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Campaignjunkie

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Posts posted by Campaignjunkie

  3. Designing for single player

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    Writing up documents and charts and spreadsheets might be the most professional way, but it's certainly the least fun.

    If you're making this for yourself, just draw a loose sketch and start building off that.

    I mean, I was watching thisvideo about how Sid Meier made a game in 48 hours -- he doesn't mess with these spreadsheets and design documents and stuff. Rather, he prototyped an interaction (say, shooting zombies) and started exploring variations on that to make it more interesting.

  7. WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

    in Level Design

    Posted

    Haha, I'm using this for my Radiator mod, actually -- is it unethical to re-purpose something for another mod, or is that smart asset re-use? I mean, don't worry, I'll make the PQL4 hospital more detailed / more interesting / better in every way, I just wanted to mirror a hospital scene I did in a previous episode of Radiator, and I'm running out of time to finish this thing that I've been plugging away at for a year...

    But I'm convinced, I'll up the brightness. People with awesome monitors will just have to deal with a slightly over-bright scene I guess. I really want people to be able to make out the text on the cards, roughly.

    KFS: PQL4 seems pretty dead right now, but I'm going to pick it up at the end of June and try to rally everyone together again, hopefully I'll be done with Radiator by then

    Kaz: architecture seems kind of cookie-cutterish, try to do some more slanted surfaces / build off the grid. I'd look at some of the shapes in the old geocomp2 / sparth's Q3 maps, it's something I've been doing lately and they're still really inspiring in terms of form and how it all works together:

    http://lvlworld.com/#i=1251

    http://lvlworld.com/#i=878

    ... and I wish I could find screenshots of bengal's Minima, because that was really one of the most beautiful / sculptural video game levels I've ever seen, shame PlanetQuake demolished sparth's old page

  10. [EP2] Mission Improbable Part 2

    in Level Design

    Posted

    OhSnap: did you play from the first map into the second, or start from the second via the "New Game" menu? Because I feel like with the new game menu, all the health and ammo you have is pretty generous for the first fight -- lots of 357 / AR2 / shotgun ammo, if I remember correctly. If all else fails, you can camp near the bottom of the stairs and they'll all line up pretty easily for the slaughter. (I actually thought the first encounter was too easy because of that, heh.)

    The last fight -- okay maybe too much. The original version was only 3 hunters and it was kind of boring; I thought the manhacks were a really nice touch to discourage you from just circle-strafing / shotgunning them to death.

    I dunno, I didn't find it too difficult, and I think of myself as a pretty average HL2 player. Shrug.

  11. The Mod Community Today

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    Modding isn't in decline, it's just changing -- it's not the "total conversion" model of modding anymore. People are still doing "map packs" and people are still doing the smaller mods like UI changes / difficulty mods, etc. There are certainly fewer "big" mods out there now, which isn't necessarily bad.

    Mods are still here... you're just in the game industry now and you're looking for what you remember, but it's not here anymore. It's turned into something different. :)

  13. Hammer update!

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    Just an update to everyone having problems / black viewports when mapping for Ep2 on Source 2007 now... well, switch back to Source 2009 and everything works fine now. Bizarre.

    EDIT: actually, this makes sense, with Ep2 getting Steamplay recently...

  15. Luuk Waarbroek - Level Designer

    in Portfolios

    Posted

    "Home" page is unnecessary. Have your index set to your "work" page by default so it's the first thing people see.

    In your resume section, are these commercial projects or mods or what? You worked on them in school, but it's for a studio? Might want to clarify that.

    Umm you certainly look competent, but what are you really interested in? What kind of scripted events have you done? I think Andrew Weldon's portfolio offers a good example of how to present your scripts -- http://www.button-masher.net/content.php?c=86

    If none of this stuff is freely downloadable / playable, you have to work a lot harder to demonstrate your contributions to these projects. What kinds of problems did you encounter and how did you solve them? Who made the level assets? What constraints were you working under?

    In terms of gameplay, I was most interested in that bioblocks game, but it wasn't playable so that was kind of a big turn-off

    (Disclaimer -- I'm not a professional. Just a cranky amateur who's been modding for a long long long time.)

  16. Productions from the IT University of Copenhagen

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    how come you decided against it?

    A more promising offer in New York... I have family and friends here, more of the artsy fartsy game scene is here (though I deeply admire the indie nordic scene, I feel like I'm not good enough to fit in there, haha), more financial aid, moving to another state seems less imposing than moving to another country, parsons is generally just bigger, etc.

    So really it wasn't because of the program there per se, it was more like I felt I had a better option. I'd encourage everyone to look into ITU at Copenhagen, it seems like one of the few good game dev schools that aren't commercial industry oriented... unless that's your goal, then go to Digipen or Guildhall, etc.

    I will say this, though -- I'd definitely do a PhD stint there if I'm qualified by then. I'm told in Europe, they treat PhDs with respect and you don't end up languishing for years and years, unlike in the states

  19. Rafeal Underwood Jr. - Level Designer/Scripter

    in Portfolios

    Posted

    Torn apart, eh? Okay, let me put my asshole hat on. Here's what your portfolio looks like --

    1) a (less interesting) remake of a Q3 map, BSP shell looks pretty untouched, boxy cookie-cutter kind of stuff, you're relying on the skybox to create all visual interest for you when it should be taking a backseat

    2) an HL2 map in a typical-looking C17 interior concrete / plaster setting with an overpowered weapon; in HL2 you get the super grav-gun and it feels like payoff, but here it looks like you haven't really thought it through past the beginning; what are the downsides to using this weapon?

    3) a rather small GoW map that looks well-made but not much else

    4) two other small rooms you built for GoW and filled with props, the BSP shells look relatively untouched, very boxy stuff

    A plus:

    - good, straightforward presentation and site design

    What you should do:

    a) make more SP and MP maps for whatever game you felt most comfortable with... like A LOT more. right now you have 2 3/4 worth of levels

    b) release these maps to get exposure and feedback, people will play them and talk about them

    c) if you really want to, join a big mod team, but I don't think that's really necessary

    d) in the process of a, b & c, you'll meet more people and make friends, and these friends might be the very people who will lead you to a job (if that's your goal)

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