Ok so lets see here, all I freaking hear about Big Al and the Alien map is that it sucks... Honestly I think it's one of the best maps I've played on. Look instead of being a dick of a community and as players, give him some pointers. I know the aliens suck but instead of nerfing them completely, make it easier to see them or nerf their numbers just a little... but honestly they have little to no health, so easy to kill them... the D's have health stations, if you're on a round where they don't want to drop one then sorry, those D's just don't care... Big Al, here's my opinion about your map, it's a FREAKING AWESOME MAP!!! Dispite people saying their bullshit, they always want to vote for it... there are very few that really hate it to the point they try to get people to chose another map. Honestly, that's better than half the maps!!! I love the work you have done, one issue I have found is I hit an endless amount of errors until the next round. I don't remember what about, maybe I can find the logs for it idk... But seriously, Serious TTT as a community, we need to be nicer to others especially those who put in effort to make you guys happy by making a map for everyone to play on... for those whom keep saying Big Al's map is shit... I challenge you to make a better map, throw it up on your own server and let us play on it and test it and see how much better you can make a map. All I'm getting at is quit saying shit that is not helpful and that is actually quite hurtful. Joking is joking but if no one notices then point it out to them if they still want to be a dick their loss... I know I personally can be a dick but usually atm when others can't quit calling me certain names that actually hit me quite hard... now we all lived different lives were all not the same... becareful with what you say, and honestly there should be a rule against antagonizing others to the point of rage... else wise were kinda supporting bullying... I know there is one about harrassment but I've rarely even seen that being enforced unless it's against a mod/admin themselves... Big Al again I know I've said it a million times, great work on the Alien Map, please don't listen to others and work on what you think needs to be tweeked, hell even throw up a forum about possible changes and take account to things that are commonly said but still make it in your own view. Thanks for your work and I hope you continue to make maps!
It is literally my favorite map in the rotation. Anyone who says it sucks is probably too used to cookiecutter CoD maps.
The map is growing on me. Though I must say, for someone that primarily uses the console to get an overview of the chat and to enter commands, the spam of console errors can be a bit frustrating.
This! I love the map; I think it's one of my favorite maps to get traitor on. More dark maps, less Minecraft maps!
The main reason I believe players do not enjoy playing Alien is the lack of ammo. For someone with an abundance of F3 points and a VIP+ loadout such as myself this isn't a problem, but players who haven't donated or don't have many hours played often find it difficult to pickup the ammo necessary for playing the game. Hopefully this is something I can get Big Al to work out. Personally, I like the map and would play it opposed to the continuous Dolls & 67thway which everyone is hellbent on voting for 24/7.
@Big Al If you ever want any help, just hit me up on Steam. (I started level design in the Source Engine when I was eight years old, nineteen now; I know a little thing or two.) I haven't played much of the map itself, but anything and everything can be perfected further. Your texture work is fantastic, but your brush work could use a little more fine tuning in places. You're also fighting against the elements. Players just generally do not like the darkness, unless it's some survival horror bullshit. It isn't a childhood-based fear either, it's about the over-all effects on gameplay. I'm not going to go over it here, there's books on this kind of thing. @Sinz also has a great point about ammo, something I do quite remember from my short experience on the map; but never would've remembered to mention here. Another major concern, is the size of the map. This is something that takes quite a lot of effort to perfect; with TTT we have to create and tweak a perfect balance, no matter if there's 14 players, or 40 players. You have to remember this when managing your spacial real estate. Currently, about fifty percent of the map is hallways. All hallways are meant to be, is a method of collecting one place to another. But here, they are approx. half of your map. Now sadly we don't have the player heat maps that CS:Go does, but I can tell you for sure 99.99% of my gameplay on your map was in hallways. Why? Because why would I want to go out of my way, to enter a dark room with a bunch of people who can easily kill me without me even seeing them? There's no reason to go into danger, so as a player I'm not doing it. This leading back to the problem with darkness, and over-all design. For this, I recommend you research Counter-Stike level design. It is practically the same as TTT, we even use the same weapons; just have different judgement on when to use them. There's a few other things I could mention here to make this post even longer, but I probably won't. Such as how you're optimization is ten times better than the average GMod-mapper, but could still use some work. That most popular maps use specific layouts such as building by four-square style sectors, such as Dust 2. (Dust 2 is the easiest example, as you can see from a birds-eye view that it's split off into four separate chunks. Look at our most popular maps here such as Dolls, which follow a similar pattern; albeit adding height to the mix.) Meanwhile if you transfer your map into boxes, it looks like the back of a Fed-Ex truck. No offense meant by any of this either, trust me in that I know how very hard it is to hear criticism about our babies. But you have to look at this objectively. Why does that purple hallway even exist? What use do those red rooms being black, actually serve? You're in a sci-fi universe luckily, so you don't have to worry about people throwing real-world objections up against you like bricks. Such as why all of these staircases have jagged 45° angles for no apparent reason. Because you don't have to think realism, you have to think gameplay. You have to look at this, and say what's good for the people playing it -while they're playing it-, not just whatever you want to make. That's the problem that a lot of game designs don't realize. You can make whatever you want, but it won't become popular -or good- unless the focus is on the gameplay/people playing the game, and not on the game itself. -Eleven years in game design.
I dont think its bad to talk negatively about any map.. People have their opinions and express it in their own way. Unless they were to talk to the creator himself insulting him on his skills on the map which i dont think too many people if at all actually do that. I really dont like this map but there isnt any particular reason other than its not for me. Yawn also brings up a good point in that there are parts of the map that are useless that could have been used for far greater things. It reminds me of a much smaller and darker version of Intergalactic which i dont like that map either, this one just has some cooler cosmetics/visuals. I think instead of creating such an emotional thread telling the creator of the hate, instead you could have created a thread saying what you like and include that others can give positive feedback.
This post'll be a little long because there's quite a bit to reply to. @mysteriousglitch You're certainly correct, and without naming names here are some of the things that have been said directly to me while on the server: "lol big al your map is shit" "Big Al stick to playing the games please, not developing for them" "i'd rather fuck a donkey than play this horrible ass map again" Some of these things are being/have been said by staff as well, not that it really makes a difference but still. Doesn't generate a positive vibe. Some of you think that when I retaliate to these kind of comments that I'm just biased to defend my own map, but that's really not the case. Go ahead and criticize the map, I encourage it even. But there's a difference between telling me what you don't like about my map, and just being an ass. It's discouraging when you spend ~2 weeks designing and fleshing out a map, detailing it, debugging it, optimizing it and then have to put up with that crap. Please take a lesson from @Yawn., that is how you correctly assess and criticize a map respectfully. @Yawn. to answer you, understand that my initial intentions were to create a map based off the 1st level of a Playstation 1 game called Alien Trilogy. It resembles the level almost to a tee, but the trade-off is that it falls short for proper TTT gameplay. Such is the reason the purple-highlighted hallway exists, among other seemingly arbitrary components. They're there because that's how it was in the original game and I didn't want to take away from that. I understand where you are coming from completely though and that is why the map isn't as good as it could be. I was hoping that the surplus of hallways would create a unique playstyle forcing players to be more cautious when attempting kills, and using snipers more often. It seems to have worked for the most part which I suppose is where the positive feedback comes from. To everyone else discussing the low ammo and the console errors, both of those things were fixed in an updated version of the map but it was decided that the update would not be put on the server. EDIT: The Source 1 games (CS, TF2, L4D2, Gmod) have a severe shortage of mappers, and part of the reason is because these days it's something that receives very little thanks for, despite the amount of work that goes into it. So please just try and remember what I said when you make comments about any map, not just my own.
I personally like the map a lot. Though at first it is a tad confusing with the darker style lighting and maze-like corridors, I have come to like the map and really enjoy playing on it. Again the only real problem I have had is the ammo problem. But apparently that has been fixed just not uploaded yet, so Alien is now in my top 3 favorite maps! Good job Big Al.
I personally like the map. When it was initially put in I was like "meh,new things scare me, eh". But after playing it and getting a feel for it, Its on my top 3 map choices. The thing about maps is I believe you have to work and learn different strategies to win, especially in a game like ttt. And the ammo issue, yes it may be lacking in the smallest bit. but me personally haven't had a problem finding a gun im okay with and finding ammo for it. Plus if it really an issue do you really not have 40 points to buy a gun,that comes with half ammo. Thanks Big Al, for making this map for the community. And x1000+ kudos. I'm sorry about the asshats. Please don't let imbeciles dishearten any efforts you make. A lot of us love it. And would really love seeing more of your work! Haha just realized said the same thing as average guy. Go us.
