Ok, seeing as you asked so nicely:
1) There are lots and lots of leaks. I decompiled beta2 to see how the map was put together and after fixing about 8 leaks, there were still more! That is why the VIS is so bad and there is no lighting (neither of which seem to actually have taken place). These MUST be completely fixed before this map can progess.
2) The map is very open. This means that getting a decent VIS is probably unlikely. I like how you actually read the documentation on using hintbrushes, and VISing though, even if it seems like you've misinterpreted it a bit!
- The very open nature of the map means that despite the hint brushes (in red) aiding in partitioning the 2 halves of the map, the drawn scene in either half is still very large. In theory, hint brushes assist the VIS compiler in properly sectioning corridors and rooms, having a large open outdoor space is kind of off-label use and pretty hard to accomplish.
> on a side note, FourthX used a very interesting technique for complimenting hint-brushes and terrain in a mesh layout, but I don't understand how to make such a thing myself. The map he did it on was called Ranger - if you read this FourthX, please enlighten us to how this worked!
- The hint brushes are useless in this case anyway, for the following reasons:
> the ceiling of the map (top of the skybox) doesn't seal off the terrain, so the VIS compiler will assume practically all the map is visible whenever you draw any of the outside, which is basically always.
> furthermore, the blue arrows show gaps in the cliffs which, even if the ceiling did seal off the map, would undermine the hint brushes - they'd make the engine draw whatever is over the cliff.
3) There are lots of problems with the gameplay:
- Too easy to defend, ridiculously so.
- You get stuck on the light fittings in the tower.
- the slanted roof is too low so you hit it when you jump.
- I have no idea whats going on with the platforms and ramps inside the tower.
- The distances involved are so huge that getting accurate shots is basically impossible. This isn't too fun in DP as the ball flight time + long distances + less than stellar accuracy = annoying.
- the jump map-type areas. Big no-no! I don't share the opinion of Jitspoe and Knack about jumps in maps, but basically having one half of the map as a jump map is ridiculous! When thinking about your map, try and think of weaving threads of gameplay into your map, of differing difficulty (or should that be opportunity?) - with definate advantages to more difficult ones!.
4) Here's the rub - you obviously spent a lot of time on this map, and no effort is truly wasted, but I suggest you try and make Tower Siege MkII if you're in love with the concept. The scales are way off in this map, to rejig it would be a lot of work and you might as well tighten up the concept in a completely new revision. Just something to think about at least.
The concept of a tower siege map is kind of a little bit flawed (but not necessarily bad or unworkable!) as historically they are the way they are because they are easy to defend. A castle's Keep was often the most defensible strategic point in the castle. This means that you have to contrive lots of opportunities for the attacking team, which can be difficult.
Anyway, good luck with the map and that.
Dag
