Forum posts

well to be fair, every material cant be snazzy and exciting. Sometimes a wall is just a wall. The second material looks very much like the grooves have 3D depth to them from a distance without using parallax. I have changed the normal map and reflective contrast in the third, but not radically. It serves the purpose of emulating wet rocks.

Exactly what I was wondering. Thats why this thread exists

I should explain what I did which makes it look this way:

I only modeled the right side of the face. When I was about 4/10ths done I duplicated the polygons on the right side to get a picture of the face. As I progressed I decided that the face was too flat. I changed the right and neglected to change the left. I thought I will delete the old crappy right side and duplicate the whole other side when its finished. So, in the picture the right side is about 85% done, but the right was left at its 40%. Im too lazy right now to extract and delete the right side polys, so I was saving it for the end.

Basicly ignore the right side of the face since its an old and very unfinished version of the face.

So anyway, in short, Im only modeling the left side of the face. I will then copy the polygons and mirror it. So when looking at the face close your left eye and imagine the other side mirrored

No, mapping for Episode 1 was released, not the materials. If you decompile a Ep1 map and load it in Ep 1 SDK it will still have invalid materials. THat was the point of the thread. I cant find the materials even though the SDK is out

Elon, I used a sketch of a face I rotoscoped into the picture, and projected it onto a grid. I didnt show the grid of the sketch so more of the model could be shown.

Example pic: http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/2315/whatididgj6.jpg

The front and side view are in proportion and projected on the grid.

The face doesnt really look flat. The left side I need to extract and delete the polygons. It was an old side I left so I could get a idea of the full face. The head will take shape as I connect everything together. As I said, its not finished. THe face will take proper shape when its finished.

And BTW, I draw, very well actually

But anyway, thanks for the helpful hints

About the shiny materials:

I probably should of mentioned I took the pics in locations of the materials in the map where the shiny elements were the highest. The material doesnt look like that all over. Only when its hit in the right spots.

Anyway, I know some views look kind of plastic, but it also does well resembling wet rock, and adds to the normal map creating the illusion of depth between brick and rock.

I just cant stand plain old "LightmappedGeneric" only materials with nothing in the vmt file but a $surfaceprop "blabla" in it

Still I have taken all your advice, Ive toned down the pebbles, and masked the reflection a bit more in lesser areas.

Thanks for all the helpful comments

And BTW, if anyone has any good suggestions for my map, please comment. Im kind of in a "mappers block" right now. Im having trouble thinking of what to add.

Oh and RotatorSplint Ive been working on a tutorial for TWHL on normal mapping reflections on normal maps, reflections, and masking reflections normally and with a normal map. Its only like 1/4 done. I keep putting it off for modeling or mapping. Whatever strikes my fancy

Oooh thanks Hunter, Teh master

I decompiled the first level just to look at the vmf file, but even in their own map they were missing materials. You might be right then Snpbond.

Thanks anyway.

When I visit TWHL in Opera, every so often it will give me the page: "TWHL will be back shortly" just that and a white screen. I go to TWHL in IE and it works fine.

Its actually doing it for me this very moment

I really hate using IE, so if there is a way to fix this please do

Dont thank me, I read it from BJ, and also in the steam forums XD

The new update is the problem. Many people complain. To fix this, select the camera icon (shift, c) and select anywhere in the 2d view. Now the view is fixed. Save and there you go. For that map after saving the camera is fixed. You must do this for every other map you work on.

Its the update it sucks!

Wow, reflections that are masked are not visible in hammer anymore. Its one crappy looking reflection now. I really hate this fuckin update!

I cannot find the folder where HL2 Episode 1 loads its materials. I want to put my custom materials for maps that I will create for EP1, but cant find the damn materials folder. EP1 is set up differently. I went into tools and looked as to where its getting its materials. This is all I can see:

http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/1097/whaaar5.jpg

Im assuming that it takes its materials from CSS, but I cannot see the rest of the directory. My materials load in CSS, but not in Episode One.

If anyone has any helpful suggestions please feel free to voice them

BTW, Ive GCF scaped, and found nothing in EP1 or CSS folder related to EP1 materials

Nice! Putting a camera in the 2D view worked Teh awsome!

I use a 6800 GT and get these problems..........

God damn Im really pissed! I had to change the text files too on Twilight Parallax mod, and Garrys Mod 9.

They better fix the black 3d window! Wow just when I had a really good idea for my map!!! ARGH!!!

I cant see in my 3d view anymore in hammer! Its all black. I wait thinking its loading, but to no avail! What the FUCK!!!! Maps take double to load now too in the SDK! Anyone getting this too?

Ive been reading on the VAlve forums and others are having this problem too

Im a believer in Perfect Dark Zero's way of material creation I love ultra bump mapping and reflections, but I did tone the pebble's reflection down. As for the brick one, I masked the reflection completely on the bricks, but kept it full in the cracks for a really nice look

I didnt know about that cl_drawhud 0. Thanks

For the pebbles I was trying to go for the wet rocks look. Ill tone it down a bit.

Ive been kind of inactive when it comes to showing or submitting any work here. Ive been busy in other endeavors such as mastering texture creation, modeling, face modeling/animating, and importing any kind of model into source. (Also learning more about mapping)

I feel its time to show some of my recent work. The culmination of all my work in all mediums Ive been practicing.

Some new materials first:

http://img422.imageshack.us/img422/6184/brick1ve1.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/1921/wall3vy4.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/9427/pebbles2ki2.jpg

Now for my modeling work: (incomplete)

http://img422.imageshack.us/img422/174/face1oh0.jpg

And my map work (Very early in development):

http://img422.imageshack.us/img422/8883/level1wu9.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8670/level2xy9.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/6168/level3nr9.jpg

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1289/level4rc5.jpg

And thats what Ive been up to this summer (modding wise)

Any comments/complaints/cheers/jeers will be taken into account

PS. Heres some old stuff Ive posted too if your interested:

xbox 360 model:

http://twhl.co.za/forums.php?action=viewthread&str=xbox+360&type=1&pg=1&id=11966

cs_miami map:

http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=3806

Its not supposed to point at something. It goes through whats not locking the void and shows you why. Make sure its not going through displacements, func_detail, a prop, etc. Only regular brushwork can seal the void.

You really dont need to post the text vmt file for help

Anyway micro brushes dont cause that error.

Almost every mappers question/problem can be answered here:

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Main_Page

I think the only religion worth discussion and argument here is Scientology. Im puzzled as to how this was not mentioned yet.

Discuss away if you dare.........

I say its all bullshit, and a scam for money. If you read or read parts of "Dianetics" you will see the insanity that this religion is.

747 spaceships? WTF? Why would spaceships resemble aircraft designed for flight in the air and not space? Clearly he was not very imaginative........

These kind of threads lead to nowhere. I say close it, and make something which one side actually has a chance at getting the final word, and proving something.

Ive heard "ftw" so much here at TWHL I think the site should be called Hammer ftw!

I can appreciate the science and logic to anti-religion, but I do believe the subject should always be approached with respect and caution. Millions of people believe in a God/Gods around the world. They do so deeply that some would give their lives for it. Unfortunately its a no-win situation, since no side can clearly define the truth. What a man believes does not define him as a person. Its pointless to argue anyway, since almost all religious followers are extremly stubborn when it comes to their beliefs.

Maybe God is a super intelligent alien race which seeded Earth with its DNA and has been using us as lab rats. (Highly unlikely But who really knows, eh?)

Who knows. The only way to find out is to discover advanced warp technology and fly to the center of the Galaxy and see who or what (or nothing) is there

WHat a dumb topic. Shouldnt you give some reasons to "debunk" all religion? Keep it clean and logical, and not just some dumb childish yell?

I dont take sides, I just like seeing fair and balanced discussions without bigot remarks towards the other side..............

List all the reasons why, then Ill condone this thread.

Next time when your bored go map, instead of this.........

Quite excellent. The combination of prop, brush, and textures is amazing on the bridge! The lighting is also astounding!

Pretty nice. Get rid of that displacement texture in the 3d skybox. The small grass shrubs dont look good blown up X16.

wtf is wrong with steam? Updates games for you, easy to get more games, Friends list, Anti-cheat, excellent managment of games. What could possibly be wrong with Steam?

valve developer wiki. Type optimizing in it. It has a Looong article about it.

It sounds like an excellent topic for a book. It should be very informative for the ignorant parents (and all others that fall in the catagory of ignorance to games) of the world XD

I honestly must say no. Gaming really has no effect on children's minds except making them spout words like: "owned" and "noob". Maybe the only signifigant thing to be worried about is children playing online. Theres not one child Ive played with that has not cussed. They all swear constantly online. This is the only concern. Its laughable to think things such as 2D blood sprites coming out when a polygon model is shot can influence childrens minds.

If a game does have a negative effect on the mind, then there must of been some logical reason. Such as the mind "infected" was already corrupt by sickness, or parental abuse. THe game only accentuates the violence brewing in their head.

BTW, welcome back Satchmo. Leave it to you to make the next interesting thread XD

Sounds like a bi-gender robot voice to me....

Good luck but I hope you realize the amount of coding, work, and imagination it takes to create a decent mod...

Dont make it more complicated than it needs to be. Use marker brushes to "Draw" the curve from a side view. Make them equal in distance from eachother. Have them slope to the middle gradually. Make half of the bridge on one side,(Using the refrence brushes as a guide for the slope) then copy/paste the brushwork, then translate it to by symetrical.

Sounds hard, but its not......

Here's my problem:

I want to have quicktime and Windows media player both on my PC. Only problem is, when I install QT it becomes default player for ALL applications! Ive tried changing it in install clicking "DO not make default player" and changed it in quicktimes property settings. I even disabled all file formats for it to play. But somehow, magically it manages to just keep playing everything I click on!

Im out of ideas. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions?

Yes, Im more excited about FF than TF2. Cartoon graphics look good, but still, FF looks better. Its made by the community for the community

I really dont know why people dont click the SDK documentation icon when opening up source SDK.

Go to the valve wiki, type in starting hammer, or new to hammer or something. Its pretty much all there.

Its so easy to start mapping for Source. HL1 you actually had to set the tools and directories yourself.........

Just read the wiki

lights.rad is located in steam/steamapps/RotatorSplint/Half-life2/hl2/lights.rad

Anywho, I think your problem is getting too complicated then it should be. checking lights.rad probably wont fix your problem. It sounds your making a big deal out of a small problem. I believe dev materials are not meant to be used in a map anyway.....

I really dont see what your talking about in the screenie. Looks normal.

I dont see any "clipping" from lights going through the brush geometry.....

Thats where the new coding for portals comes in G_KID. Dont forget they have software enginners of the highest calibur working with Valve. I would suspect either they design the map to avoid such occurances, or place brushes similar to player clips in source, but it would be "portal clip". No portal exits/entrance can be made behind one.

Valves technology is very good when it comes to glitches. They dont usually have any bugs related to code.......

Check the PM I send you. It should answer it all.

For any others who have this, I will post here too to be of future help.

Right click the geometry you wish to change back to normal brushes. Click "move to world"

In source, never use func_brushes. THey are old, and meaningless. (pretty much)

I dont know what this talk is about: "Going in the void, and escaping the map". IF you watched the video, you would see it requires you to create an entrance and an exit WITHIN world geometry. There is no way to get out of the map. And how could one make such an assumption with just a video anyway?

Also, is this a seperate game, or just a part of Episode 2?

GOD DAMN! Leave it to Valve to make revolutionary gameplay advances! (ALthough PREY did this before, not with a gun, but they must of got the idea from them.)

This thread seems like an excuse to "brag" about a computer.......

What are your PC's stats? (CPU type/frequency/#of Cores, Memory, video card type/memory/shader pipelines/GPU frequency)

Also there are train car textures for brushwork. The train from HL2SP. One car was brushwork, so you should find the textures if you type metal or train, or something I forget....

Hope it turns out pwn XD

Are you modeling it, or creating it with brushwork?

Also, you know There is a regular train model with multiple cars that source has.....

I would say google for the textures.

Its got to have the same bones in the same area of the NPC. I would say its kind of advanced to do something like that. Something to be done in a .qc file and in XSI or something. (Like put the model over the one you want to replace and drag its bones over or something)

Keep in mind Im only speculating. Ive never done it, but I do know it cannot be done by simply changing something in hammer....

I agree with VOX.

The pistol from Halo.

The BR from Halo 2.

The Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2.

The Golden Gun from Goldeneye.

Some weapon from Perfect Dark. Im not sure what was the most popular...

Wait a second here! This is source! YOu dont need ZHLT! zhlt is for HL1!!!!

As for "installing them" you just set Hammer config to open using them...

REMINDER: THEY ARE FOR HL1!