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[SOLVED] Need Beta Testers - Printable Version

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[SOLVED] Need Beta Testers - lolboy9797 - 05-13-2012

Hi

Can some of you guys test my map? Please
If you want to look for bugs, wrong spelling etc.

here is a link: http://www.mediafire.com/?ojxtcskyqxhvsvo

thanks! Big Grin

RE: Need Beta Testers - Alento - 05-13-2012

(05-13-2012, 02:42 PM)lolboy9797 Wrote: Hi

Can some of you guys test my map? plzzz
If you want to look for bugs, wrong spelling etc.

here is a link: http://www.mediafire.com/?ojxtcskyqxhvsvo

thanks! Big Grin
I'll try it out! Smile will print screen if i find something.
btw, how long is it approximately, in minutes? Smile

RE: Need Beta Testers - lolboy9797 - 05-13-2012

(05-13-2012, 02:47 PM)Alento Wrote:
(05-13-2012, 02:42 PM)lolboy9797 Wrote: Hi

Can some of you guys test my map? plzzz
If you want to look for bugs, wrong spelling etc.

here is a link: http://www.mediafire.com/?ojxtcskyqxhvsvo

thanks! Big Grin
I'll try it out! Smile will print screen if i find something.
btw, how long is it approximately, in minutes? Smile
3-5 mins thanks for testing!

RE: Need Beta Testers - Alento - 05-13-2012

(05-13-2012, 02:56 PM)lolboy9797 Wrote:
(05-13-2012, 02:47 PM)Alento Wrote:
(05-13-2012, 02:42 PM)lolboy9797 Wrote: Hi

Can some of you guys test my map? plzzz
If you want to look for bugs, wrong spelling etc.

here is a link: http://www.mediafire.com/?ojxtcskyqxhvsvo

thanks! Big Grin
I'll try it out! Smile will print screen if i find something.
btw, how long is it approximately, in minutes? Smile
3-5 mins thanks for testing!
okey awesome! Will test it later! Smile

RE: Need Beta Testers - Traggey - 05-13-2012

(05-13-2012, 02:42 PM)lolboy9797 Wrote: Hi

Can some of you guys test my map? plzzz
If you want to look for bugs, wrong spelling etc.

here is a link: http://www.mediafire.com/?ojxtcskyqxhvsvo

thanks! Big Grin
Well, as for spelling correction, I believe it's spelled ''Please'' and not plzzz.

RE: Need Beta Testers - Putmalk - 05-13-2012

I'll test it out, but I will review it as critically as necessary.

I'll just edit this post.

Room 1:
Spoiler below!

- Soooo emppptty, please put tables + armchairs + stove_corners + chairs + decals and other stuff, otherwise it looks boring.
- Is there no boxlight here? It's really easy to tell, the dark areas clash so well with the bright areas and it doesn't look nice to look at all.
- Yay, another key puzzle. -.- That was easy to tell, I knew right away that the door was locked before I even touched it. Even so, when you do touch it, a message pops up saying "It's locked, i think i need a key...". Two things to say about that: You need to make the "i"'s capital, and why can't you just say "It's locked." and let us figure out if we need a key or not...less handholding, please. Big Grin
- You put a tri candle light on top of boxes. However, the candles are static objects, and can't be moved, but the boxes can, so when you move the boxes, the candle just floats there. Put the candles on tables or such that can't be moved.
- The candles above the suits of armor look jarring. Like, really jarring. -.-
- It's about here when I realize this is just a pewdiepie map -.-. Find a bunch of laundanums, brute crashes open the door, and it's a poofer.


Room 2:
Spoiler below!

- A stranger's note text has a lot of errors. Here's how it should read:
"Hello, if you read this I'm probably dead. I think this house is haunted by this monster thing! It's looking for something, or someone.... If I were you, I would find a way out of here and quick!

The locked door, in the corridor, needs a key.... Oh no! It found me, they key is in the ca...."

- Missing proper name/description for the second key
- Capitalize "Living Room Key", and fix it's description, something like "Tag reads "Living Room"
- This level door has no text on it. I don't know where I'm going. It also has no locked sound or text.
- The wall next to the level door is flickering. Plus, the two keys don't work on the door, so it's just kinda like...there...
- Side note: I already have two potions of oil, a full lantern, 3 laundanums, and a sanity potion. Do you know how long it takes to get that in the main game? Like 10 maps...this is map 1. O_O



Hallway:
Spoiler below!

- Flying naked man. Oh yeah...how original. Really this is starting to piss me off....


Room 3:
Spoiler below!

- There is a door here that leads into nothingness. Is that supposed to be there? That's like instant immersion killer, although the first brute already did that to me...
- The door on the workdesk isn't properly aligned and is just floating there.


Okay, there's no where here left to go.
Please read my above comments carefully. It's all the things I noticed/felt as playing.

Final thoughts:
Spoiler below!

I get that this is your first try, but what the hell? This is a Pewdiepie map, and it's not well at all. It's like you didn't even try. Also, why is this is in a beta test if it's not even past pre-alpha? I could only access 3 rooms before I got stuck, after that, I had nothing left to do. Not like I wanted more to do anyway, we have: Random spawning poofer enemy, that can somehow break down doors mind you, a flying naked man in a corridor (haven't seen that before...) and a bunch of items throw at you for no apparent reason. Oh wait, I forgot, key puzzles galore! I mean, no...no...no....this saddens me a lot...we need originality or at least effort, this has none of them. Anywho, you got your bug fixes/feedback, good luck on the project.

This isn't me even trying to be rude, I'm just being as dead honest as I possibly can.



RE: Need Beta Testers - lolboy9797 - 05-13-2012

(05-13-2012, 03:22 PM)Putmalk Wrote: I'll test it out, but I will review it as critically as necessary.

I'll just edit this post.

Room 1:
- Soooo emppptty, please put tables + armchairs + stove_corners + chairs + decals and other stuff, otherwise it looks boring.
- Is there no boxlight here? It's really easy to tell, the dark areas clash so well with the bright areas and it doesn't look nice to look at all.
- Yay, another key puzzle. -.- That was easy to tell, I knew right away that the door was locked before I even touched it. Even so, when you do touch it, a message pops up saying "It's locked, i think i need a key...". Two things to say about that: You need to make the "i"'s capital, and why can't you just say "It's locked." and let us figure out if we need a key or not...less handholding, please. Big Grin
- You put a tri candle light on top of boxes. However, the candles are static objects, and can't be moved, but the boxes can, so when you move the boxes, the candle just floats there. Put the candles on tables or such that can't be moved.
- The candles above the suits of armor look jarring. Like, really jarring. -.-
- It's about here when I realize this is just a pewdiepie map -.-. Find a bunch of laundanums, brute crashes open the door, and it's a poofer.
Thank you for your feedback, what do you mean with box light? (i'm new to making maps)

RE: Need Beta Testers - Putmalk - 05-13-2012

(05-13-2012, 03:36 PM)lolboy9797 Wrote: Thank you for your feedback, what do you mean with box light? (i'm new to making maps)
Read the rest of the comments, the post has been edited. You might not like what you read, but I have to say it. >.>

Anywho: Boxlights are accessed in the light section of the editor (default shortcut: 2). Boxlights are simply as they seem: Boxes of light. You expand them to fit the size of your desired area (normally, the entire map) and make them really small like .04, .06, .08 or something like that, so that they provide a dim lighting to your map, but makes it seem more realistic.

Point lights surround a circle in light. They're usually a bit brighter but room-specific. I usually put them by windows to make them seem a little lighter, or to change the color of a room a bit because I didn't want it to be that dark. Usually like .1, .1, .1 or similar values.

Spotlights are really bright, but very limited. These are like what your window lights are. They're really neat because you can assign an image to them, so they actually look like light is coming in through the windows.

And anywho, this is what I usually expect from stuff that I play, this is a screenshot of one of my stories I'm currently making:

[attachment=2873]

This section removes as much empty space as possible, adds pointlights, spotlights, and boxlights, with billboards (the rays of light) and particle effects. I don't expect someone on their first try to get something close to this, but you added a bunch of cardinal sins that I do not forgive, which are: constant spamming of key puzzles, random enemy spawns, and naked men. I do not tolerate those at all.

RE: Need Beta Testers - lolboy9797 - 05-13-2012

Again thank you for your feedback, english is not my main language and i'm just a kid soo for me this is a bit complicated.
I will try the best as I can on this. Your feedback is great, of course it's not funny to hear but I can handle it.
The scares and coding is also i bit complicated.

Thank you, if you got any tips & trick I would love to get some. Wink

RE: [SOLVED] Need Beta Testers - Putmalk - 05-13-2012

What I do when I'm unsure on how to map is open up two level editors (although this is easy for me because I have dual monitors).

On my left monitor is my map, and on the right is a map from Frictional Games (pick a trope that you work with, such as if I'm using mansionbase, I'll open up archives or study). Now, I examine how they laid out their maps in their map, and then I use that as inspiration for my own. For example, in the image I posted above, I used the study as a backbone, but I didn't copy anything from it, I merely used it as inspiration as I mapped out my area. You have to have an idea, such as "Do I want this map to be a destroyed mansion, a ruined castle, murky dungeon area, prison section, etc?". Then you have to map from there. The reason I had so much problem with your map is because it was nothing...it was a mansion with absolutely no flavor, empty rooms, corridors, etc. It wasn't fun to explore or play, because there was nothing keeping me involved.

As for specific tips:
1. When designing bedrooms, there are a few great entities to consider: bed_nice, work_desk/door, table_nice_round, mirror_broken (ornaments), cabinet_nice, chest_of_drawers_nice/broken, chairs, paintings (ornaments), sofa, armchair, stove_corner, and the desktop entities.
2. When I make windows, I almost always have curtains in front of them (static objects -> ornaments).
3. When I design corridors, don't make them so long. Add twists and turns in them, and have the player THINK something will happen, when in reality nothing happens. Also, corridors should merely link series of rooms together, for example, check out this early screenshot from my guest hall map:

[attachment=2874]

The rooms are interestingly laid out across the corridors, and they have turns in them to make them a bit more claustrophobic to navigate.

4. There are three types of monster spawns: 1. Poofers, which should be used sparingly throughout a map, 2. Scenic, which should be used to build atmosphere (i.e., monster walks across a hallway but is too far away to be a threat), and 3. Dangerous (everyone knows this). Dangerous encounters should happen in the darkest of places, or in claustrophobic encounters, and not every other second. We should navigate the maps in fear that the monster will show up, not on the expectation that it does. I absolutely hardly ever use monsters in my map, but I sometimes make their presence known, and feared, that they will show up. It's all in the atmosphere, mate.

5. DO NOT ABUSE KEY PUZZLES! It is not fun to do, and it doesn't make much sense. I can't remember any building in which the rooms were laid out in series, and every door was locked, and there was a key to open every door in that room. No, locked doors should be used sparingly, as a means to advance to the next area, but require exploration or puzzle-solving to fix. And don't hide keys in the dumbest of places, such as suits of armor or whatever. Nobody, repeat, nobody wants to play that. That's just a scavenger hunt. No, place keys on desks and stuff, really obvious to spot, but make the exploration throughout the rooms fun to experience. This means good map design and scares. For example, I think I use key puzzles twice in my custom story (so far). The first one requires the player to locate the lantern in a different map, then traverse the same map to open the door on the other side. In fact I have video of that here:





That whole video is one long key search, but notice how I add differences in the map after the player picks up the key (the staircase collapses and a monster spawns). That makes it fun, in my opinion, to explore. Mindlessly searching for keys is boring, make it an journey to get the item.

6. Jump scares. Oh man, this goes back to the poofers and naked men that I hate so much. They're not immersive at all, and they really suck to play with. My scares are sound and mind focused. Background noises, random wind blows, lamps going out, creepy noises, voices, etc. All these contribute to an uneasy atmosphere. Frictional Games spends two whole maps (rainy hall and old archives) establishing these same atmospheric principles. Jump scares happen like five times throughout the whole game, the rest are very subtle or not jumpy at all. When going for a scare, try adding loud events that happen away from the player, such as staircases collapsing, trees falling, a table knocking over, etc. Adding music also helps this. These skills will get better as you continue to map.