[WIP] de_dam UPDATED 6-10-05

Looks like a nice start considering that you've been map for so little time. I didnt read the other replies but here are my tips:

* Make the lighting darker and dramatic, you can make a map look really special with just getting the right lighting

* Get another skybox

* The dam walls need more work and attention. Make then curvy like in tarky's map

* Give the map a wet looking since its set on the base of the dam

I think its a rather good start. once you get a good mountain displacement with appropirate looking textures I am sure the map will appear much more solid. Here is some constructive Critisism to help (everyone else, try to remember use this instead of "OMFG I SAW THIS OTHER MAP THAT WAS LIKE BETTER

damplaytest03g0011.jpg is a nice start, maybe having a window office (inaccessible, think de_train) above the stairs would make the area more full. The roof seems like it could use a bit mroe flushing out, but overall it seems like a cool area.

damplaytest03g0016.jpg - Seems a bit too bright. Since it is underground, maybe some dark lights or something less bright (de_prodigy lighting around the T spawn) It is industrial and not a hospital.

damplaytest03g0027.jpg - Pretty good, those smoke stacks by the water seem a bit too small. If they are exhaust ducts, then maybe something without bricks and is rather the same size top to bottom. Like this but without the curves. There would probably be a gate around them since they don't want people to go near it and get hurt.

Just some thoughts. Try to remember not to add too many physics objects since it is always a pain to have to jump over those that are in your path and have them block you adn get you killed. Always annoying.

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how should I be scaling it down?

If that's the final...it should be ok. But if you're going to modify it/add detail to the dam, It will not be fun.

I've done stupid mistakes that ruined totally good maps/got pissed I did that/gave up on map/gave up on mapping/came back to mapping after a week and tried again. It's agrivating especially when it comes to mapping structures and leaks.

Quote from cdxx

thanks, I will play around with the skyboxs and see if I can find a more appropriate one. I kinda wanted it to take place durring a sunset. (such a romatic time for a bloodbath huh?) but maybe this should take place mid afternoon or so. I was hoping people would be able to hide in the shadows the building cast onto the sniper ally.

I will have to look up tarky's map. I looked up tons of ref pics and decided to combine serveral styles of dams in which this was born... I'll toy around with it.

I'm not sure how I'll give it a wet look. are there any overlays that have shinny looking water spots I can use? how would I best accomplish this?

thanks for your help. As stated, it's far from being done. I want to make sure I've looked at this from all the angles.

peace

About the sky/lighting: Just lower the intensity of the env light and change the color to a dark orange (the darker the less orange it will be)

Wet look: yeah add some water spots here and there. Add some water dripping from the ceiling on that hallway that goes through the dam and things like that. Dont forget to make things rusty at these wet areas.

I think you can do the water spots with overlays but Im not sure about that.

404 on those screens

Call of duty has a nice DAM level in single player. Go look at it.

Quote from Backslider

Call of duty has a nice DAM level in single player. Go look at it.

best dam level ever

Quote from ginsengavenger

best dam level ever

mmmmm Vegas Vacation

Anyone has some pictures of that level? Can't find any really

i actually took pics the first time i played it because i was so impressed... unfortunately that was two hdd crashes ago.

I think this is what you guys are talking about...

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Inside:

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Sorry for the lack of dam pictures....

i dont remember cod looking that bad.

woo another dam map about 10 sprung up after i release de_dam not that i was the first but it seemed to make some people try it

Anyway your pics are dead, can't see them

New shots look really good in general. The exteriors of the buildings could still use work - make the roof overhang a bit maybe, and use textures for the walls that don't tile so badly vertically. For example, most of the wall textures are designed for walls 128 units high. For 256 unit walls, most textures have a cleaner version (i.e. without the concrete around the base that the bottom texture has). Its hard to explain, so here's a screenshot of what I mean:

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You want the version on the right.

Specific stuff: (NOTE: I'm only saying the bad stuff, because you don't need to fix the stuff that works already. There's a lot of good design in this map.)

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The ground in this shot seems a bit gravelly to me - it's up to you, but I'd probably go with a slightly cleaner concrete texture considering that in general the scenery is in "good condition." Also, apply smoothing groups to those columns.

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The concrete floor problem becomes very apparent here. The decal you used for the crosswalk has details that match up with a specific concrete texture - you should probably use the one that it matches so that the "grooves" in the paint make sense. Right now, they just look random.

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The far wall in this shot has a different texture for the botom 128 units than the rest of the walls, for no apparent reason.

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The light above the door appears white and the lights in the room up the stair are yellow, but the walls of the room are tinted blue-green. This looks a bit unrealistic.

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The stain decal is coming up from the floor here. This seems a bit weird - I'd probably turn it 180 degrees and have it coming down from the ceiling. Overall the room seems good though.

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I really like this room. See if there's a way to make the lighting more interesting though, even if it's just decreasing the intensity of the overhead lights and then making spotlights (remember to make them non-dynamic though in the flags since they won't be moving.)

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I think the perfect symmetry of the pipes is a little weird, but if it makes sense within the layout of your map its fine. The ceiling texture tiles a bit too much in this room, but since you're using it throughout I don't think there's a good way around that.

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This was the first shot where I noticed your wall problem (the thing I mentioned at the top of this post.) Props seem pretty well used here, but I think the brightness of the white lighting on the left side of the scene is a little weird - it's odd to see such intense lighting when just a few feet to the right there's bright sunlight. I'd probably just take the lights there out altogether.

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This is a good shot. Since the dark concrete on the dam is so far away, you could easily get away with doubling its size though so it tiled less. If you have reference pics of a dam like this, good on you. However, looking at these pics it seems like the concrete is usually the same color/type throughout the construction. Also, the parts that stick out are usually thinner and don't extend above the dam so far. (This is when you'll wish you hadn't resized it... good luck editing it now.)

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I just wanted to say the cliff looks a lot better in this picture than it did in the originals. Good work.

Amazing where you bump into people on t'internet.