CS Source: de_arcticbase

    Hello there. Me and fellow mapper Skybex have been working on a CS Source map for a while. It is still very, very work in progress, but it is at the stage where some of the direction can be seen.

    Feedback appreciated.

    [Blocked Image: http://www.skybex.com/de_arcticbase01.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.skybex.com/de_arcticbase02.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.skybex.com/de_arcticbase03.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.skybex.com/de_arcticbase04.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.skybex.com/de_arcticbase05.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.skybex.com/de_arcticbase06.jpg]

    Looks pretty good, very complex. In the main courtyard, the streetlights should maybe be removed, since they don't really fit with the theme?

    Keep the trees. They breaky the blockyness (not in simplicity but in shape) of the rest of the level. Some natural is good. Maybe change the name though

    I agree with making the lighting a bit more diverse, it makes navigating through the map easier as well.

    nice work i like the mood, personally id like to see the snow get affected by the lights abit more, overly bright spots etc, and maybe you can dig that tree in abit with some displacement, right now it feels abit "glued"

    looks awsome though id give it a go forsure

    Brilliant feedback and comments guys! Just what is needed.

    Evert - I think part of the old school feel might have something to do with the crates. Not entirely, but I think this might be part of it. Most of the Source maps seem to favour props instead, and so this is what we will go for. I suppose crates are placeholder at the moment.

    |FRITZ| - Agreed. It is very uniform, and quite boring in places at the moment. Needs more colour. In fact, the lighting has not really been worked on a great deal. It has been more about getting brush work/props into the map first. There are some more complete inside areas, but the lighting is just awful. This is why the corridors have been shown instead.

    Tweaking lights is probably something that will be left for rooms that are nearing completion.

    Insta - What do you mean by complex exactly? A bit complicated maybe?

    Also, does anyone else have a problem with the street lights? I have never really seen them as a problem, but if other people find them strange as well, we will look into removing them.

    Daano - The name has been the most difficult part to determine! Not that the name is final. Finding a name for a snow map is very difficult indeed. So many have been taken from 1.6, and all the generic snow names sound a bit silly. Any suggestions, send them this way.

    With the blockiness, do you mean the layers of brushes that go round the level that are the same height?

    IR - Agree with the light and the bright spots. Some parts are a bit too dark, and look plain. Adding bright spots will also add a bit of variation to the plain snow. The "glued" look of the trees will also be addressed over all the map. In fact, it is something that I would never have noticed.

    jaardsi - Do you mean in general, or are you talking about certain lights?

    de_fjordur is the first thing that popped up. Anyway, with blockyness i mean there's square buildings all around, with all square shapes. In this case it's not a bad thing. But without the trees i think it would be a bit too much square stuff, now it's just fine. Also, i always find it very cool to see snow on top of leaves and branches, maybe make a few nice custom models?

    Quote from OrnateBaboon

    Insta - What do you mean by complex exactly? A bit complicated maybe?

    Also, does anyone else have a problem with the street lights? I have never really seen them as a problem, but if other people find them strange as well, we will look into removing them.

    By complex I mean that you've put more effort into your brushwork than most custom maps out there. I'm sure you've noticed that a large amount of maps out there are extremely basic architecture coupled with a ton of props.

    In shorter words, it was a compliment

    Nah it's not the crates

    It's just a feeling a get out of seeing it.

    Maybe cause there where more maps that didn't look like another CS-map in old CS, while in source every other map looks the same.

    Also what I meant with the trees, I don't think you would find trees around an arctic base.

    Maybe use something else, can't think of anythin at the moment though.

    Lovely! Couldn't hurt to deviate from having all your walls perpendicular in places - perhaps a few of the upper level buildings outside could run at 45 degree angles instead of matching the lower building angles? I personally like the busyness of the scenes.

    Reno - agreed, some of the buildings will be rotated. At the moment they are all bang on the grid, and move up in a similar kind of way. Some variation will certainly help.

    Fruchtzwerg - Nah, not Coldshell for Source. We wanted to make a map with a theme, but the HL2 textures are quite difficult to use in a way that does not seem generic/very HL2. As for the CS textures, they have been used so well in the official maps that to use them, and do them justice would prove very

    difficult. Hopefully the map will not look too HL2 or like any of the other maps, though some people have said that it reminds them of cs_office. Also, what town map are you referring to?

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