TWHL SPACE STATIONS Team Mapping! Created 10 years ago2014-01-29 03:12:36 UTC by Dimbeak

THE TWHL SPACE STATIONS TEAM MAPPING

So I've been playing a lot of Kerbal Space Program.

Let's make some station stations! Basically, the idea is that everybody is going to make a space station in any way they like, whether it be an International Space Station or just a hollowed out asteroid with some computers hidden inside!

So, here are the rules!

1. The map must be for Half-Life 2: Episode 2, or some game that uses the same content and can be added in with ease.

2. Your map area must be no bigger than 2048 x 2048 x 2048. But there is an exception. You are entirely allowed to make your space station twice as long as long is it is half as tall, or vice versa! So you can make some kind of satellite structure if you so desire.

3. There must be an airlock of sorts on the way in, and an airlock of sorts on the way out. Just anything that could imply that you have entered or exited a safer environment.

4. When your map is finished, send it to me via PM system! The deadline is March 10th!

5. Sv_Gravity 50! Though, when sending in the map, remove whatever entity you have set to enable the gravity. To use this gravity in testing, use a point_clientcommand "sv_gravity 50"

6. Make a puzzle! Make yourself a puzzle for how you need to get through your space station, whether pushing a button to open a door or solving advanced geometry equations to convince an AI to blow up the exit to let you out!

7. Custom content is allowed, as long as you include it with the .zip file whenever you PM it to me.

8. Good luck, and have fun!

This will be a singleplayer map, but it may be possible to make a Half-Life 2 deathmatch map afterwards.

Get mapping!

Nice idea!

Maybe whip up a modular prefab airlock system to give people a starting point?(this would also make it a breeze to connect modules/spcecraft/etc from separate entries, if you ever wanted to do that)

We should have started this a month ago, and gang-mapped an entry the GB high-altitude contest!

Maybe whip up a modular prefab airlock system to give people a starting point?(this would also make it a breeze to connect modules/spcecraft/etc from separate entries, if you ever wanted to do that)

Well, my idea to making this a singleplayer map is to separate each space station by setting sv_gravity to 0 at specific points and sending the player flying through space towards the next space station.

This will make sure that every space station can have its own theme, they're split apart pretty definitively, and it's just an idea I've had brewing, flying through the void of space on a set path to the next space station.

Oh cool! =)

If i can't finish my space station entry for the GB contest(which i probably won't), maybe i can recycle bits of it for this coop?

It would have been better if every member built his own module ans then we connected everything to form 1 station.
But still quite interesting.

That sounds like it would be fun, Rufee =P

Me like. I should map something, it's been too long.
But I think you should get rid of the fixed map size, 2048 feels too small to me, space stations are pretty big things you know.

What a coincidence. I just watched Gravity.

They need to be limited in size so they can all appear in one map, Muzz

so far i won't take part in this project, i don't want to pick a fight but:

We should begin a debate about "TWHL Team Mapping #2" and decide/vote for engine, map theme etc.

I was like YAAAAA... hl2 pff... bye

two people working together in a small space of a 2048 cube? sounds like a bad sitcom.

and no glodsource?

0/5

What's wrong with Source?

That I don't know enough

Thinks of gold source community project ideas.

There really isn't any differnece between the editors, and Source SDK is much less buggy than it's predecessor, so don't hate you GS mappers!

And in Source, the level can be big enough to actually have an open vacuum of space, rather than everything just squished together.

There really isn't any differnece between the editors, and Source SDK is much less buggy than it's predecessor, so don't hate you GS mappers!

I find that hard to believe, gs tools are rock solid whereas ...

My hammer 3.5 error log is 3-4 pages long, For Hammer 4, i don't even keep one because i rarely, if-ever get compile killing errors..

In terms of brushwork, you can basically turn solids inside out, and they STILL show up just pretty as a daisy after compile.You can make world objects in Hammer 4 you would never dream of even trying in 3.x, not to mention your budgets for everything FAR outpace GoldSrc limits.

THE ONLY downside of Hammer 4 is it's inability to keep complex groups of vertices on-grid, BUT, this is more than made up for by the improved smoothing in-game(you rarely notice an off-grid vertex in source), and the aforementioned, increased flexibility and resources

I was talking about overall stability, features and other stuff are obviously better in the new hammer however H4 has crashed on me like a million times already.

Clearly Source is much more powerful, but it depends on what you prefer. I like gold source because compile times are miniscule. I also prefer entire ideas/ designs rather than detail and graphics, not saying I don't appreciate source mapping.

I also prefer gold source for the pure nostalgia. It is also genuinely challenging to make a map look good in gold source, which I wouldn't call a bonus but it leaves no excuses for poor design.

funny part is, you can do bigger maps in hl1 than in hl2 in size with some coding

Halflife 2 has a totally different movement, lighting mostly looks weird and only looks epic with dynamic lights or spotlights and these eat a lot of fps.

Maybe i give source 2.0 a try. I tested Hl2 mapping and for me it was mostly doing layout with brushes than paint it with models...

Rufee: My Hammer 4(csgo sdk) doesn't crash, like ever, so... Idk, maybe try a reinstall and/or verifiy game cache, etc..

Zeeba: Compile times are much much much faster for H4, so long as you make all non-visblocking brushes func_detail, but map for whatever you like! One thing i really really do miss are GoldSrc texlights

Considering the new tools available and new editors like Sledge(and others) on the horizon, it's never been a more exciting time to map for GoldSrc!

On-Topic
Is anyone building a space staion?

Dimbark: Perhaps offer to GoldSrc mappers that you will convert their work to vmf, so they can also participate in this? (i would be willing to help port maps over, if you needed it)

Perhaps also, a unified texture pack would also help smooth the conversion process, if you decided to open this to GS mappers.

Alright, GS mappers are permitted, but the conversion process must be handled entirely by Captain Terror (and that includes administering texture packs)!

okk, sounds good =P

If any GS mappers would like to enter a space station, PM me a link or whatnot, and i'll get the brushwork, lights, materials ported to EP2.

Feel free to use GS models and sprites, and i will try to replace them with something equivalent that exists in the EP2 assets..

Feel free also to use texlights, and i'll try to tinker with source texlights to match OR i'll match the look of the map as close as i can with spotlights/pointlights.

so i have to map a module? (for example a small room and u connect the thing into the station?)

I might be in on this. It sounds fun!

So who am I paired with, or is this no longer a team activity?

so i have to map a module? (for example a small room and u connect the thing into the station?)

The goal is for you to design your own station. To design your own modules to make one big space station would be rather restrictive to peoples' tastes in mapping. But...

So who am I paired with, or is this no longer a team activity?

If you want to work with somebody on your space station, you can! But the goal is to compile all of the different space stations into one open space. And if it ever gets ported to deathmatch, we could have ourselves a little bit of a space war! With lasers. And space missiles. And... bullets?

Partners would be fun!

are we going to connect each station?

According to Dimbark, they will be independant stations.

2048x2048x2048 is actually pretty big; i'm not sure how many stations will be able to fit before hammer says fuck off.. Maybe impose a brush limit?

Maybe modules Rufee said would be more doable?(piecing them together would be a lot of fun )

i just want to map a pub station and somebody will connect it with the mothership

does anyone have a list of modules or do we have to define those ourselves?

2048x2048x2048 is actually pretty big; i'm not sure how many stations will be able to fit before hammer says fuck off.. Maybe impose a brush limit?

A functional space station with personality probably won't take up the maximum requirement for space, and I think we'll be fine without brush limits.

Maybe modules Rufee said would be more doable?(piecing them together would be a lot of fun wink-wink - )

Perhaps. How about at the center of the map, there is one large space station with everybody's connected modules, and then we surround it with all of the other space stations?

If so, then I'll start work on a bit of a mainframe and a design on what the airlocks connecting modules should look like.

So if you desire, you could do a space station with no module, the other way around, or both! The focus of this map that I wanted to present, though, was moving through 0 gravity, being pushed from one station to the next to explore each and every different station.

Wait. I'm confuzzled. Are we supposed to map an entire space station and somehow fit it inside a 2048³ space or just a module that we attach to some kind of hub station?

Both! All in one map!

1 main space station in the middle made up of custom modules,

tons of custom space ships out in the depths of space (within Hammer's constraints)!

If so, then I'll start work on a bit of a mainframe and a design on what the airlocks connecting modules should look like.

Sweet! =

i have no idea which textures are fine with space ship theme...
i believe that metal/metalpipe006a and metal/metalpipe007a are great for outside walls of the space ship

1 main space station in the middle made up of custom modules,

tons of custom space ships out in the depths of space (within Hammer's constraints)!

So the station must fit inside the 2048³ space but any space ships out there can exist outside that area?
I don't think I have time to build tons of space ships, but one or two should be doable, if that's ok with you.

i am going to map a pub station, it will be outside the mothership, OK?

edit: btw. do u have sky space??

I'm currently making myself a station that will end up in a fairly low orbit around Kerbol, as a base for missions to the inner planets. I just got the core up a few minutes ago, plus a load of extra fuel that will be transferred to the refuelling module once that's in place.Once that's done in KSP, I think I can try making it in Hammer.

I don't think I have time to build tons of space ships, but one or two should be doable, if that's ok with you.

I may build a SSTO space plane to add to the mix if i get some time. I've always wanted to build one that you can walk around inside

Ninja: I have the same problem finding workable textures for my space maps.. I'm sure there are some great texture packs out there that would be suitable, we just have to find them

I'd go with the fifties_ set

Alright, for the main Mother-Space Station, use this as your airlock system! I urge you to retexture it as you see fit, and you can change the properties of the brushes/door all you want. Just don't just from the main structure of it, and make sure that your capsule has two of these, one on each end.

But if you plan on doing your own space station entirely, then you don't need this! Your own, independent space station is allowed to have its own airlocks, however they may work.

You could have spent more than three minutes making that, Dimbark. Did you carve it? The brushwork is really badly optimized.

Hold on, I'll do a revision for ya.

Edit:
OK, here's my revised airlock - it has the exact same dimensions as your original, Dimbark. Clicka wicka

And just to demonstrate the difference, here's a side-by-side:I've increased the face count of the cylinders considerably, so just ignore that, but compare the brushwork itself. Neatness will always result in faster compiles, more efficient working and greatly improved in-game performance.

Oh the horror. That is indeed a carved cylinderoctagon.

I'm tired, okay!?

Note to self: Never try to map something immediately after waking up, before breakfast.

Go have breakfast, Dim.

That's terrible, Dimbark. You can do better than that.
Archie's design looks slick though, well done.
But I think I'll come up with something of my own if you don't mind.

It's definitely hard to think in the morning without any carbohydrates in you, but yeah, that airlock is not awesome =)

The arch tool is indispensable for things like this, or, build one quarter of it, and then copy, paste special, and rotate, for a perfectly symmetrical object.