WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

    I've been working on a AIM/AM map for CS:GO, with a twist. The game initially plays out as a collection of six 1v1 matchups. After 15 seconds, the doors to each arena will unlock, allowing players to walk to other arenas, or to fight it out in the hallway connecting the six arenas. There will also be random sets of weapons each round (AK vs. M4, Tec-9 vs. Five-Seven, Sawed Off vs. Mag-7 and so forth).

    Overall, I envision the map being like a collection of six movie sets, each themed after a CS:GO map. This is why you can see some skybox textures on walls, as they are meant to be something akin to LED screens. Here are how the arenas look like so far:

    Sugarmill/Swamp:

    Spoiler


    Aztec/Ancient:

    Spoiler


    Dust/Mirage:

    Spoiler


    Cache (closely based on the official 1v1 Cache arena):

    Spoiler


    Italy/Inferno/Canals:

    Spoiler


    Subzero/Monastery:

    Spoiler


    Hallway that connects the arenas:

    Spoiler


    You'll notice some red buttons in the hallway screenshot. Pressing those red buttons will teleport players into the arena, after a two second delay. I added these buttons because there is only one entrance into each arena, which I think would make it really easy for someone to camp inside an arena. In turn, allowing players to potentially teleport behind a camper would be a good way to balance things out. Also, requiring players to stand still for a couple seconds before teleporting prevents players from cheaply teleporting away in a hallway fight.

    Finally, I plan on creating a spinoff version without the connecting hallway. Instead, the map will teleport surviving players to a 7th arena after some time. I also plan on creating separate 1v1 maps for each of the arena.

    So I might as well post about my current project here finally, since I've been doing so on the Discord for awhile now. Half-Life: Dark Matter is designed as if there was a fourth and final expansion to the original Half-Life from the perspective of a Black Operator named Kovac. I got the idea when I was replaying Half-Life for the 20th anniversary in 2018, I realised that although the Black Ops had appeared in a couple of mods, they certainly weren't done real justice, so I decided I would be the one to deliver it...

    Since then it's evolved a fair bit, and I have seven others in a team working with me now, including brand new code! There will lots of new areas and also crossovers with existing areas as well, and the story will not only be in keeping with Half-Life 1, but also Half-Life 2 and even Alyx where appropriate!

    This is my last ever Goldsource project*, upon completion I will be moving onto a newer and more modern game project, what that will be exactly is not known right now. Most of you guys know I've been working with Half-Life 1 for almost 22 years now, so I've got the experience and knowledge to pull this off, and the others have extensive skills in the field as well! :)

    Main page: https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life-dark-matter

    An extensive FAQ which answers most questions: https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life…ed-questions-20

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/HLDarkMatter

    and we also have a Discord server! https://discord.gg/yX4CfrH

    Right now as we speak, Dark Matter has been nominated for the ModDB Mod Of The Year awards Top 100, in the Upcoming category! So if you guys want to vote for me, that would be awesome ?

    Just follow this link: https://www.moddb.com/groups/2020-mo…op100#vote41984

    and select Dark Matter on the bottom! If we win, there will be a new chapter reveal in advance of the media update next year!

    Anyway, it wouldn't be the WIP thread without some WIPs, so here's a bunch of screenshots, more on the page above obviously!

    [Blocked Image: https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/…mbda_core_c.jpg][Blocked Image: https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/42/41984/aa_03.jpg][Blocked Image: https://media.moddb.com/images/members/1/2/1164/aa_02.jpg][Blocked Image: https://media.moddb.com/images/members…da_coredoor.jpg][Blocked Image: https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/…/dm3a4_wip2.jpg][Blocked Image: https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/…m1a4_n_wip2.jpg]

    I'll post more enviroments here as I make them! Enjoy. :D

    *I might still work on something smaller for fun, if an idea arrises

    Added some more details to the AIM map I was working on:

    Italy/Inferno/Canals (more roofs):

    Spoiler


    Aztec/Ancient (more foliage):

    Spoiler


    Subzero/Monastery (more background stuff):

    Spoiler


    Cache (more foliage):

    Spoiler

    The content cannot be displayed because it is no longer available.


    Also, I recently discovered that the game_player_equip entity kind of screws up CS:GO if you're trying to play deathmatch, arms race or demolition modes. In fact, if your game_player_equip is forcibly equipping players and you try to play in arms race mode, the whole game will crash. This means, on top of the 7(!) spinoff maps already planned, I'll be releasing a deathmatch/arms race compatible version as well.

    Quote from D3ads

    On 12/18/2020 at 4:55 AM, D3ads said: Stuff D3ads Said about Dark Matter

    Great stuff dude, it seems like a great closer to your Half Life modding chapter, putting together everything you learned into one final product. Awesome :)

    Quote from sn0wsh00

    On 12/18/2020 at 1:41 AM, sn0wsh00 said: I've been working on a AIM/AM map for CS:GO, with a twist. The game initially plays out as a collection of six 1v1 matchups. After 15 seconds, the doors to each arena will unlock, allowing players to walk to other arenas, or to fight it out in the hallway connecting the six arenas. There will also be random sets of weapons each round (AK vs. M4, Tec-9 vs. Five-Seven, Sawed Off vs. Mag-7 and so forth).

    Hallway that connects the arenas:

    http://# Hide contents

    This is an interesting project, but I think you need to work on the central hub. This is basically gonna turn out as a TDM, since there are not gonna be clear fronts (two distinct sides) where players will come from, and running up and down a corridor is not fun.

    So I think you need to build a central hub that is more than a corridor, you need an arena that allows people to clash together in a fluid manner. It would work out even better if you could add verticality, placing the different 1-on-1 rooms on different levels. Imagine a mall with a couple of galleries or look up the Panopticon concept (where your rooms would be the cells).

    Considering the concept you have, and considering reference like the aforementioned Panopticon, you can come up with something very interesting, like a "production room" located in the hub that overlooks the sets... this would give you the bonus opportunity to create some environmental storytelling.

    Look at something like de_studio to see how they integrated the concept, and I am thinking of de_biome when I think of the production room

    Thanks guys, Dark Matter came SECOND in the Upcoming Mods vote!

    https://www.moddb.com/groups/2020-mo…coming-mod-2020

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life…20-second-place

    Big thanks to everyone here who voted! Here's a couple of WIPs from the Xen chapter called Hostile Takeover (it was a working title for DM, now a homage to the cancelled expansion by 2015). Check the moddb links below for a synopsis!

    [Blocked Image: https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/42/41984/xen_wip1a.jpg][Blocked Image: https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/42/41984/xen_wip1b.jpg]

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life…ostile-takeover

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life-dark-matter/images/chapter-hostile-takeover1

    Quote from blackdog

    On 12/24/2020 at 9:28 AM, blackdog said: This is an interesting project, but I think you need to work on the central hub. This is basically gonna turn out as a TDM, since there are not gonna be clear fronts (two distinct sides) where players will come from, and running up and down a corridor is not fun.

    So I think you need to build a central hub that is more than a corridor, you need an arena that allows people to clash together in a fluid manner. It would work out even better if you could add verticality, placing the different 1-on-1 rooms on different levels. Imagine a mall with a couple of galleries or look up the Panopticon concept (where your rooms would be the cells).

    The map will have a radar, so that should make it easier to infer where friends and enemies will be coming from. Also, for one of the spinoff, I plan on having all surviving players teleport to a seventh arena, with Ts and CTs teleporting to distinct sides.

    Nevertheless, taking your advice, I decided to overhaul the hallway on the original map so that it feels less hallway-ish. First, I widened the hallway to make it more like an atrium. I also transformed the corridor so that it'll look like three distinct sectors, with the two end sectors connecting to three arenas each. With this, I hope to visually nudge players into checking the two adjacent arenas first before moving across the map to check the other three arenas, hopefully reducing the amount of back and forth running.

    Here's a comparison GIF of the changes (I did not record the coordinates for the original screenshot, so this comparison won't be perfect):

    Spoiler


    And here's another screenshot of the revamped connecting area:

    Spoiler

    Nice one @sn0wsh00. Just wanted to clarify my point about the TDM is not much about teamwork, players are used to play DM and is fine, my point was about the flow, as all good DM maps let you flow in circular paths (so you're never stopping).

    Well done with the changes, it looks more structured already.

    Quote from Buddy

    On 12/29/2020 at 7:44 PM, Buddy said: That is too flat, other than that it does look like the retail game :)

    That's just the camera height making it look a bit like that:

    In the retail maps, the terrain top is completely flat!

    I'm still workin' on porting HLA content to Source 1. It's not much, but it's coming along!

    It's not really challenging, it's just time consuming to do since it's quite a long process for even just 1 model. Though textures can be rather quick.

    Car models have proven to be most challenging since they have different textures for both the inside and outside. And they aren't separate like the car models in CS:GOs Dust 2. So I have to manually select every polygon that makes up the interior, and temporarily make the interior it's own model to add the texture. Then I can combine the two together again. It can take hours to do this, but I'd say it's worth it.

    Foliage hasn't proven challenging. The only thing I have to do is try to re-create how the S2 wind effects look with the S1 $treesway technology. Having a high scrumble setting usually recreates the look well.

    Dynamic props are the only thing I'm not sure I'll be up for. I have no idea how to port over the animations for the model. But if by some miracle I figure it out, I'll be one happy fella!

    I'll update y'all soon! I hope your new year has been great so far!

    Quote from blackdog

    1 hour ago, blackdog said: Awesome stuff @That50'sGuy, you planning on releasing a pack for mappers?

    Sure should be fine, but have you checked that Valve won't get mad for this?

    Releasing a pack was indeed my intention! I was amazed at all the content in the game and thought to myself "CS:GO mappers would have a field day with all this!".

    As for your second question, that's actually something I never thought of. I've heard in the past that Valve doesn't have issues with people using Valve assets in other Valve-Made games. But I'll probably see if there's a way to ask them.

    I was more thinking of the HL mapping community, being able to integrate more with the most recent game, remaster some maps/mods or just allow people that don’t have Alyx to play something in theme with that would be great.

    You might accidentally become responsible for people recreating Alyx for the peasants that don’t own VR @That50'sGuy ?

    It's amazing to see how Valve has lately been using transparant textures as simple gradient overlays into displacements textures etc in CS:GO. Seeing that brick texture at the bottom edge of the brick wall, I'm wondering if it was a new texturing-modeling trick they simply ported to Dust 2's Kabash windows. Great work!

    Quote from blackdog

    23 minutes ago, blackdog said: I was more thinking of the HL mapping community, being able to integrate more with the most recent game, remaster some maps/mods or just allow people that don’t have Alyx to play something in theme with that would be great.

    Gee, I didn't think of that! Seeing the HL2 maps remastered on the old engine with the new props/textures sounds like it would be nice to see!

    Quote from blackdog

    23 minutes ago, blackdog said: You might accidentally become responsible for people recreating Alyx for the peasants that don’t own VR @That50'sGuy ?

    Well this just boosted my motivation by 105%! Knowing that my simple job of porting HD Half-Life stuff to the old engine could result in something big sure fills me with determination! (No, the Undertale reference was not intentional, heh ?)

    Quote from JorisCeoen

    12 minutes ago, JorisCeoen said: It's amazing to see how Valve has lately been using transparant textures as simple gradient overlays into displacements textures etc in CS:GO. Seeing that brick texture at the bottom edge of the brick wall, I'm wondering if it was a new texturing-modeling trick they simply ported to Dust 2's Kabash windows. Great work!

    It is indeed an interesting thing to take note of. I actually thought the same thing looking back at Dust 2 after playing HLA.

    Fun-Fact: That very brick trim model was what actually motivated me to start this project in the first place. It's really high-quality and comes with a 4k texture. And all of the bricks really pop on the model. It was seeing that model while exploring chapter 6 that got me thinking about what could be made with all these assets.

    Sure, it's been less than a week since I've released aim_six_arenas, but that doesn't mean I can't start working on the spinoff map.

    The conceit of this spinoff map is still the same as the original: each round starts as a series of 1v1 matches before allowing all the surviving players to fight each other. The difference here is that, instead fighting it out in movie sets and hallways, the players now fight in separate arenas, with the surviving players teleporting to a seventh arena. From a gameplay perspective, this means no more searching up and down a corridor looking for enemies, something players generally dislike. From the design perspective, this means I can add a lot more details to the arenas, which can be seen below:

    Aztec/Ancient arena (original arena for comparison)

    Subzero/Monastery arena (original arena for comparison)

    Swamp/Sugar Mill arena (original arena for comparison)

    You'll notice that the skies in the screenshots are different, thanks to my use of skydomes. I wrote a tutorial on how I made these skydomes here.

Participate now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!

Register Yourself Login