dm_fuzbeam

Ok umm.. here. All the info you'd need is in the map description page.
This is just because I know the comment page is going to get huge if I
let it go.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

I really like it judging by the screenshots. My urge to check it out in
game is only outweighed by my lack of time to do so. Rest assured that
I will be later :smile:

---

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

as i said, it's really my cup of tea. very nice work. looking forward
to playing it. maybe not enough shadows (3rd screenshot) or
contrasting-colour-lights but now i'm being picky :smile:

---

These words are my diaries screaming out loud

It looks very creative & unique. I'm quite impressed by this map tbh, I will go try it out later tonight.

---

My Pit

I had a run about and I liked it - felt very different to the typical
HL2 maps doing the rounds. The specularity/reflections were perhaps a
little bit over done - there is a lot to be said for subtlety - but it
did give it a very untouched and sterile look which I guess you were
going for. There were a few visual issues such as obvious seams between
the hugely specular materials (where two of the same materials met, the
reflections sometimes didn't line up and left an awkward seam), but
nothing terrible. The custom environment map was pretty funky - first
time I've really seen one based on a map interior pulled off so well
actually - but a 3D skybox could probably have done the same thing more
convincingly. The map seemed like it would play ok, though the
repeating texture set and similar architecture throughout made me think
it might be a bit easy to get lost. It's not a big map though which
might mean that's not a big problem.

---

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

Last night and today I worked on a 3d skybox that really makes a difference, and I'm pretty happy with it. Here are a few shots.

... I feel so dirty. I'm using image shack.

http://img268.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dmfuzbeam111405x00018qh.jpghttp://img50.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dmfuzbeam111405x00022nx.jpg

and a pic without the hinderence of a window.



I've also added a lift

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

Looks good. You've got a nice style going on and some very good textures there.

One thing though: I think the map relies too much on its textures and
brush-architecture. Add some details now and then, prop models (custom
preferrably to keep up that distinct style). Without them some area's
feel a bit too empty and flat.

Nevertheless, the style and theme look good, it needs some more work on
the smaller stuff but the overall structure is there already. Keep it
up! :smile:

---

Create-ivity - a game development blog

Yeah. It DEFINETLY needs some prop modeling. Right now everything is brushes (except the light fixtures and computer consoles) and it really takes a toll on the CPU usage. I'll be taking 3d modeling next quarter here at school, so hopefully that will be rectified. I'll probably do some of the modeling as assignments for class or something. My prof saw the map and was real impressed, so I'm sure he'd be able to work it in somehow.

I think the empty feeling comes mostly from level 2 and the ramp sections, though I think I may add a lot of windowing to the ramp sections, and perhaps some of those white arches. Level 2 doesn't have much in the way of depth in the walls, but I seem to be stumped. If anyone wants to make suggestions I'd be more than happy to hear them, for both ramps and level 2.

I'm still hoping to edit some of the wall textures to be color-coded for each level (adding a stripe in part of it, reminicient of the intro levels in HL). That should help make each more unique and readyily identifyable. I've also decided to add some skylights to lvl3, so that will further individualize the levels.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

I have yet to download this and play it.. but all this talk of color
coded stripes reminded me of TFC. Would it be possible to make
this into a CTF type map for Fortress Forever? I don't know if
its something you would be interested in but the unique style of the
map could fit into the TF universe.

I mean, FF isn't out yet (and I'm in no way affiliated with it), but
when it does come out it could be a whole new demographic of players
that you could reach. And who knows, if you release it when FF is
in its infancy, it may become an official map or something like
that. As long as its big enough for 2/3 defenders... and has
either good flag placement or a nice shutdown laser array it could be
used for (eventual) FF league play.

Just some ideas. I really wish my computer at school could run
HL2, then I'd be able to download your map and see if my ideas are
relevant at all. As is, your map might not even be suitable for
anything but DM play, but perhaps with some tweaking a conversion could
be done.

wow. that is such a good idea...

I think the map could easily be adapted to fit TFC-like gameplay. this
would simply be the flag room. I already had a few ideas for entrances.
I could make two, or possibly even three entrances to the facility. and
then of course, there would be outdoor areas to the map. That is
definetly a possibility.

As for the theme, a retexturing would really be all it needs.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

Awesome... just finish off the DM version first, so we can all play it.

download link updated.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

ok i finally had a chance to play this, and i must say it's truly great. architecture, layout, style, you master it imo. lighting is very nice too, but it seems that all your floorlights are turned off, even if they cast light. seems like you only put the light-spots facing away from them. what i do is place a second lightspot, facing towards the lightsource, having it just light up the light texture and nothing else. Personal opinion also told me to put different light colors here and there, like in the center section. Seemed like blue (or maybe red) would fit. also i would play a bit more with shadows, but thats personal taste too and maybe wouldnt fit the theme. I saw 1 or 2 minor texture misalignments, nothing serious. lowest fps i got was 20. i hope you finish that last 5% , imo it's certainly worth getting in server rotations.

ps: i never got round to making custom textures specular/reflective. instead of looking it up, could you tell me what the material properties need to be in a nutshell ? :smile:

---

These words are my diaries screaming out loud

heh. I'm glad you like it blister. ^_~

it would seem texture lighting in Source doesn't work quite as well, or
maybe that the texture simply isn't fullbright. i'll point some
lightspots at the textures to illuminate them next time. if you could
point out the texture missalignments I'd appreciate it. And you're
right, it could do with some light color variation, which is what the
windows and skylights on the third floor are meant to do, as well as
the computer panels on the second floor.

I'd like to play with shadows a bit, but I'm not sure they would fit
the theme. A clean steril environment would probably not have many
shadows, as light sources would be arranged in such a way that they
illuminate as much of the surrounding area as they could. But normally
I would work in some shadows. I like shadows pretty much myself.

And the textures.. I'm going to let you in on a secret...I didn't
actually make any of the textures in there. O.O They're almost all from
the train texture set from HL2. Otherwise I'd gladly let you know what
to do.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

shiny..

Belgarion said:
I'd like to play with shadows a bit, but I'm not sure they would fit the theme. A clean steril environment would probably not have many shadows, as light sources would be arranged in such a way that they illuminate as much of the surrounding area as they could.

indeed

also noticed that the elevator switch lags a bit, takes 2-3 secs before it reacts. dunno if you can fix that.



as i said, very minor disalignment :smile: the other ones are on tubes in the stairways on the lower floor, but are almost negligable.

is this reflective glass also a standard texture ? what's it called ?

grtz

---

These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Right now, all the textures (with the exception of hipshot's sky) are
standard. Unfortunately, I can't open hammer... grrr.. so I can't tell
you the name of the texture. I believe there is a command that will
tell you the name of the texture your reticle is pointed at. at least
there was in HL.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

Yeah.. if I remember correctly its "impulse 107" and it shows you the name of whatever texture you're currently looking at.

Truly lovely. You the man. Who cares about performance. I ain't gonna play this map. I am just going to walk around in it and admire the view.

---

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

awww. I care about performance. I want people to play it!

Thanks though, it's nice to hear people like something you've put a lot
of effort into. It is indeed more of a visual spectacle than a playable
map, but I want both! i'm picky that way.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

I managed to decipher the rubix cube that is the download host and grab a copy of this. Walked around it a bit, and decided to throw it up on my HL2DM server for kicks...

It plays -very- well even in it's current state. Myself and several of my regulars had a good solid 30 minutes of great gameplay on it. The brightly light atmosphere is a nice change of pace. I'll leave it in my rotation so it gets some exposure. It's a fun DM map.

Thanks for the creative map...

-Mike-

---

-Mike- is: Biker ~ Slacker ~ Iconoclast ~ Eclectic Thinker
MoikeNET ~ www.moike.net - Bad Cat Racing ~ www.badcatracing.com

Wow. That's awesome! Thanks for putting it up on your server! It always
makes me feel pretty good to hear someone has enjoyed one of my maps. I
work very hard on them, so it's good to know it's appreciated. What's
the ip of the server? I'd love to go in and play with you guys sometime.

Glad to know you've enjoyed the map!

btw, sorry about the host. i know it's awful, but that's what is available to me at the moment.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

I love you..

For a good hosting... try www.ihud.com

-- Amazing map !!

---

.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

Hah. A showering of praise suddenly. Thanks for the compliments.

I uploaded the file to ihud.com and put it in as a mirror on the map
info page. ihud doesn't download quicky (think dialup) but at least it
works, as opposed to filefactory. Still, i left that one up in case
some people manage to get it working.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl

Great-looking map.

---

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

Belgarion said:
What's the ip of the server? I'd love to go in and play with you guys sometime.

Via IP/DNS - 66.127.103.165 / moto-games.squick.net

In the server browser - Moike's EFNet #Motorcycles Dedicated Fragfest

MOTD - http://moike.net/hl2-maps/motd.html

The server is running Beetles Mod, so to load up your map...

• say 'nominate dm_fuzbeam' and then say 'rockthevote' then just vote for it using the ESC menu. Convince 35% of the active players to do the same, and the current map will switch to dm_fuzbeam right away.

-Mike-

---

-Mike- is: Biker ~ Slacker ~ Iconoclast ~ Eclectic Thinker
MoikeNET ~ www.moike.net - Bad Cat Racing ~ www.badcatracing.com

well, good news and bad.

Good news first. I finally learned how to model texture and uv unwrap!
YES! And then even got the models to work in the map. WOHOO!!

Bad news second. They don't help fps at all. In fact, fps actually dropped.

So, while i spent hours and hours on those models, and the purpose of
them wound up being useless, i'm still glad i learned how to model and
skin. i'll put a link in here if you guys want to see the map with prop
models in it, though i have to warn you first. parts of it are
mysteriously black. i don't know why. the models also appear very
smoothed, and, of course, fps suck even more.

---

___My Site___ | www.leveldesign.nl