de_shiro

[jUST_RUSH]

Instead of hijacking the WIP thread, I decided to start my own to document the progress.

So the basic theme of this competitive defuse map is the classic Japanese castle with a samurai housing complex (obviously super traditional lol).  A Site and the paths leading up to it, which don't resemble much of anything yet, are going to be the castle grounds/courtyard/castle connectors (yagura) and such.  B Site is going to be a Japanese garden with a pond in the middle of a samurai housing complex (think Uchiha district in Naruto, specifically Sasuke's house's garden).  Mechanically, I want to make it more on the unique side, and I garnered most of my inspiration from Overpass, while trying to keep it as simple as Cache.  I definitely have not accomplished either uniqueness or simplicity, but I'm looking at the current iteration as the culmination of all my ideas, and now I'm going to try to start properly grayboxing the thing as a first step (basically a three-week long jot down of ideas in the editor). 

This is my first map, so I know I have a lot to learn, but I am ready for it to get torn up critically, because I know what I've done so far isn't really up to snuff.

I'm currently working with the files de_shiro6_v23_graybox and de_shiro6_v24_graybox, trying to figure out what to do with B site in order to move forward.

Here are some pics to kick this off.

 

I know you can't tell much by this "layout" because of the roofs, but my only screenshots are from a compile after a pass of tentative roofing lol, so I'll post a real one later.

Path to B Site

CT entrance to B Site

Mid>B connector overlooking B Site

B Site and T path to B Site

T Spawn and entrance to mid

Another shot of B Site path and connector path (little door)

B Site toward CT

Now toward T

Main T entrance to right and CT window and side entrance (working on consolidating entrances for sight and simplicity purposes, so don't worry they'll be less entrances soon)

connector and B toward CT

B from T path side

Another T path shot; might get rid of this one, but it gives Ts a sneaky option so still deciding

Connector entrance ahead

From CT window; that connector window is breakable a la Mirage B site

A Site (still very rough) entrance from mid

A Site entrance from CT

And here is my dilemma with B site, as my first plan of action from this point.

The problem I see with a pond in the middle made up of displacements, is that the mechanics of CSGO don't let hiding in the water go hand in hand with balance.  I know the site itself needs work with entrances and line of sight (along with the rest of the map), but leveling out the site will help me see the bare bones of the map with regards to theme (which is very important to me) to completion.  I can rework the layout no problem, but if I don't have a solution for the playability of the site, then I'll just scratch the idea anyway. 

I'm thinking something like this, with bridges and docks covering the water would suffice, as long as you can still tell what it is after I'm done screwing it up.

 

And the problem with this is that the areas still left with water, I made deeper for realism because I couldn't do so when the entire site was water.  I guess it'll come down to tweaking the balance between depth and function so areas like this, where i can crouch and see right to the main T entrance while only my head is visible, doesn't exist anymore in such an extreme fashion.

This entrance is probably going too, but I just thought I'd add it here.

Anyway, that's where I'm at.  I'll continue the gameplay and layout fixes as I go along, but this is my main issue for now.  There's obviously no time constraint, so the order doesn't matter much to me.  This is just super fun and to make a map that looks nice while having fun is all I could ask for lol.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2016 by jUST_RUSH
Added descriptions for pics

[Shibou]

Architecture looks great! That will be a very interesting project! Please give us a complete layout and a workshop version to check it out! 

[wylde]

Like Shibou said, your brush work is great for such an early layout! Scale looks good from the screenshots. The raised porches are a cool visual element, but be sure to clip them off so that guns or the bomb can't get lost under them. 

I agree that you should put it on the workshop so we can run around it!

Are all the curved roofs done with vertex manipulation? I think I really need to experiment with that tool more.

Edited May 24, 2016 by wylde

[jUST_RUSH]

4 hours ago, Shibou said:

Architecture looks great! That will be a very interesting project! Please give us a complete layout and a workshop version to check it out! 

Thanks!  I'll get on it when I get home later for sure.

3 hours ago, wylde said:

Like Shibou said, your brush work is great for such an early layout! Scale looks good from the screenshots. The raised porches are a cool visual element, but be sure to clip them off so that guns or the bomb can't get lost under them. 

I agree that you should put it on the workshop so we can run around it!

Are all the curved roofs done with vertex manipulation? I think I really need to experiment with that tool more.

Thank you!  And yup, they're clipped off already.  The roofs are just brushes jutting out on each side side and vertex manipulated, with a smaller, less step brush as it goes down to the side (I hope that's understandable).  And the hipped-and-gabled (irimoya) roofs have four sides instead of two, vertex aligned from the top down view.

Like so

 

:

 

Now to get on it with Blender so I don't have a billion tiny func_details cluttering up my screen lol.

 

Edited May 24, 2016 by jUST_RUSH

[jUST_RUSH]

4 hours ago, wylde said:

Are all the curved roofs done with vertex manipulation? I think I really need to experiment with that tool more.

I should also add, the pagoda's roofs at B are all displacements. I did the same vertex manipulation, then "raised to"'d the joining edges to give it a more authentic curve.  I wish I could do all the roofs like that; it resembles the curves a lot more imo.

[jUST_RUSH]

Just a couple more screens in my native 1440p resolution with all settings cranked (I play 1280x960 stretched on a Swift @ 120Hz ULMB with most settings maxed or high).  I'm leaning toward not going with this idea, but it sure is pretty nice if I do say so myself.  It's a tad cluttered, as you can see in most of the pics, especially the fourth one.  Might tweak and keep it and unclutter the site by resizing or taking out completely the gigantic torii.  But I'll probably going to just clip the bottom of the pond so it's flat, and so the bomb won't get lost or at least will be able to be spotted by its light (at a certain depth, the light doesn't shine through).  I'd also tweak the displacements to satisfy gameplay imbalances and to make the clipped floor a little more seamless.

Here ya go:

 

[baem123]

beautiful greybox, gives me a wanna play feeling

[jUST_RUSH]

5 hours ago, baem123 said:

beautiful greybox, gives me a wanna play feeling

Thanks!

[jUST_RUSH]

So it's been about 4 months since I posted anything, and the map has seen about 60 iterations big enough for me to call it something new, so here's a layout.  It's not finished enough even to put it on the workshop yet, but soon enough.  I only now am solidifying the layout, but everything is super tentative.  Mostly big ideas boxed out everywhere.  Most non-stock props and textures are also stolen til I get the motivation to make some of my own (not too much Japanese content floating around). 

So here it is, my horrible screenshot and photoshop skills in action; it's pretty accurate as of now:

And again, everything is an idea so far, so if you see any glaring issues, I'm sure I'm working on a fix already.

Thanks for your time!  Here are a couple screens of the main areas too while I'm at it:

B Site (CT-side Mid entrance on the far left, T side entrance (ramp), T entrance (balcony) and screen is taken from above a CT entrance)

T Spawn facing B route (left) and mid/T main (right)

A Site from a CT route facing T entrances (boards/window is breakable)

Mid from T side (prop_dynamic breaks into B ramp, far is CT entrance, and there's an underpass underneath the metal)

UPDATE:

A better look at A from a non-playable area:

And the main T route to A, kind of a staging area.  That random metal thing is an idea for Ts to trick jump and get a risky view of the far site at posted up CTs (can't see the meat of the bombsite from it though)

Edited September 2, 2016 by jUST_RUSH
It merged so have to format

[jUST_RUSH]

3 hours ago, Pink Flamingo said:

looks really cool. keep up the good work bro.

Thank you !

Might give a better sense of the routes

There's a decent amount of height variation that, despite my mediocre efforts, aren't represented here, so keep that in mind.  This is the jist of it, though.