Ns_coolant
TinMan
Join Date: 2002-04-14 Member: 445Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Early status...</div>Hi there!
I finally managed to have enough time to build a level that once may become a playable scenario for natural selection...
I'd like to post some screenies like the others did, but I got a problem: The pics look far too dark, coz the do not show the gamma ramp (1.7) I have while playing.
About my level:
ns_coolant is an food cooling station that is infested by aliens, how ever they came in, standart routine, ya know?
The special is: Some areas sometimes are flooded with deadly coolant, so not all ways are always open (to make things more interesting).
I will post more screenies and a layout soon...
I finally managed to have enough time to build a level that once may become a playable scenario for natural selection...
I'd like to post some screenies like the others did, but I got a problem: The pics look far too dark, coz the do not show the gamma ramp (1.7) I have while playing.
About my level:
ns_coolant is an food cooling station that is infested by aliens, how ever they came in, standart routine, ya know?
The special is: Some areas sometimes are flooded with deadly coolant, so not all ways are always open (to make things more interesting).
I will post more screenies and a layout soon...
Comments
Good luck. <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->
I like your rooms, they would be good areas for a marine base but every area you showed us needs about 90% more lighting contrast. Different colored lights, more lights, light_spots - all adds, visually, to your map <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
I second BT's comment about the brightness of the MS. Looking pretty good overall, but yes, it could use some more detail and structural flair.
<!--EDIT|ken20banks|Aug. 27 2002,19:58-->
that's already been taken by Ant2cool
<a href="http://www.natural-selection.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=4;t=4844;hl=ns_coolant" target="_blank">See</a> I <a href="http://www.natural-selection.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=4;t=4870;hl=ns_coolant" target="_blank">told you</a>
When you type ns_coolant @ google, you wont find ant2cool's map...
But I'm thinking about a new name for it. Maybe ns_freeze or sth.?
About the lights: At the mom they are all 255 255 128, that standart-yellow, I played around with <i>many</i> other colors and effects. I decided to keep it that simple in most areas to keep down compiling times until the main layout is done. This explains also the missing detail.
I previously built some hallways that looked pretty nice with pipes and cables and boxes on the wall, differt lights and other nice things, but it blew r_speeds.
But some things I can promise:
*The marine start will be brighter, and more colorful;
*I'll bringht up future screenies
*More detail will be added later
And if your looking for some help, try the Natural Selection IRC mapping channel, #nsmapping or #naturalselection
So, there are some new shots to be posted...
I now corrected the gamma, it makes them look a bit milky, in NSTR it looks slightly better...
Pic#2-1
Ok, on Pic#2-2 you can see some coolant filling the area, in future releases this freezes you to death.
uuuhh??...
Small, different-glowing details will be added to most of the hallways and rooms.
I just have a small problem:
To decrease the area the commander cannot see, because a small part overlaps the hallway below, I wanted to make it see-throug from top-down. But when I make it illusionary, players will fall though it.
Is there an entity, that can be both? Invisible from above, but still a floor to walk on?
Thanks for any help and your inspiration!
On the other hand, you could also make it a func_seethrough. This is an entity that was used to make the ceilings seethrough in the old commander mode. While its original purpose has been rendered useless with the new commander mode, it's still handy for instances like this. You can also make it translucent rather than fully invisible with this entity.
A player will not fall through either of these entities.
<!--EDIT|ken20banks|Aug. 28 2002,16:42-->
func_wall's don't have those flags. Only func_illusionaries do. So, use a func_seethrough instead.
I've still got it stuck into my mind that they're there. <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->
<!--EDIT|ken20banks|Aug. 28 2002,17:28-->
Here are 2 new ones, with a gamma of 1.7, and more colorful detail.
About my 'seethrough'-problem: I've a workaroud at the moment.
But I'll check that func_seethrough option, that sound really good, thanks!
Pic#3-1
It's not your fault. (: It's good that you're putting in colored lighting to mix things up, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First, make sure you pick realistic colors - lights are normally yellow, sometimes red or orange... anything in the green-blue spectrum is usually much more muted. Think of the color a neon light gives off - the light itself is pretty intense, but the color it gives off is much more muted. Also, the more exotic colors need an explanation for being that color - green or blue are frequently cast by a computer monitor, for instance.
Another way to get color contrast is to use more varied textures - if you only use these green ones, you're going to have trouble getting more contrast in.
Even just white spotlights can do wonders, creating accents and strong shadows. Check out some shots of Ken20Banks' NS_Nothing. It's mostly grey and red, but the use of spotlights really makes it seem much more varied.
In a nutshell, the blue is a bit too heavy - it doesn't look right; I wouldn't expect light that powerful except around some big blue-laser reactor or something like that. Then again, red might work perfectly there (if perhaps a little less intense).