1-25-09 Map Test - Skull Island

The long awaited second test of Skull Island is here!  For those of you who helped out the first time around, you know that Skull Island was incredibly beautiful and creative, but was riddled with errors and optimization issues.  Thanks to the hard work of Fishy, wowbaggin was able to streamline the map into a speedy, working beta.

We will be testing cp_skull_island_b1, tomorrow January 25th, at 1:00pm EST.  That's about one hour before the SPUG.  All testers who express interest in playing in the SPUG will have a guaranteed spot, so don't worry about missing it.

Just like always, please be on Vent if at all possible.

wowbaggin will post the download link when it is done uploading.  You will need to download the map manually before the test.

i'll see what I can do.

YES. I am tired but I am still waking up for this. I was there for the first map test back in the day and it had alot of promise.

Damn, I get off work at 1. I'll be there when I can!

Gorogorosama!

Beta 1 is a go! Grab it here: http://xombie.redjustice.com/cp_skull_island_b1.bsp

Also on rapidshare, if you could spare my bandwidth: http://rapidshare.de/files/43621277/cp_skull_island_b1.bsp.html

Images here: http://xombie.redjustice.com/display.php?id=skull_island

Cp_Skull_Island beta 1 includes:

A MUCH higher frame rate thanks to Fishy!
Less leaks.
Many more signs to answer "where the heck do I go?"
200% more barrels and other places for spies to hide.
A more visually appealing final cap.
A round 2 red spawn door that actually opens.
Doors that are less lethal.
Lava that is more lethal.
Slight adjustment to CP1 to make it more heavy-friendly
Grass!
Player clips and no-builds
More fire extinguishers pretending to be fish*
Fewer calories
And much more!

So yeah, looking forward to the test and see what you guys think. It's still a WIP, but it'll be good to get a feel for how it plays, balance, etc. Alright, see you in a few hours!

* note, this fire extinguisher is not a fish:

I think it might be interesting to note that where I was getting 15-30 fps (which seemed to be among the faster fps in the first test), I am not consistently getting over 100-150.

Ohh! Sounds interesting. I was in the origional alpha test, I'd like to be in the beta, too.

Curses! I forgot to include the palm tree model in my map.

The palm tree was taken from cp_egypt, so if you have that you should already have the palm tree. otherwise, you can grab this zip: http://xombie.redjustice.com/palm_trees.zip

Drag that into ...\Steam\SteamApps\USER\team fortress 2\tf and extract and you should be good to go!

Hey all,

Thanks for the test. I'm gonna put here all the notes I took, but if you have any other feedback please let me know!

1) Move spawns closer to the CP's.
2) More directional signage and block off unused passages, with that "don't go this way" hand.
3) Increase the time it takes to cap the 2-2 cap point. (on top of the tower)
4) Fix the palm trees
5) Add some islands to the 3d skybox to obscure the corners of the ocean.
6) Make sure you can't get stuck in the cones
7) Minor graphical changes

As far as the frame rate, I heard that it was sporadic, jumping from 10 to 100 and back. Anyone know what would cause that so I can address it?

Thanks again everybody for checking it out. Let me know if you have any other feedback.

I'm the person with the inconsistent fps. However, it's not the map's problem; it followed me to the spug. I believe it's a problem with the servers/me.

Sorry for being so full of fail, team.