Commented 12 years ago2012-04-10 07:18:08 UTC
in journal: #7727Comment #67004
I don't really know why, but I find a good way to cure mapper's block sometimes is to search out some maps on twhl or gamebanana or wherev, and write some quick reviews.
Checking out someone else's creative hard work, whether it be a complete nub or godlike expert, can really help renew your own desire to map, and focus your own creative energy. PLUS you have the added good karma of leaving much-craved criticisms/adorations/suggestions on a total stranger's masterpiece
Commented 12 years ago2012-04-07 08:12:19 UTC
in vault item: Monkey_Isle3Comment #19823
This is really cool +)
Even though i nver played this monkey island episode, i'm sure it matches the game very faithfully knowing your previous work.
That said, those textures get very tiring to look at very quickly. Too bad there isn't some simple effect you could add to make them "pop" more, or maybe just increase the lighting and use sprites to get a fake hdr effect. (if this was source i would say use bumpmapping on the organic stuff ;])
Commented 12 years ago2012-04-05 11:31:05 UTC
in journal: #7723Comment #43402
American chinese food is way different than the engrish kind, at least the chi-nee i had in london was way-less delicious; they tend to make it more sugary/fried for us greedy americans, at least this is what our handlers told us.
Commented 12 years ago2012-04-05 08:49:25 UTC
in vault item: Station 11-57Comment #19911
Superb map! and yeah, a really big improvement from your apartment x2 map
Great stuff but some inconsistent quality; you definitely want to keep the level of awesome even throughout the map, or people are going to call you on it in the comments. (trust me) E.g,: This shot is amazing:
This one, not nearly as awesome:
This shot looks pretty amazing, but a scoche too blocky:
Also, texturing is a bit blah in places, but the crete works pretty well still. Sound is pretty well-done. Lighting is fine, but could be better and more varied.
All and all a pretty good map with room for improvement. 3.5 rounds up to 4, really nice stuff sir!
Commented 12 years ago2012-04-05 08:31:20 UTC
in vault item: aim_xrn_nexusComment #19909
Really cool map, but this map lags for me a little bit (+3500 wpoly), and if you have those ported source metal textures scaled to .25, that may be your culprit? Also i hope you didn't copypasta too much detail above and below without optimizing, or that could also be hurting your fps.
Regardless, a map like this should have REALLY low r_speeds and high fps
awesome stuff sir! if i was stuck on a desert island with a pc, i could spend the rest of my days working on complex enitity setups and be happy
food for thought: maybe you guys ought to include a copy of the tutorial(in pdf or html or whatev) with the download, so we can archive it neatly/completely in our "tutorials" folder
Commented 12 years ago2012-04-01 23:31:50 UTC
in journal: #7712Comment #66997
Ya i feel stojke is pretty much correct and i think it's more important how it was recorderd/converted whatev. BUT,i do always look for the highest quality possible though cuz i can definitely hear the differnece on my at-home speakers or mah beatz.
Commented 12 years ago2012-03-23 22:43:16 UTC
in journal: #7695Comment #66534
well that explaines it. i ordered a nds card reader and orderd an 8gb card to come with it, and i think that is the one that failed both times. no doubt it is a cheapy... live and learn i guess! =P
Commented 12 years ago2012-03-22 23:10:29 UTC
in journal: #7695Comment #66533
I have had really bad luck with sdcards, so much so, i thnk i may be one of those fabled people whose physical presence repels/disrupts electronics.
First time was a trip to Cancun i took like 600 pictures and they all magically disapeared when i got home to look at them.
Second was the exact same thing traveling to Thailand and Hong Kong. You'd think i'd have learned from the first time to back up my pictures daily to my laptop or something.. ARGH.. =:P
Commented 12 years ago2012-03-22 11:43:02 UTC
in journal: #7695Comment #66532
So very interesting! I never even heard of those ditto drives before, but i've been told by by some old-timers that all-things iomega are shite, so maybe it's the fault of the manufacturer and not the technology?
And man, older technology stuff is build like literally a brick shithouse compared to todays stuff, but today's stuff is proportionally WAY cheaper. E.g., my dad's toshiba satelite laptop from idk probably the middle 1990s, was built like a tank and still works today, but it cost like $2k and runs windows 95 and is basically a glorified word processor.
Today, you can buy a machine for $300 that is built very flimsily, but a supercomputer compared to that, and is basically disposable. Oh the times they are a-changin'! =P
Commented 12 years ago2012-03-17 11:25:14 UTC
in vault item: Hotdog Vintage Map PackComment #14773
Ha, that lazer alarm system in "Apartment" is brilliant! =P
Playing this mappack reminds me of something i think most mappers lose after they lose nub, and that is to have fun!
The fact you don't know a lot about something and you play around with it to see what it's capable of, and through dicking around you can produce some really neat shit.
This may kind-of explain why many of us tend to "stagnate" in our general mapping, after we feel we've "mastered" most of the features in hammer.
Commented 12 years ago2012-03-16 16:03:31 UTC
in vault item: Hotdog Vintage Map PackComment #14849
Hells ya that map is pimp. It is very much bigger than you are led to believe, an just really well done and detail (also very dated).
The gas station area reminds me of a l4d map somehow, and the courtyard area reminds me of the matrix 100%, when neo goes to see the oracle, and then in the same scene fights all the agent smiths.
Awesome stuff hotdog. who guy doing all the crazy 1-unit hollow stuff, you or you dad? =P
also ps hotdog, i get a message there is a torch sprite missing from graveisland.
Commented 12 years ago2012-03-13 15:34:16 UTC
in vault item: Hotdog Vintage Map PackComment #19879
I played snarkscraper and that was pretty damn cool i must say. how on earth did you guys pull off those 1-unit hollow pipevators without any errors? (they work fabulous btw!)
Great stuff sir. i stil feel if you linked them all together somehow in an sp mod(ala Rimrook's cubicles), it would be way better to quickly preview the lot(you could always provide a mirror for people who wanted to achtually dm with them). just food for thought!
Commented 12 years ago2012-03-09 04:25:06 UTC
in vault item: c32_legitzkriegComment #19853
That are some beautiful stuff sir! the layout definitely felt very much like estate, but completely (and exotically) re-themed. Really cool1 =P
I really love your house(it's fucking awesome!), but i feel the "Inceptiion" east-german miltary facility theme that you spoke of might be a better fit, but it will also take more work to pull off successfully)
I lovey your trees and mountains! (I would never know those where cut outs if i couldn't see the seam right from the t spawn) That frozen lake bed is also quite astonishingly beautiful. I love the displacements! (were they hard to texture?)
NOticed materials missing on the trees but i'll try again after restarting cs:s and see if it still does it.
I'm rating 5 stars for an eye-popping, very-thoughtfully constructed map, even if it is still still obviously very beta.
+1 for lesbians =)
+1 for Urby's post, brilliant
violets: who gives a fuck,
bacon is fucking awesome.
Checking out someone else's creative hard work, whether it be a complete nub or godlike expert, can really help renew your own desire to map, and focus your own creative energy. PLUS you have the added good karma of leaving much-craved criticisms/adorations/suggestions on a total stranger's masterpiece
This map of Upper manhattan is very inspiring to me at the moment.
Also if you've never joined a competiton, I would highly recommend it as another way to motivate your mapping mojo.
Good luck! =)
The code prompt is pretty neat too. Maybe this would fit better as an example map?
Even though i nver played this monkey island episode, i'm sure it matches the game very faithfully knowing your previous work.
That said, those textures get very tiring to look at very quickly. Too bad there isn't some simple effect you could add to make them "pop" more, or maybe just increase the lighting and use sprites to get a fake hdr effect. (if this was source i would say use bumpmapping on the organic stuff ;])
I like how some of the things are styled like the negative green arrows and the logo of course
The rest of the map is kinda blah imo, but who knows, may be more than a fancy killbox depending on how the crazy teleports change the gameplay.
Neat stuff! =)
Somehow they are sturdy enough to keep the delicious messy sauces contanined inside. (they are more like a decent card stock than paper)
(and of course, i too would make some sand castles);)
Great stuff but some inconsistent quality; you definitely want to keep the level of awesome even throughout the map, or people are going to call you on it in the comments. (trust me) E.g,:
This shot is amazing:
This one, not nearly as awesome:
This shot looks pretty amazing, but a scoche too blocky:
Also, texturing is a bit blah in places, but the crete works pretty well still. Sound is pretty well-done. Lighting is fine, but could be better and more varied.
All and all a pretty good map with room for improvement. 3.5 rounds up to 4, really nice stuff sir!
Regardless, a map like this should have REALLY low r_speeds and high fps
food for thought: maybe you guys ought to include a copy of the tutorial(in pdf or html or whatev) with the download, so we can archive it neatly/completely in our "tutorials" folder
Honestly, i didn't even know you could make movies like this in ep2.. how on earth did you do this?!
Once i got to the destroyed train car, i couldn't figure out how to move on, plx excuse my nub
awesome stuff sir!!!!
*****
First time was a trip to Cancun i took like 600 pictures and they all magically disapeared when i got home to look at them.
Second was the exact same thing traveling to Thailand and Hong Kong. You'd think i'd have learned from the first time to back up my pictures daily to my laptop or something.. ARGH.. =:P
And man, older technology stuff is build like literally a brick shithouse compared to todays stuff, but today's stuff is proportionally WAY cheaper. E.g., my dad's toshiba satelite laptop from idk probably the middle 1990s, was built like a tank and still works today, but it cost like $2k and runs windows 95 and is basically a glorified word processor.
Today, you can buy a machine for $300 that is built very flimsily, but a supercomputer compared to that, and is basically disposable. Oh the times they are a-changin'! =P
Great Article Stojkens!
Playing this mappack reminds me of something i think most mappers lose after they lose nub, and that is to have fun!
The fact you don't know a lot about something and you play around with it to see what it's capable of, and through dicking around you can produce some really neat shit.
This may kind-of explain why many of us tend to "stagnate" in our general mapping, after we feel we've "mastered" most of the features in hammer.
The gas station area reminds me of a l4d map somehow, and the courtyard area reminds me of the matrix 100%, when neo goes to see the oracle, and then in the same scene fights all the agent smiths.
Awesome stuff hotdog. who guy doing all the crazy 1-unit hollow stuff, you or you dad? =P
also ps hotdog, i get a message there is a torch sprite missing from graveisland.
Great stuff sir. i stil feel if you linked them all together somehow in an sp mod(ala Rimrook's cubicles), it would be way better to quickly preview the lot(you could always provide a mirror for people who wanted to achtually dm with them). just food for thought!
I would definitley submit this to gamebanana when you are doen. YOu'll get a LOT MORE feedback and downloads, since that site is so dam huge. =)
I really love your house(it's fucking awesome!), but i feel the "Inceptiion" east-german miltary facility theme that you spoke of might be a better fit, but it will also take more work to pull off successfully)
I lovey your trees and mountains! (I would never know those where cut outs if i couldn't see the seam right from the t spawn) That frozen lake bed is also quite astonishingly beautiful. I love the displacements! (were they hard to texture?)
NOticed materials missing on the trees but i'll try again after restarting cs:s and see if it still does it.
I'm rating 5 stars for an eye-popping, very-thoughtfully constructed map, even if it is still still obviously very beta.