I've submitted the map (representing about 10% of the finished size) to pcgamemods and jkii.net.

You should be able to download it from there soon, if they ever get off their lazy butts and update more regularly. :D

Enjoy, and put all the feedback you want in here!

And there was much rejoicing!

(yaaaaaaaaaaaay!)

So will this map be about 2x the size of the first beta?

No, this is the modified version of the beta map that the beta testers received. Bugs have been fixed, some changes have been made, and the music is different.

I got a sneak peek from Aru-Wen (thanks!), and this map is quite impressive as it is now, it'll be absolutely amazing when it IS complete. Great sense of atmosphere, amazing detail, excellent use of custom textures and shaders. KEEP IT UP!

It's only after playing the map that I realize Aru's signature image is not, in fact, the movie sets, but straight out of his map. Eeeeexcellent.

Here's hoping the fileservers start updating...grrrrr...

Originally posted by wedge2211
It's only after playing the map that I realize Aru's signature image is not, in fact, the movie sets, but straight out of his map. Eeeeexcellent.


:eyeraise: You just figured that out? I didn't think it was THAT good. :)

I do need to do an updated sig, though. Those are horribly old shots.

It's up! It's up! It's finally up! :D

Download it here (http://www.pcgamemods.com/file.php?id=7bccfde7714a1ebadf06c5f4cea752c1)!)

Be sure to let me know what you think!

Hehe... I felt back from my chair. I hope this describes enough. Maybe tomorrow I can send something more descriptive. :)

Thanks, Leslie. Too bad it's only rated a 5 so far on pcgamemods. :\ :mad:

I love it, Aru. Can't wait for you to finish it :D

Originally posted by Aru-Wen
Thanks, Leslie. Too bad it's only rated a 5 so far on pcgamemods. :\ :mad:

*Is reminded of the lamers on newgrounds.com that always vote 0's*

It's ok Aru, your map is fantastic :)

Yeah. *@%& losers over there, making Aru feel bad. Bah.

Reminds me of something I seem to remember AKPiggot saying a while back about "good lighting making good architecture and textures look godlike" :) Everything is great, and the lighting is for the most part wonderful, although possibly (partly a matter of taste and also what Hogwarts is supposed to be like) a little dark in places, mostly perfect! Those little rings of light around the candles are just an amazing touch. Also, I'm pretty sure those are Ikanna's carpet textures, and possibly some others of his in there, great textures used really well.

Originally posted by Kengo
Reminds me of something I seem to remember AKPiggot saying a while back about "good lighting making good architecture and textures look godlike" :) Everything is great, and the lighting is for the most part wonderful, although possibly (partly a matter of taste and also what Hogwarts is supposed to be like) a little dark in places, mostly perfect! Those little rings of light around the candles are just an amazing touch. Also, I'm pretty sure those are Ikanna's carpet textures, and possibly some others of his in there, great textures used really well.

How sure are you that those are Ikanna's carpet textures? Care to make a little wager on it? You can bet that they're Ikanna's, and I'll bet that they're not. ;) BTW, I accept checks as well as cash, Kengo. :D

As for the lighting level, I experimented with many different types and styles of lighting (which is partially why it took so long to get this beta out) before finally deciding on the current setup. It's a nighttime setting, after all; the only light is from the torches, candles, and those 4 lamps. In some places it's actually a little more bright than I wanted it to be, but based on feedback received from people that played it, I compromised.

Work on the Dungeons/Potions Classroom/Slytherin Common Room is now in full swing! Check the Hogwarts WIP thread for some screenies. :)

That's a nice level there.

I like the secret door to get to the bacta tank, thought it was pretty clever. :D

Can't wait to see the whole thing.

:gben: The Force will be with you, always.

Not really a Harry Potter fan but very nice looking

I don't really play MP, but I had to have a glance at this. And it was magnificent indeed. It was very finely balanced and detailed, nothing seemed to be out of place (even if I don't mean I'd know Harry Potter settings to any extent), but I mean just technically and artistically.

Wonderful, lighting, texturing, and architecture, but how did you get the rings of light?

Good thinking with the secret room behind the grey painting. I didn't notice that until I was searching the level for z-fighting and leaks. Are you going to make any of the entrances to the common rooms like that? They are supposed to be slightly hidden or hard t get into.

Speaking of searching with noclip, I saw that one of the corner curve sets in one of the corridors, don't touch. There is a gap between them about 1 unit wide and you can see outside.

Other than that, I couldn't find anything wrong, but could you cause more of the flames(candles and torches) cause damage? I saw that at least one did, but most of them don't.

Originally posted by master_thomas
Wonderful, lighting, texturing, and architecture, but how did you get the rings of light?
Thank you. The rings of light (I assume you mean on the candles) are done with shaders.

Good thinking with the secret room behind the grey painting. I didn't notice that until I was searching the level for z-fighting and leaks. Are you going to make any of the entrances to the common rooms like that? They are supposed to be slightly hidden or hard t get into.
Yes, all of the common rooms have hidden or secret entrances. Some will have more complex entrances than others, but all will be accessible. The Gryffindor common room should be the easiest one to get into, especially if you've seen the movies.

Speaking of searching with noclip, I saw that one of the corner curve sets in one of the corridors, don't touch. There is a gap between them about 1 unit wide and you can see outside.
Boo! Bad, bad noclip. Don't cheat to find the secret entrances. :tsk: As far as the gap, send or post a screenshot so I can see where you're talking about.

Other than that, I couldn't find anything wrong, but could you cause more of the flames(candles and torches) cause damage? I saw that at least one did, but most of them don't.
None of them are set up to cause damage, so I'm not sure how you injured yourself on them. There are SO many candles and fires that I'm not sure it's worth my time to go and make them all hurt. I'll probably just do the larger ones (like fireplaces).

Finding that was a mistake. I only search for those by pressing the use key next to paintings and suspicious areas. Noclip is a developer's/tester's tool for finding leaks, intersections, and uncaulked brushes.

About the torches causing damage, I stood on one and took one point of damage per second. I stood there 10 seconds and took 10 points of damage.

I'll take a screenshot and post it on my new site (http://thomasjk2.moonfruit.com)

I'll post when I do that.

I thought it was a shader. Good job on that.

Originally posted by master_thomas
Noclip is a developer's/tester's tool for finding leaks, intersections, and uncaulked brushes.
Wow. Really? /sarcasm ;)
Seriously, though - with the new compiler that comes with GtK Radiant, it automatically caulks all the non-visible faces of structural brushes so you only have to worry about detail brushes. It's much better at finding leaks and such as well, so the primary function now for noclip is to locate hidden or inaccessible areas in SP and MP maps.

About the torches causing damage, I stood on one and took one point of damage per second. I stood there 10 seconds and took 10 points of damage.

I'd like to know if you can get a screenshot of that location as well, because there is NO triggers set up to damage the player. If it happens again, take a picture of what torch does it and I'll see if it's set up to do it. But I say again - no torch was EVER intended to hurt the player, so if it does it, it's a freak accident with the compiler, and not something I actually did.

Just took a look at the shots on your site, and that's actually an issue with your geometric detail setting. The curves/patches look better or worse depending on your setting. With the highest detail setting, they look normal on mine. I can't do anything about the other settings, though.

Okay, I have two screenshots on my new site (http://www.thomasjk2.moonfruit.com) under the pics page. The arches on the wall with the house emblems has the same problem. No comment on the site, please, because I just started it this morning. I'll find the torch and take two more screenshots showing the damage and put them up on the site.

Weird. I just checked every torch multiple times and nothing happened. I know I took damage. Oh well. One less error. Maybe I missed being shot (1 damage? That doesn't make much sense) because of first person view(I was also testing the bot routes so of course, their was a bot). Didn't here a gun shot though. Strange.

I downloaded it, and sent you a mail. Did you get it? If not, check out this, it shows the errors I found.

http://altusthrawn.topcities.com/filename.html)

Don't forget to read the text at the bottom.
I hope it helps!
:)

Originally posted by Altus_Thrawn
"I feel really short in relation to this torch"
The torches were created set to the scale seen in the movies. The students were much shorter than the torches, and the teachers were slightly shorter.

"Nice!"
Thank you, but why is your geometric/texture detail so low? Is it always like that, or did you just put it that way for my map?

"Did you run out of pictures?"
No, lol. This is another one of those things from the movie. The paintings in the castle could speak, move, and even leave their frame to go visit other paintings. Watch the movies/read the books, you'll see what I mean.

"Why is this candle taller than me?"
Because it's on a tall candleholder on top of a table... I'm not quite sure what your problem here is.

"Perhaps a torch between each arch?"
I'm not quite sure why one would be needed. This map takes place at nighttime - some things are not supposed to be fully illuminated. I have to stick with the setting I chose, you know? ;)

"Streetlights inside a building?"
This is yet another thing taken straight from the movies. I don't think they're streetlights - I just think they're lamps of some kind.

As far as the solid candlelight, that will be taken care of in the final version.

As for the detail level, I was running the map on a PC with a bad graphics card, this was needed.

Also, as for the torch between each arch, this is because I could not see what was inside the middle two arches.

Candle on table-Table, maybe 2.5 feet tall.
Candle, max 1 foot tall.

About 3.5 feet total, player is probably about 5"10.

But this is ment to help, not critisize. Your map is top notch!

2'6" table? Uh...maybe in the Orient. 4' sounds more accurate for Western furniture.

Depending on the type of table, I'd say between 3-4 ft is about right. Believe me, when compared with the player measurements, the size of the table, candlestick and candle all look about right to me.

Ok, sure, I believe you.

It's just that I'm 5 foot, and more than 1 foot taller than most tables...

Even if you're 5 ft tall, the table still comes up about to your hip. I think what's bothering you (for whatever reason) is that the candle is above your head. Better not go in the Great Hall when it's done then... the candles float above your head in there. :D

Lol, I'm fine with floating candles. I'll give this up now, but those really are tall candles.


Ok, you win :)

Excellent map.

I know it's moot now, but I think you're objecting more to the height of the candlestick, not the candle itself. The candle itself is quite small.

The download link is dead... can anyone help me with this?
Edit: Ok now it works. Just now the link to pc game mods led to a dead page. Sorry...

:confused: What download link?

OMG! :eek:
This beta map is tight.. i can't wait for the real map to come out... Good Job Aru Wen keep up with the good work... i give it a 10

Marvelous just completely marvelous.
I can't believe people would rate this a 5, arg what nerve. Well Aru wen I give this a 10. Nice im anxious about the real map.. man if the beta was bad compared to the real map then your doing a pretty good job der buddy.:o