Dm_Cloudcity

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What is it about this time?
This timeIm trying to find the ?limits? of what the Source engine can do, and willprobably be more of a Tech-demo than a fun death match map. However very,very early game tests resulted in lots of fun, although that might be because I havegreat friends. Im looking for atmosphere that no one has done before in the source. So I chose a futuristic city stretching to the skies, however the actual map takes place
above the clouds.

<a href="http://www.leveldesign.nu/bilder/skit/cloudcity/dm_cloudcity_a970016.jpg" target="_blank"></A>
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nice concept. though from the screenshots i can't tell that its a city in/above the clouds, moreso because you have gardens. If i were you i'd place those gardens on a platform so that everyone sees they're artificial. And i would leave "vertical holes" in the city, where the players can look down so that they're aware that they're up high. A bit like the pathways in the city being inner bridges. /2cents, keep it up!

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

It looks quite dark, perhaps too dark, but it's also very interesting. I agree the cloud aspect doesn't really show - add some really tall towers that end up in the clouds, or add moving clouds and particles together with a windy sound and the windows to the ground as BlisTer suggested.

What I like here are the almost surrealistic looking structures. The lighting dots in the distance look interesting as well. I'd suggest using some more color variation for the lighting though because it's a bit too grayscale right now and that's not just caused by the dev textures as far as I can see.

Keep it up indeed, looks promising. :smile:

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Create-ivity - a game development blog

For some reason, I have a feeling you could use some of the custom
textures from dm_neon. Maybe you should shoot the author of that
map an email?

If you need help then use my tutorial:

Get your .jpg, use IrfanView to convert it to .tga, make a folder called mytexes in this place

C:Program FilesValveSteamSteamAppshabboicounte
r-strike sourcecstrikematerialsmytexes

and here as well:

C:Program FilesValveSteamSteamAppshabboisource
sdk_contentcstrikematerialsrcmytexes

ok now you have the .tga so right click vtex.exe and send it to desktop, now open up the place where the .tga is and drag it onto the desktop as well.

then again drag it onto vtex.exe and a black box should appear, if successful it will say something like:

input, output directory blah blah and then press any key to continue

you should end up with a .vtf in the folder called mytexes and also an empty .txt

open up the .txt and write:

"LightmappedGeneric"

{ "$basetexture" "yourfoldername/yourtexname" }

(exactly as I have written it but in place of folder name put mytexes and your texname put fence1.

ok nearly done, save as and rename it

to fence1.vmt and copy this new .vmt to the two folder called mytexes in the css materials folder and the sdk one as well!

Ok thats basically it so start hammer, go to browser and type the name of the texture and if it comes up then you are successful!

Make a quick map and it should hopefully work!
Thats it and I found it very useful

looks sweet! I'll look more when i get home

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

the map itself looks good but it doesn't remind me much of cloud city

cloud city was allot more open in the sky and allot lighter, maybe this is what cloud city would look like a few weeks after the imperials took control or something.

I don't think he's trying to map the cloud city from star wars.

But yes, it is slightly confusing. Perhaps a name change is in
order? dm_stratos (a shortening of stratosphere) perhaps?

It looks nice.

Planing on having oxygen tanks and everything frozen?

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

You seem to be pushing the envelope a bit more on the external areas than inside but I do so love what you have going. At least from the screens.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

Thanks for all the quick and interesting feedback, heres my answers.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">nice concept. though from the screenshots i can't tell that its a city in/above the clouds, moreso because you have gardens. If i were you i'd place those gardens on a platform so that everyone sees they're artificial. And i would leave "vertical holes" in the city, where the players can look down so that they're aware that they're up high. A bit like the pathways in the city being inner bridges. /2cents, keep it up!<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">I do have a garden at one platform on this pic:<br style="color: white;">http://www.home.no/misterbister/Bilder/dm_cloudcity/dm_cloudcity_a230021.jpg<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">However i agree that i should make it more obvius that there artificial. <br style="color: white;">Im not sure what you mean with "vertical holes", but the player is perfectly able to look down. A friend of mine suggested that i should make parts of the streets/bridges in glass, this way the players will be even more aware of it, I think ill do that.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">It looks quite dark, perhaps too dark, but it's also very interesting. I agree the cloud aspect doesn't really show - add some really tall towers that end up in the clouds, or add moving clouds and particles together with a windy sound and the windows to the ground as BlisTer suggested.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">What I like here are the almost surrealistic looking structures. The lighting dots in the distance look interesting as well. I'd suggest using some more color variation for the lighting though because it's a bit too grayscale right now and that's not just caused by the dev textures as far as I can see.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Keep it up indeed, looks promising.<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">The clouds arent there yet. And to be honest i dont know how to make it look good since most of the city is 3D-sky, which means no moving objects.<br style="color: white;">I have already added some real big buildings in the background, ill post pics when they are "done".<br style="color: white;">Color variation in lighting is something that the map desperatly needs right now, i completely agree with you.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">For some reason, I have a feeling you could use some of the custom textures from dm_neon. Maybe you should shoot the author of that map an email?<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Yes, i thought the exact same thing. However the textures doesnt really fit i think, but I could definitly use some of it.<br style="color: white;">Ive asked the maker of the map, izanagi, and he said it was perfectly OK. However i ran into errors when i tried to extract the textures out from his BSP. Ill take a look into it soon.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">If you need help then use my tutorial<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Thanks for your consern, however im afraid i know very little of photoshop, and making textures to this map would probably be a little more complicated than i could handle.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">the map itself looks good but it doesn't remind me much of cloud city.<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">No it doesnt, this map doesnt have anything to do with Cloud city in Star Wars. Dm_cloudcity is more of a WIP title. Other suggestions are welcome.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">Planing on having oxygen tanks and everything frozen?<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">What, who, where, when?

I don't know if you missed it, but what about the name dm_stratos ? stratos is just short for stratosphere.

Stratosphere definition:

1 : the part of the earth's atmosphere which extends from
about 7 miles (11 kilometers) above the surface to 31 miles (50
kilometers) and in which temperature increases gradually to about 32?
Fahrenheit (0? C) and clouds rarely form

2 : a very high or the highest region on or as if on a graded scale <construction costs in the stratosphere> <the celebrity stratosphere>

Well... I guess it's not cloudy, but at least it's high up!

The
clouds arent there yet. And to be honest i dont know how to make it
look good since most of the city is 3D-sky, which means no moving
objects.<br style="color: white;">I have already added some real big buildings in the background, ill post pics when they are "done".<br style="color: white;">Color variation in lighting is something that the map desperatly needs right now, i completely agree with you.<br style="color: white;">

Entities can just be placed in the 3D skybox, only no player starts.
The Valve wiki states that players and other objects cannot enter the
3D skybox, but any entity can be used within it. :smile:

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Create-ivity - a game development blog

So theoretically you should be able to create similar sky boxes to UT.
Look at moving clouds, maybe some small ships or combine stuff flying
around, fog, etc. Of course on really dodgy maps every now and again
someone manages to fall out of the level and into the skybox, becoming
a 100 foot giant :smile: .

Looking pretty cool in general Mister, it will be good to see how it looks with
some nice textures. The layout seems pretty random, which I really
like. Seems to make games a hell of a lot more fun when enemies can
come from anywhere, and the level is asymetrical. Looking forward to
giving it a play.

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

Agent Smith said:
So theoretically you should be able to create similar sky boxes to UT. Look at moving clouds, maybe some small ships or combine stuff flying around, fog, etc.

I would think that if you had a very large scrolling sky texture of some sort that you could have it exceed the edges of the visible sky but have say very broad edges of sky material to hide it in. In this way, you could have a slowly moving sky without any repeat say in a 15 minute frag.

In fact, with the texture being transparent, you could have multiple ones at different heights and densities to simulate cirrus and cumulus clouds perhaps.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I like futuristic citiy themes a lot. My first impression of the
screenshots was that they are very dark. If someone plays the map on
a sunshiny day he might not see much.

It's hard to tell what you have in mind in the orange room state but I
think it would be nice to give the buildings in the background a
believable purpose. Anything from giant shopping malls to office
buildings. I would prefer this over a more arena style approach where
the buildings in the back are just decoration. This would be mainly a
texturing task.

I'm curious how it will look with textures!

Just because you can't use photoshop doesn't mean you can't use textures from google :smile:

Try it :wink:

As always, quality advice from the Snarkpit jester :biggrin:

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

Progress:<br style="color: white;">Im currently adding detail here and there, adding fences, making the 3D-sky better, adding cables and such. Lots of progress is being made. Soon ill add elevators so that betatesters will have possibility to move around WITHOUT noclip. Im also planning to add weapons aswell. When this is done, the map will be fully playable, although it will still lack the visual stuff.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">I don't know if you missed it, but what about the name dm_stratos ? stratos is just short for stratosphere.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Stratosphere definition:<br style="color: white;">1 : the part of the earth's atmosphere which extends from about 7 miles (11 kilometers) above the surface to 31 miles (50 kilometers) and in which temperature increases gradually to about 32? Fahrenheit (0? C) and clouds rarely form<br style="color: white;">2 : a very high or the highest region on or as if on a graded scale <construction costs in the stratosphere> <the celebrity stratosphere><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Well... I guess it's not cloudy, but at least it's high up!<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Yes stratos is a good candidate, but ill keep Cloudcity as a projectname to avoid any confusion until the map is actually finnished.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">Entities can just be placed in the 3D skybox, only no player starts. The Valve wiki states that players and other objects cannot enter the 3D skybox, but any entity can be used within it.<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Hhrrm! Guess i misunderstood the Source Wiki... Very good news indeed. Hopefully i will be able to make some real nice s**t in the 3D-sky... Hopefully.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">So theoretically you should be able to create similar sky boxes to UT. Look at moving clouds, maybe some small ships or combine stuff flying around, fog, etc.<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Yes, thats what im aiming on. Hopefully it will turn out as i want it to.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">I would think that if you had a very large scrolling sky texture of some sort that you could have it exceed the edges of the visible sky but have say very broad edges of sky material to hide it in. In this way, you could have a slowly moving sky without any repeat say in a 15 minute frag.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">In fact, with the texture being transparent, you could have multiple ones at different heights and densities to simulate cirrus and cumulus clouds perhaps. <br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Good suggestion, however it feels like an old school solution. I found some interesting stuff at the source wiki about Counter-strike source maps which uses cloud models.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">I like futuristic citiy themes a lot. My first impression of the screenshots was that they are very dark. If someone plays the map on a sunshiny day he might not see much.<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">People has always complained about that in my maps when they have seen the screenshots. However, i have never heard anywone complaining about the darkness when they have played ingame.

I really liked the timeline you posted over at interlopers. You should share it here!

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I really liked the timeline you posted over at interlopers. You should share it here!

Ok then










The current one is Alpha nr 27. It has taken three months to get this

aha, i love the glass window-floors. i used to have them in px_shockwave and i'm going to re-implement them in a new project. really nice. 1 more personal suggestion: lose Breen :razz: i agree there should be something light there like a tv screen but i think Breen is too HL2SP

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

One of us needs to be really glad that those were worth the wait.

My suggestion. Using that quantity of darker textures it might pay to have either more light, or less.

I prefer a bright cheery map setting, but lots of spotlights at night would be great too.

Maybe you could have a day and a night version. Two maps for the price of one.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

<br style="color: white;">aha, i love the glass window-floors. i used to have them in px_shockwave and i'm going to re-implement them in a new project. really nice. 1 more personal suggestion: lose Breen :razz: i agree there should be something light there like a tv screen but i think Breen is too HL2SP.<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Ive got a friend ho's working on some custom windows right now, hopefully theyll turn out even better. Breen is very temporary, he is going to be replaced with commersial or some sort of public messages from the city council.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

One of us needs to be really glad that those were worth the wait.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">My suggestion. Using that quantity of darker textures it might pay to have either more light, or less.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">I prefer a bright cheery map setting, but lots of spotlights at night would be great too.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Maybe you could have a day and a night version. Two maps for the price of one. <br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Im using grey developer textures at the moment. As I said, im trying to get custom textures.<br style="color: white;">The lighting is very much work in progress. I will definitly add some more light in there somehow, its way too dark.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Progress:<br style="color: white;">Ive added more detail to the 3D-sky, lots of detail has been added to other areas aswell. Ive also added stuff that will "tell" the background story of what has happened to the place. Im planning on having datapads with small info icons over them, and when you press "E", you can read a message. Each one of them will tell bits and pieces of the story about what has happened here. If you read them all you will get a pretty clear picture of what has happened and what is going on.<br style="color: white;">Im planning on adding this to give the map more depth, and let serious players who wants to know it all having fun looking for them. Some will be easy to find, but wont tell very much either, others, more hidden, will tell more "valuable" info.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">What do you think of this little idea? Is it good or bad?

I think it's a great idea. A scavenger hunt for information
sounds like a fun way to flesh out and develop the map, for those who
are interested.

i think this idea would work better in a SP map, but it can't hurt. you thought this up yourself or you translated it from Doom3 ? :smile:

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Allright, time for an update.
<br style="color: white;">Ive been working on making the map playable aswell as adding contrast, detail and lighting into the level.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Since barely have any new textures in the map, ive useed the orange dev-textures as contrast to the grey ones. I think it looks kinda nice. Perhaps going for orange steel? What do you guys think?<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Ive also had a friend make two textures for me. The first one is the glass, the second is a very dark texture used in an equally dark elevator shaft. <br style="color: white;">Personally, i think theese textures is top notch, looking veery nice =).<br style="color: white;">
As mentioned ive been working on making the lighting more bright, however i guess some of you will still think the map is very dark. Lets just say that I havent forgotten about you, I'm still working on it!<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">The 3D-sky has become even more bigger and nastier. The highest building in the 3D-sky is actually very close to the maximum size that Source can render. Its still a bit undetailed, but with some cutstom textures and more work on it, it will probably look cool. I tried using func_smokevolume in the 3D-sky to create a cloud effect, however that didnt work at all. Ill try to use the models used in <br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Counterstrike Source to simulate clouds, if possible. As mentioned ill try to add flying vehicles here aswell, but that completely depends on if that is possible to do inside the 3D-sky.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Ive also been working on making the map playable and I think im done with that, however i will not release a playable alpha before I have done some <br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">playtesting with my friends, but expect an update with a fully playable alpha, with weapons and spawnpoints, soon. Working on making the map playable is the main reason why you havent heard any updates until now.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Heres some fresh images:<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Added contrast, brighter lighting and more buildings in the 3D-sky<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">More contrast here aswell. The picture is taken from a platform that is newly made aswell. More spotlights has been added aswell.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">This area wasnt detailed at all before, and has gone through quite a remake. The boxes in the image will be replaced with more appropriate stuff later on.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">A quick overview, more contrast added aswell as brighter lighting.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Heres another overview of the playable area. Here you can see the custom glass texture aswell as more spotlights and more contrast.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Well, guess that was all i have to say to the time being.<br style="color: white;">As Ive said before, I LOVE feedback. I promise to take everything you suggest into consideration.

Nice file sizes.

2 Things.

What is that tree growing out of? To dark to tell.

I also cannot tell but think you could add true scale and height if you took some of those spires and added them to your skybox. Make it look as tall as Coruscant from somewhere down below.

If you already considered the skybox idea and I didn't catch it, ignore this post.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

If you're wondering about flying vehicles in the 3D skybox you can try and figure out how they did it in the newest DoD:Source map.

Also -- it's looking really nice man. How much of the final playable area will be indoors? Or will it only be this main outdoor area?

I like it, but I feel that your "buildings", so to speak, are a little... well, flat.

I realize that it might be the dev textures that you're using that may
be causing this -- since they seem to consist of solid colors, a number
or two, and white lines :razz: But I'm saying that your buildings
seem to lack any fine detail or extrusions from them. An example
(not saying you need this specifically) would be window sills, or maybe
bars around a window -- for whatever the reason would be that you
needem'.

But then again, since it looks like a citadel themed map, it may perfect, if that's what you're making :smile:

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Breaking the laws of mapping since 2003 and doing a damn fine job at it

Looking very cool, reminds me of Stargate Atlantis. As far as flying
vehicles go it is possible to make props move on a path, very much like
you could do with brushes in hl1, which is how they got the bombers to
fly in dod source. Don't ask me how though, I don't have a clue :razz: .
Keep up the good work, its certainly looking impressive.

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

<br style="color: white;">If you're wondering about flying vehicles in the 3D skybox you can try and figure out how they did it in the newest DoD:Source map.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Also -- it's looking really nice man. How much of the final playable area will be indoors? Or will it only be this main outdoor area?<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">I dont have DOD:Source, but hopefully, the sourcewiki has some info about it.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">The indoor areas will be like 1/3 of the map roughly estimated. I have taken pics of almost all indoor areas if you take a look here:<br style="color: white;">http://www.home.no/misterbister/Bilder/dm_cloudcity/<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">I like it, but I feel that your "buildings", so to speak, are a little... well, flat.<br style="color: white;">I realize that it might be the dev textures that you're using that may be causing this -- since they seem to consist of solid colors, a number or two, <br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">and white lines But I'm saying that your buildings seem to lack any fine detail or extrusions from them. An example (not saying you need this <br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">specifically) would be window sills, or maybe bars around a window -- for whatever the reason would be that you needem'.<br style="color: white;">But then again, since it looks like a citadel themed map, it may perfect, if that's what you're making <br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Thanks for the feedback, and yes. The buildings look a bit flat, however i dont dare to add detail until the map has been tested on slower machines <br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">than my own. Right now, the map contains MUCH more polygons in the outdoor scenes than you can cover with one screenshot, so its hard to show.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;">Looking very cool, reminds me of Stargate Atlantis. As far as flying vehicles go it is possible to make props move on a path, very much like you could <br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">do with brushes in hl1, which is how they got the bombers to fly in dod source. Don't ask me how though, I don't have a clue :razz: . Keep up the good <br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">work, its certainly looking impressive.<br style="color: white;">

<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Never seen Stargate Atlantis, but thanks for the kind words anyway =). <br style="color: white;">Is it possible to have brushbased things flying on paths aswell as props, like the func_tracktrain?

Allright everyone, time for an update.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Ive managed to make the map fully playable with weapons and all, and have playtested it with some friends.<br style="color: white;">The current Alphaversion is 44. Theres no real visual changes since the last update I made, I just made it playable.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">You can download the alphaversion here:<br style="color: white;">http://www.home.no/misterbister/maps/dm_cloudcity_a44.zip<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Below is info pasted from the .txt document that follows the .zipfile:<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<br style="color: white;"> Dm_cloudcity Alpha 44<br style="color: white;">><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Release date: December 31 2005, Gothenburg, Sweden<br style="color: white;">Half-Life 2 Deathmatch (HL2DM)<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">====================================================<br style="color: white;">Title: Dm_cloudcity Alpha version 44<br style="color: white;">Name: dm_cloudcity_a44<br style="color: white;">Author: Filip "MisterBister" Coulianos<br style="color: white;">Email address: f_misterbister@hotmail.com<br style="color: white;">URL: none specific.<br style="color: white;">Description:<br style="color: white;"> <br style="color: white;">This time its about Clouds, and a BIG sci-fi city high enough to reach them. <br style="color: white;">The map takes place on "streets" between the skyskrapers aswell as indoors. <br style="color: white;">In addition to the cool outdoor fighting, the players battle through scientific labs, <br style="color: white;">cargo areas aswell as elevator shafts.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">====================================================<br style="color: white;">Play information<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Deathmatch: Yes (4-12+)<br style="color: white;">Team deathmatch: No real support yet<br style="color: white;">New sounds: no<br style="color: white;">New music: no<br style="color: white;">New textures Yes, by skurmedel.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">====================================================<br style="color: white;">Construction:<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Base: none<br style="color: white;">Editor: Hammer World Editor V4<br style="color: white;">Other progs: Batchcompiler and CST<br style="color: white;">Known bugs: none<br style="color: white;">Build time: 4 months and counting<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">====================================================<br style="color: white;">Installation notes:<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Unzip the dm_cloudcity_a44.zip file into this directory:<br style="color: white;">Steam\SteamApps\youraccountname\half-life 2 deathmatch\hl2mp<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">====================================================<br style="color: white;">Other notes:<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">This is an alpha-version and is compiled for playtesting purposes only.<br style="color: white;">If you have suggestions, feedback or anything you want to tell me, please don't hesitate to send me an email:<br style="color: white;">f_misterbister@hotmail.com<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">? 2005 Filip "MisterBister" Coulianos<br style="color: white;">====================================================

Cool stuff man, I'll try and get around to taking a look in the next few drunken/hungover days :biggrin:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I just tried it out and it looks quite monumental. It's still hard to
imagine what it will look like in the final version. It seems to be
quite texture-reliant so make sure you don't underestimate that part (I
only see orange room textures yet)!

The layout looks very fluent. Maybe too fluent for my taste, it feels
more like a Quake 3 map than a HL2 one in the middle areas. But that's just a matter of taste I guess :wink:

One more thing about the "cloud city" theme. I found it hard to really
see "clouds" in the foggy area on the ground. Maybe if you open up the
skybox more, so you could see larger parts of the horizon and how high
you actually are this could help to establish the "high in the clouds"
theme more!

Anyways, it already looks very promising!

Just saw the new pics. Looks really good. Get some nice custom
texturing in there (or make a new set from HL2 textures. that's always
fun) and get it finished! Nice work.

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___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

Someone sugested that the buildings in the map and 3d box had a function like a mall, office etc. I agree 100%

If your are going for that dark look, may I suggest that you take a look at the movie "Blade Runner"

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The beginning is a very good place to start.

Dude, a Blade Runner map done right would kick some serious ass.

Looks sweet Mr.

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.

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.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

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 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.

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The beginning is a very good place to start.

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.

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Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/

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.

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

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

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___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

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:

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The beginning is a very good place to start.

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 love what you have done to the place. As for the ad. maybe you could
use the heads from some smiling rebel girl models to make it more
HL2'ish.

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The beginning is a very good place to start.