interview: narby
author: Exo posted: january 3rd, 2003 print - comment (138)

narby: I'm not one for complex story lines behind maps, the average CS player really doesn't give a crap as long as it's fun. Simply put, the map is set deep in a jungle on the perimeter of an airstrip that's being used to supply special forces into the area to wipe out the drugs trade. If you've ever seen the movie ``clear and present danger'' it's a little along those lines, only without the laser guided bombs.

Airstrip is the first map to use CS 1.6's masked skin technology. Whatever the hell that means.

narby: The layout is very simple. I think complex layouts kill maps, and anything that takes more than 3 or 4 rounds to learn isn't going to be enjoyed quite so much. Ideally players would take the time to learn the map and refrain from the deathmatch style of play that frequent most maps, but that isn't how things work unfortunately.

I wanted to make airstrip a little more pleasant to look at than my previous maps, spend more time on visuals for once and stick to a trusted layout. I had the help of Iikka Keranan (2d artist with Valve) who produced some really kick ass textures for the map, as well as the grass sprites. Valve also supplied some really nice plant and tree models which finished things off nicely and took full advantage of the new masked skin technology included in 1.6.

narby: During one of our weekly tea and chit-chat self discovery discussions on IRC, rizzuh and I were trying to come up with some ideas for locations that would make a really cool map. Something a little different and hopefully something that could take advantage of the new technology included in 1.6. rizzuh mentioned he'd like to see a map set in the jungle and the whole thing evolved from that. It turns out he's not just a porky, no talent assclown after all, but a no talent assclown who can come up with cool ideas.

/me hugs rizzuh the friendly goldfish

Airstrip takes place near a Colombian runway. We can only assume that the planes are used to deliver watches, strawberries, and other valuable Colombian exports.

narby: The two main techniques new to this map are the models and sprites to create foliage and give the map a little more depth. Creating the tree lines and keeping areas separate was tricky, especially with the entity limits of the HL engine. The cool thing about models is they'll be available to everyone to use in maps once 1.6 has been released.

It was tricky to get the look of a jungle, a real jungle is very confined and stuffed with foliage and trees but is very hard to pull off in the HL engine. Airstrip has a series of clearing linked together with borders of trees behind perimeter fences to retain the illusion of depth. Model trees and folige were used to add a little bit more realism to the map.

narby: I think height is very important in a map, aztec/inferno/thunder all used a lot of height changes to make gameplay a little more interesting. I've also used simple layouts through out the maps to avoid overwhelming the player with paranoia as to where an enemy may be. Having areas with loads of different entrances and exits tends to make things very ``panicy'' on the players part as they try to cover all exits and predict where the enemy may be coming from.