m8nkey

I don't. I just don't aggree that it's hard to show that you have an artistic sense if you work on old tech. I wasn't trying to get into the great engine debate .

That's an interesting observation. I wonder if it's the developers, the players, or a combination of both that drive these trends? In some respects it makes sense, no different to trends or movements in art, fashion and music culture.

I think I (partially) disagree with this. If someone makes something really beautiful on an old engine, it's probably more obvious how talented he is. Instead of just throwing some prefabbed models etc in a scene, which may 'look' way better (to the average unknowing gamer) than the level on old tech. But that'd just be beause of all the next-gen technology (shaders etc) instead of the actual design (lighting, ambience etc). I disagree too. The more limitations, the more skill is required to work under them to visually convey your idea. It's a lot easier to be lazy when it comes to optimisation these days but working within engine restraints and optimisation is still very important. I still use a lot of little goldsource optimisation tricks when planning my source engine maps, ensuring they aren't too demanding on the engine budget.

Edited my post to address you initial crit but you were too quick . I have 7 vehicle models waiting to be ported to source for use on the street. Combined with the advertising and vegetation it'll look much busier than those dated screens. My above post states my interntions for the interior areas depicted.

Epic bump. Thanks for the crits Dux, Sentura. still a lot of detailing to do. things on my TODO list for those areas include used ticket overlays for the floors, brass rubish bins & stair railings and 3d cutout movie ads. I'm also thinking of implementing some sort of popcorn (maybe a detail prop). I also need to make assorted food packages etc for the cady bar. I think some dead cinema employees along with appropriate blood stains and damage to insinuate something bad has happened would be cool too. Thanks for the name ideas guys, decided to stick with Metroplex No new screenshots but there's been some solid progress behind the scenes. I've made a handful off new models and added a lot of additional detail to the street including vegetation, signage and billboards. The vegetation isn't fantastic (I'm sure I'll get some negative crits) but it's the best I could produce. I have too much other content to work on. I think the additional street detail has added to the player immersion and sense of scale anyway. I have a month off over Christmas + I'm getting a new Core i7 system which will make things a lot easier (my current Athlon regularly fails to boot and is near death). Basically I want to get this map out the door so I can focus on E:TCW

Nipper's the guy who made a plethora of successful FY maps for the original CS yeah? He'd probably be strung up and burnt on a stake if he showed up round these parts.

Love your work Wunderboy, I want to remove the floating turd from the stock hl2 toilet model so every toilet in my map isn't full of turd. I'll let you know if I run into any drama

Wow, impressive artistic style. I thought this comment from the IGN video review described it nicely: Playing Prince of Persia is like running through a water colour painting Congrats Furyo, you've sold me.

Looks great Meo. Is it going to be animated? What's the polycount?

That's interesting. There's negligable gaming industry over here that I know of so I wouldn't be suprised if most the talent goes abroad. Damn, I didn't even consider that D3ads. I haven't purchased a secuROM game before, it sounds like a particularly unpleasant method of DRM. Generaly I'm for the boycott of DRM, but if I really want the game, I would buy it and download a workaround.

Shit yeah, besides, the only professional Aussie level designer I know works at Dice I really hope it enjoys commercial success in the long term.

Ironically, sometimes what actually IS real doesn't translate well to games. Building uniformity can make things look too simple and goldsource-like. Your most recent shot is much more visually interesting. Your work certainly reflects your insight and experience, I think there's a bit of room for creative license as shown in the latest shot though. Nice one.

Great concept tomdon. It's an ambitious project, considering all the custom content and the fact Jesus' birthday is only a month away. Good luck.

Those Max Payne 2 stuff looks awesome Corwin, I'll dust off my copy and check it out on release.

Personally, I think originality is overated, ideas are a dime a dozen. For me it's about how well those ideas are executed. A mod that uses simple, tried and true gameplay mechanics that are well imlpemented and fun is a fair accomplishment. Of course unique gameplay elements are great but they greatly complicate things too. The cool thing about modding is it's readily accesible to anyone. Of course this also results in a plethora of absolute shit as seen on modDB. 99% of them are dreamt up by kids that never see them to fruition, they are by no means an accurate litmus test for the quality of what's out there. Saying there is no originallity is a gross generalisation. The Source engine alone has an impressive range of original mods that impliment unique gamelpay mechanics previously unseen in the engine.

The site and your content look nice. I like the idea of a quaint, seamingly harmless beautician that's a front for a top secret laboritory.

Good stuff Sk3tch, light on realism but respectable visuals and great gameplay. I'm sure it'll be popular amongst custom servers.

Looks like a solid start. I'll checkit out when I have a chance. Also, I agree with everyone else, I hate links to external image hosting (particularly fucking imageshack). If you include images directly in your post, it's convenient and it allows the screens to be easily compared with one another. You can actually upload your images and imbed them in your post directly so they aren't reliant on outside hosting.

I took it for a brief spin yesterday. Love all the personal touches typicall of all your maps. My favourite was the Army of Darkness reference . The birds that take off when distrurbed was also a very nice touch. Overall it's impressive though I'm not sure about some of the terrain modelling, some areas appear heavily reliant on brushes, as appose to displacements, and don't look very natural. There's a lot of LOD popping going on too, personally I'd increase the range before the LODs kick in or remove some entirely, it would increase the budget but I think it would be worthwhile. I'm looking forward to checking out the gameplay at a LAN next weekend Great stuff as always Mike. I hope you continue to occasionally release stuff for Source or future engines.

I checked it out today and it's a really good start. The lighting and atmosphere are excellent though I think it could do with a little more ambient sound. Performance wise the map is well optimised, it's visually coherent and the layout is well designed. I have a couple of suggestions. Firstly, create a bumpmap and add specularity for the ground textures that are exposed to the rain so they look shiny and wet. Technically everything is well implemented but I think you need a stronger story and some interesting scripted NPC sequences to make this awesome.

It's not a big deal but Mino is right about the fridge. Even though your going for a surreal style it's more convincing if basic principles of perspective are obeyed. I agree, some flat shading (especially the jacket) would easily give him more depth. He should suite the room fine. It's easy to see your influences, you have a cool style.

Looking good Meo. I'd be happy to check it out in game for you. *edit: Solid white sends bloom crazy in source. Darkening highlights in textures greatly reduces bloom but might not be suitable to your situation.

Nice stuff Mike. I concur, damn that was a pleasant environment for a hostage situation.

Looks great, very different from your other maps which is a good thing. I like the fact you've set a clear concept for the project too. Maybe it could benefit from some variation in building height like Pampers suggested?

Awesome stuff Pericolos0. Love the architecture and colour scheme.