1. Forums
  2. Discord
  3. About Mapcore
  4. Patreon Supporters
  • Login
  • Register
  • Search
This Thread
  • Everywhere
  • This Thread
  • This Forum
  • Articles
  • Pages
  • Forum
  • More Options
  1. Mapcore
  2. Discussions
  3. Level Design

City Block

  • Bunglo
  • July 11, 2011 at 4:29 AM
  • Bunglo
    • July 11, 2011 at 4:29 AM
    • #1

    I'm working on a small scene in CE3, I want to get that early-mid 1900s feel to it. Currently white boxing it out but I've always gone at a snails pace when it comes to getting proportions correct.

    My goal's not 100% accuracy, so there are differences in height and what not from the reference, but the building on the left is really tripping me up, I can't seem to get it right. It has these larger, double-wide windows and I don't know if it's the angle in the reference or what, but they always seem off from everything else. I could use some tips for speeding up my work flow along with retaining accuracy from references like this.

    [Blocked Image: http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/4738/whitebox01.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/8550/whitebox02.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7913/whitebox03.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9923/whitebox04.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/3909/28814u.jpg]

    Credits to shorpy.com for the reference.

  • e-freak
    • July 11, 2011 at 8:20 AM
    • #2

    I think this looks mighty fine! The windows below the "Duplicating Office" look a bit too big in your 3D Model but apart from that I can't spot any proportion mistakes. Keep it coming

  • Jenn0_Bing
    • July 11, 2011 at 9:43 AM
    • #3

    They may be double windows, that's correct, but if you look at them they are not actually double the width of the other windows in your reference as they have thinner panels of glass in them. They might be slightly wider but no more than a third I'd say. I think your other windows may be a bit too thin as well if you compare them to the reference, but that's being really nit-picky.

    That being said, I think it's only looking wrong to you because you know the reference so well, the actual 3D stuff doesn't look that bad when viewed on it's own.

  • -HP-
    • July 11, 2011 at 11:36 AM
    • #4

    Go for it!

    Finish your blockout before starting adding details!

  • Mazy
    • July 11, 2011 at 11:43 AM
    • #5

    Cool stuff, can't wait to see more~

  • Warby
    • July 11, 2011 at 5:23 PM
    • #6

    looking very promising !

    cryengines ssao is clearly best of breed but what the hell is wrong with that dof ? can you turn that off ?

  • e-freak
    • July 11, 2011 at 7:57 PM
    • #7

    what DOF?

  • dux
    • July 11, 2011 at 8:53 PM
    • #8

    I guess he means the hazy blurry ugly stuff?

  • e-freak
    • July 11, 2011 at 9:08 PM
    • #9

    if i see this correct the haze is just an AO rendering error due to no materials/uvs applied yet.

  • Bunglo
    • July 11, 2011 at 9:25 PM
    • #10

    Thanks for the comments every one.

    Regarding the DoF, this is the default ToD for the editor, so there shouldn't be any. As e-freak said, it's most likely because of the simple material (just a white box material I found in the material editor) with no UVs on the solids. Plus I used print screen for the shots, might be impacting the appearance as well.

    Quote from Jenn0_Bing

    They may be double windows, that's correct, but if you look at them they are not actually double the width of the other windows in your reference as they have thinner panels of glass in them. They might be slightly wider but no more than a third I'd say. I think your other windows may be a bit too thin as well if you compare them to the reference, but that's being really nit-picky.That being said, I think it's only looking wrong to you because you know the reference so well, the actual 3D stuff doesn't look that bad when viewed on it's own.

    Yeah, I've noticed they're way smaller than double the width of the windows on the building next to it. I think what's throwing me off is that I'm getting this impression they're fairly large but when compared to the other windows, they're obviously not. I'm trying not to get too lost in the minutiae here as it always slows me down and it rarely makes a noticeable difference.

  • Warby
    • July 11, 2011 at 10:38 PM
    • #11

    yeah i was specifically looking at the edges of the dark windows on the first shot that looked like ms configured dof to me

  • Ouren
    • July 12, 2011 at 4:46 AM
    • #12

    That is one damn crisp photograph!

  • twiz
    • July 12, 2011 at 5:08 AM
    • #13

    I don't think the fact that they're sticking out instead of inset helps the weird perspective. Makes them look wider since you can see the inside near corner and they block more of the building on the far edge. Inset them

    Images

    • nwdm_nocturnal _1.webp
      • 74.91 kB
      • 1,280 × 720
    • nwdm_stack_1.webp
      • 34.03 kB
      • 1,024 × 640
    • nwdm_iwihaj_1.webp
      • 300.36 kB
      • 1,920 × 1,080
  • AtsEst
    • July 12, 2011 at 11:16 AM
    • #14

    you have a very good ref, if you are concerned about proportions you can do the blockout in sketchup with its photo match feature then export the collada and go on from there.

  • 2d-chris
    • July 12, 2011 at 5:41 PM
    • #15

    Good start indeed, when it comes to the accuracy of scale Its worth trying to downscale really big buildings to 3/4 of the orinal size, it can often feel more proportionally correct from the gamers view than 1:1, no game sticks to exact scale, aim for what feels right with the set FOV and player camera height. More importantly you should add scale reference assets that will help you get a feel, such as a car, door frame, lamp post and human character.

  • Bunglo
    • July 15, 2011 at 9:47 AM
    • #16

    Some progress made. Pretty happy with the feel/proportions of the buildings. I think I'll get some tileable textures made to start blocking out colors and materials, then I'll start placing Crysis 2 assets to help flesh out the scene.

    The tallest building on the right most likely wont be in the final shots much, so I kept the block out details to a minimum. It'll just be there for the illusion that the scene goes on beyond what the camera can see. I might have to add another building behind the long one on the left though, I'm not entirely sure how much of the area I want in the final shots.

    [Blocked Image: http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/6966/whitebox07.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/6273/whitebox08.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7500/whitebox09.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/4534/whitebox10.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3336/whitebox11.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5085/whitebox12.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4905/whitebox13.jpg]

  • Jenn0_Bing
    • July 21, 2011 at 10:45 AM
    • #17

    Interesting, the bot seems to agree with me word for word .

    Your scaling is certainly looking better than before. Look forward to seeing this start to get fleshed out.

  • taz-ed
    • August 8, 2011 at 4:44 PM
    • #18

    hi is there an update to this or is to early to see a part finished view ??

  • Bunglo
    • August 8, 2011 at 10:17 PM
    • #19

    Still in the works, just haven't posted anything new as I've been focused on getting a better understanding of normal maps (EQ @ polycount is a godsend), color, light, and a few other things.

    Texturing has started though, so hopefully in the next week here I'll feel happy with throwing an update up.

Participate now!

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

Register Yourself Login
Discord

The Mapcore Discord is our lively IRC channel of the 2000s reborn. Chat about level design, gaming, and more.

Latest Posts

  1. Tangerine

    Harry Poster
    July 18, 2026 at 11:10 AM
  2. Any of the old guard still around? D:

    Warby
    July 12, 2026 at 8:23 PM
  3. About our archived forums

    Thrik
    June 30, 2026 at 2:12 PM
  4. Mapcore Discord

    mason_fan123
    June 24, 2026 at 8:52 PM
  5. [CS2] Valley

    Serialmapper
    June 22, 2026 at 11:56 AM
  6. Free Music / SFX Resource - Over 2500 Tracks

    Eric Matyas
    June 18, 2026 at 12:32 PM
  7. Pango [WIP]

    Elowen
    June 11, 2026 at 10:13 AM
  8. [CS2] Dvina

    Jeremy Rivera
    June 11, 2026 at 10:03 AM
  9. Bridges 2.0 by NEXSIDE, MAP SHOWCASE. ( Steam Workshop )

    MrTrane18
    June 1, 2026 at 7:46 PM
  10. Classic Maps Reborn For CS2

    SillySpaceCat
    May 31, 2026 at 10:33 PM
  1. Privacy Policy
  2. Contact
Powered by WoltLab Suite™