Posts by Sigma

  • what was your favourite / most inspiring map

    Dod_avalanche. Sniping either from allies window OR the axis doorway in the dark and unseen. Favorite of all time. The most inspiring map to me would probably be De _ Aztec from cs 1.6 or cs _ militia on 1.5. Teaches a lot about volume (geometrically) differences and the importance of line of of sight variations (particularly now that I am more technically minding when creating levels). Starcraft 2 taught me about importance of balance though (started too anyway).

    Technically simulated would have been America's Army when it was still 1.X or even 2.X days. That medical training actually came in handy as did the firearms training (clearing a jammed weapon properly). Also, special forces training mission... daaaaaaaaang

  • Giving guest talk on Level Design

    Quote from RedYager

    I wish I had now! I would have asked, but I was worried it would go so poorly I'd never want to be reminded of it again! Next time


    Even if it had gone poorly, having a video would have helped you critique your presentation style and allow you to improve. Just another way to look at it in the future.

  • Maya and Source

    I don't personally use Maya currently, but I can say that I have not seen any tools come out akin to WallWorm for 3DS Max that allows for easy compiling. Because of this, I think you will most likely have to do your compiling the long method with the various programs present in your L4D2 directory (to create the VMT.'s and VTF.'s). There are certainly guides out there to help you through this process, although they can be quite convulated and/or out of date to the modern process. If all else fails, you might try emailing members of Valve's art department to see if they have experience with a Maya to L4D2 workflow and if they can provide any assistance. Just my $ .02.

  • The random model thread!

    Quote from psychickitten

    Is subdividing different from turbosmooth?

    I don't know what it is lol.


    No, they are the same thing (I think). Unfortunately other programs like Modo and ZBrush (Sculpting programs) have more intuitive versions of subdividing that allows you to target specific polygon amounts (and distributes them fairly evenly in comparison as well) whereas Max is just a straight subdivider of the pre-existing topology (density of the underlying mesh matters).

  • WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

    Quote from Nakroma

    Hey,

    I just registered myself and this is basicly my first post, so have a few screenshots of my CS:GO map thats currently work in progress...


    I don't know where to start for getting in this community so I'll just do this


    Outstanding start! Those displacements look very nice. I will be interested to see where you take this further.


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    Just some more block-out work being done on my UT4 map. Its reaching the point where small adjustments are going to begin being made, the lighting worked out, and the brush work cleaned up some (and detailed further) before I start mesh work. Sorry for my poor jumping skills though (they are terrible). I should probably add some temporary materials at some point just to make it look nicer for WIP presentation.

  • To F2P or P2P, that's the question!

    I did not realize this was a PC game, I thought it was a mobile one. As for advertising in that regards, I do not think you can do that in the PC realm because the consumers will not expect it and will not support it under that particular population segment (my mistake).


    On your market analysis, I think you could probably do one that will have some credibility if you ask around other studios to see what their analyses turned up. You never know, they might be willing to share. Also, there are some fairly extensive yet cheap options for building metrics into games available. I would thoroughly investigate these and see if you cannot build market analysis as an on-going basis if necessary. I know I have seen a number of articles and blogs about companies over at Gamasutra, such as Ninja Metrics, Game Analytics, etc...


    I see what you mean about your issue of scalability now. Under that particular constraint, you have to ask yourself 1) Do I have players pay up front and if so is that price going to be equivalent for the experience to them? 2) At what price point based on my cost and profit analysis do I set? AND IF NOT 1 & 2 then 3) How else do I recoup costs and earn revenue (preferably profit)?


    You are operating under a highly competitive industry scenario, so your benefit must be equal to cost (in other words, don't sell yourselves short).


    My thoughts on the matter -- Steam Greenlight has acted as a verification of the early access model and other AAA games (i.e. Battlefield and/or CoD) have acted as verification of the early bird incentives. Thus you know that incorporating these into your model will be well received typically.


    I would not do restrictions based on the amount you pay, but rather restrictions with a pay option to release the restriction (might have just rephrased what you meant). In your context of an idea, I would provide the whole buffet free of charge OVER TIME, but allow early payment to unlock all of the spells. This is, again, acceptable so long as the extra spells are not overpowered in comparison, thus shifting the game from free to play or even pay to play to a pay to win situation.


    As for whether there is an ethical dilemma in allowing for whale-fishing -- what is your ethical conundrum here? At the end of the day you have a business to run that requires time and money. So long as you are not engaging in the support of addicting behaviors, and if you recognize it as such and provide lawful legal notices as required by your jurisdiction, than there is no ethical dilemma. The vision of the game is not compromised by a payment plan that allows for whale-fishing except in those cases where the point of the game is to whale-fish, in which case it is still not an ethical dilemma if it is recognized by the creator(s). TL:DR Don't worry about this point except to CYA.

  • To F2P or P2P, that's the question!

    Stefan,


    Monetization is always one of those factors that every studio will struggle with, particularly smaller studios. My preliminary thoughts are as follows:


    I would start by pulling this out of your explanation of the internal argument: It appears that your studio is committed to extending support of the game past its basic launch and a few repair patches. This tells me that a supportable monetization strategy is in order, but furthermore it tells me that you need to separate the concepts of what you consider break even with what you consider the operating budget (the former recoups development costs + a specified time period of support (6 months? 1 year?) whereas the latter is an annual budget, addressed as such, beginning day 1 after break even and extending infinitum) except in the case that you plan support for a lengthy time period (say 5 years).


    Secondly, your market analysis has informed you that nearly all other genre contenders operate under one type of monetization (F2P). Furthermore, the F2P mindset is heavily prevalent in consumer behaviors. This leads me to believe that F2P on its face should be your target monetization strategy, but as you stated scalability of such a strategy poses problems (can you elaborate here?). Perhaps instead of going the free to play but pay for content route as the primary monetization driver (which I will throw in will have a large user conversion ratio (smaller number of players to capitalize on) based on other company data releases on industry websites) you can increase your monetization rate per player by incorporating an advertising network with a more passive advertising plan. This is fairly common and can be done in non-interferring ways and will create addional, more reliable revenues to plan with.

  • The Mapcore Mod Team

    Quote from AlexM

    Well I've started learning the unreal engine.


    First impression is : Wow!


    It's pretty amazing how much you can seem to do with blueprints. I'm having a bit of a challenge deciding what I should do in code and what I should do with blueprints.


    The great part is you don't have to choose if you go the blueprints route (I think that's right but double check me) because it still allows for C++ coding.

  • The Mapcore Mod Team

    Quote from blackdog

    Ps: I forgot to mention the biggest concern i have with this concept: the comical aspect.

    I thought the idea of doing a lighthearted game was encompassing: that the project would be fully comical, like Monkey Island; the way is shaping up makes me think that there are some comical accents (contained situations)… that we are missing something that would make the whole situation funny.

    Am I getting the whole concept wrong?


    The way I envisioned it is as a sort of lighter Monkey Island type environment stylistically (more flat shading/painterly textures) whereas the lighting, particles, and maybe some organic meshes address the more "darkness" aspect. I was thinking along the lines of Ico a little bit (although because its in space this might be a little more difficult to pull off due to possibly less contrasting/complimentary color palettes). As for the little robot helper that screws up on occasion -- I had a Wall-E type robot in mind (cute, cuddly, messes up a lot while just being good intentioned and trying to help, also has an affinity for collecting certain items).


    Okage: Shadow King might be another game to look at for some environment/artistic style directions as well.

  • The random model thread!

    Also make sure that you are snapping to the grid. It is easier to whitebox the scene/level with BSP and export the bsp to your modeling program, model your mesh,and reimport to replace the BSP. Rebuild your lighting as well. As WhiteDevil said, drawcalls are what matters at the end of the day.

  • WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

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    Finally started blocking out my Whitebox challenge map for Unreal Tournament 4. GO figure!

  • The random model thread!

    Quote from kanine01

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/DbBFsDG.jpg]


    I can't tell if this is a real pistol or not. If not, then my suggestion on the magazine release button indentation would be to let the cut flow into the finger grips as opposed to carrying it back out to the same planar level as the rest of the side of the grip. Other than that, very nicely done.


    [Blocked Image: http://johnemerson.net/wp-content/uploads/Rocket_Launcher_J_Emerson.png]


    [Blocked Image: http://johnemerson.net/wp-content/uploads/Powerup_Base_J_Emerson.png]


    Just sharing another iteration and a pick-up base I am working on (sorry for branding, pulled it off my portfolio ). Doing the powerup base has encouraged me to start doing smaller environment assets instead of herculean effort ones like a weapon for a first person shooter in terms of time commitment (5-6 hours for the high poly due to having to restart the 8 prong pieces 3 times to get proper edge control). So in that regard I think I may have found something I enjoy more at the moment in terms of art assets to work on.

  • Free Art & Level Design Resources Megathread

    I dont' know how to express my emotions from this except as follows....



    3D Art (Environment Art/Prop Modelling/Characters etc)

    3D Palace

    CgSwot - 3D Tutorials

    Brief Considerations About Materials | Manufato

    Complex Material Tutorial | Marmoset

    DONTNOD specular and glossiness chart | Sébastien Lagarde

    Home | Art for Games

    Nem's Tools [Home - News]

    Normalmap Baking Basics - Imgur

    The Computer Graphics Society

    [PBR] Physically Based Rendering Bible - Polycount Forum

    Physically Based Rendering Encyclopedia - Google Docs

    easiest way to cut holes in 3ds max - YouTube

    Hard Surface Modeling Tips in Maya - 3dmotive - YouTube

    3dtotal.com


    Blue Prints

    Blue Prints

    United States Blueprints - Download free blueprint for 3D modeling

    Weaponeer.net

    Weapons - modern fire arms


    Color Theory

    RYB Color Wheel

    Red, Yellow, and Blue | dave eddy


    Portfolios

    Hans Palm

    Hans Palm - hard surface 3d artist

    PHILIPK.NET


    2D Art

    dafont.com

  • The Mapcore Mod Team

    Quote from blackdog

    Personally I hate Dropbox. I only used it for our two silly mobile games but it was a pain, forcing an update as soon as you boot a computer, when there were huge updates would basically prevent me from working until it was finished.

    Dunno if they changed stuff, but I'm under the impression that it simply replaces files instead of up/downloading the differences.

    I see it good only for exchanging files, like a place where to drop builds, media, not to manage a project.


    You know you can remove dropbox from auto startup