My second map for Quake (first was a quick, minute long map I have no intention of releasing...), thinking of uploading a beta version in the future to see if the gameplay is okay.

imgur album

I can't believe I've been working on this since ~July... 

I like it. 

Excellent texture choices. 

Thanks, glad to have such a positive response already. The texture work is a huge time sink, finding the right look and breaking up brushes to make them fit properly is a large part of why it's taken me so long to get this far. But the more I do it, the better I get at it, with better results and efficiency.

A lot of these screenshots are from more recent parts of the map, in part because I feel that the earlier sections aren't quite up to snuff. I'll probably take the time to touch them up a little after everything else is done, but they're passable, at least. 

Looks good. I love the soft blue/greenish color of that light. I can see a pyro, are you making this for AD 1.5? If you need beta testers, I'd be happy to oblige. 

These look great Pritchard! I especially enjoy the base architecture molded with the rocky walls. 

It's a Quoth map, actually. Mostly because that's what someone suggested to me first when I wondered how to expand the base-themed enemy selection a month or so ago. Now i'm married to it for this map, since I can't give up my beloved Edie! ;P

I'm not sure when i'm going to do a beta, but it probably won't be a private one; I'll most likely end up whacking a changelevel in the map somewhere that isn't really the "end" and posting that version of the map here. I'm mostly interested in player experience, as well as how long it takes people to beat what's there. I tend to blitz through the level, so I find it difficult to judge how long it actually is for regular players... 

Ugh, I hate Edie! I mean he's a challenging enemy and that's a good thing for base maps, but I think he belongs more in Q2 and doesn't quite fit in Q1. Still, I'm looking forward to playing this.

My playing style is more slow-paced and methodical. I often take 2 to 3x longer than the average YT playthrough to complete a level. 

very nice mood. 

The map looks great, very moody! 

Pritchard, it's looking great indeed. Lots of variation, curious to see how environments blend together.

As of me, this thing is developing:

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/Jam7/jam7_wannabe_02.jpg 

Those looks great, eager to play them when they're finished! I must be the lowest person compared to you guys*

If someone is interested I have been extending "IceCore" a little bit (mostly just thinking). Here is work in progress images (pretty hard to take pics because I haven't finished ceilings and so on):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwxYkKdSD855TVJDMWlSSGo4VlE/view

The actual 'IceCore' I haven't started yet.. but it should be near the tower (bottom left). It is going to be basically much bigger cylinder shaped room.. etc. 

Adib, love all of the detail work in that hallway section.

NewHouse, you are bringing that cold vibe very well! 

I was testing something.. it is a bit dark but that is part of atmosphere also in the end:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwxYkKdSD855aWRBa1piYTdWS2M/view?usp=sharing 

Just wondering.. is there yellow liquid texture already in some wad? 

Cool looking hellish screenshot there!

I can't think of a yellow liquid but you can make one yourself. Use TexMex, export a liquid you want to be yellow. Then open in a Photoshop program and change the color level or what have you. 

You wanna build a river of piss? xD No idea if such a texture exists but you can always take a previous texture and recolor it to your needs. The standard id tex for water should do fine. 

Okay.. now it is turning into bee queen's palace or something..

Mugwump : not piss -> liquid honey (it is golden/yellow like a lava or something)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwxYkKdSD855b3BUdEhWNDdKRjg/view?usp=sharing 

Damn you Bloughsburgh, you beat me to it! ;)

NewHouse, I saw your new pics. Did you desaturate your blue lights? They seem to have lost much of their hue. 

Part of yes.. and no, since I'm still working on lights. I kind of came back to original ones, because blue wasn't that much as present. Too much white and it kind of lost the whole mood totally. 

Yeah, I loved the intense dark blue of your MJ7 version.

Yellow Death: Hey, if it isn't good ol' hskl07_1! I've just used the exact same texture for some stairs I made. Is that a new map? There is a very yellow lava texture in AD_lavatomb, maybe it will do? 

Also, when you're in need of textures, make sure you visit this page: https://www.quaddicted.com/files/wads/
It has a whole bunch of .wad files used by mappers available for download. 

Thanks buddy, this is just the concept. I really have to finish up first my IceCore map.

It feels so great to know.. actually when it is finished - I don't want to sound rude or anything, but it is sure couple people will start posting comments like "buhuu it is so dark, I can't handle this darkness" yet "it is so hard, I can't handle this madness".. it really makes me wonder why brightness settings aren't implemented yet for quake (modern standards). It is impossible to make everything work for every person screen settings, when dealing with colors a lot, and that is fact.

About difficulty.. if you remember playing doom maps, difficulty was often just pure evil (almost even impossible), and my map wasn't even in those levels. Just couple projectiles to be able to dodge, shoot precisely not wasting cells etc. basic stuff. And some people starts almost demanding/expecting that hard difficulty it shouldn't be that hard.. what do you expect sincerely? Next difficulty after hard is nightmare already yet we don't live anymore in 1996 when even couple shamblers was too much to handle. I personally appreciate hardcore players, which love even unfair situations and ammo limitations. Normal mode will always be just enough, it will be a bit harder than normal mode in original episodes.

But even though if I appreciate many opinions, and try my best to make it appeal as many people as possible, it is unavoidable that surely some people will dislike it no matter what you do. That's why I want to do what just feels right to me in the end. 

Amen to that. You first get into mapping because you want it, not because the others want you to. It's good to take advice from the community but when you aim to please everyone, you expose yourself to losing your identity. I love it when mappers have their own style and personality. A Sock map doesn't look and feel like a Necros map and that's how it should be. Hell, even the original id mappers had their own styles! If your style is intense colors, so be it! We don't see this kind of stuff much since Unreal and I enjoy it. People say it's not realistic but since when Quake is supposed to be realistic? It's one of the most surreal FPS I've ever played.

And if people really find your map too dark, they can easily adjust it with QuakeSpasm's new contrast setting. I've used these settings:
contrast "1.5"
gamma "0.85"
and it was perfectly fine. I still need to play it in Darkplaces though. 

I haven't tried it on darkplaces either, even though I had downloaded it long time ago.. it has that a bit shiny-look, if you know what I mean. Also I need to consider writing down on readme something about those console commands.