How To Map For Half-life Paper
<div class="IPBDescription">does anyone have helpful hints for me</div> I have an English 101 paper due this week and was wondering if any of you guys have any helpful hints on what to put(or notice spelling errors, grammar errors etc.). I made alot of this up and didn't really do any of it so dont get all mad if you see something that isn't true cause i dont really care if its not true cause my teacher wont know and I just want to get this paper done cause its like 40% of my grade and i dont particularly want to flunk the class. This ENTIRE paper is a big stack of lies i know so dont comment on it about not making sense or not being true. Any help would just be superb. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> THX
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I?m walking down a dark hallway; the only sound is the sparking of the broken light as it flashes on and off. All of the rooms in this building have been clean white walls, almost untouched by the fighting, but this hallway has green growths on the walls and floor. The are crates in the hallway blocking my line of sight. Crouching I pull out my mp5, a light arms machinegun, and start crawling forward, making almost no sound. As I pass the first crate I hear a scratching sound. I stop and listen, no sound now. I continue forward. I pass the second crate without incident. As I reach the third crate I step on a piece of alien growth and it makes a sound like the crunching of an egg. I stop and listen, nothing, then I hear a sharp, ?tap-tap-tap-tap-tap?? and it gets louder, coming from every direction. I stand up and put my finger on the trigger. Something about the size of a flattened soccer ball with four little claw like legs crawls out from behind a crate ten feet in front of me, a headcrab, it leaps at me. I fire a quick burst and tag it in midair, its mangled body flies past me hitting the crate behind me with a deadening thunk. I can still hear more tapping. Dozens of headcrabs start coming around the corner and vents in front of me up the hallway. I fire a clip into the mass of them, a few die but not enough. I toss a detpack, a C4 charge with a remote trigger, into the middle of the hallway and start sprinting back the way I came. I reach the end of the hallway and rush through the closest door. I close the door, push a desk in front of it and back into the farthest corner of the room. I click the trigger, a deafening explosion rocks the room, and the door is blown open pushing the desk back. Getting up where the explosion had knocked me back I walk through the remnants of the door into the hallway. There are pieces of headcrabs everywhere. I listen for a moment for anymore tapping, nothing. I walk through the remains of the crates, headcrabs and the hallway. As I turn the corner marines storm through the far door, they spot me and start firing.
My topic is going to be on how to map for Half-Life. Half-Life is a first person PC video game. The storyline is about a scientist, Gordon Freeman, who works in a black ops secret lab in New Mexico. When one day at work a teleporter experiment goes horribly wrong opening a connection between Earth and an alien world called Xen. Gordon freeman has to escape military ?Clean Up Crews,? escape the Xen aliens and go to Xen to destroy the aliens means of transportation to Earth.
Half-Life is played by millions of people each day. It is one of the most famous video game that exists and is the longest played video game while keeping a huge community of fans and supporters. It has been on market for about eight years. I want to learn about this topic so that my friend, Eddy, and I can create our own maps and maybe create our own MOD, a modification using the games engine to pretty much create your own game. We really want to start mapping, designing 3D layouts of the type of environment; such as desert ruins you could fight in, that we want to be able to play on now because Half-Life 2 is coming out between December and April and the Half-Life designers posted on their site that if you know how to map well with Half-Life mapping then you will be able to easily map with Half-Life 2, which we want to do as soon as it comes out.
I should be able to get a lot of information about Half-Life mapping. There are numerous websites about mapping that I would be able to go to for tutorials. Maybe if I go to a mapper?s website I could learn ?Tips & Tricks? they have already learned from their experience as a mapper. If I ever have problems I could go to about any Half-Life site and ask questions on the forums. Most sites even have specific sections for mapping problems and questions. I can also learn helpful hints about MOD making from ?Half-Life Radio. They always interview MOD makers: people who design their own game using the Half-Life engine. They interview modelers: someone who designs object structuring, such as designing the structure of a car so it can be driven in the game. They also interview skinners: someone who designs the graphic layout of a model, such as having a car model without a color and design so a skinner draws a picture of a car window, license plate, and other accessories. and puts it on the car to make the car look like a car. I may be able to interview a minor MOD designer or a designer of a semi famous MOD that isn?t to publicized, like Battlegrounds. So I might be able to interview someone from battlegrounds even though it is a pretty famous MOD because the designers aren?t publicized at all. But that may be hard because like I said, they aren?t publicized so it may be hard to get a hold of them.
I find the thought of mapping for Half-Life interesting because I have been playing Half-Life maps and MODs since Half-Life first came out and I am really impressed by the maps and MODs made by all of these famous computer nerds. No one knew or cared about them before they made their maps and MODs. I want to be able to put in my two cents to the Half-Life community. I think I will eventually be able to map for Half-Life because I have been able to map for other games even though Half-Life is a very difficult engine to use. I hope to create an official map for some MOD for my X-paper, I?m hoping to make a map for Natural-Selection because it is my favorite MOD for Half-Life even though mapping for Natural-Selection is suppose to harder than mapping for Half-Life.
First I will have to get the halflife editor. The are numerous places I could get the half life editor. The most obvious choice would be planet halflife. I could get it at other places too the other places I might be able to find it is at like http//:www.modcentral.com because it focuses a lot on making maps and MODs. I will also have to find a editor for the specific mod I want to map for. I have to find a specific MOD editor no matter what cause the way that Valve(the company that designed the game) set it up they made everything a MOD, even the actual game itself. Which makes it easier to make, edit, and design MOD?s.
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When researching I discovered a site called HalflifeWorkshop, it shows how to start Half-Life mapping. Workshop first told me to get a variety of map editors; there are a few tests it told me to run on all of the map editors first. It told me to first learned how to make basic objects on all of the five editors I had downloaded: WorldCraft, Qoole99, BSP, Hammer and QERadiant. Then it told me to run a speed test on all of the editors, I designed a small pyramid type room on all of the editors and timed myself on making them. WorldCraft, Qoole99 and BSP took way longer to make the room than the other editors so I marked them for that. The next test was the feature test, the features test is really just a test that's based on your opinion. All I had to do is open up maps already created by valve and fiddle around with the editor's various features like clipping, regioning, VisGroups, Visual Texturing, and so on. This isn't the most important test but it allowed me to see where some editors get their edge over others. I didn?t really like how WorldCraft and QERadiant handled so I marked them for the feature test. The third test was the compiling test, the compiling test allowed me to see how certain editors handle the compiling of maps into the final .bsp's. I'll be doing this every time I play a level so it's good test. All I had to do is open up any map, add a few areas or small bits of architecture and then see if I could find out a way to immediately run the map without looking at the help. If I was able to run the map, play it, build some more, and repeat the process within a half-hour all by myself, then I didn?t mark it off. With BSP and Qoole99 it took me around an hour to run the test so I marked them for the compiling test. The fourth test was the combine test, this test is just a relapse of all the other test combined. I would be building, adding, compiling, and testing for this test. Workshop said this test usually takes the longest but it usually helps to decide everything the quickest. I start a new level that had four rooms, a few doors, monsters, the works like Workshop said. A regular, playable level. Then I took another editor and tried to duplicate it. Workshop said if you get halfway through and throw your arms up in the air giving up...this editor is not for you. I got very frustrated with Qoole99 and WorldCraft so I marked them down for it. Having completed all of the tests I saw that the Valve Hammer editor did the best on all tests so I chose this one to use for all further designing.
Next I had to find tools for my editor, I searched planethalflife and found a file called ?Half-Life Tool Pack.? Someone had taken forty-one best and most used Half-Life editor tools and placed them all in one folder. The pack contained a lot of necessities needed for mapping or designing a MOD. It had modeling programs, so you could create/design your own custom models. Texturing kits, used for changing or creating your own textures. Map viewers, so you can see what a map would look like and go around in it when it isn?t completed and unplayable, it?s also faster than having to open the game and loading up your map/level every time since it is open as you?re making the level. A model viewer, so you can open model files and see what they look like without having to place them in your level prematurely just to see what they look like. Sprite viewers, used so that you can view sprites as they are not viewable through a map viewer or Valve Hammer editor, sprites are picture files with animation. Terrain generators, used to create realistic terrain for the map rather than just the basic shapes like: block, wedge, cylinder, spike and arch. A leak marker, to find leaks in your map/level, in Half-Life there is a huge room that is not considered textured, a solid or anything, it is the boundary of how big you can build your level, when you have a leak it makes the game read the entire huge room instead of just the small rooms that you have made in your map therefore in reading the huge room it slows down the game horribly making the map run very slowly. Compilers, so your map can be put into a bunch of different formats to be ran on other computers. Launchers for launching the map during creation, to launch to not just play the level but test things on your map while doing so and to launch the map even if it has an error so you can fix it. C++, C++ is a program the allow you to deign, change and create programs. MODing tools, tools for you own custom logos and other accessories if you are going to design your own MOD. Extractors, programs used to take apart a compressed, uneditable or acessable, file much like Winzip or PowerArchiver unpacks a .zip file so you can access the stuff inside it. And audio editors in case you have custom sounds on your map. There are many variations of programs for different uses and some programs I wouldn?t need or be able to use.
So I was almost set for tools since there were more tools in the ?Half-Life tool pack? then I would probably use. But I still needed a tool set for the specific MOD I was going to design for. I wanted to design for Natural-Selection so I went to their website and go the .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information, I has all the custom models, nodes, textures and other accessories needed for designing a map/level for Natural-Selection. I then went to a bunch of Natural-Selection mapping websites. I downloaded a few Natural-Selection tutorials on how to map. I tried to contact quite a few of the mappers to interview them but never received an answer.
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I?m walking down a dark hallway; the only sound is the sparking of the broken light as it flashes on and off. All of the rooms in this building have been clean white walls, almost untouched by the fighting, but this hallway has green growths on the walls and floor. The are crates in the hallway blocking my line of sight. Crouching I pull out my mp5, a light arms machinegun, and start crawling forward, making almost no sound. As I pass the first crate I hear a scratching sound. I stop and listen, no sound now. I continue forward. I pass the second crate without incident. As I reach the third crate I step on a piece of alien growth and it makes a sound like the crunching of an egg. I stop and listen, nothing, then I hear a sharp, ?tap-tap-tap-tap-tap?? and it gets louder, coming from every direction. I stand up and put my finger on the trigger. Something about the size of a flattened soccer ball with four little claw like legs crawls out from behind a crate ten feet in front of me, a headcrab, it leaps at me. I fire a quick burst and tag it in midair, its mangled body flies past me hitting the crate behind me with a deadening thunk. I can still hear more tapping. Dozens of headcrabs start coming around the corner and vents in front of me up the hallway. I fire a clip into the mass of them, a few die but not enough. I toss a detpack, a C4 charge with a remote trigger, into the middle of the hallway and start sprinting back the way I came. I reach the end of the hallway and rush through the closest door. I close the door, push a desk in front of it and back into the farthest corner of the room. I click the trigger, a deafening explosion rocks the room, and the door is blown open pushing the desk back. Getting up where the explosion had knocked me back I walk through the remnants of the door into the hallway. There are pieces of headcrabs everywhere. I listen for a moment for anymore tapping, nothing. I walk through the remains of the crates, headcrabs and the hallway. As I turn the corner marines storm through the far door, they spot me and start firing.
My topic is going to be on how to map for Half-Life. Half-Life is a first person PC video game. The storyline is about a scientist, Gordon Freeman, who works in a black ops secret lab in New Mexico. When one day at work a teleporter experiment goes horribly wrong opening a connection between Earth and an alien world called Xen. Gordon freeman has to escape military ?Clean Up Crews,? escape the Xen aliens and go to Xen to destroy the aliens means of transportation to Earth.
Half-Life is played by millions of people each day. It is one of the most famous video game that exists and is the longest played video game while keeping a huge community of fans and supporters. It has been on market for about eight years. I want to learn about this topic so that my friend, Eddy, and I can create our own maps and maybe create our own MOD, a modification using the games engine to pretty much create your own game. We really want to start mapping, designing 3D layouts of the type of environment; such as desert ruins you could fight in, that we want to be able to play on now because Half-Life 2 is coming out between December and April and the Half-Life designers posted on their site that if you know how to map well with Half-Life mapping then you will be able to easily map with Half-Life 2, which we want to do as soon as it comes out.
I should be able to get a lot of information about Half-Life mapping. There are numerous websites about mapping that I would be able to go to for tutorials. Maybe if I go to a mapper?s website I could learn ?Tips & Tricks? they have already learned from their experience as a mapper. If I ever have problems I could go to about any Half-Life site and ask questions on the forums. Most sites even have specific sections for mapping problems and questions. I can also learn helpful hints about MOD making from ?Half-Life Radio. They always interview MOD makers: people who design their own game using the Half-Life engine. They interview modelers: someone who designs object structuring, such as designing the structure of a car so it can be driven in the game. They also interview skinners: someone who designs the graphic layout of a model, such as having a car model without a color and design so a skinner draws a picture of a car window, license plate, and other accessories. and puts it on the car to make the car look like a car. I may be able to interview a minor MOD designer or a designer of a semi famous MOD that isn?t to publicized, like Battlegrounds. So I might be able to interview someone from battlegrounds even though it is a pretty famous MOD because the designers aren?t publicized at all. But that may be hard because like I said, they aren?t publicized so it may be hard to get a hold of them.
I find the thought of mapping for Half-Life interesting because I have been playing Half-Life maps and MODs since Half-Life first came out and I am really impressed by the maps and MODs made by all of these famous computer nerds. No one knew or cared about them before they made their maps and MODs. I want to be able to put in my two cents to the Half-Life community. I think I will eventually be able to map for Half-Life because I have been able to map for other games even though Half-Life is a very difficult engine to use. I hope to create an official map for some MOD for my X-paper, I?m hoping to make a map for Natural-Selection because it is my favorite MOD for Half-Life even though mapping for Natural-Selection is suppose to harder than mapping for Half-Life.
First I will have to get the halflife editor. The are numerous places I could get the half life editor. The most obvious choice would be planet halflife. I could get it at other places too the other places I might be able to find it is at like http//:www.modcentral.com because it focuses a lot on making maps and MODs. I will also have to find a editor for the specific mod I want to map for. I have to find a specific MOD editor no matter what cause the way that Valve(the company that designed the game) set it up they made everything a MOD, even the actual game itself. Which makes it easier to make, edit, and design MOD?s.
_______________________________________________________________________
When researching I discovered a site called HalflifeWorkshop, it shows how to start Half-Life mapping. Workshop first told me to get a variety of map editors; there are a few tests it told me to run on all of the map editors first. It told me to first learned how to make basic objects on all of the five editors I had downloaded: WorldCraft, Qoole99, BSP, Hammer and QERadiant. Then it told me to run a speed test on all of the editors, I designed a small pyramid type room on all of the editors and timed myself on making them. WorldCraft, Qoole99 and BSP took way longer to make the room than the other editors so I marked them for that. The next test was the feature test, the features test is really just a test that's based on your opinion. All I had to do is open up maps already created by valve and fiddle around with the editor's various features like clipping, regioning, VisGroups, Visual Texturing, and so on. This isn't the most important test but it allowed me to see where some editors get their edge over others. I didn?t really like how WorldCraft and QERadiant handled so I marked them for the feature test. The third test was the compiling test, the compiling test allowed me to see how certain editors handle the compiling of maps into the final .bsp's. I'll be doing this every time I play a level so it's good test. All I had to do is open up any map, add a few areas or small bits of architecture and then see if I could find out a way to immediately run the map without looking at the help. If I was able to run the map, play it, build some more, and repeat the process within a half-hour all by myself, then I didn?t mark it off. With BSP and Qoole99 it took me around an hour to run the test so I marked them for the compiling test. The fourth test was the combine test, this test is just a relapse of all the other test combined. I would be building, adding, compiling, and testing for this test. Workshop said this test usually takes the longest but it usually helps to decide everything the quickest. I start a new level that had four rooms, a few doors, monsters, the works like Workshop said. A regular, playable level. Then I took another editor and tried to duplicate it. Workshop said if you get halfway through and throw your arms up in the air giving up...this editor is not for you. I got very frustrated with Qoole99 and WorldCraft so I marked them down for it. Having completed all of the tests I saw that the Valve Hammer editor did the best on all tests so I chose this one to use for all further designing.
Next I had to find tools for my editor, I searched planethalflife and found a file called ?Half-Life Tool Pack.? Someone had taken forty-one best and most used Half-Life editor tools and placed them all in one folder. The pack contained a lot of necessities needed for mapping or designing a MOD. It had modeling programs, so you could create/design your own custom models. Texturing kits, used for changing or creating your own textures. Map viewers, so you can see what a map would look like and go around in it when it isn?t completed and unplayable, it?s also faster than having to open the game and loading up your map/level every time since it is open as you?re making the level. A model viewer, so you can open model files and see what they look like without having to place them in your level prematurely just to see what they look like. Sprite viewers, used so that you can view sprites as they are not viewable through a map viewer or Valve Hammer editor, sprites are picture files with animation. Terrain generators, used to create realistic terrain for the map rather than just the basic shapes like: block, wedge, cylinder, spike and arch. A leak marker, to find leaks in your map/level, in Half-Life there is a huge room that is not considered textured, a solid or anything, it is the boundary of how big you can build your level, when you have a leak it makes the game read the entire huge room instead of just the small rooms that you have made in your map therefore in reading the huge room it slows down the game horribly making the map run very slowly. Compilers, so your map can be put into a bunch of different formats to be ran on other computers. Launchers for launching the map during creation, to launch to not just play the level but test things on your map while doing so and to launch the map even if it has an error so you can fix it. C++, C++ is a program the allow you to deign, change and create programs. MODing tools, tools for you own custom logos and other accessories if you are going to design your own MOD. Extractors, programs used to take apart a compressed, uneditable or acessable, file much like Winzip or PowerArchiver unpacks a .zip file so you can access the stuff inside it. And audio editors in case you have custom sounds on your map. There are many variations of programs for different uses and some programs I wouldn?t need or be able to use.
So I was almost set for tools since there were more tools in the ?Half-Life tool pack? then I would probably use. But I still needed a tool set for the specific MOD I was going to design for. I wanted to design for Natural-Selection so I went to their website and go the .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information, I has all the custom models, nodes, textures and other accessories needed for designing a map/level for Natural-Selection. I then went to a bunch of Natural-Selection mapping websites. I downloaded a few Natural-Selection tutorials on how to map. I tried to contact quite a few of the mappers to interview them but never received an answer.
Comments
In the testing part you mention worldcraft AND Hammer. Now, this baffles me. I mean, heck, I'm completely utterly confused by this. Why? Hammer -IS- Worldcraft. Worldcraft is an older version of hammer.
Also.. as for compiling, that usually has nothing to do with the editor itself, but the complie tools you are using. I mean, if I were to use, say XP-Cageys tools, it wouldn't matter if I built the map with Quark or Hammer. So, yeah.. The test that you did the mapping program test with was extremely old. Oh.. and to my knowledge there are no WAD files on the NS website containing any information or tools for that matter.. The last time I checked all WADs have are textures...
Anyways, short of nitpicking at the fine details that really wouldn't matter unless the person marking the paper knew how to map already... I saw no large flaws.. but then again, I didn't really look for any.. just kinda looked for the info that seemed out of place.. oops <!--emo&::nerdy::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/nerd.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='nerd.gif'><!--endemo-->
Heehee. its funny though.. Cause I'm a complete mapping nub. Go go gadet poorly textured box!
Oh.. and U235 is right... Really, don't show that to anyone.. infact, you shouldn't have even shown it to us.
Stupid people will laugh at you for being a geek and geeks will laugh at you for being wrong <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->It has been on market for about eight years. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Half-Life was released just over five years ago. And you should probably mention Counter-Strike, as well, if only because of its immense popularity.
we use video cameras between districts she, Trusty Murphy(teacher), teaches in the next county so we never see her, just watch her and do papers and stuff.
Once again if anyone see any spelling errors, grammar errors or has a suggestion please reply. Thx.
I then began reading up on the Natural-Selection tutorials to see what all of the MOD specific entities, objects/monsters, so I would have a better understanding of the MOD and how it works. After that I unpacked the downloaded .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information into my Half-Life Directory, the location of Half-Life on my computer.
I was finally ready to began making a map for Natural-Selection. Before I started making the map I began an outline on a piece of paper with the help of my brother, Richard, because he is good at designing maps. We kept changing the map until we had the one we liked the best, it took a couple days to finish this stage. I then began the mapping by starting the basic structuring: I just made the hallways and rooms, it only took about five to six days. After I finished with the basic structuring I started to put detail into the map: a box here, a box there, some chairs here, a window there, stuff like that. Then I put in that MOD’s necessities: res nodes, spawn points and a Command Center. After that the map was actually playable so I tested it, while playing it I found a few bugs in my map: I found a leak, some points were spawning me in the ground and just some clipping problems. When I fixed those I started making entities: I created some doors that you can open or close, some light switches, buttons for ramps and buttons for elevators. Having finished all of the constructing I started texturing the map so that it would all balance with the maps lighting: darker textures in light areas and light textures in dark areas. I then began put in accessories into the map to give it some life: add a dripping sprite here, steam spray sprite there, water surface movement here, and other things.
All this took a couple of weeks to complete, I forwarded my now completed, workable, playable map to a few mapping sites and some clan, group of people who play together under a team name(for example: [NW]Rich or [NW]mullet, mine is [LoDw]keef), sites so that they might put my level on their server for people to play. I don’t know if they ever put my map on because I’m only aloud to play on the computer an hour and fifteen minutes a day. The clan sites I know are all on the east coast, Europe and West Asia so the only time I play with them in the morning or late at night. I now had an official Natural-Selection map.
Through this project I had learned to map for Half-Life and its MOD Natural-Selection. I can not only map basics but I have also learned to add entities in my map, make ladders, elevators and ramps that move. I can now make buttons to activate objects. I know how to make textures blend and relate to the lighting of the different areas. I’m should now be able to map for Half-Life2 when it comes out this spring.
I’m walking down a dark hallway; the only sound is the sparking of the broken light as it flashes on and off. All of the rooms in this building have been clean white walls, almost untouched by the fighting, but this hallway has green growths on the walls and floor. The are crates in the hallway blocking my line of sight. Crouching I pull out my mp5, a light arms machinegun, and start crawling forward, making almost no sound. As I pass the first crate I hear a scratching sound. I stop and listen, no sound now. I continue forward. I pass the second crate without incident. As I reach the third crate I step on a piece of alien growth and it makes a sound like the crunching of an egg. I stop and listen, nothing, then I hear a sharp, “tap-tap-tap-tap-tap…” and it gets louder, coming from every direction. I stand up and put my finger on the trigger. Something about the size of a flattened soccer ball with four little claw like legs crawls out from behind a crate ten feet in front of me, a headcrab, it leaps at me. I fire a quick burst and tag it in midair, its mangled body flies past me hitting the crate behind me with a deadening thunk. I can still hear more tapping. Dozens of headcrabs start coming around the corner and vents in front of me up the hallway. I fire a clip into the mass of them, a few die but not enough. I toss a detpack, a C4 charge with a remote trigger, into the middle of the hallway and start sprinting back the way I came. I reach the end of the hallway and rush through the closest door. I close the door, push a desk in front of it and back into the farthest corner of the room. I click the trigger, a deafening explosion rocks the room, and the door is blown open pushing the desk back. Getting up where the explosion had knocked me back I walk through the remnants of the door into the hallway. There are pieces of headcrabs everywhere. I listen for a moment for anymore tapping, nothing. I walk through the remains of the crates, headcrabs and the hallway. As I turn the corner marines storm through the far door, they spot me and start firing.
My topic is going to be on how to map for Half-Life. Half-Life is a first person PC video game. The storyline is about a scientist, Gordon Freeman, who works in a black ops secret lab in New Mexico. When one day at work a teleporter experiment goes horribly wrong opening a connection between Earth and an alien world called Xen. Gordon freeman has to escape military “Clean Up Crews,” escape the Xen aliens and go to Xen to destroy the aliens means of transportation to Earth.
Half-Life is played by millions of people each day. It is one of the most famous video games that exists and is the longest played video game while keeping a huge community of fans and supporters. It has been on market for about eight years. I want to learn about this topic so that my friend, Eddy, and I can create our own maps and maybe create our own MOD, a modification using the games engine to pretty much create your own game. We really want to start mapping, designing 3D layouts of the type of environment; such as desert ruins you could fight in, that we want to be able to play on now because Half-Life 2 is coming out between December and April and the Half-Life designers posted on their site that if you know how to map well with Half-Life mapping then you will be able to easily map with Half-Life 2, which we want to do as soon as it comes out.
I should be able to get a lot of information about Half-Life mapping. There are numerous websites about mapping that I would be able to go to for tutorials. Maybe if I go to a mapper’s website I could learn ‘Tips & Tricks’ they have already learned from their experience as a mapper. If I ever have problems I could go to about any Half-Life site and ask questions on the forums. Most sites even have specific sections for mapping problems and questions. I can also learn helpful hints about MOD making from ‘Half-Life Radio. They always interview MOD makers: people who design their own game using the Half-Life engine. They interview modelers: someone who designs object structuring, such as designing the structure of a car so it can be driven in the game. They also interview skinners: someone who designs the graphic layout of a model, such as having a car model without a color and design so a skinner draws a picture of a car window, license plate, and other accessories, puts it on the car and makes the car look like a car. I think I may be able to model, texture and skin for Half-Life when I Finish this report. I may be able to interview a minor MOD designer or a designer of a semi famous MOD that isn’t to publicized, like Battlegrounds. So I might be able to interview someone from battlegrounds even though it is a pretty famous MOD because the designers aren’t publicized at all. But that may be hard because like I said, they aren’t publicized so it may be hard to get a hold of them.
I find the thought of mapping for Half-Life interesting because I have been playing Half-Life maps and MODs since Half-Life first came out and I am really impressed by the maps and MODs made by all of these famous computer nerds. No one knew or cared about them before they made their maps and MODs. I want to be able to put in my two cents to the Half-Life community. I think I will eventually be able to map for Half-Life because I have been able to map for other games even though Half-Life is a very difficult engine to use. I hope to create an official map for some MOD for my X-paper, I’m hoping to make a map for Natural-Selection because it is my favorite MOD for Half-Life even though mapping for Natural-Selection is suppose to harder than mapping for Half-Life.
First I will have to get the halflife editor. The are numerous places I could get the half life editor. The most obvious choice would be planet halflife. I could get it at other places too the other places I might be able to find it is at like <a href='http://www.modcentral.com' target='_blank'>http://www.modcentral.com</a> because it focuses a lot on making maps and MODs. I will also have to find a editor for the specific mod I want to map for. I have to find a specific MOD editor no matter what cause the way that Valve(the company that designed the game) set it up they made everything a MOD, even the actual game itself. Which makes it easier to make, edit, and design MOD’s.
When researching I discovered a site called HalflifeWorkshop, it shows how to start Half-Life mapping. Workshop first told me to get a variety of map editors; there are a few tests it told me to run on all of the map editors first. It told me to first learned how to make basic objects on all of the five editors I had downloaded: WorldCraft, Qoole99, BSP, Hammer and QERadiant. Then it told me to run a speed test on all of the editors, I designed a small pyramid type room on all of the editors and timed myself on making them. WorldCraft, Qoole99 and BSP took way longer to make the room than the other editors so I marked them for that. The next test was the feature test; the features test is really just a test that's based on your opinion. All I had to do is open up maps already created by valve and fiddle around with the editor's various features like clipping, regioning, VisGroups, Visual Texturing, and so on. This isn't the most important test but it allowed me to see where some editors get their edge over others. I didn’t really like how WorldCraft and QERadiant handled so I marked them for the feature test. The third test was the compiling test, the compiling test allowed me to see how certain editors handle the compiling of maps into the final .bsp's. I'll be doing this every time I play a level so it's good test. All I had to do is open up any map, add a few areas or small bits of architecture and then see if I could find out a way to immediately run the map without looking at the help. If I was able to run the map, play it, build some more, and repeat the process within a half-hour all by myself, then I didn’t mark it off. With BSP and Qoole99 it took me around an hour to run the test so I marked them for the compiling test. The fourth test was the combine test, this test is just a relapse of all the other test combined. I would be building, adding, compiling, and testing for this test. Workshop said this test usually takes the longest but it usually helps to decide everything the quickest. I start a new level that had four rooms, a few doors, monsters, the works like Workshop said. A regular, playable level. Then I took another editor and tried to duplicate it. Workshop said if you get halfway through and throw your arms up in the air giving up...this editor is not for you. I got very frustrated with Qoole99 and WorldCraft so I marked them down for it. Having completed all of the tests I saw that the Valve Hammer editor did the best on all tests so I chose this one to use for all further designing.
Next I had to find tools for my editor, I searched planethalflife and found a file called ‘Half-Life Tool Pack.’ Someone had taken forty-one best and most used Half-Life editor tools and placed them all in one folder. The pack contained a lot of necessities needed for mapping or designing a MOD. It had modeling programs, so you could create/design your own custom models. Texturing kits, used for changing or creating your own textures. Map viewers, so you can see what a map would look like and go around in it when it isn’t completed and unplayable, it’s also faster than having to open the game and loading up your map/level every time since it is open as you’re making the level. A model viewer, so you can open model files and see what they look like without having to place them in your level prematurely just to see what they look like. Sprite viewers, used so that you can view sprites as they are not viewable through a map viewer or Valve Hammer editor, sprites are picture files with animation. Terrain generators, used to create realistic terrain for the map rather than just the basic shapes like: block, wedge, cylinder, spike and arch. A leak marker, to find leaks in your map/level, in Half-Life there is a huge room that is not considered textured, a solid or anything, it is the boundary of how big you can build your level, when you have a leak it makes the game read the entire huge room instead of just the small rooms that you have made in your map therefore in reading the huge room it slows down the game horribly making the map run very slowly. Compilers, so your map can be put into a bunch of different formats to be ran on other computers. Launchers for launching the map during creation, to launch to not just play the level but test things on your map while doing so and to launch the map even if it has an error so you can fix it. C++, C++ is a program the allow you to deign, change and create programs. MODing tools, tools for you own custom logos and other accessories if you are going to design your own MOD. Extractors, programs used to take apart a compressed, uneditable or acessable, file much like Winzip or PowerArchiver unpacks a .zip file so you can access the stuff inside it. And audio editors in case you have custom sounds on your map. There are many variations of programs for different uses and some programs I wouldn’t need or be able to use.
So I was almost set for tools since there were more tools in the ‘Half-Life tool pack’ then I would probably use. But I still needed a tool set for the specific MOD I was going to design for. I wanted to design for Natural-Selection so I went to their website and go the .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information, I has all the custom models, nodes, textures and other accessories needed for designing a map/level for Natural-Selection. I then went to a bunch of Natural-Selection mapping websites. I downloaded a few Natural-Selection tutorials on how to map. I tried to contact quite a few of the mappers to interview them but never received an answer.
I then began reading up on the Natural-Selection tutorials to see what all of the MOD specific entities, objects/monsters, so I would have a better understanding of the MOD and how it works. After that I unpacked the downloaded .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information into my Half-Life Directory, the location of Half-Life on my computer.
I was finally ready to began making a map for Natural-Selection. Before I started making the map I began an outline on a piece of paper with the help of my brother, Richard, because he is good at designing maps. We kept changing the map until we had the one we liked the best, it took a couple days to finish this stage. I then began the mapping by starting the basic structuring: I just made the hallways and rooms, it only took about five to six days. After I finished with the basic structuring I started to put detail into the map: a box here, a box there, some chairs here, a window there, stuff like that. Then I put in that MOD’s necessities: res nodes, spawn points and a Command Center. After that the map was actually playable so I tested it, while playing it I found a few bugs in my map: I found a leak, some points were spawning me in the ground and just some clipping problems. When I fixed those I started making entities: I created some doors that you can open or close, some light switches, buttons for ramps and buttons for elevators. Having finished all of the constructing I started texturing the map so that it would all balance with the maps lighting: darker textures in light areas and light textures in dark areas. I then began put in accessories into the map to give it some life: add a dripping sprite here, steam spray sprite there, water surface movement here, and other things.
All this took a couple of weeks to complete, I forwarded my now completed, workable, playable map to a few mapping sites and some clan, group of people who play together under a team name(for example: [NW]Rich or [NW]mullet, mine is [LoDw]keef), sites so that they might put my level on their server for people to play. I don’t know if they ever put my map on because I’m only aloud to play on the computer an hour and fifteen minutes a day. The clan sites I know are all on the east coast, Europe and West Asia so the only time I play with them in the morning or late at night. I now had an official Natural-Selection map.
Through this project I had learned to map for Half-Life and its MOD Natural-Selection. I can not only map basics but I have also learned to add entities in my map, make ladders, elevators and ramps that move. I can now make buttons to activate objects. I know how to make textures blend and relate to the lighting of the different areas. I’m should now be able to map for Half-Life2 when it comes out this spring. I’m still along way from being close to making a MOD of my own, I discovered if I’m to learn how to make my own MOD I will have to learn to model and program and I’m not even close to learning how to do that. I now understand what all of the info people have on their maps means. I cannot model, program or skin for Half-Life but I have learned a great deal about texturing which is considered one of the biggest aspects of maps by a lot of Half-Life fans, “There is just something about the good texturing of a map that gives it life,” bigD. So I feel I have one of the most important aspects of mapping down. I plan to keep mapping so I can get better at it and maybe if I get good enough I can get a good map in a map pack.
I feel my original hypothesis was fairly correct. I learned how to do most of the things I said. I feel that this investigation went very well. I was satisfied with how my search went, I found plenty of programs needed for my project, I found quite a few Half-Life tutorials and a couple of Natural-Selection based tutorials. My outcome was great, it was great because I finally made a working Half-Life map. I will now be more familiar with mapping for other games too. Half-Life I a game most companies that make 3D shooter games base their editors off of. There usually are only minor changes in map editors of Half-Life and other games.
There is a couple of reasons I wanted and still want to make maps for Half-Life and other games. One reason I make the maps is because I like to figure out things and build things. Another reason is that I like to support the communities of games I like, I like playing Half-Life so try to support it a lot but I hate the snobs who play Red Faction so every time I play that I flame, talk crap, to all of the snobs. The third reason I want to make the maps is because I want to add variety to what people can play; I like it when you can choose what kinds of maps you want to play. The last reason I wanted and still want to make maps for Half-Life is because I think its kind of cool that people all over the world might play my map, all those people out there playing my map I don’t even know. Those are the reason I wanted and still want to make maps for Half-Life.
I'm so famous.....so very famous.
Or would you like me to read it anyways?
haha, alrite then. I'll give it a shot, but I should sleep soon too <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> so only one shot.
BIG LONG PAPER<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yea, I would sure hope that's not a college paper. You'd get smacked down so fast...unless you went to some crap college out in the boonies.
I'm not sure what your theme or thesis for that paper is, but grammarical and structural/descriptive problems in the first paragraph might include:
1st: <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I’m walking down a dark hallway; the only sound is the sparking of the broken light as it flashes on and off.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
-depending on how formal your paper is, you probably want to use "I was" or "I am" instead of "I'm"
-"the sparking of the broken light as it flashes on and off" is a redundant sentance; if a light is flashing it's clearly going on and off....what else would it be doing? Showing you its breasts? I would recommend, " the sparking of a flickering light, which was clearly broken." (probably with better word-choice, ie 'in disrepair' instead of broken).
-make sure you change that to "a broken light" at least..."the broken light" isn't right, because you haven't referenced it before.
2nd: <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->All of the rooms in this building have been clean white walls, almost untouched by the fighting, but this hallway has green growths on the walls and floor. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
-"have been clean white walls" makes no sense...you don't need that been. I would also suggest better word choice
-"untouched by the fighting" doesn't fit well; you've dropped the reader into some abysmal place where they have no reference
-I would suggest breaking it into two sentances; in a way I would write it, since you don't seem to be in a room:
---The hall I am in now has white paneling, which seems untouched by the gun battles raging throughout the complex. However, there is something different about it; there are green growths attached to the walls and the floor.
-Make sure you keep the same verb tense. In the first sentance you have "I'm" (present), here you have "have" (past).
3rd: <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The are crates in the hallway blocking my line of sight. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
-while this can relate to your 'mapping' theme, you haven't introduced it yet. I doubt your teacher will read through and read again for what she missed.
-I would suggest "There are crates in my path, blocking my view down the hall." with possibly more description.
4th: <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Crouching I pull out my mp5, a light arms machinegun, and start crawling forward, making almost no sound.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
-"While crouching down I pull out my MP5" would seem to work better.
-an MP5 is generally defined as a sub-machinegun...never heard of 'light arms machinegun' before.
-making no sound is tacked on badly, include it as an adjective in the second clause: and start quietly (stealthily, clandestinely (sorry, no dictionary, spellings probably off)) crawling forward."
-also note that crawling is generally not what happens after you crouch...crawling is generally on your belly.
6th:<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I stop and listen, no sound now.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
-your second clause is kind of bland, I would suggest: "I stop and listen, but all is quiet."
-it's hard to avoid passive construction in this sentance, but I guess you need it. ..."I stop and listen, but the hallway lays silent." sort of works...but lay is a terrible verb for that.
Errr, must sleep now..can't do anymore. Generally if you read the paper yourself, aloud, you'll pick up quite a few errors. You just have to make sure your brain doesn't correct them as you go, leaving them on the paper. Your writing should be as fluid as your speech (...depending on how fluid your speech is). I would also recommend seperating your paragraphs on the forums (through blank lines instead of just indenting)...it's fairly intimidating and no one will want to read all of it.
Well thx for the helpful tips. thats one of my biggest problems when correcting my own paper, I just mentaly fix my errors in my head so dont even notice them. alot of the time when im reading outloud too. lol <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Most sites even have specific sections for mapping problems and questions. I can also learn helpful hints about MOD making from ‘Half-Life Radio.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is in your first post. Notice that apostrophe near Half-Life Radio? Is it supposed to be there, or is something missing?
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->They also interview skinners: someone who designs the graphic layout of a model, such as having a car model without a color and design so a skinner draws a picture of a car window, license plate, and other <b>accessories. and</b> puts it on the car to make the car look like a car.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What's that dot doing there?
Comment: You sometimes switch from present tense to past tense, and it makes things confusing.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> A leak marker, to find leaks in your map/level, in Half-Life there is a huge room that is not considered textured, a solid or anything, it is the boundary of how big you can build your level, when you have a leak it makes the game read the entire huge room instead of just the small rooms that you have made in your map therefore in reading the huge room it slows down the game horribly making the map run very slowly. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Run-on sentence here, let's give it a makeover, shall we?
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->MODing tools, tools for <b>you</b> own custom logos and other accessories if you are going to design your own MOD. Extractors, programs used to take apart a compressed, uneditable or <b>acessable</b>, file much like Winzip or PowerArchiver unpacks a .zip file so you can access the stuff inside it.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I wanted to design for Natural-Selection so I went to their website and <b>go</b> the .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information, <b>I</b> has all the custom models, nodes, textures and other accessories needed for designing a map/level for Natural-Selection.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Spelling errors.
Your updated post:
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I then began reading up on the Natural-Selection tutorials to see <b>what</b> all of the MOD specific entities, objects/monsters, so I would have a better understanding of the MOD and how it works.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This sentence makes no sense, although it would if you removed "what." However, try and remember what this sentence was supposed to say first, just in case.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> After that I unpacked the downloaded .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information into my Half-Life Directory, the location of Half-Life on my computer. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This sentence makes no sense either, but I can't figure out what you're trying to say. It's not worded correctly.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><b>I’m</b> should now be able to map for Half-Life2 when it comes out this spring.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Let's change that to "I should now," shall we? <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Whew! Well, on to your last humongous chunk; I'm going to have to dig through it to find your last part. (I'm thinking seperating this into organized paragraphs would be nice by now, and am quite pleased to find some. And then I'm thinking that maybe there should be more spacing between paragraphs, because my eyes still hurt. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> )
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I’m still <b>along</b> way from being close to making a MOD of my <b>own,</b> I discovered if I’m to learn how to make my own MOD I will have to learn to model and <b>program and</b> I’m not even close to learning how to do that.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Seperate "along" into two words, the comma after "own" should be a semicolon, and while we're at it, let's drop a comma in between "program" and "and."
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I now understand what all of the info people have on their maps <b>means</b>.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mean would be a nice replacement for means.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Half-Life <b>I</b> a game most companies that make 3D shooter games base their editors off of. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Methinks "is" belongs there instead of "I."
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Another reason is that I like to support the communities of games I <b>like,</b> I like playing Half-Life so try to support it a lot but I hate the snobs who play Red Faction so every time I play that I flame, talk crap, to all of the snobs. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Semicolon after "like" instead of a comma. And er, your teacher won't think you're judgemental and snobby with that comment about Red Faction, right?
-------
Well, I know I probably missed some mistakes, but I sure hope that helps. Otherwise, it looks fine <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> Ciao! ...it's 11:30, so I'd better finish up my homework and start on my two essays. <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
This is going to be brief, as I'm in a hurry. I haven't touched on lots of things. Find them yourself, ya lazy bum! (;
I hope you spotted that it should be "there are".
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Crouching I pull out my mp5, a light arms machinegun, and start crawling forward, making almost no sound.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Put a comma after "crouching."
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->My topic is going to be on how to map for Half-Life. Half-Life is a first person PC video game...<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The idea of the first paragraph was to pull the reader in, correct? This stark sentence slaps them back out of it. Maybe try something like, "This is just a typical anecdote from the game Half-Life, a first person PC video game." The teacher already knows that you're supposedly talking about how to create maps for it - it should be at the top of the page, since it's the title, right?
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I want to learn about this topic......First I will have to get the halflife editor...The are numerous places I could get the half life editor...<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sort out your tenses. It sounds like you're writing this before you "learnt" how to map for Half-Life, which sounds silly (to put it nicely). And the "there are" thing again.
I can't speak for your teacher, but the impression I got was that you were desperately looking for ways to "pad" the essay out. I will do this, I will do that....try to be a little less mechanical. It's like saying, "See Spot run. Run, Spot, run."
I would agree with Gecko on reading it aloud to yourself -- you do have a whole bunch of errors here and there. Otherwise, I don't know how formal this thing is supposed to be, so I can't comment on your writing style.
ok heres a version that i have fixed a bit on so far
just a bunch of spelling errors and stuff
I?m walking down a dark hallway; the only sound is the sparking of a broken light as it flashes on and off. All of the rooms in this building have clean white walls, almost untouched by the fighting, but this hallway has green growth on the walls and floor. There are crates in the hallway blocking my line of sight. Crouching I pull out my mp5, a light arms machinegun, and start crawling forward, making almost no sound. As I pass the first crate I hear a scratching sound. I stop and listen, no sound now. I continue forward. I pass the second crate without incident. As I reach the third crate I step on a piece of the alien growth and it makes a sound like the crunching of an egg. Alarmed, I stop and listen, nothing, then I hear a sharp, ?Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap?? and it gets louder, coming from every direction. I stand up and put my finger on the trigger. Something about the size of a flattened soccer ball with four little claw like legs crawls out from behind a crate ten feet in front of me, a headcrab, it leaps at me. I fire a quick burst and tag it in midair, its mangled body flies past me hitting the crate behind me with a deadening thud. I can still hear more tapping. Dozens of headcrabs start coming around the corner and vents in front of me up the hallway. I fire a clip into the mass of them; a few die but not enough. I toss a detpack, C4 charge with a remote trigger, into the middle of the hallway and start sprinting back the way I came. I reach the end of the hallway and rush through the closest door. I close the door, push a desk in front of it and back into the farthest corner of the room. I click the trigger, then a deafening explosion rocks the room, and the door is blown open, pushing the desk back. Getting up from where the explosion had knocked me back, walk through the remnants of the door into the hallway. There are pieces of headcrabs everywhere. I listen for a moment for more tapping, I hear nothing. I walk through the remains of the crates, headcrabs and the hallway. As I turn the corner marines storm through the far door, they spot me and start firing.
My topic is going to be on how to make maps for Half-Life. Half-Life is a first person PC video game. The storyline is about a scientist, Gordon Freeman, who works in a black ops secret lab in New Mexico. When one day at work a teleporting experiment goes horribly wrong, opening a connection between Earth and an alien world called Xen. Gordon Freeman has to escape military ?Clean Up Crews,? escape the Xen aliens and go to Xen to destroy the machines the aliens use to transport to Earth.
Half-Life is played by millions of people each day. It is one of the most famous video games that exists and is the longest played video game while keeping a huge community of fans and supporters. It has been on market for about eight years. I want to learn about this topic so that my friend, Eddy, and I can create our own maps and maybe create our own MOD, a modification using the games engine to pretty much create your own game. We really want to start mapping, designing 3D layouts of the type of environment; such as desert ruins you could fight in, that we want to be able to play on, now because Half-Life 2 is coming out between December and April and the Half-Life designers posted on their site that if you know how to map well with Half-Life mapping then you will be able to easily map with Half-Life 2, which we want to do as soon as it comes out.
I should be able to get a lot of information about Half-Life mapping. There are numerous websites about mapping that I would be able to go to for tutorials. Maybe if I go to a mapper?s website I could check out ?Tips & Tricks? they have already learned from their experience as a mapper. If I ever have problems I could go to about any Half-Life site and ask questions on the forums. Most forums even have specific sections for mapping problems and questions. I can also learn helpful hints about MOD making from ?Half-Life Radio.? They always interview MOD makers: people who design their own game using the Half-Life engine. They interview modelers: someone who designs object structuring, such as designing the structure of a car so it can be driven in the game. They also interview skinners: someone who designs the graphic layout of a model, such as having a car model without a color and design so a skinner draws a picture of a car window, license plate, and other accessories, puts it on the car and makes the car look like a car. I think I may be able to model, texture and skin for Half-Life when I finish this report. I may be able to interview a minor MOD designer or a designer of a semi famous MOD that isn?t to publicized, such as Battlegrounds. So I might be able to interview someone from Battlegrounds even though it is a pretty famous MOD because the designers aren?t publicized at all. But that may be hard to get a hold of them because like I said, they aren?t publicized.
I find the thought of mapping for Half-Life interesting because I have been playing Half-Life maps and MODs since Half-Life first came out and I am really impressed by the maps and MODs made by all of these famous computer nerds. No one knew or cared about them before they made their maps and MODs. I want to be able to put in my two cents to the Half-Life community. I think I will eventually be able to map for Half-Life, even though Half-Life is a very difficult engine to use because I have been able to map for other games. I hope to create an official map for some MOD for my X-paper, I?m hoping to make a map for Natural-Selection because it is my favorite MOD for Half-Life even though mapping for Natural-Selection is suppose to harder than mapping for regular Half-Life.
First I will have to get a Half-Life editor. The are numerous places I could get the a Half-Life editor. The most obvious choice would be planethalflife. I could get one at other places too, the other places I might be able to find one is at like <a href='http://www.modcentral.com' target='_blank'>http://www.modcentral.com</a> because it focuses a lot on making maps and MODs. I will also have to find an editor for the specific mod I want to map for. I have to find a specific MOD editor no matter what cause the way that Valve(the company that designed the game) set it up they made everything a MOD, even the actual game itself. Which makes it easier to make, edit, and design MOD?s.
When researching I discovered a site called HalflifeWorkshop, it shows how to start Half-Life mapping. Workshop first says to get a variety of map editors; there are a few tests it says to run on all of the map editors first. It says to first learned how to make basic objects on all of the five editors I had downloaded: WorldCraft, Qoole99, BSP, Hammer and QERadiant. Then it says to run a speed test on all of the editors, I designed a small pyramid type room on all of the editors and timed myself on making them. WorldCraft, Qoole99 and BSP took way longer to make the room than the other editors so I marked them for that. The next test was the feature test; the features test is really just a test that's based on your opinion. All I had to do is open up maps already created by valve and fiddle around with the editor's various features like clipping, regioning, VisGroups, Visual Texturing, and so on. This isn't the most important test but it allowed me to see where some editors get their edge over others. I didn?t really like how WorldCraft and QERadiant handled so I marked them for the feature test. The third test was the compiling test, the compiling test allowed me to see how certain editors handle the compiling of maps into the final .bsp's. I'll be doing this every time I play a level so it's good test. All I had to do is open up any map, add a few areas or small bits of architecture and then see if I could find out a way to immediately run the map without looking at the help. If I was able to run the map, play it, build some more, and repeat the process within a half-hour all by myself, then I didn?t mark it off. With BSP and Qoole99 it took me around an hour to run the test so I marked them for the compiling test. The fourth test was the combine test, this test is just a relapse of all the other test combined. I would be building, adding, compiling, and testing for this test. Workshop said this test usually takes the longest but it usually helps to decide everything the quickest. I start a new level that had four rooms, a few doors, monsters, the works like Workshop said for me to do. Creating a regular, playable level. Then I took another editor and tried to duplicate it. Workshop said ?If you get halfway through and throw your arms up in the air giving up...this editor is not for you.? I got very frustrated with Qoole99 and WorldCraft, so I marked them down for it. Having completed all of the tests I saw that the Valve Hammer editor did the best on all tests so I chose this one to use for all further designing.
Next I had to find tools for my editor, I searched planethalflife and found a file called ?Half-Life Tool Pack.? Someone had taken forty-one best and most used Half-Life editor tools and placed them all in one folder. The pack contained a lot of necessities needed for mapping or designing a MOD. It had modeling programs, so you could create/design your own custom models. Texturing kits, used for changing or creating your own textures. Map viewers, so you can see what a map would look like and go around in it when it isn?t completed and unplayable, it?s also faster than having to open the game and loading up your map/level every time since it is open as you?re making the level. A model viewer, so you can open model files and see what they look like without having to place them into your level prematurely just to see what they look like. Sprite viewers, used so that you can view sprites, as they are not viewable through a map viewer or Valve Hammer editor, sprites are picture files with animation. Terrain generators, used to create realistic terrain for the map rather than just the basic shapes like: block, wedge, cylinder, spike and arch. A leak marker, to find leaks in your map/level, in Half-Life there is a huge room that is not considered textured, a solid or anything, it is the boundary of how big you can build your level, when you have a leak it makes the game read the entire huge room instead of just the small rooms that you have made your map out of, therefore when the game reads the huge room it slows down the game horribly making the map run very slowly. Compilers, so your map can be put into a bunch of different formats to be ran on other computers. Launchers for launching the map during creation, to launch to not just play the level but test things on your map while doing so and to launch the map even if it has an error so you can fix it. C++, C++ is a program the allow you to deign, change and create programs. MODing tools, tools for you own custom logos and other accessories if you are going to design your own MOD. Extractors, programs used to take apart a compressed, uneditable or acessable, file much like Winzip or PowerArchiver unpacks a .zip file so you can access the stuff inside it. And audio editors in case you have custom sounds on your map. There are many variations of programs for different uses and some programs I wont need or be able to use.
So I was almost set for tools since there were more tools in the ?Half-Life tool pack? then I would probably use. But I still needed a tool set for the specific MOD I was going to design for. I wanted to design for Natural-Selection so I went to their website and go the .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information, I has all the custom models, nodes, textures and other accessories needed for designing a map/level for Natural-Selection. I then went to a bunch of Natural-Selection mapping websites. I downloaded a few Natural-Selection tutorials on how to map. I tried to contact quite a few of the mappers so that I could interview them but never received an answer.
I then began reading up on the Natural-Selection tutorials to see what all of the MOD specific entities, objects/monsters, were so I would have a better understanding of the MOD and how it works. After that I unpacked the downloaded .wad file containing all of the Natural-Selection tools and information into my Half-Life Directory, the location of Half-Life on my computer.
I was finally ready to began making a map for Natural-Selection. Before I started making the map I began an outline on a piece of paper, with the help of my brother, Richard, because he is good at designing maps. We kept changing the map until we had the one we liked the best, it took a couple days to finish this stage. I then began the mapping by starting the basic structuring: I just made the hallways and rooms; it only took about five to six days. After I finished with the basic structuring I started to put detail into the map: a box here, a box there, some chairs here, a window there, stuff like that. Then I put in the Natural-Selection MOD necessities: res nodes, spawn points and a Command Center. After that the map was actually playable so I tested it, while playing it I found a few bugs in my map: I found a leak, some points were spawning me in the ground and some clipping problems. When I fixed those I started making entities: I created some doors that you can open or close, some light switches, buttons for ramps and buttons for elevators. Having finished all of the constructing I started texturing the map so that it would all balance with the maps lighting: darker textures in light areas and light textures in dark areas. I then began put in accessories into the map to give it some life: add a dripping sprite here, steam spray sprite there, water surface movement here, and other things.
All this took a couple of weeks to complete, I forwarded my now completed, workable, playable map to a few mapping sites and some clan, group of people who play together under a team name(for example: [NW]Rich or [NW]mullet, mine is [LoDw]keef), websites so that they might put my level on their server for people to play. I don?t know if they ever put my map on because I?m only aloud to play on the computer an hour and fifteen minutes a day. The clan sites I know are all on the east coast, Europe and West Asia so the only time I play with them in the morning or late at night. I now had an official Natural-Selection map.
Through this project I had learned to map for Half-Life and its MOD Natural-Selection. I can map basics but I have also learned to add entities in my map, make ladders, elevators and ramps that move. I can now also make buttons to activate objects. I know how to make textures blend and relate to the lighting of the different areas in the map. I?m should now be able to map for Half-Life2 when it comes out this spring. I?m still along way from being close to making a MOD of my own, I discovered if I?m to learn how to make my own MOD I will have to learn to model and program and I?m not even close to learning how to do that. I now understand what all of the info people have on their maps means. I cannot model, program or skin for Half-Life but I have learned a great deal about texturing which is considered one of the biggest aspects of maps by a lot of Half-Life fans, ?There is just something about the good texturing of a map that gives it life,? bigD. So I feel I have one of the most important aspects of mapping down. I plan to keep mapping so I can get better at it and maybe if I get good enough I can get a good map in a map pack.
I feel my original hypothesis was fairly correct. I learned how to do most of the things I said. I feel that this investigation went very well. I was satisfied with how my search went, I found plenty of programs needed for my project, I found quite a few Half-Life tutorials and a couple of Natural-Selection based tutorials. My outcome was great, it was great because I finally made a working Half-Life map. I will now be more familiar with mapping for other games too. Most game companies that make 3D shooter games base their editors off of Half-Life. There usually are only minor differences in map editors of Half-Life and other games.
There are a couple of reasons I wanted and still want to make maps for Half-Life and other games. One reason I make the maps is because I like to figure out things and build things. Another reason is that I like to support the communities of games I like, I like playing Half-Life so try to support it a lot but I hate the snobs who play Red Faction so every time I play that game I flame, talk crap, to all of the snobs. The third reason I want to make the maps is because I want to add variety to what people can play; I like it when you can choose what kinds of maps you want to play. The last reason I wanted and still want to make maps for Half-Life is because I think its kind of cool that people all over the world might play my map, all those people out there playing my map I don?t even know it. Those are the reasons I wanted and still want to make maps for Half-Life.
1introduce the topic
the first section is your opportunity to introduce your topic, your research question, and give reasons why you have chosen this topic to investigate. this is your opportunity ti let the skills you have gained in "show-dont-tell" shine. Get the reader interested in your topic, discuss how you intend to find answers(your research stradegy), and discuss what you think youi will find when you are done with your investigation.
a. What is my topic? Can you phrase my topic in the form of a question?(if you cant its too broad!)
b. What can i read, who can i ask, waht can i do to find out more information about my topic?
c. What do i think i will find out at the end of my investigation of the topic? what is my hypothesis?
2 give a play by play of your investigation
In the second section of your X-paper, discuss what you did to find out more information on yout topic. discuss your research criteria (why did you use some information and not use other information), and talk about what you found from each source you investigated. Tell the reader where you looked, who you talked to, and what you did. Make sure you use direct quote or paraphrase from your sources to clairify each point. Use a "quote sandwich" (introduce quote, quote, explain quote) each time you quote from a source. cite each source according to MLA guidelines.
a. what research criterion did you use? how did you decide whether somethoing was relevent to your research or not? What were your particular guidlines?
b. where did you find information?
c. what information did you find? What did it say? (Cite it!)
d. Did a particular piece of information lead you to a new source? Toward a new understanding? How did each piece of information influence your ideas about the topic as you went along?
3Show your reader the big picture
The third section is your opportunity to wrap it all up. Synthesize(condense, bring together) all the information you learned in section two. Tell what conclusion you have come to, whether the information answered your origingal question, and wether or not your hypothesis was acurate. Finally, analyze your investigation and tell what you thought about what you found. Where you satisfied with the search and your outcome? Why or whynot? What purpose will this information serve in your life?
a. Now that you have all the facts, what do they mean? How do they relate to your original question?
b. how accurate was your original hypothesis?
c. now that you are finished with the investigation, how did it go? What were the difficulties an successes you encountered and how did the effect your eventual outcome?
Score.
no offence.. but its 08:27 and work starts in 30 mins... lol <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> maybe later..
wow, school starts in 7 hours...
i have anouther report to do too....
.....wow..... ......if I fall asleap.......
.......I'm screwed.......