Excellent progress in the screens Juim! 3D box makes a big diff there. Nice contrast to the orange below. Be careful with the ambient light levels, dim maps = frustrated players for the most part. Couple big bright spots from up high would work well too.
Regarding my fog comment, originally I was envisioning something super basic like a single displacement in your 3d sky, so what I said doesnt apply really, cause you won't have a visible horizon. Besides that I was gonna say try a few numbers in the fog controller for your main play area, it'll take awhile but I think you'll come up with something you like. Check out Lockdown, it's set up so you don't really notice it, but it's there alright. Also Valar did a nice blend on Milieu too.
These maps don't have a 3d skybox, so after you're happy with an interior fog, you can set 3d sky fog options in the sky_camera properties, to achieve a blend that isn't too overdone. I did this on that contest map you joined me on, fire it up and watch the fog fades between world and 3dbox, I think I got pretty close there.
About the rendercolor, it's only available on non-static props, so set that one to _dyn override and you'll be able to subtly change the color of the prop. An env_lightglow with the color set to the light would be good too.
I'm having major windows issues but PM me a link to a vmf and I'll try to check it out!
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Juim on Sat Apr 4th at 1:44pm 2009

Juim
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Posted by Juim on Sat Apr 4th at 1:44pm 2009
B...U...M...P
OK, so in order to save web hosting space I replaced all of the map posts previous pics with the current ones(beta 7), so,please disreguard all comments which accompany them.
Now on to business. Beta 7 will most likely be the last beta barring any grand errors. It's a frilly affair with the FF clan stamp all over it. Players seem to have fun with it though. There's custom textures, a custom sound secret, secret teleporters, and an RPG killer secret which Reapers dm_balcony inspired. (It's an "homage" Reap!).I added Haymakers speed ladders where I could. The longer ladders, due to their vertical nature just would'nt work well, so I left them as regular ladders. Special thanks to Haymaker, btw, who took time to run around the map with me on several occasions, pointing out countless little(and big) things to do/fix. Now I know I have'nt really inspired anyone with this map, but I could really use fresh eyes for the final release. It is rather a fun map if I do say so myself,(and I do!).Linkage:
http://www.brdstudio.net/ffmember/juim/dm_ff_stinger_b7.zip
And for those of you just joining us here's the screenies all in one post.:
This is one of the main courtyards. I call it the "Pluck-n-Chuck" cause theres melon trees a growin thar!
Same courtyard, reverse view. You have to hit the jump pad just right.
goofy little teleporter I snuck in.
A view from down below.
The glass tubey thingy.
Another angle from down below.
This is the other main area above. Got some Z-axis goin on here.
the reverse on that area.
NoClip, top down view.
Another view from below.
I got rid of all the glass fanciness. Took a heavy toll on performance.
the founders room(secret sound byte in here).
My version of Reapers RPG killer. (Shoot the rotating FF sign from anywhere to remove rocketeer from roof!)
Just a sexy view to show part of the 3d skybox.
So I have a few things to do, but mostly I need feedback/critz/comments, etc. As always thanks for having a look.
OK, so in order to save web hosting space I replaced all of the map posts previous pics with the current ones(beta 7), so,please disreguard all comments which accompany them.
Now on to business. Beta 7 will most likely be the last beta barring any grand errors. It's a frilly affair with the FF clan stamp all over it. Players seem to have fun with it though. There's custom textures, a custom sound secret, secret teleporters, and an RPG killer secret which Reapers dm_balcony inspired. (It's an "homage" Reap!).I added Haymakers speed ladders where I could. The longer ladders, due to their vertical nature just would'nt work well, so I left them as regular ladders. Special thanks to Haymaker, btw, who took time to run around the map with me on several occasions, pointing out countless little(and big) things to do/fix. Now I know I have'nt really inspired anyone with this map, but I could really use fresh eyes for the final release. It is rather a fun map if I do say so myself,(and I do!).Linkage:
http://www.brdstudio.net/ffmember/juim/dm_ff_stinger_b7.zip
And for those of you just joining us here's the screenies all in one post.:
This is one of the main courtyards. I call it the "Pluck-n-Chuck" cause theres melon trees a growin thar!
Same courtyard, reverse view. You have to hit the jump pad just right.
goofy little teleporter I snuck in.
A view from down below.
The glass tubey thingy.
Another angle from down below.
This is the other main area above. Got some Z-axis goin on here.
the reverse on that area.
NoClip, top down view.
Another view from below.
I got rid of all the glass fanciness. Took a heavy toll on performance.
the founders room(secret sound byte in here).
My version of Reapers RPG killer. (Shoot the rotating FF sign from anywhere to remove rocketeer from roof!)
Just a sexy view to show part of the 3d skybox.
So I have a few things to do, but mostly I need feedback/critz/comments, etc. As always thanks for having a look.
Juim
member
726 posts
183 snarkmarks
Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles

Occupation: Motion Picture Grip
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Le Chief on Sat Apr 4th at 10:37pm 2009
Posted by Le Chief on Sat Apr 4th at 10:37pm 2009
Lookin good! I'll give it a go later but one things that strikes me is the map is very "diffuse" in both lighting and texture choice. See if you can sharpen up some of those shadows and perhaps even use more spotlight entities with nice crisp cones instead of the light entities or wide spotlights. With the texture choices, you using alot of bare textures, look at the first shot, the concrete floor, some of those walls, the tunnel thing and the first shot isn't the worst offender of overuse of bare textures *cough* 3rd last *cough* 6th last *cough* 4th *cough* 6th etc. Your missing out on alot of detail and depth in your level by using these textures!
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Juim on Sat Apr 11th at 2:35pm 2009
Still plugging away here. Trying to bring some color and a bit more diversity to this area.

Juim
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Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Motion Picture Grip
Posted by Juim on Sat Apr 11th at 2:35pm 2009
Still plugging away here. Trying to bring some color and a bit more diversity to this area.
Juim
member
726 posts
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Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles

Occupation: Motion Picture Grip
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by G4MER on Sat Apr 11th at 8:39pm 2009
Posted by G4MER on Sat Apr 11th at 8:39pm 2009
Its Official, I hate you now. =) LOL, man that rockstars! Great work so far. I can hardly wait to run around in it and see of the goodness it has to offer.
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Le Chief on Sun Apr 12th at 12:24am 2009
Posted by Le Chief on Sun Apr 12th at 12:24am 2009
I played this map the other day. Not really much else to say, it takes me a while to figure out layout or pacing issues and little things like if the height of objects should be decreased or what not, might play thought it again and look for that sort of stuff.
It had a few perks which I think add character to the map which is a positive.
I still agree with my comment about the map being very diffuse in terms of lighting and texture choices. I think by having diffuse lighting and texturing your missing out on alot of depth and making the level look less meaty. I'm sure your onto that though, this is probably just an early iteration of textureing and I'm sure you'll refine the lighting as this project continues, we have already seen big changes in that department
.
And ofcourse, ambient sound... don't forget about that but that's usually one of the things that happen in the second half of development.
Edit:
One other thing, I think you could do a better job with the 3D skybox or that space outside the level. I didn't really get the feeling of being a part of a greater world, it still felt "oh yeah, so beyond those buildings is where the world ends". I think you should add some distant buildings to really create that sense of depth, and also, I think it would be better if you removed that ground and extended the height of the buildings so we can't see the bottom or start of them.
It had a few perks which I think add character to the map which is a positive.
I still agree with my comment about the map being very diffuse in terms of lighting and texture choices. I think by having diffuse lighting and texturing your missing out on alot of depth and making the level look less meaty. I'm sure your onto that though, this is probably just an early iteration of textureing and I'm sure you'll refine the lighting as this project continues, we have already seen big changes in that department
And ofcourse, ambient sound... don't forget about that but that's usually one of the things that happen in the second half of development.
Edit:
One other thing, I think you could do a better job with the 3D skybox or that space outside the level. I didn't really get the feeling of being a part of a greater world, it still felt "oh yeah, so beyond those buildings is where the world ends". I think you should add some distant buildings to really create that sense of depth, and also, I think it would be better if you removed that ground and extended the height of the buildings so we can't see the bottom or start of them.
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by haymaker on Sun Apr 12th at 2:20am 2009
Posted by haymaker on Sun Apr 12th at 2:20am 2009
Lookin' good! View seems a little "sharper" in that screenie. Those walkway-awnings look like a good idea, save some fall damage. Just as long as they don't impede entry/exit from the walkway via jumps.
Aaron's comment on sound is worth working on. I didn't say anything before because it hadn't occurred to me, being in-development as it was.
I hadn't noticed anything terribly amiss with the 3d box but I wasn't really looking, though. I do like the way your buildings have turned out, they look "alive" somehow. Maybe just some func_illusionary silhouettes made out of halflife/black poking up here and there in the distance might work.
Aaron's comment on sound is worth working on. I didn't say anything before because it hadn't occurred to me, being in-development as it was.
I hadn't noticed anything terribly amiss with the 3d box but I wasn't really looking, though. I do like the way your buildings have turned out, they look "alive" somehow. Maybe just some func_illusionary silhouettes made out of halflife/black poking up here and there in the distance might work.
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by haymaker on Fri Apr 24th at 7:58pm 2009
Posted by haymaker on Fri Apr 24th at 7:58pm 2009
I've had a few games on this now, and it plays great! The attention to FPS has really helped it along. Your best effort to date by a fair margin imo. Yesterday I noticed a particular angle into the 3d box that was near-perfect too.
I found it quite easy to just camp the back basement orb-hcharger-understairteleport area for most of the games I've played. That area has a lot more power base than the "FF" hall, which I found I just didnt even want to go to, knowing there would a good chance of slams there, or an rpg user nearby. Not worth the might-not-be-there power points either. So for me the map seems a bit unbalanced that way.
One other subconcious point i noted is that I kept expecting an hpack/vial at the top of the ladder leading to the back window, from that hcharger area below. idk why but it seems that there should be one there, maybe because it's a 4-way intersection.
Sweet map, one of my favs so far this year!
I found it quite easy to just camp the back basement orb-hcharger-understairteleport area for most of the games I've played. That area has a lot more power base than the "FF" hall, which I found I just didnt even want to go to, knowing there would a good chance of slams there, or an rpg user nearby. Not worth the might-not-be-there power points either. So for me the map seems a bit unbalanced that way.
One other subconcious point i noted is that I kept expecting an hpack/vial at the top of the ladder leading to the back window, from that hcharger area below. idk why but it seems that there should be one there, maybe because it's a 4-way intersection.
Sweet map, one of my favs so far this year!
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Juim on Sat Apr 25th at 11:25pm 2009

Juim
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Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles
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Posted by Juim on Sat Apr 25th at 11:25pm 2009
Thanks Hay for the great comments. I am attempting to balance that area out by adding a back area to the founders hall, and throwing in a combine ball spawner. Your praise is unexpected and greatly appreciated.It's Awesome to get such positive feedback from such a noted mapper!!!!!!!!!!!!.
(PS)..
I will definitely put a healthpack in that area you mentioned.
(PS)..
I will definitely put a healthpack in that area you mentioned.
Juim
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Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles

Occupation: Motion Picture Grip
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Juim on Sun May 3rd at 1:55pm 2009

Juim
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726 posts
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Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Motion Picture Grip
Posted by Juim on Sun May 3rd at 1:55pm 2009
http://www.brdstudio.net/ffmember/juim/dm_ff_stinger_b9.zip
Latest version. Here's some screenies:




So I widened the walkways in the upper west courtyard. Added some awnings for drop down Z-axis fun. Added some teleporters to several different parts of the map to aid gameplay. Re-lit the entire map(and added a tone of walkway lights), enlarged the "Jump" pad, clipped the outer walkways(so you can't get outside the map now), and btw the whole map is clipped to facilitate low grav servers,(but the frame rates might not be so desirable from way up there unless you have a monster rig.). There are no screenies of the lower area, as not much has changed there. I must admit that the way my brain works, sometimes I need to step away from the mapping for a bit, and usually, something will come to me.And, the watermelons in the "Pluck-n-Chuck courtyard are 'splodable now!
Things I need to do yet:
The lower area(duh)
I need a good tutorial on floating weapon pick-ups. (The one at interlopers leaves a pile of weapons at the world center.).
Founders hall(east side). Need to add a back room, it's a pet project for the clan, but I also need to add some incentive to go there for gameplay balance.
I don't do modeling yet, but I would love to customize the exploding barrels with the FF logo!.
And of course, any major changes you might see/suggest will always be taken into consideration, (as you can see by the B9 version!.)
Thanks for the great feedback as always.
Latest version. Here's some screenies:




So I widened the walkways in the upper west courtyard. Added some awnings for drop down Z-axis fun. Added some teleporters to several different parts of the map to aid gameplay. Re-lit the entire map(and added a tone of walkway lights), enlarged the "Jump" pad, clipped the outer walkways(so you can't get outside the map now), and btw the whole map is clipped to facilitate low grav servers,(but the frame rates might not be so desirable from way up there unless you have a monster rig.). There are no screenies of the lower area, as not much has changed there. I must admit that the way my brain works, sometimes I need to step away from the mapping for a bit, and usually, something will come to me.And, the watermelons in the "Pluck-n-Chuck courtyard are 'splodable now!
Things I need to do yet:
The lower area(duh)
I need a good tutorial on floating weapon pick-ups. (The one at interlopers leaves a pile of weapons at the world center.).
Founders hall(east side). Need to add a back room, it's a pet project for the clan, but I also need to add some incentive to go there for gameplay balance.
I don't do modeling yet, but I would love to customize the exploding barrels with the FF logo!.
And of course, any major changes you might see/suggest will always be taken into consideration, (as you can see by the B9 version!.)
Thanks for the great feedback as always.
Juim
member
726 posts
183 snarkmarks
Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles

Occupation: Motion Picture Grip
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Juim on Mon May 4th at 1:48am 2009

Juim
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726 posts
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Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles
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Posted by Juim on Mon May 4th at 1:48am 2009
Come on people!. Reaper! Reno!, I at least deserve an "I hate this map!". I can take it!. And,... I historically have made huge changes based on suggestions made by you Pitters. As it is, I am getting the most positive feedback I have ever recieved on this one from the server crowd. So make with the opinions/critz. I'd do it for you!
(Insert soft emotion extracting violin music here).
(Insert soft emotion extracting violin music here).
Juim
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726 posts
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Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles

Occupation: Motion Picture Grip
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Le Chief on Mon May 4th at 10:12am 2009
Posted by Le Chief on Mon May 4th at 10:12am 2009
Gee, I hope I can give as good feed back as Haymaker did
Well, the visuals are starting to look pretty solid now, lighting looks a bit sharper, don't know if that's just because there is more contrast (colour and brightness wise) now, I still think the textures look really diffuse though. You need to add more "trim" and add a bit more depth to those walls by using more "detailed" textures I guess and ease off a little on those bare textures, although the diffuse textures don't stand out as much as they did the last set of screenshots.
I'll download it later and I'll let you know what I think, I'll pay attention to gameplay and such this time
. But seriously, if I don't reply within 2 days, you should pm me just to remind me, I'll probably forget!
Photoshop skills is all you need! I wrote a tutorial on this. Hopefully its not too messy, I think I might have to refine it up a bit!
Well, the visuals are starting to look pretty solid now, lighting looks a bit sharper, don't know if that's just because there is more contrast (colour and brightness wise) now, I still think the textures look really diffuse though. You need to add more "trim" and add a bit more depth to those walls by using more "detailed" textures I guess and ease off a little on those bare textures, although the diffuse textures don't stand out as much as they did the last set of screenshots.
I'll download it later and I'll let you know what I think, I'll pay attention to gameplay and such this time
Quoting Juim
I don't do modeling yet, but I would love to customize the exploding barrels with the FF logo!.
Photoshop skills is all you need! I wrote a tutorial on this. Hopefully its not too messy, I think I might have to refine it up a bit!
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by haymaker on Fri May 8th at 6:31pm 2009
Posted by haymaker on Fri May 8th at 6:31pm 2009
Yes the barrel reskin is not too much work at all. Check out Aaron's tut ( nice work btw on the tuts Aaron ).
And check your PM's Juim.
And check your PM's Juim.
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by ffjakebrake on Tue May 12th at 9:19pm 2009
Posted by ffjakebrake on Tue May 12th at 9:19pm 2009
The only thing I have to say is that the true testimony comes from the multitude of players who have playtested this map over the last few weeks. The general feedback is that this map is extremely enjoyable to play with a real diverse layout which keeps the action fresh. I continue to receive many requests to put this map up next n the cycle while we are playing. There are areas of this map which are tactical, and yet other areas where it is straight out close up warfare. Once again, great job! So far this year, this map is the players favorite, at least on my two servers!
Re: dm_ff_stinger_b7
Posted by Juim on Sun Jun 7th at 2:43pm 2009

Juim
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Posted by Juim on Sun Jun 7th at 2:43pm 2009
well, it's finished for the most part. Download has been updated to this final version. I called it rc1 just in case someone found something I missed but I really can't think of anything else to do here. Heavily optimized from beta 9, (Thanks Haymaker and [eye]Valar!). Retextured and re-lit, I feel like this is also the most playable so here's a couple of screenies:


couple of shots of the lower area.

Here's a picasso style teleporter!

From up above. The rest of the areas are pretty much the same as the other screenshots, so I won't bother reposting them, but thanks for your inputs and as always, having a look!
the download:
http://www.brdstudio.net/ffmember/juim/dm_ff_stinger_rc1.zip


couple of shots of the lower area.

Here's a picasso style teleporter!

From up above. The rest of the areas are pretty much the same as the other screenshots, so I won't bother reposting them, but thanks for your inputs and as always, having a look!
the download:
http://www.brdstudio.net/ffmember/juim/dm_ff_stinger_rc1.zip
Juim
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Registered: Feb 14th 2003
Location: Los Angeles

Occupation: Motion Picture Grip
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