Forum posts

Func_detail set to 2 will still cut other func_details to two. I would also only recommend that you only turn props and trims into func_details.

Having walls and such as entities cause a few issues. For one, entities don't block light or cast shadows by default, so you'll need to manually set each one to use the 'opague' flag. This apparently causes RAD to compile much slower, but I havn't tested it.

func_details may block vis, but they may not seal your world off from the void. BSP still does not like entities that have contact with the void which brings up a new issue of how to seal your world.

I don't see why it's necessary. We have active forums listed on the homepage now and Penguin fixed it up so it shows the five most active threads, and we're not that big a site where we have dozens of active forums.

Also, it takes 3 months for a topic to close itself, so the new threads list will still be long.

I wouldn't mind that source code either Atom if you don't mind. Though we need the raw source code, not the compiled dll

Email me: hlifehotdogATgmailDOTcom

<cookie emoticon here>

Helloooooo! With cookies <cookie emoticon here> and love

@admins: Wink, wink, nudge, nudge

So you don't actually do any leveling up?

Okay, but you're breaking the involvment of your players, to them, you're just telling them what they can and can't do. Do players have skills that they can use? From what I can see your players are not getting developing skills. In Dnd you have skills that people are good at then skills they really, really suck at and they build them up over time. It's vital for character development and player involvement.

For example, my players wanted to try to sneak through an alley to avoid the hostile creatures, so they had to make Sneak checks. The rouge (my fiansee) had a rediculous bonus of 22, I still don't know how on earth she got her sneak that high but anyway, she automatically succeeds. The others were average in their sneak and rolled well, but the barbarian had a extremely poor score (about 2) and rolled a 2 on the dice. Esentially, he was as quiet as an elephant wearing clown shoes and covered in bells.

What I'm trying to say is that it really just lacks character development in regards to the building up of a character and their abilities. Your method kind of makes it a character they are controlling instead of a character they are becoming involved in and building. The reason why people get bored of these is because it feels like they are playing a game, not enjoying an experience. And roleplaying is exausting, if people are not involved in the story or character enough, then they have little reason to come back.

People can become very attached to characters they have played with and nurtured since level 1.

Otherwise, I have nothing to pick on how to run the story, it's a good way to run a story via chat.

Well, it's not that I was being mean or anything, I was actually just saying what I thought, but I didn't really feel like going into detail about why. Also, the second post was actually just directed to archie's comment and was a joke.

But seriously, my issue with this game is not that it's a bad idea, but that it lacks definitive structure and mechanics. I respect that, yes, you just play on a whim and sorta make it up as you go along. If I was gonna play something like this, it would be more Dungeons & Dragons based like I've done before with a friend that moved away but still wanted to play.

I didn't really want to admit that I play DnD but oh well. I run games for about 4-6 people every Sunday and it really is alot of fun.

Anyway, back to Dimbark's game, it's just that it has no core structure and the player assumes they can do anything. Which is why I like 20 sided die rolls with ability bonuses which players make against the game master or whatever. They can fail, which provides that sense of depth and immersion.

Anyway, I'll stop ranting now. I'd be more interested in your game Dimbark if there was more structure, but right now, it's too slapnstick for me. I read your journal post with the game you played whith whoever it was, I can't actually remember.

So I stand by my original answer, I wasn't trying to be rude. I was just wasn't in the mood for a in-depth answer.

So sorry if I came across that way.

LOVE FOR EVERYONE

[i]and cookies...[/i] P.S. WHY DON'T WE HAVE A COOKIE EMOTICON!!!!

Hey! How did you know about my little voice? Lucky for him, I wasn't listening to my little voice...I try not to, or bad things happen.

Looking at you Dimbark

No

Yeah, it has to be hollow. It needs to be made of pyramids/triangles because if you try to acheive this with flats you'll get invalid solids. In all, it's 128 solids and 64 rendered faces.

Oh, and its 8-sided...I can't count

Theoretically, I could make it actually hollow and player crawlable, but it would double in brushes and faces.

EDIT: There, I actually did it. It's hollow inside now, with double the amount of brushes and faces.

HAH! I spend about 30 minutes just trying to figure out how to do this and another 30 just building it and getting it to texture correctly, but I bring to you...AN 8 PIECE CURVED SIX-SIDED PIPE WITH ACCURATE TEXTURING!I don't care if someone has done this already, I'm really impressed with myself for this one.

Yeah, it's been so long since I played Op4 I hd to think very very hard about that one.

Damn, 100 again...I must be doing something wrong...

I thought it was quite good, 100%

That looks amazing Rim, but one question. How do you load it? Or is it musketball-style?

Well, the map itself was very unfinished and still had mostly dev textures. But I might upload the plane as a prefab. I was quite happy with that.

Hotdog just received a contract by Valve in the mail.

Lol, I wish.

I'm no longer mapping for the competition. Something much...much better has come up and I'm so happy to be working on it again.

Awesome!

2012 Minicomp Entries

Okay, sorry this took longer than I liked but I got there in the end. I was very impressed by the quality of the entries considering the nature of the contest and the short period of time allowed, not to mention the official TWHL comp that was running at the time. Everyone did a very good job interpreting the rules, but it seems everyone succeeded and failed equally, which was very surprising. Everyone deviated in one area just a bit. Still, it was a great turnout and I've done a short writeup on each map and the final scoring.

1st PlaceZeeba-G

I will admit it took me a minute to orientate myself as to where I was in relation to the base map, but I quickly figured out that you start at the top of hte 'pillar'. I was quite surprised by the rock walls that made it feel bigger than it actually was. Running through it, I realized there was more to it than I originally thought.

The fact that you made it linear was a nice touch and the creativeness with utilizing the elements of the base map without deforming it too much was also great to see. Adding your own little bit with the cart tunnel was also brilliant. I originally thought the barrels were to block it off, but once I got the crowbar I tried it and was surprised to break through. Most of the time you find someone has blocked off a tunnel with unbreakable objects, even though you can break others.

The design is very good and solid, but was let down a little with the texturing. I noticed quite a few horribly stretched faces on the rock walls and the minecart tunnel was awful to look at. Otherwise, the rest of the map was textured nicely.

I felt you were a little mean gameplay wise. The breaking boards over the ravine was fine, but very unexpected and a bit unfair. You could have given the player some kind of warning they would break. The minecart was also unexpected, I was expecting it to just stop at the end rather than plough into the wall and explode. Though it was funny and technically an endgame element.

Now as for the red aspects, I felt that Zeeba did a very good job transforming them into something that obeyed the rules but suited his map very well. The ravine was perfect and the the pile of silt(?) was well done. The doorways and the hole was a nice touch. As much as I hate to say it, the pillar did not feel like it was there. I understand your transformation into the scaffolding was a great touch, but it didn't really serve as the pillar. Perhaps if the scaffolding revolved around a stone column or something, it could work, but in any case I felt this was the biggest leftdown of the map concerning the rules.

In the end, it is a solid creation and very nice to look at. Aside from a few flaws, its a very good map, more than I was expecting.

Design : 8/10
Gameplay : 5/10
Creativity : 7/10
Ambience : 8/10
Red Special : 6/10 (only because of the pillar thing)

Total : 34/50

2nd PlaceBrendanmint

One thing I enjoyed about his minicomp was the utter variety of entries. There was a house, a cave and then we have a spacestation built onto an asteroid. It really was nice to see the base map interpreted in so many unique ways.

This map was definately very different and had some very nice elements to it. I spent a few minutes just reading the diagnostic report, which was quite amusing. The array of monitors was also a nice touch, but I felt they could have been better placed. The texturing was a bit bland to my liking, you stuck to combine textures mostly throughout and some textures didn't make sense. I don't know what the big round thing with the moving texture was supposed to be and I was missing a texture at the bottom of the ravine.

The design had some spots that I thought were great, and then there were some that were very bland. The cave room, which I assumed was inside the asteroid, wasn't very cave-like and could have used a bit of displacement warping.

It seems everyone had a little difference when it came to the red objects. This map overlooked the red pit and although it was there, the floor over the top does kinda cancel it out. Aside from that, it was quite well done and all the other objects were very well implemented.

A few extra points for adding a little more creativity, humour and story to the map. It is a great map and a great entry for the contest. Aside from a few little design elements that didn't quite fit (as mentioned before) this could have taken first place.

Design : 5/10
Gameplay : 5/10
Creativity : 9/10
Ambience : 7/10
Red Special : 6/10 (only because the pit was missing)

Total : 32/50

3rd PlaceCaptainTerror

When I loaded this map, the first impression was wow. The size of it and the awesome cars in the garage; I was stoked to be able to run through it and see what was inside.

The house was definately well layed out and took advantage of the space it was given, but I just felt like it was a bit empty and it did have more than a few noticable brush errors. Mostly just holes where there shouldn't be any. Otherwise, the house was magnificent to run through, the texturing was very good, but again, a few errors here and there. For example one of the doors opened on the latch instead of the hinges.

Some parts of the house were really well done. The spiral staircase was a very impressive room and I felt a little cut when I couldn't get up there. I ended up noclipping just to have a look. The fishtank was also a nice interpretation of the hole that was there in the base map.

The interpretation of the red objects was very good, even if most of them remained mostly unchanged. The only thing I could disagree with was the bathroom where the ravine or trench was supposed to be. Although you could get down there, it made no sense that you could drop under the bathroom floor through the bathtub. I didn't feel it was really in keeping with the rule, and in any case it really didn't work, but it is a difficult piece to work with so it was a decent effort.

Although it lacks a polish, it's still a very good map and was very fun to look at. Perhaps you could do it up into a DM map perhaps? I would definately like to see this map worked on some more.

Design : 5/10
Gameplay : 4/10
Creativity : 8/10
Ambience : 3/10
Red Special : 6/10 (only because of the bathroom)

Total : 26/50

It's good with this scoring system, because there was no way I could just pick one winner. The scoring allowed me to think about each aspect of the map and how well it was done. Even doing it this way, it was very close.

So congratulations to everyone! You all did a great job. I will PM you with the prize list shortly and how many you can pick out of it.

My god man! How could you?

Think of the ducks!

YOU CRAZED DUCK MURDERER!!

Alrighy, and that's it.

Got three maps in total which isn't too shabby. I just have to do a quick writeup about each one and I'll post the results probably this time tomorrow.

Best of luck all!

Toggle always works, it overrides the 'Delay before close' value. The -1 value just ensure that the door closes regardless. It usually worked for me.

That's why you also check the 'Toggle' flag.

Well, less than 12 hours to go and I think that's about all we're gonna get.

I've gotten three very good entries and since nobody but CT volunteered to judge, I'll just do it alone so that he doesn't miss out on prizes.

If there is anyone else out there entering, then let me know so I don't close off the comp before you enter, that would be LAME!

Actually, I'm pretty sure there is another way.

If I remember correctly, doors will not bounce open if the 'Delay before close' is -1 and the door has the 'toggle' flag checked. This does mean you need to trigger the door closed instead of it doing it by itself, but this should stop it from bouncing open.

smellycat, set the damage to something like 9999999999 then. It wont bounce back.

It doesn't matter if you set it to 1000 or 1,000,000,000,000 it will always bounce open. I'm pretty sure you have to do what i said to fix it. But func_trains are also a great alternative if it doesn't work.

How are compile times in source for you guys along the map?

My secret santa map, which was quite sizable only took 10 minutes with a full HDR compile. It really depends on your cpu and ram.

There is an entity limit in Goldsource, but it is really high (about 2048 I think, someone confirm?)

The visual entity limit is significantly smaller as you probably know.

But for stairs, when contructing the node graph, Half-Life doesn't recognise stairs as a solid and required you to put a node on each step. Due to their close proximity, Half-Life recognises that nodes so close together obviously must connect and makes that assumption. If you don't put one on each step, Half-Life assumes there is a significant elevation and that there may not be a logical path to get to the other node, so it won't connect them.

Half-Life is dumb when it comes to node graphs so always use lots of nodes where possible with complex geometry or stairs.

I'm still deciding wether to go for a DE map instead of a CS map, but in my opinion, the plane was the worst part of the map. I don't think I'm going to allow entry into the plane, just around it. Because the actual airport is so extensive and the plane is made of displacements, it would just kill my map to make it hollow.

The plane is a terrible feature in the map because it was too cramped and too many holes. The CTs didn't stand a chance inside the plane because there were almost unlimited places for the T to camp, which is always what everyone would do.

So yeah, it's going to be more like cs_airport_with747feature.

LOOK! AN ACTUAL PLANE!! MADE FROM DISPLACEMENTS!!! I THINK I BROKE (or won) SOURCE!Also some dev shots:And also:

Of course. Clipnodes are spaces you can walk in, so logically if you put a clip brush there the game won't bother placing clipnodes there.

...

I'm with DiscoStu...it's extreme!

There isn't one, I was just using that as a clear example because it was the easiest to describe and (hopefully) understand.

Haha, I thought as much ^_^

But no worries, you can be late if necessary...but it might hurt your score. Also, if everyone is late then it really makes no difference and I'll give a small extention of a couple of days or so.

So hands up who think they need a few extra days.

BWAH! Only 5 more days and by the looks of it there should be a few entries.

Also, totally missed Testu0's music donation! So that gets added in there too

That is usually the case, but I find with Steam you avoid alot of those engine bugs, like mods missing cl_dll.dll, ect. Though I do know that they happen in Steam as well.

But that's just me. I have my WON installation still installed on a removable drive, however, because my drive decides to change drive letter occasionaly, I've stopped trying to get it to work. It has alot of my old resources in there so I go digging for sounds and models but don't clog up my C: drive.

I have nothing against the old WON. I was using it long after everyone switched to Steam (I had crappy internet ). Good to see it still gets some use though.

Not really, it's just the same. In fact, there is no difference.

I've got Hammer reading from my Steamapps/(myusername)/half-life/valve folder. Where I select my sounds, models ect. Just use GFCScape to unpack everything as you normally would have to in a WON installation.

I've got zoners in a folder in my Hammer folder, so that's easy to setup.

I've got Batch Compiler (or Hammer can too) moving my compiled map into my Steam Half-Life directory.

You can quickly launch your map in Half-Life with a Steam shortcut on your taskbar, with the command '+map mymap' (without quotes)

Easy.

I understand that you see that your way is easier to you, I get that. But it really makes no difference. Steam is much more reliable than it used to be (unless you have shitty internet) so there really is no reason why you can't just run through steam. You experience fewer bugs that way.

You might not be using Steam, but WON isn't up to date. Which also means your map may not work with Steam users, which is now at least 80% of people.

Nice Tetsu0

Also, I can't quite tell if you're being sarcastic or not Rimrook XD To me, if the word 'Super' is used in a sentace, it means sarcasm. lol, sorry if it's not, but I just can't tell

I'm not sure, it's hard to interpret text but I have a feeling that the word 'super' refers to sarcasm, lol

Also:

Donated by: 2muchvideogames

Studio Coupon: -25% idSoftware
Coupon: -75% Napoleon TotalWar

Prize pool updated to include:

-33% Valve - Donated by TJB
-50% Valve - Donated by Brendanmint

hey, looks great, how 'bout a -75% off napoleon coupon?

I'll have whatever you don't want. If it doesn't go in the comp then I'll send it back afterwards.

It depends on how much you want to modify it. Obviously, you can shape it to look how you want, but the general idea is: If there is a pillar in the middle of the room, your map needs some sort of pillar-like structure in the middle of the map.

Same with the pit. There needs to be some kind of hole there, but there is nothing stopping you from putting a tunnel at the bottom or a ladder going inand out.

In the end, it's open to interpretation which is why there is a score for it. We can judge how well we think you stuck to the rule.

The 2012 Crap Christmas Presents Mini-Competition

Got christmas gifts that you don't want, but you can't take them back? Then this competition is for you!

I am looking for both participants and donators who wish to get involved in a christmas reject competition.

And guess what! There be prizes!

I am starting a Steam Winter Giveaway prize pool. Entrants will be able to pick a number of items from the prize pool (exact number is subject to how many prizes are in the pool). The winner gets to pick first, second place picks second, ect. So everyone is a winner! Note that free gift games will probably be limited to one per person, so that someone doesn't hog all the free stuff.

The rules of the competition are simple:

Download the following map: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9JSIIU6Z

For Goldsource or Source, turn the map from a concrete eyesore into a masterpiece. You can mess with the geometry and layout as much as you like, even add additional areas, but with the following restriction.

Within the map are certain features textured red, these features MUST exist in your final map with only minor modifications to suit your map. You should avoid resizing and moving them, but you can if you need to, but remember that you may hurt your 'Red Special' score.

For example, if a pillar in the centre of the room is marked red, you can modify it any way you like to look like what you want, but the pillar must remain there. You can't move its location off to the side for example or make it shorter.

Another example is a raised platform textured red. You don't have to have a playable area underneath, but the player needs to be able to stand up on that ledge, but again, it doesn't matter what it looks like.

The competition will close on January 16 at 11.59pm GMT, however, late entrants can submit after this time until I say otherwise (about 12-24 hours), but may receive a penalty. This is just to encourage people to finish on time, but give some leeway to stragglers. To submit an entry, PM me a link to download the map. I will acknowledge your entry with a reply.

It will be judged my myself and one other person who volunteers (obviously someone who didn't enter the competition). A 10 point system will be used to judge entries, with the highest possible score being 50 from each judge and points will be awarded for:

Design (how well it looks)
Gameplay (how well it plays)
Creativity (how unique it is)
Ambience (includes lighting, sound and effects)
Red Special (how well you interpreted the red features into your map)

I am also looking for donators who wish to get rid of unwanted gifts and coupons that you received in the sale. Dontators can also be entrants. If you want to donate, add me on Steam and initiate a trading session. I will give you a receipt and if your donation does not get claimed as a prize, it will be returned to you after the competition ends.

Hlife Hotdog on Steam
http://steamcommunity.com/id/hlife_hotdog

The current prize pool:

Game: Killing Floor + Defence Alliance 2 Addon; RRP $19.99
Game: Men of War: Assualt Squad; RRP $34.99
Game: 1...2...3... KICK IT! Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby; RRP $9.99

Studio Coupon: -25% Valve
Studio Coupon: -25% Valve
Studio Coupon: -25% bitComposer
Studio Coupon: -25% bitComposer
Studio Coupon: -50% NordicGames
Studio Coupon: -33% Paradox

Collection Coupon: -50% Frozenbyte Collection
Collection Coupon: -50% Beat Hazard Complete Pack

Coupon: -50% GreedCorp
Coupon: -25% Dead Island
Coupon: -60% Magicka
Coupon: -50% S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
Coupon: -50% GRID
Coupon: -50% Nuclear Dawn
Coupon: -33% The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Coupon: -50% Mafia II
Coupon: -50% Cogs
Coupon: -50% Capsized
Coupon: -50% Capsized

Happy Holidays

Aside from my family not really doing christmas, I'm not a martr and I got my gf's family presents, and I got the following in return.

• 'When Penguins go Bad' book
• Box of licorice
• Fringe Season 3
• Jigsaw Puzzle
• 5kg mixed bag of lollies
• Replica shortsword
• Aftershave (the good stuff too)
• Lasagne dish
• Shortbread and Chocolate wafer sticks
• Food hamper with good food (boxed milk, can of fruit, ect)
• Christmas hamper (chocolates, lollies, crackers, ect)

Not a bad haul.

The people who have made a map and have NOT received one in return:
-Jeffmod
-Urby
-Captain Terror

I'm sorry but I have to spoil. I made a map for Urby. Didn't he get it?

My map was seriously awesome...even though the secret santa revealed himself a bit to early XD. I left more comments on the map vault.

I picked up Anomaly on steam the other day real cheap and wow. I don't usually play RTS-type games but this one is really good. It's kind of a reverse tower-defence game where you build your convoy and direct them along the roads through various areas, taking out the alien towers.

You control your commander, running around picking up suit equipment that you can use to bolster your convoy or hinder the enemy. It plays really well and it looks great. Been a while since I've gotten into a game like this.

Tetsu, you keep talking about a spreadsheet but I can't for the life of me find it anywhere in this thread. I've gone back to the start and read all the posts but they are all outdated ones that you havn't updated.

Also, I can receive all games. HL, HL2, EP1, EP2