my progress on dm_skycastle

[WAR_Nuker]

HL2DM map. Take a look. Constructive criticism or just lay down which parts suck and need work. Any ideas would be cool too. I'm getting ready to wrap up the architecture part of this map. Cubemaps were kind of half assed and arent done yet so you know. Btw I hinted and stuff so the world rendering isn't all that bad.

1st castle:

Secret underground tunnels of 1st castle:

2nd castle:

OMG you can sneak through the back!:

Say whatever you want to say about this map. This is the first time I've asked for aid on this project.

 

[WAR_Nuker]

Oh ya, the kitchen-area in the 1st castle:

 

[X_i_Z_o_R]

Looks very unique and interresting - good work so far

One suggestion -> improve the stairs by making the bottom part a smooth face rather than have it like the bit above, here's a pic to show what I mean:

 

[WAR_Nuker]

wow why didnt i think of that lol. thank you.

 

[X_i_Z_o_R]

Note: Looking at most of those stairs this will be quite easy to do, select the whole lot and just clip the bottom part off (taking care not to select the very top platform or that'll get cut off)

Another suggestion -> Make the courtyard (and perhaps the underground rocky bit) a displacement map and add some funky terrain and alpha texturing if you know how that works

 

[Ravioli]

Looks good, but learn some Displacement and use that in the cave and on the plains.

 

[WAR_Nuker]

my displacements are currently extremely subtle....but ill make them more obvious and defined.

one thing though...do i need a surface to be a displacement in order to do alpha texturing?

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

Yes, you do.

 

[Lamer]

Looks very unique and interresting - good work so far

One suggestion -> improve the stairs by making the bottom part a smooth face rather than have it like the bit above, here's a pic to show what I mean:

or even better- make the stairs as I usually do-> smoth only the middle bottom part of the stairs (leave the "zig-zags" at the sides)- it should look like the stairs are reinforced (if you dont get it- say I'll draw ) + add some pillars on the cornes of your stairs- they look so fragile

otherwise its looking nice ( It will even better when you displace ground )

 

[WAR_Nuker]

i dont know about pillars. my main goal is to make this as surreal as i can without making it look too impossible at first glance. i might add little fantasy-like mechanisms to the sides of the stairs and some guard rails, but pillars might look too ordinary and realistic...and a trifle overwhelming (since the stairs are so far off the ground).

 

[WAR_Nuker]

i found an alpha texture to use for my grass and its startin to look sexy. thank you for that suggestion.

 

[Penguin929]

Make displacements on those random floating things that are far away. Make em a little noticable. If you can do the bottom cone part too. Unless you are going for the perfect look, it looks too perfect. Get what I mean?

 

[WAR_Nuker]

yeah i get what youre saying. i could make the rock part a little more jagged somehow instead of just having a slightly modified cone. I could probably combine a displacement with it and make random bulges. i will give it a try.

 

[Crispy]

I like. It reminds me of Nintendo castles.

 

[Dodo]

a castle with windows ?

-dodo

 

[Crispy]

Yeah I did think about that. It's probably better to put a criss-cross mesh of wrought iron across the last section. Although nobody complained about the floating stairs

 

[WAR_Nuker]

lol yeah. the only reason i slapped those windows on there is cause i didnt want to just leave a flat roof and flat walls. i need more pics on how castle kitchens might look....until then this is what i have.

 

[Crispy]

They usually didn't have skylights like that, but I don't see why you can't get away with a little artistic licence. Thw windows do look out of plac, though (plus the fx value is off).

 

[sabre0001]

looks nice - follow the suggestions and should be sorted...
nice job!

 

[$kelet0r]

rather than have grass on the inside of the castle have a paved cool looking courtyard (made of glass if you really want to go all out!)

 

[eediot]

Remember that in every room, every scene, there must be some graphical element that distracts the observer's eye so that they can stare at the prettiness of that and not the surrounding crappiness. Putting a couple graphical elements [ranging from some posters, a bin, a couch to a broken light] in a room can make it feel full instead of empty, and can detract attention away from the otherwise bland and uninspired textures. I'm not saying your map is like that, the above-ground sections look awesome, but the underground sections seem a bit lacking. Put something unique in there, that gives the rooms and tunnels their own individual look and theme. They can't just be dirt walls, wooden supports and some crappy barrels. Apart from that, I love the white castles.

 

[WAR_Nuker]

i hear ya man. i just kinda threw that underground section together so i could get the ball rolling on it. took me about a day or two to tweak everything with the cubemapping.

didnt really put props in yet and im probably gonna save that for last. as of now ive been putting my attention toward the rockyness of the floating rocks and using displacements but im having a bit of trouble with that. apparently if you stretch a displacement too far, the lightmap value automatically goes up. this is a problem for me cause for some reason my map wont run if the lightmap is increased like that.

not much has been updated since my last screenies cause i been havin a little too much fun now that finals are over. i dont got squat to do today though so ill be gettin to work. tomorrow too probably.

if i successfully can get this displacement thing to work out ill post a screenie of that so you can tell me what you guys think.

 

[UltraProAnti]

one small point no one's mentioned yet: in the mines area, you haven't aligned the wood textures properly - they're all running the same way. incidentally, i'd recommend a darker wood anyway, like the floorboard tex valve used in all those coastal houses

 

[TriddyD]

Good progress on the map so far... though I have a few additions you should add (and you might be doing it, for this a WIP I presume) . Add some more complexity, or add more items to the empty grassy terrain areas, for instance, the courtyard in the middle of the castle area, it looks to plain, and in those underground areas, add some items.

 

[WAR_Nuker]

tried displacements for the rocky part of the island. what you think?

 

[TriddyD]

Wow, the displacements look great, nice effort.

 

[Humidor]

Looking good, but I fear for that huge open space in the courtyard (surrounded by dark windows no less) especially in the DM setting. You should put something worthwhile like important ammo or health in the middle of the courtyard so people will have to venture out there at their own risk.

 

[crackhead]

the pics dont show up for me

 

[WAR_Nuker]

yeah dont worry ill fill in the empty spaces....i just gotta get around to doing it (been working my ass off at work too lately...so that doesnt help). when i get my stuff together with what i presently have...i will move on to expand and make more architecture....more rooms...more stuff. remember i have yet to add props...except of course those lights in the cave. thats about it.

 

[Penguin929]

Excellent! Really, it's just what I was thinking of.

 

[sabre0001]

the displacements look cool! great job - and i agree with the courtyard suggestion...there needs to be a risk/reward trade-off.

 

[WAR_Nuker]

New screenshots...winter break got me real lazy =/....valve screwin up the editor didnt help either....though it does look nice now. i didnt do anything to the caves really or to the second castle regarding displacements. main things would be the smoothing of the stairs, guard rails, and displacements for the rocky part of the islands and overall displacement of the 3d skybox islands. im also thinking about tearing down that kitchen area and competely redoing it...because it looks as though it doesnt fit at all.

 

[UltraProAnti]

looks interesting, a q3-style hl2dm map

 

[TCfromBN]

I suggest adding alpha to thoes displacements, make worn paths along common areas to walk along.

 

[WAR_Nuker]

i will get around to that.

i ended up pretty much demolishing the first castle....since it wasn't as impressive looking as the second castle in my opinion. im trying a new style for it and ill post screenies as soon as i can. i also added a bridge with some pickups that goes through the second castle. it looks way less bare now. also edited a vmt and got random grass to work for my grass displacements. =D

 

[NuclearPowered78]

HOLY CRAP! Nice use of everything too, be sure to release, everyone wants their hands on it =D

EDIT: Noticed the flying island things, unless they're in the background, which I doubt they are, they're taking up way too much space. It mgiht help keep the map size down.

 

[WAR_Nuker]

those are projected by the 3d skybox to make the map look bigger than it is....so no worries there (although my map is getting up to the 26 MB mark unzipped =/ ).