Forum posts

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-23 17:55:32 UTC
in My NEW new site! Post #143257

200 KB for a 200 x 150 screenshot? That needs optimization - a lot. Oh, it's a 800 x 600 image... still, too large (you can get those below 100 KB easily with a tool like Xat or a similar one) and you should use thumbnails rather than cropping such sizes into a smaller size on the page.

Anyway, the site looks... well, really simple. It's not a very easy-to-use design either, with those blue links on a blue background. Get something more contrasting. I also think that font isn't suited very well for websites, it looks funny but it's not so easy to read after a while. Try to stick to Arial or Verdana, or another common and 'normal' font.
The white background makes it look so much less stylish too.

As for the menu, I'd suggest putting the Home link on top, that's most common and people expect it to be one of the first ones. The forum often comes later. About the forum: that's a lot of boards... does it really need that much boards? My personal experience is that fewer boards make it less cluttered and focus more posts in a single board, making a forum more attractive and easy to use.
About the maps links: when it's a download link, say so. Right now people will expect them to take them to another page with info about the map. It's not a good idea to put downloads directly in the menu.
Oh, and the links section doesn't work. You forgot the http:// part in front of those urls.

And give your page a title, too. I'd say, there's a lot to do there. Good luck with it.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-23 17:44:44 UTC
in Picture Scramble! Post #143256

First looks like the Lambda complex, at least one of those signs.

Yeah, the Xen maps were a bit rough and the least popular but that's probably because they're all of a sudden alien while the rest of the game felt so realistic.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-23 10:47:31 UTC
in G-max, your last chance Post #143161

Yeah, you can scale it down or up when compiling to .mdl format, but working off the grid in a modelling tool isn't really a problem, depending on your own preferences of course.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-23 10:44:35 UTC
in Picture Scramble! Post #143159

It's Questionable ethics. Don't you see Barney's waving at ya?

Fun idea, Bratty.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-23 08:51:48 UTC
in The Trenches : Cavern Post #143136

I believe Captain P is working on a 'similair' map in source.

Yeah, I am. Displacement maps are much easier to work with...

Looks good, Pepper, especially for a goldsource map. I like that hut especially. Those first screenshots looked less good, especially that part with the light-beam: the transition from dark to light on the ground was too harsh and edgy.
Also, what are the light sources? Oil lamps or such?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-23 08:47:43 UTC
in New Map Theme Post #143135

You could also port those .dll's that take care of the transparancy, but going over to Steam is better imho.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-23 08:43:50 UTC
in G-max, your last chance Post #143132

Most modelling programs, if not all, have a 1:1 unit ratio with HL and HL2.

I actually still use Milkshape for modelling HL2 props. I seems GMax' interface is quite similar to that of Milkshape, right?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-23 08:37:24 UTC
in Picture Scramble! Post #143131

It's Xen. The sky and ground texture are recognizable. I think it's the Gonarch area.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-22 16:40:01 UTC
in New Map Theme Post #142971

I also found a way to seemlessly blend the ocean into the sky in HL and have it look really nice.

Multiple layers with decreasing intensity, I assume?

Well, I'd give you the weekend for those screenshots... but no longer than that...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-22 16:38:05 UTC
in 3rd Person style gameplay Post #142968

Nice work done then, but the average CSS player can't play it without that custom code, meaning there's probably little public for it...

So, yeah, I wouldn't go for custom code for things like this.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-22 16:34:53 UTC
in Bilinguists Post #142967

I had some lessons English at basic school ('basisschool') in the last year I believe, though I can't remember having learned a lot there.
During middle class school (?) ('middelbare school') I had English all 6 years. By that time I started visiting forums (VERC :)) and I think my English was good enough by then not to get noticed as a foreigner.

Well, a foreigner as seen by an American or Englishman...

I think I'll got and visit the thewall.de forums some more, maybe my German will improve somewhat then...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-21 10:16:09 UTC
in New Map Theme Post #142671

He knows that, Elon...

I'd prefer tree models over tree brushes any day. They're cheaper to render and allow more detail, they're animatable and all... even though models are harder to use in HL than in HL2, I'd still prefer them in HL. In HL2, it's hard to think of trees without modelling...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-21 05:43:25 UTC
in 3rd Person style gameplay Post #142631

Ah, so there is a thirdperson camera... good, then you could try to trigger that with a console-command entity, so you show up as a player model, and then use those camera's. If everything goes as I think it should go, you will also be visible as a player.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-20 16:12:27 UTC
in 3rd Person style gameplay Post #142590

There is a model for you, but it wasn't coded to show up when using camera's - only to show up for other players, and after you die.

However, HL had a third-person view console command, so if there is one for CSS then you can activate it so you show up as a player model too. Then you could use an entity that fires a console command... It's just a wild guess but maybe that's a possible solution.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-20 12:56:49 UTC
in Sky texture Post #142560

For .tga files, find a program that can save images as .tga. I use Paint Shop Pro, but there's several programs that can do it.

Here, this might be a handy one, or otherwise, Google for a tga convertor or something like that. It's just a different file type, nothing scary.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-20 07:13:34 UTC
in Sky texture Post #142502

5. Go back and point at the sky in the 3 other directions. Oh, and look up.
6. Click, 4 times.
7. Insert into computer.
8. Spend countless hours making the pictures seamless and rework them to fit in the skybox' perspective.

So... I think I'd go for Terragen, or even draw my own.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-20 07:12:18 UTC
in New Map Theme Post #142501

Looks somewhat japanese or eastern-influenced to me. Could be a nice theme though it's a little few things to see what it's actually heading for. Do you have more sketches?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-20 07:06:47 UTC
in The time hl scared you Post #142499

Voltigores. Yeah, that was a tough spot indeed. And then that pit-drone part where you had to close the doors to prevent more of them coming...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-19 17:19:50 UTC
in Sky texture Post #142438

You could draw your own sky textures if you're really desperate for some...

but there's quite some custom sky textures around, either for Half-Life or for other games. Most aren't hard to convert to what HL uses, so a search for some skies would be good.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-19 12:49:09 UTC
in Texturing Doors Correctly? Post #142386

sometimes the gird in hammer ?sn't small or big enough to support the door sisez

Doors always fit perfectly in their frames. Always, up to the nanometer. Oh, they don't? Nevermind then...

In other words, why care about a few lousy units if it's even natural? Plus, how often will a player notice the difference, anyway?

Back to the question, I'd say, check out this tutorial. No need for origin brushes anymore.
As for the texturing, it may be a bit messy but you can give it a different offset and such using the texture application. I assume you are familiar with that tool?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-17 18:02:11 UTC
in Sitting and thinking Post #142076

Then do some experiments. Physics puzzles or trying out some new entities, whatever. I've used a lot of the past 4 years for just tests, experiments and such. It learns you a lot about the limitations there are, and how you can work around some. It has learned me to predict what things are likely to be difficult to get right, and what area's aren't so time-consuming. It helped me plan my maps better, so maybe it's a good idea to just try some weird things?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-17 17:59:15 UTC
in custom transparent textures Post #142075

Sky textures are .tga's and placed in the env folder, if I'm not mistaken. There's a nice tool to generate sky textures, I believe it's Terragen or such.

@Seventh: if my memory serves me correctly, it's not a link to the transparancy color, but it's a long time ago I tested this, so, yeah...

Also, using texture mode always makes the transparant part invisible, and you can still control the transparancy of the rest. Again, if I'm not mistaken. It's been a while...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-17 08:09:20 UTC
in custom transparent textures Post #141951

No problemo.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-17 08:02:03 UTC
in custom transparent textures Post #141948

It's not the color that makes it transparant, it''s the index of the color. You should use the last color of the palette for the transparant parts. In most cases, it's a pure blue color, but it doesn't have to be, as long as it's the last color it will work.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-16 18:33:50 UTC
in Prefab section Post #141890

Please not. You'll only make people lazier and maps more repetetive. Prefabs are very quickly detected, you know...

HL2 already suffers from this too because the old prop models and textures feel overused quickly...

It's not the same with code. While programming, you're using functionality, not looks. Most programs aren't made to look nice and play well, too.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-16 16:38:01 UTC
in Sitting and thinking Post #141887

Sometimes it might be good to force yourself to work if you already have planned out what you want or need to do on a map. It might not always be fun at that moment but try thinking of the result you're doing it for. Releasing something gives a lot of satisfaction, not releasing a half-finished map is usually discouraging to me... so maybe it'd be good to just do it rather than waiting for the mapping vibes so to say...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-16 16:35:36 UTC
in .ZSM File Format Post #141886

Try a X-men Legends 2 related site perhaps? I don't think this is getting you any further...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-16 16:33:57 UTC
in Good mod? Post #141885

Check Ten Four. In HL's top days it was a great review site and it's even still running. There's a lot of SP mods covered there.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-16 09:35:13 UTC
in Bullet colors? Post #141812

They're changeable, but it'll probably require coding. I don't know how hard it would be to find the code for it but remembering how long it took to get the MP5 give decals every shot, it might not even be that easy.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-16 09:30:59 UTC
in Sitting and thinking Post #141809

@habboi:

That layout could use some changes. It's very linear and leaves little choice for the players in the paths they can take, probably making it very predictable combat.
So, maybe it's a good thing to study popular maps and sketch their layout as basic as you can. Then compare them with other popular, well-playing maps. Usually, there's a few combat area's with several paths between them. They're often well-timed too.

Anyway, I also think everyone has to find his or her workflow somewhat. Starting detailing was naturally for me but didn't work out. Doing a layout first and then detailing is something I had to learn but it's working much better, and therefor, also more satisfying. I don't think it can be taught really, everyone might differ a bit here.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-16 07:22:07 UTC
in Sitting and thinking Post #141785

You can get idea's from anything. Reference photo's, books, movies, real world...

Usually it helps not forcing yourself to get idea's. Something that also helps greatly is somewhat the opposite: brainstorming together with others.

Oh, and Valve maps aren't perfect. No single game is. Try to keep that in mind - you don't have to get things perfect immediatly. Failure isn't a bad thing, as long as you learn from it.
I mean, I failed countless times. I've got a load of half-finished maps that I'll never release because I can't get them finished anymore. but I learned from them: I now see I always got stuck because I never planned the layout beforehand, and that always became fatal later on. Now, I've done a layout first and the map plays fun, and the best thing is that I can now get detailing and that's what I like most!

So just try some things, just try to make a map that you think is fun. If people don't like it, ask them why not and ask for advice. You'll get better over time, it'll shape your idea for fun and helps you get better idea's.

</rant>

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-16 07:15:40 UTC
in .ZSM File Format Post #141783

Sounds like a deadly file to me, those .wav references can't be good...

Where did you get this file from then? And do you know what sort of file it is? Is it some sort of savegame format from a certain game or such?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-15 03:50:21 UTC
in The New Steam Post #141572

I just don't like how the games are catigorized, installed and uninstalled are not very useful groups, especially when It's grayed out if it's not installed. Kinda repetitive. I would like to make my own groups instead.

You can sort the games by name, type, producer, and what have you... the custom group idea is nice, but there's already some ways to organize them so it's not that bad.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-14 12:08:57 UTC
in Ragdoll Kung Fu Post #141505

Oh, I think the buying is a nice idea, though I prefer buying from the local store, but it's just that it's a little game that doesn't look too interesting or worthwhile. That's where demo's come in: to raise interest.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-14 07:59:50 UTC
in Ragdoll Kung Fu Post #141454

I agree with Ant.

Though I think a demo for Ragdoll Kung-Fu would be a good idea. Right now it just doesn't sound interesting enough to me to pay through the internet for it, even though it's not so expensive and all.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-14 05:13:06 UTC
in Ok, Now im really pissed! Post #141432

True, Elon. You need to use ZHLT (or more recent) compilers for the shadows of that func_brush (as if we didn't know by now ;)) but cylinders are fine to use if you take care of them. Plus, they're usually fast to create (and you can always vm them or add brushes for more distinct shapes, if those are needed).

Func_walling major things is fine, as long as you don't forget about vis-blocking. An easy method here is to go to your entity list (accessible in the Hammer menu), mark (select) them all and then hide them. Gives you a good view of what vis has to deal with.

@Madcow: problem solved already?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-13 08:04:12 UTC
in Jack's in the news again. Post #141232

Heard of him before. Personally, I think violent games have influence, just as music, tv and all other media have. But banning violent games isn't going to solve those problems - it's humans themselves that choose to kill, and choose to be influenced by these games, music and other media. The problem goes much deeper than just games or no games.

As for his proposal... he had better done with a proposal for a non-violent game, rather than confirming that 'violence is fun'. I agree with him to some extend, but definitely not with the way he brings things.

/rant

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-13 02:55:47 UTC
in Frapper-Locate the TWHL Members! Post #141199

Heh, fun idea. I'm added.

We're not so far away, Seventh and evilsod_2k... just a little... 250 miles?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-13 02:50:54 UTC
in The New Steam Post #141198

I like it a lot. You can make it smaller by hitting the, well, make-it-smaller button on the top right. I like the new look and new organization.

It feels a bit buggy now and then though, giving a few messages that games need to be updated while I can just play them...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-12 18:09:18 UTC
in TFC_dustbowl Post #141153

Wasn't dustbowl made by Valve?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-12 12:24:44 UTC
in New Source Map (Work In Progress) Post #141073

Wat vind je van een kapotgescheurde stad met stukken weg en gebouw die langzaam heen en weer drijven, als eilanden middenin het 'niks', het zwarte? Met verbindingen tussen de verschillende delen in de vorm van dat blauwe particle-effect, of wolkjes of iets dergelijks?

Zoiets als Parralaxion van Agent Smith, maar dan met grotere stukken die rondzweven...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-12 11:04:26 UTC
in New Source Map (Work In Progress) Post #141068

Ah, alternative theme. Yes, that could turn out pretty well.

Right now, it needs more detail, more things to make it look interesting. It's very grey and empty for now. I like the spotlight areas on a black background idea, but it's too monotone right now.

How about a torn apart city with drifting road parts and building blocks that slowly move and all, where the rest is blackness? With connections between the 'islands' that look like those particle effects, or clouds, or something like that?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-12 10:50:29 UTC
in New Source Map (Work In Progress) Post #141064

Still really doesn't look like a space station, but more of an alternative theme. I like those particles and it may well turn out to be a fun theme. Got some screenshots that give more of an overview of the map?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-11 12:54:00 UTC
in Hollow torus Post #140881

I'm working on a hollow torus but finding it rather difficult

It is rather difficult and time-consuming. No real easy way as they require a lot of vertex manipulation to aboid non-planar faces and other errors.

I'd say, if it's not really necessary for your map, forget it if you're running low on time, or try modelling it instead, if you can model.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-10 18:53:56 UTC
in Competition 16 Post #140796

Hmm, that ambience idea is good. I like that.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-10 17:27:53 UTC
in Competition 16 Post #140786

Hmm, something like your interpretation of Shakespeare Book X act Y?

No, seriously, that could be fun. But maybe, I think it comes down to just having a map with certain elements in it then. Depends on what text you write. Maybe more something of a storyboard thing, the general layout has to be like this and these types of monsters should be encountered, that and that gun are revealed... kinda like a bleuprint or sketchbook for the level.

Or how about some physics puzzles and a little storyline or such? Like the RPG trap, I think those are really nice subjects for HL2 / HL2DM maps. Physics can be used really nice in maps for gimmicks or special events and all. How about that?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-10 16:14:52 UTC
in Mudanchee - Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Post #140769

Yeah Rabideh, this approach works really well for me. It's good to see a layout works so shortly after I started on this map. If it didn't work, then it hadn't cost me too much time to rework it, too.

Bratty, it's a few weeks of work, the map is about 40% done right now. Much will be fixed/tweaked/added in the coming weeks. I'm trying to fix those stretched textures (though that's sometimes hard to do because they're displacement maps) and I'll tweak the lighting. The wooded paths will get an overhaul as well, I think I'll put in sime holes here and there so people can see others walking beneath and fire at them. I'll see how that all turns out next playtest.

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-10 12:52:21 UTC
in Half-Life: Hostage Situation Post #140707

Captain P would get really pissed off at your chapter Hunter,cause it has so many loads of grunts

The Big Bad Booman says:
As long as they're used good, I have no problem with many grunts.

But I assume they haven't been used very well by that statement of yours, Saco?

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-10 08:21:49 UTC
in arabic clue?! Post #140657

Looks more like hebrew to me, actually...

Captain P

Posted 18 years ago2005-10-10 07:15:35 UTC
in Mudanchee - Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Post #140653

I playtested with 8 or so people on the Snarkpit server yesterday. We all agreed the layout works really nice and that the map is fun to play.

Of course, there were bugs, quite a lot actually. I've got to fix the spawnplaces (had to do that anyway), put some clip-brushes here and there to seal off certain area's and prevent players from getting-stuck and all that. Besides that I'm working on the lighting (I'll light up the paths so players know where to go and keep the rock walls mostly dark and gloomy for the athmosphere) and the details (a lot of modelling involved).

I'm also adding some gimmicks, e.g. 'hidden' items that are harder to get than the usual ones. I'll post some screenshots once I have a next version up and running.

Captain P