Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Wed Jan 25th 2006 at 6:08pm
I need some clarification. If I post the imageshack code for thumbnails, does it load the whole image first anyway?
If it does, I'll link to my images. If not, I'll just post thumbs.
Posted by Orpheus on Wed Jan 25th 2006 at 1:05pm
One must understand my perspective before judging me harsh.
From my point of view, Snarkpit loads inconsistently. Sometimes it quits totally and I am forced to hit refresh to remind it what it was doing. If an image completes, it loads the next time I visit a thread. Case closed. If Snarkpit fails to continue, the image is incomplete and the image reloads again. If the image is 100k and there are a s**tload of them and they are incomplete, the thread is always loading. 
Now, I ask. Is there no solutions other than me crying incessantly or my avoiding threads with numerous images quietly?
I cry often. I never cry without reasons.
Posted by Captain P on Wed Jan 25th 2006 at 11:54am
Build a thumb-a-picture site or script, Orph, and we're all set. Nah, not all, but it would help... " SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">
I wonder if php functions are capable of good .jpg optimizing...
Posted by Orpheus on Wed Jan 25th 2006 at 2:04am
This thread will only work for people like me if true thumbnails are used Duncan. Loading a page, even a page full of perfectly optimized screenshots will never do.
/wet blanket.
Posted by ReNo on Tue Jan 24th 2006 at 2:20am
Texturing looks a bit repetitive - fairly large unbroken expanses of them in places, particularly the horizontal spans in that last shot. Maybe if you broke it up with some vertical pillars using a different texture, or some alcoves exposing a different texture? Even if it was using the same texture, the additional faces pointing in different directions would at least have different lighting to the current flat surface, which would break it up visually.
It would also give you a bit more potential for your light fixtures; at the moment they strike me as being a bit simple and look awkward since they are only small objects stuck onto big flat surfaces. If you had some smaller components to your architecture then you can incorporate your light fixtures into them somehow (be it part of the base of a pillar, or shining down into an alcove, or whatever) and they won't look so out of place. Get some supplementary colours in there too, as at the moment you seem to be sticking quite rigourously to yellow. I'd also suggest dropping the overall light level and making the areas around the lights themselves brighter - most of them don't appear to have any immediate effect around the fixtures themselves, but just contribute to the overall brightness. Maybe I'm being over optimistic with the control HL1's lighting offers though - Source spoils you a bit with falloff distances and the like![<img src=]()
" SRC="images/smiles/icon_wink.gif">
Another couple of comments as well. The handrail sections in the last two shots are hugely long - maybe get some more "structurally significant" brushwork in at uniform intervals? The wallways out there could benefit from a trim around the edges too (in HL1, everything benefits from a trim![<img src=]()
" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif">), and that could probably be worked into the
"structurally significant" handrail portions somehow too ![<img src=]()
" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">
Anyway, I'll shut up now - all in all I think the base architecture is nice (last shot seems very grand in particular) but could use some more subtle elements and improved lighting.
In answer to your question about the purpose of my map - exactly on the money. My honours project is to investigate, design and implement an AI system for background characters to demonstrate social intelligence (ie. not act like total retards), and I've decided to use HL2 to do so. HL2's background character AI for non-gameplay issues is pretty much non-existant, in that all they do is randomly choose and "act busy" node as placed in the map by hammer and play whatever animation it tells them to, so it's quite a nice blank slate to work from. Pity there is all the proper game AI stuff in there to clutter things up and confuse me no end however!
Texturing looks a bit repetitive - fairly large unbroken expanses of them in places, particularly the horizontal spans in that last shot. Maybe if you broke it up with some vertical pillars using a different texture, or some alcoves exposing a different texture? Even if it was using the same texture, the additional faces pointing in different directions would at least have different lighting to the current flat surface, which would break it up visually.
It would also give you a bit more potential for your light fixtures; at the moment they strike me as being a bit simple and look awkward since they are only small objects stuck onto big flat surfaces. If you had some smaller components to your architecture then you can incorporate your light fixtures into them somehow (be it part of the base of a pillar, or shining down into an alcove, or whatever) and they won't look so out of place. Get some supplementary colours in there too, as at the moment you seem to be sticking quite rigourously to yellow. I'd also suggest dropping the overall light level and making the areas around the lights themselves brighter - most of them don't appear to have any immediate effect around the fixtures themselves, but just contribute to the overall brightness. Maybe I'm being over optimistic with the control HL1's lighting offers though - Source spoils you a bit with falloff distances and the like
Another couple of comments as well. The handrail sections in the last two shots are hugely long - maybe get some more "structurally significant" brushwork in at uniform intervals? The wallways out there could benefit from a trim around the edges too (in HL1, everything benefits from a trim
Anyway, I'll shut up now - all in all I think the base architecture is nice (last shot seems very grand in particular) but could use some more subtle elements and improved lighting.
In answer to your question about the purpose of my map - exactly on the money. My honours project is to investigate, design and implement an AI system for background characters to demonstrate social intelligence (ie. not act like total retards), and I've decided to use HL2 to do so. HL2's background character AI for non-gameplay issues is pretty much non-existant, in that all they do is randomly choose and "act busy" node as placed in the map by hammer and play whatever animation it tells them to, so it's quite a nice blank slate to work from. Pity there is all the proper game AI stuff in there to clutter things up and confuse me no end however!
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Jan 24th 2006 at 2:05am
I like the last shot the best. It strikes me as very grand, which I like. It's almost as if you were mapping for HL2 while trying to keep things smooth, simple, and elegant.
The lighting seems a little random though... for example the locations of the lights on the rightmost pillar thing.
I think you might be able to add a few more light sources in that indoor picture, just to make it more interesting.
Posted by Captain P on Tue Jan 24th 2006 at 12:23am
Looks fine to me. Except that the benches and litter bins clash with the warehouse setting of course...
Does this AI stuff has anything to do with your 'background NPC AI' ideas you were talking about a while ago? Since you pointed out most NPC behaviour was fairly simplistic in most games...
I haven't done much mapping recently either, but when a friend of mine bought his own HLDM server I couldn't resist his request to do a map. So I scrounged up some old half-finished maps and put together some style elements using a simple layout I quickly thought up on. In 5 hours I created this:
I haven't finished it completely yet, the gameflow lacks a bit (though overall it's quite fun) so I still want to add a few connections and maybe another combat area, perhaps put in some more time to spice up the looks of it.
So, what do you guys think of this?
Posted by ReNo on Mon Jan 23rd 2006 at 7:56pm
Well the area at the moment is just something to use as a test area for the HL2 AI system and my tinkerings with it for my honours project. To demonstrate my honours project work I'm planning on having one or two everyday scenes (such as an office, train station, bar, warehouse, whatever) with NPC's doing their thing. This could evolve into one of the final scenes, possibly as a subway, possibly as a warehouse, or maybe it will never get beyond this test area. Who knows![<img src=]()
" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">
Glad you guys like it anyway, feels good to get back into hammer I must say. Belgarion, just have a shot at a concept area to play around with the theme of C17 if you don't want to commit to a full project...and post the results here for commenting![<img src=]()
" SRC="images/smiles/icon_wink.gif">
Well the area at the moment is just something to use as a test area for the HL2 AI system and my tinkerings with it for my honours project. To demonstrate my honours project work I'm planning on having one or two everyday scenes (such as an office, train station, bar, warehouse, whatever) with NPC's doing their thing. This could evolve into one of the final scenes, possibly as a subway, possibly as a warehouse, or maybe it will never get beyond this test area. Who knows
Glad you guys like it anyway, feels good to get back into hammer I must say. Belgarion, just have a shot at a concept area to play around with the theme of C17 if you don't want to commit to a full project...and post the results here for commenting
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Mon Jan 23rd 2006 at 7:48pm
Nice shots. The benches and the bins change the warehouse look to something more... Someone at mapcore mentioned that the altered shots now look like they could be part of a subway system. I could see that, although I couldn't really see where turnstyles or ticket booths would fit in
I like the rooms asymmetry, and I really like the warm lights you put near the floor by the shutter.
Nothing livens up a room like having NPCs strolling around -- I like that.
Do you think you'll expand this area? Or will you just work on it until it's "done"?
Posted by Belgarion on Mon Jan 23rd 2006 at 6:15pm
raawr
nice picies. maybe i should make something C17-ish. i never did. that's a nice spin on c17 though. i like.
