What I'm Working On

[Vilham 1,236]

Image 3, fix the smoothing groups.

[Pampers 5,607]

Image 3, fix the smoothing groups.

Literally unplayable.

[raigeki 5]

this looks so amazing!

[Sknpu 6]

I can't wait to play this, it looks stunning!

Keep up the fantastic work

[FMPONE 5,953]

Thank you for the crit/support guys!

[Squad 2,729]

Absolutely georgous! Love the little ruin in the background at CT spawn

[DrywallDreams 700]

Santorini's lookin' good!

The white walls look rather flat, though.  The lighting isn't helping much, either.  IMO the sky should be a bit more saturated (i.e. a deeper blue), the shadows should be a bit more contrasting, and the walls should have specular highlights applied.  The palm tree model that ships with the game also is ridiculously desaturated looking, but I don't suppose there's much you'd want to mess with there (maybe some color correction?)

Also, you seem to go a bit nuts with disabling ambient occlusion on walls.  Ambient occlusion can look ugly on small surfaces, but can go a long way in portraying depth.  Currently mid is looking pretty small as a result.  

Edited September 25, 2015 by DrywallDreams

[El_Exodus 1,372]

Was about to write a similar thing like @DrywallDreams (I seem to be too stupid to use the @ feature correctly)

It's looking very pretty so far, but it looks like your textures are still WIP. On Season you managed to make the map look bright and clean, without looking flat or boring. On these screenshots on the other hand, it looks flat and too desaturated. I feel like more little details/decals on the walls would benefit the visuals. Also you should maybe decrease the ambient light value a bit, so we get more contrast and therefore visual tension. But not too much ofc, because of the good visibility CS needs

Looking forward to the release!

Edited September 25, 2015 by El_Exodus

[Cruckz 19]

if you don't mind me asking how long has this taken you to put together Shawn? From block out to how it is now?

[FMPONE 5,953]

if you don't mind me asking how long has this taken you to put together Shawn? From block out to how it is now?

Somehow it's turned into my longest project. ~9 months and counting, about 1/3 of which was layout design.

I think all of the projects I've worked on up to now have shown me what it _really_ takes to be successful in GO as a custom map, so I'm trying to be comprehensive and not make any avoidable errors.

[Bodd Jonar 100]

I think all of the projects I've worked on up to now have shown me what it _really_ takes to be successful in GO as a custom map, so I'm trying to be comprehensive and not make any avoidable errors.

Such as?  Working on my first map so could use some advice if you don't mind. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by Bodd Jonar

[Overdoziz 57]

Such as?  Working on my first map so could use some advice if you don't mind. 

Boxes everywhere.

[hamilton5 34]

... so I'm trying to be comprehensive and not make any avoidable errors.

and not make any avoidable errors?! :facepalm:

[Squad 2,729]

OK! Here are the first screenshots of DE_SANTORINI. 

 

 

For this level, I'm trying to purely map "tones", until I'm ready to add in actual textures. The tones allow me to control for contrast without being overwhelmed by the need to balance specific colors within a scene. This also allows me to understand the types of props I need in an area without being biased by color preferences beforehand. This means I'm building a lot of geometry in place of meshes, for the time being, and the meshes will be added later by a talented artist named Dimitri, recommended by none other than Kikette

Since the map is nearing completetion, I was wondering the other day how this has turned out as a workprocess for you. Did you plan this approach specificly for this map, since it's a bright place with lots of (shades of) white? If so, are you planning on sticking to this process for future projects?

[FMPONE 5,953]

Since the map is nearing completetion, I was wondering the other day how this has turned out as a workprocess for you. Did you plan this approach specificly for this map, since it's a bright place with lots of (shades of) white? If so, are you planning on sticking to this process for future projects?

Yes it was extremely helpful. I'm going to stick with it from now on.

BTW the map is almost done.