Sorry I didn't get a chance to release an alpha last night... I was too busy watching Planet Earth.

I've downloaded some freeware this morning, it's called CamStudio 2. It records the desktop and takes audio from the microphone - its purpose is to make software demonstrations easy and free. Perfect - this is exactly what I am looking for as I am going to make some YouTube Hammer tutorials for DeadChicken and Wigouche, not that they need it.

Heh, nice. We could put those videos on the site aswell, make a feature out of it.

Looking good, what are those stairs for? Just another way to the first floor?

Hey Aaron, I have a couple of quick questions.

Do you know how to stop random textures being reflective in the 3d view, and the lines in the 2d view being slightly 'softened' or 'blurred'?

It's not a major issue, it's just bothering me.

I'm not aware of how to get around that unfortunately

Sorry I can't release an alpha at the moment also, it's really under a heavy development stage and I think that the next time you play it, it could be close to beta.

I'm having serious problems compiling now. It takes more than half an hour to compile because of the crazy steps. I'm going to need to change the default visleaves to exclude most of the curvy parts - the steps are creating too many visleaves and this is what makes the compile take too long. In addition to that, I have some decorative parts that increase compile time considerably, also.

Looks good. I guess we now know why most people don't use spiral staircases, lol.

I've fixed the compile problems... I'll set up another tutorial on how to get around that later on today!

(The compile time has gone down to about 300 seconds on a dual-core 2.2GHz)

Heh, cool!

Sorry this screenshot is dark, I had no lighting... but you get the idea...



Update: Compile time is down to 8 seconds...

Oooh, spooky. I wonder, is it possible to add light switches?

Actually yes that is possible!
Imagine the mayhem that would cause!
I'll post screenshots of a17 when I get home (on phone right now).

I think lightswitches would add a lot to gameplay, and would make a lot of sense. Of course, the top floor will still be fairly well lit because of the top window.

A17? I haven't played it since 12, lol.

Hehe, I tend to save alphas as development milestones.
They do not really mean a playable build.. Most are nodraw's!

Update...

Hello... my name is de_tchs_office_a17... and although I am a David Dickinson lookalike, I am genuinely quite beautiful...

Wow, looking fantastic!

Hey Si, I think there might be a problem with the server.
I have uploaded de_tchs_office_a18 and de_tchs_office_a18b but they are both having the same problems. They are just like any other map I've uploaded in the past (cubemaps and navigation mesh generated).
The server sends the map to the client, then the client says that the local version is different from the server version. Any ideas?

the vertion uv uploaded to the server it different to the one you gave in ur game cache ether re upload it of delete the 1 in ur game cashe n copy it back over from the server should wrk lol

Na, it's the same version. I delete from the game cache just after uploading, so it downloads the server version. Funny thing is - once you have downloaded it from the server, you can play it on a local server, so it must be a server issue and not a map issue.

Wow, those screens look amazing. :O

Thank you Met, I still have a lot of work to do on it though!

Some of you guys playtested an unoptimised and feature-lacking alpha build last night, otherwise known as de_tchs_office_a19 - where stairs and buyzones seem to have taken themselves for a little walk and decided not to return. In fact, the car park just upped and left. Never mind!

To be honest, the car part was a little multiplayer addition, to add to the fun, and it literally took about 10 minutes to create, so the next time I do it, it's going to be done properly.

Apart from the obviously missing things, what can you suggest about this map now that the inside is looking all snazzy? I'm sure I need to do more with the outside, but what?

So far, things I've gathered that I need to do...

• Hand rails so people don't fall to their doom
• Proper glass on hand rails, that is breakable (and visible)
• Redesign the fire escape completely
• Add a car park
• Move the spawn points (need help with this, where do you guys want them?)
• Add another bomb site and/or move existing bomb site
• Playtest, playtest, playtest

I don't know if this still happens, as I haven't played the latest version, but you should probably stop people being able to camp outside the windows on the tiny edges of the building.

I think standing outside the windows is pretty good, and you're fairly exposed when you do it.

OK then ladies, a20 is on the server so let me know what you think!

Any chance of screenies?