[CS:S] - de_venetia (WIP) Created 18 years ago2005-12-08 07:56:18 UTC by AJ

Yay, 100 posts.

/me notes that Habboi didn't notice the offer, considering the offer consisted of testers who can test the map on their own with bots...

Time for me to bork the forums.

Today, I kinda worked on de_venetia a bit (optimisation enhancements), but before I did, I loaded up CS:S and bumped up the graphics settings. Boy does it look purty...I'm also planning to replace the dod_anzio water with the Lost Coast water. A couple of testers had issues with the water, so I'm changing it. The Lost Coast water should look better anyway.

Updates! Finally :P.

Maybe you should use the Lost Coast sand

Love it ant:)

Don't see why I should use the Lost Coast sand though, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong (imo) with the Anzio one. I'll test it.

Lost Coast water is officially in by the way. Just have to test it out.

nice.

Fast compile with Lost Coast water. Fixes the sand problem.

Mmmm... so much better. Now get a full compile, so the displacements don't look like shit.

The water looks a lot more like water and less like mercury :).

Agreed, much better! Perfect for venice.

Yeah, I agree. The reflectivity is a lot better too (I hadn't even built the cubemaps in that shot!)

I don't think "reflectivity" and "reflexivity" are the same ;).

My bad. Spelling a bit poorly today.

Looks great Ant!

And btw, please exucse my pretention, and allow me to
introduce a good friend of mine: Mr. Thumbnail

MY THREAD, MY RULES!

Heh don't you mean ME rules? Meh
Come on and finish this biatch...

I need props and materials now. Soon as I can get my hands on some, I can finish this off.

what sorts of props

Props: Gondola(s), beach umbrella, props for the library (tables, chairs, plaques, and some other bits and pieces).

Materials: Textures for the walls inside the library.

Just an update:

I'm currently experimenting with something that will greatly change the layout of de_venetia. The only screenie I have so far is this and if you can make anything out of that, then you deserve to be commended.

So your getting rid of the ramp/road part. took my five seconds to find waht it looked like. I hope thats what it is.

i see a canal? maybe it was always there i haven't played the map. or i am blind

Brushes aren't visible from the inside, people...
@Ant: I assume that's going to be a back-alley?

I think it's time to give some comments on the version I played (well, ran through). It's late, I know, but hey.
Well, the map looks great, that's for certain. Nice style, maybe a bit too 90-degreed but not as bad as I expected. I like the architecture and the sunny feeling of the map.

I've got some things about the layout though, and that's those small canals to the right of the library, when seen from the water. They don't seem to furfill a purpose and are essentially dead-ends. Besides that, it looks like a very close-packed yet open layout. Might be a good thing for fast action, might be less for tactical play. Well, I don't play CSS so I'll leave that to others.
One thing I had rather seen is the use of canals for actual gameplay (besides fitting well with the Venice theme, they also make interesting situations because water makes noise...). They're much more Venicy than streets (I love that little plaza in front of the library though) and bridges would be nice too. Probably too late to throw it in the actual gameplay but you definitely should put those into the background.

All in all, a small but good-looking map. I hope it turns out well and becomes a fun-to-play map, then you've got it all settled. Keep it up!

Thanks for the comments, Cap'n. I understand what you mean by the 90-degreeness of the map, but that's because I'm fastidious about neat mapping. It can be my downfall sometimes.

As for the canals: I'm currently experimenting with making those canals a part of the gameplay. By doing this, I'm hoping that it will create a more Venice-y feel. This is an experimentation phase however: I have the original backed-up in case it all goes wrong.

I've decided to remove the sloping road and put all the buildings that were at that level right down to sea-level. The two canels will open up into the "street" which is now water based. As such, I can now add a variety of bridges and whatnot to make it more visually interesting.

The map itself is a fairly tight, balanced, action-packed romp. Tactics come in how fast you can move from one point to another. This is my first CS map, so I'm not really sure if I've done it correctly (I'm hoping it looks sweet anyway). The changes I'm trying may greatly alter the balance, or it may improve it. Not sure yet! Gonna be a while before I can get something that resembles a beta out, it's an absolute mess at the moment.

YEA! i guessed right!! does happy dance

Yay, let us have a pointless post!!!
Just kidding, good work on completely changing your map Antie!!
Um.. joins in the happy dance

Have I borked it yet?

Still early days, I guess. I have drawn concepts, and I have a good idea of what I want it to look like in my head, so who knows.

Not bad but make sure to fill those gaps that show the sky ok.

I dont think he's that stupid Habboit .

Looks definately interesting there Ant, keep us updated.

Btw, do you still need someone to model, texture, and animate your props? If so then il be happy to help you out if you want.

i'll do the umbrella prop tomorrow, been working on the portfolio stuff instead (as you've seen ;x)

pepper: Heck yes. I need a whole bunch of props for the library.

Rabid: If you're busy with other stuff, then there's no need to make this a priority. Thanks for the book though.

Well ant, show meh a pic then. I might be able to help out as a side project.

I can send you Beta 5 if you wish: do you have CS:S installed?

Yup, send it through!

Couple more shots, here and here.

It's all looking very good Ant.

OMG LOL SHIT. RUINED.
Nah, looking very good, and awp-friendlier
Soon those canal-things will be full of dead-bodies. ;]

Those parking spots are too square, definitely. The buildings and canal in the second shot look good, it's getting a nice canaly feeling.

Parking spaces are generally square, Captain P.
I'll curve the edges.

The only thing I find strange is the tunnel under the orange building. If the buildings above it have their own internal structure, the tunnel should have no reason to be curved, it could just be a gallery.
Of course, this observation is strictly architectural. It doesn't affect the map visually or in the gameplay aspect.

Well, this would be an example of a time where real-world specifications are too boring for a computer-generated world.
A curved tunnel looks a lot better than a square tunnel.

EDIT: Another screenie for you.

It looks quite nice

I meant, they add to the square feeling of the map. Rounded corners won't do the trick (they probably look out of place as a parking lot itself is indeed usually square) - rotating the parking lot on itself will do, I think.

Aww man, that's gonna be a pain to do now...

We'll see later I guess.

Edit: A compiled shot (fast RAD/VIS). If you want to Beta Test, be on IRC tonight or sometime this week. Or PM me.

Rightio, had a Beta 6 test (thanks Jax, Penguinboy and dewdle for testing) and as a result, I've decided to expand the map further. More news soon.

Looks excellent with that canal! More screenies?

Nice!!

Now its feeling like venetia.

On another note, could you help pick me photo's of objects you'd want ingame? I've been looking to the canals of venice through google, but its hard to find exactly what you want.

Oh, sure.

The water looks much better now