Posts by Hourences

It has been released.

# The surroundings are made of custom content, the estate itself is a combination of stock art assets and my own BSP and effects.

# The level is not entirely finished yet, but I've decided to release as is as I experienced too many problems with the game throughout development. VERY frequent crashes (even baking lighting in a simple 1 cube level crashes the editor half the time, opening any package or any level has a 30 percent chance of crashing attached to it). Having to spend 30 minutes trying to get Live working just to play my own damn level. The game streaming in no textures of custom levels at all unless you really enforce it through the properties (bug..). Having to resort to taking screenshots in the editor viewport because I cant find any useful console commands ingame apart from "exit" (no dev mode available - not even in the special PIE editor play window). The menu being just barely able to support any third party content Etc.

#4-5 days of work...

Download:

http://download.beyondunreal.com/filewo ... _spire.zip

Thanks to Beyondunreal.com for the mirror.

Making-of Picture gallery with a couple of comments:

http://www.hourences.com/book/tutorialsspire.htm

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http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire1.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire2.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire3.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire4.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire5.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire6.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire7.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire8.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... spire9.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... pire10.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... pire11.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... pire12.jpg

http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com ... pire13.jpg

Its cool. Its a simple site but its efficient and classy, so no probs there:)

Your levels are nice too.

All textures, normal maps, and materials (including advanced vertex color blend maps and the water) are self made. Most textures are photosourced. Most normal maps were made using Crazybump, but I used Mudbox to really paint a map for the rock manually.

PogoP - it is 100 percent modeled, nothing in the entire level is made of BSP. Actually, two cubes are, but they are just meant to block lighting

Furyo - I perfectly understand what you mean, but remodeling the whole thing might be too much. I agree that it could look more natural if they were different, but I need to find a way to change that without investing in more time than really needed for such a relatively not so important element. I might make an experiment with a more smooth rounded off stalactite. That would fit the otherwise really smooth rocks better.

Thanks all

dux: Worked on the lighting as you can see below. Statues are rather difficult. I suck in modeling statues and the game didnt come with many. I did add one small new statue on your request though:)

Deh0lise: the cave runs down, I cant be bothered investing time in making water run downhill and "pile up" at the exit of the cave. It would be cool but not worth the effort imo.

Furyo: I know but without them the cave would be empty, so Id rather have something pretty but illogical than the other way around. I did add a second texture at the tip of every stalactite, a different and more smooth rock, but its rather difficult to notice ingame..

I cant change the entire texture on them as that would make them blend in badly.

Method: the ivy is a bitch to make, all ivy is unique and modeled around the rock behind them. Its a very tedious job so I dont feel like modeling some more. However I did rephotoshop and re-shader-ify the ivy textures so they hopefully have more depth now. They are already 2048, its just a huge surface.

The level is getting near final visual quality, but I have a lot of optimization and gameplay work left to do. Major changes, I am getting satisfied. Enjoy:

[Blocked Image: http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com/hourences/krodan4.jpg]

And while you are all at it, check my other thread on the release of my book and UE3 tutorials

http://www.mapcore.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10246

Awesome Skjalg

Liked it I take if you read through it in one go?

If your conclusion is that it's a really scary industry, you must have read over all the positive points mentioned:)

It is not that bad, if it was, I and everyone else in this industry would have quit their jobs long ago already, but I did wanted to stress how not every day and every year is one big party. A lot of beginners think it's like heaven, and end up being exploited by some half assed and entirely clueless local start up company, or are being talked into some game development course by a biased local school, promising them all kinds of great things, only to get smacked in the face by reality a couple of years later.

It wasn't my intention of talking people out of the idea of joining the industry, but rather about finally presenting them a more or less accurate and more importantly objective discourse on the industry, so they know exactly what to expect and are thus hopefully better prepared for what's to come.

As we all know there is a lot of crap going on in this industry, and you don't survive this industry unless you a.) are really passionate and/or b.) make the right decisions. Pick the right mod team, pick the right studio, and pick the right path and you'll probably have a great time

[Blocked Image: http://www.hourences.com/book/bookimage…print2small.jpg][Blocked Image: http://www.hourences.com/book/bookimage…print3small.jpg]

I have released my new book: The Hows and Whys of the Games Industry!

* Intended for amateurs who wish to ‘break into' the games industry and who are looking for additional information. It's also for those who are yet undecided on whether or not to pursue a career in the games industry.

* Aims to provide the reader with a honest and objective discourse about the games industry, its pros and cons, and why one would, or would not, want to be active within this industry.

* Interviews with over twenty industry professionals on how they got in, what they like, and what they dislike about the games industry.

* Attempts to provide the reader with answers to some of the most common questions beginners have; such as how much one can expect to earn, the best way to apply to a studio, and what to expect during a job interview. The book will provide the reader with plenty of tips about what to look for when searching for a job.

* Illustrated with exclusive concept art by Romano Molenaar.

Two example extracts are available.

http://www.hourences.com/book/book2procon.htm

http://www.hourences.com/book/book2interview.htm

Order : http://www.hourences.com/book/bookorder.htm

The book is shipped world wide and counts 236 pages.

Because of my extensive experience with online communities and the modding scene, as well as with permanent on-site jobs and freelance offsite jobs, and having performed work in both small studios as large studios, nearby as well as far away, I believe I am able to present an accurate picture of the games industry and approach various subjects from a different and more community minded perspective than similar books.

More information on http://www.hourences.com/book!

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Also, I've released three new UE3 tutorials:

http://www.hourences.com/book/tutorialsue3faq.htm

http://www.hourences.com/book/tutorialsue3terrain.htm

http://www.hourences.com/book/tutorialsue3phys.htm

Enjoy!

Warby is better in modeling and skinning than I:)

Level progressed well. There are still plenty of probs left though, the statues at the gate float for example, and there are seams in the volumetric lighting beams. Also theres something wrong with the lighting, but I cant get it right. The house is too dark and looks too uninteresting right now. However rotating the sun makes the strong lighting from the windows become obsolete, so thats not it either...

The level is already 181 MB large...

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Downgraded shinyness a little but it remains quite shiny, Im afraid of downgrading it even more as it might look too flat then

Perhaps I need a new Normal map, something with less small harsh details in...

Added detail normal mapping + fall off shading + a yellow overlay on the rocks, now got to try and animate the vegitation in the wind + see if I can add fake specularity on top to not make them look so flat and previous gen'ish. Hope to have new pics tomorrow or so

Ill see if I can get very subtle rain in.

And yeah Hook, SBZ, but Ill only be starting in feb.

Gears Of War Spire map is on hold to let the UT3 release cool off, and give room for my book release. It's pretty much done though, so I've started working on a new level already.

-UT3

-DM

-House is deco, you play mainly in the "garden"

-101 percent custom content. Absolutely everything you see if self made.

-Zero BSP

-These are the very first pics, there are several things wrong. Bird particles are messed up, lots of normal map seams in the house, spec disappeared from ivy, etc.

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People complain the rock is too shiny, opinions?

The map you can get for free, but you need to play it through live, which is kind of free. Im not a fan of this whole live thing either but I have no other choice but to accept it...

The level is done but I am holding off so it doesnt get in the way of the release of my book and UT3.

First one it is.

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In game

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Color tests, anyone any preference? I like the first best, tho the second also has something cool and kind of looks old with all the yellow.

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Sound, chopper, 75 percent of all cover is done. Only things left are getting it into the menu, blocking volumes, tweaking of lights and cover, and a sound problem with the chopper.

The map in general already has like three times as many colors as any GOW level

But yeah, inside it might be too little.

There ARE crates, four or so, + a lot of concrete blocks, do those count too?

And I dont know where the house would get its water from, but if I were to have a lot of money and live in a world where monsters seem to crawl out of the earth randomly, Id build my house somewhere high up

The bloom you are all seeing isnt the bloom. If it were the bloom the interiors would also look overbloomed which absolutely isnt the case. This is depth of field in action, Ill reduce it a little.

Choppers for today, and cover.

Well the whole game is desaturated. Most GOW maps have a 60-70 desaturation thing going in post processing...

I did add a little extra color though, and Ill will look into a third color later, for a little highlight to live things up. If anyone has an idea..

Theres ivy inside too now.

The whole map is finished now except for gameplay/cover/blocking volumes/sound/very special visual stuff

I redid the sky, kinda, just through the material system because apperantly I cant export the base texture to Photoshop due to the cooking, yay! So I cant manually repaint clouds or so.

DOF now blurs the sky, perhaps a bit too much...

Theres also a chopper circling the building now, although it still moves a bit strange at times. Will add second chopper to have a little squadron going.

Windows on the house still float a little.

Theres now an immulsion sea below the whole thing, I personally like the improvement it gave over the pictures on the first page.

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Yeah its the editor viewport, it previews it exactly like in the game.

Im working on an 100 percent custom map for UT3, but its a bit too much work to make absolutely every level fully custom. I cant compete with these GOW assets anyhow.

I removed the pillar at the end of the hallway. and there is a block next to the pillar

Color is difficult as every color looks cool in some angle:/

Its easy to alter through post processing so Im not too worried though.

I took a two day break to actually play GOW, nice game, loving the style, and continued on the level today.

Redid the entire central hallway as it was too inconsistent plus polished up a side room. Only things left now are a small staircase that needs detail, and mirroring the two side rooms to the other side of the estate. Im done after that and will move on to gameplay and visual polish.

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same

The sky is a dome with a 2048 texture I believe, where as half life uses 6 times a 512 tex for a cube, no?

The blurryness of the sky is hidden quite well ingame because of the depth of field, so perhaps I should add a more drastic DOF to hide the blurryness...

Ill repaint the bottom of it anyhow, Ill see if I can try and get a bit of red or orange glow near the horizon, and perhaps experiment with the yellow imulsion lava at the bottom.

Ill rotate the tex on the front of the house.

The game itself runs great for me, but the editor does crash A LOT. Worst UE3 build Ive used...

The game runs really well without any slow downs while the UT3 demo didnt perform all too hot for me. I run 4GB Ram, Intel Quad 6700, but a weak GF7800GT.

If Rick_U etc is your email, you ordered the level design one actually, which is already available for download. I dont support preordering...

If you really intended to buy the industry one instead of the level design one, Im sure I can get you that instead of the level design one.