Thoughts
A1-A2 does grossly fit the general aesthetics of BMS OaR but needs some more work to bring it in line aesthetically w/dev work.
Why I think OaR Uncut vs Lite is stupid:
-caters to stupid thinking. Length is a non-issue…it’s all about content. These people just don’t have the imagination to realize the possibilities of what can be done in the later sections. I’ve got some pretty wicked ideas lined up for E-F too and some of the “filler” areas as you call it can be used to house some great storytelling scripts.
-A lot of people don’t like OaR just because of the opening loop. It’s poor design and counterintuitive rail switching element negatively skews their opinions of the entire chapter. People just fail to realize their bias.
-During testing, you will add ammo layouts for A1-A2 and B1-B2. This ALREADY gives players the possibility to start at 2 places other than the beginning of the chapter. If they want even more OaR light, just use the dev console and impulse 101. Problem solved w/minimal work.
-Do you honestly think that people will only play ½ of your work when there’s another ½ out there? Fuck no. More BMS=better BMS.
General
-Too many light fixtures throughout your maps…A1 tunnels would benefit from ~15% decrease in lights. A2 lighting (office complex and toward BMS B ) needs to be decreased by ~33% and the cafeteria lighting is just bombastic. Making these adjustments will let you play more w/light and shadows which will enhance the moodiness of your chapter.
-Some areas are too grungy while others are not. This can be fixed over several iterations.
-Be very careful with enemy placements. You’re pretty much using every enemy type in the office complex which can introduce canonicity issues. The main groupings to avoid are as follows: vorts + hounds, vorts + squids. It’s unclear what their relationships are and you shouldn’t be the one to make the ultimate judgement. The interactions of every other combination can be deduced by referring to HL and using simple logic.
-The vort side of the office complex needs to be further developed. Some of the HECU side can be ported here to not make the complex excessively massive. This is important because you’re just mixing up the enemy types now. W/2 sides, you can compartmentalize better (e.g. HECU side has vort+hound, vort side has vort+squid).
-Some questionable aesthetic choices in the office complex. The main issues are the cafeteria and the seating area by the locker which are FAR too luxurious. The OaR office complex is old, shitty and a depressing place to work in. This ain’t the Office Complex chapter or QE where everything is cozy. The aesthetics here need to be more in line w/BMS’s B. Simply put, keep it simple, keep it Spartan.
-You can implement a fire sprinkler system throughout the office complex to make the squid placements make sense, as they are amphibious and are usually found near a water source. Some of the sprinklers could be going off in certain rooms and the squids would preferentially be placed there. This looks cool, especially w/their glistening skin plus it would obliquely (not realistically) explain some of the flooding in earlier parts of OaR.
-There MUST be a scene, whether here or in the D-G section, where a squid spits on some HECU. It looks fucking glorious.
-You played through A1-A2 in a linear fashion. New enemy spawns will need to be placed for a more backtracking play style but this issue can be dealt w/during alpha testing.
A1
There’s a time and a place for water and it’s on this map (NOT at the end of A2). The water area preventing passage to BMS B can be ported here to replace the red door. This area would be great as a partially flooded zone w/electrified water, which would explain the presence of bullsquids and why hounds can’t get on the tracks. See my post on page 7 for how it could be done.
You should introduce the satchel charge here as this area is an amalgam of HL’s A/B2. The “ammo theme” section of the pitch bible shows how to do it. To add to that idea, you could cut the number of hounds by the crane so that you can pack more of them into the trap. Also note the architecture at the end of HL B2 (by the bullsquid and elevator). The arched layout here is almost IDEAL for the player to set a satchel/tripmine trap as it’s very forgiving if he fucks up. He just needs a visual cue that the hounds are coming (e.g. video monitor).
The boxes attached to the crane are way too small for it…it will look better if the crane is picking something up that’s MASSIVE (i.e. greater than the surface area of the magnetic part).
You can also add the “Auto-Lux” lux logo above the “rail switch control” logo to keep in line w/the branding (I guess they are the manufacturers of the rail switch system).
If there’s more than one crane control lever, put them together w/the “crane controls” logo centered between the 2. Otherwise rename logo to “crane control”
If possible, make the pair of bullsquids in the rocket room (and all other scripted melee squids) move 100% faster and then increase the distance between the soldiers to improve the visual effect. They remind me of ambush predators that can move very quickly but only in short bursts. In HL they were relatively fast (just a touch slower than hounds) and agile. Here, they are slow and stupid.
The aesthetic focus of the rocket room should be the ROCKET…however instead it’s really the massive pipes in your map because the rocket is so small. You can also hang the large rocket base from Blast Pit from the roof as well as another small rocket (like the one you already have). This area could be themed as a rocket assembly room or some BS. You can also make the large pipes a little smaller.
It makes no sense for there to be a power switch SOLELY for the crane…flipping the switch (maybe relabeled as “backup power” or “backup generator”)should also turn on ~2/3 of the lights in this area.
A2
At the marine ambush you can STILL keep the tram lift with just a little redesign. See 7:54 on your video while reading this. The square area where the marines and tram are located could function as a lift (perhaps you can reuse the design later in your B1-B2 to reinforce this element). When the player gets near it, have him see the marines moving UPWARD on the tram but BELOW the player. Ultimately the lift will take the marines up so they can access the second floor secure access door (otherwise this door makes no sense). If the player gets to the ambush quickly, he’ll have a strategic advantage because the marines are BELOW him. If he gets there too slowly, he’ll be at a disadvantage because the marines are ABOVE him. Aesthetically, you can also add some undeployed sentry turrets here.
Unless you are planning to edit Power Up, you should use the toll gate model from the end of this map to keep consistency (even though yours are nicer).
Use this for the ideal/most consistent office complex color scheme: floor 1 (yellow, like BMS B ), floor 2 (blue, like HL floor 2), floor 3 (red).
The door by the three batteries should be replaced w/an HECU power charger which dispenses 50 (since all BMS dispensers give 75). Delete the 3 batteries. Also delete the white markings along the walkway as it’s completely inconsistent w/the rest of the complex.
Re toll gate sign: I don’t know if the gates are actually called “toll gates.” I call them that because I don’t know what their actual name is.
I’m kinda of disappointed that you didn’t expand the vort side of the office complex. It’s actually more underdeveloped here than it was in HL. You can add just a couple of more rooms on that side or simply port some of the rooms on the HECU side there, which will make room for a better placement of the cafeteria (see discussion below).
“The Year of Death” is being used sub-optimally. What would make this track more appropriate are the following: 1) ABSOLUTELY DARK LIGHTING (I’m thinking the vort room in the opening of C2A5G) w/only flickers illuminating scientist corpses. Do this at least in the area where the track is going off…your complex is much too well lit it to work well. MAKE the player use the flashlight here. 2) dead scientists…you need MORE just after the stairwell. The execution scene can be ported a little further into the complex. You could also make the scene more grizzly by inscribing on the wall in blood something like “you did this Freeman.”
Swap all floor 2-3 marines w/NVG marines once the lighting is dealt with. It enhances the effect of “The Year of Death.” Do a google image search of “Zero Dark Thirty” and you’ll see what I mean…the soldiers look like some otherworldy demons.
The signs in the complex are awful as you mentioned…don’t use the QE signs as a reference (they are utter shit). Something a little grungier would be more appropriate here.
In the locker room, you could have your locker open and give a battery or something to signify that you’re the creator. This is much more subtle than painting some vent w/graffiti like some poster suggested. This is just unprofessional.
The seating area by the lockers is WAY too luxurious.
There is one more room type that you can add…something akin to a school nurse’s office. This makes placement of a health charger w/in the complex make sense and the area could serve as the makeshift HECU hospital.
Have the squid in the women’s bathroom face you so it’s not stupid and easy to kill. It’s cool for its spit to stain the walls.
Make sure the zombie dragging the scientist is correctly facing the player.
The room w/a pair of dead barneys (behind the tables) could have some armored vests lying around as a nod to Blue Shift (if the model exists). The tables should be littered w/bullet holes.
The “rail security override panel” room needs to either provide a view of the toll gates or show them lifting on video. Choice 1 is BY FAR the best option because it gives players a visual cue IMMEDIATELY on arrival to the office complex. Remember, cause and effect.
Delete the gaps on floor 3 which allow you to see floor 2 in the area seen in 16 : 36 of your video. There’s too many of them here which is unrealistic. You’re basically introducing architectural pseudocomplexity. Real architectural complexity, in my mind, is having the upper floors CROSSING THE TRACK and thereby linking the vort and HECU side from HL. You should do more of that. Some of the remaining gaps which you keep could be used to let the players see reinforcements coming in from the lower floors.
I really hate the cafeteria for several reasons:
- Location is completely illogical (see Arctic, Dadster arguments). I agree 100%. The best place for it would be nestled deep in the office complex AWAY from all the trams and dirt. If you do this, you can displace several of the rooms of the office complex, which you can use to develop the vort side. In HL, this area was a promenade that connected the vort side and HECU side across the tracks. You should do that here to add architectural complexity. This area is also prime for some cool physics. For instance, you can have a pair of vorts clawing or shooting a marine off the ledge.
- The lighting here is utterly bombastic…the office complex itself already has too many light fixtures relative to BMS but it really comes to a head here.
- Size. Way the hell too big for this office complex…the cafeteria can seat everyone and their grandmothers. Realistically people working in office complexes take breaks at different times so the cafeteria should NOT seat everyone. It should only seat ~1/2 the people. The kitchen area in most office jobs is bare bones…just a sink, microwave and maybe an oven or dishwasher. Keep your cafeteria simple, keep it Spartan.
- Aesthetics…too cheerful. OaR’s office complex is not a happy place to work…see the BMS B complex. Pleasant is for the Office Complex chapter and QE. OaR is fucking depressing and the aesthetics should reflect that…i.e. simple floor (no checkerboard), few if any plants, limited menu options, crappy chairs etc. You should want to kill yourself after working here a few months. As a side note, if you want to use more plants like some people are suggesting, keep it few…remember this isn’t exactly an ideal workplace.
A thinner grill will look much better for the hidden area. See the end of Inbound (Barney intro) or parts of LC for good references. The HECU not reacting to you here is not a big deal. Just rebalance it such that there’s only 1-2 survivors or tip it to the aliens favor.
Bare HL C area…some suggestions (as it does look pretty bad now):
- More office rooms…porting the cafeteria could displace some office rooms to the vort side, allowing you to develop it. The large pipes from HL could be kept in spirit as tiny pipes running across the rooftop.
- The ugly part of the office complex…i.e. storage areas, places where pipes converge, a furnace to heat up water, etc.
- A security room (perhaps ported from the office complex or simply a new one) w/maps of OaR (nothing from F-G), like an info booth. Pushing a button here unlocks the red door…there is a sign here (or possibly earlier in the map) that says something like “door only opens in proximity to tram.” Aesthetically, I tend to favor this option….functionally, we’ll see.
Set some of the tripmines a little lower. They should cause damage to the player if they detonate on the tram, which is what you should be going for.
Again water should be in A1. You can keep the barnacles if you want. In the future, barnacle+electrified water=no no.
