I never got that for Weaver despite winning the last contest 
But then Weaver was fun enough to build that I didn't really care 
I reckon a Portal map would be a good plan, as I think we'll see quite a few entries. Doesn't need custom content to look good (I reckon most folks will pull off the simple portal style with basically Valve level of quality), and encourages originality in gameplay and design as opposed to just visuals.
The fogging looks good in some shots, but isn't working in others. Seems that the sky colour varies as you look in different directions, and so the fog doesn't match the skybox in places and ends up looking not so great. I'd either try and tweak the skybox to suit the fog colour, or play with directional fog and try to make it suit the different skybox colours. Otherwise looking like it's coming on well on the whole, keep it up
Ouch, unlucky tripl_ecks, you're suffering some rather harsh posts today man! Try not to be too discouraged though, Mapcore can be a little hostile but you'll end up making better levels if you're willing to take on advice and take a few knocks in the process
On the topic of ladders; those gameplay vids definately explained why you'd have them! It seems like they make up about 80% of the gameplay in the mod 
I always get a little confused when a game mod doesn't try to theme its levels to suit the gameplay. I mean, CS levels are "realistic" because the gameplay is meant to be based on real world events. The gameplay suits the sort of layouts and architecture you'd find in real life. Despite its name, this Hide and Seek game doesn't really seem to be based on hide and seek at all, but instead based around fancy movement skills. Wouldn't it be better to therefore step away from real world settings and build something more abstract? Then you can start designing a setting where the giant ladders required for the gameplay don't seem out of place. Its gonna be really quite tough to make a believable real world cityscape based level for this mod within the confines of the engine. In future, if you plan on doing more work for this mod, consider thinking outside the box and coming up with a setting that lends itself to lots of tall ladders and straight vertical walls. Remember the HLDM level gasworks? or the CS map oilrig? Maybe something like that could work?
Anyway, a little off topic as it's not gonna help you with this project, but just thought I'd say it anyway
No displacements in HL1 Freak - this is a CS1.6 map, judging by the blue masked textures through it.
I think something that's gonna be a big problem with this map is that you can access the roofs of very tall buildings, and the world ends at the skybox. That means its gonna be really rather ugly from up there, with views right down on the (actually touchable) skybox, regardless of how detailed or atmospheric you manage to make the main play area. I also think it features far too many ladders, which aren't really the best feature for smooth gameplay. I don't know how this hide and seek mode works, but in future projects I'd encourage you to try and link the different vertical "floors" of the map through ramps or stairs as opposed to just ladders.
Unfortunate timing indeed! Glad its all sorted out now though, I was just starting to get edgy. Hope you had a good holiday Thrik
Didn't Steam add paypal support? At the very least you should be able to use your card through paypal and get the game that way, but I don't know if you already have/wish to get paypal.
Hey Aaron, nice to see you at Mapcore, welcome
Quote from aaron_da_killaAnd yeah, the performance on this map is pretty bad, but this was my first map and I wasn't really sure of the engines capabilities. The lag is due to the amount of models that are on screen at one time and the light map in the map, as I have lowered the lightmap on all the floors to 10 and the inside 5 surfaces of the 'death hole' to about 5 or 6, this means the shadows are more crisp but its really demanding because lightmaps for some reason use up alot of processing power in Half-life 2.
Just a small response to this point. Lightmaps aren't actually all that demanding at all on the engine, at least not in terms of processing power. They will increase your filesize significantly if you increase the resolution (ie. use lower lightmap values), and they'll increase compile time significantly too, but they won't have a particularly noteworthy effect on in-game performance unless you're really going overboard with your texture memory.
Also, I'd suggest sticking to powers of 2 for your lightmap scales - 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc... - as opposed to using numbers like 5 or 6. Means your lightmaps will align better with your brushwork and whatnot, provided you do the same with your brushwork (and you should!).
Anyway, I've yet to take a look at the map in-game but I was really impressed with the screenshots seeing as it's your first Source map. Onwards and upwards, looking forward to seeing what you do next
Well done man, you've made it through Now the *fun* part - job hunting 
Anybody else pick this up on Steam?
For those who haven't heard of it, it's a great little Trial Biking game. Its got 3D graphics (which look great for what they are) but the gameplay all plays out on a 2D plane. You've only 4 buttons - Accelerate, Brake, Lean Forward, Lean Back - and with those you need to try and navigate your way through over 50 obstacle courses.
Its hugely addictive; with its checkpointing system and instant retry its really easy to say "just one more try" and see an hour of your life disappear before you. It's our new lunch time game in the office, with 8 of us now having bought it and all joining an in-game "team" to compete against each other's times and help push Team Outerlight up the scoreboard.
If anybody else has it, add me as a friend on Steam - always nice to have more times to try and beat
Happy birthday, hope it's been a good one mate
Looks like a mix of Crackdown and Lost Planet, and considering I'm a fan of both of those, that's a good thing
I had a shot of the demo and I'm tempted to pick up the full game. The driving physics definitely don't feel as solid as some of the competition - particularly with the 360 wheel that made it exceedingly hard to play - but they are manageable provided you think of it as a more arcade style racer than it looks. Its the presentation that really saves it. It has a great sense of speed and shooting up and down the hills of the demo's San Francisco course was really impressive and exhilarating. I'll probably wait until I see a deal on it or it drops in price before I grab it, but its got my attention.
I've gotta admit to being quite a Logitech fanboy when it comes to peripherals too. I've got and recommend...
Logitech Z-5500 speakers: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... =SP-021-LG
Logitech MX Revolution mouse: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... =KB-082-LG
Logitech G15 Keyboard: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... =KB-117-LG
I've also got a G15 rev.1 keyboard and an MX1000 mouse at work I actually kinda prefer the MX1000 and rev.1 keyboard, but they aren't so readily available so might be kinda tricky to hunt down.
Noticed on shacknews that theres a new DoD:S update out, and it includes a new map. I was hugely taken aback to be honest - a DoD:S update wasn't something I expected from Valve - and then I noticed the name of the level; dod_palermo. Sounded a little familiar, and rightly so. Apparently it's essentially a remake of insta's Salerno! Congrats man, not sure what the circumstances were to getting the level "remixed" like this, but hopefully nothing other than awesome!
Quote from FrieChampYo Reno, do you know "Our Lunar Activities"? They are a Scottish Rock/Indie Band:"Our Lunar Activities", Rock, Scotland:
http://www.myspace.com/ourlunaractivities
Fav samples: "It comes in waves" and "Little finger"
Can't say I'd heard of em, not bad though. Kinda remind me of Idlewild, who I'm rather partial to. I'm sure you've already heard Idlewild as they're pretty damn huge, but for anyone who hasn't, they're a Scottish indie rock band. The songs they've got on myspace right now aren't amongst their best, sadly, although Roseability is pretty good...
Somebody posted this round at work, and I think it's awesome. It's a free album download of a Hip-Hop/Bluegrass crossover, called Gangstagrass. It works remarkably well actually; well worth giving a shot.
If you can't be bothered downloading it or just want a wee sample, there's also a myspace page...
Wow, your neighbourhood looks rough seir - hiding up on rooftops, arming yourself to the teeth when popping out for a pint of milk...
Been a while since I've put a picture. Was clearing out my wardrobe back at my folks house this weekend and came across a 70's style outfit I once wore to a fancy dress party, so decided to take it out on the streets yesterday evening. Not exactly the clearest photos in the world - you wouldn't think the "good camera" was one of the reasons I bought this phone would you :roll:
[Blocked Image: http://www.reno-vation.net/random/photo77.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.reno-vation.net/random/photo78.jpg]
Isn't that pretty common? Going strictly by my contract I shouldn't be releasing side projects either AFAIK, but they weren't bothered when I released an HL2DM map a while ago and I doubt they'd be bothered if I did something similar again. I think a lot of that kinda thing is just by-the-books legal faff that most bosses wouldn't ever actually enforce. Unless you've been hired by a real asshole company of course
I enjoyed the first one, but felt it fell short of its potential a little. Finding all the pearls and trading them in for hovercraft/other upgrades felt like it was going to go really far, but in the end the 100 or whatever it was felt like it could easily have been about 20 as later in the game they just started handing them out to you in huge groups. If they'd increased the scope a little to be more like, perhaps, a Zelda game, it woulda been awesome. Here's hoping that's what they do with this one, as having a larger world with more to explore and more side quests would make BG&E2 a clear winner IMO.
