Space station nothing update

realityisdead · May 2002

<div class="IPBDescription">Brief, but yeah...</div>I feel kinda bad posting these up for feedback, after totally ignoring this forum for the past couple days (been busy!! ), but here are a couple new screenshots of Space Station Nothing:

<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/ok1.jpg" border="0">

<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/ok2.jpg" border="0">

<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/ok3.jpg" border="0">

<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/ok4.jpg" border="0">

The shots are a bit darker than I would have liked, but they are as close to the real thing as I could manage with my lacking editing software. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> Keep in mind this is quite close to a hive room, or at least on the "alien side" of the level, so...

At any rate, it definitely is a lot easier to see things in-game. This will do though. If you have any issues with the shots, other than the darkness, please say so! If you like em, say so too. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

We all need more motivation than we're getting. This is hard. Heh.

Back to work... More details at <a href="http://tald.readyroom.org" target="_blank">TALD</a>.

Greedo · May 2002

Oh man, you know its all good. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Well, okay, not <i>all</i> good, but very, very close to it. The only problems I have are with the first and second shot. Something I've personally never liked is just the little red dots. I don't know why.

Also, I'm going to assume that that's an elevator shaft. If so, I think that the elevator needs a bit of reworking, as now those textures don't seem to fit well at all, and it's quite architecturally plain.

Your lighting is excellent. I mean excellent. I've tried duplicating it to a certain extent, but couldn't really do it and settled for my own style, which I think isn't nearly as good as yours. I won't fault you on your texture misalignments (esp the pipes) only because I know how hard it can be to get it right.

Oh, and that docked space ship idea sounds really cool.

Vincent · May 2002

looking good keep it up

Flayra · May 2002

Utterly stunning. Tell me what you need from me to help make sure you finish this map.

MonsieurEvil · May 2002

And not a custom WAD to be found!

<img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

I've actually been on this map (there are <i>some</i> perks to running the SHODAN server), and all I can say is, as good as these shots look, they are nothing compared to the (unfinished) level itself. Ken20 will blow your socks off...

Trane · May 2002

Um i know why you dont like the red dots... CAUSE WHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU EVER SEEN RED DOTS IN AN ACTUAL BUILDING!? ok, anyways, the shots look really good, and I know my oppinion doesnt count a whole lot, but I actually think the dark parts of the shots could be even a little darker. Its not so bad to make people turn on their flashlight everyonce in a while. Good stuff, keep it up.

Erp · May 2002

Wow, It's looking great. I almost can't believe it's using the Half-Life engine.

/drools

Mouse · May 2002

ken i think i know why the red dots don't seem to be liked, they are puting out not enough light for the brightness of the texture
umm, in the elevator shaftif you have the spare planes/r_speeds i suggest you make the pits in the wall texture actual pits, because the texture is scaled up quite a bit

when you have the time, align the pipe textures. it's worth the effort

in the last shot wtf is that thing on the right hand side?

all in all, great work <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

RhoadsToNowhere · May 2002

Wow...that is absolutely amazing! Just a few minor comments here, first I kinda agree that the red dots in the second shot look out of place, but I think it's because they basically look like they've just been Super Glued to the wall. It'd look better if there were something like a frame that could conceivably hold them on. Secondly, if you could spare the planes I'd like to see the wall with the fan in the third shot be made a little less flat. It seems a little odd to have this beautiful brushwork and then see one wall that's basically a single face. Throw something onto the corner that's pointing towards the camera. I think it's coming along excellent <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

realityisdead · May 2002

Hehe, thanks for the feedback!

Concerning the pipes:

Eh? They all look fine to me... :/
They are technically "unaligned" though, and for three reasons: A) As Greedo said, they're extrememly difficult and time consuming to aling "properly"... B) It's a complete waste of time getting them perfect looking, anyways.... and C) They need to be like that. Trust me. It must be pure luck that both styles of pipes I use the most are somehow aligned the same... but with a "properly" aligned pipe the lighting streaks come out looking pale, fat, and blurry. Don't ask, I don't even WANT to know why... <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Concerning the red dots:

Nah, I'm going to keep em. Gives it a much nicer feeling as you ride down it. They also keep the shaft from feeling empty (And pitch black). I'm definitely going to follow Rhoad's suggestion though, and give em a frame. At least, until I run out of planes... <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

Greedo:

Concerning the elevator texture... indeed, that was a bad choice. Thanks for bringing that up! Already changed... actually the entire elevator got a makeover. I'm liking it a lot better now.

Glad you like the ship idea. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Trane:

Heh. Good point. Then again, this isn't a real building, nor is it on earth, so.... <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> Though I think you will be happy to hear that the map does do a better job with the contrast ingame. It somehow manages to be a bit brighter... yet the shadows are bolder. Sorta. And your opinion does count just as much as anyone else's as far as I'm concerned...

Mouse:

Again, it's better ingame. The red lights are a bit nicer looking ingame. Unperfect gamma correction, and jpg compression make em kinda ugly here.

Concerning the scaled up texture... I doubt I'd be able to afford the polys or planes for that. Would be cool though, nice idea.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">in the last shot wtf is that thing on the right hand side?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

The ultra bright diamonds? They're on the left hand side too. It's a lighting error that I'm going not going to attempt to fix. Yet, at least. Besides, I find a slight amusment in annoying the heck out of people... <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

Rhoads:

Ah, I see what you mean there. Good point. I'll come back and work the wall there a bit once I'm finished with everthing else. It's not overly important to me, but I agree that it looks a bit odd.

Everyone:

Thank you so much for your feedback! The compliments are awesome for motivational purposes, and the criticism (that I'm actually willing to do anything about... heh) makes things better overall.

HanzGruber · May 2002

/me wants to have kens baby...

that is so sexy ken....cept for a misaligned texture on the pipe...it is all good

Black_Wolf · May 2002

mmm, i was going to say the pipe, but ill shut up now.

looking great, makes me feel worse about my own map, but hey what do i expect. no time to map anymore =(

LPC · May 2002

very nice for real, but in the third shot... that grate texture should be scaled down, you could almost lose your feet in those huge holes <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

Killtoy · May 2002

Very nice! Glad to hear you stuck with the red lights, I really love them.

I really can't find much to pick on here, Ken. It just looks amazing! Keep it up!

Insane · May 2002

WOW.

I honestly had a fit of pure wonderment at your amazingness when I saw these.

Keep up the amazing work <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

-Insane

KungFuSquirrel · May 2002

And I am again reminded why Eclipse is dying and why the industrial sectors in NightWatch will be great.

Greedo · May 2002

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (ken20banks @ May 19 2002,23:01)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">B) It's a complete waste of time getting them perfect looking, anyways....</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
<img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'> Say it ain't so, mate. Say it ain't so. I mean, I certainly don't think it was a waste of time at all when I did it. Every little bit of effort counts. And I don't think my shadows are too blurry or smudgy, though that's probably just me. I am using a different lighting style than you are.

/me slaps Ken20Banks around with a rusty pipe with very neatly aligned textures. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

realityisdead · May 2002

Lol, Greedo.

I'm not saying it is wrong or... stupid... to align every little pipe. Just that there are other things that someone should really be doing at that stage of development. Like finishing the level. It's not time wasted if you don't have any sort of deadline to reach or anything. The more finely detailed, the better. But as we all know, you will have deadlines if you pick this up hobby as a job... or if you want a chance at shipping a level with an impending mod release. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

In other words, I'm trying to follow Flayra's new mapping suggestions from the guidelines. At least to an extent. Major stuff first... little details later (if I can afford them). I honestly still can't find the (obviously glaringly) misaligned textures though. The one above the green monitor that you mentioned before?

Also, concerning the red dots... I guess the frames are out. They raise the r_speeds and plane count more than indenting those textures probably would. They'll do for now. Perhaps if they're a little... thinner, they'd look a tad more believable though.

Thanks, <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Hand_Me_The_Gun_And_Ask_Me_Again · May 2002

Ken, you do realise you're supposed to be mapping for the <i>Half-Life</i> engine, yes?

Looking utterly amazing - the gamma's a bit squiffy, but the dappled lighting looks very impressive. I can already imagine aliens moving at high-speed though light and shade... Eeek.

As for the red dots - I've got something a little similar in a (non-NS) map I've been working on. I originally had little red cubes, but the r_speeds impact was too great, so I converted them into small, red sprites. (Have another look at verc_18 if you can't remember <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> )

Might be worth trying - it'll probably work for a range of little point-lights people are using.

realityisdead · May 2002

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again @ May 21 2002,19:24)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">As for the red dots - I've got something a little similar in a (non-NS) map I've been working on. I originally had little red cubes, but the r_speeds impact was too great, so I converted them into small, red sprites. (Have another look at verc_18 if you can't remember <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> )

Might be worth trying - it'll probably work for a range of little point-lights people are using.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Ah, yes... nice idea. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

I'll keep that in mind if I run into problems there. So far so good, but it gets kinda scary with frames around the lights. Shame too, I liked how that looked.

Thanks <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Cliff_Mellangard · May 2002

looks awesome as always. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Moleculor · May 2002

In the second shot, the floor seems to have a constant lighting level, where all the walls have contrast.

Kassinger · May 2002

I love those walls, the sharp corner, the shadows...

I can't point out anything you should work on not mentioned earlier, so I'm afraid you won't get any help from me there.

Hmmm...anywhere you can use particle effects to enchance the experience? <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

coil · May 2002

I'm going to have to ask that you STOP making me drool all over my keyboard, ######.

realityisdead · May 2002

<img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Molec: Yep. I kinda like that. Easy to navigate through, yet still looks dark.

Kass: Definitely. Those are going to come once I get everything else done though. Along with sounds, etc.

Oh... I guess here is as good of place as any... here are some VHE shots of what the ship docked to the west of the station is shaping up to look like:

<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/01.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/02.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/03.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/04.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/05.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/06.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/07.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/08.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/09.jpg" border="0">

Ekaj · May 2002

Lookin good! /me wants ingame screens of all those areas.

realityisdead · May 2002

Oops, and here is the new elevator look:

<img src="http://tald.readyroom.org/maps/ns/ns_nothing/images/vhe/10.jpg" border="0">

Does it look more appropriate/fitting? I like it better than how it was before at least. Thanks again for mentioning it, Greedo.

Killtoy · May 2002

<i>Killtoy stares lustfully, then with an embarrased look mops up the puddle of drool that collected beneath him.</i>

Looking good Ken!

coil · May 2002

You *DO* know this is a HL mod, not Q3 or UT... right, Ken? Stop mapping for the wrong game! (:

Greedo · May 2002

It's just not the same without the lighting :/

It still looks really cool though. I can't wait for you to get this over to SHODAN for some lovin'. Oh, and that elevator looks much, much better now. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

doctopepa · May 2002

now THAT, i can learn alot from!

Space station nothing update

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