New Map In Progress

[Silicone_Milk]

Hey everyone. I have a new map in progress. Currently I think Im dubbing it Unit_1 as it is, in fact, unit 1 of a series of maps that will take place in one area

Im making the map for a mod team called Shamble This (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~thomp ... mbles.html) however, progress is quite slow as I've been running into many troubles outside of the gaming world.

I just wanted to let everybody know and perhaps give some feedback although Im not even near done yet.

Here are a few shots:




Those are shots of a kind of corridor Im working on that leads out from a elevator coming from...

Which is where the game starts out.

I am actually having one hell of a time with those nifty little hint brushes creating more portals than I could actually use. I think Ill have to get my hands on that skip texture so I can actually work in planes rather than solids =\
What is actually happening at the moment that Im most displeased about is that Im getting some funky green tiling of what looks like lights on the floors of the map when I view them at odd angles from a distance. It's weird though. It's like a HoM effect in terms of visual but it doesn't behave like one. Any ideas?

[Hellfog]

Looks really nice so far in the editor. I don't really understand what is happening with your lights though. Nice to see more quake3 maps.

[Silicone_Milk]

hehe thanks man =)
Yea... I need to get to the bottom of that little funky error there. I'm going to delete all of my hint brushes to see if they really are the source of the problem.

[SonicClang]

Why are you putting so much detail into it already? Just curious. Don't you want to rough out the whole layout first, then do detail work?

[Silicone_Milk]

That IS the rough layout hehe =)

Actually, its a habit. I work like that because things tend to come out better when I do it that way.

In the end I actually make tons of changes and add new things later.
The gray area took maybe 5-10 minutes to build up. Just threw down a basic hexagonal shape for that area.

I really don't like the roof of the bottom orange shot. Very flat. Very bland. ill work on it later though =)

None of the textures are permenant either. Ill hopefully be getting new textures soon to work with.

[Fjoggs]

Looks like quake1

[AEon]

The first shots remind me of the original (never used) level shots of Unreal... textures look like they could be part of Daikatana alternatively.

Interesting arced ceiling, will need more to see how this works out in a playable map.

Lighting in the last shot IMO is way too red. Try using light sources with pastel red colors (turn down saturation).

[Silicone_Milk]

Fjoggs - thanks? lol =) I've been told by the leader of the mod team to work towards a quake 2 feel.

AEon - I never played Unreal before and have been a doom/quake kind of guy. I'm interested to see what you're talking about now though =)

Textures are the base textures from vq3 hehe

Thank you for the compliment (at least Im taking it as one) on the ceiling =) This map will actually be played in Single Player on a type of campaign game mode. So no multiplayer action here =(

Hmm... Ill play around with the lights and try your suggestion. I think it kinda is too red as well.

Thanks for the replies everyone =)

[Hellfog]

I find it way to easy to make things too red in Q3. You add a red light and its like woah... :icon25: I'm having the same problem on my forgotten map.

[Silicone_Milk]

hehe yea I guess it is. Do you have a link to your map that I could check out? Im pretty curious =)

[Hellfog]

The thread is here.

http://www.quake3world.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15587

Its still in beta, and the beta isn't as red as it is now. You can see in the updated screenshots at the bottom that its very red. I am working on it though, but I've been into texture editing lately. The map has been in the making for five years, so I figure a few more months won't hurt. :P

[Silicone_Milk]

Here are some updated shots:

Messing with lighting:



A little somethin' added into the arched hall:



A room I haven't shown before and have no idea why Im showing now:


And the vis issues I mentioned earlier with the tiled lights:



I would be working more but Im kinda tired... I think I might go sleep =P

[Magnus]

Hey. Looks great!

I'll create some textures for you to use, but most of what you have looks right for the feel.

Here is a suggestion. The hall with the red lighting and grateing on the floor. Try creating a trough that runs the length of the grateing and fill it with a dense fog. Just an idea from observation.

Also I could be wrong, but it looks like there are a few places where some textures have been streched out over too large of a surface.

I really like the arched hall shot with the orange crate in the center of the shot. Very nice!

BTW, we will have some areas where you will have to go through a multiplayer sequence to progress. Also I'm thinking of having us do a regular multiplayer mode with FFA and CTF as well.

It shouldn't be a big effort to add the multiplayer mode. I already have 5 CTF maps and 4 FFA maps ready and complete.

Although by the time we are finished with the main single player portion of the game we may all just want to move on to something else.
So the opinion of everyone on the team counts here. :icon25:

Thanks!

[Bl1tz]

Doesn't look too good so far...for one thing it seems like the textures on the arch/support brushes look really scaled and stretched out.

Everything looks sort of bland and random...needs more detail everywhere. You seem to know your way around the editor quite well, as your brushwork looks fine, you just need a better eye for how to detail your map, as well as how to make it exist in a more coherent theme.

Good luck.

[Silicone_Milk]

thank you Magnus, Im glad you like it so far. Textures are temporary. I threw them on to make the brushes show up in game but the reason they look like they h ave some meaning is because I wanted something slightly nice to look at while testing the layout I had. lol

Bl1tz, kinda harsh start to your post but I appreciate the feedback =) As I mentioned, I slapped the textures on.
Also mentioned earlier its just a rough layout that happens to be a little detailed. The real detail work is saved for last after I finish the architecture and get a real texture set to work with that I'm happy with hehe =)
Now that you mention it though, does kinda look random o.O


thanks guys =) Gives me something to think about today lol

[Foo]

Your approach to designing the level at the moment appears to be 'bottom up'. What that means is that you're starting with the finer detail and areas of the level, such as individual rooms/corridors, and constructing them piece by piece until you have a complete level.

The other approach is top-down. This usually involves making the entire level in very basic blocks to begin with, then fleshing out each area of the level until it reaches a sufficient level of detail.

I can't stress enough just how many benefits top-down mapping has over the bottom-up approach, but it's without doubt the best way to build a quality level.

Now this doesn't mean you have to scrap what you've done up to now - you can convert your effort here by starting a new design using the top-down approach, then when you get to the point where you're detailing individual rooms, bring back the designs you've been working on here and incorporate them into your level.


I hope that helps. It's about the most fundamental piece of advice I have to offer. By way of an example here is a blocked out design suitable for initial alpha testing:
http://www.quake4world.com/junk/boxed.zip

[Silicone_Milk]

thank you very much for the advice that you've given Foo =) I really appreciate it. I've tried the method before but I just really didn't like the way the work would flow.

Ill definately be giving it another shot though as long as I can get the initial layout down and out of the way heh

Thanks again!