Posts by merkaba

I'm with Rick on this one...a poll doesn't seem like an ideal way to judge the outcome. What was wrong with the original scored marks?

Ideally it would be nice to see some per-map feedback, such as Dodger/NZNexus was kind enough to post. Some more of that sort of feedback would have been great, better than simple scoring and infinately better than some anonymous 'what's your favourite' poll.

This is only a casual competition so it's not a huge deal of course, but it is nice for all entrants to receive customised feedback on their efforts.

It's kinda hypocritical of me to be saying this as I haven't made the effort to get some players together and try most of the maps out myself. The most I have managed is a two player game on rocketsilo (which was quite fun!).

Quote from FMPONE

I think we should avoid singeplayer personally, if this contest has shown us anything its that people don't have the time to take a close look at each map closely beyond screenshots and a quick run around (especially not for the entire duration of a single player mission), singeplayer would require that almost as a matter of fact.Besides, singleplayer maps are an enormous amount of work, I doubt people would be able to make nearly enough content in a matter of weeks.

I can't agree with that first part; the reason I haven't played these maps is because I can't play them by myself! I'd love to try people's SP map ideas; but 2 weeks does seem like a very short time to do some really cool things.

*edit*

Sorry ferret, I'll refrain from talking about this in this thread from here on!

Incidently, how are the contest winner(s) going to be chosen then? By vote or by scoring? Scoring seems fairer to me, as anyone can make a vote for any reason (ie, I vote X cos it looks pretty)

Were there never any playtests organised then? I thought testing groups of maps a day and then scoring them after by catagory was a good idea.

It'd be so simple if someone would but code a map rating system for HL2DM servers, with a comment box or something.

With 16 maps, how about splitting the playtesting and scoring up into 4 sets of 4 maps? It'd be easier to digest the results & organise a playtest with a preset list of maps to try out in that session, and if the tests are spaced out it should hopefully give each map the time it deserves for proper feedback.

The task of judging/rating/giving feedback on 16 maps in one go seems a bit daunting to me.

Pfffft.

I think it's important when listening to NIN to keep in mind that it is basically the musical work of one man; NIN isn't a group, it's Trent Reznor. Sure, he has people who contribute and also help with some technical aspects, but he is the musical mind behind NIN, writing and composing.

90s music kicks ass btw. Look at San Andreas' radio tracks; awesomeness!

Tool are great.

This album, Year Zero, is also great! Hurrah! It has much more replayability value than With Teeth I think, as it is more of a single entity than a collection of random songs. Also, it's the first time Mr. Reznor has consistently not written about his own personal griefs, and to be honest, it's about time!

yanked

Well, I got it done in time...it's got some problems, but nothing major. I have no idea how it plays! So please tell me

Quote from von*ferret

That reminds me of the chinese islands merkaba. Lots of atmoshere. Its coming along nicely. I'd still like to see you merge some man made architecture into the rock work, and maybe think of some more routes to get onto different 'floors'

Er....there is more to the map than the screenshots I have provide; it's not like there aren't other routes out of camera

I have my items and player spawns in, and a skybox now. Still have no idea how it's gonna play, so I hope to get some playtesting done between now and the deadline...

Obligatory pic:

[Blocked Image: http://www.archwolf.net/merkaba/map_pics/temp.jpg]

Thanks people in #mapcore for help with fog/phys objects!

That is something I have not yet decided on. I quite enjoy oddities such as man-made steps in an otherwise remote and natural environment (I mean, hell, you're running around firing guns at each other in an isolated swiss-rock tower - is an extra stretch of the imagination really that hard? )

I think the worst thing I could do is try and make it like it's a plausible real place, because that is just impossible and it would feel mega-artificial. I'm all for pushing the 'fantasy' aspect, though.

Re: the rock, unfortunately HL2 doesn't include the right mix of blend textures that I need for this map. I was hoping to get two blend textures that use the same rock, but one with grass as the 2nd tex and the other with dirt, but there are no such combinations. Also, I really like the look of the green rock, but I also require some grass because it looks quite nice.

The change in rock texture is not so ugly when actually in the map, and offers a nice visual diversity besides. The same rock style everywhere looked a bit repetetive

Very nice looking, Reno, and Bluestrike also (although I found getting around your map quite awkward!).

I might actually make the deadline afterall...all the rock displacements took less time than I had feared! I'll probably have the displacement work done by the end of tomorrow and then I can work on lighting and props, and finally weapon placement.

[Blocked Image: http://www.archwolf.net/merkaba/map_pics/dm_rockhill01.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.archwolf.net/merkaba/map_pics/dm_rockhill02.jpg]

Sorry to link huge images but I can't upload to imageshack, and its easiest for me to link straight to the images from my FTP.

In response to KIIIA's question about the black borders, I think the solution you are looking for is to change the 'padding' value to 0 under the 'objects to bake' rollout in the render to texture dialogue. That'll make the texture fit the outputted file neatly.

Or else, checking the 'Nearest Power of 2' flag at the bottom of the render2tex dialogue seems to make the texture fill the entire render window, though then it must be resized if it is not on a 1:1 ratio.

Isn't it really weird when you are testing your map and suddenly someone joins your server? I was just trying out some different sun positions, when BAM, I am face to face with a guy named Mike from Canada. He was a nice guy too, ran around the map with me and gave me some ideas and pointed out some problems He also offered a name for the map, which is what I shall hereby be calling it; dm_rockhill.

Well, my task of displacementising every surface is still in progress; its not difficult really, just slooow. The big problem I am faced with right now is how to light it so that the rocks don't look washed out; I need to find a way to make the forms easier to see; perhaps I can find a decent sun setting, or perhaps I shall have to make it at dusk and have some other light sources...anyway, time will tell.

Oh, and the bigger pain I guess will be using NODRAW walls to attempt to block VIS in the map since displacements can't do this. I'll worry about that once all the rock work is done though.

Oh! And, Half-Life 2 seems to have a precious lack of natural props other than rocks and trees...oh well.

Anyway, progress is apparent but I don't have a lot of time each day to work on it; I doubt I'll get it done for the deadline. No matter though, it's gotten me off my creative ass and started doing something, and hopefully I shall have a fun unique DM level by the end

There are some really cool looking maps being made for this competition anyway, so maybe once I get to play them I can get some ideas.

Some quick points about plans for my map: There shall be no RPG (spaces are too tight), and probably no crossbow. The main collectable weapons will be shotguns and magnums, and satchels; but I shall put a single combine gun in somewhere.

I also plan on having some rock falls which are a source of physics objects for the gravity gun; if possible I will make it so that if you pull one out, another drops down in its place, so you can hang around one of these rockfalls and use it as an inexhaustable gravity-gun supply cache.

I did have an picture of the updated map...but my internet is being screwy and I can't upload to imageshack or my FTP. Hmm.

Yay, a kind friend of mine uploaded it for me.

[Blocked Image: http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5554/rockhillgi0.jpg]

Heh I started a map for this competition yesterday....with only 9 days I don't think I'll get it done in time :] Still, I want to make it even if its too late to submit!

At my current rate the map is looking to be 100% displacement maps, which I can say is a huge pain in the arse but it looks cool

*edit*

[Blocked Image: http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/4593/rocktowerkm1.jpg]

This is a picture of the map so far...it's not really showing much; as you can see, it is still very much unfinished but the layout is in there, and I am gradually replacing all the measure walls with proper rock formations.

Basically, the map has 4 levels and all wind around a single rock tower. There is a hollow center, with 3 of the levels, and paths around the outside with some fast routes upward via ladder-slopes (you can see one on the left in the picture). There is a pool of water in the bottom level which you can drop down into from the very top.

No critisisms at this stage please, eg I know the rock props look weird and there is one obviously repeated on the right, and that the 2nd level ledge is unnaturally horizontal....like I said, this is a very early stage and I just wanted to show what it was I was working on : )

Cool competition idea btw!

I don't think decals/overlays support any sort of effects like normal maps, env maps, or selfillum maps (we certainly haven't had any luck doing this in NS2)

Maybe you could get a similar effect using the modulation shader, which will let you define shadow/highlights onto the surface it's used on. It would basically be a faked normal map, but it could still look cool maybe.

Completely off-topic, it is possible to have animated decals & overlays (frame animations).

I like it, very grungy and refreshingly very un-Quake/doom engine looking.

As for the colour variation comment...I like the mono hues personally, but if you're looking for an idea of how to get some obscure colour feasibly into the level, perhaps there could be something outside that is glaring saturated light in through one of the windows (a red light is the most obvious but perhaps the most dull...)

Maybe there could be street lights just outside which cast some dirty yellow light down at an angle where the windows are? Well, those are my ideas...like I said though, I quite like it how it is already.

Any mission of Xenon that wasn't mission 1. That game was insanely hard, if I recall.

The end boss of Undying.

Thief: The Dark Project's Haunted Cathedral (OK it wasn't -hard- so much as it was just really, really scary)

Not Bill But Ted's Acid Fueled Frenzy?

Anyway, cool. I like the glowing white door at the end, too :roll:

'What?'

Really hot looking stuff. What's your custom texture ratio? It all looks fresh to me.

Is anyone else like me and only clicks on the links to games they remember/are interested in? :]

The Killing Game Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIG4RSwpmEI

Xenon 2: Megablast

Imogen

You can download a faithful remake of this game, here: http://imogen.ovine.net/ (only difference is that this is in colour and the original was b/w...or b/b; black and blue)

*edit*

oh oh oh! AND:

Citadel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hThEKrOI0b0