Posts by AkatsukiUK

I would add that location is just as important as a killer CV/portfolio, especially if you're just starting out. For myself living in the UK I have found it really tough, even to land a testing job.

Basically I was living in the north of the UK, Leeds/Bradford. I had an interview with Rockstar Leeds but the role wasn't the right fit for me. All other applications I was making outside the city I lived in were not resulting in interviews, despite returning from working abroad with design experience on a highly successful franchise.

My wife and I started to use my parents address in London, and eventually that worked. I got my foot back in the door of the industry at Sega and my wife got a job also. The UK has fewer opportunities than it did in the so called golden years. Industries change, whether its mobile or f2p, and I got caught out as a young designer thinking I would be able to get a job back in the UK. So my final advice from a lesson learnt is don't assume once you get into this industry, that it means you're 'in'. It has taken me a while to figure out how to return, and a lot of time and support from my family.

Really nice and well done on the awards .

I wonder what it would be like for the two players to compete with one another, i.e using their abilities to delay the other player in order to collect more items.

Heya,

Just played your level I couldn't well ignore someone who has put in the hard work.

This is a first impressions feedback post (I will do a more detailed post when If I get a bit more time this afternoon):

Appearance:

- Your level is not ugly!

-The outdoor areas are the best parts of your level visually, and it does feel like a farm.

- The indoor lighting needs some work and I would make this your priority first.

- Take out some of the indoor screenshots you have on your workshop page until the lighting is right. (The last two you have linked above I would remove).

-The overhead walkways you have in the centre of the map I noticed are very thin, I would add a view more units thickness to these. Imagine if you were walking on those in real life, they would bend and bounce so much at the current thickness.

As some advice in this area for lighting, perhaps look at a game like Red Dead Redemption. I mention this game because it has some similar farm areas with those large barns that you have. The most effective tool a level designer has with Hammer is the power of the outdoor lights. I noticed your barns/buildings have a lot of windows looking in, but they're not really benefiting from the outside lights that you have. Yes they would have some indoor lights for when it gets dark, but not as many as you have placed.

e.g: you have I think is a room for chickens or for feeding?, around 17 lights in that small area. Never-mind the electricity bill!, you would go blind if you turned them all on

Try this on a bright day at home, open your curtains and then turn on a lamp or indoor light, try to match this effect in your indoor areas.

Sadly the industry has created a bit of a monster when it comes to visuals, so it is much harder for level designers to stand out if the visual side is not up to scratch. If players are put off, they will dismiss the rest of your level straight away, even if you had the best game-play ever. I think what you have here is really good, just needs polishing, which takes time but it will be worth it at the end:)

The game-play felt fairly solid, but I need to spend more time on this.

p.s Don't be afraid to be a bit mad with making changes. Save your map beforehand and then go wild. If you have been looking at something for as long as you have, you can get attached and a bit stuck mentally to how things currently look.

Thanks for playing . I agree with your feedback 100%.

I am working my way around the level slowly building up the detail. I have some ideas for the passageways to make them more appealing!

Was a tricky theme as underground bases, are well..not particularly friendly

Expect improvements however to the visuals with every update from now on.

Nice feedback.

Cheerio!

Hi everyone,

I have been making this level alongside writing a blog on my process from start to release for my portfolio. I wanted to challenge the editor in making a primarily indoor level only.

http://www.henrytoftsdesign.co.uk

I am fairly new to Hammer, but I wanted to showcase level design itself. This level as a result uses stock assets/textures only. Flow, timings and angles have instead been the focus.

I have been a designer for a fair number of years now, and worked on Trials HD on the Xbox 360 in the past. CS has been a personal favourite of mine since 1.2, completely lost the reflexes now though..lol. Hope you enjoy subliminal and feedback is more than welcome!

Features:

- This map has been fully optimised
- Map supports 15 vs 15 players, but 10-20 players are recommended based upon public play tests carried out.
- Working Radar
- Can play with bots
- This map has 180 lights in total, and over the course of 4 months building this level, they have been carefully tweaked.

Stuff I learnt making an indoor level with Source:

- When you think it is bright enough, it still isn't. Due to the lack of an all encompassing skybox to govern the primary source of light, more lights are needed in an indoor map.
- I found light_spots to be useful in softly lighting darker areas.
- Readability will always be an issue. I tried with this map to reach a happy medium with prop details and keeping it clean at the same time. Low ceilings and enclosed spaces come with the territory of making an indoor only map, so even a small amount
of detail will over emphasize the decoration. Take it away and suddenly the walls look very flat/bland.
- Adding some warmer lights and opening up the ceilings in places I found helped in reducing the feeling of being closed in and claustrophobic.
- If I was to make another indoor level I would make it smaller, similar to baggage. Indoor levels naturally have more connectors, for some players they will find this too much until they learn the layout and commit it to memory. Otherwise you will have a lot of tunnels and very long sight lines. B site is a bit guilty of this.
- Source relies on a environment light. I hope Source 2 will introduce post-process volumes or a global light setting that blends with the rest of the map so that indoor areas without skylights or large windows for skybox materials can be lit with fewer lights but still retain readability and a natural look.
- A coffee machine helps with the amount of compiling I had to do for each minute change to the lights.

I enjoyed sharing this level with you all and experimenting with different gameplay and settings for CS:GO :).

[Link to the level's workshop page]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…s/?id=446927952

[Blocked Image: http://www.henrytoftsdesign.co.uk/communities/4/004/010/070/274/images/4620531538.swf]

[Blocked Image: http://www.henrytoftsdesign.co.uk/communities/4/004/010/070/274/images/4620837746.swf]

[Blocked Image: http://www.henrytoftsdesign.co.uk/communities/4/004/010/070/274/images/4620837782.swf]

[Blocked Image: http://www.henrytoftsdesign.co.uk/communities/4/004/010/070/274/images/4620837758.swf]

New Radar

Thanks for your time (More images available on the level's workshop page)

[Link to the level's workshop page]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…s/?id=446927952