Right, time for an update.

Ive been mainly working on texturing, but also optimizing and some gameplay elements.
Ive got hold of Dm_neons textures and got permission from IZaNaGI to use them. Since they have a pretty special theme ill use them sparsly to avoid making my map looking like his.
Ive added some stuff that clearly gave the map a whole new look. ive also made one texture that fitted in the map, and im very proud of that after just a few weeks of training in photoshop =).


In this image you can clearly see that windows has been added to the skyskrapers. Spaceships has been added which is a scrolling texture, a very cheap and cool looking solution. An Ad (Bistercola) has replaced Breen however it will probably be replaced or enhanced. Lots of textures has been added to this seen, however its pretty hard to detect.


Same scene from another view. It looks much more detailed thanks to the textures.


A view of some skyscrapers, you can clearly see the spaceships here aswell.


An overview of the main battle area. Windows has been added to the building in the background, and as more detailed decals. You can see them if you look closely. Ads has been added by those found in Dm_neon. However ill probably change those aswell. Starwars stuff just doesnt fit..


The warehouse part has been enhanced with more detail (the "elevators" with crates on them). Ive added a floor texture and other textures here and there.
Ive decided to make the crate textures myself, but I havent started doing them just yet.


Inside the lab. More textures has been added, but no geometry. Ive got some ideas that im planning to ad, but that will come later on.

So, what do you guys think?
Feedback is appreciated, as always.

I dont intend to use the same set of orange/grey textures. They are dev
textures since I dont have gotten proper custom textures yet. Im
working really hard with trying to learn photoshop but hey, noone can
become a master in a few weeks.

Great - from the new screenshots you posted, with the new gold texture,
I feared that you where simply going to replace the devloper textures
with that and a grey texture.

I really like the look of your level, plz keep updating. :smile:

agreed. I found it quite interesting, and I'm actually now listening to Cliff's GDC speech.

MisterBister, thanks for sharing that article. I only got through part of it, but it was interesting.

Progress:
I read the "bens small bible of realistic multiplayer design" the other day and it really blowed me away.
Im currently looking at the map from a whole new perspective gameplay-wise, and its really exciting.
I also found out that it lacks lots of gameplay tweaks that I havent thought of before. Solutions to these issues has bombarded me today, and ive got lots of new great ideas. Im currently playing around with them.

It feels a bit funny too.
You have been a leveldesigner for about five years and you "think" you know it all, and then something like this shows up just totally turns everything upside down.
I have to email the author and thank him. Its a must read, doesnt matter if youre a hardcore mapper or not.
It can be found here:
http://www.crymod.com/uploads/tutorials/Crytek/Bens_Small_Bible_of_Realistic_Multiplayer_Level_Design.pdf

Im currently struggling with the textures aswell. Ive done lots of progress, but its a loong road. Im getting help from a friend who is very talented though. Hopefully, some of the textures in the final version will be by myself =).

Thanks ALOT for the feedback. Here's my answers.

I am salivating over the screens files here. You could actually increase them a smidgen with incurring anyones wrath. The clarity is even shocking this old man and I am one of the pioneers of the perfect image size.

/me bows to a master.

I really need to download this thing but, I only want to do so twice. Once for a critique perhaps and once for a completed version. Downloading sucks owl s**t these days.
Lemme know when this thing is ready for my attentions.
Thats not an elite comment, its a self aware "hey I'm on 56k" kind.

Well... Uh.... I really dont get anything of what you said in the first sentence, but since you wrote "/me bows to a master" I guess thats good..

I especially like the last picture.

I'm not sure about the red lights. They are alarming, almost look a bit to colorfull to me in contrast with the blue lights next to them. I'd try to go with a more consistent light color, or split the blue/orange parts into seperate areas.

What I miss is a true focal point in most screens. The spotlights are too evenly distributed in the map. There should be a piece of geometry that stands out from everything else. This could be done by brighter lighting and some darker areas around it, more contrast, maybe a bigger part with no spotlights at all.

I'm not sure what you intended but I always see the buildings in the background with lots of little yellowish/blueish lit windows. I'd try to use at least some temporary textures to simulate this. They could become a very important part of the visuals even though they are in the background. Maybe it will look odd later when combined with the little spotlights in the foreground!

I got fond of the red lights, so im afraid ill stick to them..
Thanks for mentioning the focal point thing, i havent thought of that and it really makes sense to me.
I have a few ideas that im playing around with at the moment to fix that.

True and abit boring IMO if you plan on making every building use the same set of gray/orange textures.

I dont intend to use the same set of orange/grey textures. They are dev textures since I dont have gotten proper custom textures yet. Im working really hard with trying to learn photoshop but hey, noone can become a master in a few weeks.

He still doesn't have a full set of custem textures btw.

You do have me impressed MisterBister. I personally like the red and blue lights but you do need some kind of focal point. Maybe a statue or fountain or something. A city of this size is bound to have a major public works project somewhere.

Keep it up, I'll download when you get into the beta phases.

Yes, thanks for mentioning the focal point. Im working on that. I also agree that it needs to be something solid, like a statue or whatever. As I said, ive got a few ideas that im playing around with.

He still doesn't have a full set of custem textures btw.

You do have me impressed MisterBister. I personally like the red and blue lights but you do need some kind of focal point. Maybe a statue or fountain or something. A city of this size is bound to have a major public works project somewhere.

Keep it up, I'll download when you get into the beta phases.

I especially like the last picture.

I'm not sure about the red lights. They are alarming, almost look a bit
to colorfull to me in contrast with the blue lights next to them. I'd
try to go with a more consistent light color, or split the blue/orange
parts into seperate areas.

What I miss is a true focal point in most screens. The spotlights are
too evenly distributed in the map. There should be a piece of geometry
that stands out from everything else. This could be done by brighter
lighting and some darker areas around it, more contrast, maybe a bigger
part with no spotlights at all.

I'm not sure what you intended but I always see the buildings in the
background with lots of little yellowish/blueish lit windows. I'd try
to use at least some temporary textures to simulate this. They could
become a very important part of the visuals even though they are in the
background. Maybe it will look odd later when combined with the little
spotlights in the foreground!

True and abit boring IMO if you plan on making every building use the same set of gray/orange textures.

I especially like the last picture.

I'm not sure about the red lights. They are alarming, almost look a bit
to colorfull to me in contrast with the blue lights next to them. I'd
try to go with a more consistent light color, or split the blue/orange
parts into seperate areas.

What I miss is a true focal point in most screens. The spotlights are
too evenly distributed in the map. There should be a piece of geometry
that stands out from everything else. This could be done by brighter
lighting and some darker areas around it, more contrast, maybe a bigger
part with no spotlights at all.

I'm not sure what you intended but I always see the buildings in the
background with lots of little yellowish/blueish lit windows. I'd try
to use at least some temporary textures to simulate this. They could
become a very important part of the visuals even though they are in the
background. Maybe it will look odd later when combined with the little
spotlights in the foreground!

I am salivating over the screens files here. You could actually increase them a smidgen with incurring anyones wrath. The clarity is even shocking this old man and I am one of the pioneers of the perfect image size.

/me bows to a master.

I really need to download this thing but, I only want to do so twice. Once for a critique perhaps and once for a completed version. Downloading sucks owl s**t these days.

Lemme know when this thing is ready for my attentions.

Thats not an elite comment, its a self aware "hey I'm on 56k" kind.

Time for another update!
Ive been experimenting with alot of colors back and forth, aswell as learning how to make textures.
Right now ive been stuck with the warm ones orange, red and so on.
Ive also changed the ambient light to a more blueish one. Feels like a good contrast to the warm lights I added.
Everything is very experimental, so please say what you think of it.



I have added a bunch of spotlights to the left, aswell as given them a cold blue color.
Works pretty well with the red i think. The "bridge" in the lower part of the picture has
gotten blueish lights aswell.


As you can see, ive added colours here aswell. Im not sure about the red ones though, i think i will make them more orange.
The orange spots are too small, or too few i think..


Here is an overview, the big tower in the middle is very grey compared to the rest, ill change that.
The red lights in the middle looks a bit out of place i think, probably going to make them more orange aswell.


Here is a sample of an orange texture my friend made, i thought it was quite cool with gold-like metal so i added them.
If theyre going to stay there they need some more detail though.


Ah, heres some result of my texture struggle. To the left is a failed attempt to bumpmap. To the right is a crate texture i made..
Im afraid it would have looked alright seven years ago.. Hopefully ill improve =).


Ah, finally another overview. The red spots are quite nice i think, aswell as the smoke above them.
Im planning to add more smoke from other chimneys in the map later on.