Forum posts

Posted 18 years ago2006-09-26 20:45:37 UTC
in 2D Skybox Help Post #197688
it works fine until i start the game
You mean, it never actually works...
The "node graph..." message has nothing to do with it. I think you have the vtfs and vmts for your skybox placed in the wrong folder. They will only work if they are in the materials/skybox folder of the game you are mapping for. It happened to me not long ago.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-26 05:00:11 UTC
in New weapons!/HL2 Theories Post #197617
If Portal was sold separately (which it isn't), I would include the portal gun at the very end of Episode2 as a teaser.
But since both games come out at the sime time, it would be pointless.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-25 04:55:41 UTC
in Half-Life: Uplink Extended Post #197498
I looks great!
Maybe you can change the texture lights values to give them more contrast.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 20:05:46 UTC
in choice or life Post #197480
So by your logic, there is no difference between you and a foetus. Just a collection of cells, right?
More or less, yes. I was once a foetus so we can't be very different. As I said before, if you are going to consider it a human being in the least possible way, then you should at least give it the most basic human right >> life
I know abortions are done early. But the thing is, you can't really tell why it's not wrong then and it is a couple of months afterwards. My main objection is not about killing someone or making it suffer (saying the foetus doesn't "feel" or "know" is an overused argument). It's about denying someone the chance to live.
I'm sorry Kasp, until you grow a vagina, I can't respect that opinion. You're not the one that has to go through pregnancy/birth. It should be up to the woman in question to decide.
I agree. But if some girl is carrying something which has half of your genetic structure, you could at least have an opinion. You can disagree even if it's legally up to her. Like I said above. If she doesn't want it and you do, you lose. If you don't want it and she does, you also lose.
It's also strange how people refer to pregnancy and birth as if it was some sort of sickness or fatal accident. Did you know that there have been more than 6 thousand million succesful pregnancies and births in the past 100 years?

Anyway, what bothers me about abortion is when it is used as an easy way to rid yourself of the responsability of conceiving a child. You are not ready to have a child? Then you are not ready for unsafe sex. Period.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 18:09:46 UTC
in choice or life Post #197473
Hum. I guess it wasn't clear enough some posts above. There are some questions which keep showing up in this type of threads. I'll tell you how I see each.

-Is the question: is it alive?. Nope. We know it is. The question is: is it human?

-Is a foetus human? Any of its cells will tell us it is. You can't make a scientific claim that says otherwise. How different is a newborn baby from what it was some days before? And a week before? etc.

-Is there a magical number of cells you need to be considered human? How many are those?
Once again, impossible to give a reasonable answer.

-Will a foetus grow to become a human?
Yes, if you let it.

-If it is barely human, does it have human rights?
Not too many. Maybe only the first. The Right to Life.

-Are sperm cells "potential life"?
No. Only when joined with an egg cell, does it add to 46 chromosomes, meaning it's human. A sperm or egg cell can't grow into a human.

-When is a human being conscious?
Hard to tell. So it should never be the base of any judgement.

-Are abortions dangerous?
Of course they are. And they can also have serious negative psycological effects on the mother. Everyone must know that.

-Are abortions and wars the solution to overpopulation?
No... Family planning and education is the best (although difficult) option.

-
The line has to be drawn somewhere.
What imaginary line is that? :confused:

-Is stepping on living grass a good thing to do?
As good as eating an apple and stepping on ants. Until they make the "Grass rights", "Fruit rights" and "Ant rights", they will have to cope with it.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 17:10:38 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #197464
LoL. That would be fun. Isometric-view deathmatch!
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 16:58:28 UTC
in Major light help Post #197461
Absolutely. If the map is very complicated, it will take a LONG time to compile. You might need to change it a bit.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 16:53:18 UTC
in Major light help Post #197456
Compiles can take even hours.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 16:47:50 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #197453
Top view!
User posted image
Bottom view!
User posted image
I know the map seems kind of random, but I think it's part of its charm!
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 16:31:29 UTC
in Major light help Post #197449
i put everything in normal and it freezes
It doesn't freeze. It just takes more time. Be patient.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 16:15:55 UTC
in choice or life Post #197441
"Conscious" is also an ambiguous term. By that logic, someone who is in a comma isn't fully human. :confused:
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 16:01:03 UTC
in choice or life Post #197435
I don't think it's completely wrong to kill another human being to defend another (yourself, your family etc). But killing a totally defenseless human sounds bad.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 15:40:54 UTC
in choice or life Post #197433
Hey, you started the thread searching for opinions. Don't get pissed off if they are different from yours.

We aren't actually aborting or preventing abortion in this thread. We're just talking about it. I'm not telling anyone why they shouldn't do it. I'm saying why I don't support it.
If it's just about morals, you won't have a hard time ignoring people who have a contrary opinion. Unless of course, they somehow make you feel guilty of yours..
Anyway, a human is a human even before it is born. You have no scientific proof of the contrary. I don't see how you can argue that point. A newborn baby is also a collection of "developing cells". It just takes it's oxygen and nutrients in a different way and is surrounded by air instead of organic matter.

Once that's settled, the question is "Is it right to kill a human?"

Wars are obviously worse than abortion. The Bush administration is full of hypocresy. They criticize abortion but have no problem bombing civilians abroad. Meh...
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 14:38:40 UTC
in choice or life Post #197417
To all those people whom think a few cells live, DONT WALK YOU MIGHT KILL AN ORGANISM, DONT EVEN BREATH.
Search for a definition of life. Living cells are alive. The question is not whether you are killing a living being (which of course, you are) but if you are killing a human.
Take a cell of that "being" and compare it with yours. It will most probably have the same amount of chromosomes than you >> it is human.
According to a lot of people here, a foetus becomes human "one magical day" which is undefined. Up to that unknown magical moment, it has no human rights.
To some people, "life" begins the day the baby is born. If for any reason the child is born prematurely, how much do we wait to consider it alive and human? Is a baby of a 9-month birth more human than a 7-month born?
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 12:06:29 UTC
in choice or life Post #197399
Or the child might grow up to be the next president!
That doesn't sound too encouraging in these dark times :P
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 11:32:26 UTC
in choice or life Post #197396
If a clone of Hitler was born today, he wouldn't become "the next Hitler" unless he lived through the same events as Hitler did.
You can't judge the society value of a child before it is even born, so that can't be a basis for judgement. A lot of great people were born in situations where abortion would have been recommended.

If you use the argument of "the baby can't think", then killing everyone who is in a comma wouldn't be that bad.
Of course, a person in a comma can eventually recover and think again. The same way, a baby will eventually be born and be able to think.
:o
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 09:42:27 UTC
in choice or life Post #197385
It doesn't matter what unborn children are. What matters is what they will be>> grown humans.
If we follow the logic of "what matters is what things are NOW", then abortion defies that logic because it is usually about the future (there might be birth complications, the child will be a burden, the woman might be fired etc)
If you make a decision based on possible future events, it would be wise to think of all the alternatives and outcomes. And of course, we all agree, thinking of the consequences before you act.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-24 05:28:11 UTC
in choice or life Post #197363
no one should be forced to have kids
You mean no one should be forced to have sex. You don't get pregnant out of watching TV or playing basketball...
Of course, people today never think of the consequences of their actions. It's so much easier to kill whatever comes along than to assume the big responsability...

Has anyone thought of the role of the father in these cases? If the woman doesn't want the child, she can abort it without the consent of the father (after all, she's the one carrying it). But if she does want to keep it, the father will have to pay child support etc.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-23 10:03:14 UTC
in wait... again, who the fuck are you? Post #197300
Full Name : JM Ameyugo
Age: 22
Hometown : Madrid
Born in: San Fernando
Self Classification: human being

Education: finishing 3rd year of architecture
(Interests)
Favourite Films (1st 2nd and 3rd):
1st) Spirited Away
2nd) Star Trek: First Contact,
3rd) The Shawshank Redemption

Favourite Meal: I have many.

Favourite Actor: Brent Spiner

Favourite Actress: Rachel Weisz

Favourite Game to Date: I'll pick one of each generation: "Sonic & Knuckles", "Tomb Raider I" and "Half-life 2"

Game your looking forward to: BioShock ftw!

Favourite Bands:
I don't really like bands. But my favourite composers are
John Williams, Joe Hisaishi, Hans Zimmer, Koichi Sugiyama etc.

Favourite Drink (hot and/or cold): water!

Favourite Alcohol: no thanks, I need my braincells!

Hobbies: Level Design, table tennis, roller hockey, writing, playing the guitar etc

(Other)

Girlfriend/Boyfriend Yes/No?: not yet

Past Girlfriends/Boyfriends: ---

Things that make you smile: a good joke

Things that make you really laugh out loud: some of Homer Simpson's or Peter Griffin's actions.

Things that annoy you:
the new world order and politics of today.

Things that well and truely piss you off:
Popular killboxes. You've got to hate the lack of thought put into their design, grrrr...

A picture of me? My avatar has the outline of my face.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-21 06:58:46 UTC
in Bad Performance on Simple Map Post #197102
I set net_graph to 3 and watched the FPC counter jump from 110 to 60 every millisecond or so
I think this is usually something external to the game.
In my case, running the map at the same time as Hammer4 or a p2p program will cause this kind of framerate jumps. While you are experiencing the framerate problems, you might as well load another map and see if it happens there too.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-20 18:07:15 UTC
in Brushopolis, coming to a server near you Post #197064
THIS is what I mean.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-20 18:03:15 UTC
in Brushopolis, coming to a server near you Post #197062
Hint brushes can help. Use big horizontal hint brushes (as big as the whole map) above the height players will reach.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-20 16:57:00 UTC
in Brushopolis, coming to a server near you Post #197058
I know your position and preference for HL1 over Source, but I can't refrain myself from saying this type of map is easier to do in Source. Little compile times thanks to func_details, 3D skyboxes, you name it! :P

Now tips for this HL1 "experiment". The first thing I would say would be to avoid box-type layouts, but your city must be beyond that point.
Here's another tip. Get the textures you are using in your buildings and make smaller versions in your WAD file.
For example. You could have a 128x128 texture at a scale of 1.0 in the first four floors of your building, while the rest of the floors have the same texture in 32x32 and a scale of 4.0
From the ground, it won't be that noticeable and could help performance a lot. As a matter of fact, the textures would look just as blurry as they would with the engine?s mip mapping effect.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-20 08:46:41 UTC
in Bad Performance on Simple Map Post #197017
Have you placed any models in the map? Or expensive water? These two things are what cause the biggest performance hit. Displacements and brushes, contrary to popular belief, are easier to render.
Also 60 FPS is good. Anything below 40 isn't good. And 20 is REALLY bad. And of course anything above 40 is good.
TV screens have a maximum of 50 or 60 Hz. Having 100 or 150 is irrelevant. (My screen has a response time of 25 ms so it can only display up to 40 FPS. Crappy, I know :( )
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-19 02:57:14 UTC
in Half Life Mapping Quiz Post #196898
You have a large outdoor environment. The area is littered with high-poly tree models, and there is a small stream running through the area. What combination of techniques is best for lowering the FPS as much as possible.
My technique is putting a very famous house above the stream so people will ignore the framerate problems!! :D
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-18 17:33:44 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #196876
The gunship moves around, but only following a set of path tracks.
I think I will start the map over from scratch, planning everything on paper first (story, architectural style etc). I have some thoughts on how I really want it to look.
Besides gunships and antlions, I will learn how to use striders (I said use, not overuse) and I want to create an area for the buggy or the airboat.

I have a question regarding something I want to make but it might not be possible. I was thinking of making a material with transparency, reflection and scrolling properties, which I would use as a waterfall in a displacement map. I know displacements are always solid, but is it possible to have a displacement with transparency? I've never tried.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-18 16:08:03 UTC
in School project survey Post #196868
Jose

1:Pork
2:Beef
3:chicken
4:lamb
5:duck
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-18 07:21:58 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #196825
After dm_suspended, I am going to stop mapping for a little while.
I want to do something about Carceri (HL2SP) because I don't quite like what I have so far in terms of gameplay >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTd8WfaGnSM

I really want to think up a story to justify the scenario and I want to script some really big sequences. It will take planning, imagination and learning the ropes of the NPCs.

As for my HL1 work... the Star Trek "Antimatter" mod is at the top of the list in that sense, but Source mapping will be my priority.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-17 18:39:59 UTC
in Xyos projects! Post #196803
I still want to add something for the halls
Some ideas.
-Energy conduits (with some sort of nice scroll texture)
-Hightech doors.
-Rooms behind bulletproof glass.
-Some sort of TV terminals with those cameras that switch target showing other parts of the map.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-17 18:09:36 UTC
in Xyos projects! Post #196801
My opinion: both the tiled texture and the floor texture are clearly made for surfaces. However, in this hall the textures also work as edges. You might need some trim to separate them >> http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/2671/trimec3.jpg.
I like the unique feel.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-17 17:13:41 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #196797
I initially set the whole lightmap scale to 32 and I have been lowering it and adjusting it. That way, my compile times have been lower.

The floor is actually the first place where I changed it, but the video doesn't really show it. I also made a custom 2D skybox that matches the angle and brightness of the sun. This is usually an issue I have with HL2 maps. The default skies have a very low sun angle.

The theme is very generic so the HL2 props will fit. I originally intended to use the glass physboxes I made for Tinnos:Source, but now that the map is so detailed it feels out of place.

Things I need to do:
-Finish tweaking the lightmap grid
-Add more physics props
-adding some more floor rubble
-making cables
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-17 15:13:02 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #196792
I don't know if you can read it in the video, but the shop signs read:

"Mech Bazaar Pawn Shop - Supplies"

and

"Barney's Electronic Appliances"

;)
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-17 14:55:53 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #196790
Updates: I have made a videowalkthrough which shows more or less what the map is becoming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY3hhZ9DlB8

What puzzles me is that it takes so much more time to make the Source conversion than what It took me to make the original HLDM version.

@Satchmo: this one will have to be for HL2DM... I found no way to make it a good cstrike map :(
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-17 11:57:08 UTC
in 1 restart per day <3 Post #196780
Faulty memory usually causes restarts once you reach Windows. If it happens before, it's usually with a "Blue Screen of Death".
When my monitor started going into standby mode, the cause was a problem with the fan inside the PSU. I got a new fan (about 1?) and the problem was gone.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-16 09:19:14 UTC
in Half Life Mapping Quiz Post #196628
Open the sentences.txt in the pak file.
Search for the sentence you want by comparing it with the wav files.
Use that sentence name in a scripted_sentence entity. Add an exclamation mark "!" before the sentence name.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-07 16:14:03 UTC
in PROSPEKT 1 Post #195899
1) close the map to prevent leaks
2)fix the brushes with mixed contents if you still have any
3)Place clip brushes covering the areas where players will not interact with the brushwork
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-07 15:27:22 UTC
in Black Mesa Complete-comming late 2007 Post #195891
There are spatial contradictions, as some people have suggested:
I made this overview of the tram section more than a year ago.

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/7827/blackmesadp1.jpg
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-07 06:19:14 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #195854
I don't know. I don't hear people saying de_dust for source looks shitty because it needs more pipes & stuff. Every map has different needs. I wouldn't expect de_venetia to have the amount of props I saw in dm_petrol, for example :)

Edit: FEAR is a game so it can't be use as an example for a map. If the office part of the game was just one or two maps, I don't think I would have found the theme boring.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-07 05:52:26 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #195851
True, I'm adding props but only in the places where the brushwork is final.
Pipes and cables will probably be the last.
Anyway, I don't really see why we should place props everywhere if it defies logic. In real life, just because a concrete wall is 4 meters long doesn't mean it has a door, 2 graffities and pipework :nuts:
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-07 05:30:58 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #195849
I did a new compile of cs_fallingwater thanks to my recent purchase of extra RAM.
I also have a new GFX card, with twice the amount of memory.

BUT, the performance of this map is still not satisfactory. There are a lot of trees I need to include, and then there's the bots and hostage models. If we add those things to the existing map, it might just be unplayable.
Some door spaces are not wide enough to run through them easily, and they would also need changes.

I'm not saying I quit, but I would like to know how much of the original map do people need to see in this CS version. I took out the whole Guest Wing, but it didn't help that much either :(

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/8701/csfallingwatergw5.jpg
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-06 17:05:08 UTC
in Optimization Post #195804
why would they work differently in multiplayer?
Occluders just tell your CPU and GFX card what the engine can see or not. It has nothing to do with the rest of the players as far as I know...
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-06 02:41:51 UTC
in Optimization Post #195748
I am a bit curious though... is the map bigger than what the layout suggests? I'm working on a remake of suspended which consists of a big main area and some side rooms, and the Source engine seems to have no problems rendering it.
If you have a lot of models, I would suggest using occluders. Even though people say models are cheaper to render, that's not entirely true. In my PC, they always have the biggest hit in performance (+showbudget command)
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-05 18:04:37 UTC
in dm_metro Post #195731
+Very good brushwork, propwork and ambience throughout the whole map.
-Very basic layout (a ring) and some confusing parts (two similar doors where one opens and the other doesn't, difficulty moving in the subway area etc.)

If you could make gameflow a bit more clear and add some variation in the Z-axis, the map could be truly great.
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-05 16:18:12 UTC
in Optimization Post #195724
Why don't you try diagonal hint brushes?
User posted image
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-04 05:37:19 UTC
in Kasperg Projects! Post #195543
Today I made a new discovery. Don't laugh, but I hadn't noticed I could change the last number in the values of a light enviroment to make it brighter. No wonder all my Source maps had dull lighting up to now!

You can compare this image to one I posted a while ago of the same place.
http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/6137/brightul3.jpg
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-04 04:44:28 UTC
in Hard Drive Space Post #195542
37 + 111 = 148 total
Posted 18 years ago2006-09-01 13:54:23 UTC
in Hunter Projects! Post #195314
too graphically intense for a 128mb card.
... not really. :

Now that I've seen the pictures of the real place, I see you're doing a good job. But perhaps you could give yourself more freedom and change the place to make it look more interesting. Maybe adding big posters of your favourite LAN games etc.
Posted 18 years ago2006-08-31 09:09:11 UTC
in New Mod: "Turnstile" Post #195182
Is this 3D studio? It looks nice, specially the plant models and the water.
Posted 18 years ago2006-08-31 07:53:31 UTC
in AVi in game? Post #195174
Use VirtualDub. It can save your video into TGAs.
Posted 18 years ago2006-08-31 07:51:54 UTC
in Has Steam Gone Crazy? Post #195173
Ok, but you have to admit that having a non-installed Opposing Force icon surrounded by "Bookworm Deluxe" and "Dynomite Deluxe" is a bit out of place. I'd much rather have all these offers in a different tab. Not even Microsoft adds icons of the MS Office versions you don't have in the Programs menu...
The Steam menu seemed organized and tidy when it all began. I sadly can't say the same thing now.

You can't really blame people for not liking some of the things going on with Steam. It's not like we have a good alternative since they terminated the WON version. I still use the WON Half-life btw.