[DOI] El Guettar

17th of February, 2018 Update:

Alpha version available on workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…/?id=1304752352

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Old post:

Well, here we are. After months of fiddling around I finally have a playable greybox version of my Day of Infamy level, El Guettar. So far, this is proving to be the most elaborate level that I've worked on. It's pushed me to organize better, learn basic modelling and really improve as a level designer. The following months will probably be just as challenging, but I'm thrilled to see the end result!

Workshop link: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…/?id=1100005574

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Quote from blackdog

1 minute ago, blackdog said: This is looking good, very well done!

I got DoI with the idea of map something but I must admit I got a bit scared by the size of maps… I guess is not mandatory but they are a bit big.

If you're coming from cs mapping, like me, then the levels will do seem quite big. The risk of losing yourself in the details is pretty high as the levels are about two to three times larger than your average de_map. That's why I set a rule for when working on this level: if it gets complicated, take a step back and simplify.

I just updated the workshop file! The changes can be found under "update notes". Additional cover options for the attacking team, new route through first cp and a bunch more!

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Quote from blackdog

On 8/21/2017 at 4:26 PM, blackdog said: Wish I could give it a try you testing it with the DoI team anyway?

No, but I got a lot of feedback from the community and I had a super secret stronghold playtest earlier with a few fellas from our forums.

Some pics from the playtest:

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I figured I should update the thread with my recent takes on the art pass. There's still quite a lot of work left to do, but now I'm pretty confident of the direction it's heading.

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Quote from Radu

On 8/4/2017 at 1:43 PM, Radu said: The following months will probably be just as challenging, but I'm thrilled to see the end result!

You have no idea, man.

I had hoped to release it by now, but there's been a lot of issues to resolve. I'll spare everyone the details and just post some screenshots from a recent test.

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Hey, guys, the alpha is out! It's still rough around the edges, but it's playable and you can get a pretty good idea of the overall theme. Give it a try if you want: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…/?id=1304752352

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Updated the map today. Important changes include the addition of a flank route in the first area, rebalancing of middle area and mandatory desert camo for german troops. Next update will address the final area.

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Quote from will2k

20 hours ago, will2k said: Coming along really nice, good job.

Any trouble on the African fps front?

I haven't really worked too much on optimizing it. There's just some basic stuff in place, like func_details, simplified nodraw skeleton under the buildings and a hint brush that cuts over the buildings across the level. I opened up some of the spaces during the last update and worked a bit sloppy to get it out faster; noticed 10-20 drops in frames in some places. I think the starting area suffers the most right now since it's the most open. If you have any suggestions on that, feel free to drop me a message. It's a tricky situation since there are a lot of tree tops and I thought it would be weird to close the skybox and have a massive tree just pop up after the player turns a corner. Regarding the first area, I know you told me to include nodraw brushes under the displacement hills back when I sent you the concept for the layout.. it's just that the hills are not high enough and fps drops to lowest when the player is at the top of the hill and looking towards the town (70-80 fps). It will probably improve once I have some better hints in place, but I don't know if it will make that much of a difference. I've considered removing some of the bush models and replacing them with detail sprites OR start cutting some trees.