sj_castle by scary_jeff

Map Rating

  • 0
  • unrated

Map Download

Map Info

Map Description

This is a castle map. I started it ages ago, and am hoping to get it finished before HL2 is out.

Thanks to mazemaster for the great cannon model.

[Updated] 13/06/04 - new download and screenshots

Discussion

Posted by beer hunter on Tue Jun 8th 2004 at 6:50pm

2) What do you mean here? Is it that you stick when walking over the grass, or do you just not like having to jump to get onto the planters?
Its just a pain to jump up onto the planters, can't help feeling that 16 unit high ones would work better and allow peeps to run around this area without getting snagged up on them.
Perhaps I could put a couple of generators that look like they are powering the lights
Anything that adds a bit of variation is a good idea :smile:

/goes off to gawp at Fishys barrel model.
Posted by 7dk2h4md720ih on Tue Jun 8th 2004 at 3:47am

Jeff,

1. Clip off the edges of the castle to make falling impossible.

2. Coat outside of castle with null texture.

3. Rejoyce due to lower r's throughout the map.

4. Paypal me money to pay for my kidney operation.

Fishy, I agree about the keg. It looks great except for the green. :smile:
Posted by fishy on Mon Jun 7th 2004 at 11:15pm

beer hunter said:
barrels are ok-ish but could do with retexturing or steal the barrel models from Fishy's map.
not a problem. i believe from some of your other posts, Jeff, that you know how to hax teh models. feel free if you so desire.

[edit] i dug out the original .ms3d file with the grouping intact. twas much easier to seperate the parts that way. anyways, i broke it down to a single barrel, so it'll be easier to edit.

uhm, i hope you dont mind, but i haxed your map to see how it would look with the cannon. i'd say it's not too bad, though possibly a bit too green.

User posted image

www.invalid-brush.co.uk/files/models/powder_barrel.zip if you want to use it.
Posted by scary_jeff on Mon Jun 7th 2004 at 11:14pm
[Author]

Wow, these are all great guys. I can't wait to make all these changes you suggested but I'm really busy with uni work for a couple of days.

A:
1) I can easily make that better, but I'm starting to think that if I implement every idea (which I would ideally do), I could end up with 1200 r_speeds :sad:
2) What do you mean here? Is it that you stick when walking over the grass, or do you just not like having to jump to get onto the planters?
3) I'll try and redo the support for that. It was the same boring bricks before.

B:
1) I might thin that down a bit. I quite like it how it is, so I'll see how it goes.
2) Again, I would like to put something here - originally there was a well that you could fall down with a hole to the lowest level at water level, but I removed this due to r_speeds. I'll have to try to make sure nothing but that area is being drawn while a player is in that area so that I can add more detail to it. I have a few ideas of how to acheive this.
3) That's a good suggestion that will also help with the r_speeds problem. I'll see how it all looks after I add the pilars that reno suggested.
4) I haven't had a chance to look at the new roof texture A_S has zipped up for me, but it sounds like the roof texture isn't that popular with you guys, so I'll probably change them all. I would quite like to have them all the same though.

C:
1) I noticed those lines to but couldn't be bothered to change them straight away and forgot about them. I think I'll make the fades a bit shorter as well.
2) Hmm, I'm quite keen on the super chunky wood. I'll see how it looks with thinner ones, but I think I'll probably keep them as they are.
3) Good idea, I think this would make the room feel a bit bigger as well. It started off feeling bigger than it does now, then I started putting things in it and it closed in so erm yeah good idea :smile:
4) Good idea also. I've decided I don't like any of the stairs in the map, so I don't have a problem redoing those ones as well :smile:

D:
Sounds are one thing I should have said haven't been looked at yet. I was thinking perhaps the odd seagul noise up top, and a lapping water type sound around the bottom of the map. I'm not sure what type of sound the middle of the map would make, for example what could the player hear standing in the corner straight ahead and to the right in the 3rd screenshot? I like to make it an aim to have at least a faint sound audible from every part of the map. Perhaps I could put a couple of generators that look like they are powering the lights (not one for each set of lights, a couple total). /me looks for generator model.

The water I was thinking of only doing around the very bottom left of the third screenshot in my first post. I'll see if there are any r_'s spare when all the other stuff is done.
Posted by beer hunter on Mon Jun 7th 2004 at 8:51pm

Can't really add much to Reno's and A_S's excellent comments, some stuff i can remember from last time -

User posted image

1 - most roof lines end in an unrealistic sharp edge, needs a vertical overhang under them.

2 - its a pain jumping up onto the grass bits.

3 - timbers are too thick and that would fall down in real life :smile: will prolly look better with some diagonal bracing (red line). Could also use something similar on other overhanging walkways.

User posted image

1 - very chunky roof edge needs thinning down.

2 - needs a feature in here - barrels, fountain etc.

3 - on some of the bigger walls with repeating tex's you could ty scaling up the tex's by 2, it sometimes works depending on the tex.

4 - add variation by using a different roof tile on some roofs.

User posted image

1 - those fades end very abruptly in a noticeable line.

2 - very thick beams need reducing. R_speeds are pretty low in this room so you can prolly get away with adding another set of roof beams.

3 - ditch the stone walkway and replace it with a wooden one with balustrading, it'll look way better.

4 - handrailing usually improves stairs.

Needs sprucing up with sounds.

Definitely needs a bit more texture variation for floors and ceilings, for the ceilings try m_ceiling3 and m_ceiling4 from TFC2.WAD

"is the cannon model used enough? Have I used it too much already? " - you could get away with putting in a few more, maybe have a couple together. Suggestion - make one cannon usable and point it inwards towards some part of the castle so that its possible to kill other players :smile:

"Are the barrels any good? Any ideas for something to go in the area with three barrels? " - more barrels :biggrin: barrels are ok-ish but could do with retexturing or steal the barrel models from Fishy's map.

"Should I re-do the skymap?" - seems ok except for the horizon which is sharp, needs to be more hazy.

"...and gets killed. Should I just restrict players from falling off at all?" - high parapets make it pretty hard to fall off unless you deliberatley jump over, any players that fall off deserve to be gibbed.

"Would it be worth trying to do water like in de_plaka" - maybe... although most of the wall parapets are chest-high so they'll prolly obscure the sea, i s'pose it depends on how high up the sea is.

/kicks you up backside to finish it :smile:
Posted by 7dk2h4md720ih on Mon Jun 7th 2004 at 2:55pm

The vertical lines in my screens are just a side effect from lowering
the quality so much. It annoys me seperately uploading each screen, but
if they're tiny they upload nice and quickly.

Found a few of textures that you might like. Two are roof tiles and one is just wood. :smile:

http://www.snarkpit.com/pits/alien_sniper/files/wood_t17.zip
Posted by Crono on Mon Jun 7th 2004 at 9:22am

Thats a couch right? If so, why is it made of bricks? Reminds me of ICO though, so thats a good thing
gee, I wonder why :lol:

Actually, the exteriors of this map remind me of ICO ... as well as the couch ... make it a save point :biggrin: (just kidding).

Maybe, Jeff, you should take a look at some of the scenery in ICO for some inspiration for this map. It seems to be bleeding sunlight and doom. I think it would benefit from some ICO inspiration :smile: (maybe just download some high quality movies of ICO to see what I'm talking about).
Posted by Gollum on Mon Jun 7th 2004 at 9:01am

Ooooh, I'm looking forward to trying this one out. Feedback coming soon, if the others have left anything for me.
Posted by scary_jeff on Mon Jun 7th 2004 at 8:37am
[Author]

Excellent, thanks for the crits guys. A lot of good ideas that I'll definately put in.

A_S - why have all your screenshots got vertical lines? It looks like you took a photo of your screen with a normal camera, had the prints processed, then scanned in the prints using a bad scanner! :smile:

1: I thought I put a texture on the ball model, but with it being my first model, I probably got it wrong. They are meant to be the same colour as the barrel of the cannon. I'll stick a couple more cannons in then as well.
2: I got stuck there to, I just need to change the clip brush for the cannon a bit.
3: A different texture for the ceiling is something I have been trying to find, so I'll keep looking.
4: I think I'll try half-arches coming out from the wall, or if that doesn't look right, perhaps some pillars... actually pillars with a wood trim could look interesting, but this is the one area where I don't have much in the way of spare r_speeds.
5: That was just an experiment, I didn't like that texture either :smile:
6/7/8: I might experiment with some different tile textures, I'll change the tile texture on the ledges and on the steps, and I will definately put some cannon balls on the shelves. I could get a 'barrel' and 'mount' model from the cannon model to have some gun barrels lying around as well.

ReNo - I left out ones that were the exact comment A_S mentioned :smile:

1: Yeah, it is supposed to be a seat. I might change it to an iron one with wooden slats or something.
2: The pillars idea is great! I could easily add some half-pillars along a lot of walls, and this would break them up a lot, particularly if I can find a pillar-suitable texture that fits in well. I was also thinking of putting a tree in the planting box that isn't next to that wall.
3: I might add some trim, perhaps a wood 'frame' of some kind, but this could add a lot to r_speeds in some areas. Worth a try though - perhaps I could make it look like there used to be a door in some of the archways, and have a couple of fallen-off or already-open doors (I'm not putting openable doors in, I hate them :smile: )
6: I think a greyer texture could work on the chimney breast, I'll definately try that.
8: Looking at yours and A_S screenshots, I think I'll just retexture the stairs completely - they don't look very good at all.
9: Again, wall supports are a great idea - expect plenty in the next version :smile:
10: I'll make the bars broken and bent out a bit so players don't have to jump to get out.
12/13/14: I think I can make this room interesting enough with the pillars idea as well as some other stuff / ok / I did have snarks up there - perhaps satchels would be fun as well.

Adam is going to send me the textures he used for that map. Perhaps I will be able to 'orangise' them a bit to fit my theme better.

I might be able to make the changes tonight, if not tomorow night :biggrin:
Posted by Forceflow on Mon Jun 7th 2004 at 6:09am

Looking very good, the outside part is really amazing.