WIP:dm_dam

[bi0_gauss]

think i agree with vegeta here..

map looks amazing (very nice work)
but it doesn't look like much fun to play..hallways dont open up into anything
appears to just be hallway after hallway

perhaps i am wrong..

 

[Mechagodzilla]

oo, gosh, around 20. or so.....

but i definately agree with the comments on the grass.. :/, i need to learn howto alpha paint. to give it a more natural look.. if i replaced it with rock, it would just make the map more dull... and i dont want that... so any good tips on getting it looking more natural.. (alpha painting techniques) and ill goto work when i can.

Well, there are three stripes of grass, right?
I'm pretty sure the lower two wouldn't exist in real life. Water levels, erosion, and stuff like that wouldn't allow for that sort of healthy lawn to grow on the side of a cliff. That's a big part of why it looks unnatural.
So leave the grass at the very top the way it is, but remove the lower two bands and replace them with something more rocky. there could still be plants, but nothing too lush.

Other things I'm wondering, now that I think about it:

In that first screenshot in the post a few posts back, is that bottom area accessable to the players? Because it's pretty blank down there. If it's not, then you could get away with turning a significant section of that area into skybox.
If players can go down there, it could really use some debris. a few of the prefab boats and shipping crates would work nicely.

In the second, interior shot of the curved corridor, it's just screaming "bouncey bullet" at me. One shot of pulse rifle secondary fire would clear out the entire thing effortlessly. It could really use some fallen support beams or something of that ilk to break up the geometry.

The third shot, of what looks like the top of the dam, could also really use some obstacles, like the boats and crates that would work in the bottom. Right now it's too open.
Also, does the fanboat work in multiplayer?
And what's keeping people from swimming off the ends of the map?

All the rest of the shots look great, but they're covered up by some shadows that are way too dark. especially in the last shot. Ambient light would prevent that huge shadow from the right side of the cliff from being that pure of a black in actual nature.

The inside areas only need some more/stronger lights in places and they're fine though.

So: less black, less grass, and more stuff that people can climb on and hide behind. Get all that in, and it's perfect.

 

[clarky003]

nice post Mecha, im on my way... after finding some time.

key questions,,, ... yes the bottom of the dam is accessable.. via the cliff... or falling without dieing... ive made it so anyone down there is pretty much cannon fodder for anyone who can see them above, I call it the Dams death pit.. .

also blocked off edges of the map.. which hadnt be done till now.. all i need is the valley 3D sky box geometry... to make it look a little more natural.... other than that.. im not actually thinking of putting the combine rifle in... I think it will be a 'buzz kill' weapon, especially when people have rocket launchers and magnums , shooting each other off the dam .. left right and centre.. which is the focus of the map... extreme ragdoll falling deaths.

other than that recent changes are clear to see.

here:

what its really all about..

"Dam! that felt goood"..

 

[Chris D]

Really good, keep it up

 

[Gdawg!!-!]

what kind of fps do u get in the open like that?

 

[ray_MAN]

It would be great if you could get the water to flow down with the push of a button, like flyingdebris said. Unfortunately, Source, nor any game engine for that matter, can handle liquid physics. We have to wait for faster, more powerful processors before we get liquid physics, or our processors might become an example... If you catch my drift. :E
Great looking map. It seems to be too big for DM, though.

 

[trippywippy]

veg, how can u no that it wont work??? i can image it espcailly in tdm, one team could be on the top and the others are trying to take it over, king of the hill style, well just have to wait and see.

also, dont put rokets on the top, only on the bottem or u will get whors with them.

no when relesae is??

 

[Flyingdebris]

well to have the effect of rushing water you don't necessarily need fluid dyanmics

Make a dense white particle effect to represent a super strong spray of water. Have it push the player ala the fan in lockdown into some killer jagged rocks. and tempoarily create some shallow water in that area.

and presto you have a cheap flood that can take care of those who decided to go after whatever power weapons were put down there

 

[clarky003]

yeh that would be nice, i might try misting the bottom of the dam up ,, and adding a water like sound file..

its still early days, but the FPS are good, to answer someones question.. im running a radeon 9600 xt 2.8 ghz, averaging roughly 40 in the open.

but its much smoother when the whole level isnt in focus,, and you cant see each expensive piece of water at the same time because of their location,, so that works nicely..

the map is far from done.. im taking note of Veg's comments and attempting to add greater playability and accessability to all areas of the map..