WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

[cincinnati]

you can adjust bounce in hammer's expert compile

https://developer.va...e.com/wiki/VRAD

[Vilham]

Use VBCT, seriously. Just use it. It is by far the best tool to use with hammer.

[cincinnati]

vbct doesn't support csgo.

[blackdog]

I already told you I'm completely out of ideas.

You can replace some crates with vehicles: a truck, a van and a forklift would make the same job, for cover purposes while they'd make sense because they'd be there to move the crates.

I'm also experiencing some (near) pitchblack faces (mostly the bottom of overhanging roofs etc ..., in the second picture below is a good example in the upper left corner).

Before amping those parameteres, why not put a generic light in the problematic places? I remember a tutorial by 3D-Mike explaining he used this technique to make smoother light transitions from open to confined spaces (eg: outside to sewer) with a generic light positioned a few units in the pipe, just to brighten a little bit... you can even use lamp props because you have street lamps turned on. Unfortunately can't find the tutorial online, think he abandoned his old domain.

One thing i noticed in the second pic is the far too clean white plaster wall compared to the other texture used.

For the floor texturing you could use a stone one on the staircases; in the 2nd pic you can have the whole floor in foreground made of stone, we have this kind of pavements made of different materials all around in the historic towns of Italy.

Btw I really like the general feeling of the map.

[Squad]

I've already placed light_spots in transitions from interior to exterior, but that's not really the problem. It's mostly bottom sides of rooftrims, some small trims here and there.

I agree the plaster looks a bit too clean, I'll throw some decals against it and see if that helps.

I'm not sure what you mean about the floor texturing. It's all stone textures at the moment. Or do you mean using a 'stone tile' texture instead of a 'stone brick' one?

Thanks for the feedback!

[blackdog]

I've already placed light_spots in transitions from interior to exterior, but that's not really the problem. It's mostly bottom sides of rooftrims, some small trims here and there.

what i meant is to use the trick on this pitch black areas... but if the 2nd pic is an instance of it i dunno if it really needs to be brigthened, i mean in a cost-benefit evaluation i don't think a player is going to care or notice enough to justify the added time you'll spend to make it appeal... to you basically.

I'm not sure what you mean about the floor texturing. It's all stone textures at the moment. Or do you mean using a 'stone tile' texture instead of a 'stone brick' one?

Yes, i mean a grey stone in place of bricks here and there. Unless I misunderstood the problem of "breaking the floor up", that should do the trick more than anything else.

Edited November 18, 2012 by blackdog

[Psy]

@Squad, that looks really good, it looks like Inferno but in a way that you got the detail and consistency down really well. Good job!

So after all the ideas, suggestions, cc, and stuff this is my newest revision.

That lava is ugggggggggly but I'm not sure what to suggest as every game with lava looks terrible.

[blackdog]

So after all the ideas, suggestions, cc, and stuff this is my newest revision.

I haven't comment before but looking better at it the scene feels too flat.

I don't like very much the bridges, didn't know why until i made the consideration that they remind me of those quickly deployable bridges they used in war.

I don't like the double trim on the sides, it makes the structure visually very heavy while the "windows" that break up the floor suggest it should be a light structure. Impression strengthened by the absence of supports where they join the walls.

I would try to:

• delete the external yellowish trims
  
• placing handrails on the sides
  
• have some steel cables hang from the ceiling to hold the structure up (how cannot the broken one don't completely crumble down?)
  
• have the bridges to overlap at the two ends with a slight metal ramp
  

Also, the lava seems too close to the bridges, lowering its level will make the scene less flat and also wouldn't give me the impression that burning lapilli could come through the bridge floor "windows" and burn me while walking on it.

I also think you need some kind of machinery or pipe/tunnel ending on the sides of the pool to justify the presence of lava... or at least a cliff, so we would assume we are into a facility built around a volcano/fault line.

Also speaking about purpose, if you go with the "lava pool used to dump stuff into it", you should have a crane that pulls stuff from the cargo area and dumps it

[holiestcows]

So after all the ideas, suggestions, cc, and stuff this is my newest revision.

I haven't comment before but looking better at it the scene feels too flat.

I don't like very much the bridges, didn't know why until i made the consideration that they remind me of those quickly deployable bridges they used in war.

I don't like the double trim on the sides, it makes the structure visually very heavy while the "windows" that break up the floor suggest it should be a light structure. Impression strengthened by the absence of supports where they join the walls.

I would try to:

• delete the external yellowish trims
  
• placing handrails on the sides
  
• have some steel cables hang from the ceiling to hold the structure up (how cannot the broken one don't completely crumble down?)
  
• have the bridges to overlap at the two ends with a slight metal ramp
  

Also, the lava seems too close to the bridges, lowering its level will make the scene less flat and also wouldn't give me the impression that burning lapilli could come through the bridge floor "windows" and burn me while walking on it.

I also think you need some kind of machinery or pipe/tunnel ending on the sides of the pool to justify the presence of lava... or at least a cliff, so we would assume we are into a facility built around a volcano/fault line.

Also speaking about purpose, if you go with the "lava pool used to dump stuff into it", you should have a crane that pulls stuff from the cargo area and dumps it

Ill mess around with a bit more, thanks for the suggestions.

[Squad]

Squad: I really like that first shot with the cart on the ramp, looks like a real street scene. The windows on the building to the right of the cart look a little glued on, mostly because all other houses have a different type of window.

Okay, I tried something else with the building on the right. Any better?

[_gb]

Yeah, that's better I think.

[holiestcows]

Man, the map looks so well made, it really fits in. Its like, Inferno_2.

EDIT:

I tried my best to get rid of most of the negative space

Edited November 18, 2012 by holiestcows

[2d-chris]

getting better, now, remove your lights and re-add them (this can be very freeing to start again building up from blackness), based on where you think light would come from

I would;

1) illuminate upwards from the lava, this will cover quite a big part of your room

2) have the spotlights actually point at something that makes sense, usually they help people navigate, so aim at the walkway entrances or something

3) darken the overall ambient light, and maybe have some sunlight or moonlight shining through the ceiling windows - if the ceiling isnt important dont focus the light on it.

4) add some artistic lights in the floors or ceiling, they don't have to emit much light but will help give depth

look at some reference for how warehouses are usually lit,

Lighting makes all the difference in the world, for art and game play.

This is a great advise, by mapcores very own http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/wold-members-tutorials/magnar_jenssen/functional-lighting-magnar-jenssen.php

Edited November 19, 2012 by 2d-chris

[holiestcows]

Thanks for telling me, I forgot that I made the lighting a couple revisions back and after all these changes, the lighting doesn't fit as much.

[Vilham]

vbct doesn't support csgo.

hope that vbct gets updated then to work with it. Any idea why it doesn't work anyway?