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I'm now a Principal Environment Artist at Lightspeed LA (updated the board to reflect it). Last time I started a new job was 10 years ago, this is very exciting!

Haven't posted anything on the site yet until I got to a certain level, small Wingman map for CS:GO. It's an overgrown castle on an island because that's just the direction it took but I think it looks neat. Still working out the textures so it'll look (hopefully) better.

lol, haven't updated this thread in a long time I've been working on this on and off throughout the year and I'm getting close to calling it done. The architecture is about 90% done, then it's time for the backdrop, foliage (all temp assets now), set dressing and polish... well I actually still have quite a bit left to do, but feels good to be over the most critical part (architecture). Here are some pics of where I am at:

Progressing slowly

More progress on the jungle part of the island. Still trying to find the balance with the foliage density. Wanna make it really dense but also very readable. And a video

The map it's progressing, i made some custom fake door models, also some new textures

Working on a Danger Zone map in the South Australian Riverland, still finishing off buildings/monuments/decorations along with general polish, but progress is coming along very well. Riverland is designed to play differently from other Danger Zone maps, with a couple of changes that'll spice up how the mode is played.

Stay away/limit yourself from social media Start going to the gym. I go 4 times a week. It is THE difference maker. Plus who doesn't like being jacked? I clap cheeks with the lights on. Drink lots of water. It flushes all the shit out of your system. Don't get addicted to drugs/substances as a way to escape your problems/emotions. Talk to your mother/father/family more. Take 5HTP before bed (it helps level serotonin, I take it every night). Eat proper food. Not KFC. Not Maccy D's. Not sugar. Not takeaways. Eat shit, feel like shit. Enjoy in moderation. Don't force yourself to do things that used to make you happy. I lost all interest in games over lockdown. Making them was bad enough, it just made me miserable sitting in my office everyday staring at a screen. Take a break. I'm now currently enjoying D2 Resurrected. Read before bed, put down the electronics an hour before you sleep. Go for walks. I like to go for a walk almost every night. Assuming it isn't raining, welsh weather. Listen to lots of music. I combine this with walking. Ditch the porn. Holy shit if I was 17 today I'd be a fucking mess with how easily you can come across tits and ass. Just scrolling through instagram today my teenage head would explode. Fuck that shit. It is going to fuck up a generation of guys.

low poly electric meter

de_wake by SirSnail Wake is finally up! Set on an island castle with a secret lab entrance in the back, this project was fun and a good learning experience. Feedback is welcome! Some assets borrowed from Yanzl (de_castle) Steam Page

I watched Sicario at the cinema (remember those times) and I kinda wanted to go back in once it was finished lol. Slight tangent promotion, @Bunglo @El Moroes if you love Sicario you will probably also love ZeroZeroZero… it was directed by Sollima, the same director behind the camera of Day of the Soldado. I recommended in the “watched recently” some months ago. the Mexican cartel scenes will give you chills.

@Radu, this is what we call the "Guided Tour", it guides the player for 2-3 hours after the tutorial map. It's a necessity, before we built up the guided tour, players just felt completely lost, lacking a lot of knowledges from very basic concepts of the game. We decided to host this through the real maps, so the player can already spend time on them and learn informations that will be useful once this phase is lifted, but for a few hours we have to force the player to go through some key steps. Once you get through this, you become free to explore the maps and campaign. But still, we can't just let the players completely in the unknown to solve the big puzzle, there are "leads" that guide the player through the process. You can do these in any order you want, and as for previous games you can disable markers and other options if you want. The puzzle itself isn't the only important part from the game, it's also how you want to build up an arsenal, there are optionnal missions and vignettes we created to get some extra equipement/lore/rewards (which are usually harder to solve), learning the maps can also become very valuable (finding out new paths, new locations, shortcuts ...), especially in PvP... How you want to play with the loop! I'm sorry that it feels like too much information is thrown at the player, I actually have to agree on that. It's not necessarily a very complex game, but it's quite unorthodox. It takes a bit of time for the player to feel comfortable with it.

View from an unplayable area of de_island(remake)

Last month's progress for the Hell Unleashed project (GZDoom)

this somehow reminds me of Rick and Morty's episode about real fake doors

If you'd work on a thing for 20 years you'd be hard pressed to go back and fix stuff as well, it's different from a fan perspective than it is from the dev's. Valve at least doesn't punish the community for fixing things like some of the other corporations do.

This came up on my lockscreen and I would be strongly convinced that it could have very well been on the reference moodboard for the Lighthouse level of HL2. In particular because of that pillar/structure closer to the camera... it really makes me think of the way Gordon escapes from the location (and from where he sees the buggy taken away by the Combine). Is it just me?

For sure. We lived through the golden age of gaming I feel and it could just me being old and shouting at clouds but I don't feel like modern games suit me well. There aren't many new games I enjoy like I did back in the late 90's to about the early 2010's. See, this is where the specialists work. You and 3 mates. You know who your friends are and where they are since you're most likely on Discord with them. Everyone else is an enemy. It doesn't really matter that everyone else is playing the same characters like in other BR and Tarkov-like games. Other modes in BF2042 really could do with having classes back and everyone plays a nameless soldier unique to their faction. But I guess that won't bring in the dollars from skin sales. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Man, I really am an old man shouting at clouds

Only a couple hours in, and I already know me and this game will be best friends! Really enjoying it so far. I absolutely love Colt's personality, and the use of "regular" language and profanity in the game's tips, lol. I can feel a lot of people had fun making this game, it oozes personality.

I Dollar cost average (DCA) in index funds and ETF's that reflect markets that might keep growing. I'd be weary of individual stocks or even crypto... unless you go long on your buys. If you don't know what DCA is, it's basically a technique that entails investing a fixed amount of money in the same fund or stocks every month over a long period of time. That fixed amount is usually a percentage dictated by you, when you analyze your finances. (How much can you invest out of your paycheck every month, the more you put, the more money you'll have working for you.) I wouldn't park money on a savings account, you're loosing money to inflation, your money is literally loosing it's value every year (2%/3% annually on average, more so in 2021) so you need to make sure you're hedging for inflation at the very least. If you don't know what hedging is, say inflation is 3% that year, and you have all your investments on the S&P500, which makes on average 8% a year. You actually made 5%. So you didn't loose money to inflation, you actually made some back since you put your money to work while you slept. That's hedging in a nutshell as I see it. There's other ways, gold, silver, real estate, etc. They're called assets (vs liabilities). That said, it's wise to have some money saved, it's called a emergency fund (usually enough money to survive 6 months without being employed, case anything goes wrong and you need access to cash, fast) to have more money than that pile up on a savings account, is widely regarded as a bad financial decision, since that money isn't being put to work for you, your bank does it for you without you even knowing, and you only see 0.01% back in interest. As for which Index Funds you think are the best, I always revert to index funds that reflect the whole US stock market, and other index funds that reflect the international market, and the S&P500. You're basically investing in thousands of companies at once, it's a big basket, so even if one company does horribly that year, you have all the others affecting the average, these things historically keep going up, decade after decade. If the market is down, you buy. If the market is up, you buy. You don't need that money tomorrow anyway, this is mostly for retirement so forget about daily, or even monthly market fluctuations. In the US there's retirement accounts like the RothIRA where your investments grow tax free, and others like the 401k where you invest your money before it's taxed (usually through your employer), study what options you have in EU / your country for retirement accounts, and look at the expense ratio of the index funds that they offer. The sooner your start DCA'ing, the sooner you can retire. As for crypto... I allocate 5% of my total portfolio to cryptocurrencies. It's a riskier investment, but having some exposure to it, so far has been my best decision in terms of investments, even with such a low percentage. As for which crypto to buy, I simply DCA on BTC, ETH, ADA and leave most shitcoins alone. As thiago said, dedicate some time to read about this shit, you'll be thankful you did when you get old.

This map is now officially part of the Team Fortress 2 Scream Fortress XIII Halloween update.

This map is now officially part of the Team Fortress 2 Scream Fortress XIII Halloween update.

Some updated screenshots for the basically final release follow Here's a shot of marine start, known as Old Wing. The shadows are rad. A little hallway from Old Wing to Exterior Paths Here's a shot of Exterior Paths. I had someone create this neat little fog cinematic that gives some depth to the area. Exterior leads to Relay, where we have this little setup with a cool sunset skybox view. I re-did Chemical Transport's lighting to something more neutral and less green. This has been met with a better response, though I was growing fond of the green Half-Life vibes. Here's a finished shot of the alien starting point, Fusion Core. It's not much different from the previous iteration, but it's all textured and ready to go. A shame these aren't in motion, there's lots of little things in these scenes like a moving "emergency exit" hologram in the back. Some lighting changes in Sewer with some additional decals along the floorspace to look grimier. Research Labs (now known as The WAC [short for Western Access Corridor, which is quite a mouthful and not a particularly short call-out point]) Not to be confused with Western Entrance, this room leads into The WAC. This was the first room I worked on. I wanted some clean colors and shapes to differentiate players against the backdrop, so I modified a lot of props to get this grimy but clearly silhouetting look. Reactor Room, the most iconic room from the original game needed a serious make-over for gameplay, so I made the room a figure-eight. Still has a double resource node, which plays pretty well given the circumstances. So, whenever the next big update comes out, Tanith will ship with it. Just doing some teensy bits of fixes from here on out. Thanks for checking it out! Oh, and here's a picture of the skybox!

You can trademark the brand and if you manage to create a valuable enough IP you can make money from that, either by selling it to another company, signing licensing deals etc... (like Garry's mod, or even CS). If you create something inside CS:GO I assume Valve already owns part of it, since you are using their code, assets, etc... so even if you trademark a game mode, they own the code for the game you made the game mode for. How about booking a consultation with Cooper & Norman? They must know the answer

Great read, apparently the team didn't have specialized game designers, and artists couldn't even preview their stuff ingame until a programmer manually implemented their work, and a new build was generated. Very interesting times https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/postmortem-blizzard-s-i-diablo-ii-i-

HP hit it on the nail but I wanted to add some points as I've also gone through my phases of darkness @Mark Karhan These moments are very natural, and actually a good sign, they probably show you that you know something is not right in your life, and that can lead to major changes for the better. I'm not sure if this is the same you are experiencing, but look up "dark night of the soul", it's something that most people go through at some point (or multiple) points in their lives and can be very transformative. As someone who's been there before and changed for much better, I can tell you that if you can get the basics right (the things that HP mentioned), you will feel much better overtime (it won't happen overnight). Make an effort to keep a routine and do the basics for a while. Diet is a very specific thing, and I'd recommend to get informed on all the available information now, but in general you want to avoid (or reduce) all the processed shit, and favor whole foods (whole grains, vegetables, legumes, meats, eggs, etc...). You also have to work out (or have some regular exercise) if you don't already. Walking around the block is good, but preferably you want to do something that will exert your body and challenge you. That will release testosterone in your system, and get you rise up and work for the things you love. Working out is great if you can find a cool gym nearby, it will also help you to socialize. Doing those things for a while will improve your sleep immensely. And when we eat, sleep and exercise well, everything else gets much much easier. If you are feeling in the dumps mentally, avoid social media like the devil. It's a tool for hypernormalization, where any opinions or looks that are not accepted by the current ideology, will be ostracized, ridiculed, or downright attacked. You don't want to be exposed to that when you are still forming your personality. Be yourself, that's much more important than falling in line just to be accepted. Social media has also been linked to severe depression and radicalization (ever seen a friend join Twitter and all of a sudden he's an angry activist?). Stay away from pr0n too, that will completely wreck your dopamine receptors. The kinds of thoughts you have also have a huge impact on the kind of experience/existence you lead. As an example, if you believe you are fucked up, you will behave in a way that will make that a reality. If however, you twist that belief into "I'm going through a hard moment now and I will get out of it stronger on the other side, no matter what", that's much more productive and will lead you to better results. Write that on the wall to remind you several times a day if you need to. Meditation helps a ton to keep the mind clear. @Mark Karhan You are a great guy, very smart and you have a sharp mind. Use this opportunity to find yourself, and become someone you will love Know that you are not alone and let us know here how you feel!

[EDITED] Noclip has done a design focus on Deathloop

Don't think making money is the primary drive for them at this point either. They do make a lot but i don't think they ever released something that was a pure cash grab. Alyx was the complete opposite actually.

Nice layout. I like that the CTs don't have the archetypical safe route--results in a design that has very efficient use of space and makes it unique. My main criticism is that the secret lab theme feels a bit strange and shoehorned in. I feel like you could have just made it all castle themed, but maybe that's just me. Overall, thumbs up.

This is how I read it and thought it was just hilarious

I really cant believe ive found this post - really bringing back a lot of memories seeing these names again. crackerjack here - I havent used that name handle since the project died Would love to talk to people who apart of nightwatch again - anyone here using discord? In terms of content from that time - everything is gone on my end. I have been searching the net for bits and pieces of it - glad I found this

Here's an explanation of the main gameplay mechanics of the game

SEC won't control shit, they can't even control their own money. BTW, it's still fine to get in BTC now, you can DCA as HP said and buy the correction during the bull market, easy to say, not easy to have the balls to buy when it's down 20%. I think the easiest is to put a fixed percentage of what you earn in BTC each months (dca), my personal taste is to put 20% of my monthly cash savings in BTC, and don't watch for the next 2-3 halvings. I just don't buy when we get close to the market cycle top, and keep it do double down once we get at lower risk levels. Just get started guys, start with small amounts and get into it asap.

Maybe dip your toes with money you are comfortable losing if you just want to fuck around with it. The best way to learn is by doing and studying. In the near term, any investment can have massive volatility, and it can be nerve wrecking to see your capital down by 50% or so in a matter of days. As Pampers said, if you want to spend zero time on this, the easiest thing is to buy index funds (tickers: SPY, QQQ, etc...) and forget about them. But keep in mind that that it's not guaranteed you will get good returns from here. The market has been in a massive bull run since 2008, and things have gone parabolic since the covid crash... The easy gains have already been made probably. Honestly I wouldn't recommend doing any serious investing unless you take the time to understand the basics and know your risk appetite, so you won't do like I did many times and sell at the worst times It's your hard earned money, and this is a traders market at the moment, it's very easy to get burned when most of the stocks are at very high valuations (historically). Maybe open small positions here and there and forget about them, but right now is probably not the best time to load the boat Here's a book that helped me find many gems: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007FM61SG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Peter Lynch was the most successful fund manager in history, and he wrote that book for laymen like you and I. It's a short and enjoyable read, light on technical terms but with very useful knowledge

how much time do you want to spend on this? if close to zero, then just slap it in some index fund and keep adding over time and forget about it

The border scene was indeed amazing. About this movie, this scene is staying in my head...the music, the view and and the feeling of the upcoming tension...wow !

Hey Mapcore, Long time lurker here. I'm working on a remake of a Natural Selection map, Tanith, for Natural Selection 2. I've been involved in the development of the game for some time as a playtest lead, environmental artist, and competitive player, I figured I'd add another notch to my belt. Over the past three years I've been slaving away trying to create something that evokes that wonderful nostalgia while aligning itself with NS2's gameplay and design. Many of the rooms look pretty similar to ns_tanith, but with a massive coat of paint. Some have undergone significant restructuring, making it new while retaining those older aspects or themes. While the game has felt like it has been sunsetting for a long, long time, it's still lively enough that there are full servers everyday. The map is currently being played on several of them. It's currently a work in progress, but I'm hoping to have it done very soon. The version on the workshop is not the most updated, some of these screenshots are from the developer fork for new and increased Workshop file size which is slated to arrive with the next NS2 update. Steam Workshop Minimap Waste Handling, a tech point room Sewer, a formerly unnamed room Marine start with a cool hologram that glitches out Exterior Paths, outside of marine start Fusion Core, the alien starting location Chemical Transport, one of the precious resource locations SatCom with some Suspiria inspired lighting Relay, another outside location

Going to be able to share a lot more soon!

No joke... the most creative thing I've watched in years. Don't want to overhype it, but skip trailers and just go watch it.

More changes to layout and graphic side steam workshop - https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2547145592 OVERVIEW TERRO SPAWN METRO ENTRY FROM B NEW TERRO PATH AND CHOKEPOINT ON A BOMBSITE A BOMBSITE B

I wonder if I can patent tdm or even actual deathmatch. Or "walk right". Or "move up on button press".

Just got deathloop and it takes two. Finished ghost of tsushima, its great tbh, very little I would change. Its just the right length for the depth of gameplay. The core gameplay is just right for what its trying to do. No dark souls combat but still lots of depth and some skill required. If anyone wants to play online let me know, been playing some of the story missions and coop.

Wow valve updated something. Figured they'd all quit after alyx

Wait waaaaaat! Unexpected (for me) drop of a new operation. Congrats to the Mapcore crowd monopolising the “new maps” section of the update @Yanzl @rzl @Oliver @[email protected] @jd40 @Quadratic @Quotingmc @[email protected]@andi @Oskmos PS: hopefully I haven't missed anyone, and in case apologies

Finally got around to detailing the front entrance, textures still need some work but I'm real happy w how it's turning out

I know I am no longer active here, but I just wanted to report in that I have accepted my first full time position with Lost Boys Interactive as a VFX Artist. So even if you're struggling and its been years, know that it can still happen when you least expect it.

Dune. Loved it. Solid.

That’s not a condition, that’s how women naturally are #sexistjokes aside, that’s really interesting. There’s all this bunch of interesting research and tangentially interests level designers, I remember @FMPONE (if I recall correctly) mentioning about right and left turns? (I think something from mall navigation?)