“Tell a man there are 300 Billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.”
Unknown
“Always go to the bathroom when you have a chance.”
King George V
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Again, the Official Mapping Guidelines, while a lengthy and exhaustive document, fully detail the engine limits for mappers. You may note that Nexus goes a bit beyond the limits, which are explained further on. The limits are roughly:
| R_Speed peaks for players: |
| 700 |
| Nexus peaks: 900 |
| Commander R_Speed peak: |
| 1000 |
| Nexus peaks: 1400 |
| Runtime Entities: |
| 275 (recommended under 200) |
| Nexus Runtime Entities: 228 |
I allowed myself to occasionally go past the R_Speed peaks for multiple reasons (and remember that those are peaks, not average). First and foremost, these limits were conceived when the mod was released in 2002, and were stingy even then due to the (extremely small) client demographic that had no video card and used software mode. In Software mode, the engine would create strange visual artifacts should the r_speeds go beyond 800.
There are apparently no 'hard limits' to the r_speeds the engine can produce, but of course, it cannot handle Source-level graphics. I used my own computer as a testbed: on a p4 2.6, with a geforce fx 5600, even at 2000 r_speeds and 20 players in view, I was still obtaining high fps. I have since upgraded to a much more modern computer, but I felt that if my old relic could handle far beyond the official limits with no visible issues, it was worthwhile for me to bend past the limits for the extra detail and visuals.
The Runtime Entities are another issue. Almost every official map hovers between 220 and 240, but going beyond the 275 limit leads to server instability. As such, I kept a close eye on my entities.
One thing to note if you are to play the map: if you are running Vista, the legacy support for HL1 graphics drivers can sometimes produce odd effects. Before a recent vista update, I was seeing random black triangles in official maps, and the gamma ramp has never been supported (a feature that leads to much of the vivid colour contrast in the pictures, taken on my old computer).
My Mathematics Minor required many stats classes, giving me ample quiet time to work on my Nexus plans. In the very beginning, I sketched out the abstract layouts of each official map (as I knew them by heart). This let me study dozens of aspects of each, especially how each had the same problems relevant to the Diamond Layout. Once I had conjured and decided on the Pyramid Layout, I isolated Double for balance, created the View Halls as the 'highway' to the south, planned each weldable and siege room, etc. These design sketches encompass only a fraction of my armada.
Nexus was obviously a massive mapping project to undertake: not only was the map itself extremely expansive, but it required very specific distances (in the form of runtimes) and inter-connections between each of its parts. I began building the map with that I considered one of the most central rooms in the web design: the Port Shaft. I build out from there, first doing the 'middle equator' or the map, including Double, the Shaft, Chromo, (Keystone), and Railgun. With the equator rooms ready, I built north, making sure to connect everything appropriately as I went along (which sometimes led to some serious head-vs-wall action). After that, I built the View halls and into Engineering, and then towards the outsides of the map, finally connecting up everything. Then I created the entire vent network (the Infested Hub and its labyrinthe routes) with the pre-planned vent openings in each respective room.
Once the first build was finally ready, I hit some 'snags'. It was essentially telling me that I was over the max clips by about 40%. After a few months of crying and ripping things out, I discovered a small compiler secret: the Epsilon value. This allowed me to force the compiler to check 'deeper' for errors, which turned up hundreds of barely-off-grid vertices etc that had been overfilling all the budgets. Once fixed, I had the opportunity to replace much of the removed detail back into the map.
Starting with beta 1, through to beta 3 and then version 1 (and now version 2), each successive build of Nexus had a long list of bugfixes, additions, and even huge revisions. At one point, I needed to expand the entire map horizontally, which required vast amounts of tinkering to do properly. Originally there were two Shafts, on either side of Chromo; the eastern shaft was ripped out completely and replaced with the ramproom-ish Keystone Interface. The old, claustrophobic, elaborate Engineering Halls were completely removed and rebuilt from scratch, turning into the more open-concept Engineering you now see.
I have a plan for version 3, which would be released with the Second Map Pack, but there are no critical issues that would warrant a rushed release. Aside from a small assortment of rare bugs, the changelog would mostly consist of visual updates. The main updates relate to the Ready Room, the small room seen on mapload and mapend with the 'Join Team' options. Nexus' RR is somewhat lacking currently, due to the fullness of the clips and leaves, but I have found an extra 2%, so I may now create a more attractive and 'enclosed' RR. I also would like to follow the example of Ns_Machina, where a very large model is used to show the player a full-sized ship from the ready room. I have already built the ship in 3DS Max (as found in my Environment Models page [currently under construction]), but I have yet to UVMap or texture it. Furthermore, I wanted to add in some decals with the ship's name, as well as a map overview with multiple 'You Are Here' overlays.
Perhaps most relevant for this section is the supposed near release of the NS2TR, which would allow freelance mappers to start mapping for NS2 (the devs are planning on buying the final release maps from the community). As such, I am planning on porting, and massively updating, Nexus. I am also planning on doing so for my WIP Ns_Stage. Since NS2 is on Source, it should be a smooth port for the brushwork, which will offer me a base for the map, in terms of proportions (which I believe to be perhaps the largest time-consuming aspect of mapping).
Nexus... was a large piece of my life. Despite the regression in engine technology, it was definitely my 'coming of age' as a level designer. It is the result of almost two years of (off and on) work. It is a full-scale spaceship. It consists of over 9000 brushes in a brush-centric engine. It has the most extensive vent system I have ever seen in any map. It has hidden routes, jump puzzles, tons of ambience, huge amounts of vertical gameplay, and it is balanced in such a way as to create exciting, epic games of Natural Selection. I loved every minute of making this map.
"I played nexus a few days ago and I absolutely loved it. The map has so much personality. It has its own unique feel, so you can't confuse it with any other map." -Scaryface, official forums
"Heavy on the fun factor and immersion, you'll really feel like you're walking around an abandoned (or was it?) freighter of some sort." -Crispy, official forums