Well, not much to say, except that everything in the map may change in future versions. Let the screenshots do the talking:







More screenshots & download link as usual on NS World

Enjoy, and don't forget to set r_detailtextures to 1 for this map

Please let me touch you

NICE! Wow, just... NI-HI-HICE!

Joy to the world!

Looks really nice, however... my framerate in this map is horrible.

I can play all the other NS maps at a steady 60 fps (I have v-sync on), even with detailtextures enabled and particle systems on screen... yet this map gives me 20-30fps.

1. It's not the r_speeds, those are under the limits.
2. It's not the visible particle systems, since the framerate is consistently low in all areas.
3. It's not the detail textures, since I turned them off and didn't notice any increase in FPS.
4. It's not my computer, it's an Athlon 2ghz with Geforce3 card, and I run the other maps at 60fps.

Only thing I can think of is that you might be overdoing some sound effects, or there's a lot of entity activity (Not sure exactly).

Maybe he needs to use more stuff like vis blockers? I recently learned DOORS do not block vis... so, intead of weirdly placed boxes, I found useing double doors (2 at either end of a hallway) and making the left one on one end, and the right one on the other end, NOT actual doors (as in, just normal BRUSHES) it blocks vis allright!

just for user ease, you might wanna change the zip to extract to the nsp folder, not the half-life folder. *shrug*

a feat in architecture to be sure, the layout is kind of wierd. SO many weld points

we can make the end of corridors just turn, and not end in ANOTHER door we can't open, so many doors that don't work.

in the hallways around the hives the "infested" textures get very repetitive.

on the FPS issue, i don't know what it is either, i get 20-40 when w-polys are 400. whereas on my map i get 60fps when my w-polys are 1100 (i really need someone with a crappy computer to test that for me, even though my map is nowhere close to finished) i have AMD2400+XP nvidia mx440


btw, i am NOT bashing your map, you did an AWESOME job, i'm just trying to give helpful criticism, i hope others do the same for me.


edit: would r_detailtextures 1 be doin it?

very nice work right there

The map is beautiful. The hives feel so atmospheric too. Everything is great except for a couple things:
-The FPS issue. (What could be causing this?)
-So many doors you can't use. (I say put a little red light next to them to mark their locked status)

I want to play!! But my steam is not working at the moment...

/me cries.

I like it. The layout is extremely original i can't wait to see how it plays. Permission to try and persuade some people to play test it.

For those worried of entities:


NATURAL-SELECTION BSP REPORTER

Written by Philip Searle (Version 1.1; 07032004)
Guidelines v2.2.0, Last updated February 6, 2004



================================================================================
G E N E R A L
================================================================================

Map ns_enceladus.bsp
Game Natural-Selection
Mode Classic


================================================================================
E N T I T Y R E P O R T
================================================================================

Entity summary
Number Type
---------------------------------
337 Non-runtime
232 Runtime (this is the one that counts)
---------------------------------
569 Total

Entity breakdown by classname
Total Non-runtime Runtime Classname
---------------------------------------------------------
45 0 45 func_illusionary
29 0 29 func_seethrough
24 0 24 cycler_weapon
20 0 20 env_particles_custom
15 0 15 func_wall
14 0 14 ambient_generic
11 0 11 func_conveyor
11 0 11 target_mp3audio
10 0 10 func_door
9 0 9 func_resource
8 0 8 func_weldable
7 0 7 env_sprite
5 0 5 func_ladder
3 0 3 cycler
3 0 3 team_hive
2 0 2 func_breakable
2 0 2 func_wall_toggle
2 0 2 info_join_team
2 0 2 trigger_hurt
1 0 1 env_gamma
1 0 1 env_render
1 0 1 func_button
1 0 1 func_door_rotating
1 0 1 info_gameplay
1 0 1 info_join_autoassign
1 0 1 info_mapinfo
1 0 1 info_spectate
1 0 1 team_command
1 0 1 worldspawn
94 94 0 light
89 89 0 light_spot
64 64 0 info_team_start
57 57 0 info_location
32 32 0 info_player_start
1 1 0 info_texlights


================================================================================
G U I D E L I N E C O N F O R M A N C E
================================================================================

Required entities
Expected Found Result Classname
---------------------------------------------------------
1 1 PASS info_mapinfo
32 32 PASS info_player_start
= 1 = 1 PASS info_join_team (marine)
= 1 = 1 PASS info_join_team (alien)
= 1 1 PASS info_spectate
= 1 1 PASS info_join_autoassign
3 3 PASS team_hive
1 1 PASS team_command
0 0 PASS team_armory
= 4 9 PASS func_resource
16 16 PASS info_team_start (marine)
48 48 PASS info_team_start (alien)

Runtime entity limit
Maximum Actual Result
---------------------------------------------------------
275 232 PASS

Map prefix
Expected Actual Result
---------------------------------------------------------
ns_ or co_ ns_ PASS


================================================================================
P O T E N T I A L O P T I M I S A T I O N S
================================================================================

If client-side modelssprites were implemented, this map could save
Number Classname
---------------------------------
3 cycler
0 cycler_sprite
24 cycler_weapon
7 env_sprite
---------------------------------
34 Total

No runtime entities can be saved by replacing info_target's with info_null's.

I love the infestation.

THATS HOW I LIKE THINGS TO BE DONE!
nice "released"-thread, a decent ns_map, a download of the betaversion...

I SIMPLY LIKE IT!

Bravo! Love it!

ps: Kommt sofort auf NS_ Server =)

Good stuff, but I also get erratic framerates as well and I think this is why:



Looks fine but now...



Stuff is still rendering but its not visible, probably funcwall/entities.
Couple more.




The r_speeds are low, but its rendering stuff way off in the distance, which is not good. Fix that and you're good to go.

That problem unslord posted are probably very large brush based entities... If they are to large, "put a number here" grid units across (I think its 600/6000grid units :/ ). They don't obey the the vis blocking rules when they get larger then that and get rendered troughout the entire map or the maps max viewable distance of the map.

To fix this put the individual brushes into seperate brush based entities so they are smaller, it will result into more runtime entities.

And since this is probably not the problem for the fps drops I'd leave it as it is. Since run time entities. Uhm arent they more cpu intensive for the server/client connection then client side r_speeds (which are good in this map it seems)?

I get chills walking around this map as a marine. Especially in "Maintenance" the strobing light and all just creeps me out.
Excellent job on atmosphere, I hope the FPS issue doesnt take too much to fix. I cant wait to play this online. I love the layout.
Only gripe I might bring up is that the infestation texture is a bit repetitive. And all the locked doors. Some indication that they are locked would be nice.
Anyway, great map.

Perhaps VIS wasn't run correctly

Looks very nice.

I think your problem is due to:

Not feeding the Cookie monster. He will do that sometimes.

Arr yes, the cookie monster. How could i forget the cookie monster

I'm quite surprised about the fps issue. I didn't notice it because i was only watching the wpoly and none of my playtesters reported this... strange thing. If Mendasp is right, i have to kill ~1mb of lightdata... :/
Vis and/or particle systems are definitely not the problem.

I already had a different texture for useable doors before the release, but i somehow forgot to actually use them in the map. I hope that will avoid some confusion in future versions.

The repetitive infestation textures are another problem... 4MB texmen is not much, so atm there are only 2 infested wall textures allover. I don't know if i can/will do something about this.

Thanks for all your feedback

Pepe if you haven't used HINT brush I suggest it, could drastically improve FPS. Although I only get around 20-30FPS as it is *Kicks TNT2 & Steam*.

Hmm it has to be about the VIS if the engine is rendering polygons which the player can not see, and further looking at the screenshots that unslord provided I've had this error before. Mine was due to grouped entities, I doubt this is the same but it is something to check. Either way Pepe keep this up, you got some nice original architechture going well with a good mix of textures.

Thx ShdwStal & Thursday But look at the r_speeds in unslord's pictures. 300 wpoly, seen or not, can't be responsible for such a drop in fps.

Neat, I like it.

Light appearances like flashing lights, caused problems for me when testing a co map of mine, usually giving big drops in my fps in time with the flashes, ontop of what was already a shakey framerate due to doing -fast vis. Don't know if that could be anything to do with it. Also getting rid of some flashing lights, or setting light's with special appearances not to do bounces when lighting is calculated will reduce your light data considerably (i think thats a parameter in the new rad version by cagey).

I really love the map it has a different look/atmosphere to it. Very clean etc.
The unopenable doors are annoying since you don't know if you can or can't open them, like someone said maybe add red lights around them, or make the buton to open doors sparking and ripped out of the wall or something.

Just something to tell people, No you cannot pass

The fps is an issue I guess it depends on your computer, I have a POS and noticed it, wasn't to bad, but thats because I was by myself. I'm sure it's nothing big that's causing it and youll find it

it seems everyones computer, no matter how good or bad(well maybe bad, but let's not find out by putting this on a 33Mhz), had about the same fps.

With a Radeon 9800 Pro I was getting about 50 - 60 fps through almost the whole map, which I would normally get like 200 fps walking around by myself while testing a map. At one point my fps dropped to 20, but only for a second, and I couldn't get it to happen again.

maybe its only my "1337"-machine (not seriously)

but the fps at the beginning of the game are quite ok. but with time passing by the speeds are dropping.
I restarted the game, cause I wanted to find out if it might be the "sv_cheats" set to one, because sometimes the engine does weird stuff ^^
but it wasnt. the speeds are constantly dropping.

another explanation: I had this problem my self, if the particle systems arent set correctly, the engine will calculate information witout dropping unnessessary data.
this MIGHT be A cause.

besides that: nice map...

but...

the boxes at the marinestart that "stuck" in the wall...

thats a stylisch DISASTER!!!

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!!!

hmm, some of the detail textures make the 'clean' ns2.wad textures seem too gritty - esp the walls. the other detail textures are real good though. i dont know who made the textures, but that should be taken into account.

too bad I can't use detailtextures

looking good from the pics, though

Hey,
there's a new version of ns_enceladus out, no more fps drops etc

if you want to play, join 212.202.2.88:27015

Just played this and it's really consistant and well designed everywhere. Good job sir pepe.

erm...... sexy, im sure you wont mind me playtesting this tonight

"193.151.73.36:27016 community.skulkrush.com beta4a / #SkulkRush-Community Qnet"

Very good looking map, to me this sets a precident for maps that don't rely on specialty locations for thier awesomeness. In the whole map the only thing that really bugged me was the box going into the wall. The boxes on either side of it look WAY to symetrical. Move them around abit, tip one over or something.

Playtested it, Great map indeed, looks amazing, plays well, but FPS is very low in places especially near the hive near bottom left of map i think? but other than that it was great, full server even though its massive unzipped , everyone liked it, nice work !

This post will be constantly updated within the next hour or so:

In "Questionable Ethics": It may be a good idea to have a crack in the glass in one of the tubes containing a fade, with a trickle of water coming out. Leave the fade in or get rid of it would be your choice. Just for flare


*EDIT 1* I love the "rushing by" effect through the windows. But a gameplay problem- the "Core" hive is much farther away than the other two hives. Either extend them away, get rid of core side stuff, or make more ways vertically to go over to the two east hives.

*EDIT 2* Wow. Holy frickin crap wow. The more I walk around this map, the more my jaw gets stuck hanging open- the attention to detail is amazing, as well as unique designs everywhere. This is truly the greatest map I have ever seen- now all that is left is the making of a good gameplay map.