Fair comment - I haven't touched the fog for ages... it really could do with a second pass.
A couple extra shots. Had a couple of playtests this week, will run it for a week or so on a French server before finally kicking it out the door...
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Having a playtest this Wednesday of some of the changes thus far... momentum is going well at the moment, I can see the light at the end of the B3 release tunnel 
Still no idea what to do with Round 3 yet. I will make some bug fixes and possibly some small layout changes but I may end up releasing it in its current state again and focusing solely on that for b4.
You may spot some changes in the distance...
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A bit weak visually here, but just wanted to show how this area has changed, there is good access to both teams to the platform above (with the pipes), adding another layer of height to this area.
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It's a shame to hear, but are they really that popular anymore? I haven't even noticed links coming from other sites that point there.
The only thing I really miss is Radium's website when he used to review HL: DM levels, sad they didn't archive that one at all.
Quote from TaylorWhile I think half the fun in Demon's Souls is figuring stuff out as it tells you nothing, there is one big hint I want to give as it screwed my friend over big time:
...
Someone invaded and I was sooo looking forward to it, but he jumped off a cliff
Yeah I'm forseeing this character as going through a re-roll also, made many mistakes but they're all fun to discover.
I've used the soul from Phalanx before knowing about the weapons and magic, but I won't do the same when I re-roll
So who's in charge of making the final yay or nay? Too many forum admin colours to keep track of =)
Quote from FrieChampMost of the portfolio feedback threads were posted in Off-Topic...not an optimal place, but I'm against splitting "gaming discussion" into "games" and "game industry discussion", I thought you meant a game design specific sub forum.
I do, the above examples were in addition to my original post. I agree it's not an optimal place here, but neither is gaming discussion really. Gaming Discussion can be left as it is, there's nothing misleading about its title and the content found in there. But there is much to be gained by creating an Industry Discussion underneath it IMO.
":20qdxb0p]I'm against the idea of sub-dividing the forums too much. but, what the hell, why not...
I don't think it will hurt too much - there are already quite a lot of developers on here, a lot of gaming and self-project talk but not a lot about the industry itself and working methods. I think it could add a lot of value if there's a specific forum for it, provoking people to post what they find and get involved in discussions about it.
It wont be the most active forum but it shouldn't be starved for content either, there's plenty out there.
Quote from e-freakWhat about something like IOT (internal Off Topic) or just something "Members Only" if you want closed feedback on something (not necessarily art related but also if you have some kind of beta test)
I think this is catered for by the current Creative sub forums - if you want a closed beta then you only send it to specific people and get those results via pm or email etc.
I really feel a specific game dev forum is missing. Even posts such as some recent ones of people asking portfolio advice, level design or environmental artists etc? could have been posted there. But they're lost for me, were they in Off Topic or Gaming Discussion? [Blocked Image: https://migrationtest.mapcore.org/public/style_emoticons/default/mapcore_smilies/emot_shakehead.gif] (rhetorical)
Curious to see if anyone else has gone back for some oldies. I have both Sacred and Arx Fatalis, played quite a bit of Sacred but really need to get back to it...
I really wish they'd start to release some of the titles in the community wishlist, hanging out for Arcanum
Quote from FrieChampI'm not completely convinced that a subforum is necessary, but we could give it a try and see if the input is worth it?
Couldn't hurt 
If it doesn't serve its purpose, then everything can be moved to gaming discussion...
Quote from Senturajust google/look for cognitive psychology in UI and game design. all of it is intuitive, so it should come as a second nature when creating a level. i devised a method for playing learning and working with puzzles myself, but you can easily do it by yourself.
I was hoping you'd have a backlog of interesting articles you found along your way that you could share. Leading a player through an environment should be second nature to any level designer but the methods and extremes to which you have to implement them differ for every game. Things like the onscreen 'floating' objective point in Vegas and the world map in any open world, i.e. Far Cry 2 made our job a touch too easy.
i don't think the birds are a good example because i didn't personally notice them as guiding objects in any of the half life games; they're too subtle. you will want something that the player is sure to notice, not something that just goes by without notice (you said yourself you didn't notice them, which further proves my statement).
I didn't clue on to them, but I can't say they never helped guide me through the level as I don't specifically remember anytime where I was like 'oh! the birds are leading me here'. Perhaps they did so subconsciously? In which case, they did their job - as they probably have done for X amount of playtesters Valve used this technique on before releasing it to the masses. Kudos to them if they managed to make an experienced game developer not take notice of their use.
Breaking away from subtlety, Splinter Cell: Conviction is using some new stylistic approaches to informing the player of the games state and objectives. Really dig the video overlays for interrogations: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09 ... cell/50973
Gamasutra's not all bad, but almost every link I have in my mind that I'd like to post are just personal opinions, blog posts and presentation slides.
Covering in case anyone else intends to buy it
Yeah I beat him first time as well, I meant 10 or so deaths on my path to him. I'm a Magician so I had the 'Flamethrower' spell that I could use, but it wasn't enough for all of his minions, but I didn't find it too difficult to get behind them and take them out.
I made it past the Blue Eyes only to die straight after the wall of fog from you know who... that was brutal, I knew it was risky but I thought I would have had a chance to get away from him before I was nailed twice. I decided to leave that area for now and take a few deaths in 2-1... jesus, fucking flaming spear guys hurt a bit
I just learned Protection but Water Veil has finally become useful. I really like the level design, it's the first time I've felt fucking scared of doing something wrong that would cause me to fall off, or agro too many mobs since EverQuest. But it's really really hurting that I'm finding some annoying camera obstructions, preventing me from seeing the enemies I'm fighting. That and there's a section where I have to climb down a ladder where 4 or 5 guys are waiting for me... time to use some Flamethrower and Firebombs I think.
I've been reading some walkthroughs to learn about character/world tendancy etc and just learning about areas that I've already been through, that I may have missed. It's funny how different their stories are to mine. Very much Class dependant but I was totally of the mindset that you have to finish one entire level first before moving on. I kind of wish it was like that, so I had some direction as to what I should be doing next. Ah well, but I consider this first character a 'mistakes' character, looking forward to rerolling later on as a different class and a bit more knowledgeable.
Any thoughts on a possible Game Dev subforum? One that focuses purely on game development articles, presentations, blogs etc?
Along the lines of this: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=14060
I didn't really feel it fit Gaming Discussions and thought it may be better placed in an area that could be considered an archive. If you were to come to the subforum a year later, there would be a wealth of posts containing useful/interesting content but also debates and discussions on our own opinions regarding the subjects and wouldn't be lost/mixed in with game specific threads.
Can you recall any interesting links/presentations relating to the subject?
I think the birds are a good example, in cases where you feel they may not be strong enough alone, there are other subtleties to pull from.
Perhaps some subtle things you didn't know about how Valve guide their players through levels... I definitely didn't clue on to the birds (not sure if it's present in HL2 and Ep1? I haven't played through EP2 yet).
Looks cool mate. I think you could come up with something neater if you were to armor the door and windows on the side individually. Similar to how you've done the windscreen and windows. I get the feeling that the road barriers may have just been the last thing you did and therefor rushed it 
Any work on the back?
Quote from tofuJust defeated Phalanx then, actually didn't die toooooo much, I think around 10 times now
Better make that around 20-30 now :comeback: Crossing the bridge at the start of 1-2... the damn blue eyes and archer combo is nailing me.
Lol, what an arse of a kid:
Sometimes I cannot work out my offspring. One moment he will state something that catches me off guard with it's clarity, then the next come out with something that causes me to think he may be mentally handicapped.I was called into his school to speak with the teacher recently. Her statement "He has a good sense of humour but he is the only one that gets it" slightly concerned me but her explanation of why he had received three detentions made me laugh which is not the reaction she expected;
Detention 1
Raised his hand during maths class and asked "If Kate (a large girl in his class) did not eat for five weeks, would she get skinny or die?"
Detention 2
After teachers had calmed down a very upset child , it was dicovered that Seb had told her "I heard the teachers saying that your parents died today and you are going to have to live at the school."
Detention 3
While the principal was explaining the 'no nut policy' due to nut allergies during a school assembly, Seb yelled out "Woah, thats a lot of nuts" after watching the movie Kung Pow the night before.
Quote from OhSnapSo, I'll give you the one of the lighting being all one tone, but I'm not so sure on needing to lead players around. It's a survival map. So it's just a small contained area that has no real beginning or end, so I wouldn't know where I'm trying to lead players to. From my own experience, players crisscross the map a lot. If you have any examples of what you'd like to see done, that'd help me understand.Lighting, yeah it's pretty blue. I was going for a dead cold feel with the moonlight n stuff, think I'll tone it down slightly. Half of the lights are already near some main paths that infected go by. I'm experimenting with having one of the light stands tipped over with the lights pointed up to get better dynamic shadows on a pretty empty wall. I didn't want the place really well lit, as the story (in my own head) is this place was already barricaded up by survivors and overrun previously. You, as another survivor, are coming into the area after the battle has already been lost, if that makes sense.
....
ANNNNNNNNNNND, one last thing, does anyone know if they used volumetric lighting at all in L4D? the vol_light textures don't seem to work for me, and I couldn't find any place in the game that uses it. It seems they relied on point_spotlights for all their beam effects, but I wanted some moonlight streaming in from the glass ceilings and they're huge squares so a point spotlight wouldn't work...
Ah, didn't realise it was survival. None the less, adding lights to some areas and making other areas a bit more distinct will at least make it a bit more enjoyable to run around in for 5-10 minutes. Being stuck in the one area with the same monotone look would quickly become boring and frustrating if it's all too dark. Think of repetition and replayability, it might be cool to play in this kind of environment once, but how long will it take until players are bored of one over all tone?
Moonlight streaming in, chances are that they're static props. Check the model browser for beam - it's how they managed them in TF2.
Quote from TaylorHehe, how far have you got? There's a learning curve wall, but it'll all click eventually. Make sure you find the 25%+ HP ring in 1-1!
Just defeated Phalanx then, actually didn't die toooooo much, I think around 10 times now, but I'm really loving the fact that it's all been my fault. The combat system is really outstanding, the online "interaction" with other players is also amazing - so well designed. Have you seen some of the character models of other players who're in the trophy like room at the top of the nexus? They're freaking crazy!
