Combine in Argentine

[Gambini]

Well, that?s probably the name that i will use for these maps that im building right now, basicly the history will be how the combine took our third world country, sort of.
Here i will be uploading screenshots often how my time allows me to do. Also i will try to concentrate all my doubts about hammer here, so if someone comes with a solution to my questions/problems, will be welcome.

I will start this posting those screens that i already posted on other thread, and of course making a silly question:

Does somebody know how much the displacement surfaces affects performance in-game and compiling times? The area where im working now needs a lot of terrain here and there and i want to know if im going too far with it, right now i made about 10 or 15 different brushes that have displacement propieties with power 2 and some special cases with power 3, they will be viewed by the player in the same area, and we have to include all the lights, solids and models that the area will have. Is it too much? is not a problem? how much will helps me the ocluder tool with it?

 

[Dodo]

15 isn't that much, and in your compile log you can see how many displacement brushes are allowed according to the map budget.

-dodo

 

[Shinobi]

displacements are cheap, dont feel bad using 15 3 patches. '


It's more important to keep your lightmap usage down than to worry about the actual polycount. Displacements are wonky with lightmaps so don't go below 16 with them as a rule.

 

[Gambini]

Thanks guys, all my worries are because i made some maps for HL1 and always had the same problem with ?too many....? too many everything? :/ always ?too many? so, im working on these maps very slowly trying to not excede the engine limits. Happily im realizing that they are greater that i thought.

 

[Gambini]

New screenshot



And the old ones that i posted in another thread

 

[Gambini]

So... no comments?

 

[Mapster]

Awesome work!
Keep it up

 

[Gambini]

Thanks Buddy, i will!

 

[Shinobi]

I'm loving it, especially the first shot.


For a critique I would say

-in the last pic, try to make the breakage adhere to the shape of the texture. Essentially a set of boards wouldnt typically have a diagonal crack through the middle in real life. Try seperating them board by board. You typically see people do this in the more well made DOD maps with brick textures.

-Your map would look better without the detail models on the texture. I would get rid of those and just hand place some plants.

-Also judging from how the light is affecting the gate on the left in the first shot, you might consider using -staticproplighting in your VRAD settings, this will cause the lighting to occur per-vertex as opposed to one lighting value for the whole model. If you already have this enabled then nevermind

 

[Gambini]

Thanks for the advices im taking them.

1- I know what you mean and i were liked doing it like you say, but i was afraid of making the polycount big, but i will do what you say at the end.

2- I dont get the second advice, you mean that those detail models (pipes and stuff) are overdetailing the place? explain yourself again please

3-Actually that screen is quite old, i worked on the light of that place a little more, because i love how it looks, Pointing on the gate, i used some infolights to get a good lighting on the models, and in some models i covered them using func_detail with nodraw texture to draw proper shadows, i used as well a couple of dynamic ligths because those wheels and other stuff will be on movement.

By the way, the place changed enough and deserves updated screens, right now i can?t make them because the map is broken in order to create more things but i will do it when im done with that.

EDIT: All the refered to add details is just limited by the performance and engine limits, because im a freak adding details and i can stay hours making broken objects and stuff, so rigth now im limiting my efforts to keep it up, and when it?s done i will add all the details that the performance will allows me.

 

[Shinobi]

detail models = those little plants that occur as a result of using that texture, not the pipes etc.. Essentially the plants are pretty ugly

 

[Gambini]

oh! i see, but those are sprites, no? I like them but actually i were prefered to place them manually, obviusly i didn?t found a way to do it. Do you know how to place those same plants but choosing their location manually?

 

[Shinobi]

oh! i see, but those are sprites, no? I like them but actually i were prefered to place them manually, obviusly i didn?t found a way to do it. Do you know how to place those same plants but choosing their location manually?

you'll either have to make a duplicate vmt that doesn't reference the materials since it's controlled by the vmt.

I'm not sure if there's another easier way to disable them

 

[Barnz]

Not bad. First shot looks pretty nice, but bit bland. Trainyard (or whatever it is) looks quite small for the standards of the engine.

 

[Gambini]

Bland? maybe the current version looks a little more exciting.

And about the trainyard, you?re right but still im not accostumished to the engine limits, i know that i can make bigger locations but i was afraid of making a huge place that affects performance.

I'm not sure if there's another easier way to disable them

I refered to put the plants manually, i like the plants, pitty they are sprites, but i like them anyway.

 

[Shinobi]

yeah I typically hand place all my plants myself, The sprites have just lead to too many issues for me

 

[Gambini]

Ok, so my question is: exist a way to place those plant sprites manually? i mean, i know how to place trees and other plants, but i want to place those plant sprites that the shot shows, but manually.

 

[Shinobi]

not directly, those are embedded in a vbsp file which references them though the texture.

 

[kineaesth]

Commendations on your map, it's very very good looking.

 

[Gambini]

Thanks buddy, wait to the next shots storm and you?ll see how it grown.

 

[Gambini]

Ok here i go with more screenshots, two of them are of the same place but i mainly i want to show how the ambiance looks after some tweaks that i did.

 

[Shinobi]

wow I really like it

 

[Ennui]

Saw your earlier screens on Interlopers a few days ago, looking good. Those new ones are great, particularly the first two. One thing with the last two though: as far as I can tell there are a few lights with no sources (that I can see anyway) which doesn't make sense!

 

[Gambini]

That doesn?t make sense because the level is very unfinished, i just placed the light sources and then i will choose some good lamps for them with wires and glow, like it have to be. Time to time.

 

[Love4Fire]

wow those screens look amazing...keep up the good work!!

 

[Gambini]

Thanks to all for the encouraging words, they moves me to work faster

 

[Gambini]

Two more screenshots:





In this location the models are playing a very important roll. There is not much architecture but that?s because i am mainly searching the engine limits to create big outsides, im working in the fade off models and occluders because visleafs are unusefull there, by the way those shots was token having a quite bad FPS.

And i have a question, if somebody knows: At the bottom of the QBSP compiling this message appears ?make_triangles:calc_triangle_representation: Cannot convert?
Is that bad? i had to change the displacements power because i had another compiling error, something about can?t find portal blah blah blah.

 

[The_E]

wow you are really talented!

 

[Gambini]

If you are not sarcastic, thanks

 

[MonoLife]

I very much liked screenshots. Where it is possible to load your map?

 

[Gambini]

It?s unreleased yet, but i will post the link here if i finish them (it?s more than one).

 

[-Psy-]

Images are broken.

 

[Barnz]

Not here.

 

[Gambini]

Why this thread is invisible from forum?

 

[Tyron]

it only shows the most recent used / posted / replied posts.