Map Question (not "technical" One) ..opinions?
Haze
O RLY? Join Date: 2003-07-07 Member: 18018Members, Constellation
O RLY? Join Date: 2003-07-07 Member: 18018Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">-No Screenshots- Hell, not even a map.</div> I'm downloading and setting up hammer as we speak, and <i>trying</i> to get back into mapping since all these new tutorials are available, and I've got so much more freetime on my hands. Plus, I've always wanted to map, so..
Er, anyways.
I have a little piece of a layout drawn. A corridor, and two basic rooms with the basic design in premise. Nothing special, but something to start mapping on and continue off of.
The layout goes a little like this. The corridor is pretty influenced "shape wise" by the left corridor out of marine start from ns_eclipse. Just slice everything off from when you hit the marine start door, and then everything when you hit the fork in horseshoe. There is also no ramp as if its going down to horseshoe and is instead all on the same level of ground. Following the corridor is a large, circular room, about the size of the old ns_eclipse marine start.. only a massive circle. Very high roof as well. The entire left side of this circle and the corridor will always be lined with windows, with a lively green color (<i>not</i> teal) pouring into the corridors from the jungle themed world.
The entire left side of the corridor, like I said, will be glass. So that entire black line on the left side of the corridor is glass. All black lines (.. walls) past the dotted blue line on the left side of the large room will be glass.
<img src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/FischyStyx/bleh.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Now that thats out of the way, I'd like to ask a few questions for opinions and pointers before I start the map. They arent techical questions, like the ones in the sub forum, so I'm not sure where to stick it. If I'm wrong in my placement, please move this mod!
1- Is there anything I should take into account when trying to make this large circular room? Problems with making larger rooms? Technical issues with Half-Life? (as far as I know, HL doesnt like large rooms, so I know I'm already pushing it a little!)
2- I plan for the corridor to be very, very close to marine start, possibly the one connecting it and the big room together. Would making this corridor skulk friendly (IE dark vents lining both sides of the corridor to give plenty of ambush opportunites, maybe a fallen piece of debree) be a bad or good choice? I'd like to see marines get "safer" in terms of areas to guard as they move more towards the center of the map, and closer to the marine spawn is a bit more skulk friendly to keep them on their toes.
3- Is there honostly something wrong with me using green lighting as my primary light in these areas? It wont be <i>extremely</i> greet, just a lively light hue of it. But it wont be white, either.
4- Lastly, I'm trying to make my map feel like it takes place on more than one plane. As such, the center of the large room will have an opening to the planet surface down below, and a breif outside area before entering another area of the map. I plan to have a small elevator, and some overlapping areas of the map (not completely floor by floor, just walkways that are reached by alternate routes). The main question is, though, how many units should I keep my map between highth wise so its not a hassle for the commander to drop medpacks on his units or build an outpost elsewhere in the map? Is this somewhere in the FAQ or otherwise that I read over? <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Thanks for answering the questions or at least reading my post. Hopefully I can finish the map before next year.. >->;
Er, anyways.
I have a little piece of a layout drawn. A corridor, and two basic rooms with the basic design in premise. Nothing special, but something to start mapping on and continue off of.
The layout goes a little like this. The corridor is pretty influenced "shape wise" by the left corridor out of marine start from ns_eclipse. Just slice everything off from when you hit the marine start door, and then everything when you hit the fork in horseshoe. There is also no ramp as if its going down to horseshoe and is instead all on the same level of ground. Following the corridor is a large, circular room, about the size of the old ns_eclipse marine start.. only a massive circle. Very high roof as well. The entire left side of this circle and the corridor will always be lined with windows, with a lively green color (<i>not</i> teal) pouring into the corridors from the jungle themed world.
The entire left side of the corridor, like I said, will be glass. So that entire black line on the left side of the corridor is glass. All black lines (.. walls) past the dotted blue line on the left side of the large room will be glass.
<img src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/FischyStyx/bleh.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Now that thats out of the way, I'd like to ask a few questions for opinions and pointers before I start the map. They arent techical questions, like the ones in the sub forum, so I'm not sure where to stick it. If I'm wrong in my placement, please move this mod!
1- Is there anything I should take into account when trying to make this large circular room? Problems with making larger rooms? Technical issues with Half-Life? (as far as I know, HL doesnt like large rooms, so I know I'm already pushing it a little!)
2- I plan for the corridor to be very, very close to marine start, possibly the one connecting it and the big room together. Would making this corridor skulk friendly (IE dark vents lining both sides of the corridor to give plenty of ambush opportunites, maybe a fallen piece of debree) be a bad or good choice? I'd like to see marines get "safer" in terms of areas to guard as they move more towards the center of the map, and closer to the marine spawn is a bit more skulk friendly to keep them on their toes.
3- Is there honostly something wrong with me using green lighting as my primary light in these areas? It wont be <i>extremely</i> greet, just a lively light hue of it. But it wont be white, either.
4- Lastly, I'm trying to make my map feel like it takes place on more than one plane. As such, the center of the large room will have an opening to the planet surface down below, and a breif outside area before entering another area of the map. I plan to have a small elevator, and some overlapping areas of the map (not completely floor by floor, just walkways that are reached by alternate routes). The main question is, though, how many units should I keep my map between highth wise so its not a hassle for the commander to drop medpacks on his units or build an outpost elsewhere in the map? Is this somewhere in the FAQ or otherwise that I read over? <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Thanks for answering the questions or at least reading my post. Hopefully I can finish the map before next year.. >->;
Comments
As for Half-Life not liking big rooms... well, it's not that, if you make a huge empty box with the textures scaled to 15... <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
2.- I'm no layout expert, but I'd say that areas closer to the MS should be more Marine friendly (specially with the lighting), I think the guidelines say something about this, not sure.
3.- Any color will work if you use it well... I'd say you should at least "put" more than one color into a room, for contrast purposes, mainly.
4.- I don't think this is in the FAQ or in the guidelines, you have to get the "ideal" value with trial and error (you can use the coordinates of the side views in hammer as a reference)
I don't know if I helped you, but hey... <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
The vertical distance between floors is something that needs testing in the map. It's the mapper's call at the end of the day, but make sure the Commander can drop items/structures more-or-less where he intends them to go. What I would say is to make this distance small to begin with, as you can always increase the vertical componant in each room little-by-little if you feel you have the space, whereas scaling down your map is frustrating and can present difficulties.
[Edit] My personal advice is to theme your map as early on as possible and plan the layout accordingly. Giving your map a purpose will make thinking up locations and features much easier in the long-run.
if your room are circular with your 360 sides efects with 360 degrees of plenty view and looking for a valley of midle earth, so why the marines are closed inside a glass box ?
i wana see a ns_jungle where the lerks fly and skulkies climb trees and marines have to hide in the tall grass puting in extreme danger.
I plan to have very, very small sections of simi outdorish areas to keep within the theme of NS, but still something different. I'm just chugging along .. if you can call it chugging at all, <i>extremely</i> slowly. I finished all the brushwork (pretty much) for the first corridor, now I have to texture it, and put lighting in it. Then see how that looks to get the hang of everything and move onto the circular room. In between all that I have to continue the layout from what I've added on so far.