[WIP] City of Stuttgart, sometime in WW2

[Albatros]

Hey,

after almost a year of work on this project, I suppose it's time for a WIP thread to show what it currently looks like and what's left to be done .

In the beginning, Stuttgart was supposed to be just another DoD:S map and no more than that, but then I came across so many old pictures and tons of information that I decided to make a standalone-/single player-project out of it.

The style originally was (and probably will be again) a fake sepia athmosphere, while right now it's more of a blueish desaturated ambience. Whatever direction I decide to continue in should in the end add the impression of 'age' to the visuals without making the city look all artificial... which turns out to be a tough nut so far.

Also, reproducing parts of the city in authentic scale plus providing a good gameplay PLUS not killing the source engine instantly performance-wise is another really tough piece of work. On the bright side, it forced me to learn how to model, and I actually made my first set of 3ds max models ever,

and they even work quite OK - don't ask me why .

The car you can see in various versions isn't one of them - I only textured it, while the main body was made by

Ashley Kursey ( http://ashleykursey.deviantart.com/ ).

OK, so... here's a set of screenshots. I'm not satisfied yet with the athmosphere, but I've got some ideas that might help getting me there.

I'd be glad about some comments and suggestions.

At a later date, I'll explain my idea on that single player project which is already taking shape, yet i'll have to finish the pretty exciting Ham and Jam level I was asked to do before starting the SP project.

Cheers,

Albatros

[Sa74n]

that looks fucking awesome man!

[FrieChamp]

Cool, did you create the background yourself? Looks like Stuttgart

[Xanthi]

Awesome work!

[Freak]

very good work albatros!

[PogoP]

Looks really nice, but I would really like to see you apply your skills to another game/setting. I'm becoming de-sensitized to your awesomeness by seeing all these DoD:S maps.

[Vinny Testaverde]

I like to see a bit more color in it. Its too pale and gray, make the lights glow and give off more light perhaps? I think that could create a better mood

[sk3tch]

phat....wurd.

Yeah...It looks good. REAL good.

[-HP-]

AAA + Material!

This is definitely one of those maps that makes me wish I owned DoD!

Nice atmosphere, I bet Dux will dig it!

[Nurb]

I've followed your work on this map and this really is among the absolutely strongest works I've seen done in Source. I can really tell how much effort you have put into it.

[Deathy]

Lolz it's not for DoD:S..

Everyone is just looking at the pictures, not your text.

Awesome atmosphere and brushwork!

[RA7]

HOLY ** sweet work.

Do u need ideas for a SP Story or ideas for the map?

[Albatros]

Hey guys,

thanks for the loads of feedback & sorry for the late reply.

Can't seem to get out of work these days...

FrieChamp: yeah it is I intend to replicate the hills and valleys of the city as good as possible.

PogoP: working on that! DoD:S has more or less been my testing ground for 2 years now and yeah,

it's time for a change .

JonM: sounds like an idea, will see what I can do. Thanks!

And RA7... well, yes.

I need to brainstorm a bit on my own and prepare some stuff I can show around so everybody can get an idea of what I'm thinking of, but as soon as I've got something, I'll make a thread and ask for some helping hands.

Cheers & thanks

[Fergo]

AMAZING atmosphere, seriously. I never saw a map like this in Source engine (at first I thought it wasn't Source at all). It looks like something from "The Godfather", dark and cold. Congratulations man.

Fergo

[D3ads]

Looking fantastic as ever!