Posted by Madedog on Sat Nov 5th 2005 at 11:15am
Why not using displacements with power of 4? You could get along with lot lesser planes
And what bothers me is the optimization. How long does the VIS take?
They flickered against the base. I have had this problem a number of times.
Map is looking good, though the displacement "mountains" seem a bit odd. I think they look a bit too sharp and extreme.
In oder to get what I"m looking for, I have to choose between displacments level 2 and level 3. At 3 its a lot more polys and it looks a lot better. At 2 it's a lot less polys and it doesn't look as good. It helps to remember that except for the buildings this entire map is displacements.
It doesn't look quite the same in game, because the mountain range is a series of steps, with the plain being the bottom, the village being the next, the mountains you see in the screenshots the next step, and then there is a really large set of mountains behind them, that are in the skybox. The fog effect obscures them, and the screenshots don't show them at all, but they're up there.
That said, I could fix this by splitting the mountain displacments along the north south axis, effectivley doubling the polys on those twenty displacments, and texturing them separately, and using the additional polys to smooth out the mountains. I thought I could get away with what I've got here, so I didn't do that. Fixing it, because the back side of the mountains is in the skybox, would be painful and annoyingly tedious. But if it's that big a deal I might do it. Let me think about it a bit.
Thank you very much for the feedback.
-LN
Posted by KoRnFlakes on Fri Nov 4th 2005 at 3:45pm
My CoD2 didnt arrive this morning =/
Anyway, some more things to comment on (some I couldnt possibly be aware of as there is no download)
Does this map have sound? it just sprung to mind it needed a cold wind blustering past now and again, giving it an empty & suspenseful atmosphere, not only that but typically of cs, people listen out for footsteps & there are VERY few maps that use sound to mask them & make you rely on other things.
Do the sheep animate/make sound?
What is that helicopter doing there on your site images? I am working on the presumption the ct are trying to infiltrate this town which has been taken by the t's. They would certainly restrict themselves to mountaineering rather than a noisy helicopter.
Tunnels into caves afaik are prodominantly arched, for extra support. not to mention it would look nicer imo.
the neglection shown in -this- image (borded up window) is a nice touch.
What do these people do for a living? livestock or something related I presume, I cant think of anything (props) directly involved that you could add but for example -this- image, I dont know why, but I just see a wooden cart in it. it seems plain & everyone can see down the pathways without obstruction/cover
on the other hand -this- image show's people do live here (ladder) which is pretty much what i'm getting at.
Anyway, chew over some of that for a bit. if there is a download available anywhere gimme a shout & il post a small ritique up. (today if possible, my cod2 will arrive tommorow & I shant be seen for a bit heh.)
Posted by Captain P on Fri Nov 4th 2005 at 3:07pm
Looks like a good theme and I like the screenshots so far, but somewhat it still has some sort of HL feeling. I guess some more detail could give it that extra touch. For example, the roofs of those houses are just a simple brush, while some modelling could give it a much more natural look. Those buildings feel too square too, perhaps using displacements on their walls would be a good idea, or at least something to make it all feel more natural.
But apart from that all, it looks like it's going to be good. Keep it up!
Posted by ReNo on Fri Nov 4th 2005 at 2:35pm
Were the overlays flickering against the base surface, or flickering between each other? If the latter, then make sure your overlays that touch each other are assigned to different layers in their properties.
Map is looking good, though the displacement "mountains" seem a bit odd. I think they look a bit too sharp and extreme given that they are quite small scale and near to the playing field. Are they actually part of a 3D skybox, or just part of the main area? If the latter, you should look into using a 3D skybox and consider increasing the scale to make them more epically mountainous.
...snowy roof textures & some sort of masked texture
...a trickle of snow drops around would do it absolute wonders.
I tried using snow overlays but they "flicker", and ruin the effect. Now that the light is lower, maybe I can try again.
The weather effects are wonderful, but they're also VERY expensive to render. CSS needs FPS, more than single player does, so while I would love to add mist, it's just too expensive.
Thank you so much for your ideas, you've been very helpful.
-LN
Posted by KoRnFlakes on Thu Nov 3rd 2005 at 11:09pm
hmm, fair 'uff. What I was trying to get at was, perhaps snowy roof textures & some sort of masked texture (not sure what theyre called now tbh, havent mapped since hl1) that looks like snow/ice hanging down the side of the roofing.
+ SURELY in hl2 weather effects can be added? its supposed to be a modern engine, a trickle of snow drops around would do it absolute wonders. (someone must have done this)
Korn....
Great feedback, thank you.
1) I have made snow models to be used as details, so that there is a bit more snow around, but they're a drain on the engine and I pulled them. I'll see if I can add some more.
2) I have lowered the light as Satch recommended, and it looks much better. If I can get the sky right now, I'll be thrilled.
3) The damage is a good idea. I"ll collapse a few parts of buidings.
Now, if you see the reference photo, the truth is, that this looks about right. I have others, and really, the villages aren't unmaintained. Individual family farms are unmaintained in rural areas. But generally, villages, which have a different economic model, are sloppy, but not necessarily unmaintained.
-Cheers.
Posted by KoRnFlakes on Thu Nov 3rd 2005 at 10:37pm
the sheep and the 1st screenshot indicate this place is very very rural.
Nion every rural town has its wear & tear, theyve often been around for years. yet the buildings all look to be in good nick.
Perhaps a bit of damage/neglect wouldnt go amiss.
The second image, suggests this is very high land (which explains the sheep) and as satch mentioned before it is too bright & too warm for such a place. evidence of snowy peaks in the background make me wonder if there should be snow around the village also.
Edit: Noticed there is some snow, but no evidence of it "landing" you need some hanging off the rooftops etc. think of where it may fall & build up.
Fish...
Fixed the link.
Thanks
Thank you very much. From you that's high praise.
I have tried everything I can think of. I am trying to get that "just at dawn on a cold morning at the beginning of spring", feeling and I can't get both the atmosphere thick enough and the shadows quite right. Perhaps you're right and I just need to reduce the light a bit.
Thanks for the feedback.
-LN
