Posts by m8nkey

  • Q4 MP - Yan's Test

    Nice one Method and grats on your new job. Glad you released this for the public to checkout. The layout is great and it's by far the best custom q4 map I've seen. Only crits are that the textures seemed overly sharp and pixelated in game. Nice work nonetheless.

  • [FF map] FF_Flow - beta 2

    Does FF use Orange Box SDK? If not ep1 doesn't support light emitting models so you still require light entities to give the impression the model is emitting light.

    As for models vs textures it really depends on the circumstance. There are several cases where a texture does the job.

    Using "$additive" 1 and "$translucent" 1 in conjunction with eachother it's possible to create very nice neon looking signage. The alpha map is used to simulate light falloff. This technique is prevelant and used to good effect in Dystopia mod. It can also be used to create very cheap inset style ceiling light fixtures too.

    Texture lighting is also the way to go if you want to create a trim around an entire room that emits light.

    I also don't use the lights.rad for texture lighting. I rely on selfillum and the alphamap to denote which areas should appear to be emitting light. I use this method for both models and textures.

    Whether you use model or texture lighting, the light emitting areas need to match, or come close to the colour of the light entity. In your bottom pic for example the light is red but the model appears to be emitting a white light.

    *edit re:performance issue

    You could create the same shape by creating a brush the same size as the dislpacement, breaking it into triangles, then vertex manipulating the triangles to reflect the displacement shape. This would be more expensive than a displacement though. The geometry looks very clean and simple but purhaps it isn't well optimised or you have a leak (sometimes Source makes it through VRAD even though you have a leak, check your compile log for errors). Judging purely by the pics you should be able to afford an expensive material effect in that sort of scene. I'd look at optimising the geometry.

  • [TF2] CP_REDSTONE - Beta 2

    Took it for a spin. Looks great SKDR, I couldn't find anything wrong visually. Can't comment on the gameplay as I just ran around for a few minutes. Not your fault but I'm over the TF2 texture sets already.

    Any organised playtests going on? I'd get in on it if I can though my ping would be an abomination

  • totally random texture thread

    KIIIA: That is fucking awesome. Love all the subtle, unique details and the vibrant colour scheme. The design really captures the scifi/magic fusion you were trying to achieve.

    One very minor nitpick: Your diffuse/spec maps provides topleft to bottomright light information on some bevels. I think they read better ingame with either direct frontal or top down lighting. Beautifully painted though

  • CS_Sleuth *Updated April 17th*

    I wasn't too sure how to tackle the lighting when I started my map either. I'd strongly recommend switching to HDR though. It'll make a massive improvement (especially to screenshots). None HDR lighting can easily be tweaked once the map is complete. You'll really notice the difference and appreciate HDR a lot more after

  • Quakis' Source Project.

    Quote from Quakis

    Although it may seem a little early, I thought I'd just make a little thread to go through the progress of the project.

    I actually think it's cool to see a level progress through a thread. You're models all look very consistant with the style your going for, very nice. I particularly like the bar. I'm looking forward to seeing some textured pics. Great to see you're putting your skills to use on a newer engine too

    I also very roughly model my props in brushes then export them as DXF. That way your scale is spot on. That's a tip I learnt from kan3 .

  • CS_Metroplex

    Thanks for the feedback guys, it's been really useful.

    Pampers/Meotwister: You were right, I think the reds I'm using now are hopefully more complimentary.

    HP: Awesome game and I remember that level. I'm using stereotypical colours for a theatre but want it to look more modern than classical. Your reference really helped me with a colour scheme though.

    Schmung: Green? There is no green in any of the pics. If you're talking about the luminated blue strips I'm considering changing them to a warm gold colour or a different contrasting colour. I think that colour will change.

    I've added a lot of colour variation to the base colours of the textures. They don't look as flat and I think they look a bit more realistic. The golden trim on the wallpaper has a specular effect which looks pretty good in game. I also changed the light colour for the wall fixture to a warm golden brown.

    The ceiling in the foyer looks like shit. I don't want to put in a skylight but I'm prepared to model ceiling props, not sure what though.

    [Blocked Image: http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/m8nkey/wip150007.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/m8nkey/wip150005.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/m8nkey/wip150001.jpg]

  • [FF map] FF_Flow - beta 2

    The textures look cohesive and I like the architecture of the blue fortress.

    Some of the light fixtures in the red pics don't look self illuminating. The red looks very saturated too. I like the shade of blue you used for the blue lighting, maybe use a red with the same amount of saturation?

  • CS_Metroplex

    Quote from Pampers

    you need more colour coordination girl, the textures are all nice and stuff but the colours don't really match

    Even if you're right that's some pretty shit feedback. From a technical or design standpoint why exactly don't they match? I can easily change the base colours of any texture if it is necessary.

    I actually put a lot of effort into the colour. The scheme is primarily monochromatic, using different shades of the same base red. The luminated blue material is used to draw the players eye to key areas like room access points.

    The picture frame and wall lighting fixture are supposed to be brass but need a lot of work. I'm going to make a few more props using a brass material too.

  • Source VTF Mipmap Filter

    Quote from Minotauro

    I just choose "generic texture" or "generic texture with alpha" as a preset. You don't need to fiddle with mipmap filters as far as I know (or just use "soft sharpen")

    That is what I do 99% of the time (and I'm sure that's all most people do too). I've found that the presets aren't always the best though, particularly for something like highly repetitive tiles. When I have some spare time I'll take some ingame texture shots of the same texture using the different types of mipmaps.

  • Arpley Rail Bridge . CS FY map

    Looks really nice man. Admittedly the fy prefix and the fact it's your first post had me pretty sceptical.

    Quote from dux

    Yeah a good looking map wasted on crappy fy.

    I completely disagree and think there's plenty of room for maps without an objective. Maps with objectives require more players than team DM. It's difficult to get enough people to have a decent game on a custom map. As an example myself and only a handful of friends (between 2-6 players) sometimes start our own server and play AWP Monopoly. That's not enough players for a conventional map but it's fun.

  • Source VTF Mipmap Filter

    Quote from Minotauro

    Nem's photoshop plugin should be the answer to all your problems

    I'm using Nems. I'm after info pertaining to which mipmap filter is best for different occassions. There's a shitload of different filters available, a reference would be handy instead of trial and error.