SC_Reactivist (Beta 1.0)

[Frel2.0]

It's been around 15 years since I last picked up Hammer and I was surprised to find Sven Coop still active and more recently developed into a standalone game! This dedication to the game inspired me to revisit SC_Activist and see what difference (if any) those years of experience might make (assuming I could still remember how to use Hammer); thus SC_Reactivist was born and is now progressed to a state where I feel comfortable posting the results for feedback, positive or otherwise. This is not a direct remake, more of a reimagining; the basic progression remains the same but I haven't felt tied by the original layout where I felt improvements could be made. Still, you shouldn't feel in unfamiliar territory.

Areas of attempted improvement:

• General architectural upgrade.
• More 'realistic' layouts; I've tried to make the map feel more real, with fake corridors and dummy doors to give the impression that the map isn't simply a long corridor.
• More debris and detail; posters, props etc.
• A smattering of NPCs, generally in inaccessible areas to again add some life.
• Increased use of props in general.
• More ambient noise and env_sound usage.
• My first foray into texture creation to produce some very basic signage to suit my particular needs.
• I've 'borrowed' Hezus' excellent lighting sprites.

Expected issues:

• Minor texture misalignments (it is a beta).
• Minor clipping issue within a vent (jump to get passed, I'm at a loss as to the cause).
• The cleansuit scientists twitch on completion of the repeated animation (advice here would be welcome).
• I anticipate the automatic doors to break when used by multiple people, though this may not be the case.
  
• Some models are yet to be amended to item_generics (so they'll bleed xen).
• The lighting and general brightness of the map seems to vary between the two PCs I've been working on, so third party comments here would be welcome.
• Following the initial outbreak an env_beam should be firing by the broken glass to indicate to the player not to enter; this isn't activating (it works if I toggle 'start on') so I've blocked it with a func_clip for now.
• A cleansuit scientist scripted_sequence kicks out an error but otherwise works fine.
  
• Some kind of sound precache error loops at the end of the map relating to a sound I'm not aware is even used.

Screenshots:



Download:

http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php...21365748273139

Whether I ever get around to a recreation of sc_activist2 and 3 is another thing entirely but I'm personally pleased with the results thus far. In addition to incorporating any valid comments received from the still active community here, I intend to run back through the map and add more props and detailing where r_speeds will allow.

Edit:

Map has been reuploaded in accordance with the file structure defined in the Sven Coop user manual (see link above). The .wad has been included and some very quick edits made to increase crushing damage on key doors and add a few more security guards. Other edits based on comments received thus far will obviously take longer to incorporate.

[Lt.JC]

Hey, welcome back to Sven Co-op after all these years! It's nice to see that some of the old veterans and mappers are still around every now and then and haven't forgotten about this game.

I've downloaded your map and gave it a go. I'll try to give some tips and inform you about bugs or problems I've found.


So for a start from what I've seen so far it is a pretty nice remake or reimagination of the original map. I could tell that most areas were still following the original concept without actually looking the same. There were a lot of well...I would call them "unnecessary details" in a positive sense, to give the player the illusion of a bigger place than it actually is. And I like that some NPC's were just there out of reach. For the amount of detail the map offers the w_poly are generally pretty low so that is a good thing.

I thought the map didn't offer much in terms of action and you are probably going to get through the map very quick if you play with like 6 or 8 players but as the map is not finished I guess gameplay can't be judged right now. One thing I would have made differently is the part when the players trigger the alarm in the lab. The dogs don't come out until after you passed that area so it doesn't really add anything to the map. Maybe they should come out after you triggered the alarm (just like in the original map) so players have to fight them to get past.


Now for some bugs or problems I have seen:

-The "root" folder of your archive should be changed. Svencoop uses a new folder called svencoop_addon now where you can add stuff to the game without messing with the original folder so it's easier to add and remove content without messing up the game. So in future I would recommend using svencoop_addon instead of the default svencoop folder for your archive.

-The .cfg file for the map is pretty cluttered with probably unused stuff. Unless you actually change a lot of those game settings I would say they don't need to be in there at all.

-I had missing textures all over the map, most of them were signs I guess and even the waterfall in the lobby. I did not see any .wad files soo maybe you forgot to pack them? Otherwise compile the map with them.

-I could break the airlock in the lab where you have to wait until you get "sterilized" before the second door opens. When you have full armor and health you can block the door and in the end...both are open at the same time.

-The HEV chargers in the lab were also hanging in the air with quite a gap between them and the wall.

-I'm not sure about this one but the turret in the corridor before the lab does not activate when the alarm was triggered?

-The hatch at what I assume is the end of the map can be blocked by just jumping between the hatch and wall.

Also this is just something I felt was weird to me but the glow sprites are kinda freaking huge for those lamps. Not really a problem but maybe you find something more on scale with them?

However that should be everything I found so far. All in all good start and I hope you finish it and maybe the other maps too?

[Frel2.0]

Thanks for the comments, they're much appreciated. Addressing each point in turn:

Unecessary detail is probably an accurate way of describing things and I intend to add more. In hindsight the original maps were pretty sparse of 'life' and I tried hard to change that this time around.

You're right that action is minimal, SC_Activist1 was always an intro (immediately prior to the outbreak) and this generally followed that theme, however I'll look to see if I can add some more resistance.

The dogs are released following shutdown of both fans, The issue is that I've currently set it up so you can press the buttons in any sequence so you won't necessarily be in the room when they arrive, I'll have to think about that one.

I'll upload an amended .zip with the correct structure (and include the .wad this time!) tonight.

I'll look into greatly increasing the crushing damage of any critical doors to stop synch issues.

I'll look into the HEVs and reposition if needed.

The turret triggers on complete ventilation failure also, similar to the dogs.

The sprites and lights I lifted verbatim from Hezus, send your complaints on that one his way! (I don't recall them seeming large personally but I'll have another look).

Free time is at a premium when compared to my life fifteen years ago, but I've quite enjoyed playing around in Hammer again!

[nico]

the .wad is missing from download :/

[Frel2.0]

I've edited my original post to include the .wad and make some very basic updates based on Lt.JC's comments, feel free to try again.

[AdamR]

I hope you kept the part where you tip the tall cabinet into the glass. I really like that.

[Frel2.0]

I hope you kept the part where you tip the tall cabinet into the glass. I really like that.

In hindsight I felt it wasn't very intuitive so I removed it, though I can certainly see if something similar can be worked in elsewhere.

I'm actually out of the country for the next week so I won't be able to make any updates but it should give me some time to think over what's been received thus far.

[AdamR]

Aw, that was my favourite part.

[BlueSpark]

Hello, yes it is nice to see Veteran mappers returning to the Hammer, good job! Also thanks for your original Activist map, it's one of our favourites, we play it pretty often actually. Yes, the cabinet was a really nice touch, I enjoyed that also

It is fairly straightforward to interlock multiple door systems these days, the entities have a lot more functionality than they used to and it's not hard to make a pretty robust system, which is neccessary since as you well know, "if you build it, they will break it". Can't help a lot on the brushwork or lighting issues, but you'd be welcome to any assistance with entity setups, just say.

[Outerbeast]

Feel frew to jump on the SC discord, there are a lot of folks that will be more than happy to help you out

[Frel2.0]

Hello, yes it is nice to see Veteran mappers returning to the Hammer, good job! Also thanks for your original Activist map, it's one of our favourites, we play it pretty often actually. Yes, the cabinet was a really nice touch, I enjoyed that also

It is fairly straightforward to interlock multiple door systems these days, the entities have a lot more functionality than they used to and it's not hard to make a pretty robust system, which is neccessary since as you well know, "if you build it, they will break it". Can't help a lot on the brushwork or lighting issues, but you'd be welcome to any assistance with entity setups, just say.

I'm sat on a balcony in Catalonia at the moment but on my return I intend to tweak some of the sequences relating to the fan shutdowns in line with the comments received, at which point I'd be more than happy to share the sourse for a third party review. I'll warn you in advance, my entity knowledge is as old as sc_activist and my naming system couldn't really be called a system, but other than that the basic foundations of my intentions should be apparent on inspection.