Journals

EDIT I added a new tutorial as well.

I updated my media page because I started to notice the dust settling on my maps.

http://www.habboi.co.uk/media

I've been sick for the last 7 days (8 now) and I think I caught the Flu...

As you can see I'm re-creating my school...Wish me luck.

Oh and I found a guy to design my site, he seems good but he's busy a lot.

Not much to say really...School is alright and my mapping couldn't be better...

Edit

Where to begin...

To start with I'll cut this short first of all but I need a good / professional website designer who can design and possibly code me a portfolio website on www.habboi.co.uk

Some of you may have seen it and therefore you know it's not the best site in the world...I was hoping a certain man could do it for free but he couldn't so I later offered to pay him but he is ignoring me...Or at least I believe he is since 4 emails in a row and none replied...

I've looked up local designers in my area but they really do suck...

So I'm left to finding someone online...I may pay depending on how good the person is...If it comes out professional then I will definitely pay because I want a really nice (perhaps flash) website.

If you're interested please reply, send a PM or add me on MSN @ williamnicholls@hotmail.com - Thanks.

Hey guess what
I added a shoutbox

http://www.habboi.co.uk/

I noticed I'm getting older and everything around me is getting old...One of these things is my cat, he's around 17-18 years old which in our terms is 70 - 80 years old.

I noticed he doesn't have too long to go and I realised I didn't take many pictures of my previous cat so I decided to take a few as I got back from school and I wanted to make this with it so:He may moan a lot but he's the best cat I ever had, like a buddy to me. When he goes I am so going to make a map dedicated to him.

I want to invite you to my website.

www.habboi.co.uk

For now I'll keep it as it is but later in the future I'm having it re-designed. Sadly the man I had hoped would do it declined because he was too busy to do it for free.

I'm back at school, it's a lot more fun now since I have 2 subjects I enjoy and 1 which is ok but now I have less work to do and this year should be a breeze...At the end of the year I hope to go to Hertfordshire Uni...Habboi when you read this then I hope you passed..:<

I haven't done much these days...Getting back into the routine of school has made me tired these past few days, I haven't mapped much so I've been playing Donkey Kong 1-3 and Conkers Bad Fur day...

Help me XD

Oh and I forget to mention I played Prey a while ago, the soundtrack is great but the game play?I?m starting to get bored of DOOM look-alike FPS games?Well anyway my driving instructor is away for 2 weeks so no progress on that.

Thanks for reading.

http://www.habboi.co.uk/

Yes folks...YES! I did buy myself a website...YAY

Anyway as you'll notice it's the same as my freewebs site with a few updates of course...The reason is I don't have a new website drawn out and I'm hoping this guy will do it for free...hoping...

I spent the day figuring out how to edit my site Thanks Hunter for the help. Still you owe me for:

1. Hammer help
2. High graphic pictures
3. Gmod Server
4. Sex

Anyway some great news!

My mod has made slight progress...My modeller has actually got his first piece done - The sword and my concept artist has finished designing the main character.

I can't thank them both enough...They have worked so hard...Oh I shant forget my other artist...He started this after all...Thanks Jimmy! (Not our spammer friend before you ask, another Jimmy)

Now we have a player drawn out, he'll be modelled along with the rest of the concepts and then from there I can create a media piece and hopefully hire more talent.

Wish me luck with a thousand passions!

Hey...Meh...Had another driving lesson and it went pretty ok...I did reversing again and that was better...But on the way home I made a ton of mistakes cause I think I was half tired and half relied on the teacher to tell me when to stop...

Anyway I'm going to a friends house in a minute...Long walk...
Anyway he's gonna show me his videos of the Reading Festival - Some UK music festival...

Mod hasn't budged so don't ask and the latest news is on my website aka the about page but I'll save you the hassle:

Update Time

I think this deserves an update...Episode 1 came out a while ago and I thought it was good...I look forward to Episode 2 from the videos that have been shown. So what has happened since the last update? Well I haven't touched Dedication 2 in a long time, I started a mod based off the Shadow of the Colossus game and I'm working on two maps - A Gmod co-op Horror map and a Portfolio Map that I shall reveal sometime in the future because the idea I have in mind is creative and I want to keep it a secret.

Anyway I completed prey 2 days ago...The game is alright...I love the soundtrack...Made by the same guy who made the score for Oblivion.

Hello folks, seems my journal entries are popular...Thanks.

Today I had my 12th driving lesson and it went superb...We chatted again like mates (Me and the teacher) and I went through turning in a road where you turn right, reverse left, move forward right again and bravo.

I also tried left reversing around a corner so basically this:So it went well....You were right A!

Anyway in terms of news about my mod...Progress I guess...I'll be kind and show you an attempt by my first modeller:Not the best I know...He tried and I commend him because I couldn't make anything like that...

Anyway as if fate was on my side a guy offered and presented examples:I'll only post this one because my journal is gonna be tough for dial upers.

Right so he offered to help and I accepted...He said he's busy a heck of a lot so he'd talk again...And that was that...He isn't on MSN much.

Strider...If you're still available I'd love for you to do me that favour you owe.

Cheers and happy I haven't won the compo but I will next time day.

Hello.

Not much happening...Just going to a party tonight and as for daily life...Just learning to make nice textures.

I got not so good results for my AS sadly...Oh well, next year is going to be a hard work year!

Yay! Why am I happy you ask? I had a driving lesson earlier this morning and it was awesome. No mistakes and I cruised like a pro...We even talked to each other (The Driver Instructor and me) for once...We had a good laugh and talked about this UK British incident...He's going away for a week which is why he brought the subject up.

In other news...My mod is well slow like I've repeated a hundred times. I'm saying this cause I get people on MSN asking how progress is well you don't have to ask...Just read my journal:

Anyway my erm modeller has made the bird...However I'm not sure whether he has finished it...It looks similar in aspects but it needs work. Who knows but he's busy on MSN a lot so we'll see as time goes on.

As you know me and The Hunter are working together for once as business partners making 5 maps with the theme of horror. I'm trying my best not to do cheap scares but it's fun to make them...Plus they require complex entity set-ups and I'm too proud to remove them.

Hunter hates Hammer 4 with a passion and now Valve have fu*cked it up...He's trying...Bless him.

What you saw in the trailer is current as of today and the corny body bit? In-game...Yes I have bodies that float like the enemies in SH4.

I was inspired by the game itself and watched the trailer again...Listen to the sounds and watch the floating bodies because you'll be hearing and seeing this a lot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV21MirTN44

Amazing trailer...Just so disturbing...I wish I could re-create that moan around 25 seconds...It's evil in a way that it sounds like he is really dying and not acting. I do own the game and I think it is far better than 1-3...Why? In 1-3 you are chucked in a huge city and forced to explore...I hate that but SH4 is linear in a sense...The puzzles are slightly tricky and I admit I get this shiver down my spine when I see a ghost creature climb out of a wall and attacks you...The sounds they make and the erie noise in the background just kills me...

So progress so far:

Map Intro: By Me - 60%
Second Map: By The Hunter - Not sure
Third - 0%
Fourth - 0%
Finale - We're working on this together but I have a few ideas I want to start off with.

So working together helps...We can produce twice the amount of gameplay now. Hunter has gotten really good at making architecture...I'm proud to say he is most likely better than me...He just needs to picture his scenes...Sure being good at architecture is great but you gotta make it look real...I had this corridor with nasty pillars and too many lights...it looked horrible so I made it believable...You just mess with entities until it looks right then you move on to the next room...I have to admit my intro map is the cleanest map I've made... Skybox properly made, gridlines set to a nice big number etc.

Be scared cause this map set is not your average map set.

The maps are for Gmod because it has all game materials and allows co-op.
I don't like Syrenity as much as Gmod so Gmod is the way to go.

Thanks for reading.

Journal Update FTW!

Yes folks...Me again...Happy as usual! Where to start...

You might have figured out my little riddle and found the teaser picture of a map below this journal entry.

Well done.

Other news: Driving lesson today was grand...I've gotten the hang of it a lot now and so he took me to roundabouts, dual carriageways and small, narrow lanes where the max speed is 20 MPH.

Good good. Thanks 'A' for you're PM ages ago...I read it before my lesson and it made me confident.

My mod...It's not dead Sorry to dissapoint you

Right now my programmer said something that made me smile:

Habboi: So do you think you can code all this?
Coder: Mate, coding is all the same...I can do it...

So you can see why I smiled. Next a guy who I added on MSN said he could model...He said he might not be able to do it so I said this to him:

Habboi: True true but tell me this...If you can't make it now...When can you? This is good practice so give it a try.

That sent him on track and so far he is working on making the bird colossus.

Only 2 days left till the compo...OH NOES. Not that I'm entering...Whistle

One last thing...Salad Fingers and Toast Boy 2 RULES! I can't get enough of it. Oh and so does Bleach, Naruto and Samurai Shamploo!!!!111

Oh and one last last thing...Me and The Hunter are working together on a horror co-op map (Maybe more than one) for Gmod Co-op. We were inspired by Nightmare House - Google it.

Mapping: Me and The Hunter
Ideas and resource gather aka sounds: Livewire - Aka Alex.

Thanks for reading.

Almost forgot...Dumb me forgot to say how my driving lesson was...
It was one of my best...MY instructor understood I needed help so we spent time learning to control the car...

So many roundabouts! Urgh Shudders

Anyway good fun...

In other news this might interest you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSIxxxmbyrc

Super Edit

Secret Teaser Picture - If you found this link then you must really love looking at my journal.Well done on finding this secret teaser.

This is a public plea to all who read this...

My mod as you know is in dire need of a modeller...Maybe you can't model but for Gods sake don't you know anyone who can!?

I'm in the process of purchasing a website but in the meantime I'd love for a character modeller to model me just three concepts for now.

Don't let this mod die because there weren't any modellers...I thank you.

My programmer is hopefully going to implement some things...Consider this...This mod isn't all that big...It requires just 16 or maybe less maps.
16 or maybe less models...

Come on...A good mod that takes a short time is an offer not worth refusing! And according to comments, if this works out it'll be one of the top famous HL2 modifications out there.

If you love co-op then perhaps we can adapt a co-op version for it...I hope that attracts someone

I am ready to do this folks...I've got enough experience in my hands...Lest we forget I've worked for some brilliant modifications and experienced good leadership and bad leadership...

I can do this people but not without YOU... Applauds

Supposedly I haven't given enough information...Well fine here:

The mod has been planned with a reasonable story...

The mod starts with the title screen, fading in with music, a young man washes up on a small island to be greeted by a mysterious voice in the sky. To return home he must kill these Colossi to give this voice enough power to send him home...(Very similar to the Wizard of Oz).

Near the end something bad happens and it makes you feel horrible...If I told you what then it'd spoil it

The intro and ending script is written but I am greatful if anyone feels like improving it...By doing so you agree to help to the end mind...Heh.

So it goes like this:

Guy wakes up on an island in a strange place, offered to go home but only if he kills a certain number of the Colossi, something horrible happens and it makes the player feel sorry.

Plans for progress:

My programmer is working on implementing:

*The HDR rendering and dynamic exposure / tone mapping algorithm Pseudo-HDR rendering ].

*Distant view rendering, Foreground rendering, Blend of distant view and foreground, Generating the image mask pattern, Blurring the mask, and blending the previous frame and combining for final effect.

*Motion blur - with afterglow effect, and frame rate.

*Generating shadows via the self-shadowing stencil shadow volume technique.

• Hair growing on the colossus using a fur shader.

• LOD system and landscape rendering.

• Collision with the colossus, and the "deforming collision system.

• Movement control of the colossus using inverse kinematics.

• The fake volume particles and fake light scattering with "high-quality illumination (This isn't certain)

As for Mappers - They require good displacement skills because all the maps are outdoors with a sense of old ruined architecture with designs coming from the Aztec age.

Modellers will be in charge of creating the weapon(s), the Colossi, the main character and perhaps if needed foliage props.

Now all that is required is to make a certain amount of Colossi...Next is to build maps based on their theme and AI...Final touches are made and tied together with the script to form the mod. In theory with some hard work this will take less than a year..I predict 8 months or less.

Are you with me? Thanks for reading - Source from the making of SoC.

http://www.iwannamap.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2366

This link sadly is an unorganised media release requesting for a modeler to assist me.

Although this is good for you...You can see my concepts

"Shadow of the Colossus ? The Untold Chapter (Current name ? Due change if needed)

Inspired by the Shadow of the Colossus game featured only on the Playstation Two comes an all new modification on the Source Engine based on that particular game.Epic Rising Studios was founded by myself and another man known as ?Psycho? on the Internet. The aim of Epic Rising Studios is to release a mod that hasn?t been done before and to tell you the truth I myself am a little tired of First Person Shooter modifications and felt a new adventure mod would be entertaining.

For those who have no idea what Shadow of the Colossus is well below is a short description:

Shadow of the Colossus is an epic game released on the Playstation Two format and features sixteen gigantic creatures known as the Colossi. The main character who we know nothing of is given the mission to kill each of these creatures one by one and in return the mysterious voice known as Darmin will revive the young lady that rests on the altar. The game itself is simple...With the sword in his hand you are able to shine it to find where each Colossi is and then ride on your horse all the way through an epic land that to be honest is so beautiful to look at. I won?t spoil the ending for you but as Darmin said...?The price for killing the Colossi will be great?.

IMPORTANT

At the bottom of this post is a list of video links to show you what the gameplay will consist of.

IMPORTANT

The Epic Rising team which features me as:

Habboi - Project Manager, Lead Level Designer, Lead Environmental Artist, Advertising and Media Arrangements.

Dimitrios Kounios (or Jimmy) - http://www.dimitrioskounios.com/ - Concept Artist

Zyk0tik - Programmer / Coder

Anssi Rajaniemi - http://kotinetti.suomi.net/rajaniemi/ - Concept Artist

Currently we are in great need of a modeler and it has made me rather depressed that I have no choice but to write this request and publish what was going to be part of a huge media release. The plan was to draw out the three main concepts, have them modeled, coded in as static and placed in customized levels.

Sadly without a modeler this cannot be done and although I had a modeler at the time he changed his mind due to that fact his interests lie in the futuristic section.

Below are the three main concepts drawn out by a man (Dimitrios Kounios) who I can?t thank enough for spending countless nights doing this for me:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/3363/manconyo6.jpg
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7949/dogconfv1.jpg
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/4620/birdcon2tf8.jpg

If you have been following what I have written then you know my plan is to get these modeled and programmed in.

So in other words we are looking for a talented character modeller who can model those concepts from scratch. We have a top skinner if you can't texture very well.

Before you consider joining I would like to tell you (the public) a little about myself and the skills that I contain:

Some of you may know me as Habboi?I prefer to call myself Sir Habboi and to run such a project may make you wonder if I can handle it...Well in the past I?ve worked on such modifications as the legendary City 13, Nightfall and Gang-Life?They all have something in common...They have all died (Although Nightfall is climbing back up slowly). Now I have witnessed many reasons why modifications die and this is due to bad planning and lack of enthusiasm.

Now I have planned this out for almost a month and arranged jobs for people to do so far. Please don?t let the lack of a website put you off because before I even consider purchasing one I want to know that this can be done?I have huge support behind me from fans of the Shadow of the Colossus game, my team and close friends.

I?m hoping that after reading this you will be interested in working for a team who wish to make players happy and show those who have not heard of the Shadow of the Colossus game what a brilliant game it is. If you?re interested in applying please add me on MSN at:

williamnicholls@hotmail.com

Or on Xfire:

Habboi1

Thank you for reading this because if you help this mod get going then you will be part of a proud team whose success is imminent. If you want to post feedback only then please do add me to chat because I like to hear it.

Here is a list of pictures and videos of what we wish to re-create mostly?As director I have a working script with completely new ideas so don?t assume this mod is just a recreation of the already existing game. The only similarity is the world that game revolves around.

Pictures:

Colossus 13:

http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/1456520050820_205217_6_big.jpg
http://ps2media.gamespy.com/ps2/image/article/658/658966/shadow-of-the-colossus-20051017033226242-000.jpg
http://www.playfrance.com/images/ps2/326,46429/zoom/1839.jpg

Colossus 3:

http://basalt.deviouskitty.com/random/shadow_of_the_colossus2b.jpg
http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_29108.jpg
http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_29103.jpg
http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_29102.jpg
http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_24214.jpg
http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_24213.jpg
http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_22210.jpg

[Good Quality]

http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_29109.jpg

Colossus 15:

http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_29107.jpg
http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_29106.jpg
http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_29099.jpg
http://games.kikizo.com/media/shadowofthecolossus_mar05/11.jpg

Colossus 2 (Good Quality)

http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_24216.jpg

Colossus 2:

http://www.serialgamer.com/screenshots_jeuxvideo/Shadow_of_the_Colossus/Shadow_of_the_Colossus_24215.jpg
http://www.armchairempire.com/images/Reviews/Playstation2/shadow-colossus/shadow-colossus-3.jpg
http://www.dailygame.net/Articles/media/screens/shadowcolossus/shadowcolossus4.jpg
http://my.opera.com/Seiter/homes/blog/shadow-of-the-colossus-20050927025333795.jpg

Videos

The entire Colossus in one big video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGaw5TXb244&search=Shadow%20of%20the%20Colossus%205

Colossus 13 Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kki8LhtnRw&search=Shadow%20of%20the%20Colossus%20

Colossus 3 Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgsSHhKp84A&search=Shadow%20of%20the%20Colossus%20

Colossus 8 Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3nbCXN9-u0&search=Shadow%20of%20the%20Colossus%20

Colossus 1 Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_elU-IwGh4&search=Shadow%20of%20the%20Colossus%20

Contribution Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6c_Uz1EaBk&search=Shadow%20of%20the%20Colossus%20

3rd Colossus (The Bird)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-620813857637119811&q=shadow+of+the+colossus&pl=true

11th Colossus

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-198708390241668317&q=shadow+of+the+colossus&pl=true

Best one:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1491403135535396731&q=shadow+of+the+colossus&pl=true

Good Trailer showing everything

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM5IntLA8V4&mode=related&search=Shadow%20of%20the%20Colossus%20

The best fan made trailer yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rc_as0cE1Y&mode=related&search=Shadow%20of%20the%20Colossus%20

Enjoy."

Some good replies!

This is an extremely ambitious project... I don't mean to naysay, but I doubt it will live up to the original game. I'm rooting for you though; if this mod manages to deliver anything close to the experience I had with SotC and I'm able to pull at least 20 FPS, I'll bow to you as gods among men. smile

wow, extremely ambitious indeed. i wish you the best of luck. looking forward to this.

Wow... this is pretty cool... Just wanna say good luck with this.I think this would be one of the greatest mods to hit half-life 2 in its lifetime!

Good luck ... I am saying this because I have big doubts that this mod will ever see the daylight. Source simple doesn't work out for this sort of gamestyle, unless your gonna redo the sourcecode ... look at the facts, source isn't suitable for this.

Would be a refreshing mod but again ... its becoming a failure before you even start modding.

good luck getting that to work on Source Very Happy
you'll definatly need some 3d skybox work.

This is ironic; just a few weeks ago I was working on the very same concept, adapting the gameplay style and art direction of Shadow of the Colossus to Source. Most of what I had accomplished was in a conceptual phase, although there were some small progressive steps towards a working fur shader and research on the recently announced Landscape and Flora Rendering. Unfortunately, I abandoned the project because it was too grandiose for me alone, and not enough information was available to me yet. Originally, the concept was to release each Colossus in a pair of maps episodically (one map for the travel, and another for the actual battle). In this format art direction could be focused on tightly, and with each new level, hopefully, there was a greater chance of more that could be accomplished over time (both art and tech wise).

Habboi, it's a very difficult proposal you're making, but I wish you the best of luck and you've got my support.

Yay for positive feedback!