dm_ortho

This is my HL2DM map 'dm_ortho'

It's not quite at beta yet, but I'll be done very soon and I'll be looking for beta testers from here if you're interested.

Comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

Thanks.

what am i missing? it looks mono-shaded and like you zoomed in on each shot.

its.. well there is nothing to comment on bud. can you not get any informative screens?

The architecture in the third shot was interesting, but it's all 1
texture (which... perhaps you're doing so you can focus on refining
gameplay before you start texturing it?), and the color of the light
gives me a headache just looking at the screenshots. In the third
shot it looks like the entire room is full of mustard gas.
Positively suffocating.

Like Orph said, its hard to see what exactly is going on in each
screenshot. I don't know what I'm looking at. It's as if
I'm watching the last scene in the movie Labyrinth where David Bowie,
Jennifer Connolly and the baby are crawling around on every surface.

So... change the textures, change the color of the lighting, and...
take some different shots so I can see more than just one area of a
wall, or ceiling.

All one texture? O_o

The concrete supports are all one texture, yes, but there are many different textures in that shot.

Perhaps the problem is that it was taken in too thick of a fog so it's
sort of coloring everything with the color of the fog.

Perhaps the problem is that it was taken in too thick of a fog so it's
sort of coloring everything with the color of the fog.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say... yeah that's it.

argh, its morning in denmark, and its very bright outside, so my
monitor gets all lit up, so i cant see anything on the screenshots

wonder if he just built the architecture using 1 texture and then is
gonna texture it all up properly when thats done (like what they
apparently did with hl2 but using those orange textures)? Either way
there is very little can say about it/ Brushwork in pic 3 looks fairly
decent though, curious to know what the setting is :smile:

Added another screeny for you all to see that I didn't use one texture through the whole map. /rolls eyes

What theme were you going for in this map? I can't quite tell. It looks a little bit like a waste disposal facility.

I like your architecture, because it seems like it would be really fun
to run around with the shotgun in that map, but even though you used
different textures, they all appear to be the same color / concrete
material. I think the map could benefit from some texture
variety.

Are you going to add more lighting or are you going to keep some areas dark like that?

The lighting is gonna be basically the same.

Again, I know that there are a few concrete textures, but that's
basically the theme of the map. Yeah, I am going for like a waste/sewer
setting, so it's basically big, support laden architecture with pipes
and stuff. The lighting will be fairly dark. I know it might look a
tade same-y from the screenshots, but when it's done, download it and
take a look, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Cheers.

I like the dank dark feel, but I think that you will need just a little
more light, I like to add very dim, dark (almost black) colored light
to even out some rooms, give it a try.

Maybe it's the fog or the quality of the screenshots, but this map comes across as 'plasterville' to me. I don't really read concrete here, it all looks like sheetrock or something. Give us something to run around in - it's very hard to judge much from these shots other than some interesting, monotextured, shapes.

I took a second look and I just like to say, the massive feel of shot 4 is nice. I like areas that feel huge.

Thanks for all the comments.

Most of them have got me thinking about the textures...I'll have to be
careful not to make everything look too similar, so thanks for that.

Also, the lighting isn't going to change very much. It was alot
brighter before, and it just didn't look right for the sewer/undeground
place I want it to be. Don't worry though, because you can see your
opponent perfectly in the map -- I've run around the alpha with a few
people, and it's fine in that respect.

Again, thanks for all the comments.

Bumping for renewed interest and nearing completion. Anyone interested
in beta testing leave me an e-mail at lolleyballz@gmail.com

I critique maps, but the author contacts me personally via the PM system here at Snarkpit. I figure, if the author wants me, he knows where i live. I got past that soliciting my wares ages ago, I do not send email request anymore.

Another tried and true method is to post a link and allow anyone interested to critique it with no strings attached. You tend to get much better feedback than you would otherwise. Open critiques in the forums are always preferable. You never know if a private one is honest unless others see the same mistakes/perks.

/2 cents

Beta is out! Comments and public server hosting are welcome!!

Beta 2 is out now...should be very close to done.

to give you an idea of what i think, i thought it was hl1 for a sec. everything in it is so boring and flat.

Hey everybody, here is my latest mapping effort for you all to enjoy.

dm_ortho was named boringly enough for the orthographical windows in
any map editor, but ended up taking a painfully ironic meaning, as I
went to the ER at 4 in the morning for extreme dental pain a few weeks
ago.

screenshots

http://blitz.circa1984.com/dm_ortho_b10000.jpg

http://blitz.circa1984.com/dm_ortho_b20001.jpg

http://blitz.circa1984.com/dm_ortho_b20002.jpg

download

http://blitz.circa1984.com/dm_ortho.zip

Sorry if I'm a bit blunt, but here's my appraisal:

Way too dark for multiplayer and kind of boring (visually). I suggest
finding a real, definitive theme that anyone can look at and say "Wow,
that definitely looks like a ____ !" As of now, it just looks like a
fog-filled concrete bunker. Why is there fog there in the first place?

Emphasis on gameplay is great and everything, but it is all ultimately
useless if it isn't visually interesting enough to engage the player!
Visuals have a lot to do with gameplay - people respond to lighting
cues (red maintenance lights for vents in Natural Selection, for
example) and architectural cues, and need strong definitive visual
landmarks to navigate a map easily.

Looks like you have a good grasp of the editor, now you just need to branch out more!

Sorry if I'm a bit blunt, but here's my appraisal:

Way too dark for multiplayer and kind of boring (visually). I suggest
finding a real, definitive theme that anyone can look at and say "Wow,
that definitely looks like a ____ !" As of now, it just looks like a
fog-filled concrete bunker. Why is there fog there in the first place?

Emphasis on gameplay is great and everything, but it is all ultimately
useless if it isn't visually interesting enough to engage the player!
Visuals have a lot to do with gameplay - people respond to lighting
cues (red maintenance lights for vents in Natural Selection, for
example) and architectural cues, and need strong definitive visual
landmarks to navigate a map easily.

Looks like you have a good grasp of the editor, now you just need to branch out more!

I appreicate you taking the time to comment.

First the fog is coming off the slime...to give it a chemical
nastiness. Secondly, I've never believed in making maps that are
definite pieces of architecture -- I like to let the player use their
imagination instead of sucking at the teat of obviousness. I'm not a
big fan of emphasis on realism in recent games, and I think HL2 was a
good platform to map for, because the game did an excellent job of
blending real with surreal, and I sort of hoped to do that with this
map instead of making dm_WALMART or whatever.

I disagree. Maps have to have definite themes, and communicate that
(visually) to the player. For something to be surrealistic, it needs
something realistic to compare it to. The Citadel looks strange only
because it is compared to the rest of City 17. If it was a Citadel on,
say, a barren alien planet, then it would obviously have a very
different effect than in City 17. I feel that some degree of realism is needed as a "control" for surrealism.

Imagine you're trying to pitch the theme of your level to someone in a
single sentence. How would you pitch this map's theme? It's vague,
ambiguous, and ultimately uninteresting as a result. I'm not saying it
has to be a realistic place, it just has to be a specific place.

I gave your map a runaround and I don't think the theme is as ambiguous
as the screenshots may suggest. It definitely felt like a dirty,
stench-ridden, waste processing plant from the moment I spawned.
Some of the architecture was nice (the central room and the fan room
come to mind) and while it seems fairly simple in the screenshots, its
not too dark nor too boring. It's just not flashy and sunny like
a map like dm_island. I think you did a good job with it, and I
hope to be able to play it sometime to see how the gameplay holds up...
there seemed to be a lot of potential for vertical combat.