dmu

Judges for Mapcore X2 Prodeus
- GeneralVivi (@generalvivi)
- FMPONE (@FMPONE)
- ICARUSLIV3S (@ICARUSLIV3S)
- KinoFabino (@kinofabino)
- FPSCarol (@FPSCarol)
The Prodeus community would like to thank our guest judges for helping us rank this competition. There were a lot of high quality submissions and we were excited to play them all. 
The winners of Mapcore X2 Prodeus 

1st place: Paws [ Retail Therapy ]
P-link: m-MC0iuUs2j6
- $1,500.00 USD 
- One year of Humble Choice 
- Excalibur Shotgun and Gauntlets (skins)
- Biker Gloves (skin) 
- Special winners role on the Prodeus Discord
 


 
2nd Place: Grays [ Firebase Kodai ]
P-link: m-5J9cCzaepH
- $1000.00 USD 
- 1 month to Humble Choice 
- Excalibur Gauntlets + Biker Gloves (skins) 
- Special winners role on the Prodeus Discord
 

 
3rd Place: Vladd [ Maximum Menace ]
P-link: m-9yZfaAliyx
- $500.00 USD 
- 1 month to Humble Choice 
- Biker Gloves (skin)
- Special winners role on the Prodeus Discord
 

 
All of the winners will also be showcased on our Youtube channel, and because we had so many amazing entries, we’ll be showcasing parts of our Staff Picks too. 
We want to thank the wonderful folks over at Mapcore for hosting this sick competition, and a big ol shoutout to our sponsor Humble Games (who publish Prodeus), for making a large contribution to our prize pool this time around. 
Looking forward to the next competition already! Maybe will do a coop one with teams allowed? WHO KNOW!? Can't wait, see you then!
 

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

 
 

I'm closing this thread as it has outlived its initial usefulness and has been reduced to mostly personal attacks and misinformation, neither of which have a place on Mapcore.
If any mods disagree with my decision feel free to open up a discussion in the Staff section of the forum.

More Lumen examples 

The Danger Zone experiment returns to the sun soaked hills of southern Italy. Between scenic towns and ancient ruins, fight to survive and be the last man standing.

Workshop link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2587298130

Made by: Hasselh0ff, KlixX, Seth, Quotingm Slimek, Andi, Squidski and T-R3x3r
 

Haven't been working on the project for about 2 months, wasn't liking the shape of the island and how the things were going , but finally found some courage and time to scrap some of the old stuff and start from scratch. Here's my progress so far. Had to redo the entire island and also some of the foliage. 

ZIPLINE
Simple Titanfall / Apex Legends style VScript ziplines for CS:GO

GIF of ziplines in action.
 
Features:
Simple usage, make a move_rope, name it with '_s' as a postfix, make another, name it the same but with '_e' as the postfix, you've got a zipline. Can choose if they work in both directions or only one ('_e' for both ways, '_ee' for one way). Ability to instantiate ziplines on the fly (if you know what you're vscripting, check main.nut). Can be configured (speed, height, func_button distance, jumping off / dropping manually). Ability to Jump off the zipline or Detach (Crouch) like in Titanfall/Apex. Quadratic movement for rope slacking (thanks ficool). Template zipline pole and arm models. Uses existing Danger Zone sounds. Very lite game string table impact. Anti player stuck. Example map  
Usage:
Unzip to the location of your choice (CS:GO folder or Project folder) Insert the zipline_core.vmt instance in your map, set the Entity Name Fix Up to None Create a zipline with two move_rope, one named yourzipline_s, the other yourzipline_e or yourzipline_ee Turn off SmartEdit on the '_s' and add a KeyValue named health with a value corresponding to your curvature Test it in-game You can test new health curve values with this console command until it's right: script zip_setCurve("yourzipline", X) Assign the new health value Make more ziplines Pack your BSP  
How does it works?
The VScript will find every move_rope corresponding to the start of a zipline ('_s' suffix) and will find its exit ('_e'), then will spawn func_buttons along that rope.
It gets the direction of each starting move_rope, their curvature value, etc.. then stores them afterwards.
Once a player press Use on a spawned func_button, that button will retrieve its zipline parameters and make the player move toward their desired direction (forward or backwards) in a loop until they press Jump / Crouch or arrive at their destination.
Players that were on a zipline check if there's a player inside them until there isn't, if there is, they'll be pushed backwards on the zipline to get unstuck.
 
Tips:
Be careful where you put ziplines, players are 32 HU large and 72 HU high, if they're placed too low they'll get stuck inside the floor.. ziplines have a height offset too, then there's the curvature on top of that. You can change the speed and other settings in scripts/vscripts/zool/zipline/config.nut  
Issues:
There's no animations for players on a zipline, they'll just float bellow them. No clue if hitboxes are correct while being teleported but they're likely fine. It's possible to miss the zipline if you're inside the func_button you're trying to press.  
Enjoy!
Zipline.zip

Starting to work on the background terrain, before going for the playable one, I'm planning on making multiple small islands that gonna have some old millitary installations and underground bunkers kinda like FarCry 1,3

Why do you think a 3 lane layout is not interesting? Most defuse maps follow a very similar four square pattern. That doesn't prevent them from doing a lot of original things within individual areas.
Also, I think you'll have better luck coming up with interesting ideas if you play around with it in the editor rather than on paper.
Here's something you can do - take a cool real life location that you would like to make in the game (this will motivate you) and think about how you can design a wingman layout around this location. You will find yourself solving interesting architectural problems and even if you end up with a three-lane layout still, it will be an interesting three-lane layout because of the constraints of the theme. You may not even notice that you have a three lane layout just like cache is pretending to not be a four-square layout while it is exactly that.

Well, it's actually quite simple.

Ideally, you want to minimize the filler areas and maximize areas of type alpha and omega. You do this by learning how to think in 3 dimensions and how to generate interesting areas, while working within the constraints of nature and human architecture. Here is the formula for what makes a good area:

Goodness of narrative comes down to story-telling, which is a very expansive topic in and of itself so I will focus on goodness of color and goodness of shape. So we'll use a simplified formula for goodness of area, shown below:

Formula (1) is the lego approach to area engineering, where you deal with large presets, since you're not yet experienced enough to work on area microarchitecture. Now I will show you the wizard approach. You won't read about this in LD text-books.
Let H be the set of architectural components used by humans and let N denote the set of architectural components used by nature (God / evolution). Then we'll use Z to denote the available language of architectural expression. Z is the proper set of the union of H and N. Naturally, you cannot use the entire language of expression at your disposal so let's say the language you're going to use is some subset of Z, which we shall call L.

Now in order to learn how to make a good area, you need a way to calculate the goodness quantifier of formula (5). Without that you won't have the much needed feedback-response cycle and you will not improve. So we need to measure koppaI from an already built level. To do this, you take all elements of L and distribute them in a 3-d vector space, based on their position of use in the level. If you want, you can use two separate vector spaces - one for the color subcomponent of every component, and one for its shape. But beware, the natural distribution of the reasonable color spectrum for most components is pretty tight.
Next thing you do, you color code the scattered points based on the spatial locality of the components in the real world. In other words, components that appear together are assigned similar colors. Then you want to reduce the amount of overall entropy in the color distribution. One way to do this, without sacrificing variety is to have clusters of low entropy (which appear as splatters of uniform color) in distinct areas of your map, while the connecting areas should be kept low entropy (without many micro-clusters) so they can compensate for the contrasting transition between the larger areas.

For reference, in the image above, a high entropy area would look something like (c), while the rest are relatively low entropy.
Some easy ways to reduce color entropy in your level are:
using a very limited color palette using painterly textures using photo textures taken from the same real world location Some easy ways to reduce shape entropy in your level are:
using references not mixing architectural styles from different historical periods use large pieces for cover, remove small pieces that only add clutter reducing signs of human life (it is very difficult to prevent signs of human life from skyrocketing your entropy meter) hierarchical procedure (starting from a silhouette blockout and gradually filling in details) Keep in mind, entropy can also be too low. This can happen if you put too much effort into silhouette and visual harmony and don't use any references. You can end up compensating with bad entropy. Bad entropy is when details you add increase visual disharmony very rapidly. Ideally, you want your learning process to lead you to a place where your entropy is similar to the entropy in areas you find visually appealing in real life or virtual environments, and you also want the level of detail to approach the level of detail in those environments.

In formula (6) I show an example optimization model for a realistic style area. You can use this to derive a model for fantastic or stylized areas. You want entropy and detail to move in parallel with one another. The ideal scenario would look something like this:

Keep in mind that adding narrative elements such as signs of human life and natural decay can increase entropy quite alot. For further reading on sings of human life look into How buildings learn by Stewart Brand.
If you get good at adding detail without massively increasing entropy, you will have more confidence to experiment with unique layouts.
Then there is another formula, called the challenge complexity formula. Player enjoyment from playing a map tends to correlate inversely with frustration. Frustration comes from low correlation between expected challenge and actual challenge.

One way to model challenge is as a scalar, representing net difficulty (7).

Another way you can model challenge, shown above, is as a set of micro-games that the player will have to play during the match, determined by the context of each encounter. The phrase "micro-games played in wingman maps on official servers" can be replaced with micro-games anticipated by the user or micro-games user enjoys to play in counter-strike. For this analysis, I assume that enjoyment is maximal on wingman maps on official servers, presuming those maps are examples of prime level design. This is more true for defuse maps than it is for wingman.
Micro-games constitute things like how you peek certain corners, how you play around with cover and position in certain contexts, how you use your utility, and all sorts of other actions you take to become more unpredictable and to put yourself in a favourable situation. The possible situations you may find yourself in are determined by the architecture of the level.
You don't want to introduce too many unique ideas into your level, because it will reflect badly on the micro-games ratio coefficient.
You can just plug those formulas into hammer and watch the magic happen!

It's been a while since we posted a proper update here but a lot has changed in the last two months.
 - B site has received a full rework
 - rotations are faster and simpler
 - mid was reworked to make it fair and fun
 - outside A now has a tunnel connecting it directly to B site
The version shown here should be live by tonight and we are hoping to finalize the layout soon.
Feedback is, as always, very welcome and maybe I'll see some of you in the next playtest ?
Radar:
Screenshots:
 

YAHATA - ヤハタ 21式小銃
If you're interested in seeing more renders they are available at https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xJeXvE



 

Decided to come back to this environment. Since it's pretty much 2 years old at this point i wanted to start from scratch. Here's some of the foliage that i've made for the new environment so far.  




 

Mapcore is now holding a second Prodeus Mapping Contest for original levels, with official developer support!

Original Contest key art by @Yanzl
Mapcore X2 Prodeus
Official Mapping Contest
~
How to Enter the Mapcore X2 Prodeus Mapping Contest
Purchase Prodeus Early Access on Steam
Create your level, and then TAG it with "Mapcore Contest" and "Mapping Challenge 4"
Set your level to PUBLISHED once you've had some testing
Your thread on Mapcore + playable map published to the workshop constitutes your entry to this contest!
~
Tutorials from the Devs
~
RULES:
1. Your map must be playable from start to finish and published on the workshop with the tags listed above.
2. Your map must be submitted by August 31st, 2021 before 12 am EST. Note: all maps are dated and time stamped when published to the workshop.
3. The Prodeus Dev Team and GUEST JUDGES will play through the maps and rank them based on Fun / Originality / Visual Presentation / Polish.
4. Users should be able to "finish" your level and enter the "leaderboards" screen. 
5. Do NOT remake a level, nor part of a level, from a different game. Do NOT use any content created by others or Imported from another game. Keep things unique and show us your own individual sparkle.
6. Maps that were under creation prior to the announcement of this Contest can be entered, as long as a complete map version (layout and any non-greybox art) was not released for public download. 
7. Multiple map entries are permitted, however each entry will be judged for its own particular quality. This is not a campaign competition, but a single map competition.
8. ONLY ONE AUTHOR PER ENTRY, we will NOT be splitting prizes nor allowing teams. 
9. You ARE allowed to use Structures from the editor - you are NOT allowed to use other users' Structures for this particular contest.
EXCITING PRIZES:
1st Place:
$1,500.00 USD
One year of Humble Choice 
Excalibur Shotgun + Excalibur Gauntlets + Biker Gloves (skins)
Special winners role on the Prodeus Discord
2nd Place:
$1000.00 USD
1 month to Humble Choice
Excalibur Gauntlets + Biker Gloves (skins)
Special winners role on the Prodeus Discord
3rd Place:
$500.00 USD
1 month to Humble Choice
Biker Gloves (skin)
Special winners role on the Prodeus Discord
~
Special thanks to Humble Games for providing prizes.
All winners will have a full playthrough of their maps uploaded to the Official Prodeus Youtube channel.

What are you waiting for? Get started today, create your masterpiece!

With the Tokyo Olympics right around the corner, I made a video showcasing a full playthrough of Harran Olympics various sports activities to get everyone in the mood for the summer games.
This is 30 minutes of continuous, unedited raw gameplay where I finish the 13 sports events in the game on the first try.
Hope you enjoy it, and if you haven't played the map yet, give it a try 

I legitimately cannot find a way to reply to this without getting a mod warning

Updated the blockout based on competitive/casual feedback. Put together a comparison video explaining the update in more detail if you're into that sort of thing.
If you are interested in playtesting I've created a steam group, of course I'll also be requesting to playtest on Mapcore.
Torch Playtest Group
blockout2 timings
Workshop Link

Extraction (Defuse Wingman)

Hey!
I'm back and mapping for CS:GO again on a new project called "Shibuya". Set in the bustling streets of Shibuya, Japan. The map features a variety of locales and gameplay styles to create a fun experience for everyone!
After previously working on the 2v2 level called "Akihabara" with the amazing artist & designer @Adroon, it felt like a good opportunity to return to a similar theme and create a 5v5 level based in Tokyo.
Meet the team:
ZeLz Storm - Level Designer / Level Art
CEO of Mayonnaise - Environment Artist
MrPenguino - Environment Artist
CEO of Getting Backstabbed - Environment Artist
iMtroll - Sound / Music Designer
WORKSHOP LINK
Radar Image:
Preview Images:
Reference Images:
 

Hi Mapcore,
 
Just updating this post to redirect to new new version of the map. This was worked on by RZL, MF_Kitten, and I.
 
New Version of the level:
https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2831565855
 

 
Hi Mapcore.
I'd like to introduce Prime, a new wingman level by me and 'RZL.
Feedback on the layout is appreciated!
 
Here is the overview and a look at the WIP level.
Workshop link will be live soon, here it is: 
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2445830406

Cheers,
celery

Just discovered the new Rick & Morty Season 5 trailer has been dropped, with release date announced: 20th June.
Love to see there’s gonna be an episode spoofing the mecha anime like Voltron/Vultus etc
Hope don’t have to wait months to come to Netflix like S4
 

G'day.
 
I've been recently working on a classic 5v5 csgo map named Battery.
This map takes place in and around an old WW2 bunker, converted into a gun running factory in Estonia during the early spring thaw.
 

Bombsite B was the main focus for the map, (it was originally a wingman map) and went through about 23(?) iterations.

What would be considered Middle, goes through an old dilapidated and collapsed WW2 bunker, it takes heavy inspiration from Nacht Der Untoten.

Bombsite A used to have a "nuclear bomb" sitting in the middle of the site, however I removed it because I couldn't be bothered modelling it.

 
Aiming for an early June release date, but considering the pace of things, probably even May.
But feel free to have a walk around the map, it's always changing and is slowly reaching more towards being finished.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2401850892

Hey guys,
Finally got around to make a short breakdown of the Source 2 scene I made a while ago. I made sure I took a few WIP screenshots as I worked on it, so I could do a thorough breakdown later on, so here you have it.
This engine is really fun to work with, you can model nearly everything in editor, just like you could back in the BSP era, I really hope to see more engines (specifically Unity/Unreal) follow suit, as removing the need to use so many third party apps from your workflow really makes making maps a lot more fun.
 
(Had to divide it into two parts, as ArtStation limits the amount of characters per post.)
https://www.artstation.com/helderp/blog/vglP/porto-portugal-source-2-breakdown-part-1-2
https://www.artstation.com/helderp/blog/LZy1/porto-portugal-source-2-breakdown-part-2-2
 
 

Steam workshop download link:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2176807868



 
Steam workshop Night Version download link:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2211782075