de_idyllic

[Parade]

Hello, I'm Parade!

This'll be my first actual creation in Source 2, so I don't expect myself to make it super far into the contest but it's an opportunity to finally get familiar with Source 2 mapping.

Don't have a name for the map yet but the theme is going to be more abstract than most cs settings. I'm going for a brutalist design, but also trying to mix a lot of color into it as well. I think the hardest challenge is gonna be making it a believable place you could visit if it was a real life location.
A few of my references has been coming from the Walden 7 apartment complex and Muralla Roja apartment complex in Spain, both by the architect Ricardo Bofill.

I'll probably develop a layout first before diving into Hammer and also find some other references to go along but I'll start updating this thread once I have something to show ingame.

If you're curious on what the buildings I mentioned look like, here are some images.

Walden 7 Apartment Complex

Spoiler

 

 

La Muralla Roja Apartment Complex

Spoiler

Good luck everyone!

 

 

Edited April 22 by Parade
change thread name

[Jinqs]

that stuff looks very surreal, looks like an interesting theme GL

[Parade]

Been very busy with college lately so I couldn't work on my map enough but I've completed the simple groundwork for the layout. There's already a few things I want to change in it lmao.

Wish I had more to show off but felt like I should update my progress on the anyway. Also if anyone got any meshing tips please let me know! Mesh building is definitely a drastic difference from brush based mapping.

Also I decided the map will be named de_idyllic. 

Edited April 22 by Parade

[NikiOo]

In my experience focusing on the floor plan without having anything built is the fastest way to fail at "making it a believable place you could visit if it was a real life location". That is, unless you are using real floor plans of Ricardo Bofill buildings as reference. I would start by making buildings from reference and fitting them together in a way that feels natural. Maybe have a rough floor plan to know where to place what. Or maybe copying blueprints of real Ricardo Bofill buildings and morphing them in ways that make them fun to play in CS while retaining the essence of an apartment complex. I'm only saying this because your layout seems a bit off-the-cuff to me.

[MrTrane18]

Yeah. @NikiOo I can say the same. I also cooking up a map for the contest. Currently redoing the original thought. At first, I was going with the layout rather than the buildings. Now with creating the main building and going from there. It is way easier! 

[Parade]

14 hours ago, NikiOo said:

In my experience focusing on the floor plan without having anything built is the fastest way to fail at "making it a believable place you could visit if it was a real life location". That is, unless you are using real floor plans of Ricardo Bofill buildings as reference. I would start by making buildings from reference and fitting them together in a way that feels natural. Maybe have a rough floor plan to know where to place what. Or maybe copying blueprints of real Ricardo Bofill buildings and morphing them in ways that make them fun to play in CS while retaining the essence of an apartment complex. I'm only saying this because your layout seems a bit off-the-cuff to me.

I was hesitant about posting something until I had more to show but I'm glad I did. I had the idea of building the buildings at first but I didn't know if that was the "right" thing to do. I'm not much of a realism mapper myself. I usually make my layouts on paper first then jump into the editor after, which isn't entirely bad but with keeping realistic integrity I should definitely focus more on the environment and references.

I appreciate the feedback! This gave me a lot to consider on what to do going forward for this map.

[thewaterisfine]

2 hours ago, Parade said:

I was hesitant about posting something until I had more to show but I'm glad I did. I had the idea of building the buildings at first but I didn't know if that was the "right" thing to do. I'm not much of a realism mapper myself. I usually make my layouts on paper first then jump into the editor after, which isn't entirely bad but with keeping realistic integrity I should definitely focus more on the environment and references.

I appreciate the feedback! This gave me a lot to consider on what to do going forward for this map.

Don't worry man I did the exact same thing with my map. After I made the floor plan for my map in hammer it was really hard to visualize what I wanted the end result to be. I'm glad @NikiOo said what he did because I was wondering the same thing.

[csWaldo]

Environment can be a great inspiration for your layout. Finding interesting real life places that fit your theme and creating gamified versions of them is a great way to start and expand on a layout. It's not a bad idea to have a rough idea of what the floorplan might end up being too. In my experience you get the best results when you use both and dont stick to either of them too strictly.
But I would suggest blocking out your map one major area at a time. When you build everything all at once its difficult to make it all fit together. Building one large, coherent area first and then expanding on it might be easier.

[z0ro4rk]

Hi @Parade,

I see that your layout has a lot of off-grid surfaces. What is your experience so far in Source 2?
Is it difficult to work with these? Did you notice any impact on the compile time during the visleaf creation?