Posts by ReNo

Oooooh I like it! Great to see a tech/industrial set that isn't afraid to use such a powerful base colour

Oooh whats the job offer vivi?

Map is still looking hot, as it always did. Don't think there are any (significant) changes since I last saw pictures though. Good luck with optimising it

Good call on the renaming of "mapcore discussion" - this is a far more relevant title me thinks. But, what happened to general chat?

EDIT: I am a blind fool.

I don't see the problem with posting screenshots of the map with max settings - why not? Fair enough, a lot of people won't be seeing it like that, but why would you want to present your work at anything but its best?

As I said in my first post, Its the big features that scare me really. Kelly (welcome to mapcore btw ) kinda nailed it with "make her look a little more dainty". A smaller mouth and nose should help a lot I think. Maybe let the eyelids sit down a little on the eye rather than having them so wide open all of the time too? Not sure if that would help, but she looks least freaky in her "seduction" pose (oddly enough, considering my concerns over her sexification ) in my opinion so it might help.

I think if you want to be more tomboy, you should go with bigger shorts. I'd be inclined to suggest a slightly longer top too, but the shorts might be enough. Maybe something like these? Using a more colourful pattern on the clothes might be a bit more appealing than the current colour used, which kinda mimics the pink of the ears and looks a bit bland IMO.

I think, if we were to open the contest to any engine, then we would need a stronger theme than "build a room". Personally I would prefer a stronger theme anyway, though I can see your reason for suggesting that one.

The severe ageing of the base surface compared to the fairly new/perfect condition of the trims/detailing strikes me as a bit unlikely.

I'd love to help organise or take the reins or whatever, but it would just be a really bad idea for me at the moment. I've uni commitments as do a lot of others at the moment, so I really need to set my priorities. On the other hand, I don't think you should launch this contest half-baked. I wouldn't suggest charging on come the weekend just to get the ball rolling. Better to wait a few weeks and get the concept and rules of it nailed down and polished - it will maximise the chances of the contest going off successfully.

In general - great stuff.

More specifically, I don't really know how I stand one it. The rabbit character is quite terrifying IMO, as for me its not quite been anthropomorphised enough to be considered sexy, though thats clearly what you are aiming for. To me it comes out as creepy - that big head, those protruding eyes, that giant mouth. These qualities are fine for a cartoon character like this, but one that is trying to be portrayed as sexy? I think its conflicting, but maybe it's just me.

The props are great, particularly the crashed airship which looks awesome. My only concern with it is that it isn't all that obvious it is (was) an airship. Maybe its just the angle, but to me that could easily enough have just been a boat. I think its just because the balloon part of it is draped over the bulk of it and its hard to determine if that was a balloon or just a sail. Dunno if there is anything you could do to further to evidence of it being an airship - maybe in the context you use it in the level it will be more clear. The large log house looks a little flat along the base, but I guess you can use displacements in the level to make it look more like it is embedded in the ground or something.

The scene in Source is what troubles me the most though. To me, the elements don't gel together all that well. The biggest issue is probably the grass texture which kinda doesn't suit the others. It looks too detailed and "busy" compared to the cartoony, simplified look seen elsewhere. This is made particularly obvious due to the fact it is used in such abundance. Maybe make a grass material that is a blend, and on one of the two textures in the blend emit detail props of flowers or something? That would help you bring in more colour to the scene, and break up the big expanses of green.

As I said, in general I think this is really good work and I like the concept a lot. Also, its awesome you are getting to demo this at the Brighton Develop Exhibition, I'm sure there will be a whole lot of potential employers eyeing up your stuff there

There is discussion about whether or not it should allow both engines. A single engine contest would make it easier to judge, but keeping it open to HL1 (or even other engines) would probably see more entries.

I think it would be cool to leave it open to any engine, and instead use a theme to ensure maps are comparable and fair to judge against one another.

Hey Orph, welcome to Mapcore Thats a lot of effort you put into your first post here eh?

Anyway, I think a contest is just what the amateur modding community could do with. Things have been pretty slow lately, at least in the Source scene, so maybe this would help pick things up. I think something that might help would be to try and make it multi-community, which is obviously the reason for the post. I'm thinking, take it further though. Rather than having a Snarkpit contest and "inviting" others, it could be a general mod scene contest. Entrants from Snarkpit, Mapcore, TWHL, Interlopers, VERC, Rust, wherever, using their own communities for submissions, discussion, and so on. Hell, make it multi-engine and allow entries using BF2, Doom 3, Quake 4, FEAR, etc... I think that could really get the entry numbers up and hopefully tempt in people who would normally be put off by a contest run by the Snarkpit and using the Source engine only.

Why haven't Valve hired you as a tools programmer yet Nem?

Pros:

- Wide range of game development knowledge and skills - from modelling and level design, to game design and programming.

- Fairly creative and open to new ideas.

- Enthusiastic and friendly about what I do.

- Eager to share knowledge and experience.

Cons:

- Not enough self-confidence.

- Not wonderful at any one area - a jack of all trades and master of none.

- I rarely do enough preparation work, though I'm trying to change that.

- Easily distracted and prone to procrastinating.

Happy birthday to the both of you

I just love how blatant it is in UT. I mean, using it as a texture hidden away in a map somewhere is one thing, but using it on the main menu in UT is just wonderful I'd only noticed the texture in the CS texture wads before, but its cool to see it so widely used.

Thanks guys Bad news is that its kinda sapped my enthusiasm for my honours project - I know its still important and would be ridiculous to let it slip now, but its harder now I know I have a job either way

Skindred. I don't like all of their stuff, but some of it is just so damn fun. Its fairly nu-metal style at times, but the reggae/jungle influences are awesome. They are like a harder, faster 311 mixed with King Prawn, Stuck Mojo and Rage Against the Machine or something. The songs "Set It Off" and "Selector" appeal to me more than pretty much anything I've listened to in ages, while some of their harder stuff like "Babylon" and "Pressure" are good too for different reasons.

If rap-rock, nu-metal, reggae and dance music sounds like a good (or at least interesting) combination to you, check them out. It's definately not something everybody would enjoy though.

LOL, a plush Sherman for the kids eh?

You making a mobile/DS game or something? Looks great for the polycount, but I agree with klein that it could do with dirtying up given the nature of the object. I guess thats hard to do with such incy little skins though

Stuff from the upcoming Less Than Jake album thanks to them being oh so generous and putting them up on their website