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Where else do you visit?
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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Mon Nov 28th at 4:33pm 2005

The SnarkPit is great and all, but where else do you guys visit to talk, post maps, offer criticism, go for solutions, and just generally haunt? I feel like the SnarkPit is a unique niche, and that I may be out of touch with the greater HL2 mapping community by only visiting this site.

Off the top of my head, I know of a couple places.

mapcore.net : This place seems intimidating (from the few minutes I browsed through the forums). I'm not sure I'd venture there without reaching a certain level of skill first.

interlopers.net : To be honest, I don't know much about this place. It seems very active, with lots of members willing to download work.

These are just a couple of sites, I'm sure there are more.

I know that people like MisterBister visit Interlopers as well as here, and ReNo and CJ visit mapcore. So I was wondering how you would define these places, and give your opinion on whether or not it was worth branching out and visiting these different forums.

I don't want this to become negative smack-talking of other forums, so unless you have something positive to say... it would probably be a good idea to keep quiet. If nothing positive is said about a site, I'll just assume the worst.

So in other words, where are some other good places to get feedback? What are their strengths?

Additionally, where are some good places to release finished work (Quantity and quality of downloads)? Where do most people go to try out new maps?




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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by French Toast on Mon Nov 28th at 5:15pm 2005

I do'nt visit any other map forums really...

Every once in awhile I'll crit a map at the Fortress-Forever forums.




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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by SpoolE on Mon Nov 28th at 5:17pm 2005

!!!! http://www.twhl.co.za !!!!!

(The site I was banned from)



I would love to change the world, But they would'nt give me the source code.



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Mon Nov 28th at 5:40pm 2005

What's TWHL like?




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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Myrk- on Mon Nov 28th at 6:31pm 2005

Only here tbh. I venture all the time on the mapcore and snarkpit IRC channels though. Kinda got bored with computer games in all honesty, they just all seem to be the same- I'm waiting for some new revolution in gaming, or some amazing game. So far nothings popped up which interests me in all honesty- I like something with a twist.

I do like horror games though, not like Silent Hill or anything, but action horror- Doom 3 was a good one, loved the effects and ideas, and RE4 was good too, liked the angle and the interactive cutscenes combined with good zombie action and a classic anime oversized twist.




-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Mon Nov 28th at 7:49pm 2005

At the risk of derailing my own topic, have you considered mapping for a zombie type mod for HL2? You could focus on bringing horror to the masses...






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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by satchmo on Mon Nov 28th at 8:14pm 2005

? quote:
What's TWHL like?

It's very laid-back. The members tend to be younger (I'd say the average age is around 14), and there are a lot more new mappers. However, there are quite a few veteran members who are very talented mappers. Kasperg, in particulra, is very good and very prolific. The sense of comraderie at TWHL is very good.

I started out mapping at TWHL, and learned most of the basics of mapping there. Captain P helped me tremendously, and I won't ever forget that. In fact, it was him who introduced me to the SnarkPit.

I also hang out at Counter-Strike Planet nowadays, but mostly to read feedbacks on my map (de_justice). The forum is very dead there, but the map vault is jumping. My map gets downloaded more than two dozen times a day typically, although most members don't provide feedbacks. It's not a real community (yet).

I'm a well-established member at the SnarkPit and TWHL, and those are the main places where I visit. I haven't really run into another site that has such a sense of community than the forementioned two.




"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by ReNo on Mon Nov 28th at 11:21pm 2005

Mapcore is the only other forum I visit regularly. While I can see how it might seem intimidating to newer mappers, the percentage of the membership who are either professionals or likely to become professionals is quite incredible. I wouldn't say the people there are big-headed or arrogant like you might expect given the average skill level though, and I recommend the place highly. It's primarily a level design community but the sections dedicated to texture art and 3D modelling (even photography, concept art, etc...) are all active, and that, I feel, encourages people to spread their wings a bit and try out other areas. It's not the sort of place I recommend to newcomers, nor is it typically the sort of place people ask specific editing related questions, but for feedback on any in progress levels, models, textures and so on, it's a great site. Not as "big" a community as the snarkpit, but it seems to be on the rise and there is a very active core membership.




Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Mon Nov 28th at 11:56pm 2005

Yeah, I've been spending a lot of time reading through the mapcore forums today, and I recognized quite a few faces from when I used to frequent the counter-map forums. RD and Pericolos0 in particular.

What I like about mapcore (from what I've seen so far) is the members aren't easily impressed, so when they have kind words it means something.

Does anyone frequent Interlopers.net?




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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Myrk- on Tue Nov 29th at 12:30am 2005

HL2 engine isn't really all that suited for Zombie mods yet. You need some really good effects and some sweet directing, and in the mod world thats hard to come by. Also I don't think a purely "zombie" mod is any good- needs some really good horror, and in those cases I think it either ends out really short or really crap in the mod world.

Also the HL2 engine doesn't contain the tools required really- they need a decent morph tool for entities.




-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by French Toast on Tue Nov 29th at 1:31am 2005

Sorry, what does that have to do with anything?




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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by FatStrings on Tue Nov 29th at 2:21am 2005

morphine asked about zombie mods




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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Campaignjunkie on Tue Nov 29th at 3:19am 2005

I'm actually trying to cut down on the time I spend on forums / IRC. I kind of equate it with "flying around in Hammer's 3D view" syndrome. Less browsing, more working! <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">




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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Nov 29th at 3:59am 2005

? quote:
I'm actually trying to cut down on the time I spend on forums / IRC. I kind of equate it with "flying around in Hammer's 3D view" syndrome. Less browsing, more working!


Yeah -- I know what you mean. The problem is, I don't have access to Hammer at school, so instead of mapping all I can do is browse. And look at other people's work. And go "wow."

Speaking of "wow," (okay, this is off topic, but I don't want to create another topic just for this question) I was looking through the WIP thread at Mapcore, and one of the screens that this guy by the name of "Hipshot" posted made my jaw drop.

I hope its kosher for me to rehost it and link it here....
image

Why does this look so realistic? I mean the mapping is great, but the sunlit part of the building on the left (in particular) looks downright photorealistic. Is it just the fact that it's 1600x1200 with good video settings? I mean, I've never seen a screen look this good. The sunlight tree also looks amazing.

Sorry to derail the thread, this question was just eating at my brain.

---
On Topic:
I felt like contributing to a thread at Interlopers so I just registered. It seems like a very active community with some members who are new to mapping. I enjoy offering feedback so this should keep me busy.





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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Captain P on Tue Nov 29th at 9:07am 2005

CJ is right.

Right now I'm learning 3ds max a bit, might come in handy if I want to do more prop models. So far, working with materials is still confusing and the camera controls are bad like any modelling tool (level-editors have far better camera control imho), but it's quite easy to pick up otherwise.

Anyway, I visit TWHL and the VERC now and then, and I'm around on my own little Dutch mapping forum, that's mostly it. I've been on Mapcore for a while but it's not really my style.



Create-ivity - a game development blog



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by satchmo on Tue Nov 29th at 9:22pm 2005

? quote:
Why does this look so realistic? I mean the mapping is great, but the sunlit part of the building on the left (in particular) looks downright photorealistic.

I believe it's just the result of mapping done expertly. The attention to detail, the carefully thought-out lighting and architecture. The carefully placed models and props (so that they don't over-crowd the space). The side of the building looks great because the mapper considered how the light would interact with the normal texture mapping.

I love the screenshot. In fact, I took it and made it my wallpaper. I softened the picture a bit to make it look even more realistic. I also cropped it so that the ground texture doesn't look stretched out.

image




"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Wed Nov 30th at 2:48am 2005

Glad someone else was as impressed as I was.

I think you cropped it in the right place (the texture on the tree on the right was really blurry) but I don't think I would have softened the picture. It's kind of hard to focus on, and part of what I loved about the original was the crispness.

Wow, that's quite a nerdy statement.




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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by satchmo on Wed Nov 30th at 2:59am 2005

Yeah, I debated with myself about softening the picture. I didn't soften it for my wallpaper, but I did for the posting in my blog. Mostly because I want to impress the non-gaming people just how realistic it looks. It's virtually indistinguishable from a real photograph when softened.

The only thing that made it too crisp was the rails in the distance. You can tell by looking at the non-antialiased hard lines. The softening was primarily aimed to get rid of that effect.




"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Crono on Wed Nov 30th at 4:45am 2005

It's actually too blurry. The problem with the actual mapping job is just the source engine's lighting. It isn't realistic enough. I mean, yes, it looks realistic, but it would look better if there were some other lightsources to do lighter shadows and such (since light would be bouncing off objects, even if they are bricks) And what you mentioned Satch.

It's still pretty though.

I think something that makes it look more realistic is that it LOOKS like a real place, not something someone made up. I mean, that's architecture you can easily see in almost any city.

Currently, I'm gawking at CryEngine 2. It's basically the same open environments as Far Cry ... better visually than HL2 and it still has all the trimmings, like physics. Dynamic Day/Night cycle. Volumetric Clouds.

I wonder if it'll have weather. (Dynamic weather, I mean) That'd be sweet.


Blame it on Microsoft, God does.



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 Re: Where else do you visit?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Wed Nov 30th at 4:56am 2005

The video certainly was impressive. The real time destruction of that house was awesome.





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