Posts by Shima33

Quote from text_fish

4 hours ago, text_fish said: Uhh, you might want to double-check your eligibility here, seeing as you have three previous versions of de_vanquish publicly available on your workshop. There's always a kerfuffle about the wording of the rules so you may well be fine, I dunno.

You also like noodles a lot, which I respect.

Oh wait, they all look like they're more recent? I'm confused.

Quote from TECHNICKER

4 hours ago, TECHNICKER said: I see that you have finished this map already, didnt you? Or atleast a different version of it.

Ah, I knew this would come up at some point.

Right, so, this showcase is really for the older versions? To document their progress (seeing as I still have all the files for them and whatnot). The map is actually a lot further on than this, but I generally want to have one space where the entire history of the map is documented, front to back - ergo, we're starting the showcase right at the map's inception, and skipping minor changes and focusing on the major ones.

As for questions of eligibility, maps older than mine have been entered (Akiba), And they seem to be fine. Plus I also asked TopHattWaffle and he okayed it, so I think I'm fine.

The map is by no means finished yet, however! It's still very much in development, I'm just documenting the past changes rather than the current ones - Don't worry! I'm showcasing a week of progress each day, so we'll be caught up before long.

Quote from Freaky_Banana

19 minutes ago, Freaky_Banana said: I like the motivation! Is there a download link somewhere yet? Because judging off overview this map seems a bit small

Sure, lemme just get it on the workshop for you real quick...

...And here you go! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…/?id=1721793153

Okay...

Got a lot, and I mean a LOT of feedback on this, so much that I've needed to spoiler tag it. Here we go.

T -> A:

Spoiler Upper route feels too tall Multi-storey bombsite really isn't a wise idea You can stand on the pipe at A Mid and see way more than you should be able to I'd remove the upper floor entirely, honestly - feels tacked on and unessescary

T -> Mid:

Spoiler Looks nice, feels nice Mid->B is underdeveloped, Mid->A is very nice Probably my favourite part of the map so far

T -> B:

Spoiler Double-layered AGAIN!?!? Okay, no, just the entrance, thank god Upper and lower both feel like they have purpose, unlike A Door feels misplaced No cover on upper route for T's, needs more cover! Would connect the rotate from B->A to Mid

CT -> A:

Spoiler Oh, we start on A? Okay... Bomb site should be at the pipe Fighting at Pipe felt damn fun where the bomb site is ATM feels out of place

CT -> Mid:

Spoiler No good access to Mid! Mid is TOO T-SIDED! That's a shame, because the CT angles on Mid feel nice Mid is a good spot on the map, but NEEDS acess from CT Spawn!

CT -> B:

Spoiler At first, Felt very distant CT -> B and first contact with T's is well-timed Back route from CT Spawn to B has no purpose Pushing to T Spawn has no cover, very tretcherous Makes probing for info beyond site risky Felt good to defend once on the site First doorway Spawn -> B needs to be widened Pushing lower feels super-exposed

General Observations:

Spoiler Like the theme! dev texture too bright, Radar also too freakin' bright Map is strongly, STRONGLY T-Sided I'm going blind from the HDR I imagine that this'd be a good map for Snipers...

In Conclusion...

Spoiler

3 main weaknesses of this map.

1) It's too damn big!

2) Rotates take too long - Wisest strat is to wait at spawn, wait for the Bots to find the enemy, then go that way

3) Upper route on A needs to removed - adds nothing, feels tacked on, and ruins the design

Mid felt nice, but needs to be connected up to CT Spawn. I'd keep A where it is, but remove upper and design it like a traditional site.

Quote from TECHNICKER

4 minutes ago, TECHNICKER said: Some very nice job done here. Looking forward to another updates!

BTW: I dont know how to use TAR either

Planning to upload a new update every day - gotta keep the map relevant around here somehow, right? TAR's pretty easy to set up, looking back at it. There's a guide here - https://github.com/Terri00/CS-GO-Auto-Radar#Download - only takes a half-hour or so to get working, and from there you get a very crisp, clean image at the end of it. Definitely recommended!

A lot of updates today!

Changed the angle of the sun! Not a thing that requires a massive amount of work, but it's something that really makes props and the map in general pop a lot more.

Decorated the T -> A path! Was struggling for a theme for this spot, but I figured what with everyone talking about caves that I'd add one here, and the torches add their own flavour to the mix.

Finally, added a radar! Didn't do the tar layout thing because at this point in development I didn't know how to set it up. I do now, though, so expect the radars to start using that soon!

Here are my suggestions for changes, based on my runaround from yesterday (all my suggested changes highlighted in red) - the Mid route, especially, I think will add a lot of depth and strategy to the map - the sniper nest trims are just to avoid T's camping there.

Just ran around this. The T side of the map feels cool to play on (I especially like the idea of coming off the train as Terrorists), but CT side feels underdeveloped, and Mid is very T-Sided. I do like thematically what you have in mind though, so keep at it!

Hostage map? Check.

Set at night? Check.

Looks gorgeous? Check.

This map's unique, in the sense that I haven't seen anything like it entered into the contest yet. Now's your chance to take some great creative risks with level and map design, so have fun, throw out the rulebook, and go for it! You have my utmost support!

Getting my major props in now! Here is the Pagoda on A Site, and the Lion Statues on B.

Quote from That50

Just now, That50'sGuy said: Thank you so much for this! I've been looking for something like it, but I guess I just wasn't looking hard enough ?

No worries, man. Check the edit to my post - the new link includes spec and normal maps as well!

Quote from That50

3 minutes ago, That50'sGuy said: Indeed it is, it's so hard to find a texture for those rectangular ceiling tiles. But once I find a good texture for it, I'll be sure to replace it so it doesn't look as stretched. Thank you very much for the compliments by the way.

Just found this, I think it should serve you well - https://opengameart.org/content/ceiling-tile-texture - I'd say it might work better at 1024 x 512 rather than 1024 x 1024, what with the rectangular nature of the prop.

Texture on it looks a bit stretched, but the model itself is pretty good. Nice one!

T's are closer to B than CT's, so every round is going to be a B rush.

Another day, more detail down at mid. Some people prefer to get the layout 100% down first and then do the art pass, but I like to do both symbiotically with one another, A to get an idea of space and presence and what goes where, but B to make it feel like I'm working on an actual place, rather than a well-designed killbox.

The earliest of early in-game shots, the first picture showing the spot where the Pagoda will go when finished, and the second picture being some pre-emptive Mid detailing.

Earliest drawing of the layout. It's changed a lot since this, but this was what first came to me!

Vanquish is a defusal map set high in the mountains, where an ornate village of great history stands. A Marketing group has decided to turn this once-occupied village into a tourist spot, angering a local rebel faction, who take it upon themselves to hand out justice by demolishing it.

And, well... This is the update page while I work on it!

The main reference image for this map has been this image. GLHF to all who enter!

From '84 to '99, it's been a very long time...

I consider the layout of this map to be pretty much done, but I need somebody's help getting the theme down, OR pointing in the right direction of some model/resource packs I can use to help out thematically. Any help with this, however large or small, would be massively appreciated.

Any idea how to make lamp-posts? I'm trying to make lamp-posts with individual lights that you can shoot out for a little bit of extra depth to the map, but when I individually set up each lamp-post it complains about there being too many lights affecting serveral surfaces, or something.

So, a few hours ago, I was binge-watching video footage of The Lab demo's that came with the HTC Vive, and one of the demos that really impressed me was Vesper Peak - not because of it being anything spectacular from a VR point of view, but because of a technology used to acheive it's photo-realistic look, known as photogrammetry. The basic idea of photogrammetry is that you take a large amount of photo's of a certain object or enviroment and then run it through a specialist peice of software, which stitches all of the images together and creates a polygon/voxel hybrid model, which can then be directly texture mapped from the images.

After seeing it in use in the Vesper Peak demo, I looked around for other games that used this photogrammetry technique, and found a little gem from 2014 known as The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter, an example image of which is in the spoiler:

Spoiler [Blocked Image: http://www.theastronauts.com/pressarea/The_Vanishing_of_Ethan_Carter_Church_2560.jpg]

De_Sparity's Source 2 port? Perhaps.

As you can see, the realism is truly startling, to the point where it actually feels genuine. If you're not convinced, find gameplay footage of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, or Vesper Peak, and compare it today's more common graphical offerings - a real bump up in graphics, as far as I'm concerned.

Now, here's where my mind ran wild with the idea. I'm not sure if Vesper Peak runs on Unity or Source 2, but for the sake of argument, let's say Vesper Peak is a Source 2 tech demo. Now, let's say that a Counter-Strike game got made for Source 2. Not nessescarily a Source 2 port of CS:GO, but simply a Counter-Strike game, similar in style to CS:GO. Imagine photogrammatic locations in CS:GO, and how beautiful they would look.

That followed on into another idea - how would you create photogrammatic locations for this Source 2 version of CS, anyway? You could use real-life locations, sure, but then the layouts and overall structure of the map would be compromised for artistic beauty, which would greatly degenerate a game like CS. So, after giving it some thought, I came up with a middle-ground solution - physically making a ratio model of the map by hand, similar to how Id Software did for some of the sprites in DOOM, and then using photogrammetry on that model instead.

Design of a map would begin as usual - loading up whatever the Source 2 version of Hammer is, brainstorming a layout and aesthetic, etc., and playtesting it to work out all the kinks and bugs. Then, once you have a layout pinned down and a rough design/idea of the map's aesthetic, you would make a 1/16, 1/32 or 1/64-sized model mock-up of what your finished level should look like, and then snap hundreds of pictures of the physical model. The model would be made in sections, so that if there is a part of the level that is underground or in an inside area, you can simply detach the roofing so as to get a photogrammatic look of the insides. The result would be a map that directly emulates the layout and aesthetics of it's digital counterpart, but has the aesthetic beauty of a physically-mapped photogrammatic location.

Further edits in order to fix gameplay and bugs can then be made in-engine to the photogrammatic model. Another thing that came to mind at the time of writing this is how much detail some fantasy roleplayers put into their scenery props and character models in tabletop games such as Warhammer - the physical mock-up model would look similar to that, in a sense.

As always, feedback and opinions appreciated. I'm really excited about this photogrammetry technology, and I hope to see more games in the near future that utilize it well.

Thanks for reading,

Shima.