Posts by Dranore

  • ns_selene

    As I mentioned in another thread, I'm not an NS player. But the first shot is sweet. I like the architecture. It's really nice. And I personally like the color decisions. That's me though.

    -Dranore

  • co_purity

    I'm gonna go against the grain and infer you don't need to make it darker. I mean... In terms of NS maps... every map is pretty/very dark with sparce lights that make it look like Alien... not that there's anything wrong with it... but I see no problem with trying something different... with that said though, I'd be very judicious with how you light. If you're gonna go with a brighter lighting scheme, be consistent and thoughtful about it. My two cents anyways. Then again, I don't really plan NS... so more the opinion of someone looking at the map in and of itself rather than "what it's suppose to be." It looks very unrealish the way it's lit now.

    -Dranore

  • Logical Obstructions

    It's possible that it might be passable... depending on the situation. I figure I've gotten about all I'll get for my specific situation. So I figured I'd open up the discussion to other areas as well. I guess I'll start it by outlining some scenarios/locations and some of their trappings and make some suggestions for logical obstructions as well as other concerns. Some will have been mentioned before.

    Situations:

    Wartime/Disaster - This has alot of applications. Can literally mean war, riots, martial law, etc. as well as any variety from natural disasters or even alien invasion. As mentioned you can destroy buildings, blockade roads, use crowds of people, you could even make a maze of people concievably, emergency vehicles, military convoys/troops, enemies can create baricades from anything. This is a situation that can apply to any location from terrestrial to interesteller. Allows alot of flexibility and provides alot of plot building tools as well, as such it's used alot in games.

    Locations:

    Nature - Jungles/Forests/Mountains/etc. These locations provide an infinite variety in terms of coming up with things to block a player. On the otherside, it's also extremely unrealistic to uses some of these scenarios in such a way as to limit player movement too much. Nature isn't usually full of dense foliage that's unpassable. Creating small ponds and bushes to hinder a players movements are poor excuses to halting a player's desire to explore. Developers still do this all the time, sadly. Established paths in nature tend to be as direct as possible, except with traversing terrain that requires otherwise. So to belivably control player's actions I think requires alot of care. Players have come to accept that the affore mentioned lame obsticles are in fact obsticles. A silly situation, but again, hardware constraints have created this nesscessity. This thread is more speaking in the theoretical of the nature of games to come. STALKER is a great example of really attempting to treat nature realistically and I applaud them openly for it. The ability to traverse terrain openly and explore without using much in the way of lame obstructions is a fantastic leap forward in terms of game design. That's not to say there aren't situations where you want more control, but I'd argue that Nature isn't the best location to have such events occur.

    Industrial/Factories/Spacestations-ships/Military Facilities/Complexes - This is a very commonly used scenario that allows alot of freedom. Theses sometimes sci-fi locals allow for creation of envioronments that operate under a fictional logic that allows sundry routes and gameflow that seem natural while often seeming logically random. My problem with these locals is that traditionally they aren't laid out in a way that reflects how such facilities would actually be constructed. Usually key areas make sense, but the random factory/machine bits inbetween often would make the place look like it's geometries hub... a very unrealistic structure indeed. They "alliviate" this by including inaccessible doors that infer that your missing out on some massive closet space that isn't worth exploring... or they create a situation where access is controlled in such a way as to keep you from having access within the construct of the plot. This is all well and good, but it doesn't really deal with the fact that structures often time make no real sense in the ways their constructed. Doom3 is a recent title that does alot of this crazy scifi meandering without any realism in terms of how the structure might actually be built. You can make an argument here, as the Mars base in the game is actually farily "filled out" but it's still not a mirror of what such a location would actually be built like, even under those conditions. I think that creating plot devices for prenting access to areas is much better than the bizzare meandering that often exists here. At least infer the spaces exist. Space ships are often treated even worse and are usually just a large mass of inexplicable rooms that have no real "purpose" even within the construct of the game.

    That's all I'll add for now. But feel free to add you own to either of the catagories above or even add more to what I've said. If you start something new, please actually write something about it as opposed to just naming something and moving on. Thanks for the replies.

    -Dranore

  • speakers

    I have a different suggestion altogether... I have the Altec Lansing 621's... they're not THX... but they're realllly good speakers. I did alot of research before I took the plunge on speakers, and I haven't been disappointed. Just as much power as a 2.1 Klipsch set (200 watts), but it's something different. I personally think they sound better despite the lack of THX moniker that you pay for. There is a 4.1 (5.1 too?) set by a different moniker as well. Not sure of the exact model number. At the time I was also considering a Midiland 8200 set. All I can say really is to do some research. There are lots of reviews, don't just buy Klipsch or whoever's just cause everyone's like... "OMFG SO 133+!" There are some really nice computer speakers out there that aren't discussed much in gaming communities and lots of sites review them. So read up!

    EDIT: On checking they don't make the 621's anymore. Too bad too. They are however still availible from certain places. They're really nice speakers. If you don't believe me there are many many reviews online that agree with me.

    -Dranore

  • HL2 Map Design Question: Brush or Mesh?

    Another *somewhat* related question for Sourcemasta Zaphod. How expensive are reflective surfaces? For example... If I wanted an uber shiny room, with shiny floors and shiny wooden desks and metal columns... how much does that effect performance? I'm speaking about true reflections that reflect models and all. Does the level of reflectivity effect performance or it is anything above 0 uses the same ammount of power?

    -Dranore

  • Logical Obstructions

    KingNic: Yes, I'm aware that many cities, especially older ones break from a grid... as is the product of being developed overtime without formal planning. I'm going for a different look/feel however.

    Peri: Aahaha... man... they'd never see that coming. But I think that would just make players want to kill themselves so there would be meteors falling all over. hehe...

    -Dranore

  • Art Challenge for October! Make your input count!

    W00t. My first texture here. Here's my entry for "Overly Intricate machinery set into a wall". As I said. I've got some things to tweak... but I'll need to see it in real 3D before I can really do so. I created a simulation of it in Photoshop. :\ Not the best solution. But it does the job. hehe...

    [Blocked Image: http://www.existence2.com/dranore/clockwork2d.jpg]

    All of the layers flattened.

    [Blocked Image: http://www.existence2.com/dranore/clockworkpreview.gif]

    Animated 3D simulation of the texture set. It's not exact of course.

    http://%7boption%7d

    A contact sheet with all of the textures at halfsize.

    Any feedback is appreciated. If I were to make a map with it... there could be a large clockwork cube with the glass surrounding it. It could also be used as a standard hallway texture. Has lots of uses really. I think it'd look nice lit from between the glass and the gears. hehe... Not my best work, but I'm fairly pleased with it. The glass and frame are handmade. The gears are photosourced and recolored, different bits tweaked by hand and textured. There could also be alot of variations on this whole theme in terms of the actual gear placement... so if used alot you could break it up without too much trouble... more trouble than I need for this excercise however. Could also make some variations on the glass frame. Top pieces, corner pieces, etc.

    -Dranore

  • Art Challenge for October! Make your input count!

    I've made an entry for "Overly intricate machinery set into a wall." It's animated too. I'll probably tweak it, but I'll appreciate some critiques first. It's not *exactly* what I had in mind, but it's a good facsimile. The only problem is I can't really show ya how it works very well as it works in 8 layers. If HL2 were out I could smack it together in 20 minutes... but I dunno what to do at this point. I'll try and post the images soon... maybe I can make a video in After Effects or something. :\ Not the most elegant solution however. Just needs to be able to have animated 512x512 textures with alpha.

    -Dranore

  • Logical Obstructions

    RD: Hehe... Interesting suggestions. hehe... Proximity Car Bombs would be sort of strange... but I guess it would be an option. walls of fire/water are sort of dendent upon scenario. Depth perception tricks only work from one perspective... it would be difficult to create that effect that worked with a player that's not on a rail.

    Taylor: The block doesn't HAVE to be shaped that way. But at this point, it's how I'm doing it. Again, the subject is sort of on the topic of urban planning. And many times cities are layed out in grids depending on how they were developed. The other things you mention were mentioned earlier.

    Madcow: A bridge doesn't really work to block-off areas too well... meaning... there would need to be a river or some other obstical inherent in having a bridge to begin with. So it'd be redundant. On the other hand it does work if you're trying to limit the number of paths between areas.

    Rivers themselves have been mentions.

    I didn't think of trains, but that's possible... I guess the player crossing could trigger the coming of a train... but that could get rediculous... but there are other ways to apply it as well.

    I briefly mentioned changes in elevation. So yeah that *could* be an option I guess. But that's not a "Logical Obstruction" very few hills are difficult to overcome... especially in a city enviorment.

    In terms of crowds of people at a "scene" would work kinda, but it would also be an aweful waste of polys unless they're all the same model... which is not very believable.

    Campaignjunkie: "Just putting a building" there doesn't really make sense. There at many intersections to deal with, and putting buildings and garage doors in the way are cop out and box the player in. I've expressed more than once that that is exactly what I'm tyring ot avoid. Perhaps you consider such things acceptible... when working within certain constraints in the case of older engines like HL, it makes sense to do so... but this is more looking forward. Those same cop-outs won't be as acceptible or believable as time progresses because the excuses for having them will no longer be valid.

    JynxDaddy: Same as above.

    Grin: Same idea as before, but yeah, you can do the teleport reverse thing... it's kinda like in Rebel Assault when you fly 'out-of-bounds' and it automatically turns you around. I'm of the opinion that taking control of the player's actions is a last resort to a problem and should be avoided at all costs if possible.

    Thanks for the responses.

    -Dranore

  • Anyone see this Pentagon conspircay flash movie?

    We were having this discussion over in my mod's forum. I am skeptical of the situation. Snopes has access to no special info, so really they're just making conclusions the same way you or anyone else does. Anyways... I'll repost my thoughts:

    "From what I've seen if it was a plane it was likely a smaller plane. A 757 is a huge mamajamma. I have a hard time believing that, given the size, there would be practically nothing left... the afforementioned peice of alluminum (shown here on mapcore as well) doesn't scream airplane and the numbers 757 definitely aren't written on it. Even with jetfuel and fire, I would expect there to be more. Further more, the availibe evidence has been limited by the government itself. To dismiss any such rumors, making all of the footage availible to the public is a MUCH better way to dismis this sort of discussion. Clearly if any of the other cameras mentioned in the above video the pentagon flash video had their footage released, this discussion might not even be a possibility as real hard evidence would be availible. One of my main issues with this is that most of the evidence is conjecture. A fucked up pentagon building, minor scraps of metal, one frame of video footage showing what *might* be a plane, news reports that repeat what officials tell them, and an unconfirmed number of testimonies... some of which provide conflicting evidence... doesn't... to me... create a completely sound case. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I perfer skeptic... and in a skeptical situation such as this, I don't think there's anything wrong with not trusting what's been told to us."

    If you wanna discuss a topic like this at least make a damn arguement. Quoting snopes isn't really doing that. Snopes made their own conclusions and conluded that it was in fact a 757. I'm still skeptical.

    EDIT: I found this link...

    http://%7boption%7d

    A lot of links related to info. Alot of it is blatent conspiracy theorizing though some of the links have interesting information.

    If you're in any way skeptical that it was a plane at all, I'd check these:

    http://%7boption%7d

    I'm convinced it was a plane, but again, the size and type is still unclear to me.

    -Dranore

  • Remake HL textures

    Yeah. Way off. HL2 discards WAD or anything like it. It uses a new proprietary format that is much better in alot of ways. There are now two kinds of files:

    VMT's and VTF's

    VMT - Which I think is Valve Material... something... is a texture descriptor file. It's readable by any text editor supposedly. It determines how the texture is presented in game. For example. It determines the shader used to render it, the bump maps, the normal maps, it determines how the alpha channel is used if present, you can even tint them and do other crazy things as well. So concievably you can have an infinite amount of variation textures for each actual textures. It's pretty cool. It also can go much further and determine the properties of the material, like the sounds it makes to walk on it or while smacking it with the crobar.

    VTF - I think it means Valve Texture Format. The textures themselves. They're made by using 24 or 32-bit (with alpha) TGA files. Not much more to them.

    These are all placed in a subfolder called 'materials' in the game/mod directory and then in subfolders based upon the kind of material it is. It's a good system as far as I can tell.

    PS - I REALLLLLY hope someone is working on a site for this to post the finished textures. I'd really like to do a few, but I'm affraid if I start working on one someone's already done it. :\

    -Dranore

  • Logical Obstructions

    It's hard to movitate the helicopter/sniper thing... at least from the get go... again the idea is that the events occuring are somewhat unexpected. Also, in terms of Farcry... just having an island theme period gives you alot of luxury in this reguard. The whole map can be the island, and no one will have a problem with that... they swim too far... they drown or get eaten by hungry sharks. hehe... Also, there isn't a formal mission controller... more like a guy who shouts over the PA when something important happens. I can think of one or two ways to set up a way to kill the player off... but it depends greatly on what Source lets us do vesus what I've got in mind conceptually.

    Again... something I forgot... the deterent system. Beyond Good & Evil does it when you're in the ship with giant snake alien heads that shoot lasers at you knocking you back into the play area. Bastards. I showed them... I figured a way to bunny hop over a mountaing and get out of the game area and I was free to roam the seas.... to bad there's not a damn thing out there... it was tricky getting back inside. hehehe... Anywho... back to subject... the problem with deterent systems that wound or kill the player for disobeying is that that it can have the same "No! Bad player!" effect depending on how it's treated. If it's done well I can see it adding depth to the gameplay, but it depends on how it's done because if it's clearly just happening because your wandering out of the desired gameplay area that's alienating. If the theme of the map is again, the hostage or really any serious law enforcement situation... it would make sense for the area to be teeming with sipers... so then you can keep the player from going places that way. Yay. A productive thread. Thanks for the new ideas guys. Add what you can.

    -Dranore

  • HL2 Map Design Question: Brush or Mesh?

    Quote from Zaphod

    3) you build a very low poly collision model that gets compiled into the model as the collision

    I'd heard this before. You mention that the collision models should be low poly? Are there situations where that's not true? For example... if you were to create a "terrain" (in quotes because it could be anything the player might need to scale or climb on... could be a vehicle, or anything really concievably) model... wouldn't you want to match it pretty closely so the player were not to float over it or clip into it/slide off of it? Man I wish they'd just release the SDK so I can just read about all this stuff. Poor Zaphod is turning to the Source modding anwsering service. hehe...

    -Dranore