Posts by ReNo

I so can't wait to play that map You just keep on making it better and better!

You love the yellow pipe texture don't you Bluestrike I'm loving what you have here, reminds me a lot of the Halo map "sidewinder", but the interiors are a damn sight more impressive. The busyness of the ceilings and the lighting obscured by that really sells it

Well I try Honesty is the best policy though - I hope my admittedly critical but 100% sincere comments were of somewhat more use than "looks awesome".

While its a horrible simplicity of your job, I tend to just use the old "textures make a flat surface look like a brick wall by painting a picture on it" explanation and people tend to get the picture.

Without meaning to blow my own trumpet...GO FLATSHADING!!!

[Blocked Image: http://www.snarkpit.net/maps/HL2/images/2136_1.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.snarkpit.net/maps/HL/images/880_3.jpg]

Texture artists rock and for the most part level designers can't go far without them, but as Algor suggested, its not got all the exclusive bragging rights.

Hehe, thats so awesome Got me thinking "KOTOR droid"

I'm sorry to sound negative, especially after reading all this positive feedback, but this really doesn't appeal to me much just yet. Honestly I thought these were all standard resources from some of the newer CS:S maps - before I read the other comments my feedback was going to be "looks like source". Would hardly be the first map earning such a comment...in fact it almost has to be particularly stand out NOT to

From these shots, I'm seeing a nice window, and a nice doorway, one of which doesn't line up properly with your wall and both of which appear to be differently scaled versions of the same model. Of course nothing is wrong with the latter of the two "issues", but the fact they are placed right next to each other made it stand out quite obviously to me. You clearly have modelling skills so I'd say it would be nice to make unique models for each of these - even if its just a taller set of legs for the doorway arch, it would mean the widths of the arch pieces match up and the scaling factor is no longer the only difference.

Like the others I think the greenery is working in your favour here and you should push the overgrown setting to set yourself apart from the crowd. The map certainly has potential and I'm keen to see what you do with it, but I guess its important to hear some critical feedback amongst the praise, no?

The way I see it, some of the most respected people in the mod community are texture artists. The limited number of talented texture artists, at least in the HL1 mapping community (the time I was most active and involved), meant that those who put out quality stuff gained a lot of notoriety. Perhaps its not the same in the commercial industry, but I have a bucketload of respect for good texture artists. I'm sure those that have fond memories of playing around with Blazeer's sets, or evil_lair's, or ones they grabbed from shaderlab would be inclined to agree.

Marque, if you do start up such a community I wish you the best of luck. There have been some in the past that could be described as going along with your vision, and wadfather is one of the ones that immediately comes to mind, but while it didn't have a great deal of community success, it did have a huge amount of popularity from people searching for textures or skies for their own levels. Changing the focus from a resource site to a community site could be a difficult task, but best of luck if you give it a shot

Ah ok, well provided you know the workaround I'm sure you will get used to it in time - that problem pissed me off royally until somebody pointed out the solution to me.

Glad to see everything is in order mate Congratulations!

Bic - I already offered a fix to your last problem, just right click on a face when you are still on "lift and select" and it will apply the settings and texture rather than lift them.

Wow, that looks lovely mate Hands are a pretty awkward looking but not enough to be too much of a worry. 'm sure once they are clasped around that weapon of his nobody will notice

Nice to see you have worked in some wood now and its looking great, but I'm with JAL in thinking there is still a little too much use of that lovely stone brick texture.

Both look great. Its entirely dependant on the atmosphere you want to achieve really. First shot looks like sunset/sunrise with the sun beaming straight in through the windows, while the second looks more like general exterior brightness coming in. I do think that the extreme orange saturation is a bit more cliched than the natural look, but I don't know if that should really play a part in your decision or not. One thing that you might want to consider is that candles or torches would be a fitting man-made lighting approach for this theme, and orange lighting is probably goin to be used for those, so it might be a bit of orange overdose if you use the first environmental lighting.

My final comment is that the first shot made me think "Vagrant Story", while the second made me think "Tomb Raider 4". Make of that what you will I guess, as I'll be damned if I know what I mean

I think "next gen" is a term that only really works for consoles. In the PC context, generations aren't so clear cut due to the nature of progressive upgrading of hardware. Its much easier to apply to consoles due to the fact they DO come in generational upgrades. Its far more clear cut - from the PS1/N64/Saturn days, through the DC/PS2/GC/XBox days, and now to the 360/PS3/Revolution days.

Don't worry about the "apply texture and values" problem. Personally I always (well, within reason) leave my texture tool on "lift and select", and then use the right mouse button to apply the current settings to a face. This way you can reapply the same settings to as many faces as you like without losing them.

I wanna slap valve for changing some of the keyboard shortcuts in the new hammer; ctrl-w in particular (toggles ignore groups) is as bad as it gets. Since w is used to move around in the 3D view, and ctrl is for multiple selections, I often hit both at once accidentally and turn off/on groups when I don't mean to. You wouldn't believe how angered I get at that new shortcut - if only it would allow you to turn off shortcuts you don't really use.

Well yeah I'd agree with you there, but your map is hardly reminiscent of Midgar or the Temple of the Ancients or something now is it

Mino, I demand you get clicking and get playing Vagrant Story is one of those games that almost gets more famous and respected with age - I've seen a couple of magazines do big articles on it in the last year alone. It had such a wonderful sense of style, and infused a medieval setting with modern sensibilities that didn't seem out of place. I mean Ashley and the "Riskbreakers" are made out to be some sort of counter-terrorist unit with swords instead of guns All the characters are so multi-dimensional and interesting too; even ones that seem somewhat fleeting or insignificant have some really memorable scenes and lines. In gameplay its great, but its through its style, characters, and storyline that it really stays with you. Undoubtably one of the best games of all time in my opinion

Quote from Minotauro

omai vagrant story was great

Woohoo, another fan I completed that game about 3 or 4 times and still never built the hardest armour set or any of the best weapons - the amount of time you'd need to invest to get the whole lot would be completely monstrous. I love games like that, where you an go through and play the basic (perhaps not the right for for VS!) plotline, and then the next time through there is so much more for you to do, especially thanks to the unlocked areas. I have this sort of cycle with that game (and ICO) where I go back and play them again every 6 months or so - in VS because there is still some room for improving my character, ICO because its so damn awesome

That second shot is just the sort of camera angle Vagrant Story would give you after a boss fight; I'm just waiting for the stat bonus slot machine to appear The jaggy edges around the windows just make it even more authentic!

Yeah you can use milkshape - great little program for simple props