Commented 15 years ago2008-12-27 08:40:04 UTC
in journal: #5528Comment #39506
Agreed, I think that fence in the second shot could cause some serious troubles when trying to grab the intel - if the opposing team can approach it from the stairs of course (i.e. if there's a route for them through there).
Looking back at previous updates, this is something you definitely SHOULDN'T abandon. Keep up the good work, this is going to be awesome.
This comment was made on an article that has been deleted.
Commented 16 years ago2008-10-04 12:14:20 UTC
in journal: #5398Comment #50586
After watching the first 4 episodes, it's a bit unfair to call it a series without a plot. You need to watch it 'til the end to understand it, or even watch them again, to get the full picture. It depends on how much attention you pay to the details.
It's a series, where you need to think after watching it, and you don't get everything handed to you in terms of story in the first episodes.
As for the animation - it's minimalistic, but I wouldn't call it horrible. I for example, like it. It fits with the mood of the whole series.
Lain is strange and isn't your usual anime, but that's why I like it.
Commented 16 years ago2008-08-07 15:34:37 UTC
in vault item: dm_rockfallprisonComment #10810
Nice idea, but there are lots of places, where this map needs some polish.
I'm not an experienced source mapper, but I can tell, that you need to use much more cubemaps. There are some corridors, where the reflection on the floor seems awkward, probably because there aren't any cubemaps in that area, and the engine uses one, which is close to that room - but probably has different lighting, so the reflection doesn't work for that particular room.
The textures on the outside of the prison work, but inside it needs moar variation. The rooms and corridors are rather bland, you should use some decoration, not only for it to look better, but that would also make the rooms more distinguishable, easier to navigate.
Gameplay-wise I would say, that there are far too many tight spaces stuffed with objects - that doesn't really help in a fast-paced game, like hl2dm - and the doors are absolutely unnecessary, they only block your way while shooting / dodging. So, merge some rooms together, make them easier to run through, don't use too much objects, only one or two in tighter areas and more in bigger, open areas, such as the yard outside.
Overall, it needs some more work, in its current state, I give it 2,5 stars.
Commented 16 years ago2008-08-05 02:41:32 UTC
in journal: #5231Comment #55569
Yeah, I know this site, this is where I got information on mobile videocards, back when I was looking for a notebook. Pretty informative but also easy to understand, especially with that VGA-benchmark list.
Commented 16 years ago2008-08-02 02:25:06 UTC
in journal: #5224Comment #39838
And our counrty is trying really hard to be like the U.S. We have almost 400 cockends leading this tiny country, and as of this year, the university here isn't free aswell. The prices are unfairly high compared to the minimum wage, or even compared to the average payments.
I would prefer UK aswell, but Austria is much closer and it's 100x better, than this shithole.
Commented 16 years ago2008-08-01 16:19:01 UTC
in journal: #5222Comment #50564
Double fail on lady front today. And I feel stabbed in the back by one of my best friends because of this. It's complicated and long to explain but believe me, it's total suckage to find out that one of my best friends doesn't care for my feelings as much as I thought, and a girl, where I thought I had a chance, suddenly proves that I don't. All on the same day.
I feel like a fucking emo wanker. Whatever, tomorrow's gonna be better, and at least I haev some beerz. Cheers!
Overall, cp_goldfinger is a carefully built map that guarantees the authentic TF2 experience along with the adrenaline-filled, action-packed moments of fast fights.
Commented 16 years ago2008-03-29 20:21:07 UTC
in journal: #4972Comment #39718
Wait until you get to the current season...it'll get even more fucked up. But it's still awesome. If they really got the whole story planned 'till the end (6th season), this is going to be pwn.
Commented 16 years ago2008-03-08 09:58:52 UTC
in journal: #4926Comment #50234
Oh yeah, Rock Am Ring...Rage Against The Machine, Queens Of The Stone Age...too bad that it's so far away, and that I'm gonna be too busy getting raped by exams. >:(
A well-made remake of the Black Mesa Lobby. Too bad, that it's only the lobby, I'm curious, how the other maps from the original HL1 would look with such detail.
Commented 16 years ago2008-02-06 07:32:22 UTC
in vault item: Ancient BoxComment #16332
Nice map, I only have a few complaints:
The textures on the columns should be a bit more aligned to the edges of the cylinder
You can see thin black lines on the end of those plants on the top of the columns...probably needs better aligning, or you didn't apply a transparent texture to the edges
Huge r_speeds, peaking around 2700 wpolys, which I can understand with all those cylinders and sharp textures all around the map, but I think you can chop them down a little bit
Besides these minor problems, the map is a quite solid piece of work. The light beams, sprites and ambient sounds fit in the theme perfectly. As for the gameplay, I can't say much, since I didn't playtest it, but yeah, it pretty much looks like a killbox
Despite it's flaws, Santa's Revenge 2 is still great fun to play. The concept is original and funny, it's executed well, making this mod a nice little time waste on the cold winter holidays.
Overall, The Citizen was worth waiting for. It turned out to be a mod that features refreshingly different gameplay elements, almost professional voice acting, funny dialogs and moments, which brought back some nice memories of the Half-Life series.
Commented 17 years ago2007-11-13 16:36:04 UTC
in vault item: dm_particleComment #15974
Lights: Well yeah, I kinda noticed, that it was too dark in some places, but thought it was ok, 'cos it was bright enough on my laptop. Walking through the map again...yep, the restaurant is too dark, especially the stairs.
Ambience: That was the last thing I was adding to the map, and didn't have enough time, to tweak around with it for too long. Not much of an excuse, but true.:)
Commented 17 years ago2007-11-13 16:26:50 UTC
in vault item: IvyComment #15973
Okay, I was finally able to play it.
The beginning was kinda weird. The way, how barney's message appeared was a bit awkward. I think it would have been better to have all black background for the message, and you could have avoided that nasty camera movement with a simple trick: make a short fade out and fade in, in that few seconds, the camera can adjust to the target, and that had even added a lot to the mood.
I also had problems figuring out, that you were supposed to open the metal box, to gain acces to your crowbar - you don't usually see that in HL - but I guess it was ok, it was only my lameness.
After that, I got down the waterfalls, and got to the actual shooting scenes. The mapping was great overall, with nice brushwork all around the map - the texturing however was not that great. There were only a few textures in the entire map, and pretty much of them were applied to weird places. It was a little out of the place, that a wall had a roof texture applied to it.
There was another thing, what really bothered me: the enemies. Those damn black ops are a bitch to kill, especially if you don't have the right guns against them. It was ok inside that house and in the caves, but those two whores on the roofs really pissed me off. I mean, taking them out, was next to impossible. The first one was just impossible to kill, without having the other one shooting your ass. And this other one - which was next to the radio tower - was constantly hiding behind that damn thing, and you had no cover (In HL, you always had boxes for cover, when fighting black ops). If you give the player a magnum, it would be no problem, but with the shotgun and mp5, which all lack accuracy, and pistol, which lacks power, it was just out of the question. I was only able to kill them, after the whole map ended.
It's also possible to avoid them, by just simply running away from them, but that makes this map really short. So, maybe some grunts would have been a better choice, with black ops maybe only in the cave.
Overall, this map could have been much better, with the little tweaks mentioned above, IMO. But I guess you didn't have that much time for it, you mentioned that in the forums.
In it's current state, I give it 3,5 stars, rounded to 4.
Commented 17 years ago2007-11-12 08:46:11 UTC
in vault item: dm_particleComment #15946
That effect wasn't generated by rad. I made that effect with a couple of func_illusionaries. I know, that they're not quite accurate, I don't care, I just wanted to have a bit scary, dark mood to that room.
Commented 17 years ago2007-10-11 20:14:59 UTC
in vault item: ka_projectComment #15759
Ok, since the map vault is flooded with fy maps (mostly coming from you - no offense, actually this shows, that you have motivation to map, which is a good thing) I've decided to point out a few basic flaws in this map, in order to help you with your future maps.
First of all: Do NOT surround your map with a simple single-textrued box. I know, that this is a knife map, and that realism doesn't play the main role here, but it sure adds a lot to your map, if you have something more realistic to surround your map. Maybe some streets, high-rise buildings or even some surreal flowing thingys for all I care, but at least have SOMETHING to have the illusion, that you're are somewhere, not just flowing around in a mindless blank void.
Secondly: The lights. They are just too bright. If you're adding some environment lights to your map, you should pay attention not to make it too bright. Or even if you do so, you should have some more map elements on the top of your map, to cast some neat shadows on the ground. Play with different angles and brightness levels, to have the best effect. Those wooden planks were a nice touch, and made nice shadows, but there was just not enogh detail in the whole map to be all in all aesthetical.
Usual fy-cs stuff: Try to think of other places to take cover besides the damn wooden crates. Try to come up with a theme for a map (in case of cs: helicopter crash, demolished city, or something like that) and add objects to the map, which can logically be there. (Like: pieces of the helicopter, rocks, dirty, damaged walls, etc.)
Textures: Align!! The stairs just looked awful with the same pattern on them. When you're making stairs, make sure you dont have the same pattern on them, especially if you work with textures, which are not maint to be used for stairs in the first place. The wooden plank on the very top had also aligning problems. It's nice, that you aligned the top of the plank, but the players can also see the bottom! So, you should align everything, what the player can see.
By the way, you should also experiment, which textures look good together. These don't. Or, you could add some thin brushes on the sides (with the same tetxture), to have them come together somehow.
And last but not least: Put more effort and more time into your maps, before you upload them. I always work at least like 20-25 hours on a map, before I load it up, and even then, they don't look perfect at all. Again, I know this is CS and FY and KNIFE and stuff like that, which are often just for the lulz, but you should really take more time, and fuck around more with your maps. Add some nice detalis, some ambience, some mood. Do not submit some put-together-in-three-hours maps at TWHL please.
You're a beginner, getting better, and having motivation, as said earlier. Please try to follow some of these advices plz, before you submit a map.
Great little vid.
Running Vista on 1,5 Gb RAM was like running XP on 256 Mb. God, I hated it.
But now I have a nice XP working on it <3
Good stuff.
Looking back at previous updates, this is something you definitely SHOULDN'T abandon. Keep up the good work, this is going to be awesome.
@ raver: Me too...well except for the "legal" part, that came with the age of 18.
It's a series, where you need to think after watching it, and you don't get everything handed to you in terms of story in the first episodes.
As for the animation - it's minimalistic, but I wouldn't call it horrible. I for example, like it. It fits with the mood of the whole series.
Lain is strange and isn't your usual anime, but that's why I like it.
And yeah, it is short, but long enough to confuse the shit out of me, with quite a few protagonists having multiple alter-egos
EDIT:
Spike: It's not for everyone. Especially not for adrenaline junkies. Just because you don't like this kind of stuff, doesn't mean, that it's shit.
While we're on the subject, over here (in Hungary) we're allowed to drink legally from the age of 18, but I've been drinking since I was 15 anyway.
Otherwise, fail.
Btw, reading the script now, it's full of Valkyries already, and I'm only at page 5. :/
Edit: "Max slides his cut-up knuckles" - God no.
I'm not an experienced source mapper, but I can tell, that you need to use much more cubemaps. There are some corridors, where the reflection on the floor seems awkward, probably because there aren't any cubemaps in that area, and the engine uses one, which is close to that room - but probably has different lighting, so the reflection doesn't work for that particular room.
The textures on the outside of the prison work, but inside it needs moar variation. The rooms and corridors are rather bland, you should use some decoration, not only for it to look better, but that would also make the rooms more distinguishable, easier to navigate.
Gameplay-wise I would say, that there are far too many tight spaces stuffed with objects - that doesn't really help in a fast-paced game, like hl2dm - and the doors are absolutely unnecessary, they only block your way while shooting / dodging. So, merge some rooms together, make them easier to run through, don't use too much objects, only one or two in tighter areas and more in bigger, open areas, such as the yard outside.
Overall, it needs some more work, in its current state, I give it 2,5 stars.
I would prefer UK aswell, but Austria is much closer and it's 100x better, than this shithole.
I feel like a fucking emo wanker. Whatever, tomorrow's gonna be better, and at least I haev some beerz. Cheers!
Texturing — 8.9
Ambience — 8.4
Lighting — 8.6
Gameplay — 9
Epic 2-Part Video Review
Bottom Line
Overall, Reissues is a fun package and can be truly inspiring for level designers still mapping for GoldSource. It definitely was for me.Texturing — 8.1
Ambience — 8.8
Lighting — 7.6
Gameplay — 8.7
AVGN Video Review
Bottom Line
The charming retro-feel of the good ol' sidescrollers combined with our favorite FPS. A brilliant, well executed idea.Texturing — 7.5
Ambience — 8.3
Lighting — 7
Gameplay — 8.6
Video Review
Bottom line
Overall, cp_goldfinger is a carefully built map that guarantees the authentic TF2 experience along with the adrenaline-filled, action-packed moments of fast fights.Texturing — 8
Ambience — 7
Lighting — 8
Gameplay — 3
Video Review
Bottom Line
A well-made remake of the Black Mesa Lobby. Too bad, that it's only the lobby, I'm curious, how the other maps from the original HL1 would look with such detail.- The textures on the columns should be a bit more aligned to the edges of the cylinder
- You can see thin black lines on the end of those plants on the top of the columns...probably needs better aligning, or you didn't apply a transparent texture to the edges
- Huge r_speeds, peaking around 2700 wpolys, which I can understand with all those cylinders and sharp textures all around the map, but I think you can chop them down a little bit
Besides these minor problems, the map is a quite solid piece of work. The light beams, sprites and ambient sounds fit in the theme perfectly. As for the gameplay, I can't say much, since I didn't playtest it, but yeah, it pretty much looks like a killboxAs you put, a nice looking killbox. Well done.
Texturing — 8
Ambience — 8
Lighting — 8
Gameplay — 8
Video Review
Bottom Line
Despite it's flaws, Santa's Revenge 2 is still great fun to play. The concept is original and funny, it's executed well, making this mod a nice little time waste on the cold winter holidays.Texturing — 7.5
Ambience — 8.5
Lighting — 7
Gameplay — 9
Guest Video Review
Bottom Line
Overall, The Citizen was worth waiting for. It turned out to be a mod that features refreshingly different gameplay elements, almost professional voice acting, funny dialogs and moments, which brought back some nice memories of the Half-Life series.Ambience: That was the last thing I was adding to the map, and didn't have enough time, to tweak around with it for too long. Not much of an excuse, but true.:)
The beginning was kinda weird. The way, how barney's message appeared was a bit awkward. I think it would have been better to have all black background for the message, and you could have avoided that nasty camera movement with a simple trick: make a short fade out and fade in, in that few seconds, the camera can adjust to the target, and that had even added a lot to the mood.
I also had problems figuring out, that you were supposed to open the metal box, to gain acces to your crowbar - you don't usually see that in HL - but I guess it was ok, it was only my lameness.
After that, I got down the waterfalls, and got to the actual shooting scenes. The mapping was great overall, with nice brushwork all around the map - the texturing however was not that great. There were only a few textures in the entire map, and pretty much of them were applied to weird places. It was a little out of the place, that a wall had a roof texture applied to it.
There was another thing, what really bothered me: the enemies. Those damn black ops are a bitch to kill, especially if you don't have the right guns against them. It was ok inside that house and in the caves, but those two whores on the roofs really pissed me off. I mean, taking them out, was next to impossible. The first one was just impossible to kill, without having the other one shooting your ass. And this other one - which was next to the radio tower - was constantly hiding behind that damn thing, and you had no cover (In HL, you always had boxes for cover, when fighting black ops). If you give the player a magnum, it would be no problem, but with the shotgun and mp5, which all lack accuracy, and pistol, which lacks power, it was just out of the question. I was only able to kill them, after the whole map ended.
It's also possible to avoid them, by just simply running away from them, but that makes this map really short. So, maybe some grunts would have been a better choice, with black ops maybe only in the cave.
Overall, this map could have been much better, with the little tweaks mentioned above, IMO. But I guess you didn't have that much time for it, you mentioned that in the forums.
In it's current state, I give it 3,5 stars, rounded to 4.
First of all: Do NOT surround your map with a simple single-textrued box. I know, that this is a knife map, and that realism doesn't play the main role here, but it sure adds a lot to your map, if you have something more realistic to surround your map. Maybe some streets, high-rise buildings or even some surreal flowing thingys for all I care, but at least have SOMETHING to have the illusion, that you're are somewhere, not just flowing around in a mindless blank void.
Secondly: The lights. They are just too bright. If you're adding some environment lights to your map, you should pay attention not to make it too bright. Or even if you do so, you should have some more map elements on the top of your map, to cast some neat shadows on the ground. Play with different angles and brightness levels, to have the best effect. Those wooden planks were a nice touch, and made nice shadows, but there was just not enogh detail in the whole map to be all in all aesthetical.
Usual fy-cs stuff: Try to think of other places to take cover besides the damn wooden crates. Try to come up with a theme for a map (in case of cs: helicopter crash, demolished city, or something like that) and add objects to the map, which can logically be there. (Like: pieces of the helicopter, rocks, dirty, damaged walls, etc.)
Textures: Align!! The stairs just looked awful with the same pattern on them. When you're making stairs, make sure you dont have the same pattern on them, especially if you work with textures, which are not maint to be used for stairs in the first place. The wooden plank on the very top had also aligning problems. It's nice, that you aligned the top of the plank, but the players can also see the bottom! So, you should align everything, what the player can see.
By the way, you should also experiment, which textures look good together. These don't. Or, you could add some thin brushes on the sides (with the same tetxture), to have them come together somehow.
And last but not least: Put more effort and more time into your maps, before you upload them. I always work at least like 20-25 hours on a map, before I load it up, and even then, they don't look perfect at all. Again, I know this is CS and FY and KNIFE and stuff like that, which are often just for the lulz, but you should really take more time, and fuck around more with your maps. Add some nice detalis, some ambience, some mood. Do not submit some put-together-in-three-hours maps at TWHL please.
You're a beginner, getting better, and having motivation, as said earlier. Please try to follow some of these advices plz, before you submit a map.
Thanks for reading, and good night.