The first thing that I noticed is that most buildings are just blocks with windows. Try to break that feeling and make more buildings less blockish. Look around in a close by city and see how the buildings look in there. Also look in previously made maps, they can be helpfull, even if they haven't got the same theme.

This map has a diffrent city theme, yet it can still give you some ideas for your city.

I'll make a few examples how you can improve the buildings, I will make it in Hl1 though, not in source.

I really like screen 4 that you posted. I think its the best looking one you've posted in this thread so far, it's gettin' really good.

Also, I think the changes to the playground would look good, also, like GBall said, stairs instead of a ladder there.

I like the inside shot you showed, good texture choice on the walls and nice functional lighting in there.

.. and another example of the reason I love this place. :smile: Stairs... of course. Handrails as well sound great. :biggrin:

@ potential misunderstanding: nah, I said "Going back to flatten it out a bit is a possibility" - not entirely. :smile:

Thanks a lot for those suggestions. :smile: Right now working on a solution to the combine-wallitis.

Good to hear you've got a game plan :wink: For your playground idea, the image you showed looks like a good idea as to how it could be constructed -- I would suggest that you keep away from putting a ladder there, and build a staircase along the wall instead. Also make sure that the "road" isn't used as the edge of that hill. A sidewalk and some guard rails along the upper ledge would have that area whipped.

Also: I think you misunderstood me when I was refering to the hill-like-road :wink: I wasn't implying that you completely remove it, if that's what you thought I was talking about :smile: I like the hill, but the way it's constructed doesn't quite fit. Once again though, that image you made of the playgroud looks like a good way to go -- just use a staircase instead of a ladder :smile:

Thanks, G -

The combine walls, as discussed earlier (quite a long thread by now, so I doubt you've read the bit on that, no worries) do need to go, for the most part. A few ideas were mentioned and discussed, and that's something I should be getting around to very soon. As soon as I get the map sealed off with other methods I'll begin extending the environment and fleshing out the skybox (I want to wait until I know what's visible from where before I begin placing things around).

As for the hill - iunno, maybe it was just recently built? ;D Going back to flatten it out a bit is a possibility but not something I had planned on (took a long time to sculpt it up to the way it is). Quite possible, though, I appreciate the mention - I'll think about it.

@ playground: Well, maybe the slide and monkeybars need to go then. :smile: Hmm.. maybe if I had walls surround the grass area from the ground up to the sidewalk level all around so it was kind of a flatter area... something like this: http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/8382/parkvl0.jpg

Thoughts?

By the way, I've set two rough goals... I dunno if I'll achieve it but it will at least motivate me to work harder, perhaps. :smile:

1) Be done with the basic map layout within around a week. That includes passages through buildings, entrances and exits, basic geometry...

2) Take it one step at a time. Make a building entrance, create a connecting room, create an exit to another building or to the map, move onto the next building... wash, rinse, repeat, et cetera. :smile:

Looks like an improvement -- some things:

Screen 6 looks a bit odd. I have no idea why -- maybe it's just the camera.

I'd suggest that you stop relying on the huge combine walls as a "hull" for the map. It's ugly, and it leaves little room for there to be anything else behind it -- which brings me to the fact that there doesn't appear to be any architecture behind the combine walls, except for that water tower. I'd also suggest to get a nice pretty, 3d sky box :razz:

Also, that hillish road that you have made looks a bit too steep. I'd say that a European city would have flattened it out, and a lot of the "curve" that the hill has would have been removed.

Edit: And I don't think a play ground would be built on such a steep angle :razz:

Alright, so I did said recompile. Here are a few screens:

1: http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4899/residential1uw8.jpg
2: http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/6123/residential2jm6.jpg
3, new restaurant area visible (wall is too jagged, I know) :smile: : http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/5774/residential3vs1.jpg
4: http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4241/residential4hg2.jpg
5: http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/3474/residential5bz6.jpg
6: http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2899/residential6zh5.jpg
7: http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2716/residential7ul1.jpg
8: http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/7472/residential8rp3.jpg

I'm quite liking the way it looks, although the sun ought to be slightly darker still, and probably the streetlight beams a bit more focused; as well as a bit more light in darker areas (notably the upper right corner of the park) which will probably come with new interiors (porch lights, light from inside spilling out, etc).

Yeah, probably not something I'd like to do (custom skybox material).

Sticking with the current sky for now, but darkened the light_env slightly. Also added point_spotlights which should look nice, and added more lighting in a few places (lights outside store/restaurant and another apartment building). Will compile overnight and I hope (even feel slightly confident for once) that it'll look good when it's done. :smile:

Probably some screens tomorrow at least to show the progress...

Custom skies are also an option, although I don't know where to find any, so you'll have to do some googling, perhaps.

Yeah, maybe a darker skybox. Hmm. I'll have to see what's available.. quite few "dark" ones for HL2. I like the mix of pinkish sky/light with barely-light-blue street lamps.

If Valve would only let us DM mappers use CS/DOD skyboxes. :sad: