I need suggestions Created 15 years ago2008-12-30 23:50:42 UTC by TheElzar

I'm planning on creating a fairly large outdoor map with rock walls and caves.

What's the best method for piecing together a map like this? If I wanted to create underground tunnels, and realistic looking cave areas, is it better to flesh out the areas with block brushes, then put displacements on top of them like blankets...or what other ways are there to do this?

I haven't had much success working with displacements in the past, and usually end up with very unrealistic looking pieces of junk. :/

Any help would be appreciated!

In any case, gameplay should supersede graphics, so I'd at least make a rough creation of your proposed layout with brushes before spending hours on your displacements.

Mind you, I'm a Goldsource mapper, but the the same applies no matter what engine you're working with. Form always follows function, unless of course the function is the form...

gameplay should supersede graphics

ya i agree totally. i was just playin assasin's creed and i noticed halfway through the game i never once took time to really appreciate my surroundings or how nice everything looked, i just focused on the gameplay. course if stuff looks really bad it will distract from the gameplay i suppose.

As for the displacements i'm a source noob but i look forward to using them when i start up source mapping! = )

I'm taking that advice and fleshing out the map right now...I've really come to notice that size matters...cough...when dealing with "realistic" terrain, caves are narrow and tight, and gorges are large and open...they really look silly if they're not accurately proportionate.

Hopefully when I finish fleshing it out I can post some screenies to see how y'all suggest going about displacements (how much and where). I'm pretty pumped about this map, it's got the feel of a halo map, but depth and size is on par with most source maps. Plus it's multifunctional as a GunGame AND Defuse map!

Oh, and one word...Mancannons O.o