Commented 17 years ago2007-08-22 13:42:33 UTC
in vault item: The UnderhallsComment #15578
4 stars only because its not an original map but it was beautifully made and everything from the textures, to the brushwork, to the triggers was fantastic. a very enjoyable re-make!
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-22 13:22:49 UTC
in vault item: DungeonComment #15577
Better than I expected ... although horribly unfinished! I'd say the map needs to be ten times bigger than currently in order to fit the dungeon theme well.
The architecture is basic (and very square), but cleanly made. I can see you're getting into good habits early on. But I would say you should experiment with more complicated brushwork. PM me if you want help.
The lighting in the starting area is much better than what I have come to expect from people's early maps. It's not "good" in the grand scale of all maps, but you've at least managed to achieve a sense of atmosphere with it, so well done.
It's raining, but it doesn't sound like it's raining.
The gate opens downwards. This seems wrong to me. Also, the texture on the top/bottom of the gate needs adjusting so that it still looks like a gate when you open it.
The spiral staircase is a nice try, but I suggest you remake it a few times and work out how to blend it into the surroudings more. Currently it's sitting inside a box, and it doesn't really look like it's part of the structure.
The starting area would benefit from a displacement floor. it would be a good place to learn how to work with displacements if you've not tried them yet.
The walls, especially inside, would benefit from having details added to them to break up the monotony of the flat textures. Try using overlays, and perhaps add detail solids here and there to make walls seem a different shape.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-21 03:33:04 UTC
in vault item: de_chemicalComment #15575
Pervonax! Nice brushwork, but worse texturing. Many places looks like untextured geometry. Good colorlighting. Sands can be more interesting - use vertex manipulation or try Terragen to make more realistic surfaces.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-18 23:12:15 UTC
in vault item: Threating skies: tsao1Comment #15569
Pretty good map so far, the tram looks pretty cool and i thought it was a nice idea to make 2 different func_trains and in the center the player could notice this in the center of the interior, unfortunatly the player could be killed by the train if you didnt know, if you still want to have 2 func trains, i would suggest adding some clips to the func_trains, around the sides and areas that the player could jam the train. The rest of the area outside of the train looked pretty good as well, the only thing i didnt like was a few objects that had a bit over stretched textures in the starting station. nice though, 3/5
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-18 20:02:09 UTC
in vault item: High streetComment #15567
Man o man!! Either most of you here are REALLY young AND ignorant or just have no life at all. When you grow up and find something in life to do other than post crap about somone's work,,,,you'll see the point to what I am posting about here. If you have talent then share it. YOU started out as a fumbling idiot at mapping yourselves so please remember that someone helped your silly ass get where you are today. Think positive and give the same feedback. Being all rude and asinin will get you nowwhere in a hurry. Doh!!
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-17 00:22:36 UTC
in vault item: FF2a3Comment #15566
Hi! There some nice brushwork on this level, but you should try to use custom textures - old standart textures is not actual now. See my DM-TheBadPlace and Skaarj's DE-Arkanos to find what HL-engine can do:)
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-16 05:07:36 UTC
in vault item: Lost Campus v2.0Comment #15565
Thank you for your review aswell K, I'll try to fix these problem zones.
And about SP mapping...well, like 5 years ago, when I started to map for HL, I wanted to make a small SP mod for Op4, but it was just waaay too much work for me (I wanted a huge-ass city, being split to approx. 5-6 maps, where the player can just explore, and then begin the main story, when he wants to) and I also didn't had a detailled plan. Maybe if I'll have enough inspiration and a cool story, I'll make a SP mod, but untill then, I'll stay at small projects.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-16 04:49:23 UTC
in vault item: The UnderhallsComment #15564
I thought this map was really good, ill explain why. 1.The map had alot of work put into it which caught my atention quiet alot. 2.I like how you made this for Opposing Force because not many Opposing Force maps are made. 3.The map was really bright in areas but that didnt really bother me. 4.Probably the thing I liked most was basicly after every thing you did an enemy would pop up somewhere else, because I love it when I get fooled.
5*'s no doubt, you should make some more maps like this.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-16 04:31:04 UTC
in vault item: Lost Campus v2.0Comment #15563
I quite liked it, it's pretty good for a first Source map. It has problems, but I'd say it's worth more than two stars.
Most of your glass textures tend to flicker when you're moving your viewpoint across them. You can avoid this by texturing the glass solids entirely with the nodraw texture - and then just applying the glass texture to the one side that you need to be the glass window. Don't worry, this works no matter which way the player is looking through the window, even though it doesn't look like it will in Hammer.
And, although this doesn't affect all the windows, quite a few of them sound like wood when you whack them with the crowbar.....
It really needs a 3D skybox. A good one would add a lot to this map.
Your texture variety is good, but your actual use of the textures is only average. For example, on your wooden handrails you've applied a wood texture to all sides. This looks ok - but a bit Half Life 1'ish. If you spend time resizing, rotating (when needed) and lining up the textures so that the edges of them correspond to the edges of the solid as far as possible, then you'll end up with a much neater looking piece of work. It might seem a lot more work at first, but you can compensate by making a small section of what you're doing with this kind of attention, and then cloning that part to make the rail longer. That's what I do to make repetitive things like long railings.
As said earlier, your doors do leave something to be desired. However I liked the decoration you put on one of the inside ones. It's only a simple thing, but I thought it looked quite nice. And generally, I've seen much, much worse doors in other people's first Source maps.
Also as said before, you need to practice neatness with your vertex manipulation. There's nothing wrong with the VM in this map (IE the map works) but it could be somewhat neater. Improper VM can easily cause map-crushing errors, so it's worth being precise with it, for the sake of saving frustration in future projects.
Despite the flickery glass, the ornate window on top of the building looks very nice, especially when the sun glares through it There are also some other bits of architecture which are fairly impressive.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-16 04:20:00 UTC
in vault item: Lost Campus v2.0Comment #15562
I see what you're trying to say, but those textures just make it look like shit in game. You should ether take some creative license or make your own to fit the building.
For the cubemaps I was referring to the doors leading into the two inaccessible classrooms on the first floor.
And as for the cliff, you could split it into two displacements to avoid stretching, or you could add an appropriately sized block down there and convert that to displacements.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-16 03:24:46 UTC
in vault item: Lost Campus v2.0Comment #15561
Ok, thanks. I agree with most of your complains, but there are some elements in the map, which I think need some explanation:
Textures: I actually browsed the textures alot, to find the right texture for the walls, and this white wall came closest to the building, which I reconstructed. I know, I coud have used nicer textures, but I wanted to stay at least a bit true to the original building. And about the gravel texture...well the same story. The pillars in that building are covered with polystyrene, painted gray, and it looks kinda rough bumpy...but I can't really describe it, how it looks. I didn't find any stone texture, which came close to that colour / effect.
Here's a picture of the actual building, it's low-res, but at least you can see, what I was trying to recreate:
About the cracks: I know that there are cracks in those little pillars in the end of the ground level, guess because just resized from the bigger ones...gonna fix it. Aside from that, I only know of one crack, which is in one of the windows on the ceiling. I don't know how it has a crack, because in the editor it doesn't...well maybe I'll make a new one.
Ambience: Yeah, I was lazy. Gonna add some.
Cube maps: I actually have two env_cubemaps in the map, one for outside, and one for the tile floor inside. I actually tought, that the windows were ok, but if another cubemap can make it better, I'll try it.
Doors: Again, I searched the doors, but no-one came close to that ueber-design doors in the original building I think I'll stay at the brush-based doors, but agree, that it needs moar detail.
Displacements: Kinda fucked up when I made it, because once I finished with that huge-ass cliff, I noticed, that it was too small. Stretching and rounding them in the current state, that they are now, would make the textures more blurry. Well, whatever, gonna have to rebuild the whole cliff...
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-15 22:51:22 UTC
in vault item: Lost Campus v2.0Comment #15559
Played through it, and it's not too bad for a first Source map, but there's still plenty to improve.
The first thing I noticed was your awkward use of the gravel texture on those spikes all over the walls and a few pillars. Something like concrete or stone would fit better. Much of the other texturing left much to be desired as well. The texture you used for the ceiling up stairs didn't tile at all, and down stairs it looks like you've used the same texture for both the walls and the ceiling. Type "walls" or "ceiling" into the search bar when you're browsing textures to find some more appropriate candidates.
Looking at the pillars, as well as some of the windows, your vertex manipulation seemed pretty sloppy. There were visible cracks in the window and the pillars, not very nice.
Some ambient sounds would have been nice as well, like a wind effect outside. Soundscapes would have also made things more interesting.
You've also got a lot of things to learn about Source (of course). The reflections in the windows, for instance, were unnatural looking. To fix this you have to put and env_cubemap in each room at about eye level to the player, and after you've compiled type "buildcubemaps" into the console. After it's done, restart your map and the reflections will look just fine. Another thing that reminded me too much of HL1 was the brush based doors, it generally looks much better to use models for that sort of thing. If the door model doesn't seem to fit, there's at least 12 other skins to choose from. The drop off at the edge of the map was also pretty awkward, the displacements were cut off in a very unnatural way. You could have at least rounded them off so they curved underneath, or better yet added a skybox. I'm not going to outline how to do that here; it would make this post even longer than it needs to be. There are plenty of tutorials here and on other sites to help you out.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-15 17:14:43 UTC
in vault item: Tudor StreetComment #15558
Either way, its very nice. The level of detail attention is really good in this map. Its definitely worth the download and all of that.
The landscape was nicely done, but a full compile and some null texturing could clean it up very nicely. Even though it ran sluggishly on my laptop, it was still cool to look at.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-13 04:54:31 UTC
in vault item: fy_caerlaComment #15554
well... i rated some maps in fpsbanana (~1-3/10). most of those were remakes and fullbright dust textured aim maps with couple of boxes etc.
someone pm'd me and said something that he worked on his map for 2 days and i rated it ~2/10 etc. then he said that i have 2 days to make better map.
usually i dont make maps when some1 says something like that but i thought that maybe i should give those people an example. so i wasted the same amount of time planning and mapping this.
well.. at least in my opinion this is better than fullbright dust textured box with couple of spawns and weapons.
this map has been used couple of times as an example of what fy_ map should look like. ~
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-12 23:41:19 UTC
in vault item: de_monComment #15552
your style is blocky to me, but I fucking love it. I am going to get my friend to host this map on his server, because it deserves internet multiplayer. One thing I didn't like where the way you textures underwater. But seriously this map deserves a 5 star rating since I would give it 4.7 or something. Good job.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-11 13:47:17 UTC
in vault item: Fathom 2.4Comment #15549
Good. The brushwork isn't bad also my only complaint is about the skybox you used, It looks really horrible and don't give the endless water look. Whatever this is a very good and fun to play, good storyline and stuff. I recomend it.
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-08 18:55:07 UTC
in vault item: de_monComment #15544
So... nobody found the easter egg? ok, i will tell:
First you need to find the button that unlock's the soda machines, it's on B1... you may need to use sv_gravity and jump to the top of the fort, now you need to find for a button that is faced 45? to the floor like this:
/
___/______ <====
It has null faces on the top and back, so, you will see it only when you look in the direction of the arrow. When you press it, a banner will apear. Now head to the soda machines and find the right combination. You need to press "E" in evert soda machines for a while at the top part of it. You will hear a noise if you just press the wrong or a noise and a gas sound if you are at the right rote...
Commented 17 years ago2007-08-08 11:45:16 UTC
in vault item: de_monComment #15543
Amazing.
Unfortunatly I didn't get a chance to play it with lots of bots yet, but I ran it myself and I must say- very impressive. The thing that I really like was being able to see these earth-shaking explosions from anywhere on the map when the bomb went off. Watching the house explode from the lighthouse, or the other way around, was really, really, really cool. Lots of ambience, good amount of detail for such a large map, great looking beach.
And you could add some different textures, make it more interesting.
I would give it 'OK' but fix the problem
(Updatded: 23 Aug 07 15:46)
perhaps a -wadinclude next time?
I want to see this map.
but it was beautifully made and everything from the textures, to the brushwork, to the triggers was fantastic.
a very enjoyable re-make!
The architecture is basic (and very square), but cleanly made. I can see you're getting into good habits early on. But I would say you should experiment with more complicated brushwork. PM me if you want help.
The lighting in the starting area is much better than what I have come to expect from people's early maps. It's not "good" in the grand scale of all maps, but you've at least managed to achieve a sense of atmosphere with it, so well done.
It's raining, but it doesn't sound like it's raining.
The gate opens downwards. This seems wrong to me. Also, the texture on the top/bottom of the gate needs adjusting so that it still looks like a gate when you open it.
The spiral staircase is a nice try, but I suggest you remake it a few times and work out how to blend it into the surroudings more. Currently it's sitting inside a box, and it doesn't really look like it's part of the structure.
The starting area would benefit from a displacement floor. it would be a good place to learn how to work with displacements if you've not tried them yet.
The walls, especially inside, would benefit from having details added to them to break up the monotony of the flat textures. Try using overlays, and perhaps add detail solids here and there to make walls seem a different shape.
Keep at it. You've got potential.
Nice brushwork, but worse texturing. Many places looks like untextured geometry. Good colorlighting. Sands can be more interesting - use vertex manipulation or try Terragen to make more realistic surfaces.
The guy has a point here mate. You dont need to play the map to realise that.
Thirdly, a dust2 remake = fail.
What is the point of remaking an official map? ive never understood this.
Fourthly, flame me all you want, but sarcasm and remakes means that hardly anyone will dl and i doubt you will get a high rating.
And about SP mapping...well, like 5 years ago, when I started to map for HL, I wanted to make a small SP mod for Op4, but it was just waaay too much work for me (I wanted a huge-ass city, being split to approx. 5-6 maps, where the player can just explore, and then begin the main story, when he wants to) and I also didn't had a detailled plan. Maybe if I'll have enough inspiration and a cool story, I'll make a SP mod, but untill then, I'll stay at small projects.
1.The map had alot of work put into it which caught my atention quiet alot.
2.I like how you made this for Opposing Force because not many Opposing Force maps are made.
3.The map was really bright in areas but that didnt really bother me.
4.Probably the thing I liked most was basicly after every thing you did an enemy would pop up somewhere else, because I love it when I get fooled.
5*'s no doubt, you should make some more maps like this.
Most of your glass textures tend to flicker when you're moving your viewpoint across them. You can avoid this by texturing the glass solids entirely with the nodraw texture - and then just applying the glass texture to the one side that you need to be the glass window. Don't worry, this works no matter which way the player is looking through the window, even though it doesn't look like it will in Hammer.
And, although this doesn't affect all the windows, quite a few of them sound like wood when you whack them with the crowbar.....
It really needs a 3D skybox. A good one would add a lot to this map.
Your texture variety is good, but your actual use of the textures is only average. For example, on your wooden handrails you've applied a wood texture to all sides. This looks ok - but a bit Half Life 1'ish. If you spend time resizing, rotating (when needed) and lining up the textures so that the edges of them correspond to the edges of the solid as far as possible, then you'll end up with a much neater looking piece of work. It might seem a lot more work at first, but you can compensate by making a small section of what you're doing with this kind of attention, and then cloning that part to make the rail longer. That's what I do to make repetitive things like long railings.
As said earlier, your doors do leave something to be desired. However I liked the decoration you put on one of the inside ones. It's only a simple thing, but I thought it looked quite nice. And generally, I've seen much, much worse doors in other people's first Source maps.
Also as said before, you need to practice neatness with your vertex manipulation. There's nothing wrong with the VM in this map (IE the map works) but it could be somewhat neater. Improper VM can easily cause map-crushing errors, so it's worth being precise with it, for the sake of saving frustration in future projects.
Despite the flickery glass, the ornate window on top of the building looks very nice, especially when the sun glares through it
You have lots of potential.
Make some singleplayer stuff please.
For the cubemaps I was referring to the doors leading into the two inaccessible classrooms on the first floor.
And as for the cliff, you could split it into two displacements to avoid stretching, or you could add an appropriately sized block down there and convert that to displacements.
Textures: I actually browsed the textures alot, to find the right texture for the walls, and this white wall came closest to the building, which I reconstructed. I know, I coud have used nicer textures, but I wanted to stay at least a bit true to the original building. And about the gravel texture...well the same story. The pillars in that building are covered with polystyrene, painted gray, and it looks kinda rough bumpy...but I can't really describe it, how it looks. I didn't find any stone texture, which came close to that colour / effect.
Here's a picture of the actual building, it's low-res, but at least you can see, what I was trying to recreate:
http://mastakilla.atw.hu/10_04.jpg
About the cracks: I know that there are cracks in those little pillars in the end of the ground level, guess because just resized from the bigger ones...gonna fix it. Aside from that, I only know of one crack, which is in one of the windows on the ceiling. I don't know how it has a crack, because in the editor it doesn't...well maybe I'll make a new one.
Ambience: Yeah, I was lazy. Gonna add some.
Cube maps: I actually have two env_cubemaps in the map, one for outside, and one for the tile floor inside. I actually tought, that the windows were ok, but if another cubemap can make it better, I'll try it.
Doors: Again, I searched the doors, but no-one came close to that ueber-design doors in the original building
Displacements: Kinda fucked up when I made it, because once I finished with that huge-ass cliff, I noticed, that it was too small. Stretching and rounding them in the current state, that they are now, would make the textures more blurry. Well, whatever, gonna have to rebuild the whole cliff...
The first thing I noticed was your awkward use of the gravel texture on those spikes all over the walls and a few pillars. Something like concrete or stone would fit better. Much of the other texturing left much to be desired as well. The texture you used for the ceiling up stairs didn't tile at all, and down stairs it looks like you've used the same texture for both the walls and the ceiling. Type "walls" or "ceiling" into the search bar when you're browsing textures to find some more appropriate candidates.
Looking at the pillars, as well as some of the windows, your vertex manipulation seemed pretty sloppy. There were visible cracks in the window and the pillars, not very nice.
Some ambient sounds would have been nice as well, like a wind effect outside. Soundscapes would have also made things more interesting.
You've also got a lot of things to learn about Source (of course). The reflections in the windows, for instance, were unnatural looking. To fix this you have to put and env_cubemap in each room at about eye level to the player, and after you've compiled type "buildcubemaps" into the console. After it's done, restart your map and the reflections will look just fine.
Another thing that reminded me too much of HL1 was the brush based doors, it generally looks much better to use models for that sort of thing. If the door model doesn't seem to fit, there's at least 12 other skins to choose from.
The drop off at the edge of the map was also pretty awkward, the displacements were cut off in a very unnatural way. You could have at least rounded them off so they curved underneath, or better yet added a skybox. I'm not going to outline how to do that here; it would make this post even longer than it needs to be. There are plenty of tutorials here and on other sites to help you out.
Overall, I give it a 2/5
The landscape was nicely done, but a full compile and some null texturing could clean it up very nicely. Even though it ran sluggishly on my laptop, it was still cool to look at.
Its a good 5* map.
someone pm'd me and said something that he worked on his map for 2 days and i rated it ~2/10 etc. then he said that i have 2 days to make better map.
usually i dont make maps when some1 says something like that but i thought that maybe i should give those people an example. so i wasted the same amount of time planning and mapping this.
well.. at least in my opinion this is better than fullbright dust textured box with couple of spawns and weapons.
this map has been used couple of times as an example of what fy_ map should look like. ~
looks nice.
PM me with the specs you want and i'll be happy to volunteer!
idiot
First you need to find the button that unlock's the soda machines, it's on B1... you may need to use sv_gravity and jump to the top of the fort, now you need to find for a button that is faced 45? to the floor like this: It has null faces on the top and back, so, you will see it only when you look in the direction of the arrow. When you press it, a banner will apear. Now head to the soda machines and find the right combination. You need to press "E" in evert soda machines for a while at the top part of it. You will hear a noise if you just press the wrong or a noise and a gas sound if you are at the right rote...
then voila
Unfortunatly I didn't get a chance to play it with lots of bots yet, but I ran it myself and I must say- very impressive. The thing that I really like was being able to see these earth-shaking explosions from anywhere on the map when the bomb went off. Watching the house explode from the lighthouse, or the other way around, was really, really, really cool. Lots of ambience, good amount of detail for such a large map, great looking beach.
Five for you.
I'd compile it for you but I don't have the old Hammer set up these days.
If someone else gets round to doing it for you I'll definately download the fully compiled version and have a look around.
downloads
After spending a day or 2 in the unfinished vault