[L4D] sv_asylum

[OhSnap]

I don't really post here very much, but I've been lurking for a couple years... Just another survival map here, any and all feedback is appreciated (is it too dark?)

Downloads? http://files.filefront.com/l4d+sv+asylum+b3rar/;13862053;/fileinfo.html

[Buddy]

L4D is so yesterday my friend, you better map for L4D2.

Yeah too dark, cant see too much.

[OhSnap]

Added a couple lights in two of the darkest areas, messed with the color correction to lighten up the deepest shadows and give the whole thing a sterile cold feeling (color correction only works in tools mode sadly), and put in some fog to lighten the far distant areas.

There's still a couple of areas that have really deep shadows, but they're mostly small areas on the edges.

Better? Worse? Be honest, I can take it. I'm not a :ssj: guy

[tofu]

Yeah looks much better. It's hard to say from screenshots, but it looks like it may be hard to know where to go next as the lighting is all one tone. I'd make the unique lights stand out a little more, especially in areas you need to attract the players. The first aid kit is a bit too dark, in all the mayhem, I wouldn't be surprised if I'd miss it.

[Squad]

I think the overall color tone is a tad too blue. Maybe try breaking up the lighting a little bit. Just add some (very) subtle diferent colored lights here and there. If possible, place them as low as possible, so that you can achieve some dramatic shadows when players/zombies walk past them, ie: some small lamps/spots at the bottom part of some of the pillars (some yellowish color would contrast quite good, I think) might do the job.

And I agree with tofu about the first aid kit. Just a lamp above it with a noticable (but fitting) color above it would make it much more visible to players.

Also, the upper part of the outer walls looks kinda bland in some parts. Not that a lot of players will notice it, since the action will draw their attention elsewhere, but perhaps you could think of a way of making them a bit more interesting still. IE: some beams to carry the weight of the roof structure would help and from an architecturally view would also make a lot of sence, I believe.

In the 5th pic, I love how the moonlight casts these nice shadows on the big wall. Well done

Other than that, keep up the good work! Looking forward to seeing more of this

[JeanPaul]

What are barb wire fences and suspended walkways doing in an asylum?

[Deathy]

What are barb wire fences and suspended walkways doing in an asylum?

It's the zombie apocalypse.

[OhSnap]

Soooooooooo yeah. Trying to respond to everything in one post here

Survivors spawn literally in front of the health cabinet and guns, so I guess I banked on them remembering where it is, but I threw down a dead body with a blood trail by the health cabinet with one health pack near the dead body (aw, they didn't make it in time...) I didn't want to add more lights, especially in such a central location, so hopefully the contrast on the floor is enough to draw your eye to the cabinet during the normal chaos of the game.

The suspended walkway was intended for like patrolling guards or something. The rooms on the right were planned to be like high security cells that the walkway looks down into, but I had problems with scaling early on and just threw some beds in there. :-|

The barbed wire fences is supposed to be securing the elevator, I suppose some sort of broken gate on the ground might sell that idea better...

So, I'll give you the one of the lighting being all one tone, but I'm not so sure on needing to lead players around. It's a survival map. So it's just a small contained area that has no real beginning or end, so I wouldn't know where I'm trying to lead players to. From my own experience, players crisscross the map a lot. If you have any examples of what you'd like to see done, that'd help me understand.

Lighting, yeah it's pretty blue. I was going for a dead cold feel with the moonlight n stuff, think I'll tone it down slightly. Half of the lights are already near some main paths that infected go by. I'm experimenting with having one of the light stands tipped over with the lights pointed up to get better dynamic shadows on a pretty empty wall. I didn't want the place really well lit, as the story (in my own head) is this place was already barricaded up by survivors and overrun previously. You, as another survivor, are coming into the area after the battle has already been lost, if that makes sense.

I could totally be overthinking that though...... It might be more visible with a video or ingame.

I am trying to figure out what to do with the upper walls and ceiling. It's all just a flat uninteresting space and I'm thinking some kind of support rafters can go up there.

Was hoping to be done with this by the beginning of June... there's just always something that needs to be fixed or redone.

ANNNNNNNNNNND, one last thing, does anyone know if they used volumetric lighting at all in L4D? the vol_light textures don't seem to work for me, and I couldn't find any place in the game that uses it. It seems they relied on point_spotlights for all their beam effects, but I wanted some moonlight streaming in from the glass ceilings and they're huge squares so a point spotlight wouldn't work...

[tofu]

So, I'll give you the one of the lighting being all one tone, but I'm not so sure on needing to lead players around. It's a survival map. So it's just a small contained area that has no real beginning or end, so I wouldn't know where I'm trying to lead players to. From my own experience, players crisscross the map a lot. If you have any examples of what you'd like to see done, that'd help me understand.

Lighting, yeah it's pretty blue. I was going for a dead cold feel with the moonlight n stuff, think I'll tone it down slightly. Half of the lights are already near some main paths that infected go by. I'm experimenting with having one of the light stands tipped over with the lights pointed up to get better dynamic shadows on a pretty empty wall. I didn't want the place really well lit, as the story (in my own head) is this place was already barricaded up by survivors and overrun previously. You, as another survivor, are coming into the area after the battle has already been lost, if that makes sense.

....

ANNNNNNNNNNND, one last thing, does anyone know if they used volumetric lighting at all in L4D? the vol_light textures don't seem to work for me, and I couldn't find any place in the game that uses it. It seems they relied on point_spotlights for all their beam effects, but I wanted some moonlight streaming in from the glass ceilings and they're huge squares so a point spotlight wouldn't work...

Ah, didn't realise it was survival. None the less, adding lights to some areas and making other areas a bit more distinct will at least make it a bit more enjoyable to run around in for 5-10 minutes. Being stuck in the one area with the same monotone look would quickly become boring and frustrating if it's all too dark. Think of repetition and replayability, it might be cool to play in this kind of environment once, but how long will it take until players are bored of one over all tone?

Moonlight streaming in, chances are that they're static props. Check the model browser for beam - it's how they managed them in TF2.