[Crysis] | [WIP] - Hongzhou Harbor *New Pics and Video.*

    Hey, guys. I thought I'd open a thread for my map here, too. I'll just copy the first post from CryDev.

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    Introduction

    Hello, everybody. Hongzhou Harbor is my long-in-development Singleplayer map for Crysis. I've been working on the project since the start of this thread, but the main reason for such a long time in development is due to some changes with the project along the way. I felt that the map was lacking within many aspects, and therefore wanted to restart the whole thing, which I eventually did after a long time considering it (probably too long).

    My first version of Hongzhou Harbor was initially intended as a test map. It was a 1024x1024 sized heightmap on which I just did random stuff. I was a beginner at the time and did what any other beginners do - played around. After a while I found myself learning how to make my own, custom objectives and the really small test map suddenly transformed into this project, pretty much over night. I never thought about making a new map, I just kept adding stuff to the test map, which I eventually gave the name Hongzhou Harbor.

    I decided to post my progress on Crymod but realized around late 2009 that the map as it was at the time, didn't represent my skill I've gained during the months of working on it. I was already aware of that the project had been in development for way too long, and I wanted to release it as soon as I could. So I found myself in a tricky situation. I could either release the map, disappoint everyone with how bad it actually was, but on the other hand be done with the project and move on. My other option was redoing everything and make something that actually represented the skill I've gained from January 09 to late 2009.

    So here we are. In November 2009 I began working with Hongzhou Harbor from scratch, this time with a 4096x4096 sized heightmap. I set out with ambitious goals, goals I'm still trying to live up to today. Having such a huge heightmap automatically results in a very long development time, especially if you want an epic result with a lot of detail, which I want. The map currently houses over 18 000 objects and the count is steadily rising. I've promised a lot of people a good map and this is what I'm still striving for to deliver.

    As you may know, I'm very sorry for how long this is taking. I thank everyone who supports the project and I'm happy for all the feedback I'm getting. Thank you for your patience!

    Hopefully you'll find the map worth the long wait! In the mean time, enjoy your stay in my thread!

    Story

    "During recent years, the two world leading industry countries of the world, the United States and North Korea, have been undertaking a great opportunity and a challenge that initially faced them a few years ago. After a major meteor shower in 2013 taking place on literally all continents of our world, scientists from across the globe have made a new, intriguing, discovery - A new element from outer space, allowing man to create the weapon of our future. Due to insufficient economies of the world's countries, North Korea and the United States are the only two states with the possibilities to invest further into the matter. What they during the coming years discover will change future warfare, forever. In 2013, the development of the Nanosuit is initiated, only with the help of an unknown alien element not known to man.


    2016. Sgt. Jason Dunn, a US military officer at age of 26, is sent in January of this year with an early version of North Korean Nanosuit technology, with the primary objective to investigate one of the largest crash sites recorded during the meteor shower a few years earlier; Hongzhou Harbor. The remote island in the Philippines is actually US property since the Second World War, but North Koreans mobilized into Hongzhou September 16, 2016, for reasons unknown, occupying and killing countless of civilians. Dunn was first sent to North Korean main land, but after gaining the trust of high-ranking officers in the North Korean military, he was allowed to follow them into Hongzhou when the invasion started September 16th, wearing one of their own suits, posing as one of their own.


    (The world is still yet to be informed about the new advances both states have made within warfare technology. In fact, this information will not be released until four years later, in 2020, when new alien discoveries in the Philippine Islands are made).


    But unfortunately, Sgt Dunn's mission takes a quick and abrupt ending. Somehow, the North Koreans found out about his true identity and he is executed on site before being able to escape, the same day as the invasion started. Little is known what Dunn found out while posing as a North Korean Nanosuit soldier from January to September, but sources confirmed he was clearly onto something of great importance. He was ordered to deliver what he knew September 16, 2016, but his journey came to an end before making the delivery.


    After being notified of the dire situation, the US government did what they could within the short timeframe. They brought in the best, most elite trained man within the US military - Jake Dunn, also known as Nomad and the recently executed Jason Dunn's brother.


    The mission just became personal."

    Videos

    Here's where I'll list any videos of the map.

    External Content www.youtube.com
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    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.
    Screenshots

    This is where I show the latest progress of the map, in form of screenshots.

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    Contact and additional media

    Follow these links to check out my stuff on other communities or contact me by sending a PM. Also please make sure to visit my Portfolio below.

    - The Vulture's Portfolio.

    - YouTube | Brygelsmack's Channel.

    - Hongzhou Harbor on ModDB!

    - Follow me on Twitter!

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    Regards,

    /The Vulture

    the first one is good readable and clean, the second one however is very hard on the eye. looks too much tone in tone and to dark in the shades. i can not see any route or gameplay in either of these, but maybe that's just because of being static shots.

    Quote from e-freak

    i can not see any route or gameplay in either of these, but maybe that's just because of being static shots.

    What do you mean with "no route or gameplay"? How can you see such a thing with only screenshots? You make it sound like a bad thing but personally I can't really think of why it would be bad.

    Well the lighting in one of those outside shots is pretty extreme, contrast works best with interiors, outside lighting tends to bouce and iluminate allot even with low light levels. If realism and gameplay are on your list you should make the ambient light brighter.

    Quote from The Vulture

    What do you mean with "no route or gameplay"? How can you see such a thing with only screenshots? You make it sound like a bad thing but personally I can't really think of why it would be bad.

    well routes are necessary even in open world gameplay. something like a hotspot, an obvious hint, a light source - atm it looks like nice postcards (again this might be due to the nature of the screenshots and ingame/moving pictures it might be more obvious) but I can't spot what's the purpose or upcoming thing in the map.

    Sorry, I was meant to reply to this but never got the chance to!

    Really really nice results here! Looks very good!

    What e-freak was trying to say is that there is no obvious leading in this level. When doing level design, is very important to know how to lead the player with visual hints, so the player wont get lost. (Strong lights, composition of roads or smart placement of rocks, placement of dense vegetation on the boarders and less dense on the main paths, etc, etc, etc)

    Free roam is important, adds realism and well, it's what CryEngine does best! But there always needs to be one main "path" for the player to go, and then add a couple "Off the Beaten Path" paths, does that makes any sense? Then again, I didn't played the map so I'm not sure if your map suffers from this, I'm just trying to make a point!

    It looks good but I think your key to fill ratio on the outdoor lighting is a little extreme. Not sure how the lighting for crysis works but another indirect bounce would probably do it.

    Thanks, guys. I see your point now. I'll try to think of this when I take screens for future updates. Generally, though, it's really obvious where to go. I do have paths and roads and my objectives are always leading you in right direction. On two locations, the paths split up and you can choose for yourself which way you want to go.

    What setting in the ToD tool would you alter to change the ambient light, 2d-chris? HDR?

    I believe he's only talking about the batch of pebbles in the center of the shot, because they are right in the middle of the path. However the ones in the foreground near the roots are cool, because they help shape it.

    The pebbles may not be a physical impediment (the player can easily walk past over them) but they break up the sense of it being a path. Imagine if you build a bridge there, people use this path quite regularly, and the pebbles would have been thrown to the sides by then. Even if not, it just helps the composition better to have a clean path for the player's eyes to follow.

    I've taken the liberty of illustrating the effect:

    [Blocked Image: http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/arhurt2/Harbour.jpg]

    Well, now that you mention it...

    On that pic, you can clearly see that one of the rocks (center and right of shot) is duplicated, you should rotate or change the model on one of them.

    Also, the water on the left is like, _very_ yellow, I don't know what's up with that.

    [Blocked Image: http://img1.hugeup.com/f/05082010/b085b6.jpg]

    Gotta agree with the other's input too: that cliff is way too dark compared to the ground. Light has a tendency to bounce off surfaces so with so much light on the ground, that cliff couldn't be that black.

    Rookie mistake with the rocks, thanks for noticing! And what's up with the water lol? Gee I dunno, it's a dirt ground so it would kinda look like that IRL, though slightly darker perhaps. Yeah, I'll darken it.

    And regarding the cliff rooks; they look the way they should. The picture is taken at around 1PM and the sun just reaching the area I'm showing on that screenshot. The cliff is covered in shadow, hence the dark color.

    Thanks for your excellent crits, mate. Anything else you can think of? I appreciate it very much.

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