Commented 20 years ago2004-10-13 16:21:57 UTC
in vault item: HL: ContainmentComment #4487
Ok, I see.
Mhh, still those other files could be left out, they're only used during the compile process and serve no other purpose. For the map's source, only the .map or .rmf are necessary. You don't even need to provide both, as they both contain the essential data, the .rmf only stores some extra information for the editor like camera viewpoints and vis-groups. For the playable maps, the .bsp and .pts files are all you need, and for some maps (that use info_nodes) you should also provide the .nod files. All other files can (and should, as it's quite ugly to have them in the maps folder and it also adds unnecessary to the downloads filesize) be left out.
Commented 20 years ago2004-10-13 16:10:18 UTC
in vault item: l1p1 (Level 1 Part 1)Comment #4486
Killer, learn to get some patience. Posting posts like this won't get you help anywhere soon, instead, the community will rather dispise you as yet another 'freakin n00b'. So be patient and show a good attitude, it'll get you further on the long run.
As for your disappearing faces, you probably ran in Software mode. This mode can only display up to about 800 faces. Since you had over 1200 in some area's, some faces will not be drawn in Software mode. Go over to either Direct3D or OpenGL render mode to solve this 'problem'.
Commented 20 years ago2004-10-11 17:42:40 UTC
in vault item: HL: ContainmentComment #4405
Ok, I do have some tips for ya: only the .bsp and .nod files are necessary for the player. All those other prt, pts, p0 and so on files should be left out. There's no need for them. Also, you don't have to provide the game dll's with your mod. There's a way to set up your liblist.gam so, that you don't need these dlls as your mod will use Half-Life's ones. Check out my map 'The Playtest's liblist.gam to see how that's done. Oh, and don't include your savegames in a final release. Neither should you provide your config.cfg as it'll mess up other people's key configuration. I made that mistake once...
Also, you should make a models folder in your own mod folder.
As for your maps, I strongly recommend using Snap to Grid and toggling between grid sizes (goes pretty easy with the [ and ] keys). Not working on the grid easily ends you up with leaks, and it's always better to prevent them as to solve them later on. In mylevel, the back wall of the office room, opposite of the fire alarm, left a little space between the ceiling. A half-unit thick space. Be advised with scaling objects. Try to prevent getting vertextes off the grid, as that may cause you several problems while you won't know where they come from.
Commented 20 years ago2004-10-07 05:54:28 UTC
in vault item: Subway ExampleComment #4293
The conveyor method has a great advantage: Shadows are correctly rendered, creating the illusion of real-time lighting.
In Poke646, a combination of both methods was used, resulting in a very good trainride level. The subway tunnel was made with the conveyor method, while architectural details like lamps and signs were done with func_trains.
So, I don't think this method is 'better'. It's just more usefull in some occasions...
Commented 20 years ago2004-10-05 15:33:08 UTC
in vault item: Nightmare: A horror mapComment #4266
As for the clocks, I noticed some face splitting too. In the console, type 'r_drawentities 0' to make entities invisible. It's then easy to spot the clocks you forgot...
Commented 20 years ago2004-10-05 15:32:19 UTC
in vault item: Nightmare: A horror mapComment #4265
Mhh... abstract...
I don't think the abstract style went well with the horror theme, but there were some nicely thought out scenes in there. Too bad I expected a real horror map so most stuff wasn't really horrifying. You should've created a more strong sense of... fear... The map doesn't build tension, it doesn't really give a lot of space to the players imagination, while especially that is very usefull for horror-styled maps. Right now the horror is more based on unsuspected events rather than on tension. Personally, I expected more of this after your 'hyping' ;).
Oh, and next time, create a mod folder when you have custom resources... easier to install...
Actually, you have created an AND gate using geometry... A good way to explain how a multisource works actually. In fact, it's an AND gate too, but then done by coding.
I'd say, using a multisource is better as it's specifically designed for these situations, but you could use this map to illustrate how a it works. Fun...
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-30 02:26:09 UTC
in vault item: Paper Thin BrushesComment #4169
Heh, in fact, my setup would be exactly the same as yours, except for the render FX, FX amount and texture used. The 'null' texture will suffice, no need for Solid, 255 and a 'pure blue' texture. After all, the 'null' texture doesn't make a brush cast shadows. It's whether this brush is an entity or not that determines whether it casts a shadow or not.
I see I sometimes give incomplete explanations. I'll try to avoid that in the future.
Oh, and you don't need to cover your outside faces with the 'null' texture... the compilers will discard these faces for you. That's exactly why you need to use two entitities for this paper thin wall... since all unnecessary faces (as far as the compilers can determine) are removed...
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-30 02:12:06 UTC
in vault item: Paper Thin BrushesComment #4168
Mhh, indeed, I forgot to tell you need to make both brushes an entity. Otherwise, indeed, both faces are discarded. This would also happen when you put both brushes into one entity.
Correct, 'multimanagers' in my first post had to be 'trigger_multiples'. Sorry for that misstake.
I've finally been able to do some testing myself and trigger_multiples targetting a multisource do work, although there is a little thing to keep in mind. A multisource will trigger it's target once all entities that target this multisource are 'active'. For example, 3 buttons target a multisource. All 3 need to be activated before the multisource will trigger it's target. Should one of 3 buttons reset before all 3 are pushed, nothing will happen as the multisource requires all of them to be active at the same moment. Trigger_multiples behave a bit different than buttons. A button goes to non-active once it resets. A trigger_multiple doesn't... you can only use it again after it is reset, but it's state, as recognized by the multisource, doesn't change when it resets. Instead, you have to trigger it again. This may cause some confusion at first but it's really simple once you get how it works.
So, using trigger_multiples has some shortcomings indeed, from the side of the trigger_multiples, but this is easily avoided by triggering func_buttons with those trigger_multiples, effectively combining their possibilities. I made an example map for you, where you can either walk trough the trigger_multiples and so activate the buttons, or push the buttons yourself.
My way: 2 trigger_multiples, 2 func_buttons and 1 multisource. 5 entities total. Probably the same method as SlayerA provided.
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-29 05:07:38 UTC
in vault item: Paper Thin BrushesComment #4152
Why not create a brush, cover it with the 'null' texture, apply a normal texture to one side, copy the brush, flip it and put the normally textured sides next to each other?
Read up on the multisource before talking about it's 'shortcomings'. You are clearly not familiar with it. When you ue two buttons that target the multisource, the multisource will only activate it's target once both buttons are 'active'. And since you can set buttons to reset after a while...
The multimanagers have to trigger a multisource, and this multisource will activate it's target once all things that target him do so. Go and read up on that entity, really handy now and then.
From the look of that screenshot, you did something way more complex. Cool, but unnecessary.
Well, yeah, Half-Life 2 supports open maps a lot better. As far as I understand, it uses another system then a bsp-tree for outside area's, but I'm not expert enough in that area to tell you exactly what's going on.
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-18 13:05:59 UTC
in vault item: GuidanceComment #3978
Thanks. Yeah, I planned some interactivity but alas, not enough time to execute it. Texturing is pretty much in beta-stage too. But then again, nice you liked the effects.
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-17 10:46:50 UTC
in vault item: DSR_JUNGLEComment #3965
Including a readme file is advisable...
The map featured some nice textures, brushwork was less apealing although not that bad. This map needs some more tweaking. For example, the leafs were all on the same height, wich made it look less interesting as it could have been. The ground and rocks did have variation in height/surface, wich looked quite well.
I'm not a CS player, so I can't tell you anything about the gameplay. Visually however, it looks like you're on the right way. Just some tweaking would make it more natural (think of using models for plants, or even sprites for the smaller things like grass and the like). The floor is a bit empty at the moment.
Nah, after all, it's an arena-styled map so visuals are probably not really that important. I just like to see great visuals, you know...
Ook al in die thread gezet maar hier herhalen kan geen kwaad. Oh, en misschien vind je het leuk eens op 'mijn' forum te komen, daar zitten we met een paar andere mappers (onder andere MuzzleFlash en Pepper) en we vinden het altijd leuk nieuwe leden te zien. Aangezien de meesten van ons al enige jaren ervaring hebben valt er ook vast nog wel wat te leren.
Quark, jij gaat Half-Life 2 zeker weten te waarderen. Helaas heeft Half-Life een, zeker voor deze tijd, vrij lage polygoon-limiet, moderne computers kunnen dan wel 2000 a 3000 w_poly's aan maar dat geld niet voor elke computer. De limiet in HL zelf lag ongeveer bij de 800.
Wat je wel zou kunnen doen is meer detail in de textures stoppen zodat je minder polygonen nodig hebt voor ongeveer hetzelfde effect.
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-13 13:21:33 UTC
in vault item: Halo CafeteriaComment #3925
Screenie: press F5 in-game, open up Paint (or any other program that can put .bmp's into .jpg's) and save it as a .jpg. Be sure not to have a too great size as this site will resize it, wich takes quite some time.
It doesn't force you to go out and 'run a gauntlet'. I found that approach to be, well, fatal. The ammount of grunts, their placement, the whole map layout... it didn't gave me an interesting combat. But it seems that's just me?
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-10 08:16:50 UTC
in vault item: DeadcentreComment #3880
Not all places are wide, so not all places have good movability. That's what I tried to stress: the map moved bad in a lot of spots, I felt really trapped now and then. The map could've used some more thought on that.
The planet levels looked, well, bad, and movability often was a real pain. Combat came down to just glocksniping, wich I personally do not find too challenging or entertaining.
The other parts however did look decent, although I feel you had a bit too much polygons for that level of detail. Some things just don't really get noticed (like the cammo netting at first?) so they shouldn't get too much polygons assigned.
Overall, I was not impressed by the maps themselves nor by the whole game experience, but the idea was somewhat funny. 3/5
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-07 12:29:12 UTC
in vault item: trainComment #3841
Strange problem. But it's a really weird map you have here too. Lets face it: that train is just way, way too long. Might cause the problem... Why the last part of the train? The player will never see it as long as he's inside the train...
Strange, but unworkable. I'd suggest you keep it smaller. Smaller trains, smaller area's. Half-Life doesn't support larger area's, sorry.
A way to fake things could be usefull though: just let the station move past the player, while the train is stationary. That's done in Poke646 and the OpFor intro. Might be better here.
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-02 13:58:35 UTC
in vault item: aa2Comment #3762
Mhh, it's the two blue beams that start too late, right? I'd say, just enter something lower than 13 as their trigger value in the multi_manager. Also, use info_targets for both start and ending points. It seems using the env_beam itself as start point gives some strange effects... Not recommended...
Some other things on this map:
1. Use 'Align to grid'. Much easier to work with as you can easily align your brushes to each other. Leaks will appear much less frequent also, you'll see... You can switch trough the various grid sizes with the [ and ] buttons.
2. Try to keep texture scales to 1:1. Looks a bit weird now and then when you see stretched textures and different scalings everywhere. But maybe that's just me...
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-02 05:58:32 UTC
in vault item: Timefall (SP Mod)Comment #3761
I've finished Timefall now. The last part was better executed. I liked the combat more, although the last part was just 'glock-sniping' instead of some challenging smart combat. A bit more tactical environment would've been nice, something like in 'On a rail'.
The time-travel was appealing. Well done indeed. You show you can pull off some interesting entity setups and trickery, the problem often is that the player does not know what you know. I also felt some setups were buggy or not prepared for some player actions.
The mod floats somewhere between nice and unplayable. Still, it's obvious you devoted quite some time to it and that shows off.
Commented 20 years ago2004-09-01 03:24:19 UTC
in vault item: Timefall (SP Mod)Comment #3735
The first impression I got was that of mediocre visuals. Although later troughout the game some spots were nicely done, most just didn't do it for me.
The story was nicely thought of, and well implemented, although a bit more contact with allies would've made it all some more interactive, sometimes I felt it all fell down to the 'tell them with text' level. Nevertheless, you've done a good job at this compared to most mods.
Playability. Combat is decent, puzzles are too hard or barely give a clue. I often found myself wandering around, trying to figure out how this or that could be accomplished. At the start, there's not a single clue that the second window is breakable. No crack, nothing. The small entrance in the sewers towards the first computer console is just... very unobvious. No fun when the road ahead could lie anywhere else in that maze. Just a few issues with the gameplay I had during my (short) play.
Movability. I've often found myself in area's that were hard to move trough, either trough confined spaces with lots of detail brushes, or trough steep brushes. Getting out of the water was often a pain too. I felt you should've given that more attention.
The (nearly) clueless puzzles and hard movability took away much of the fun for me. I've been stuck in every level multiple times so I stopped playing. Too bad, as you are capable of finishing a project. I just think you need to give attention to these things.
Nice thing to play trough. Architecture and texturing and such isn't outstanding but not all that bad overall. Just... nice to play trough. The laptop indeed is a nice touch, good to see you've put work in incorporating the story into the level itself. Keep up the good work!
Commented 20 years ago2004-08-31 12:57:09 UTC
in vault item: tournamentComment #3716
No problem. After all that feedback I got interesting in the progress, you know. Let me know the outcome of that crossfire modification, sounds like fun.
Commented 20 years ago2004-08-31 02:06:49 UTC
in vault item: ravineComment #3712
Entities can touch the void without problems, ZL. Just make sure the map is sealed off with world brushes. As far as I know now only the center of an entity needs to be outside the void (thus inside the map or inside a brush).
Ctrl+Shift+G, go to brush 246. The leak is very close to that brush, somewhere below.
Commented 20 years ago2004-08-28 08:48:40 UTC
in vault item: dm_terrainComment #3665
Looks nice at first, but I don't think it'll make a very good DM map. Connectivity is pretty bad, movability on such terrain too. The HL engine doesn't really coop well with such terrain...
As I said, looks nice, although texturing is somewhat boring and could use some tweaking too, like the edges between grass and rock, and the stretched textures. Some tree's and such would be nice too, maybe a beach or something as it looks tropical for some reason. It's bright, yes, and I like it.
With a decent layout this style can make up for some good fragging, especially the vertical variation.
Commented 20 years ago2004-08-27 02:20:43 UTC
in vault item: CarbaseusComment #18260
Really unique setting, feels like some sort of theather. The architecture fits nicely, I like the pillars and the walkways especially. Texturing is fine but a bit boring at some places. Overall, I liked the map. Looks bright, comfortable to play in.
I played at an average of 40 fps (AMD 1800+, GeForce FX5600, 128MB, 384 MB RAM), so that's decent. Nice you've warned us before...
Mhh, still those other files could be left out, they're only used during the compile process and serve no other purpose. For the map's source, only the .map or .rmf are necessary. You don't even need to provide both, as they both contain the essential data, the .rmf only stores some extra information for the editor like camera viewpoints and vis-groups.
For the playable maps, the .bsp and .pts files are all you need, and for some maps (that use info_nodes) you should also provide the .nod files. All other files can (and should, as it's quite ugly to have them in the maps folder and it also adds unnecessary to the downloads filesize) be left out.
Just so you know that...
As for your disappearing faces, you probably ran in Software mode. This mode can only display up to about 800 faces. Since you had over 1200 in some area's, some faces will not be drawn in Software mode. Go over to either Direct3D or OpenGL render mode to solve this 'problem'.
Oh, and don't include your savegames in a final release. Neither should you provide your config.cfg as it'll mess up other people's key configuration. I made that mistake once...
Also, you should make a models folder in your own mod folder.
As for your maps, I strongly recommend using Snap to Grid and toggling between grid sizes (goes pretty easy with the [ and ] keys). Not working on the grid easily ends you up with leaks, and it's always better to prevent them as to solve them later on.
In mylevel, the back wall of the office room, opposite of the fire alarm, left a little space between the ceiling. A half-unit thick space. Be advised with scaling objects. Try to prevent getting vertextes off the grid, as that may cause you several problems while you won't know where they come from.
I hope that helps you getting further a bit.
Shadows are correctly rendered, creating the illusion of real-time lighting.
In Poke646, a combination of both methods was used, resulting in a very good trainride level. The subway tunnel was made with the conveyor method, while architectural details like lamps and signs were done with func_trains.
So, I don't think this method is 'better'. It's just more usefull in some occasions...
I don't think the abstract style went well with the horror theme, but there were some nicely thought out scenes in there. Too bad I expected a real horror map so most stuff wasn't really horrifying. You should've created a more strong sense of... fear... The map doesn't build tension, it doesn't really give a lot of space to the players imagination, while especially that is very usefull for horror-styled maps.
Right now the horror is more based on unsuspected events rather than on tension. Personally, I expected more of this after your 'hyping' ;).
Oh, and next time, create a mod folder when you have custom resources... easier to install...
I'd say, using a multisource is better as it's specifically designed for these situations, but you could use this map to illustrate how a it works. Fun...
After all, the 'null' texture doesn't make a brush cast shadows. It's whether this brush is an entity or not that determines whether it casts a shadow or not.
I see I sometimes give incomplete explanations. I'll try to avoid that in the future.
Oh, and you don't need to cover your outside faces with the 'null' texture... the compilers will discard these faces for you. That's exactly why you need to use two entitities for this paper thin wall... since all unnecessary faces (as far as the compilers can determine) are removed...
I've finally been able to do some testing myself and trigger_multiples targetting a multisource do work, although there is a little thing to keep in mind.
A multisource will trigger it's target once all entities that target this multisource are 'active'. For example, 3 buttons target a multisource. All 3 need to be activated before the multisource will trigger it's target. Should one of 3 buttons reset before all 3 are pushed, nothing will happen as the multisource requires all of them to be active at the same moment.
Trigger_multiples behave a bit different than buttons. A button goes to non-active once it resets. A trigger_multiple doesn't... you can only use it again after it is reset, but it's state, as recognized by the multisource, doesn't change when it resets. Instead, you have to trigger it again.
This may cause some confusion at first but it's really simple once you get how it works.
So, using trigger_multiples has some shortcomings indeed, from the side of the trigger_multiples, but this is easily avoided by triggering func_buttons with those trigger_multiples, effectively combining their possibilities. I made an example map for you, where you can either walk trough the trigger_multiples and so activate the buttons, or push the buttons yourself.
My way: 2 trigger_multiples, 2 func_buttons and 1 multisource. 5 entities total. Probably the same method as SlayerA provided.
http://www.websamba.com/captainp-home/custom/mt.zip
Ain't that difficult or time-consuming...
Get the idea?
From the look of that screenshot, you did something way more complex. Cool, but unnecessary.
I'll not continue this map but I do have some stuff to work on. We'll see...
Anyone that has a suggestion for another GFX bytheway?
Well, yeah, Half-Life 2 supports open maps a lot better. As far as I understand, it uses another system then a bsp-tree for outside area's, but I'm not expert enough in that area to tell you exactly what's going on.
The map featured some nice textures, brushwork was less apealing although not that bad. This map needs some more tweaking. For example, the leafs were all on the same height, wich made it look less interesting as it could have been. The ground and rocks did have variation in height/surface, wich looked quite well.
I'm not a CS player, so I can't tell you anything about the gameplay. Visually however, it looks like you're on the right way. Just some tweaking would make it more natural (think of using models for plants, or even sprites for the smaller things like grass and the like). The floor is a bit empty at the moment.
Nah, after all, it's an arena-styled map so visuals are probably not really that important. I just like to see great visuals, you know...
Ook al in die thread gezet maar hier herhalen kan geen kwaad. Oh, en misschien vind je het leuk eens op 'mijn' forum te komen, daar zitten we met een paar andere mappers (onder andere MuzzleFlash en Pepper) en we vinden het altijd leuk nieuwe leden te zien. Aangezien de meesten van ons al enige jaren ervaring hebben valt er ook vast nog wel wat te leren.
Wat je wel zou kunnen doen is meer detail in de textures stoppen zodat je minder polygonen nodig hebt voor ongeveer hetzelfde effect.
I'll check the map later, gotta go now.
The ammount of grunts, their placement, the whole map layout... it didn't gave me an interesting combat.
But it seems that's just me?
Sorry, Tomaatti, but I was expecting something better this time...
The planet levels looked, well, bad, and movability often was a real pain. Combat came down to just glocksniping, wich I personally do not find too challenging or entertaining.
The other parts however did look decent, although I feel you had a bit too much polygons for that level of detail. Some things just don't really get noticed (like the cammo netting at first?) so they shouldn't get too much polygons assigned.
Overall, I was not impressed by the maps themselves nor by the whole game experience, but the idea was somewhat funny.
3/5
Why the last part of the train? The player will never see it as long as he's inside the train...
Strange, but unworkable. I'd suggest you keep it smaller. Smaller trains, smaller area's. Half-Life doesn't support larger area's, sorry.
A way to fake things could be usefull though: just let the station move past the player, while the train is stationary. That's done in Poke646 and the OpFor intro. Might be better here.
stupid school...
I'd like to check the map but I'm a bit busy with school right now. So, it's going to be later...
Some other things on this map:
1. Use 'Align to grid'. Much easier to work with as you can easily align your brushes to each other. Leaks will appear much less frequent also, you'll see... You can switch trough the various grid sizes with the [ and ] buttons.
2. Try to keep texture scales to 1:1. Looks a bit weird now and then when you see stretched textures and different scalings everywhere. But maybe that's just me...
The time-travel was appealing. Well done indeed. You show you can pull off some interesting entity setups and trickery, the problem often is that the player does not know what you know. I also felt some setups were buggy or not prepared for some player actions.
The mod floats somewhere between nice and unplayable. Still, it's obvious you devoted quite some time to it and that shows off.
The story was nicely thought of, and well implemented, although a bit more contact with allies would've made it all some more interactive, sometimes I felt it all fell down to the 'tell them with text' level. Nevertheless, you've done a good job at this compared to most mods.
Playability. Combat is decent, puzzles are too hard or barely give a clue. I often found myself wandering around, trying to figure out how this or that could be accomplished. At the start, there's not a single clue that the second window is breakable. No crack, nothing. The small entrance in the sewers towards the first computer console is just... very unobvious. No fun when the road ahead could lie anywhere else in that maze. Just a few issues with the gameplay I had during my (short) play.
Movability. I've often found myself in area's that were hard to move trough, either trough confined spaces with lots of detail brushes, or trough steep brushes. Getting out of the water was often a pain too. I felt you should've given that more attention.
The (nearly) clueless puzzles and hard movability took away much of the fun for me. I've been stuck in every level multiple times so I stopped playing. Too bad, as you are capable of finishing a project. I just think you need to give attention to these things.
Ctrl+Shift+G, go to brush 246. The leak is very close to that brush, somewhere below.
As I said, looks nice, although texturing is somewhat boring and could use some tweaking too, like the edges between grass and rock, and the stretched textures. Some tree's and such would be nice too, maybe a beach or something as it looks tropical for some reason. It's bright, yes, and I like it.
With a decent layout this style can make up for some good fragging, especially the vertical variation.
I played at an average of 40 fps (AMD 1800+, GeForce FX5600, 128MB, 384 MB RAM), so that's decent. Nice you've warned us before...