My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

To start off, this is an open-ended topic.

Now, i will take some screenshots of my map soon and when i get some things working right i will release it. (Its being made as an ambient map for Half-Life (1.0.6 i think, i havent updated the one i use for mapping :|) I plan on it being open-ended as well, keep on adding sections untill i have a little world of linked maps. Maby someday i will make a half-life mod where its just one big world to explore? Anyways; Im trying to keep with this map because most maps i start i start hard with extra detail (i usually start with a hall-way) but when i get to big rooms or even rooms i get intimidated with using the smaller grid. But im working real hard on this one. Im even going to put a transit rail in it (take a lot of hard work to fabricate the train). Eventually, i hope to make a small community dedicated to creating this little world, where people can supply material or prefabs for it. But thats the future, this is now in my cozy little favorite community here where im just talking about my mapping ambitions. My worst problem is getting wads and demo maps because of my rather laggish 56k which leaves a whole helluva lot to be desired. I dont need people to post here, but at least read and know whats going on in my little world since this is my first real venture "out of the box" and into the open community with myself. Btw, thank you SoUlFaThEr for giving me some wierd little spark of inspiration and commitment. (dont ask, i dont know 8D)
-- Squally
p.s. I hope to post regularly


[ Edit: ]

Is there an FTP i can upload screenshots too?

ScreenShots!
 

I got some 4 screenshots of the most important parts at this moment. I will follow the screenshot with an explanation. (im shrinking them a whole bunch btw) you can find all my screenies and work at http://www.eckoscripts.com/mapping :D

http://www.eckoscripts.com/mapping/Hall.JPG
This is where the map starts out, its mostly governed by Light, and the pc's screen (not visible in this) up ahaid flashing adds a bit of a tension. Behind me in this picture is a elevator door (hidden in the darkness). Moving on.....

http://www.eckoscripts.com/mapping/ccenter.JPG
This was going to be my transit vehichle but i decided to wait untill i had more room in a different area for that, so im turning it into a little "balcony" controll station. The floor here is just temporary, it will soon be only a catwalk in an even bigger room (large room with many doors and elevators, cat walks and machinery). As you can see with the two small 'flip' doors on the front i was planning for it being a transit car :D. The only issue im having so var i with vertexing the corners (crashed the editor last time :S) NOTE: This map is nowhere near completed so dont complain about things like "whats holding it up?" because quite frankly, only my imagination is holding it up right now :P.

http://www.eckoscripts.com/mapping/insideCcenter.JPG
This is inside the controll center structure, im keeping the transit ceiling for this i believe. On the back (the far far right on the picture) i plan on having a small workstation and a door leading into another room. waiste-high computers will populate the window walls.

http://www.eckoscripts.com/mapping/overview.JPG
This is the 'in working' room at the end of the hall. Much much clean up and touch-up work to do here :S. I must fix the elevator so it goes up and down more than once (state changing i believe?), work on lighting and detail, make it bigger, and stuff in general.

Thats it for now, my map is in no condition to release as a playable yet however. Any crit and Suggestions are very welcomed and any comments on my thought process and plans are also welcomed.

Re: My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

btw, i sized the pics down in the post editor, i dont know why they re-expanded :S... soory...

Re: My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

yo
what should i say.....its not done yet.

how are you making these elevators?
func_doors? if they are func_doors they will work as often as you push the button that controls them.

overall i would say, with the exception of the last pic.......there needs to be more light. dark maps dont get played much cuz its just plain hard to see :)

Re: My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

I use func_train for elevators. I dont know anything about using func_doors for elevators. And this is an open ended project like i said so it may never be 'finished'. As for the lighting, the top hallway wont be changed, its supposed to be like that, but the rest of the room with the controll center will be better lit. I finaly managed to find a way to get that corner on the controll center (the glass) but it doesnt work right when played. The vertex manipulation is just too much 8D

Re: My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

Perhaps but personally I prefer dark maps in single player mode!
The lighting in the first one and the detail in the last one look pretty damn good. Keep it up!

Re: My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

Thank you! Im soo happy! lol, anyways.

The first one ive always liked the lighting because its the first time ive ever payed much attention to lighting in a map. And i like dark maps too 9_9. And the last one isnt detailed at all accept for the catwalk, which even it is a bit under detailed. Sometimes i panic when i get into the small grid sizes and detail escapes me. Im also very picky and that makes it hard to match things.

Thank you again =)

Re: My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

just curious because of the "staircase effect" from lighting on the dark hallway you have.....are you using light_entities or texture lighting?

the ambience of the place is really nice man(brushwork is good)....but,i get quickly unsatisfied when i see HL textures. please dont let that get to you, its just my personal mapping pet pieve ! i know your connect is bad so you dont get all the good wads out there :( unfortunate..i wont say anything again about the HL textures i promise :D I see a lot of cool potential in what you are doing.

another small thing in pic #4:
the rusted railing doesnt really fit the "clean" grey all around it. if the other textures had a rusted feeling to them then id say thats fine.....
just think about it (its good to have contrast anyway).

Re: My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

Well, last night i almost finished "glassing-in" the controll center and added a light and it looks damn nice from the inside. As for the HL textures, i plan to add the .wad files from these mods also:
They Hunger (all episodes)
Counter-Strike
Team Fortress
Opposing Force
just for those places where nothing in the main wad works ;).
I love your comment on the railing, that never occured to me because i havent payed much attention to the catwalk (:|)
And i use light_entities because i havent gotten much into texture lighting or anything. Ive messed with just about everything in the past but it was muddling o_O.

Besides that, ive also noticed somthing. My elevator does crush damage if you stand against the side as it goes up or get caught under the button (which sticks out on the bracket that 'holds' the rail on). I tried adding some clipping brushes but that didnt help? I think i may also do some more work on the hall. People i show it too like the controll center and the hallway the most so im going to see what i can do with the hallway. (In the screenshot you cant see, or hear 9_9, the broken computer on the wall that flashes). I removed the "hatch" doors on the controll center/ ex. transit car and am putting a way to get up to it in soon. Ill be adding screenshots as i progress with important items or additions. (btw. that dead soldier is just there for fun lol, one of the few models that work for me. I never managed to make a good sitting scientist. I will soon tho for my controll center) -- Oh, that reminds me, im also starting on putting the controll center's controlls in :)

Re: My Mapping... My Maps... My Bad...
 

cool :)

about your murderous func_train elevator.

it is another great reason to use a func_door instead let alone getting rid of the path entites(just adding more ePoly anyway). this is just up and down so door is better.......if the thing was to curve all over along a horizontal rail......thats different...

func_door will rest on top of you.......and not kill you, unless you set a dmg flag on it !!

to get it to work......trigger it with a func_button......and in the properties of the func_door you must set the "LIP"

Lip is indicating the distance the "door" should move.
you will have to play with this a bit but you CAN be very exact. it will just take time to get the right number.

to save time...copy:
1.the bottom floor where it starts
2.the button
3.the func_door
4.the top floor where it stops
5.a player spawn
6.a light entity
and paste these things into a new .rmf..... enclose these in a simple box...
save this calling it test.rmf, export to test.map.....and compile

this will be a very fast compile so you can do a lot of adjustments in a short amount of time.....when its right......copy and paste the properties of the func_door in your test.rmf into the actual map.

done.....you will enjoy the result...i promise

++EDIT
you can also use a func_plat (platform)...i believe this wont even need a button.....it moves on touch too. it does the same thing as a door in this case.....but im not sure about the killing of players......and you will also have to do much testing to get the move distance right...you can decide...play with both ideas :)
++/EDIT

if you need a tutorial on texture lights its really really simple......and looks 1000000% better than entities.
you mentioned paying "more" attention to light lately.....well.....when you get tex lights in.....you will poop yer drawers about how good it looks :)

just ask, ill explain when yer ready to do that :)

keep up the good work man im here for you!