Dm_valley

Hi everyone, it has been a while since i posted anything on this site since I kinda lost my inspiration somehow..
Anyway, now im back again, this time with Dm_valley it is a hl2dm map with a bit different approach than the usual stuff.

When
i started out with the map I wanted to make something really new and
different when it came to gameplay, so i decided to let everyone
respawns with an additional weapon,a rocketlauncher, yes you heard right =).
I
had the opportunity to do alot of gametests with my fellow
Leveldesigners from all over sweden during a Leveldesign-LAN ,which we
arrange a few times every year.

The gametests concluded that the map was extremely fast paced (in "Free for all mode"), fun and addicting,
I almost never managed to keep alive more than 5-20 seconds per death =).
Since
the map is made with teamplay in mind, I have made two bases, one for
combine and one for Rebels, and three paths between them.
During
Teamplay, the maps intencity decreases a bit, but makes the gameplay
alot more interensting since everyone is armed with bazookas
, you just cant stick with your teammates, or else the enemies will have the chance of blowing up to guys in one shot.

Well.. I guess thats it from me right now.
Below i have some pics you might find of interest.
Last
time i displayed a map here at the forums, i had lots of GREAT feedback
(thank you all for that) and hopefully, you will give me some advice
equally as good this time =).

**BETA AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD:**

http://www.home.no/misterbister/maps/Dm_valley.rar

Enough! Heres the pics:









If this is not enough, then i have a bigger archive here:
http://www.home.no/misterbister/Bilder/Dm_halo/WIP/

The ambiance of the map is great, but I feel it's too dark (especially for a DM map) and the point_spotlight is over-used.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

WOW..

Really nice work here, but im far away from playing it when it releases cause im getting lame fps in hl2dm running it on my 1,6ghz 512mb computer...

But when upgrade ill probally play it alot if the map doesnt suffer from lame campers with crossbows all around, the point spotlight is not overused i like it from the screenshots i saw

An overview would rock !

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http:www.frissi.com

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Frissi</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>

im getting lame fps in hl2dm running it on my 1,6ghz 512mb computer...

</DIV></DIV>
depends on what you consider "lame"

my old 1.8 with 512 pc2100 and a 64 meg radeon 9000 gets nice frames (20-40) if the map is optimized properly.

before you say it, DM_Mayan_Sancturary (i think this is the name) runs smooth as silk and its HUGE, so i am sure if the map is made well, a mid-sized machine can deal.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

SOB! I was planning on making a map exactly looking like this. The only difference is that it had a beach. Is every freakin idea taken for a map.

As much as I hate you right now it does look good. Thanks for stealing my thoughts.

Just like my city 13 beach idea :razz:

Anyway nice map!

Love the feeling of it!

I am getting 20-40 instead in maps like dm_deluxe_v1 wich i just released :dorky:

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http:www.frissi.com

looking great, keep it up

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Frissi said:
I am getting 20-40 instead in maps like dm_deluxe_v1 wich i just released :dorky:

So, are you confirming my suspicion that you needed feedback to create a well constructed map, or is your machine just that bad?

before you answer, i can download your map and know if you are fibbing. :wink:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

My feedback telling the author i really liked his map and will probally play it when i get a better computer cause my computer doesnt like big maps and open like his..

I was not trying to tell him that his map was not well constructed and i am not saying my map is well constructed my map simply is small and i dont have alot of props, and my map certainly has alot of split up faces cause of lazy and bad construction

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http:www.frissi.com

Frissi said:
, and my map certainly has alot of split up faces cause of lazy and bad construction

Frissi, you are catching on... finally :biggrin:

welcome to snarkpit. took you long enough to fit in. :biggrin:
next time, post your map "B.E.F.O.R.E" you release it. perhaps, then it won't be so bad.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I belive you havent even tried it yet

I make maps in the short ammount of freetime i get, i make those maps for my friends here on iceland for we can have a good fast game in a small\medium map wich has all the aspects we friends like, and allso i need to make those maps playable on all our computers and they arent to great, that might explain the low detail and plain looks of this map dm_deluxe.

Im not trying to impress anyone by my maps or trying to make something really high detailed and good looking, im simply making maps for me and my friends...

And maybe you're thinking "hmmm why did he release the map on snarkpit if the map is only for him and his friends...???"

Well the answer to that question is that i know there are people who will like this map cause everyone seemed to enjoy when i betatested it.

Is it something you hate about me, im not trying to fit in here, im simply just a 19 year old student from iceland who likes spending his time off mapping. Im just not interested spending all my money into a new gaming machine and spending all my time specialising in hl2 mapping that would take away my work, my school, my gf, my bands, and my life

I the kind of person who likes being everyone's friend maybe i have somehow misunderstood your comment if so then im really sorry

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http:www.frissi.com

Wow, so many answers in a very short time, i take that as a positive thing =).
Although it seemes like a few things has to be made clear..

Satchmo:
During the gametests, the lightning was just fine and noone complained about it. Its actually a bit brighter in-game compared to the screenshots.

Frissi:
If I where you, i would not play the map on a computer like yours either, but of course, that depends heavily on the graphics card in use =). I run the map on a 1,8ghz, 1 gigg RAM (whitch doesnt add anything to the framerates) and with a 9600XT. The map runs quite well, about 30 FPS in the worst areas, with few players, although there are lots of optimizations to be done and all my testmaps have been compiled with FAST VIS.

As for the crossbows, there wont be any. Since everyone respawns with rocket-launchers there will actually not be any other weapons available, although I might make a "normal" version of it aswell for all you conservatives aswell.

Spartan:
Interesting that you where planning on something similar. Please tell me in more detail which ideas i "stole" from you =).
By the way, are not going to make the map because of this?

Progress:
I was adding some eyecandy to the outdoor scenes yesterday although i havent tested it yet, but i think it will do just great.
As for the indoor scenes, i will start with them as soon as possible. And when they are "done" ill share a beta with you, so you can give me some more specific feedback.
After that i will start making the 3D-sky which i have big plans for, although im not certain that my poor little machine will be able to render the scenes with decent framerates.. Only time will tell =).

You are getting to close to finished without a dload link bud. pretty soon you will reach a point that if we find something worth mentioning, you will have invested to much time to listen to us.

post that link soon, or at least chose some "trustworthy" people who won't hesitate to tell you how and where you screwed the pooch.

Screens do look nice, but I use my own judgment when deciding, not the authors who knows where to take a nice screen of his otherwise crappy map.

/2 cents

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Architecturally looks sound, I like the point spotlights, don't change them. My only change I can see from screenshots only is that your should make the distance fog fade distance a little bigger, then add in fog manually with the dust tool to make a foggy middle in the valley section or something.

Can't play it atm as I'm on my laptop, but I'll give it a run through when I get home.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

Alright the BETA-version is up and ready to download at:

http://www.home.no/misterbister/maps/Dm_valley.rar

You will have to use a program that can deal with .rar files in order to extract it, such as Winace or Winrar.

The indoor areas are NOT NEARLY finnished. If you have suggestions to
any different architecture indoors, then please tell me. Im not really
happy with the

current result and will probably do at least one total remake of the indoor area.

Progress:

I have made a very preliminary indoor area aswell as added teleports
from the ground to the bridge, which means that you dont have to run
into under ground areas to get acces to the bridge.



Ive also made a overview of the map so you can se its layout. The red
lines shows the underground tunnels and a room which are im currently
working on.

Is it just me or does that overview somehow remind anyone of blood
gulch from Halo? I like the layout you've got going on, thanks
for the overview.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Is it just me or does that overview somehow remind anyone of blood gulch from Halo? I like the layout you've got going on, thanks for the overview.
</DIV></DIV>

Wow, man yes it does... The story behind the layout is pretty funny though =).
I made a map called "halo" for HLDM about 2-3 years ago, i had played blood gulch for the first time the day before i started with the map.
My intention was to create something similar with the Half-life1 engine, although it failed since I had to make the map "L" shaped instead. As with Dm_valley, all the guys respawned with rockerlaunchers despite that the map was uggly as hell, it was really fun.

When i started with this map, i thought it would be fun to make a HL2DM version of the good old "halo" map. I started to make it "L" shaped during the first weeks, until one of my friends said "hey cmon, the source engine is powerful enough to render the map even if it is almost straight".
So i started to make it straight instead.

The map that was supposed to be a blood gulch-clone turned out to be something different, while the map based on the so-called blood gulch-clone looked much more like bloodgulch..

But i think thats the most fascinating thing about mapping. They always turn out to be something completely different than I had expected. Thats why i never draw any sketches of them before i start, I just have a vague clue about what I want to create.
Its kinda finny that you could suprise yourself with your own creations..

Hahah wow I'm good :razz:

It was the base placement (and the fact that there were bases) that made me think of blood gulch.

Wow, played the map last night and it was cool! I love the variation
and the massive structure of the bridge is new and different! The main
things I think could be improved would be that in the rebel 'camp' the
buildings don't look like they fit together, sort of miss-matched. Plus
(and I realise the map isn't finished) they are mainly empty, I don't
know what you could add.... It also feels empty. Nothing wrong with a
good open space, but it feels like its too open somehow.

Also on the bridge you can climb on to the cliffs, I don't know if you
want that, perhaps it could be blocked off by a crashed gunship?

I hope that helped, Great map!

Ive been in denmark for a couple of days so I havent been able to work
on the map that much. Although I have a few new screenshots to share
with you, aswell as a new betaversion.

I have worked with increasing the overall detail of the map aswell as
bugfixes and adding clipwalls around the whole map to ensure that no
one can climb up the mountains and camp.

I have also worked on the interiors of both the rebel camp aswell as
the big combine fortress, wich is not done yet. When im through with
that i will start on the 3D-sky.

I had a discussion with a few friends about the rocket launchers and
wether i should put a few extra weapons in the map aswell. One
suggested a magnum for sniping purposes, while the other thought about
the combine rifle with alot of secondary ammo...

What do you guys think?

Is it enough with just the rocket launcher, or will it bore everyone out too quick?

Pureferret:

Yes, some areas do feel a bit empty.

As I said im currently focusing quite heavily on that right now.

Putting in a big gunship was actually not a bad idea at all. There some
kind of mystique around crashed big space vessels as well as it
increases the detail level quite alot although it would be crashed up
in the mountains...

Ill se what I can come up with. Thanks for the idea =).

New beta available for download: http://www.home.no/misterbister/maps/Dm_valley.rar

Heres a few new screenshots:

This map would make a great Halo multiplayer map on the PC.

Have you ever consider trying out the Halo editor?

Well considering the fact that this map is loosely based on Blood Gulch
it would be kind of strange to bring it full circle back to Halo.

This map would make a great Halo multiplayer map on the PC.

Have you ever consider trying out the Halo editor?

No i havent, thought it was like a "copy and paste" editor for people who didnt really care about the outcome.

Keep the rocket launchers only!
It makes gameplay more interesting but maybe you should make them work for it e.g. having to climb a mountain that requires jumping.

WOW a great map indeed im going to rape this map when i upgrade my computer on lans

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http:www.frissi.com

Frissi said:
WOW a great map indeed im going to rape this map when i upgrade my computer on lans

WAY to much info there Fris..

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Pimp this map out over at Interlopers as well. I'm sure there are some people over there that would like to see a good DM map.

Spartan said:
Pimp this map out over at Interlopers as well. I'm sure there are some people over there that would like to see a good DM map.

Thanks for the tip, ill do that when I get home from school.

I am Dloading now. I must say, you have the speediest downloads I have seen in quite some time. I am holding at a solid 8.1k :/

Anywho's, I will post some sort of a comment in a bit. I am curious to see if this much praise is warranted.

[EDIT]

This map has potential, but it is not ready for my comments yet. It is to empty to judge gameplay and such at this point.

Visually, it is stunning, I recommend you increase the visual lengths as it is disconcerting to see the map being drawn as you walk about.

Keep me posted for when you get at least a few items placed. enough to frag anyways.

My only concern is the magnitude of scope. This map is freaking huge and IMO will turn into a sniper fest rapidly cause no one is going to want to run 4 miles to the other side. Place any/all sniper weapons carefully.

/me awaits next version.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Visually, it is stunning, I recommend you increase the visual
lengths as it is disconcerting to see the map being drawn as you walk
about.

Well, thats a problem that I really do not know how to solve. If I
let the engine draw any further, that will cause serius FPS-drops when
playing against many players. I would love to remove the fog
completely, but im afraid I cannot do that.

If you have alternative solutions, please tell me =).

Besides, in what way is it stunning?

MisterBister said:
Besides, in what way is it stunning?

The attention to detail.. I do however have several screens where you have holes in your map. I suspect you used sky to seal this thing. If so, fix the leaks and recompile, I bet your FPS will go up and allow you room to increase the distance.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Ok not sure how old the beta is that I played, pretty sure its the latest. I would take pics, but I'm very, very lazy. Anyways-

Firstly noted that the map has some serious design issues- random houses with some combine fortress? Nah... NAH! Take them out, they aren't that great anyway and they have alot of the problems in texturing and design etc.

When you go out of the combine fortress bit to the thumpers and look back when at the thumpers there is a big white glare- I'm thinking you probably tried to make a glare effect for when looking outside, but it seems to have reversed...

Don't like the barracks much, they seem kinda lazy and un-thoughtfull.

Alot of the edge texturing needs redoing or aligning, by edges I mean trims, sides, everything- in most cases its misaligned. On that note the barrier on the bridge thingy is too low at the stair point, needs extending more.

The swamp areas swamp gassy thing sprites need to be placed better, currently they are in a grid, and its easy to tell.

Another thing I just thought of but I'm not sure about... The bridge ends with damage and rubble, but I can't remember if there was any actual rubble on the ground, or on the other side where it was going to connect to.

Lastly, you need a 3D skybox...

As I said I'm not 100% sure if this is the latest version, but I'm pretty sure it is. If you wanna create a server some time I can show you in game all the flaws.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

Myrk- said:
Firstly noted that the map has some serious design issues- random houses with some combine fortress? Nah... NAH! Take them out, they aren't that great anyway and they have alot of the problems in texturing and design etc.

yes, the rebel houses is out of place, no doubt about that.
I wanted to create a rebel-looking base when i created them.
If anyone has alternative suggestions to rebel-looking bases that fits the enviroment better, then please tell me.

Myrk- said:
When you go out of the combine fortress bit to the thumpers and look back when at the thumpers there is a big white glare- I'm thinking you probably tried to make a glare effect for when looking outside, but it seems to have reversed...

Yes, i made a mistake and been lazy enough to not delete the entity =P.

Don't like the barracks much, they seem kinda lazy and un-thoughtfull.

What barracks?

Myrk- said:
Alot of the edge texturing needs redoing or aligning, by edges I mean trims, sides, everything- in most cases its misaligned. On that note the barrier on the bridge thingy is too low at the stair point, needs extending more.

The swamp areas swamp gassy thing sprites need to be placed better, currently they are in a grid, and its easy to tell.

Yes, yes, all of that will be fixed at a later stage. Good that you mentioned it though, i havent thought of the "swamp grassy thing sprites".

Myrk- said:
Another thing I just thought of but I'm not sure about... The bridge ends with damage and rubble, but I can't remember if there was any actual rubble on the ground, or on the other side where it was going to connect to.

Youre not the first one to mention this part. i have not created any rubble there (YET) since i didnt want to block the path that goes under the bridge. But if placed properly, the rubble can work as great cover from enemy fire.

Myrk- said:
Lastly, you need a 3D skybox...

Yes i most certainly do. I have a few great plans for it. Although there are a few things that have kept me from starting with it. First off, im not sure how its going to work together with the fog on the map. Will the fog affect the skybox aswell?
Secondly, im not sure how the "max viewable distance" includes skyboxes aswell..

Myrk- said:
As I said I'm not 100% sure if this is the latest version, but I'm pretty sure it is. If you wanna create a server some time I can show you in game all the flaws.

You mentioned thumpers. They are only present in the latest official version.
Yes, that would be great. Ill be in touch.

Some feedback from me...

The 5 screenshots here on Snarkpit don't work (for me, anyway).

In some places you have 2 thumpers side-by-side. Overkill? One in each position will suffice.

Also the positioning of the thumpers seems weird - on rocky peaks and flat man-made surfaces. Surely they should be on sand?

The majority of the texturing is misaligned and needs sorting out, along with all the cubemapping on the combine materials too (I was getting an ugly-looking purple and white effect).

The exterior feels very empty at the moment and filling it sufficiently with detailing is likely to hammer framerates into the ground. :sad:

In terms of the deathmatch layout, Blood Gulch may have worked ok on the Xbox in which levels have to be one-tier due to the limitations of the controller, but on PC surely we expect some multi-tier action going on? (i.e. enemies potentially above and below you too). Also, this level is RPG only? Maybe it's just me not "getting it" but this isn't the type of level I'd find to be any fun, sorry. :sad:

I think the 2 thumpers is good, and the way they go in time with each other- however, all the thumpers are going in time. They should only go in time as pairs, not all at the same time. There may be too many too.

By the Barracks I mean that outside combine building. The access isn't very good and it seems a little unconnected- maybe use the teleport system with it.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

If you look at the bridge screenshot (its in the post with the layout) the apc's wheels are in the concrete...

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www.filefence.com. Free vmf hosting!

<div><div><div><div><div><div>I have been working on the interior of the big combine fortress. This is what ive got so far:



Personaly im not really satisfied, first of all i need to dampen the
lightning, to make the room be a bit darker then perfhaps... What do
you guys think?

Am I on the right track?

Im currently working on a "what to do" list aswell and will publish it
soon so you can see what im planning aswell as easier pointing out
things that I have forgot.

Orpheus:

</div></div></div></div></div></div>
Im afraid it doesnt matter if i remove all the
holes in the map. Since displacement surfaces doesnt count as solid
brushes, I still have to make a skybox around it to prevent it from
leaking all over.

The room should definitely be darker, it doesn't seem very moody for a Combine fortress. Maybe add some fancy access doors, too, those are always cool. It's kinda hard to tell if you're on the right track yet, though the architecture does look like in the same general style of the Citadel so at least that's a good thing. :smile:

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One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

It was fine before- just a little bare. I suggest playing the single player level with the teleporter and take ideas from that- maybe have protected spawn points behind force fields or something. Also you need some sounds in there- something big and epic, with a big fat ass sprite doing crazy s**t round the teleporter so that it makes it look more unstable.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

Thanks alot for all enthusiasm, I really appreciate all the suggestions and comments. Here's a small list of changes, if you have something to add, please tell me =).

Things to be added:
A really cool 3D-sky.
More details outdoors (such as rocks ETC).
Rubble under the crack in the bridge, wich should work as cover.
Teleporter effects, including sounds.
Ambient sounds in all the different enviroments.

Things to be changed:
Remove some of the thumpers
Improving the visual quality in the areas inside the big combine fortress.
Texture alignment here and there.
More smooth terrain.
Fixing the APC on top of the bridge.

Things i'm considering:
Redoing the rebel base into a deserted/destroyed combine base.
Adding specific weapons to make the gameplay more diverse.
Making a second version of the final map with "normal" weapon config.
Adding a crashed spaceship somewhere, maybe in the mountains?

MisterBister said:
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>Orpheus:

</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV> Im afraid it doesnt matter if i remove all the holes in the map. Since displacement surfaces doesnt count as solid brushes, I still have to make a skybox around it to prevent it from leaking all over.
</div></div>

First off the picture looks really good. Ok now onto the part to Orpheus..

If you have displacement surfaces you can put a solid surface behind it, and build your skybox off the top of that solid surface. Im not sure but I think that can even be a No Draw texture behind the displacement.

First off the picture looks really good. Ok now onto the part to Orpheus..

If you have displacement surfaces you can put a solid surface behind
it, and build your skybox off the top of that solid surface. Im not
sure but I think that can even be a No Draw texture behind the
displacement.

Yes, that is correct. You may use a nodraw block to prevent the map from leaking, wich is exactly what I have done.

I have made a skybox except for the bottom block, wich is textured with the no draw texture.

Todays progress update:

I have removed some of the thumpers and replaced two of them with the
big ones, I'm working on making it possible for the player to climb up
on them...

Furthermore I have placed combine looking posts all around the map to increase the detail level.

When looking at them, I suddenly feel that the ambience lightning of
the map has to be reduced and damped, so that it will look more like
late evening..

What do you guys think?

Here's some pics:

Sort out the draw distance with the fog... Maybe use some giant fog dust s**t around the whole level too to give it more motion (the particle distance fog is boring and static- such old skool technology).

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

Sort out the draw distance with the fog... Maybe use some giant
fog dust s**t around the whole level too to give it more motion (the
particle distance fog is boring and static- such old skool
technology).

I'm working on optimizing the map in order to be able to increase the
max viewable distance. So far I've managed to increase it with about
1000 units, but I'm afraid thats about as far as I can go...

My suggestion about the Gunship was to block players crawling over the
mountainside where they can see over the rocks. the part where you can
do that is the shortside of the bridge after you've been teleported.

The Rebel out post is ok. If you made more functional buildings, maybe
even a cliffside watchtowery thing like in the canals (single player)
where you drop the washing mashine to raise the ramp?

Anyway I've just finished downloading the new map, looks good from the screenies.

Keep up the great work.

Edit: Ah, it says there is an error with my .rar file. Firstly it says
'unexpected end of archive, then when I try to extract it says file is
corrupted. Help...?

The Rebel out post is ok. If you made more functional buildings, maybe
even a cliffside watchtowery thing like in the canals (single player)
where you drop the washing mashine to raise the ramp?

Edit: Ah, it says there is an error with my .rar file. Firstly it says
'unexpected end of archive, then when I try to extract it says file is
corrupted. Help...?

Good idea about the watchtower, ill think about that.

According to you.. What is a more functional building?

No one else has complained about a corrupt .rar file..

Well, I'm about to release a new beta anyway with a few changes, try to download the map again in 24 hours.

Its time for a new beta with a few updates. It can be downloaded at the
same place as usual, http://www.home.no/misterbister/maps/Dm_valley.rar
.

The major difference is that I have made the interior of the big
fortress much more interesting. (The lightning effects took me many
hours to figure out =P)

I have also increased the max viewable distance with 1000 units, although my machine can barely render it at acceptable FPS...

Minor updates:

Put combine posts here and there.

Sewed some leaks.

Made the ambient lightning a little bit darker.

Decreased the number of thumpers to one small and two big.

Placed deathmatch spawnpoints inside the big combine fortress aswell.

Here are a few images:

Well something that shows a purpose, so you think this place is a map room, or ammo storage.

Going to download after this post :smile: