fake infected that may appear, then disappear.

VRP?? - Robot Museum

This works somewhat as more of the opposite of House of Horrors. It will contain random non-infected robot masters in certain rooms, each with a broken capsule. Some of these broken capsules will be empty.

You are free to praise, critique, complain about, hate and slaughter (verbally of course) any of these maps. Feedback will be appreciated, as it will help me fix up what might be bothering folk and keep me motivated.

At some point I might host these maps in a server (UK based I'm afraid, sorry) in order to test them. If anyone's interested let me know.

[Blaze Yeager]

This is an Amazing Map i must say!

And yeah YD did make a Map Pack but it was...Meh

[Korby]

I take offense to that. I quite liked a few of Yellow Devil's maps. They could have been worked upon more though.

I'll test this later.

[Vortale]

This is an Amazing Map i must say!

And yeah YD did make a Map Pack but it was...Meh

Now now, none of that. There was a few I thought would've been good for a game of Roboenza. It's a pity I've never saw a server host it in order to give a full opinion (not sure if I missed one at some point a while ago).

But thank you for the compliment!

[Blaze Yeager]

No Problem!

[Magnet Dood]

Frozen Pier or Docks or whatever looks pretty cool. Downloaded.

I don't know how to use it in game however.  :?  Do you add it like a WAD?

[Vortale]

Little update here: Cave Of Wonders is done and up for some testing. I did do some privately with a few friends, but there is a chance we missed things (they don't play DM games normally so they didn't help in that field). I've been fiddling with weapon placements for quite a while so they aren't completely retarded, but I still feel there might be BIG balance issues somewhere that I haven't noticed. My brain's been a bit frazzled with school work.

This map is designed for much bigger games. This is not recommended for 1v1, especially in Roboenza, as there are many hiding places and secrets. Although the map isn't too big, it will seem huge the first few times playing through and getting used to it.

Again, all fixes will be sorted - if noticed - for the .pk3, as well as visual improvements here and there. You're free to wait until then before downloading.

Also

Frozen Pier or Docks or whatever looks pretty cool. Downloaded.

I don't know how to use it in game however.  :?  Do you add it like a WAD?

Frozen Docks. Pier was the name I had originally, but I prefered Docks.

Download. Open MM8BDM Launcher. Click Add File. Select VortRoboP3.wad. Press start. Multiplayer>Offline Skirmish. Select map. DONE!
Though because I took a while to reply you might've figured that out by now.

[Tesseractal]

My brain's been a bit frazzled with school work.

This map is designed for much bigger games. This is not recommended for 1v1, especially in Roboenza, as there are many hiding places and secrets. Although the map isn't too big, it will seem huge the first few times playing through and getting used to it.
Download. Open MM8BDM Launcher. Click Add File. Select VortRoboP3.wad. Press start. Multiplayer>Offline Skirmish. Select map. DONE!
Though because I took a while to reply you might've figured that out by now.

Or: After pressing start, open console (via `/tilde) and enter "CHANGEMAP VRP05". VOILA! =p

Hah, this map frazzles my brain! It's got a very distinctive style I haven't really seen anywhere else. What triggers the "doors"- the upward sliding walls, etc. - are they strictly time based? Sometimes it felt random or proximal based and I didn't really get it. The other danger is being "trapped" in the Hyper Bomb Spawn between a pit and a door. I looked through it and went: "Could you REALLY play this in roboenza!?" and so a lot of things I can't really say until I've played it in a live game. I have a lot of mixed reactions here and but I'm not really sure how to approach this map. It's like... It wraps around so much it SEEMS like you'd get lost, but it also connects a lot in ways that you wouldn't. So I can't tell if the map is fluid or not, which confuses me, although I posted so late after dl'ing it as I seem to like it a bit more. Fire up the server(do I need to re-download VRP03?) The only issue for certain in this map I can say bugged me was the low ceilings in a couple of rooms, although not sure how that'll work out as I hate jump spammers. (The Crash Bomb/Yashichi has a huge, huge, HUGE ceiling but I see potential in that little box. It looks like an elevator shaft. Can ye throw an alcove up there for us campers? =p) But this map is hard to grasp, as ye said.. I gotta play some matches on it.

[Vortale]

Apologies for bumping my old thread with no new maps at this very moment, but I just thought I'd give a little update since people have been asking why there has been no progress on these maps in nearly 2 months, and what I'm going to do.

In a nutshell: Life. I'm currently doing a Games Development course in University (no, it's not awesome, the course is pretty terrible but it's a degree nonetheless) and recently it began to eat up a lot of my free time. Oh, I was map building at the time, but it was in UDK. I still have nightmares...

Except the contest entry, I haven't touched any of my maps in a long time. However this may change soon. Although I'm still working, I have much more free time than I had previously.
I still don't feel I should release a .pk3 until I have finalised just about everything. But I will soon release Last Hope instead for my lateness, which was originally only going to be thrown out as a bonus map for the .pk3.

For the final version, the following things have changed in each map:

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Roboenza Bunker: In the main hall, the pipes along both sides now have different colours. This should help players figure out what side of the map they're on and which way to turn.
Teleporters have changed destination to allow players to get to other portions of the map much easier and become less confusing as to which teleporter takes you where.

Combat Testing Facility: The obstacle course has been completely removed and the entire map will be replaced with the shooting gallery. The reason for this was not only because the obstacle course felt out of place, too wide open and difficult to work with, but Killing Game Show will have some level of obstacle courses in it already, as it is based on Takeshi's Castle ("Most Extreme Elimination Challenge").
Vents will be widened, better indicated and will be covered somewhat better with the shooting gallery walls and pillars, allowing infected to climb in with less of a risk. Vent launchers will also be clearly indicated.

Frozen Docks: Barely any changes to this one, besides many of the issues mentioned by others (thanks guys!). This seems to be the crowd favourite, despite taking less time. =P

Cave Of Wonders: Now, I haven't gotten too much feedback on this one (and this is entirely my own fault). However, I'm temped to re-do this entire map from scratch, as I personally have gripes with it. While doing this map, an idea for another map came along.
The main gimmick of this map was that certain walls opened and closed at certain intervals, allowing survivors to hide in new spots (which used Pharaoh Man textures). The infected always had ways of climbing into these hiding spots, so if the walls closed, the infected did not need to wait for the door to open and in a way this could become a dangerous gamble for survivors.
But as time went on I felt that this map quickly became a clusterfuck. New players were confused far too easily and it required a MUCH large scale of players since there were more hiding spots. Also, despite me originally thinking otherwise, this map does not work very well at all in DM.
If I'm alone in this statement and feel I only need to make a few minor changes (such as adding a sound indicator for when walls are opening and closing), I will keep this map. However I do have another idea and if people don't like this map, I'll replace it with the new idea.

Last Hope: I was originally going to put a new weapon into this, but decided to get rid of it since it didn't work lol
This map is cramped, but has plenty of hiding spaces. The music will need to be changed of course (I'm imagining some kind of "End of the world" type music) as I'm currently using MM6 Wily Machine.

Contest entry: This will be released after the contest results (eventually) come in. It's a remake of Cloud Man's map, which I will probably personally title "Hard Rain". It's not entirely Roboenza friendly though, and I may consider asking if it could be thrown in the CSCMP.

So with that said, my apologies to those who have been waiting for news on these and a big thanks to everyone who helped and gave feedback so far (Ice-IX especially, who has kicked ass). I should hopefully get Killing Game Show done, fix all maps then get this damn long awaited .pk3 thrown out. No deadline, but I'm HOPING that this shouldn't take me till September.

[Tesseractal]

Last Hope: I was originally going to put a new weapon into this, but decided to get rid of it since it didn't work lol
This map is cramped, but has plenty of hiding spaces. The music will need to be changed of course (I'm imagining some kind of "End of the world" type music) as I'm currently using MM6 Wily Machine.

End of the world music!? I have just the thing!

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There's plenty of other great tracks from the game I would suggest but they're in GBC 8-bit and not NES 8-bit, unfortunately. That track was the first that came to mind. I can whip up Golden Sun Fusion Dragon, Doom Dragon, CT Undersea Palace, x1 Sigma stage 2, Final Destination all in 8-bit, for example. If I saw the map I would have a narrower selection of course.

Anyway, yes! Snake Man is back! You being in design makes wicked sense (shame it's not awesome lol) The changelog looks good. I did host Cave once and the testers (Ken/Muzaru) appeared to like it, so I'd be against scrapping the map entirely. What you said about the confusion, though - is definitely true, and because of difficulty finding where you're going, it would probably slow down DM games a lot. LMS I think would be fine, though, given you only spawn once. The "hyper bomb spawn" if I remember (it's a corner in the bridge area) is a good example of what you're talking about - you could get down there and be safe as long as you were out of a view, but a zombie who looks down would find you instantly. Of course if the human had item-1+Star Crash the zombie would be screwed, as even with altfire he'd have trouble getting out of there if you escaped. I think the Pharoah Doors are an awesome gimmick, the timer would help although I'm curious how long the timer would be - some people might not like the interval being so long - although this and the rest of the map I'm highly unsure about it in general (I don't even have music suggestions even). It's such an oddball, quirk map that I'd have to play it in roboenza to really solidify my impression of it.

Glad you're not setting a deadline - it's unnecessary, and I know it's coming anyway. Good luck! =P

[LlamaHombre]

I just noticed now.

You use OpenGL Watercolors.

YES!  :twisted:

[Shade Guy]

With Cave of Wonders, I'm going to compare it to Quick Man's stage in the sense of access (or lack thereof) to different areas depending on whether there are quickbeams about. In roboenza, I find this map interesting. I think it should be okay, as long as the survivor is given enough room to avoid a zombie while a door is closed. In Quick Man, if a quickbeam blocks your path, there is usually enough room to turn back and run around the zombie in circles a few times until you can continue. If you do decide the map isn't that good, I'd highly reccomend redoing and making the layout simpler instead of scrapping the idea altogether, as the doors were a nice idea.

[Vortale]

Uploaded Last Hope.

Regarding music, I probably should've been both more specific and more awake when I gave a rough idea of what I was looking for. Granted some of the music you've suggested is still good, but doesn't quite fit the map. I wanted something that said "Shit is going down, this is the last stand, we lose now and everything is over, BUT, we aren't going to give up." I chose something that might work, people can let me know that it's terrible, along with telling me my weapon choices are also terrible. =D

Also, some may have noticed if they are playing in software mode:

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These windows have been an absolute pain for me. They work absolutely fine in OpenGL, but don't want to work in Software and it really makes the buildings look (more) ugly. If anyone knows why, please let me know!

It seems I am alone in my Cave Of Wonders statement. This will mean you'll probably be getting another new map at some point.
After giving it much thought and taking issues that have been repeatedly mentioned into consideration, I have a few ideas that could hopefully improve the map. I will upload a new version onto Mediafire when I get the chance. It shouldn't be drastically different, but hopefully should play much better for DM.

I have no idea if I'll get to hosting a server with these maps at any point in the near future, since I was supposed to do it twice and in both occasions that fell flat on it's ass. We'll see what the future holds though.

------

EDIT: Why not throw up another map while I'm here, huh?
Cave Of Wonders has been updated and up for downloading.
The changes are as follows:
- The walls that open have now been changed into crystal walls that will appear/disappear instantly at specific times. There is a beeping counter and a sound effect when the walls open/close for players. The crystal walls are also transparent, so players can see who's inside.
- Hyper Bomb has been removed and the area has been changed to become another path to the blue bridge, getting rid of a dead end and hopefully causing less confusion.
- Camping/hiding spot (for both survivors and infected) added.
- Weapons and items have been changed/moved to hopefully make the map a little better for DM.

[Shade Guy]

I looked at your new map,  Last Hope. Needless to say, I was impressed, especially by the sheer amount of effort that was placed in this map. Recolouring textures to change the mood, and adding those explosions and fire was a very nice touch. Really gave the map the feeling that the world was ending.

One thing I'd suggest is making the green building more accessible. I'd suggest adding an extra passage to the Needle Cannon (especially with those ruined stairs) and Lightning Bolt areas to stop both spots from becoming so campable. For example, you could open the window in each room so zombies can climb in, or you could even add a one-way vent which lets zombies drop into those areas. Aside from that, you've provided a lot of hiding spots while they can keep a survivor safe for a period of time, can be breached (which is good).

Also, question: What music is in this map?

[Vortale]

Funny story with this one.
While doing the green building, the thought occurred to me that I should put an extra path inside via vents. But then I thought that if enough zombies came into a camping spot, or walked in backwards, the camper would be dealt with. Having a little bit of camping isn't a bad thing in a map...right?
This was BEFORE I recently played Skullman's map on rageroboenza. Since when did players start working so well together in this mode? lol
Skullman is almost a win for survivors every time with pellet spam. Even if you come in backwards, you're probably going to take too much damage to do anything unless you're the alpha who hasn't caught anyone yet.
Because of this, I will have to prevent pellet spam camping by adding extra ways inside (sorry guys!). I'm just glad to see someone else has noticed this.

Music is Lufia 2 Boss battle, 8-bit. I noticed I didn't give credit to the guy who did the 8-bit version. Granted he didn't make the original piece, but I should've still credited for the effort put in (I've done it for Frozen Docks). Gotta add that in now before I throw the .pk3 out.