Tycho X wrote:Thank you a lot for the positive reply!
I set the polygon at the top of the staircase as 'monster trigger', but it seems to trigger ALL monsters on the map, not just the ambushers, thus the reason the 'airlock' get's clogged up. I may have to just remove that poly and ambush for the sake of functionality.
Sounds like the problem is that you're not using zone borders to stop the monster trigger from spreading throughout an entire map. If you don't want a monster trigger to trigger monsters outside of a room than make sure that all the windows and doors leading into that room are zone borders.
But you might as well get rid of that trigger and those monsters, since going up those stairs seems to serve no purpose at all.
Crater Creator wrote: think the placement & choice of enemies is very good for the first level of a scenario. The weapons and ammo were not too much and not too little.
![marathon [MUp]](./images/smilies/13.png)
Maybe me and Crater played a different map because I disagree. For more than half of the level you only have
one pistol in very narrow corridors and at one point you have to fight a cyborg with that pistol. This is not fun and it is frustrating. When you finally get a fusion pistol (the only other weapon, there's not even a second magnum) it's in the second half of the level (after the teleport) which doesn't have rechargers or canisters, nor does it have a way back to the first half of the level where there is a recharger. At least I didn't find one.
I was running out of ammo, so I started trying to conserve by using fists. But most of this level is so cramped and narrow that I couldn't use melee without taking a lot of damage. In fact, most of this level is too cramped for the weapons you've given us.
Even the final(?) battle feels cramped because, despite taking place in a medium sized room, there are so many monsters that I couldn't really move around without getting stuck. The fusion pistol is somewhat helpful, but fists and a 1 magnum are trash in this type of fight.
One important thing to consider: if you're asking people for feedback on your map then you should make it relatively easy for them to play through the whole thing without too much difficulty. Even give people flamethrowers and rocket launchers if you have to, just to make the playthrough easier, because ultimately you're not trying to challenge us, you're getting feedback from us. We can't give you feedback if we give up.
Summary of things to work on:
1) Either give the player the space or the weapons he needs to deal with a situation; if you're making small cramped spaces then either provide the player with weapons to deal with that space (shotguns, assault rifle) or make sure those cramped spaces interconnect so that they still allow for a lot of mobility (escape routes, flanking)
2) Match weapons with monsters; one pistol against a cyborg, hunters, and troopers, is not a good match up
3) Be more mindful of when your players are going to need health
4) Don't do teleporting monster ambushes in narrow corridors, it's obnoxious unless you have the right weapons to deal with it. It's actually kind of obnoxious no matter what
Here are some things you're doing well:
1) Giving the player choices
Especially in the first half of the level, you give the player some good options. The level is essentially linear, but it doesn't feel that way because you give the player branching paths and reasons to backtrack. It kind of doesn't matter, but it still makes the level feel more interesting.
I especially liked the area where you hit a switch and it rearranges the doors to all the rooms (right before you meet the cyborg). The player has to do this to progress, but he can go back and hit the switch again if he chooses. The player gets to rearrange the playspace to suit his own preference. It's ultimately pointless because it's eight identical square rooms arranged in a 2x4 grid, so altering the doors changes nothing, but I still like it because it gives the player a choice even if that choice is meaningless.
2) Predicting how a player will react to a situation
Again, this is mostly in the first half of the level, before the teleporter. You created one encounter that you repeat which shows you know how to guide the player's behavior. You have a projectile fighter standing in the distance, tempting the player to shoot at it, which triggers the melee fighters to activate and come around the corner. It's becomes a little predictable after the first couple of times, but it shows good instinct and I think you'll end up making some very interesting monster encounters in the future.
Overall, it seems you have a good, intuitive understanding for the psychology of a player, but you've still got some polishing to do in terms of balancing the mechanics of a level.
Hope that's helpful.