Posts by jd40

Big congrats to the top 4! And also the runner ups, valve will have quite the pickings of community maps for years to come!

Very impressive work across the board, congrats to everyone who made top10!

With the map going on rotation at FACEIT, here's the latest changes:

The focus this time was mostly on "space design", converting the blockout shapes to actual buildings, adding all the city architecture, the various alleys leading out of the map etc. Some of these additions did lead to layout changes which we feel are for the better.

Radar:

We had our map on FACEIT last week and we got some useful data from that. We had 9 games total, 6 of them played on the latest iteration of the layout.

The stats turned out a bit too CT sided for comfort especially since this is a new map and CT metas are not established yet, meaning the map would likely be even more CT sided with teams who understand the map.

Our focus with the latest update was to make the map more comfortable for Ts. The map is already a bit unusual in the way that each bombsite has only 1 dedicated entry. Similarly to overpass it's key for Ts to take mid to get access to the other entries and cut off CT rotations. So the focus was on making middle more T friendly.

From the demos death heatmap from rebze's report tool I found that there was a big T death hotspot at top mid. So we reworked that area a bit mainly giving more room and allowing different playstyles. The old setup was very choky and players in the demos were often frustrated bumping into eachother. The new one has more room so Ts can either hang back and hold the angle with an awp or push up with a rifle unseen.

Radar:

And here's the new radar:

I'm here with another update.

From the level design side we are keeping busy, we had a Mapcore playtest last week and implemented some changes based on that. Today we entered the FACEIT hubs and there were 3 games already! We are now pushing some layout changes and quality of life fixes to make those games run a bit smoother.

As a bonus, the ticket machines now make a sound and flash red when players pass. The sound can be avoided by jumping over. It is mainly here to replace the old mechanic we had to slow people down at B heaven. (double jump at staircase)

On the art side I've been working on a favela kit and making various props. The map will be about 60% modern cable car infrastructure and 40% favela. The biggest challenge with the cable cars will be all the support pillars and mechanical parts, while with the favelas it's just the amount of detail needed compared to clean concrete walls. For now I'm making some materials and props but will move to creating a building kit soon.

Hello folks!

Here's a summary of changes we made following the last playtest:

A site:

The path leading to the site is now split in two with a death pit in between seperating them. We are very curious to see how that plays and it will be one of the things we focus on during the playtest.

A long was simplified with the extra rooms in the back removed. It now leads to a spiral staircase leading to the site.

The back angle at A under was moved to the side so it is a bit easier to push that path as well.

Spoiler

Mid:

Moved T side pathing leading to mid. You now approach mid from the left side, getting rid of the awkward angle into mid connector. Angles were also reworked a little so they are now more individual and you are never forced into peeking multiple angles at once.

Spoiler

B site:

Added extra room at T main approach for Ts to have somewhere to retreat to after plant.

Added an extra cubby at the new T approach so Ts have another defensive hiding spot.

Pathing to heaven now requires jumping. Makes it harder to push defenders in the back and increases the timings.

Spoiler

Hello!

@JimWood and I have been working on a map for the contest. It's set in the favelas of Colombia.

The layout will feature cable car stations, a lot of mixing of interior and exterior spaces and a lot of verticality.

Here's a moodboard showing what we're going for art wise:

Here's a slightly outdated radar overview. Jim will follow with a newer one and some playtests very soon!

Workshop page

Good luck!

Just realized I can post in here! I've been at Bongfish as Level Designer with @Roald and @poLemin since February and it's been fun!

It's been a while but here's an update:

I've been working on the CS2 upgrade. Mainly using this to finally learn the tools and I gotta say the new tools are great fun. A little daunting at first but easier to pick up than I thought initially.

So what are the changes?

• Did a materials pass so everything looks good and shiny in cs2
• Color coded the "samey" indoor areas so they stand apart more.
• Upgraded some rock displacements into models

What's next?

• Some more art polish/iteration
• Possibly some layout changes on A, I'm not a fan of how unintuitive the A bombsite feels right now, I've seen too many people try to plant at the pillar instead of the crates.

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Quote from zenelone

On 11/15/2022 at 5:20 PM, zenelone said: It's a shame valve put so much time in making source maps reversible but totally ignored combined props. Also, does having one large model drawn give you performance advantage? Even if prop is partially visible? Even if amount of area portals is not abused?

In general having less props (draw calls) will give you a performance boost. Especially on maps like nuke with a ton of tiny modular props, these are made to be used with autocombine.

The extra GPU load you get from larger props is insignificant. There is also an option in autocombine to combine based on portals.

Quote from dux

On 2/10/2022 at 2:26 PM, dux said: I still don't get the hype behind this and Dark Souls

I tried Dark Souls and got bored within an hour. Tried that gothic Dark Souls game Bloodborne on ps4 at 30fps and quit within an hour.

For me it's all about the multiplayer elements. Invasions are fun both ways, and co op is a great way to preview and practice areas/bosses without much risk. But you have to play it around release or a sale because that's when the world really comes alive.

Quote from leplubodeslapin

3 hours ago, leplubodeslapin said: The only thing you need to be careful with is not to go to hard when screwing the 4 fans and 4 main screws, to avoid breaking the print.

Broke my first print trying to take the support off - printed horizontally ?

Quote from leplubodeslapin

3 hours ago, leplubodeslapin said: If you have a ref/sizes for a switch and want me to update the geometry for it, feel free to ask. I didn't release the sources files because i made it with Catia (a CAD software that isn't known much outside of the industry) and had to clean some nasty topology stuff in blender afterwards, it was a bit too messy ^^'

Nothing I have would quite fit under the translucent plastic cover so yeah I gotta figure something out. Do you use the plastic cover btw? Seems to block the airflow a bit.

I wonder if it's possible to turn off the index usb via software, sure would be nice if it turned on only when you put the headset on.

Quote from leplubodeslapin

3 hours ago, leplubodeslapin said: Really good looking print, congratz

Thanks for the model!

Never really had a big issue with the heat but I had the printer so I thought I might as well try it! The noctua fan I got even came with some 3M scotchloks so no soldering required. I had the other parts lying around and took apart an old USB cable. The fit for the cable was quite tight and I used the smallest cable I had. I took the plastic casing off and everything. Maybe consider getting the socket @leplubodeslapin recomends on thingverse.

Some of my findings:

• Needs a switch, shouldn't have printed the switchless version ? (usb doesn't depower when index goes to sleep)
• Printed vertically on a raft, looks better and easy removal of support. Also ~2hr shorter print!
• Feels good to wear, don't feel the heat radiating from the screens anymore. Should be great for long sessions of alyx, might replay it now.
• The front sponge still gets wet after some beatsaber but I don't think even another fan would help with that.
• The fan I got is audible but not as bad as the basestations.

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Quote from ThunderKeil

11 hours ago, ThunderKeil said: Yup, that - uh - exists.

It seems cool at first glance, but at least in my experience I'd say that wanes once you realize this doesn't *really* open possibilities to creating anything you wouldn't have been able to before. Plus it's kind of jank but maybe that's just me

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I think the only game I've played that used parallax mapping extensively - or at least the only one where I noticed it / had it enabled - was far cry 4, and I hated it. It broke my immersion every time because the edges were never worked away properly - so you'd have some (parallax) extruding rock wall surrounded by wooden posts, and the rocks just disappeared / appeared out of the plain vertex borders of the wood as you walked by it.

God, I could go on a whole ass rant about far cry 4 in those respects, LoD pop-in, that weird ass fucking pixel filter they put over transitioning LoDs, yech. Maybe it looks good if you're playing from your couch 15 feet from the screen, but god damn that's some unpolished work right there. Still kind of enjoyed it though, ngl. People give open world games too much shit - the trick is not to play all of them. Exploration is fun

although I will say I think I enjoyed *real* exploration less in far cry 4 than I did back when I played 3. The world is too big, and you're rarely made to go to the same place many times, so you don't really establish a sense of ''yea i know where I am and how this connects to other places, if that makes sense. Also there's far too many "flying" options, which for the purposes of exploration might as well be a fast-travel point. Then again, I was much younger when I played 3, and I can't deny that must have played a big role in my judgement. I'm kind of super looking forward to replaying skyrim in VR, but I'm also kind of super not because my rose-tinted glasses might slip off and I'll realize todd howard got me again

Oh hey while I'm in the screenshot thread anyway; I was playing with $color a bit and realized I'd been making my textures way too dark, so I've adjusted everything and am trying to improve the lighting a bit more

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I just watched the documentary about hanging the whale skeleton up there and was thinking it would make a sick map and here it is ?. You really nailed the building - I instantly recognized it. I think a tiny bit of fog would help sell it even more. Maybe some sun ray models too?

Hi all!

I started this one way back in 2018 and have been working on it on the side to keep me cool from all the desert maps I've been making lately ?.

The map is set in snowed in castle connecting two sides of a river.

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Layout:

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More screenshots:

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Workshop:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…/?id=2257823084

Credits:

Additional LD - @Quotingmc

Deer head props - @Quadratic

Quote from Lizard

2 hours ago, Lizard said: Yeah I'm aware there was no loose gorrila somewhere and I wasn't simply paying much attention What I tried to say is that I think I missed everything that hinted on next "big boss battle" Shawn wrote his post about.

Spoiler If you go up to the gorilla statue, which is easy to miss, it's behind some glass you have to break. Alyx and Russ joke about gorilla zombies. I too was disappointed by the lack of gorolla zombie boss ?

Ohh yeah the one where you have to climb on some crates in a dark corner that don't even look like you should be able to get on. That one took me a while too lol. I was climbing all over the place but only looked up once I heard the inflating explody thing.

I suspect the physics feel sticky because they tried to limit you from picking up too much weight? Could be done better for sure. First time I tried moving a ragdoll I thought it was stuck in the floor or something.

Quote from El Moroes

52 minutes ago, El Moroes said: A nice nice stuff there. If I may ; I think the light is too hot / saturated if you check how the blue sky is. I still thinking you had a better lighting in your first version before you post-processed it, you had a whiter light which felt more natural and better. You should come back on this IMO

Good point. I made the sun more orange initially to try and bring some more color to the map because our textures were a bit washed out. Jakuza ended up just recoloring all of the textures. The lighting can now go back to the first, more accurate style for sure.