de Apollo

See the map profile for screens / info

It's kind of hard to capture a sense of the map with three screenshots, but here are a few of the major areas of the map. I've been working on this map since early in the summer. It kind of feels like it will never be done, but it's getting really close to the finish line. The only thing I can think of doing right now is adding env_soundscapes. Any suggestions, comments? Thanks a lot, snarkpit rules.

Holy s*it that's so nice!

What's the fps like in the first screen shot? The lighting fit's right in, a lovely glow.

In the third screenshot however, the walls repeat to much. Break them up somehow is what I would suggest.

I look forward to seeing this finished :biggrin:

Wow, this is quite wild mix of styles. I love the architecture of Petra but I don't quite see how you merged it with the rest of the map? Is this like a theme park of famous archeological places?

Anyway, tha map certainly works on the atmosphere part! :biggrin:

The third shot needs to get re-textured. They don't fit. Also the lighting is too bright.

First shot looks very cool and monumental but the rocks need to be tweaked they look 100% artificial. Try scaling up the texture resolution (yes, until it looks "unsharp" when you stand in front of it. It makes the repeating of the texture less apparent. The sand can go. And try making it much higher.

Good ideas, so far, but you need some tweaking to make them shine! :smile: Keep it up.

Pretty much agree with the above, I just wanted to ask - are you sure you don't have a leak in the level? Something about the lighting seems off to me; dark areas are kinda too-dark (and not in just a high-contrast way, but like, it literally looks like no light is bouncing around, as is the case if you have a leak). In the first shot you can see that no light at all bounces back into the recessed area; it's pitch black in there. If you're sure there's no leak I'd suggest adding some more ambient light. Something about the lighting just seems off to me, though, and I'm betting it's a leak.

---

-- midkay

Needs models- theres plenty in CS for this theme. Just looks a bit plain. Also if it is meant to be roman/greek architecture then it is definitely plain.



Just compare the detail from yours to this.

Also your rockwork is pretty bad above the entrance thing- rough it up a tad and do some better texturing, looks alot like dust textures should be used.

Screenshot 3: No rails? Bit dangerous... Also theres actually a model for doing sun burst effect. Not sure where it is (maybe combine folder?). Also needs spicing up- maybe some statues or something. Just in the whole needs more models.

---

-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

Thanks so much for the advice so far. I
haven't had a ton of time since my last post to work on the map, but I
thought i'd post some high res screens from a build of the map I had
earlier this week that i was testing bots on. Any suggestions to any of
the screenshots is greatly appreciated.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">The
temple complex is in concept a combination of the reconstruction of the
sanctuary at Praeneste and Petra - though not necessarily direct copies.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">$loth

• The FPS is pretty steady throughout the entire map. I've been pretty

careful about balancing amount of detail through the three
func_areaportal areas on the map. The idea of breaking the walls up in
slide 3 was great... here is the result:<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo2.jpg<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Reaper47

• Thanks for the suggestions... will try to work on that. And yeah,

it's really hard to tell how the different areas of the map
interconnect in those three shots, so I've uploaded an overview plan
here:<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo1.jpg<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Midkay

• Yeah, I've noticed that too. I've been adding some ambient lights

into areas of really dark shade, though at certain levels i like the
bright/dark contrast outside. There's no leak, as water and areaportals
work, but what you might be describing is that the amphitheater seating
is all func_details, and there's a deep box of world brushes under it
to seal it. Some light might be soaking into there, but there isn't
much i can do about it at this point.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Myrk

• Good points. I'll definitely try to add some more models. That

picture of Petra is really, really helpful. You've convinced me to make
some custom textures for the temple facade with those courses and
architectural details. And yeah, the big cliff face thing is by far the
weakest part of the map. I will go back and try to polish it up.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">So
here are some more screens. Please take a look and post any reactions!
Thanks a ton. I will keep you guys updated on the progress.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo1.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo2.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo3.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo4.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo5.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo6.jpg (featuring the most badass bot ever)<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo7.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo8.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo9.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo10.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo11.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo12.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo13.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo14.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo15.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo16.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo17.jpg<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollowallpaper.jpg/<br style="color: white;">
edit - Sorry if the urls aren't links. I'm having trouble getting the BB code to work. You can just go to the http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/ directory and click through them like that

You're in desperate need of a skybox (see pic 9), and you have some texture mismatches, most notably the bricks in the arches of (I think) pic 7.
On the plus side, you've used lighting very well, it all fits, IMO.

---

Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying

The floor in pic 9 looks way to bright also. Looks like there are no shadows. Maybe try turning down the cubemap intensity?

Okay, I'll try that.

That reminds me of a problem I'm having that I have no clue about. Across the whole map player's shadows are a bright blue/green color. You can see the problem here:
http://www.evanbatson.com/files/Apollo/deapollo15.jpg

Any idea how to fix that? I'm completely stumped.

<html><head><link rel="stylesheet" href="themes/standard.css" type="text/css"></head><body topmargin=2 leftmargin=2>

Are you using a shadow controller?

---

Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying

Oh, no. That's probably why. Thanks

Done buildcubemaps on the map? Got any cubemaps in the level? Could do with some generic particle style haze.

---

-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

I've decided de_apollo is ready to see the light of day. Please download it and give it a look in-game. If you like it, I'd be really happy if you would share it with your friends. I don't know anyone with a CS:S server, so if you have a server and want to host my map, that would be awesome.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Info, screens, dl, etc -<br style="color: white;">http://evanbatson.com/projectdeapollo.html<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Official beta thread -<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Direct download -<br style="color: white;">http://www.maps.evanbatson.com/de_apollo.zip 14.4 MB<br style="color: white;">http://www.maps.evanbatson.com/de_apollo.bsp 29 MB<br style="color: white;">sv_downloadurl maps.evanbatson.com

I've decided de_apollo is ready to see the
light of day. Please download it and give it a look in-game. If you
like it, I'd be really happy if you would share it with your friends. I
don't know anyone with a CS:S server, so if you have a server and want
to host my map, that would be awesome.<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Info, screens, dl, etc -<br style="color: white;">http://evanbatson.com/projectdeapollo.html<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Official beta thread -<br style="color: white;">http://www.evanbatson.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12<br style="color: white;"><br style="color: white;">Direct download -
http://www.maps.evanbatson.com/de_apollo.zip 14.4 MB<br style="color: white;">http://www.maps.evanbatson.com/de_apollo.bsp 29 MB<br style="color: white;">sv_downloadurl maps.evanbatson.com