KSF Map-Pool

[Boboman]

To Whom it may concern,

Boboman here,

I have been venturing into the map-making community as of late, and have had several questions flying into my These-Are-Just-Presumptuous-Answers category...

I am not sure how popular skill surf and troll surf map making is on KSF, but since I have questions about it I can only assume that it is something that would either benefit KSF Servers or other Prospective Mappers, by being made public knowledge.

I figure if anything comes of this, that the anwers to these questions will go into a sticky or troll-this-asshole thread somewhere that will aid prospective mappers in future endeavors to enrich the KSF map-pool, sans-trolling. From my searching, I have not found anything comprehensive or reassuring, therefore I will ask...

---What are some the requirements/desires in a map that will be played on a Skill Surf Server such as KSF:

... For a map... you need #X of spawn points? (46)? divided between each team, or soley devoted to one team? Spaced properly... Weapons Stripped, Fall damage handled accordingly... Etc...Etc...

... Would the community prefer longer staged/liner, or more short staged 2-6 ramp leveled maps.. ?

... You should get your map tested thoroughly, perhaps by veterans of the community, for the relevance in skill surf and excitement? yes?... ... May be Obvious..

... What about Checkpoints... Do evolv and staff do all of that CP/PR trigger stuff at their own discretion based on the map, Or should I (As the mapper) supplement with filters and triggers of sorts to aid in that sort of implementation? If so please describe perferred methods...



-- If your map fails one of the guidelines fix it, or have it not get played... etc...


These are few of the questions/suggestions I have. These are perhaps answered in some other, or several threads, that I did not see. If you know where I can find these answers, by all means, please direct me... I am hoping that future mappers may have a more accessible and cognitive grasp on what may be and is required of them to thrive in this this and other skill surf communities.

Side note: In my honest opinion, it will take more than 5-7 consistend mappers to supplement this community with the quality-of-map and frequency of release that it has grown accustomed to over the years. Additionally, everyone loves a new map , wether it be easy or hard, as long as it exhibits quality. I think having more people developing 'on-track' will aid in having a more fresh,desirable,and growing map-pool on KSF servers and others.

[THERAPIST]

since tioga and panzers garbage keeps being added i think all u need is the surf_ prefix in the mapname and possibly some doors that dont open

that said most of the maps on here weren't designed specifically for surftimer, so just go ahead and make a skill map and evolv can do what he needs to to add it

[.:Deadeye:.]

OKAY HERES THE SECRET TO MAKING A MAP THAT WILL BE PLAYED

MAke it as tedious and unoriginal as possible loading it with spins and walls to avoid and of course loads of bhops.

Fuck any texturing just use like 2 max

Make sure it starts with a boost that can be multiboosted

DONT EVER AND I MEAN EVER MAKE A PLAYERCLIP FOR ANY STAGES

Use questionable mapping practices such as excessive use of the carve tool

Dont optimize it at all, if you dont know what that means or how to do that your off to a good start

wether it be linear or staged is personal preference as long as the above guidelines are met you should be fine

[evolv]

I think we can use common intrinsic sense, to decide which maps are worthy of making it onto the servers and which ones arent. Here are some tips

1. Use multiple textures and make sure they flow and follow a natural theme. (Single textured maps will most likely not make it onto the server anymore)

2. Don't make one ramped stages or extremely compact/compressed/tiny ramps that are hard to surf. Surfers should be able to maintain extremely smooth mouse movements (not sharp and jagged ones) at all times.

3. Make sure each stage is not dull and boring with your standard block models that have already been used over 9000 times before. Try to come up with something better than your standard geometric shapes.

4. Adding triggers over the spawn of each stage will raise your chances of having a map added to KSF. (And having 45+ spawn points for that matter)

5. Please don't add weird gravity triggers / push triggers that can easily be exploited. (Telehopped/prehopped) This also includes strange sounds and other events that will disrupt gameplay.

6. Please don't use monotonous tones of color, expand your imagination a little. (An all blue or all green map is extremely un-aesthetically pleasing to me)

7. Jail's are optional, but if you do add one... It will only be more work for me to remove it.

8. Please do not make maps that are so hard to surf that it becomes a hard work/ a job, not a game to beat a map. (I.E. surf_dionysus)

9. Finally... BE CREATIVE, if you can't come up with a style of map/ramp/theme that no one has yet to think of... then honestly your not creative and original enough to be making surf maps.

As a final note, if you make an extremely long linear... you might as well break it up into stages, because unt0uch would make direct changes to our database in order to add checkpoints on linear maps. (Which I have yet to figure out how he managed to do that) I can still add stages perfectly though and linear maps are welcome, but they probably wont have checkpoints.

As a personal preference, I like maps that are more open and give you room/space to move around, surf, and examine the skybox... but thats just me :D

And keep it optimized! There should never be 10-20+ fps drops at any part of any map ever!

[MrAsplundh]

No overflowing renderable cclients class 7 shit that you get on gloaming and a couple others.

[T!cK]

I think we can use common intrinsic sense, to decide which maps are worthy of making it onto the servers and which ones arent. Here are some tips

1. Use multiple textures and make sure they flow and follow a natural theme. (Single textured maps will most likely not make it onto the server anymore)

2. Don't make one ramped stages or extremely compact/compressed/tiny ramps that are hard to surf. Surfers should be able to maintain extremely smooth mouse movements (not sharp and jagged ones) at all times.

3. Make sure each stage is not dull and boring with your standard block models that have already been used over 9000 times before.

4. Adding triggers over the spawn of each stage will raise your chances of having a map added to KSF. (And having 45+ spawn points for that matter)

5. Please don't add weird gravity triggers / push triggers that can easily be exploited. (Telehopped/prehopped) This also includes strange sounds and other events that will disrupt gameplay.

6. Please don't use monotonous tones of color, expand your imagination a little. (An all blue or all green map is extremely un-aesthetically pleasing to me)

7. Jail's are optional, but if you do add one... It will only be more work for me to remove it.

8. Please do not make maps that are so hard to surf that it becomes a hard work/ a job, not a game to beat a map. (I.E. surf_dionysus)

9. Finally... BE CREATIVE, if you can't come up with a style of map/ramp/theme that no one has yet to think of... then honestly your not creative and original enough to be making surf maps.

As a final note, if you make an extremely long linear... you might as well break it up into stages, because unt0uch would make direct changes to our database in order to add checkpoints on linear maps. (Which I have yet to figure out how he managed to do that) I can still add stages perfectly though and linear maps are welcome, but they probably wont have checkpoints.

As a personal preference, I like maps that are more open and give you room/space to move around, surf, and examine the skybox... but thats just me :D

And keep it optimized! There should never be 10-20+ fps drops at any part of any map ever!


The commandments to making a good map.

[Tioga060]

Basically everything deadeye said.

If you want my honest advice, I got an announcement for you all mapping communities, here goes:

Never let anyone but your closest surf friend beta test your map. Never take advice from Ksf regs. Never take advice from regards like jay, therapist, and every single trick surfer. Don't do retarded themes where you just clip the walls and apply textures (see: every single map besides tioga and panzer maps). The following people are good beta testers who actually know what they're talking about: me, deadeye, panzer, euph, chambs.

Last but not least, ask for help when you run into compile problems. I can solve any and every compile problem correctly, so I am a good resource.

[Kabuu]

My tip: don't listen tioga aka worst mapper.

[T!cK]

Basically everything deadeye said.

If you want my honest advice, I got an announcement for you all mapping communities, here goes:

Never let anyone but your closest surf friend beta test your map. Never take advice from Ksf regs. Never take advice from regards like jay, therapist, and every single trick surfer. Don't do retarded themes where you just clip the walls and apply textures (see: every single map besides tioga and panzer maps). The following people are good beta testers who actually know what they're talking about: me, deadeye, panzer, euph, chambs.

Last but not least, ask for help when you run into compile problems. I can solve any and every compile problem correctly, so I am a good resource.


Never take advice from a intox reg