dm_petrol

[von*ferret]

I agree with RD in that people dont konw how to take screens. Its like "hey lets take a picture of the prop I can throw in" rather than "hey lets give the viewers a sense of everything around in this area and how it all fits together, the lighting, architecture, detail props, ect"

[RabidMonkey]

For cs an industrial map of a factory is generic, unless u show exactly what kinda factory what it makes and im not talking about big pipes evrywhere. Thats for cs tho, for hldm u can have factory making candy elevators, but doesnt fit a map called dm_petrol.

Initially I had planned it to be a building for the Northern Petrol corporation, hence it's name - I figured in order to keep the sort of 'petrol' theme I'd toss in the refinery area.

Working on b5 which should fix most of the visual errors as well as provide a decent performance boost. Hopefully, the light_env will actually work this time so the outdoor area will look half-decent again

[ReNo]

It most definately needs a lot of work boosting performance - I checked it out ingame today and frequently got ~10-15 fps, which is really low considering I get ~40-50 most of the time in the official maps. Are you planning on changing the layout at all Rabid? Currently the layout doesn't really feel like a DM map, and it has a few redundant areas (the openable door sections out the front of the factory for example). There are also some parts that felt really awkward to manoeuvre around, such as the structure that has the player climbing ladders to reach the RPG. I wasn't too keen on the steam in its current form - it looked a bit wierd and was somewhat hard to spot in places. I'm sure you mentioned that you could turn it off somewhere but I could't see anything obvious to do it with - I saw a few things I thought might do it, including buttons and valves, but nothing seemed to make any difference.

[RabidMonkey]

I had set one of the buttons to turn it off, and it should work, I'll look into it. The ugly green-steam is what is hard to see, I assume, and it is the result of a lighting issue, I've been messing around with that since b2 or something, but its refusing to remain the correct color.

I added some areaportals/occluders and can gain about 10/20 FPS in most areas.

The RPG structure has a couple of alternate routes to get to - One can climb up the ladders, which is more difficult and more of a risk, yes, but you can also access it via the catwalk if you're trying to get there easily.

The open-door sections are just there to provide a bit of depth for players, they're not essential for connectivity. There are ar2 grenades in one for anyone who bothers to go back there, the other is locked and near the guard shack which has a magnum behind it, and is actually a fairly nice spot to nab people with the crossbow.

I don't think I'll change much to the layout, though I might consider adding a few additional rooms since I have more time to work with, now.

[ReNo]

Have you tried setting your steam to "emmisive" via the flag? It seems to let it keep the colour you set it regardless of the lighting conditions (in Echo I couldn't get the steam coming out the right colour at all without setting this flag).

[RabidMonkey]

I haven't, but I'll give it a try

[Jezpuh]

I agree with RD in that people dont konw how to take screens. Its like "hey lets take a picture of the prop I can throw in" rather than "hey lets give the viewers a sense of everything around in this area and how it all fits together, the lighting, architecture, detail props, ect"

True. I always try to capture as much of a room as possible. I spend a lot of time finding the right position and angle, and so far all my shots are pretty nice. Also, I can't stand it if people take screenshots with their HUD on for some reason. It just takes the beauty out of a shot. I prefer images without a HUD. It adds to the image, it creates depth as well. Also, big screenshots are a no-go for me. I make sure I resize them to 600x400, which is, to me, more pleasant to the eye.

[Belgarion]

Getting much into the picture is most definetly important. I find increasing the FOV helps. Making sure to adjust for gamma (if applicable) is quite necesarilly also. I would also think that your natural ability to take a good ss is somewhat linked to that of your natural photography ability. It takes time, but it's well worth it. And taking the HUD off is really quite optional, though you should if you know how. size is another bleh with me, though bigger is always better in my opinion. I've always thought my ss's were pretty good. no one really compliments saying "great SS location!", heh, but no one has ever told me "bad SS location" either.