OpposingCastles8
The main gametype supported on this map is CTF. It can be played in KH if one really wishes to.



It is a 2 fortresses type map similar to desertcastles6 but with a diffrent type of castle and a diffrent setting. The bases are closer together in this map.

Your larger maps usually play like a multiple player campaign map where you fight against (an)other person(s) trying to do campaign. I feel that because of your one way, one route maps with only slight deviations, you are losing peoples interest too fast. The size and complexity of your maps essentially slow down game play as the average Nexuiz player knows it often causing them grief when they aren't able to score the flag in under 2 minutes.

I think this map is nice in the respect that you pay strict attention to detail and present interesting challenges. I don't like the clipping at the castle towers where it looks like you can walk off but you can't as I and other players have often voiced. Open it up a bit more, add more routes in and out of item areas and try not to be be so literal in your recreations.

I know you say castles are supposed to be strong and secure and hard to get the flag and so on but I think you need to focus more on accessibility. Jump pads and teleporters would be nice as well.

Check out ctctf6, moonstone, kill_all_organic, medival_v2 and skycastle for references.

I say bad... Poor design compared to the other mikeeusa maps... It feels like a maze. Just like he built the only route to the flag, then put some dead ends around it... Way too linear, with an illusion of movement freedom...

Same for redstarrepublic, but that one doesn't have so much dead ends.

too confusing designed

annoying grass texture

extrem oversized

I love this one! I actually like it more than Desert Castles. It's an excellent Map for one on one duels, but is just perfect for team play, because it forces players to communicate in order to play well.

It's very frustrating to figure out the first time, and it could be made a bit more open - I like that there's only 1 way into the castle/flag room, but maybe it would be a bit better if the castle had some extra entrances with dead ends, rather than all being part of the same building.

I don't know how anyone else feels, but I love the traps - not quite as easy to use as in Desert Castles, but much more fun.

HOW DO YOU GUYS EVER PLAY REDSTARREPUBLIC! Whenever i try to play this map or redstar the server always seems to dissconnect!

that's because you time out during loading
or the server does...

But it happens everytime i go to a server with those maps. I am getting sick of it.

New version 8:
https://cat2.optus.nu/nexuizserv/opposingcastles8.pk3

Additions: a few diverging paths inside the castle. Radar image.

Bugs: (flipped?) triangle (texture dissapeared) in the red castle on a part of a chequed floor
Div: is it possible to fix q3map2 to not make these errors? It never does well with complex maps.

Feels like the same linear trap as before to me.

I noticed maybe 1 added hallway but I wouldn't consider calling it an 'alternative route to the flag'.

I didn't call them "allternative routes to the flag" I called them "a few diverging paths inside the castle."

They include: a two choice of how to move into the throne room (you can go through the old mural door or the new broad stair path with no door).

A three way choice of entering the vestibule room to the flag room: normal way, path through a small bedroom, the down stairs-upladder path.

It is a trap: it _is_ a castle. Now there are a few more choices but still many chokepoints.
That's how castles were designed and constructed.

I'm not going to drill a hole through the castle.

Now, for your comment elsewhere about mappers who don't map the way the "community" wants them to being selfish: Fine, I'm selfish. I make the maps I want to play. If the commune want's maps of it's design ... div has made a nice new package ready for the nexuiz commune citizens to easily realise their dreams.

They can make ruins with thousands of holes in them, in space, hell... they could make maps with _NO_ walls whatsoever! In space! That allows an infinite number of paths ....
...
actually they do that.

This release is a slight improvement but does not change the fundamentals of this map: a correctly working castle.

Another goal of this map was to have DC like play but with fewer people if needed. Apparently you can play 1v1 ....

Now why did that triangle not show it's texture (the one in the red castle). Is there a way to fix that manually?

No need to go to extremes, we've already had discussions in these forums about the troubles "open maps" have. I just feel like the addition paths inside the castle are too deep and not really beneficial in creating "Nexuiz Style" maps which tend to have multiple routes to the flag.

I understand you like to make maps the way you like to play them and I'd agree that keeping yourself happy is a very important thing. However, I think your strict interpretation of history is a hindrance in your evolution as a mapper. If you're not making maps in the style Nexuiz players enjoy playing them, you will be playing maps alone and playing maps alone can get boring.

In a nut shell, your maps are generally too difficult for the average Nexuiz player, not that this is news to you. The style of your maps leads to a lot of linear progress that takes minutes to achieve but can be lost in mere seconds. Which usually results in people giving up.

I'd like to see you make the jump towards space age, bend the rules, create stages where potential situations get increased exponentially by interweaving pathways, creative jumppads, teleporters or otherwise changes in physics and item pickups. This will inheritly increase the flow of your maps.

Check out these castles:
ctctf6


sky castle


Darkzonectf

I like the skycastle style (I like the original map alot). The ctf version is too sparse, doesn't have the same "feel". I wish the original author would make a ctf map in the same style (but not just a mirror of the original map). I'll have to DL ctf6 on the nvidia box and check it out, never played that one.

Pyconic was my first more-serious forray (as in try to make the eyecandy look good) into the tech/space area. I'd like to do more of the tech-space (not open space) map. I also wish more people would make maps (and non-simple ones ). The problem is it's hard to keep the eyecandy on high with said maps, and hard to think of what to design without basically making yet another q3 map. I like my maps to be something, rather than just shapes... I find alot of q3 maps to be shapes carved out of the void it seems, rather than a concrete "place".

I'm wondering if I should add spawns to the roofs? Maybe 2 per team? what do you think?

I think you should take the previous advice I offered.

[-z-] wrote:I think you should take the previous advice I offered.

Way to dodge the question . The map IS gpl. If you want it a certain way you can mod it (I encourage it, just make sure the map and pk3 is named diff (opp-castles_mod_bla or something). Now, would spawns on the top be of benefit?

Not by much because the game play is hindered by the linear design in combination with the overall size.

Personally, I don't mind too much because I view your maps as giant defrag maps or speed run challenges as it were. However, the majority of players find your maps far too challenging and out of place in the game.

I would love to see an abstract castle with multiple routes created by you.

I agree with [-z-].
Mike ,your maps have loads of potential and you obviously put a lot of time and effort into them.
If you just made them a little bit easier to play using the suggestions that [-Z-] put forward, which pretty much hit the nail on the head about what is wrong with your maps.
I'm sure you would get a lot of fans for your creations, instead of them being wasted as is mostly the case at the present.
Incidentally I don't know how you manage to produce so many maps. I can only make about one every 4 months at the moment.
Did you get anywhere with the scotland map? what was it called?

Scotland map:
https://cat2.optus.nu/nexuizserv/spirecontrol6.pk3
(There's a thread here about it).

I would appreciate it if players would make mods of my maps to be as they wish it to be.
I make the castle in it's pristine condition, you give it some battle scars and open it up as you wish, maybe take away the trees so it loads faster etc. I'd like to see what other people come up with. All the maps and media are GPL (some textures are creative commons, share alike, modifiable (similar to GPL) sometimes, I make sure I only use opensource stuff that does _not_ have a "no commercial" clause).

How to make so many maps? Well curved surfaces usually get a patchmesh rather than being built out of brushes. I make templates for the windows and such, and I've made enough furnature in nordic castle that I can reuse it alot. I also make some arena and small maps... and
well when I'm making a map I pretty much do it full time. I don't regulate it to "when I get around to it". It gets worked on untill it's done.

Now adays I like to go back to my maps and improve them too, like many ideas don't need a new map, they just need to be added to an older one that is a bit too sparse (sideloop can use more insides etc), aslong as the theme is kept.

Bascially speed in map creation is a function of dedication and knowing hotkeys in the editor. Once you know the keys you're fast. What is very useful is the masking/filter keys: filter entities, show only detail, show only structual etc etc that way you can select what you need easy.

Also constructing things outside of the map boundries and then copying/moving them in is improtant for speed. You need to think "how can I make this on it's own". Think about addition and subtractive brush creation (the casteleation on the circular towers was made by: making a big cylinder brush. subtracting a smaller diamater one from it (of the same amount of sides) making a "cross/plus", duplicating and rotating it 45 degrees, duplicating all of that and rotating again, subtracting all of that from the cylinder, delete the cross brushes, consolidate the casteleation brushes, put on top of round tower, set textures to axial. (oh and somewhere in there is setting the textures from caulk to stone brick).

Your maps are intimidating. I'd love to add in my thoughts but I fear I'm not versed well enough in the art of mapping (yet). I'd prefer to explain ideas to a more experienced mapper such as yourself for optimal quality. Your maps run fantastic on my machine. Weighing it at literally 50-100 times larger than my latest release, it's amazing how you can keep the fps down.

If you were to aquire some "Strahlemann style" to your maps, it'd be like a Nexuiz disney land. His shapes are interesting, flowing and architectural pleasent. He presents gains and loses through items, jumpads, evelators, teleports, changes in velocity (areas to gain or lose great amounts of speed) and jumps requiring specific amounts of force.

Finding the medium between all these dimensions is what I find the fun, ongoing challenge in video games. He thinks about where a player will try and rocket jump or laser and creates ways to block or enhance these situations.

The flow in your map seems almost accidental with your tight restriction on items and length pathways, I feel like it's up to the player to create ways to gain speed with the laser and (hopefully) a 45 somewhere. I understand your mapping style and I think it's well developed in it's respective field but I feel like they are more like campaign maps. They can actually be classified as more a 'campaign co-op, in my honest opinion.

Anyway... I'd love to talk / work with you about these ideas and possibly convince you to give the "Nexuiz style" another shot. I can explain and perhaps draw up some ideas but again, I'm afraid my mapping skills are still lacking to have a real affect.

your maps are all mona lisa's, but not good. I agree with -z- about strahlemann. He makes the best DM maps.

I do believe that you put a lot of work in your maps. But maybe ctf isn't really the right gametype for you. Try DM, or race. I personally think that we haven't enough decent 1v1 maps. New 1v1/DM maps added in nexuiz 2.5 would be great.

I can definitely see mikeeusa making some good race maps.

Hmmmm, Race gametype and Race maps added in 2.5 would be great. I love playing race, but my bro is downloading a lot, so I usually have a ping of 1600+. Would be nice if I can play them offline too.

Updated to v11
https://cat2.optus.nu/nexuizserv/opposingcastles11.pk3
http://cat2.optus.nu:81/nexuizserv/oppo ... tles11.pk3

I'm sorry no f*****g dead ends that's really not fun





NO fun for me specifically

Um, uuuuh?

Now that was constructive :p