The recessed lighting needs to be lighted up. It looks like the bulb isn't even on, but it still casts light on the floor. Making it brighter and contrasting between light and darkness would help.
I think it was fine the first times it was just a little dark if you culdjust lighten it up it would have been awesome and probaly a lot of people wouldnt keep shooting colors at you like make it that color no make this color. All you had to do was lighten it up a little and ted dah!!!! your done <!--emo&:D--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'><!--endemo-->
Lookin good Tinman! I personaly love the industrail look to stuff, so I find myself rather partial to the look <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
I don't understand all these comments about the screenshots being too dark. I've viewed many of the NS map screenshots for various different computers, and all of them have been perfectly bright and easy to to see the smallest detail. <!--emo&???--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'><!--endemo-->
coilAmateur pirate. Professional monkey. All pance.Join Date: 2002-04-12Member: 424Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
Not bad, not bad at all... but don't be afraid to try different lighting schemes. You might want to have part of the map under a red-alert situation, and have a heavier red/orange/flashing ambience (not too much, tho, because flashing lights give people headaches <!--emo&:D--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'><!--endemo-->)... or maybe a big generator room with a heavy green glow. Creative lighting is a powerful tool, and you shouldn't be afraid of it - just figure out where it works, and where it doesn't.
Another way to make a map interesting is irregularity. Especially closer to the hives, don't be afraid to "break" a few lights... it adds a little variation, breaks up the monotony, and adds fun shadows.
I gotta go with Coil on the lighting thing. I posted a lighting demo thread a while back, that went into using light_spot entities to create more contrast to a light scheme.
Also, he's dead-on with the colouration issue. Giving a hive a different colour from the rest of the map - ie, a green light scheme - goes a long way towards building its 'personality' and distinctiveness in the eyes of the players - at least, that I've noticed in the PTs, the different light schema help identification of the hives quite a bit.
By the by, if you need to make a texture fullbright without it casting very much light, just give it a radiosity value of 1. <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
I like your stuff a lot... I like the fact that you've put supports and pipes all over the place. Really adds to the atmosphere of being in a quasifuturistic station of some kind. Nice lights too, although I spotted a cube on the ceiling with yellow bars on it - is that supposed to be the light? The textures are a little misaligned and it's not glowing
I noticed it, too. I'm after all those unaligned non-glowing light-textures...
It's a pitty I can only put <!--emo&:turret:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/turret.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':turret:'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:turret:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/turret.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':turret:'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:turret:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/turret.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':turret:'><!--endemo--> all over the place but no other buildings, im soo curios how they look in there! <!--emo&???--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'><!--endemo-->
So, here's something new... These doors are totally iced, they wont open (actually, there are no rooms behind...) You may say "Hey, I got a welder! That should melt the ice away!" -No, it wont. Especially not the ice in the doors mechanics and electronics. They are fake. The dors on the other side are openable, that's enough.
Now something very importand: As this is my first level I am building to >finish< (I played around for years, -this time it's serious!<!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo--> I don't have experience with r_speeds. The command gives me w_polys between 2 and 1023. In commandermode it stays below 400. So, here is my question: Why is Half-Life rendering all my polys, even if it should not be able to see it? Walls do not stop it! I can build a simple room, with another complex room behind it. When I am inside the simple room, and I look in the direction where the complex room may be, r_speeds explode! So what's the clue to bring things out of sight >for HL<?
Very nice...the lighting is sort of bland though...and the light textures are misaligned. I'm not a mapper so I don't know what that all means, but good looking map...nice concept with the ice
As I experienced a major r_speeds-problem with a hallway and the marines main room, I am currently redoing the layout (r_speeds aruond 1000 are no problem for my machine, but I want to stay within the guidelines). I have to avoid portals that can see each other. After some tests I found out 'to see' is for the Half-Life engine a very extendable term....
Well, NOW I am annoyed. I can't figure out how to keep r_speeds low and details acceptable, without adding 3 corners in every hallway to cut-off any higher detailt place from another. I mean, who wants to play a level like 'nice pipes on the wall, three corners, room, thee corners, elevator, three corners, hallway with some steam, three corners... These guidelines scew up my layout! It makes it a maze!! I'll stop mapping, if there's nobody willing to help me with these problems, or maybe I'll build a level with wpolys max around 900. THAT would be ok. but 700?! NO!
"r_speeds (w-polys) in Natural Selection maps should be below 700 at all times. In heavy traffic areas and areas where heavy combat is expected, the r_speeds should not stray above 600 at any point, and they should not average more than 500. Commander mode can have a bit lower performance than on the ground, and must never exceed r_speeds of 1000, with the average being closer to 700."
I think I'll have to rebuild the entire map for the 4th time. <!--emo&:angry:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'><!--endemo-->
i think you mean hintbrushes ? relic wrote a tutor about that ,check <a href="http://countermap.counter-strike.net/Tutorials/tutorial.php?id=54" target="_blank">this</a> tutorial( has a link to relic's tutorial aswell)
coilAmateur pirate. Professional monkey. All pance.Join Date: 2002-04-12Member: 424Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
That's it! (: Hope that helps... I don't know enough to know if it will or not, but I hope! <!--emo&:D--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'><!--endemo-->
InsaneAnomalyJoin Date: 2002-05-13Member: 605Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts, Future Perfect Developer
I'm not sure if ouy've already done this, but to keep wpolys down make details like pipes computers, crates etc. func_walls. As they're now entities they use up e_polys rather than w_polys.
Okay, I guess you know this, as I do not think you are as stupid as I was, but I'll say it anyway, because of the problem you described (polys climbing eventhough there is a wall in between). Do you run Vis? I know this is a stupid question, but I have to admit that I didn't do it in my first maps because I didn't know what it was for and it caused my maps to crash (of course, there were lots of leaks...) If that is not your problem, post maybe a picture with a high poly area with polys in the picture, so we see were your problem is, or even better the bsp, if that is possible for you, so we can take a closer look ingame. I know alot of people do not want to release unfinished material (most mappers, NS dev team...), but it would be alot easier to find highspots and reasons.
I think that releasing unfinished stuff its not bad.... you are showing people a partial part of your map so they can watch it by themselves from different angles....
Now THAT was what I was looking for!! THANK YOU ALL!
I have run vis, and anything that touches the wall and is just a detail like pipes and other stuff is func_wall or func_seethrough. The complete ceiling is build of func_seethrough, as otherwise the comander would see some strange textures from the holes that are my lights. (Of course it is covered by another large world brush so there's no LEAK. (... LEAK LEAK :-)
Thanks for the tips anyway, you never know.
But those hint-brushes where that was I was looking for. I have read about it a long time ago but I wasnt really interested so I forgot about it again. Now I'll dig into those mapping guides!!
Another thing: I could release an unfinished '3-room-beta'.bsp if you want, but at the moment I dont like what's the level like, maybe later, ok? I think we all could share our map-starts and rooms we are not satisfied with, that would be rather cool! :-) 'The NS-Mapping-Collective'
Comments
this intense blue is too strong and doesnt look right here...
ok, you're right. maybe orange? Let's make a poll!
Now, here's plain white, and I made the spotlight's inner angle a bit larger.
As this doesn't look much better, I'll try something completely different: Total darkness! This also increases compiling times! j/k
What do you think? (By the way, the screenies still look more milky than the level actually is.)
Pic#4-1
So, here's something with spotlights from the floor
I don't understand all these comments about the screenshots being too dark. I've viewed many of the NS map screenshots for various different computers, and all of them have been perfectly bright and easy to to see the smallest detail. <!--emo&???--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'><!--endemo-->
Standart hallway toplights: light yellow
Hallway floorlights (not in all hallways): bright white
Larger rooms toplights: white
Special lights: 255-red
small rooms will have a light blue glowing neon strip around the ceiling, you will see... later.
Now, I'll sleep over it, coz here it is 3:40 at NIGHT!
Some shots:
Pic#5-1
Another way to make a map interesting is irregularity. Especially closer to the hives, don't be afraid to "break" a few lights... it adds a little variation, breaks up the monotony, and adds fun shadows.
Also, he's dead-on with the colouration issue. Giving a hive a different colour from the rest of the map - ie, a green light scheme - goes a long way towards building its 'personality' and distinctiveness in the eyes of the players - at least, that I've noticed in the PTs, the different light schema help identification of the hives quite a bit.
It's a pitty I can only put <!--emo&:turret:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/turret.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':turret:'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:turret:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/turret.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':turret:'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:turret:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/turret.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':turret:'><!--endemo--> all over the place but no other buildings, im soo curios how they look in there! <!--emo&???--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'><!--endemo-->
These doors are totally iced, they wont open (actually, there are no rooms behind...) You may say "Hey, I got a welder! That should melt the ice away!" -No, it wont. Especially not the ice in the doors mechanics and electronics. They are fake. The dors on the other side are openable, that's enough.
Now something very importand: As this is my first level I am building to >finish< (I played around for years, -this time it's serious!<!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo--> I don't have experience with r_speeds. The command gives me w_polys between 2 and 1023. In commandermode it stays below 400. So, here is my question: Why is Half-Life rendering all my polys, even if it should not be able to see it? Walls do not stop it!
I can build a simple room, with another complex room behind it.
When I am inside the simple room, and I look in the direction where the complex room may be, r_speeds explode! So what's the clue to bring things out of sight >for HL<?
When the new Layout is done, I'll post it here.
BTW thanks for all yer help!
I mean, who wants to play a level like 'nice pipes on the wall, three corners, room, thee corners, elevator, three corners, hallway with some steam, three corners...
These guidelines scew up my layout! It makes it a maze!!
I'll stop mapping, if there's nobody willing to help me with these problems, or maybe I'll build a level with wpolys max around 900. THAT would be ok. but 700?! NO!
"r_speeds (w-polys) in Natural Selection maps should be below 700 at all times. In heavy traffic areas and areas where heavy combat is expected, the r_speeds should not stray above 600 at any point, and they should not average more than 500. Commander mode can have a bit lower performance than on the ground, and must never exceed r_speeds of 1000, with the average being closer to 700."
I think I'll have to rebuild the entire map for the 4th time. <!--emo&:angry:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'><!--endemo-->
I know this is a stupid question, but I have to admit that I didn't do it in my first maps because I didn't know what it was for and it caused my maps to crash (of course, there were lots of leaks...)
If that is not your problem, post maybe a picture with a high poly area with polys in the picture, so we see were your problem is, or even better the bsp, if that is possible for you, so we can take a closer look ingame.
I know alot of people do not want to release unfinished material (most mappers, NS dev team...), but it would be alot easier to find highspots and reasons.
I have run vis, and anything that touches the wall and is just a detail like pipes and other stuff is func_wall or func_seethrough. The complete ceiling is build of func_seethrough, as otherwise the comander would see some strange textures from the holes that are my lights. (Of course it is covered by another large world brush so there's no LEAK. (... LEAK LEAK :-)
Thanks for the tips anyway, you never know.
But those hint-brushes where that was I was looking for. I have read about it a long time ago but I wasnt really interested so I forgot about it again. Now I'll dig into those mapping guides!!
Another thing: I could release an unfinished '3-room-beta'.bsp if you want, but at the moment I dont like what's the level like, maybe later, ok? I think we all could share our map-starts and rooms we are not satisfied with, that would be rather cool!
:-) 'The NS-Mapping-Collective'
::TinMan::