Posts by Albatros

Hey ,

thanks for your feedback everybody.

@I3yG MaK:

Working on those skins - need much redoing indeed!

Warby:

Quote from Warby

didnt you show pics of this before with a morree desaturated more stylized colro schmee i remember to havel iekd it better that way

Yep I did, and - honestly - I also liked the other colour scheme much better. I'm trying to bring it back, but it's not as easy as I thought... much tweaking necessary .

Quote

geometry seams good also very unusual setting for a ww2 map that defnitly needs to be applauded

Ty! I tried to avoid the typical ww2-factors to portrait the period without all the clichés.

Quote

nitpicking: that schötte logo lacks shading to make it feel 3d if its completely self illuminated make it so strong that it starts blooming other wise it wont READ as an emissiv object

Very good idea, and I'd love to get that working. Tried for a couple of hours now, but I can't seem to get a glowing model working. Could you probably point me into the right direction there?

Thanks a lot again guys!

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1006ak.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1006bk.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1006ck.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1006dk.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1006ek.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1006fk.jpg]

Hey,

as shown in the WIP thread, I'm working on a single player mod on my weekends whereas HaJ and RnL get my full attention from monday to friday.

So... yeah, the SP mod will be called "Zeitgeist", which means "spirit of the age", and there will be a MP-mode that more or less shifts the player through three historical periods. Kind of .

I'll make an own thread on the Mod itself to show progress on all the maps of it parallely - this one only serves to present the most complete one of them so you get a feeling for what the heck I'm talking about ;p. Other than Stuttgart, the Zeitgeist locations will include London, Vienna, Prague, New York, Moscow and - maybe - Berlin.

The story takes place in an alternative line of time; some events that happened in reality between 1912 and 1920 happened differently or just didn't happen at all, and the consequences resulted in a faster technological development in some ways, and a very much different political situation in europe and the rest of the world.

The aim of the mod is to take a contemporary and complex story like Michael Clayton or the Bourne Trilogy, combine it with the scenery of the 1930s/40s and add a minimal feeling of James Bond to the mixture. The result should be as professional as can be to make the environment as credible as possible.

I'm sure it can work, but it means a hell of a lot of work, so I suppose I'll need much professional help creating all the content, coding and scripting needed to make this a success, and maybe even sponsors and a budget.

I'll open a post in the recruitment forums soon with more detail on content & story.

Cheers,

Albatros

P.S.: sorry for posting this almost unchanged in some other forums - it's too much to type it over and over again.

OK ,

good to know.

Well yeah, there are points that can be realized and some that can't. You've often been determined on the latter, and I could never quite figure out why. The cars can (and will ) be changed accordingly, good idea and thanks for it. But things like the building details being textures and such are directly connected to performance reasons. Source is no good for both much detail and long visibility lines which a city requires I'm afraid, so it's not that I don't prefer a nicely shaped facade and "^4"-displacements that'll give me a sweet natural road over textures. I do see those things. It's rather that I know why some stuff has to be sacrificed so some other can be realized .

Btw. is that right, you're in the HaJ team now?

Quote from e-freak

I think it makes good screenshots but I'm not too sure about how it'd look from a players point of view. the actual POV while running through that scene seems to be a bit flat or not as detailed as the whole of the scene is. There are these really great Streetlight Models hanging on the ropes and nice textures in the third storie of the buildings but the street is actually a flat texture, every building detail is just a texture and mostly they are repeating a lot, the tram tracks seem to be just layed out like lego-tracks (and they seem to be much to far away from each other) and some of these textures really look like tiling fotos. the dirt/usage of most objects differs a lot (the general feel is more old and daily usage and the cars are all plastic-clean).Yes, there's a lot of great work and potential in there already, but I'd really like to see this improved to a whole lot better.

Hey e-freak,

sorry, that's one thing that hasn't chanegd over the years, but... I really don't think I can get anything done you'll not critizise one way or the other. Not in this lifetime .

You know what engine I'm working with, you know it's WIP and you do know I'm replacing brushwork with models (which I'm working on, too) and plan to redo especially the street bit (if you're cross reading the various mapping forums we both are registered in).

Now, rethink the points you've mentioned. Honestly, the looks are already 120% above the normally achievable source limits, so some stuff can't be changed due to performance reasons. It's already a brain twisting thing to get a constantly high frame rate with the lot of detail I have in it right now.

On the other hand - I'm not sure, are you making levels, too? I'm curious since if not, it'd explain some of your sometimes a bit incomprehensible expectations. It seems to me more like you'd look at things from a spectator's POV, not that of a level designer.

No offense intended!

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1005ak.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1005bk.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1005ck.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1005dk.jpg]

@HP, thrik:

I've desaturated the lighting, less orange for now. Going in the right direction?

D3ads:

Yep, it's going to be an SP mod. It'll be called "Zeitgeist" and play in the 1930s/40s of an alternate time line. Zeppelins, art deco, trenchcoats and locations from New York over Prague to London... I'm in the stage of writing up some background information for a WIP-report. If you're still interested, let me know... hehe.

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1002ak.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1002bk.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stg1002dk.jpg]

Been a while since I last posted anything around here, so I dug out some stuff I made in the last months and polished it a bit today. It's going to be for a Mod I'm developing - can't really go into detail yet. Right now I'm workin on two MP mods which is fun and interesting, so my own one is only getting little attention, but I guess I'll have more time for it from november on. Might be asking around for some professional assistance with it soon .

Cheers!

Hey guys,

thanks for the loads of feedback & sorry for the late reply.

Can't seem to get out of work these days...

FrieChamp: yeah it is I intend to replicate the hills and valleys of the city as good as possible.

PogoP: working on that! DoD:S has more or less been my testing ground for 2 years now and yeah,

it's time for a change .

JonM: sounds like an idea, will see what I can do. Thanks!

And RA7... well, yes.

I need to brainstorm a bit on my own and prepare some stuff I can show around so everybody can get an idea of what I'm thinking of, but as soon as I've got something, I'll make a thread and ask for some helping hands.

Cheers & thanks

Hey,

after almost a year of work on this project, I suppose it's time for a WIP thread to show what it currently looks like and what's left to be done .

In the beginning, Stuttgart was supposed to be just another DoD:S map and no more than that, but then I came across so many old pictures and tons of information that I decided to make a standalone-/single player-project out of it.

The style originally was (and probably will be again) a fake sepia athmosphere, while right now it's more of a blueish desaturated ambience. Whatever direction I decide to continue in should in the end add the impression of 'age' to the visuals without making the city look all artificial... which turns out to be a tough nut so far.

Also, reproducing parts of the city in authentic scale plus providing a good gameplay PLUS not killing the source engine instantly performance-wise is another really tough piece of work. On the bright side, it forced me to learn how to model, and I actually made my first set of 3ds max models ever,

and they even work quite OK - don't ask me why .

The car you can see in various versions isn't one of them - I only textured it, while the main body was made by

Ashley Kursey ( http://ashleykursey.deviantart.com/ ).

OK, so... here's a set of screenshots. I'm not satisfied yet with the athmosphere, but I've got some ideas that might help getting me there.

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg0k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg1k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg2k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg3k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg4k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg5k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg6k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg7k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgg8k.jpg]

I'd be glad about some comments and suggestions.

At a later date, I'll explain my idea on that single player project which is already taking shape, yet i'll have to finish the pretty exciting Ham and Jam level I was asked to do before starting the SP project.

Cheers,

Albatros

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgf3k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgf4k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgf5k.jpg]

Good to see the forums back online .

I'm still busy on the athmosphere, but mainly working on the models + skins. I need them badly for another mod/map I work at.

Oh and Phobos - sweeeeeeet.

Absolutely astonishing, HP.

I'm a detail fanatic myself, and this vulcano island really looks like it is full of life.

Grand, breathtaking and impressive in every aspect... best example of environmental design

that I have seen thus far. When I get Crysis, I'll be sure to download it first thing in the morning.

Cheers,

Til

Quote from e-freak

is there a bevel and emboss filter on the Schockers Text? Because It looks like and it makes it looks *sry* shitty. I'd go for plain text as it looks like a hologram and the fake height makes it looks like floating soap... (otherwise great atmosphere )

Hey,

I don't agree with you .

But I'll add some support structure to it so it doesn't look like it's floating.

Some kind of frame, maybe metal or something like that. Bought another book

with pictures of the 1920s/30s, so expect some more of this stuff soon .

Quote from sk3tch

Albatros - You sure you don't wanna be on a "featured mappers" section on my site? Loving the spotlight and level of detail.

Hey,

I'd like that! Thank you

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stge3k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stge4k.jpg]

Still waiting for a Mercedes 170 V Model - it's going to add a LOT to the map when it's done .

Quote from Jetsetlemming

Albatros I really, really wanna play your map.

Working on it .

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stge0k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stge1k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stge2k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/flaks01k.jpg]

Changed the lighting due to suggestions, towards a blueish style. What do you guys think?

Last picture: close-up of AA-searchlight, gonna tune it down for the next compile but I like the effect already.

Cheers

@termi: technically well done!

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgd3k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgd4k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgd1k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgd2k.jpg]

Going to de-saturate it and spend some more work on the buildings. Motivation curve is pointing upwards today, since a really good modeler offered me his assistance by making a Mercedes Benz 170 V for the map.

How do you like the improvements to lighting?

Did it all without color correction, by the way... that alone kept me busy for 20 hours.

Edit:

Changed the last two shots with color corrected ones.

Edit #2: changed them all...seems it won't go without color correction... pity. Frustrating to work with a tool that lacks even the most remote kind of lighting preview in 2008...

Awesome.

Thanks a lot sir!

Hey ,

thanks. Yeah feeling like General Custer here fighting against gamma and brightness...

The new TFT is really taking it's toll color-wise. Could one of you probably give me a paintover

with nothing changed except for sufficiant brightness?

That'd save me from pondering around for dozens of hours until I get my monitor configuration done properly.

@HP: Yeah, it all seems to be much brighter in game.

Goes for these shots, too... but the rest is making good progress.

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgb0k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgb1k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgb2k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stgb3k.jpg]

Working on a 90% realistic layout of the city in 193xs.

Skacky:

Other than the windows, I think it looks great.

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stga8k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stga10k.jpg]

Got a new monitor and changed the CC somewhat. I'll have to brighten it up, but I think the sepia goes in the right direction.

And yeah, the sp-mini-mod developing itself around this and other maps is in fact going to be a mixture between DeusEx, COD, Crimson Skies..

and movies like League of the extraordinary Gentlemen, Indiana Jones, Batman... it's going to be a historically much more serious approach though .

I love the period between the 1890s and the 1930s and I think it's got a lot of potential for a thrilling story, especially with all the incredibly futuristic

ideas realized between the wars.

Hit the bullseye ...

The building in the rear is one of the first examples of Bauhaus in my city - it's from 1928 and still can be seen today.

It also had those neon lights on it from 1928 to 52. I'm really excited to see how this idea will work out in the end..

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stga1k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stga4k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/stuttgart/stga7k.jpg]

Something I've been working on since early in 2007.

Originally started out as a DoD project and will very likely be released for that game, too, but more than this it's a first

design bit for a single player modification I've had in my head for a very, very long time now.

It will play in the New York, London, Moscow, Berlin and some other towns around the 1930s of an alternative time line

and feature a sepia/film noir athmosphere.

As soon as there's more to show I'll ask around for some support on the coding and modeling part, not sure when that'll be tho.

Hi,

and another one done

I'll stop working for DoD as soon as my map pack is complete, but until then there's still a

lot of work left to be done.

The next rc1 candidate in my collection is DoD_SovietS.

It's a five flag ctf map set in the east of Europe in early 1945.

The Wehrmacht is defending a railway depot with an armored train in it, while the US

Army attacks from the city hall + train station.

Best for 18 - 32 players I suppose, but 10 - 14 shouldn't feel lost in it either.

If you want to know more about the background, you should find something on my homepage .

Alright, here are the screenshots and the download link:

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss1k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss2k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss3k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss4k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss5k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss6k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss7k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss8k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss9k.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.albatros44.de/soviets/ss10k.jpg]

Download as usual from the download section on http://www.albatros44.de .

Credits:

StuG III by Lard

Dead Bodies by pedroleum

German 8cm Mortar by TheSurgeon

Opel Blitz by TheSurgeon

Textures:

- Spineroyals various excellent texture packs (visit him on

http://www.texturehub.net)

- Albatros' texture pack #1, made with own raw

material and source photographs from http://www.cgtextures.com

Decals:

- Albatros' decal pack #1, including own painted decals

and visual material from Randy Bytwerk's page aswell

as more material from http://www.cgtextures.com

Betatesting, idea and advice:

http://www.sovietsclan.com - hence the name, too.

Cheers,

Albatros (http://www.mapstylecrew.de).