Smoothandz

I'm more confused than a homeless man on house arrest right now.

Excellent responses. Posting from mobile right now. I'll be sure to give a full response once I get back from my trip. EDIT - Finally made it home to post proper response. Thank you everyone for all the great insight. @Fonze - The detail in your response says it all. That's exactly the kind of questions I was looking for. Softlocks, combat flow, texture consistency, that's the thought process I would like to add to my own. Wonderful advice. @Biodegradable - Excellent post. Your link really hits the nail on the head for how to be more helpful. Given how your hard work has made yourself a household name, I think more people could benefit from this. @GarrettChan - Open communication is always a good start. At the end of the day, just starting a line of dialogue is a simple yet effective way of improving both playtesters and map makers both. Also, for any seasoned playtesters out there, do you have any recommendations on video recording software? I dont required the software to be free, I'm willing to spend some money for a good program.

Great piece of advice. I had not though about the idea to self impose certain restrictions to understand the map from different aspects. And just like you and @RataUnderground said, video recording sounds like one of the best ways to playtest. I have a feeling it will be coming up quite a lot.

Good day everyone, Smoothandz here to open up a discussion on playtesting. As someone who tried my hand at map making (and found out I'm not very good) I've been interested in trying my hand at playtesting. However, I don't want to be "that guy" that just tests a map and says "Good map" or something simlar with little to no feedback. My hope is to open a conversation between map makers and seasoned playtesters. I thought of some questions to get the ball rolling, but please be sure to add anything to the thread that you deem helpful. Map Makers Is there specific information you are looking for? how important are videos? Demos? what type of criticism is welcomed? what type of criticism doesn't improve the design process? Do you have an example of a very helpful review that greatly improve you map? Playtesters During the playtest, do you have a prefered method of retaining your observations? Notepad? Pen and Paper? Before playtesting, what information do you look for? If video recording, what software do you use? Any helpful tips for new users? Screen shots, what is too little? Too many? Do you have an example of a screen shot that grabbed your attention right away? Advice on constructive criticism. Any tips on how to be more helpful than obnoxious? Hopefully, we can get some insight from both parties. I would love to see some useful discussion to help, not only me but current and future playtesters alike.

I've had this idea for a plasma based weapon bangin around in my head for a while. Well, at least for Doom. If you ever played Dusk, the crossbow from that game. The one great thing about the crossbow is that it had the ability to shoot through multiple enemies. I know this doesn't sound like a huge upgrade, but imagine a tight hallway with 4-5 pinkies. Normally, it would take 4-6 rounds of plasma to take down the first one, 4-6 for the second one, etc. A normal plasma gun would take 16-30 rounds to clear the hall. But with the "pass through" upgrade, at best only use 4-5 rounds and all pinkies die. And just think how powerful something like that would be in a slaughter map setting. You could spray an entire floor and just about hit/kill every monster on the ground. Last, this would also help with the plasma gun vs BFG ammo to damage problem. Simple yet effective.

That's right brother, now into the Fires of Battle, unto the Anvil of War! (Salamanders are my bros)

Warhammer came out in 1983, Warhammer 40K came out in 1987. Believe me, there are pently of older 40K fans (well, depending on your definition of "old")

Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black. Multiple people on here genuinely were trying to help you out. Hell, you even had some people that worked on the freakin game try to help you. When ask for a little more information, you turned into a real asshole. Sorry you didn't get you answer, but with that kinda attitude I'm not surprised you didn't.

Crime dramas and crime shows (First 48, Forensic Files, etc) are what I watch normally, but two shows come to mind that I watched with a passion. Eureka - SyFy show - kinda cheesey but had a great cast. Only last 5 seasons, but I loved every second. Survivorman - Les Stroud is an absolute legend. This guy goes out into the wilderness and survives 7-10 days with very little equipment. Also does all his own filming.

Ah, neat! I'll have to search NewEgg and see what I can find. And for the videos, I'll have to watch them when I get home. Thanks for the reply!

Quick question, what is that secondary small keyboard that you are using?

Please, put the burger down. My friend Mitchell no longer has a motorcycle because of distracted driving. He was sitting stopped at a red light when a lady slammed into him from behind. She was texting while driving and because of that, she could have killed him. Thankfully, he was in full gear and she was only going about 15 mph, but it still hurt like hell (sprained wrist / broken ankle) and his bike was totalled. Moral of the story, you burger/text/whatever is not worth someone's life.

1: Spend time and effort making a map 2: Post map 3: Receive advice from play testers 4: Learn from advice and criticism 5: Go back to step 1 6: Keep repeating until satisfied or move on to making more maps 7: Be proud of you accomplishment and profit No one starts at the top. I've learned most everyone here will notice when someone puts time and effort into making a map. Most everyone here will give you positive criticism, so take it and run with it. Treat your mistakes as a learning experiences. Learn and grow

Not that I can add much to the conversation, but ASUS is about the best thing you can buy right now. I had to deal with ASUS customer support once and it was a lovely experience. I was connected to someone in Canada and he helped get me setup with an exchange. (MB I purchased from Tigerdirect had a bad RAM slot) They sent me a new MB and all the necessary labels to ship back the old one. Other than the customer service, all laptops that I have purchased or other people that I have recommended to worked out great. At the end of the day, abuse was the only thing that killed any of the old ASUS laptops I have seen.

The better quiestion is... why not? It's a one stop shop! Get a Frosty, confess your sins, eat a Baconator, take communion. I see no downside to this idea. :)