Repositioned/remade a bunch of axis spawn points. Remade/tidied some routes. Added ambient noise. Added new link.
Dec '06 update;-
added a couple of planes flying over, more overlays, some phone wires, more overlays, some random phyisics props, updated the screenshots, and uploaded a b1 version. i think i'll need to make a b2 version pretty soon though, as i left a rotten big player clip in place after moving a fence. other than that, i'm not aware of any problems.
oh, did i mention that i added more overlays?
this is the outcome of messing with dod:s models. it started off as a few buildings and a train platform, and has grown, without any real planning, into something that could possibly become a decent map. the plan at the moment(subject to change without notice) is to have the allies spawn in a graveyard at one end of the map, which is the only area that still needs any major construction, and the axis at the other end, in a bombed out factory/warehouse beside the railway.
there's no optimization been done at all, but i've tried to be aware of lines of sight etc, which should help when i get around to that stage.
there's no street furniture been added yet either. rubble, telephone poles, street lights, etc. once i'm finished with the actual layout, and possibly have the gameflow tested, i'll have a better idea of what routes need to be adjusted, so sandbags and other streetjunk can help with that.
june22 update;
i've uploaded what is basically an alpha of the map. i'm not really looking for any feedback about textures, dodgy displacements, lighting etc. anyone that looks at it will see what is obviously still a work in progress, with too many problems to list.
that said though, i'd be interested to hear comments on where the gameplay might falter due to the actual layout and the routes and whatnot that are accessible.
What I was trying to say is once the axis cap their flag its not very far for them to get into a position that they can shoot at the ally flag. Its only a few seconds run, and even if the allys cap their flag before the axis shoot them, it seems like it would be very difficult to prevent the axis from controling that flag fairly easily. I could be wrong though. Other than that, when does it come out? looks great!
I'm really not a DOD(S) expert so I keep this short. But from the screenshots alone I can tell that this map would benefit from more contrast in lighting. Right now it looks almost monochromatic.
Let the sunlight come from a flatter angle, make it 2, 3 times as bright. Most importantly add some color to the lights. Give the sun a slight yellowish tone, even thought the sky is so grey. Just something to try that could spice up the atmosphere I think.
there's buildings between them, so it's not a problem. that's not to say that the flags can't be moved; they probably will be, depending on feedback from any beta release.
From what I can see from the overlay, the axis will be able to cap their flags almost instantly, but when they allys try to cap flag4, they will be shot at by the axis who capped flag two. You might want to think about that
Posted by omegaslayer on
Sun May 7th 2006 at 6:03pm
Based off of the latest batch of screen shots:
The map isnt quite done im aware, and maybe you havent gotten to this
yet, but the map looks like its too clean and steril. Add some debri
for that war striken look that makes DoD maps look great.
With that said I look foward to seeing this map done!
most of that is planned for, but it'll be part of the final stages. paths to doors will be either displacement alpha-mapped paths, or overlays. some existing boundary walls are earmarked for demolition, and replacement when i start on a civic wall building program, which sort of covers point7
gutters in the street, i think will be detail that i can do without. same goes for the bird s**t. there should be enough debris to break up any streets that are too plain.
as for windblown rubbish in the streets, weren't the people too poor to have that back then?
stain overlays have been getting thrown onto buildings while i'm working in their local area, but cloning overlays, for quickness, has thrown up errors during map load, so i'll need to place them one at a time, which sucks, because i cant get new overlays to appear in hammer until i save/exit/reload the vmf. that's partly what's held up the paths too.
telephone poles and wires, sandbags, craters, vehicles, market stalls/shop front area, 2 blocked road exits, 2 bags of assorted overlays, a skybox, 4 bags of optimisation weed, and all of the other unfinished stuff that, in my head, will only take 10 mins, but in reality will probably take at least a week each, all need to be addressed, but will be worked on when i know what areas have the best and worst fps
Orpheus said: Considering all the visual information contained in each screen , your FPS are holding up rather well Fishman.
In fact, I notice a noticeable increase between these screens and the preceding ones. Whats the diff?
there's some basic outdoor visblocking with sky brushes above some of the buildings, but it's incomplete, with gaps that probably make it only effective in part.
func_areaportals probably help too. i've started adding them to areas that i think could use them as i go. mostly sealing up buildings.
and this was a normal compile, the rest have all been fast shots, but that doesn't guarentee better fps.
i spent a lot of time optimizing a previous version of this, which turned out to be a waste of time because of subsequent changes, so i decided to build with vis in mind, but not spend any time building for it. now that the layout is all but done, it's time to see how playable i can make it. hopefully i can get the fps pushed up a good bit more. :smile:
