jump_kestrel

[Gourmet_Salad]

low T6 (mostly T5) solly map that I spent a good year on but it's allegedly good

14 jumps, 2 bonuses under the end cap. The map is nearly finished, I have a couple more additions in mind but nothing major.

PLZ feedback on:

• anything lol
• but in particular: Difficulty - I would like that this map has a smooth difficulty curve, but I can't tell because I've gotten used to it all. Let me know if a jump feels drastically harder / easier than surrounding jumps
• I've put orange dev textures on some jumps indicating some potential end platform placements; you can let me know which one you make it to or that you nuke them / they nuke you
• Spacing: I think I've tested the spacing well and it doesn't feel awkard, and hard to overshoot most things when done intended, but let me know if something doesn't feel right.
• know where go: do you know what to do or where to go
• good for go fast: Is the map fun to speedrun? any strats you'd like to add / remove / change?
  

download (version b4):
https://mega.nz/file/KZY0WThL#L4fvZf7gyRsjayU5x34DU86ztfJoJiGtyoAIUExKewk
old versions: b3 b2

jump descriptions and showcase video: (tho i want u to try the jumps on your own to see if the map is clear :])

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1: 2 wallshots, slight prefire jurf, jurf
2: slight prefire speedshot, wallshot, slight prefire ramp, wallshot
3: telesync, jurf to end
4: wall start, wallshot, two slight prefire ramps, ramp double (if you can't hit the double smoothly, try prefiring the ramps earlier - should be able to beat this while holding m1)
5: build up speed by wallshotting to the skybox end and rounding back, ramp, ramp double, climb to end
6: autoeb double, wallshot to end
7: wallshot, prefire 2 rockets at the wall, autoeb then prefire one more, quad catch, climb
8: 3 wallshots (try a slight prefire on the first one or two), speedshot, ramp, 2 wallshots (slightly prefire first one)
9: water double, 2 wallshots, wall triple
10: 3 wallshots, slide, speedpogo, ramp, 2 wallshots
11: ramp double, wall double, ramp, ramp, wallshot
12: c-tap, 2 wallshots, prefire a rocket at the ramp, slide, wallshot, ramp double, slide, wall double
13: autoeb double, jurf, wallshots / wall doubles to end
14: c-tap (could work without one but it's easier), wall double downwards, autoeb single, slide, wall double, climb (try a slight prefire on the first rocket), wallshots
b1: prefire two bundles of two rockets downwards (hold m1 for 4 rockets), then after teleporting walk off immediately and add 1 more rocket to the lower bundle. the lower bundle (with 3 rockets) should catch you from falling, then shoot one more rocket with the second bundle (so another 3 rockets) to launch up
b2: speedshot, prefire, wallshot downwards to the "layer" below, prefire, triple

vidoe (this is the b2 showcase but it's close enough to the current state of the map. i'll redo the showcase on the final version likely)

known issues:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

   - both bonuses are very cheatable
   - May or may not have been fixed: edgebug platform on 7 killing your speed sometimes (if anyone knows a fix let me know, I used starkie's autoeb map)
   - Indicators on some jumps have bad lighting, in most cases it looks better if you set your shader quality to high in settings. I don't think there's anything I can do about it otherwise.
   - jump 9 water double floor looks weird
   - weird bit of lighting on 10-11 connector
   - spotlight effects coming out of the skybox in some places
   - glass on 12 and 12-13 connector is weird

changelog:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

b4:
- jump changes:
   - 3: moved end 256hu back
   - 4: raised last ramp to prevent overshooting, raised ceiling
   - 5: raised ceiling on u-turn end, extended climb at the end to prevent overshooting with speedrun strat
   - 6: 2nd wallshot extended downwards a little, and part of it is now slanted. last wall is now short to force a decent attempt
   - 7: raised catch wall by 64hu and extended gap by 128hu
   - 8: lowered start platform by 128hu to make speedshot nicer, lowered ceiling
   - 9: moved end 64hu closer (people seem to have trouble with this jump, but the spacing is precarious. trying to keep the triple lenient while discouraging the wall double strat. wall triples are probably unfamiliar to most ppl, but I think this jump after some practice (and especially with speedo) should be p consistent -  i hit it consistently, at least)
   - 10: raised speedpogo by 48hu
   - 11: raised end by 128hu, extended last ramp to prevent overshooting, raised skybox
   - 12: raised ceiling of start area for speedrun strat
   - 13: raised end by 128hu, raised skybox
- connector changes:
   - 3-4: turned ceiling things illusionary
   - 4-5: shifted hallway left from 4, raised hallway coming into 5
   - 5-6: brought pillars closer together for wallshot convenience; made top of archway illusionary
   - 6-7: cut some bonkable corners, extended watershot pool
   - 7-8: moved bonkable floor detailing
   - 13-14: removed stairs and did some artsy crap, increased height change
- added camera for welcome screen
- fixed Game-Breaking Issue
- added reset teles to sides of glass on bonus 2
- added more artsy  Good Things
- reworded the previous entry to encourage self positivity



b3:
- gameplay changes:
   - added more detailing to skybox-heavy jumps to improve sense of speed (jumps 6, 9, 12)
   - made phase glass texture brighter on 10 for visibility
   - raised ceiling on 10 and 11 a little bit
- clarity changes:
   - added more arrows to 3 to indicate where to go
   - made ramp on 11 look less shootable i think
- added missing nonade in 5
- added autoeb indicators to 7-8 connector
- added dustmotes to 11 quick reset
- added stripe to 12 prefire location
- more artsy crap here and there



b2:
- gameplay changes:
   - adjusted end platforms
      - 4, 6, 9, 10 pushed a little farther / higher, 13 and 14 significantly farther / higher
   - added gap in the climb in 7 (might remove this, lmk your thoughts)
   - changed end of 8 to be more flexible to different speeds from ramp / ss
   - made last wall on 10 slanted
   - moved wall climb on 14 64 units closer to the wall double
   - moved some bonkable detailing aside in 14
   - raised skybox on 14
- (probably) Fixed thick fog when spawning into the middle of the map via jumpacademy autosave
- Fixed respawning when changing weapons
- Added missing teleports in jump 8, 9, 12, 14 and return teleport in b2
- clarity changes
   - added arrows to indicate where to go on jump 3 and 11
   - minor detailing to indicate telesync on jump 3 and water double on jump 9
- Raised fail teleports in 11 and 12



b1:
- Main release

Thanks to a lot of people who helped on the jump mapping discord - hexaflexagon, mazlli, Mikko Kotamaki, Gentle Puppet, kjr, .Coockie; to old dutch and VolKan for hosting the map on JA for an online playtest, to playtesters cringe and based alike, topHATTwaffle and gorge004's mapping tutorials, Sausage (yes), the maps I've decompiled to learn how stuff works, maps I've been inspired by (in particular maxxy and finn91's maps), tempus east coastians, and my cat.

Textures taken (with modifications) from Portal 2, Tophattwaffle's Realworldtextures2, and skybox "sky138" by Mr. Who. Texture assests from ambientcg and FRZ designs. Some models taken from Portal 2. convenient jump things from pear's jump map assets, oatmeal's jump reference, and starkie's consistent autoedgebug. Software used: Hammer++, CompilePal, GIMP, Crowbar, bspsrc, Propper, VTFVersionChanger.

any feedback appreciated!

[exer]

map looks incredible, love the fake skybox trickery and how strong the overall aesthetic is, jumps are really fun for the most part

unfortunately i wasn't able to get jump 9 or 12 to work at all

• on 9 i feel like i need more space on the water sync and more geometry than just the wall you triple on as a reference frame. if you've ever played jump_redplanet or jump_minecraftia course 5, i feel a similar sense of disorientation on this jump
• on 12 it's probably a skill issue but i feel like the ramp could be either lowered or shortened because i just couldn't get enough speed to do the first ramp sync

[kjr :d]

https://imgur.com/a/LezRkwI

Other than the stuff I gathered and compiled into the Imgur, I'm not a big fan of the jumps with large amount of skybox. It would be nice if you could try to limit it (it's probably not that bad with speedo but i was too lazy to install the offline pack).

 

[Gourmet_Salad]

Updated with feedback + some minor changes. Looking for more feedback on difficulty/qol and lots more feedback on making this more fun to speedrun.

Thanks for the feedback exer and kjr \(^ヮ^)/

[Finn91]

Hey, amazing stuff, both visually and gameplay wise

8- I've got an hard time going low enough and I kept bonking my head, probably skill issue but it felt weird
9-For me the hardest jump on the map lmao but surely skill issue as well
10-I don't like the transition into speedpogo, it feels like you have to slow down so much when everything else in the jump is very fun
14-I dont really enjoy that it all comes down to the power of your wallsync, like nuking the start doesnt reward you, Idk how to explain.

Overall very cool map !

edit: you can look into 3d skybox if you want to break a bit the emptyness of some jumps that rely a lot on skybox

[ronv45]

take my feedback with a grain of salt as im very washed.

jump 2:  i think it would be more clear if the bottom platfrom after the ss was not white as i first thought i need to catch there but its not a huge deal
jump 5: something about the spacing between the two walls just felt off, i was always too fast or to high for it to feel good
jump 8: i really didnt like this ss setup but could very much be a skill issue
jump 9: i agree with finn that this was probably the hardest for me , but i think its just because i dont really know how to setup the triple than the jump being the hardest
jump 10 : i agree with finn here too that the pogo feels akward, maybe try shortening it so its only 2 pogos instead of 3
jump 11: this is probably me just being blind but it took me a few tries to figure out the second ramp is not shootable , maybe consider making the texture slightly more different but its not a bit deal
last : getting a good wallsync was annoying but this is probably a skill issue again

overall i really liked the vast majority of the jumps and the map looks very pretty and unique, i do think maybe for jumps 6 and 7 a different skybox would look cooler but thats up to you.
the only real negative is that i think some of the jumps are almost impossible to do first try blind but thats only a problem with first completion and with a showcase its not really an issue.

 difficulty curve felt good, most of the time i didnt need the noobsteps but im a big believer in them so i would probably keep them.

very important note:
https://imgur.com/a/gJ7Rnji

[Gourmet_Salad]

big update to b4 from feedback. Still looking for a bit more speedrunning feedback, would like this to be something people are willing to run for a good PR. In terms of the jumps, I think they're in a good position, this update modified more than half of all jumps and connectors i think for the better. Hopefully, next version will be the final one.


Look at:
   - jump 8 speedshot: i've decreased the height change between start platform and the ss, so it should be a lot more doable, try it out.
   - jump 10 and 14 (last): still deciding on the end platform placement for these (see orange dev textures). most likely, i'll stick with platform 2 for 10, and platform 3 for 14.
   - what you might change to make this better to run
   - and ofc any other feedback is welcome

Thanks to Finn, ronv, punchy, rellort and 5cheeseburgers for the feedback  (◕‿◕)

[AerEE]

quite a fun map!

a few things i have comments on:

stage 5 intended I think adding a curved wall at the end will make the stage play better, even if it will never be used for speedruns.

the jump 8 speedshot feels fine to me 

on 9 i think adding a visual texture of some kind in the part before the wall 3x will make it feel a bit less space-y, prefire stages can easily feel a bit wonky if it is all done whilst in just skybox, even if this effect is greatly reduced with tools like speedo.

on 10 i think using the far end platform is fine, going all the way into the hole was not too difficult in my opinion, but it is more so a matter of how difficult you want it to be. I also tested speedrunning the map in parts and on this stage extending the right wall in front of the little metal ramp before the phase pogo slightly might make that feel a bit better.

stage 14 / last is probably my biggest peeve regarding the map. Similar to finn's comment I find the stage to feel a bit off, where the speedy start of the stage gets slowed down quite a bit with the wallsync section. The stage works, but potentially changing the stage after the ramp section to continue going forward in a very speedy manner (this could still be wallshots just much more speed focused) would make the end of the map feel much more grand and fit the overall feel of the map better with its many fast ramp stages/strats.

hope some of the feedback is useful, looking forward to seeing the final product :^)