<!--quoteo(post=1861017:date=Jul 16 2011, 05:13 PM:name=peregrinus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (peregrinus @ Jul 16 2011, 05:13 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1861017"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Oh OK I see, it's a room where weapons are packed up. So you could make the rifles in the crate more organized so they look ready to ship, not littered about like it's a dump :P<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> This was my first thought. Definitely should be packed up neatly, even if they're fresh off the line, they would be packed neatly. Also, I think the sheer size of the crate is disproportional. Assuming this was an interplanetary manufacturing and shipping plant, they would not have crates that size packed to the brim (and more) with guns. It's likely they would have multiple smaller containers.
<!--quoteo(post=1864589:date=Jul 29 2011, 07:01 AM:name=Zuriki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zuriki @ Jul 29 2011, 07:01 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864589"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This was my first thought. Definitely should be packed up neatly, even if they're fresh off the line, they would be packed neatly. Also, I think the sheer size of the crate is disproportional. Assuming this was an interplanetary manufacturing and shipping plant, they would not have crates that size packed to the brim (and more) with guns. It's likely they would have multiple smaller containers.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
we would have done it that way, but there are no open crates implemented yet. somebody working on those? we would like to use them (:
Kouji_SanSr. Hινε UÏкεεÏεг - EUPT DeputyThe NetherlandsJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
Cinematic editor with an light emitting particle thingy if I had to take a stab at it. Damn I need to load that bugger up some time again, severely out of practice here :/
<!--quoteo(post=1861102:date=Jul 16 2011, 05:42 PM:name=fmpone)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (fmpone @ Jul 16 2011, 05:42 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1861102"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I like the geometry, but I think your lighting is letting you down a bit. Now, I'm no expert on lighting either... in fact it's my weakest area. BUt for some advice, some of your flat surfaces are over-illuminated by one light source, so that it is all one color, such as the green ceiling in your first shot. Try to make sure that all light spots are arriving directly from one light source, in a straight line, and in a way that is proportional to the light that the prop or texture or whatever would realistically disperse. Then, determine if there are any objects whatsoever that interrupt the straight line, if so, people will naturally expect some shadows to be created
Since that was kind of vague: in your first shot, for example, you have light reaching the ceiling. I would add shadows so that the grating above the aqua light in the floor hits the ceiling in a shadow pattern, it will be more aesthetic. Secondly, you have white with no visible source illuminating the whole room, especially the panels in the back. 255 255 255 or white lighting, as psykoman recently pointed out to me, is not very flattering. So maybe consider eliminating that light, or putting a source behind it, in which case it is unlikely to fully illuminate the whole room.
Really hope that helps!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> i´ve read this comment again and was wondering which part of the map you mean! is it just in one or two screenshots or is it a whole map issue? i added numbers to the pictures, so you can refer to them easily if you want to :)
<!--quoteo(post=1865911:date=Aug 2 2011, 08:03 PM:name=doeseph)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (doeseph @ Aug 2 2011, 08:03 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1865911"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Pardon the ignorance, but how did you get the self illumination effect on the generator? Is that a custom asset/material?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> i am not sure about this, because it was Squards part of the map and he is in vacation at the moment, but we havent used that buggy cin editor at all in that part of the map. we will add some, hopefully awesome, lightning effects, but as far it is in the screenshot we just used a bunch of simple light entitys. i think Squard has gone over the top, but we are pretty happy about the look at the moment. he will tweak his area, when he is more experienced regarding proper lighting. we are both not that experienced with proper lighting at all, as fmpone already mentioned correctly, but its getting better and better. cant wait to show you more shots of the storage room, i really really like the atmospere there.
from time to time there are more and more props included, but no list that introduces the new ones. a simle list would be cool. its a thing, that can be done by the community. if other find this helpful too, maybe we have a volunteer who wants to do this, or if its appreciated i could do it as well. the best thing would be if the new props get a different background color. so its not white or black, its yellow for a whole week. just a thought
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->but as far it is in the screenshot we just used a bunch of simple light entitys.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hm, that looks more than lights placed everywhere. It looks as though the object itself has some kind of self-illumination effect on it (which is a glow that doesn't actually emit light). The lights would then give the illusion of light being emitted. Perhaps it's just the screenshot? Or did you do post effects to make the screenshot look better?
<!--quoteo(post=1866776:date=Aug 5 2011, 05:35 PM:name=doeseph)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (doeseph @ Aug 5 2011, 05:35 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1866776"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hm, that looks more than lights placed everywhere. It looks as though the object itself has some kind of self-illumination effect on it (which is a glow that doesn't actually emit light). The lights would then give the illusion of light being emitted. Perhaps it's just the screenshot? Or did you do post effects to make the screenshot look better?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
we havent used any post effects to make anything look better. in fact, "a bunch of lights" isnt correct. he used many many lights and most of them have a distance of 40 and an intensity value of 20. bloom does the rest of that magic (:
<!--quoteo(post=1866806:date=Aug 5 2011, 06:22 PM:name=Trainee.ger)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Trainee.ger @ Aug 5 2011, 06:22 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1866806"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->we havent used any post effects to make anything look better. in fact, "a bunch of lights" isnt correct. he used many many lights and most of them have a distance of 40 and an intensity value of 20. bloom does the rest of that magic (:<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1867169:date=Aug 7 2011, 08:34 AM:name=Silverwing)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Silverwing @ Aug 7 2011, 08:34 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1867169"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Keep it up! And don't be afraid to revisit older areas as you grow in skills and confidence =)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> dont worry, we will revisit each room when the rooms themselves are built :) maybe mapping starts, where your map is "finished" ? ;)
[ - 29 - ] <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/97/2011080700006.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/128/2011080700006.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a> im almost done with my storage room. there will be a control console for the room, which has the resource node and power node integrated. i hope you see that my power node placement is just a placeholder ;)
Squart is going to create an own sky for us, so that summit sky you see there is a placeholder too. we are going to have a dark night sky with stars, moons and stuff
Nice, the ceiling is almost like a trainstation =) One thing is: The powernode is on a crate, from the looks of it. That seems wrong to me, as it powers the room. Shouldn't it be a part of the architecture?
i tried to explain that. it will be included to the geometry, i think it will be part of a console which controls the crane in the room. the resource tower will also be a part of it
Just a small update. This is part of our storage hall/room. This area is not accessable, its behind glass walls in a corridor next to the storage room, so you get an impression of the whole complex which makes sense in itself.
[ - 30 - ] <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/2011082200001.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1079/2011082200001.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a> just simple Geometry at the moment, but its a start.
Its a high rise rack storage, just like in this picture, but not that huge :D <img src="http://www.bayer-sohn.de/uploads/pics/hochregal1_01.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
as i finish the corridor itself, ill tweak lighting and geometry
In picture -29- you see our "Storage" location which has an Resource Node in it. The room itself has many drawers which store mainly crates for all small products our complex is constructing and producing. just like all kind of weapons, turrets and observatories. we have a rail + crane (integrated in the ceiling) and a robotic arm for loading these drawers and a rail+robotic arm for unloading.
The not accessable room in picture -30- is a high rise stack storage, which stores all bigger things, like Armorys, Extractors, Robotics.. etc.
Next to Storage is our Teleporter, which will be overworked again as soon as i finish a few things in Storage.
fmponeJoin Date: 2011-07-05Member: 108086Members, Squad Five Blue
<!--quoteo(post=1867172:date=Aug 7 2011, 09:53 AM:name=Trainee.ger)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Trainee.ger @ Aug 7 2011, 09:53 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1867172"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->dont worry, we will revisit each room when the rooms themselves are built :) maybe mapping starts, where your map is "finished" ? ;)
[ - 29 - ] <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/97/2011080700006.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/128/2011080700006.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a> im almost done with my storage room. there will be a control console for the room, which has the resource node and power node integrated. i hope you see that my power node placement is just a placeholder ;)
Squart is going to create an own sky for us, so that summit sky you see there is a placeholder too. we are going to have a dark night sky with stars, moons and stuff
can someone recommend an image converter to dds format?
my photoshop 7.0 is not capable of that and i searched and tried 5 programs via google but either they werent freeware or they werent able to convert to dds even though the google description told me so :(
there was some kind of shareware version but its adding watermarks on my pictures :/
and ps.
<!--quoteo(post=1870634:date=Aug 22 2011, 07:34 PM:name=fmpone)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (fmpone @ Aug 22 2011, 07:34 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1870634"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Badass! I really like that shot<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thanks! im a fan of your work too! keep it up :) you have much much improved on lighting!
so here is some of my work just came back from hollidays :) to get into mapping again i thought it might help to do small parts of the map so i did 2 corridors and they still are as everything else w.i.p. + both of these corridors are not meant to be for an Onos.
the 1. corridor is a pipe junction between medic unit and control unit
fmponeJoin Date: 2011-07-05Member: 108086Members, Squad Five Blue
edited August 2011
Wow. Great stuff. There is the huge problem that none of your work holds up to much very close scrutiny, because of the unflattering way the Spark Engine lights edges and such. Without being too critical here, you can drag your eye across one wall and encounter a vast quantity of different colors and brightnesses. That's off-putting.
But there is also the "impression" the geometry makes, which is really tremendous and very successful in its own way. My advise is to either swallow much of the weird transitioning of the geometry in darkness, use far fewer colors (around 1-2 per scene), or to use color correction. It's the lighting and not the geometry that holds these scenes back.
I'm conflicted, but overall I like what I see. As your map evolves and you get a better handle on things, I think your initial ambition and dedication will be handsomely rewarded
I completely agree with fmpone. It seems the lightning works a bit against the architecture at the moment. Otherwise nice job with those rooms! I enjoy this dirty engineering mood. Hopefully the Area is completely bug free for the commander with all the stairs and second levels. :) I also suggest to take your time with the texture alignment, it looks a bit random to me, they don't bind the mood of the room in perfection atm.
I must admit that Squart and i have completely different mapping styles :D he likes a more dirty look when i like it clean(er) :D I wonder if we are able to find a consensus before release! :)
I agree with you guys that its the lighting that needs improvement. i myself am not good at it either, but dont worry, its all work in progress and i am sure, we will find a solution for every room and every corridor :)
Squart and i had two times a talk about our layout. i did like it, but since marines dont need to expand their base, a tech point in front of their door in unnecessary imho.
So i would like to start a small discussion about the layout. what is the whole work worth if the layout doesnt know balance?
Evil_bOb1Join Date: 2002-07-13Member: 938Members, Squad Five Blue
I had the same type of questioning with my own map. With current gameplay 6 tps seams too much. Yet I realized everything you add is something that can be used. 6 tps gives a lot of possibilities for each team and also increases the number of strategies people will develop and gives more space for people to try something different it the situation pushes to it.
With this layout though it doesn't seam like it will add much. One change is see is you could remove those two "door" tps, making MS and AS lead directly into the generator. You could then move 'security' to the right of 'maintenance' and add a new tp that connects 'security', 'worker room', and 'medic unit'. This would change a lot to the layout as you wouldn't have to go through generator to get the the other team's spawn which is one on the layout's key features but might add more flow to it. You could also not connect this new tp to 'security' nor 'worker room' resulting in a 'dead end tp' stemming from medic.
But I think you could keep the layout how it is as it would bring a unique experience of the game. Not all maps have to be conform to a generic NS2 experience. On the contrary as community mappers we have the freedom to bring different things. And even if it doesn't work out the way you wanted, it will surely teach us a lot about NS2.
I can imagine that this map creates alot of linear play, 1 frontline moving back and forth. This isn't bad, just make sure there are enough flanking possibibilitys. I would like to see a vent from alien start to control unit and one from security to teleporter. And maybe one from Storage to medic unit. Those vents should be able to let jp's, lerks, skulks, gorges and even infestation pass.
Ok ok ok, sounds good guys! What do you think about this one? used some of your ideas and this was the result. Thx to Evil_bOb1 and subshadow :)
[updated layout at the bottom] Its just a fast draft and im no artist :P
There is one techpoint near to Alien Start and easily defendable by aliens, but it has no resource tower. the other 2 tech points, do have resource tower, but are in a potentially more dangerous area. they are both nearer to marine start.
The Teal color represents vents
What i dislike about this layout is, that there are 12 resource tower altogether
i like the 3 rts near generator, and Squart has almost finished that area.
removing the resource node in Marine Start would end stalemates. remove it there? marine would have automatically the nearest node as a start rt though!
but its not possible to remove the res node on alien start because of the start infestation. the harvester would not be connected to the cysts network. so what about removing ms rt and one of the res nodes next to as?
something like this. i removed worker room res node and marine start res node. marines will have the nearest rt as a start rt. that would be in Security or "other Room". I would like to test this, because it would end stalemates ;) [updated screenshot at the bottom]
fmponeJoin Date: 2011-07-05Member: 108086Members, Squad Five Blue
<!--quoteo(post=1872481:date=Sep 1 2011, 06:56 AM:name=Trainee.ger)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Trainee.ger @ Sep 1 2011, 06:56 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1872481"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->in this layout i would like to see a vent from teleporter to melt.
what do you think?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It seems like that such a vent from teleporter to melt on your layout might span a very big distance and pass through several rooms. As far as I've read in the mapping guide, that's frowned upon because it takes players off the main path and onto a whole other path away from the main flow of combat.
does somebody have the TSA logo in a good quality? I need it for our Marine Start! Or can somebody create it?
We have reworked Teleporter and control unit, i would show some pics but the map doesnt always load up in game, and if the map runs we get many "running out of memory" errors.
<!--quoteo(post=1885463:date=Nov 18 2011, 10:51 AM:name=Trainee.ger)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Trainee.ger @ Nov 18 2011, 10:51 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1885463"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->We have reworked Teleporter and control unit, i would show some pics but the map doesnt alaways load up in game, and if the map runs we get many "running out of memory" errors.
Does occlussion culling fix this?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is fixed in 188 :) Not necessarily by occlusion.
Comments
This was my first thought. Definitely should be packed up neatly, even if they're fresh off the line, they would be packed neatly. Also, I think the sheer size of the crate is disproportional. Assuming this was an interplanetary manufacturing and shipping plant, they would not have crates that size packed to the brim (and more) with guns. It's likely they would have multiple smaller containers.
we would have done it that way, but there are no open crates implemented yet. somebody working on those? we would like to use them (:
Since that was kind of vague: in your first shot, for example, you have light reaching the ceiling. I would add shadows so that the grating above the aqua light in the floor hits the ceiling in a shadow pattern, it will be more aesthetic. Secondly, you have white with no visible source illuminating the whole room, especially the panels in the back. 255 255 255 or white lighting, as psykoman recently pointed out to me, is not very flattering. So maybe consider eliminating that light, or putting a source behind it, in which case it is unlikely to fully illuminate the whole room.
Really hope that helps!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
i´ve read this comment again and was wondering which part of the map you mean! is it just in one or two screenshots or is it a whole map issue? i added numbers to the pictures, so you can refer to them easily if you want to :)
<!--quoteo(post=1865911:date=Aug 2 2011, 08:03 PM:name=doeseph)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (doeseph @ Aug 2 2011, 08:03 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1865911"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Pardon the ignorance, but how did you get the self illumination effect on the generator? Is that a custom asset/material?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
i am not sure about this, because it was Squards part of the map and he is in vacation at the moment, but we havent used that buggy cin editor at all in that part of the map. we will add some, hopefully awesome, lightning effects, but as far it is in the screenshot we just used a bunch of simple light entitys. i think Squard has gone over the top, but we are pretty happy about the look at the moment. he will tweak his area, when he is more experienced regarding proper lighting. we are both not that experienced with proper lighting at all, as fmpone already mentioned correctly, but its getting better and better. cant wait to show you more shots of the storage room, i really really like the atmospere there.
from time to time there are more and more props included, but no list that introduces the new ones. a simle list would be cool. its a thing, that can be done by the community. if other find this helpful too, maybe we have a volunteer who wants to do this, or if its appreciated i could do it as well. the best thing would be if the new props get a different background color. so its not white or black, its yellow for a whole week. just a thought
Hm, that looks more than lights placed everywhere. It looks as though the object itself has some kind of self-illumination effect on it (which is a glow that doesn't actually emit light). The lights would then give the illusion of light being emitted. Perhaps it's just the screenshot? Or did you do post effects to make the screenshot look better?
we havent used any post effects to make anything look better.
in fact, "a bunch of lights" isnt correct. he used many many lights and most of them have a distance of 40 and an intensity value of 20. bloom does the rest of that magic (:
in fact, "a bunch of lights" isnt correct. he used many many lights and most of them have a distance of 40 and an intensity value of 20. bloom does the rest of that magic (:<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I see. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Very different architecture but sexeh!
Keep it up! And don't be afraid to revisit older areas as you grow in skills and confidence =)
dont worry, we will revisit each room when the rooms themselves are built :)
maybe mapping starts, where your map is "finished" ? ;)
[ - 29 - ]
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/97/2011080700006.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/128/2011080700006.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
im almost done with my storage room. there will be a control console for the room, which has the resource node and power node integrated. i hope you see that my power node placement is just a placeholder ;)
Squart is going to create an own sky for us, so that summit sky you see there is a placeholder too. we are going to have a dark night sky with stars, moons and stuff
Trainee
One thing is: The powernode is on a crate, from the looks of it. That seems wrong to me, as it powers the room. Shouldn't it be a part of the architecture?
i tried to explain that. it will be included to the geometry, i think it will be part of a console which controls the crane in the room. the resource tower will also be a part of it
This is part of our storage hall/room.
This area is not accessable, its behind glass walls in a corridor next to the storage room, so you get an impression of the whole complex which makes sense in itself.
[ - 30 - ]
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/2011082200001.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1079/2011082200001.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
just simple Geometry at the moment, but its a start.
Its a high rise rack storage, just like in this picture, but not that huge :D
<img src="http://www.bayer-sohn.de/uploads/pics/hochregal1_01.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
as i finish the corridor itself, ill tweak lighting and geometry
In picture -29- you see our "Storage" location which has an Resource Node in it.
The room itself has many drawers which store mainly crates for all small products our complex is constructing and producing. just like all kind of weapons, turrets and observatories. we have a rail + crane (integrated in the ceiling) and a robotic arm for loading these drawers and a rail+robotic arm for unloading.
The not accessable room in picture -30- is a high rise stack storage, which stores all bigger things, like Armorys, Extractors, Robotics.. etc.
Next to Storage is our Teleporter, which will be overworked again as soon as i finish a few things in Storage.
Hope you like it so far
Trainee
maybe mapping starts, where your map is "finished" ? ;)
[ - 29 - ]
<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/97/2011080700006.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/128/2011080700006.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
im almost done with my storage room. there will be a control console for the room, which has the resource node and power node integrated. i hope you see that my power node placement is just a placeholder ;)
Squart is going to create an own sky for us, so that summit sky you see there is a placeholder too. we are going to have a dark night sky with stars, moons and stuff
Trainee<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Badass! I really like that shot
my photoshop 7.0 is not capable of that and i searched and tried 5 programs via google but either they werent freeware or they werent able to convert to dds even though the google description told me so :(
there was some kind of shareware version but its adding watermarks on my pictures :/
and ps.
<!--quoteo(post=1870634:date=Aug 22 2011, 07:34 PM:name=fmpone)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (fmpone @ Aug 22 2011, 07:34 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1870634"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Badass! I really like that shot<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thanks! im a fan of your work too! keep it up :) you have much much improved on lighting!
the 1. corridor is a pipe junction between medic unit and control unit
[ - 31 - ]
<img src="http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4263/2011083000001.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
[ - 32 - ]
<img src="http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/2607/2011083000002.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
[ - 33 - ]
<img src="http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9655/2011083000003.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
[ - 34 - ]
<img src="http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9143/2011083000004.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
the 2. corridor is leading from generator to control unit and propably melt not sure yet :)
[ - 35 - ]
<img src="http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2738/2011083000006.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
[ - 36 - ]
<img src="http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/7439/2011083000007.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
[ - 37 - ]
<img src="http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4133/2011083000008.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
But there is also the "impression" the geometry makes, which is really tremendous and very successful in its own way. My advise is to either swallow much of the weird transitioning of the geometry in darkness, use far fewer colors (around 1-2 per scene), or to use color correction. It's the lighting and not the geometry that holds these scenes back.
I'm conflicted, but overall I like what I see. As your map evolves and you get a better handle on things, I think your initial ambition and dedication will be handsomely rewarded
I wonder if we are able to find a consensus before release! :)
I agree with you guys that its the lighting that needs improvement. i myself am not good at it either, but dont worry, its all work in progress and i am sure, we will find a solution for every room and every corridor :)
Squart and i had two times a talk about our layout. i did like it, but since marines dont need to expand their base, a tech point in front of their door in unnecessary imho.
So i would like to start a small discussion about the layout. what is the whole work worth if the layout doesnt know balance?
<img src="http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/8636/layoutuy.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
So
Pros and Cons about the Layout please and maybe some concrete balance suggestions
With this layout though it doesn't seam like it will add much. One change is see is you could remove those two "door" tps, making MS and AS lead directly into the generator. You could then move 'security' to the right of 'maintenance' and add a new tp that connects 'security', 'worker room', and 'medic unit'. This would change a lot to the layout as you wouldn't have to go through generator to get the the other team's spawn which is one on the layout's key features but might add more flow to it. You could also not connect this new tp to 'security' nor 'worker room' resulting in a 'dead end tp' stemming from medic.
But I think you could keep the layout how it is as it would bring a unique experience of the game. Not all maps have to be conform to a generic NS2 experience. On the contrary as community mappers we have the freedom to bring different things. And even if it doesn't work out the way you wanted, it will surely teach us a lot about NS2.
I would like to see a vent from alien start to control unit and one from security to teleporter. And maybe one from Storage to medic unit.
Those vents should be able to let jp's, lerks, skulks, gorges and even infestation pass.
[updated layout at the bottom]
Its just a fast draft and im no artist :P
There is one techpoint near to Alien Start and easily defendable by aliens, but it has no resource tower. the other 2 tech points, do have resource tower, but are in a potentially more dangerous area. they are both nearer to marine start.
The Teal color represents vents
What i dislike about this layout is, that there are 12 resource tower altogether
i like the 3 rts near generator, and Squart has almost finished that area.
but its not possible to remove the res node on alien start because of the start infestation. the harvester would not be connected to the cysts network. so what about removing ms rt and one of the res nodes next to as?
something like this. i removed worker room res node and marine start res node. marines will have the nearest rt as a start rt. that would be in Security or "other Room".
I would like to test this, because it would end stalemates ;)
[updated screenshot at the bottom]
what do you think?
what do you think?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It seems like that such a vent from teleporter to melt on your layout might span a very big distance and pass through several rooms. As far as I've read in the mapping guide, that's frowned upon because it takes players off the main path and onto a whole other path away from the main flow of combat.
yes maybe you are right. we can still add some vents later, when we see how balance is going.
im loving this layout! havent had a chance to talk with squart about this, but i think he will like this :)
The yellow lines represent doors. Teal are vents.
We have reworked Teleporter and control unit, i would show some pics but the map doesnt always load up in game, and if the map runs we get many "running out of memory" errors.
Does occlussion culling fix this?
Does occlussion culling fix this?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is fixed in 188 :) Not necessarily by occlusion.
Map is looking great btw!
and good to hear that it will be fixed!! :)
ns2 starts to shape up as an awesome game!