Back from AFK, got HL and JACK back and working again.
I tested light_surface and it works exactly as I expected, proving the description is indeed incorrect. I will pass my test map to you for you to incorporate into this page. (tip: gl_wireframe 1 would be useful when taking screenshots for this map)
Edit 2024-03-17
No correction on the above has been made yet. As of now the information on light_surface page is updated and correct, yet this page is still repeating the outdated and incorrect information.
Can you test the difference between light_surface's Filter max range [_frange] and Filter max dist to plane [_fdist]? I know what the words mean, but the description seem to contradict my understanding of the meaning of planes and how they work.
I have a few test case ideas:
A wall of tiling 16x16 brushes textured with a texlight.
_frange should make only a disk of those brushes around the light_surface emit light.
_fdist, if my interpretation of plane is correct, should light up all of them since the normal distance of all the faces to the plane is identical even if they're infinitely far away. That's the nature of planes.
Similar setup to the above but the next row above recedes 16u behind the previous row, producing a staircase. Place light_surface in the middle of this flight of stairs.
_frange should produce a sphere of lit up faces.
_fdist, if my interpretation of plane is correct, should have all faces on the same row light up until a certain distance away from the entity because again, all of them should have same normal distance to the plane.
Unfortunately I can't do these tests myself right now as my drive did a resonance cascade and I'll be afk for a couple of days.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-16 10:03:36 UTC
in vault item: A WAD of 897 Solid ColorsComment #105984
I thought about doing something like that, but I personally prefer searching for colors with intelligible names, rather than sorting through a list of hex values
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-16 08:28:49 UTC
in vault item: A WAD of 897 Solid ColorsComment #105983
You could probably fit all 1100 colours if you use just the hex values for names e.g. COLOR<RRGGBB>. Has the unintended side effect of the alphabetical sort being quite logical too as it sorts by hex values.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-12 09:56:20 UTC
in journal: Back Being an MDComment #105977
You can at least rest assured that you tried. There's always the possibility to play simulators with VR in your spare time, so you can still have this hobby in a safe manner.
Quite a great map right here, with so much detail crammed in it, that sometimes it feels surreal it was done during the compo. A lot of interesting placements, layouts, fun traps and secrets.
The sole cons I have, that stops this from being full perfect, is that it's quite a big map, so if the server isn't at least half full, you will have some trouble finding some players.
In my opinion, the coolant instantly killing you ( or hurting you very fast on the small puddles / waterfalls ), kinda makes it at times a punishing element if you miss a jump / get pushed, but its minor in my view.
This was a nice map, with a cool layout, and the Xen secret is neat. The item placement could be better, as often you find more ammo than weapons, so recently spawned players are sometimes at a disadvantage, although it isn't bad.
The map has some points where the clipping is a bit weird and can make the player even stuck ( the top curve of the climbable pipe especially ), and an invisible barrier at the top of the tower, which, while to avoid players climb on places they shouldn't, it doesn't make it obvious at first.
The Xen water heals too fast, so a player that can move and dodge can camp without many issues in there.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-07 20:20:00 UTC
in vault item: Contact EstablishedComment #105967
Sorry for the bump, I just edited the readme since it included a bunch of information that is no longer relevant after the 25th anniversary update and I didn't want to confuse anyone who might read it.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-07 16:48:36 UTC
in wiki page: Tools and ResourcesComment #105966
@wasd Just make sure the dimensions (width and height) are divisible by 16, up to the max of 512x512.
If, for example, you have a texture that's 1024x550 you have to first get it to 512x512 or below. Scaling it down so the width becomes 512 (we already know this is divisible by 16) and preserving the aspect ratio you get a height of 275. We divide that by 16 to check if it's divisible, and end up with 17.1875, so it's not divisible.
The nearest number in this case would be 17, so we multiply that with 16 to get 272, which is what the height needs to be scaled/cropped to.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-04 13:54:22 UTC
in vault item: 2024 Exercise #2: DentistComment #105957
Dentist is my nemesis. Sweat, tears but the dentist keeps me well. I am well - just have to tell myself that and all is going to be juuust fine. Yep.
I do like the feel of this level. The look outside the windows is nice and I kept trying to activate the computers, though quickly found out that Gordon has a love-hate relationship with technology. Button pressing and lever pulling, even that didn't quite work out for him.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-03 12:49:21 UTC
in vault item: SanitationComment #105954
Excellent, very good on all the aspects. Layout, design, brushwork, detail...all almost perfect. I really have no complaints on this map, and it was a blast playing it with friends.
The rising radiation flood mechanic is good at forcing players to adapt their gameplay and strategies, and there are plenty of spaces and items to switch between different ways to play and move across the map.
For being done in 1.5 months, it is an incredible job.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-03 12:44:11 UTC
in vault item: AmplifiedComment #105953
Great brushwork and layout design ( MAP2Curve wasn't used in this! ), as well as great use of vanilla textures, which blends all perfectly.
However, there is an issue that stops me from rating 5/5 this map: The "map wide kill zone".
The cooldown for it is very short, and as seen in game sessions, it can be almost constantly triggered. It also doesn't help that it isn't clear which zones are affected or not, or the small range of visual effects indicating that it is activating, as well as the fact that the kill zone lasts for several seconds. All of this makes players lose health and die for a couple of times, while being confused of what's going on.
The jumppads under the swinging platform aren't very useful, and it is easy to get trapped into the pit at the map center, but these are small complaints.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-03 12:11:44 UTC
in vault item: Upsilon_AnnexComment #105952
Very well detailed map, with lots of care around. However, there are two big cons that plays negatively towards your map:
The map is too dark. Even after rising the brightness and gamma settings over the default ones, a lot of places have shadows strong enough for playermodels to blend in, as well as corridors in total darkness. While this would be acceptable somewhat in SP, it is not in MP, as it's easy to miss not only other players, but also items as well. It also doesn't help make the player being disoriented, as mentioned next
The layout is relatively complex, with several "dead end" rooms, corridors that make you run in circles easily, and being kinda big. Also at the train section, the navigation is weird when you come from the lower level, as you have to jump several times and avoid falling into the deep.
If you could raise the general brightness, add more entrances / exits to several rooms, as well as some playerclips around to help navigation, it would improve vastly the map.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-03 11:27:20 UTC
in vault item: Area47Comment #105951
Played it yesterday with some friends. While super rough, one can tell that you have ambition, as many different things in the map are present, like a camera, lifts, or teleports.
The issue with a big map, is that you have to extend yourself, and having to take care of many things. Therefore, making in the future smaller ones, will help you focus better in other tasks.
I also recommend you to focus first on planning the gameplay itself, on the layout, to see if it is fun or not, before you start decorating it. While the idea with the vehicles isn't bad, they are placed into tight places, where it is hard to drive around ( and often one can't go further ahead ).
There's potential on the map, one can see what you were aiming for. Hopefully you will keep improving your skills as time goes, so your future projects are better.
This comment was made on an article that has been deleted.
Commented 3 months ago2024-02-02 01:53:19 UTC
in wiki page: multi_managerComment #105949
I think that's Sven Co-op-specific, isn't it? opens up the code
Yeah, there's nothing in HL SDK that points to the parsing of #N there. It is always USE_TOGGLE. Either way though, good to know!
Commented 4 months ago2024-02-01 20:16:02 UTC
in wiki page: multi_managerComment #105948
multi_manager supports triggerstates, by default its use-type is "Toggle".
Add a "#x" at the end of the value, where "x" is the triggerstate value:
"0.001#0" means to trigger via use-type Off after 0.001s
"0.001#1" means to trigger via use-type On after 0.001s
"0.001#2" means to trigger via "killtarget" triggerstate after 0.001s
multi_manager is basically a trigger_relay now with this knowledge!
Also, version 1.2 just dropped. This adds support for extended static lifts, and functional lifts that start already extended.
I highly recommend updating your local copy to this version.
I tested light_surface and it works exactly as I expected, proving the description is indeed incorrect. I will pass my test map to you for you to incorporate into this page. (tip:
gl_wireframe 1would be useful when taking screenshots for this map)Edit 2024-03-17
No correction on the above has been made yet. As of now the information on light_surface page is updated and correct, yet this page is still repeating the outdated and incorrect information.I have a few test case ideas:
- A wall of tiling 16x16 brushes textured with a texlight.
- _frange should make only a disk of those brushes around the light_surface emit light.
- _fdist, if my interpretation of plane is correct, should light up all of them since the normal distance of all the faces to the plane is identical even if they're infinitely far away. That's the nature of planes.
- Similar setup to the above but the next row above recedes 16u behind the previous row, producing a staircase. Place light_surface in the middle of this flight of stairs.
- _frange should produce a sphere of lit up faces.
- _fdist, if my interpretation of plane is correct, should have all faces on the same row light up until a certain distance away from the entity because again, all of them should have same normal distance to the plane.
Unfortunately I can't do these tests myself right now as my drive did a resonance cascade and I'll be afk for a couple of days.COLOR<RRGGBB>. Has the unintended side effect of the alphabetical sort being quite logical too as it sorts by hex values....maybe I should attempt this myself.
Good luck with your new medical practice!
But a good work overral!
Continue mapping!
Texturing — 10
Ambience — 10
Lighting — 10
Gameplay — 9
The sole cons I have, that stops this from being full perfect, is that it's quite a big map, so if the server isn't at least half full, you will have some trouble finding some players.
In my opinion, the coolant instantly killing you ( or hurting you very fast on the small puddles / waterfalls ), kinda makes it at times a punishing element if you miss a jump / get pushed, but its minor in my view.
Texturing — 7
Ambience — 8
Lighting — 8
Gameplay — 7
The map has some points where the clipping is a bit weird and can make the player even stuck ( the top curve of the climbable pipe especially ), and an invisible barrier at the top of the tower, which, while to avoid players climb on places they shouldn't, it doesn't make it obvious at first.
The Xen water heals too fast, so a player that can move and dodge can camp without many issues in there.
Outside all those points, is a fun map.
If, for example, you have a texture that's 1024x550 you have to first get it to 512x512 or below. Scaling it down so the width becomes 512 (we already know this is divisible by 16) and preserving the aspect ratio you get a height of 275. We divide that by 16 to check if it's divisible, and end up with 17.1875, so it's not divisible.
The nearest number in this case would be 17, so we multiply that with 16 to get 272, which is what the height needs to be scaled/cropped to.
Keep mapping, will be worth it!
you're a badass :d
I do like the feel of this level. The look outside the windows is nice and I kept trying to activate the computers, though quickly found out that Gordon has a love-hate relationship with technology. Button pressing and lever pulling, even that didn't quite work out for him.
The rising radiation flood mechanic is good at forcing players to adapt their gameplay and strategies, and there are plenty of spaces and items to switch between different ways to play and move across the map.
For being done in 1.5 months, it is an incredible job.
However, there is an issue that stops me from rating 5/5 this map: The "map wide kill zone".
The cooldown for it is very short, and as seen in game sessions, it can be almost constantly triggered. It also doesn't help that it isn't clear which zones are affected or not, or the small range of visual effects indicating that it is activating, as well as the fact that the kill zone lasts for several seconds. All of this makes players lose health and die for a couple of times, while being confused of what's going on.
The jumppads under the swinging platform aren't very useful, and it is easy to get trapped into the pit at the map center, but these are small complaints.
Overall, great job, for being done in ~15 days!
- The layout is relatively complex, with several "dead end" rooms, corridors that make you run in circles easily, and being kinda big. Also at the train section, the navigation is weird when you come from the lower level, as you have to jump several times and avoid falling into the deep.
If you could raise the general brightness, add more entrances / exits to several rooms, as well as some playerclips around to help navigation, it would improve vastly the map.The issue with a big map, is that you have to extend yourself, and having to take care of many things. Therefore, making in the future smaller ones, will help you focus better in other tasks.
I also recommend you to focus first on planning the gameplay itself, on the layout, to see if it is fun or not, before you start decorating it. While the idea with the vehicles isn't bad, they are placed into tight places, where it is hard to drive around ( and often one can't go further ahead ).
There's potential on the map, one can see what you were aiming for. Hopefully you will keep improving your skills as time goes, so your future projects are better.
opens up the code
Yeah, there's nothing in HL SDK that points to the parsing of
#Nthere. It is alwaysUSE_TOGGLE. Either way though, good to know!Add a "#x" at the end of the value, where "x" is the triggerstate value:
"0.001#0" means to trigger via use-type Off after 0.001s
"0.001#1" means to trigger via use-type On after 0.001s
"0.001#2" means to trigger via "killtarget" triggerstate after 0.001s
multi_manager is basically a trigger_relay now with this knowledge!
Also, version 1.2 just dropped. This adds support for extended static lifts, and functional lifts that start already extended.
I highly recommend updating your local copy to this version.