Null
Gladiator
Posts: 555
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Post by Null on May 5, 2012 15:37:23 GMT -5
Awesome! Margaal, your maps are always solid and tend to kick ass! So, I hope you don't mind a little constructive criticism... There's something I believe that would open up your maps to a much wider audience! The thing I'd like to request, and don't take it the wrong way, because I believe your maps are one of the best, and because it comes from a player's perspective... If it was possible to make the hallways always a bit wider or taller, perhaps 30%... It would make them way more suitable, and that much better for fast paced close combat, found on non DM Mods, which are prevalent these days. Some feel that a few of the maps are too claustrophobic and are more suited for small arms fire found on plain DM. It'd be a loss to some if they only limited themselves to plain DM, because players everywhere are looking forward to such great maps. And there are many other mods out there yearning for a piece of the action! In these places, as it's been my experience, people want a bit more breathing room and personal space to get around, especially when navigating tight corridors: in which they tend to overly get bogged down, ambushed and blown to pieces. And believe me when I say that everyone loves mobility, and the ability to seek shelter! Sometimes small adjustments make all the difference in the world! To get around these problems in the past, we'd create overrides and place inter-connecting teleporters for all the various major zones as remedies. But these are just band-aid solutions, that can never replace a mappers touch! Having said all that, the above is... Just another great piece of work, from a Class A Mapper! The map looks awesome as always, and I'm looking forward to it, as well as to another successful mapping contest! Cheers, Null
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Null
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Post by Null on May 5, 2012 14:45:40 GMT -5
Thanks Wixen! Do get better though, because we need you! Don't let anything stop you from your passion of making new maps! Worse yet, can't allow for this great place to fade away. Don't think that Quake 2 and it's player base has moved on! On the contrary! There are many players now coming back to play Quake 2 who need Quake 2 Cafe! Because they are disillusioned with all the new games which they feel only focus on flashy graphics, cheap tricks, and not a fun game play that Quake and its solid throughout maps provide! For example: try using hook or jet pack on HL2 and you'll know what I mean. You'll quickly discover that their maps are facades, and are designed to limit player mobility mostly to ground level, all in effort to hide these flaws! They apply tricks like smoke and mirrors and are not suited for fast paced fully contained combat that can only be found here on Quake 2! It's not the same, and players are onto it. This is why till this day Quake 2 provides the best specialized death match environment, and the fastest mind numbing action that can't be found anywhere else. Without all the great maps made here at Q2C this wouldn't be possible! Everyday, players everywhere enjoy all the great Q2C maps, and benefit from all the Q2C map contests which ensure that the maps created are up to standard! These contests have to continue strong, and need to be run and organized by mappers for the mappers and players! We mapping DJs only specialize in map remixing which isn't the same as full map making, and we'll still need the help and support of real mappers without whom our craft can not survive! We only know a few mappers like Whodini, and we'll do our best to recruit them on behalf of Q2C, which is a far cry from what's needed. But as far as the rest, we can't do it without you and your friends at Q2C! It's up to you to rally the troops, and recruit new ones, and keep building this place up. We'll do our best to make this place great, but we'll need you and the support of all of Q2C, because Quake 2 needs it now more then ever!
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Null
Gladiator
Posts: 555
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Post by Null on May 5, 2012 2:16:46 GMT -5
Looks nice!
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Null
Gladiator
Posts: 555
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Post by Null on May 4, 2012 19:55:03 GMT -5
XOXOXOXO I don't see many more maps coming from me in the near future. I have the wanting to make them, just no time or energy. I gots me a genuine book in the works. Every spare moment I have is going into the edits, re-writes and whittling away process. I have until the end of June before my publisher gets it. Then we'll see just how poorly it's received. It's sad to hear you'll not have much time to work on maps in the near future, but on the other hand its great that you're branching out and trying your hand at writing! You have a very creative mind, so I'm sure you'll be successful at whatever you put your mind to. Let me know when it comes out, or where I can get a copy! Good Luck! BTW, does it have anything to do with Quake or making maps? ;D Thanks! And have at 'em. I don't care if they're used or altered as long as they get a new name iteration to avoid version conflicts. Actually, I'd be curious to see what is done with any of them. So, if there's any "altered" versions available I'd love to see 'em. Cool! It's great to hear you have an open mind about these things! Have you ever considered releasing some of your original .map files? Most of us would learn a great deal from such wonderful examples!
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Null
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Post by Null on May 4, 2012 16:38:59 GMT -5
Thanks Marics! It's encouraging and uplifting to hear that from someone of your caliber! Over the years we've greatly admired your maps, and our players agree that they are hands down the best, and most solid series of Quake 2 maps ever created! And we don't mean to discourage any of the other mappers from thinking they're just as capable, but instead encourage them to learn as much as they can, for as long as they can from this mapping genius! Frankly we don't know how you did it! It's incredible how you find the patience and determination to keep turning out such solid maps! Every one proves to be a hit, and you do it year after year, map after map, by now having your maps number in the hundred! This is quite an accomplishment and on behalf of our players and all of the weapons community, we'd like to congratulate you! Please don't stop! I'd also like to announce that we've not given up on this great game, and continue to see great potential for its future growth. And so we're actively developing tools which hopefully can reinvent some of the development at least in terms of turn around speeds and efficiency... since we're not as map making patient as you guys. Having said that, we're ready to work closely with this great community and take input in their evolvement. Marics you've been an inspiration to us all, so please continue to make these great maps of yours! It would be nice to see them enjoyed by players, and inspire the rest of us to do the same for many years to come! Also it wouldn't hurt to have more splendid maps to remix! Cheers, Null
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Null
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Post by Null on May 4, 2012 6:01:43 GMT -5
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Null
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Post by Null on May 4, 2012 5:16:47 GMT -5
Hello! Thank you Wixen for being so kind to setup this Map Remixing section! Quake 2 Cafe is indeed a special place, because it is home of some of the best Quake 2 mappers out there. It is also possibly the only remaining place too. Therefore I can reassure everyone that this section will not overshadow the great talent featured here at the quake 2 cafe, but it might merely accent it. Having said that, we're honored to be able to showcase something we call map remixing. You might be asking yourself what the heck is that? Well, I'll tell you... It's sort of similar to the phenomenon you might know as song remixing. It has to be taken with an open mindset. There are DJs who really love certain songs, and feel they can contribute by putting an interesting touch on the original creation, thus creating versions of it. They incidentally present the same song in a slightly different light, with a slightly different vibe. In some cases they try to stay true to the original vision, of the author who created it. Other times, its like night and day... but still very cool. Some of you might think that these creations are in a whole different class than the ones which were created from scratch, and you're totally right. Its different, but is it worse? What if the original lacked something, and maybe it was rushed, and forever became an unfinished masterpiece. What if a few slight touches, could complete it, merely complement it, or perhaps just transform it from good to great? Isn't part of the mapping about tailoring the experience specifically for the players who will enjoy it in the end? We've all listened to some songs which sounded better remixed, and thought maybe there was more too it. Since we believed that remixing maps is sorta like that, but is still a whole different craft, and not as time consuming as making maps from scratch, we felt it required its own section, so the two were not confused. In the next few days we will present what it is all about, and show some of our past experiences in the realm of map mixing. Perhaps this might captive or even inspire some, because these remixes were probably as much fun to make, as they were for others to play! Cheers, Null
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Null
Gladiator
Posts: 555
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Post by Null on Sept 5, 2011 21:40:31 GMT -5
TEMP BUG FIX: It was recently brought to my attention that some people might need "Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86)" in order to properly run the application without errors: "Error while generating thumbnail at index <number>" You can download and install "Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86)" from here: www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5555 4MB If you get a crash in mapmixer, make sure that the "textures" and "maps" paths you specify in settings, are both in the same mod directory ex: C:\quake2\baseq2\textures, C:\quake2\baseq2\maps Also if the "env" folder doesn't exists in: baseq2 and weapons directories, make sure to create it. (This crash bug will be fixed in next version) ex: C:\quake2\baseq2\env, C:\quake2\weapons\env, C:\quake2\your_mod_name\env On another note, Kitsune has updated the manual with even more map overriding tips and tricks: www.netdoo.com/ninclan/board/YaBB.cgi?num=1310112731Cheers,
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Null
Gladiator
Posts: 555
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Post by Null on Jul 12, 2011 0:16:33 GMT -5
Hello mappers! I come with greetings from NIN Clan! We at NIN have finally decided to package and release our internal set of Map Remixing Tools that have kept our main server "Whale's Eye" pumping with fresh vibrant looking maps for a long while now. And now we're making them readily available to everyone to do as they please! And what better place to make this known than the center of the quake 2 mapping universe aka Q2 Cafe! I know it takes great skill, determination and patience to do what you guys do so well, but now it's also good to know that there's an easier alternative for the less advanced mappers out there The beauty of Map Mixer is that it works directly on the BSP file making it possible to replace all the internal textures without having to recompile anything and in mere seconds! The application also provides a simple user interface to talk with arghrad and re-light the bsp file as well. And to top it all of there's also an advanced editor to deal with overriding and placing entities, that provides the user with sets of templates ranging from simple teleports to more complex combinations like moving colorful lasers and what not. Another cool thing is, when you're done with your creation, with only one click you can package up all the files associated with the bsp (env/textures/sounds/override) into one neat zip file ready to be uploaded and shared! The application currently supports multiple mods and comes pre-loaded with dm, wodx and xatrix entities and templates. Texture replacement is simple as drag and drop from windows explorer. Also NIN-KitsuneButt was nice enough to write up a thorough manual for all you good folks out there to better understand all the other features not mentioned here: Map Mixer Manual - how to use the main functionsMap Mixer - how to easily host your creationsOur Map Center - where you can share your creations with us or download others!I hope we can work together to keep Quake 2 alive and well for years to come! Here's what the Re-Texture interface looks like: And here's before and after shots of the standard map mintro.bsp www.netdoo.com/wodx/MapMixer1.0.rarCheers! NIN-Null
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