Posts by Sprony

Well you can't say you didn't plan it

This is so weird. Last couple of days I can connect to a server but when the map is loaded, I don't get the selection screen. I can fly through everything as if I was no clipping. Rejoining didn't help. This cost me a couple of matches but I finally figured out what the problem is. I set the launch option to windowed mode due to issues I otherwise have with Hammer. Changing it to full screen from the game, without loading the map first, causes this problem for me. Unfortunately, due to this issue I got a 7 day ban for disconnecting

I hate casual mode. Back tot Titanfall then.

Finally something worthy for my PS4.

There's really no need to post this here. But I can't vent on other social media due to the secrecy regarding this so that's why I'm posting it here just to get it off my chest.

You know, everybody can get fired and that's the way the world unfortunately works. Just look at Irrational. I just got word that next week we'll each have a conversation with the manager and HRM regarding our future here at my company. We know for a fact that jobs will be lost. Now I have to wait a week to know whether or not I'll make the cut.

Normally this wouldn't bother me too much expect this time things are different. We're expecting our child on the day my wife her contract would have been renewed. This will not happen now and by the looks of it, I might be out of a job too. So it's likely, that within a couple of months, we'll be stuck in house we can't sell (with little room for a child), we can't sell for less because we can't afford to pay the difference, we'll both be out of a job and we have a newborn to care for.

So, I really feel as if I'm in the pit with the pendulum closing in. A week is long time to feel this nervous.

Quote from FrieChamp

It sounds more like a personal decision. Maybe he doesn't want to do another 200 Mil $ game along with the constraints and pressure that it brings. If 2K is funding his new project, it doesn't sound exactly like they parted on bad terms. Maybe he just wants to do a smaller project to be more creative. Obviously this will be little consolation to the ones affected at Irrational

Yeah, it's really sad that such an decision costs so many jobs.

Quote from Mazy

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-…D100m-to-market

A large team (200'ish), I figure didn't lose that many after the original Bioshock so they probably had over 100 for long while, working on Infinite for 6 years, selling 3.4m. And if that article is right about the marketing then that probably doesn't even come close to break even.

Still, it does seem pretty insane that the studio just implodes because Levine isn't hot on doing big scale games anymore. Dissolving a studio of that caliber seems nuts, but yeah it probably was sales combined with Levine wanting to step down.

I knew about the development cycle but I figured it would be a much smaller studio. Like Id Software or something similar. Never had I expected that it housed 200 people. Also, 100 million for marketing a game that has a widely known and very successful predecessor seems a bit excessive to me. Or maybe I'm just naive.

With supposedly 3.34 million copies sold? Damn, where is this industry going to?

Why? They made good commercially successful games. I don't get it

One of the reasons why I choose the PS4:

Quote from 2d-chris

The key to modeling a level is to use modular construction methods, even a natural landscape in games these days has a collection of "props" that get jammed together to look more organic.

If done well, with enough practice nobody notices the grid like construction and you only have to make 1/10th of the assets. Not to mention it's easier to optimize a scene and get a consistent look. So, you never really get rid of that "grid 128/64/32/16 feeling, you simply hide it with props designed to do so.

Yes, learn modeling, and yes learn an editor. One is pretty useless without the other for level design.

If I understand correct, I should learn the editor inside out and pimp the brushwork with props? Eventually I could learn modeling or I'll rely on an artist. Is the assumption that learning Source now, would be an advantage when Source 2 comes out? (regardless of features).

I always buy from this site. You can get a key for 43,75 dollars. That's just over 30 euros:

http://www.cdkeysdiscount.com/274-titanfall-pre-order.html

Trying to watch this from work. Anyone else having chat problems? It's not loading for me.

Quote from PogoP

I imagine that Source will still have a lot of BSP/displacement stuff for designers to use and blockout stuff with, but I think it will more heavily rely on models/props. Brushwork is so dated, and whilst it is good for designers to use, it does tend to look like shit even when pushed to the limits of what you can get away with, and you can easily just model the same thing in 3ds max and have it look 10x better, and it'd be 10x to do.

So if one was to seriously pursue designing maps there's no escaping modelling? Sounds like one would be better off learning to model instead of learning an editor.

Quote from FMPONE

Honestly, I think you could build something like that right now in Source no problem, funny enough. Just would require a dedicated artist, same as always.

I wonder if they will stick to BSP and just add more props and stuff. I mean, is Source the only engine still using BSP? I've just started to learn Source (Yeah, I'm late) but I figured I would be behind now but when Source 2 ships I would be in front sort to speak. Everything else out there is just basically modelling right? (noob question).

Quote from Marcem

I think that just tells us where we're at. CryEngine and Unreal are throwing around crazy shaders and particles that are simply impressive due to the tech involved, while Source does a nice looking and playing scene. Mast modern engines feel like you're playing mid 2000s graphics card box art, while Source tries to be more of a Pixar film (not trying to sound like a pretentious asshole here). Focus isn't placed upon the engine's features, but what game will come out of it. What's revolutionary about Source 2 probably won't be in its graphical capabilities, but will be in its ability to do Counter-Strike just as well as it does Half-Life.

So you think there will still be a place for brush monkeys?

Quote from Nerve

Noob question: If these are meshes, not brushes, does that mean everything is gonna have to be modelled and imported? :s

Didn't see a answer to this one. I'm really curious if brushes are reduced to blocking vis and stuff and nothing more.

Having said that. What would be a logical time frame in which to expect Source 2? Source is 10 years old. It's definitively time for an upgrade. But then again, what's going on at Valve? What games are they developing?

I really feel, even though it's awesome, that Steam is taking up too much of their resources.

Quote from spence

To answer your second question; if you make a selection and a lot of things become shaded or highlighted, it's likely that they are brushes/primitives tied to a single entity (probably a func_detail). When you select models in Hammer, they don't become shaded/highlighted but instead just display their bounding box in yellow, whereas brush selection is shaded in red. You can get some more information about what you have selected by looking at the bottom of the editor window, near the grid snap display, where by default it says 'no selection'.

Another trick for identifying textures is to display only the used textures in the texture browser; click the 'browse' button on the texture panel on the right toolbar (unless you rearranged your panel layout) then at the bottom left of the browser window, tick 'only used textures' to filter by what is being used in the map you have open.

This is exactly what I was looking for regarding texturing. Also, good info on the selection stuff. Thanks!

Quote from will2k

Welcome to the world of Hammer, a cold world with bugs and frustrating moments, but once conquered, the end result will put a nice grin on your face when you see your finished level come to life

1- As FMPONE said, use bspsrc to decompile bsp maps into vmf files. I bet you are aware of this issue but always keep decompiling others' maps for educational purposes and personal use. If you intend to modify or edit the map, you need to ask the original author's permission first

2- It is very common in Source to group several detail brushes into one func-detail entity like Spence mentioned. If you come across this scenario and want to select individual brushes then you can always select "ignore groups" (top toolbar) or "select groups/objects" (right tolbar) to temporarily disable grouping thus allowing you to select individual brushes regardless of their initial group and without altering the state of the group.

3- As Spence said, you can open the texture browser and select "only used" to filter textures that were only used in the map currently loaded. You can also use keywords to filter textures: typing "office" or door" in the texture browser will filter textures from cs_office (or city 17 office) and doors respectively.

Hope this helps and good luck in your exciting endeavor.

Display More

This certainly helps a lot. Good info right here. I think I didn't explained myself too well regarding the first question. After a talk on Steam with GeneralVivi I've learned that I'm referring to instances. So now I know what I'm talking about. Haven't gotten a chance to look in the editor yet but with all this new information it should be easy to find out what's used in those instances.

Quote from shawnolson

If you feel adventurous, you could take a look at using 3ds Max as your level editor.

I like adventure but I'm going to take this one step at a time

Quote from Skjalg

I really like the subreddit over at http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf for theory discussion. They really dig deep sometimes, but its still fun

Excllent link. Appreciated!

Quote from Vilham

tracking pistol is absurdly good. Just run around lockon to 5 guys, bam, dead, follow player for 1 second, bam dead.

Yeah, combined with cloak and campers and stuff gets annoying very fast. Fight like a man damn it!

This might interest some of you:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit…a-tech-analysis

Like my previous I decided to collect my questions in this single thread, instead of flooding the forums with separate topics. Hopefully this will not only help me but the community as well.

I've been playing with Source for a couple of weeks and the question are piling up so here we go:

• I've been decompiling maps to see how they are made. According to this page I should use GFCScape. If I follow the instructions to the letter I'm not finding a map directory inside pak01_dir.vpk. However, I can browse to the map directory using Windows and simply use BSPSource to decompile what I want. Is it the previous link outdated or am I missing something?
• I did the above primarily to see how the environments outside the gameplay area are made. For instance the buildings and bridge that FMPONE uses in Museum or the reactor in Cache. Anyway, doesn't matter which map I decompile (vanilla or custom) all of them have this issue: I select a building and immediately most of the map turns red because it selects a whole lot of stuff. What is this? Why can't I select a single building? Are these models? How do I apply these techniques myself? I would love to do a Google but I have no idea what keywords to use. In short, what are we talking about here?
• Besides being new, I'm used to GTKRadiant. In that editor, you load a map and you can have a nice overview of all the textures it uses. By using the shaderlist I could access each map's textures through the texture window. How does this work in Hammer? I have a hard time finding things. Let's say I would like to use the reflective windows from CS_Office. How would I know which ones are used? Must I decompile each map and look it up in the editor?

Ok, that's it for now. I would appreciate help even though the above will most likely be very simple. If anyone else has other CSGO specific editing questions feel free to use this thread.