Artpass Timberghost

timberghost_paintball

L2: Junior Member
Dec 19, 2007
77
200
Hello all,
I'm a little late in posting because I spent the first week or so of the project planning and making assets.

As you can see from the screenshots, I chose to develop an arctic theme which has and will continue to demand a lot of custom assets, hence my late start on the map itself.

Keep in mind that I only started working on the map Monday and I made a bunch of models and textures in that time as well so things like lighting aside from the environment light have not been messed with. Also the vast majority of the detail props like icicles, windows, trim etc have not been applied to those big empty walls

To solve the problem of that tall thin wall I decided to go with a solar panel array
artpass_timberghost_008.jpg


Eventually I intend to paint a custom sky that will include the open ocean and some ice flow on the horizon
artpass_timberghost_005.jpg


As far as the map's story goes, the whole complex is controlled by the red team but the blue team have tunneled into one of the structures and are continuing their assault from that forward operating base. You can see it in the picture below with a provisional ice texture.
artpass_timberghost_004.jpg

artpass_timberghost_003.jpg


One of my favorite parts so far is the alley on the way to the first capture point. I enjoy the visual relationship between the blue of the world on the warm tones of the environment.
artpass_timberghost_007.jpg

One major challenge will be to make the base feel like it is the red team's while using mostly the boxy and metallic materials and architecture typical of far northern installations. My solution so far is to use a lot of red trim etc and that is something I plan to continue developing.

One other major accent in the map is going to be an ice-locked ship (seen in blue, all the brushes in blue dev textures are things I intend to replace with models)
artpass_timberghost_009.jpg


Well that's it for now. I intend to develop the architecture around points A and B next and then probably try to get the outdoor areas nearly complete before I move to the interior base area around point C

Comments and criticism welcome, and best of luck to all. I've been really impressed with a lot of the other entries so far.
 
Last edited:

Beamos

L2: Junior Member
May 14, 2008
80
43
Hahaha, timberghost! Wow, very nice! We've got similar ideas it seems, right down to the icey cliff textures :p

It's looking very very good. The ice-locked ship will be interesting to see when all is said and done. Can't wait to see the finished product ^^
 
Nov 14, 2009
1,257
378
I absolutely LOVE those solar panels--I dont suppose you would like to let me use them in my entry :)

I will probably have to make my own :(
 

timberghost_paintball

L2: Junior Member
Dec 19, 2007
77
200
update

Well I figured it was about time for another update. I'm unfortunately infrequent with these as I enjoy making my map more than writing about making my map. :)

At this point all of the exterior spaces have been blocked out and preliminarily base textured. In general I try to make my maps in a series of passes where I slowly add more features and details instead of finishing one area and moving on to the next. I find this method helps keep the aesthetics of the space as a whole consistent and allows for me to "discover" ideas that I can work in anywhere instead of coming up with a cool idea in space 3 that forces me to rework spaces 1 & 2.

I general you will see that the bow of the ice-locked boat is now in but the texturing is not final. I also developed all the capture point areas far more than they were at my last post. I also have started to block out and base texture the interior spaces. The last major note is that the 3d skybox is now mocked in.

I hope to have everything blocked out and base textured by the end of the week so I can move onto lighting and light related props next week.

Here are a few images of the space around point A. obviously most of the detail trim still has to be added.
artpass_valvebase_jim110032.jpg

artpass_valvebase_jim110025.jpg


here are some pics of the area between the blue spawn and point A
artpass_valvebase_jim110028.jpg

artpass_valvebase_jim110029.jpg


here is the dock area. the bow of the boat is in but not particularly visible in these pics I'll have to take another screenshot soon when I finish texturing it.
If you are wondering where the stern is, I am making it as a separate model that will actually be in the skybox. I wanted the bow in the game world for shadow purposes but the stern will be a skybox model thereby limiting the size of the gameworld.
artpass_valvebase_jim110020.jpg

artpass_valvebase_jim110017.jpg

artpass_valvebase_jim110014.jpg



and here are pics of the newest area I've moving into, point C
artpass_valvebase_jim110003.jpg

artpass_valvebase_jim110010.jpg

artpass_valvebase_jim110005.jpg

artpass_valvebase_jim110002.jpg

artpass_valvebase_jim110001.jpg


Comments and Crits welcome
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
That wood floor is sexy. I've always felt that TF2 could use some polished wood floors.
 

timberghost_paintball

L2: Junior Member
Dec 19, 2007
77
200
upadte 9/9

well it's time for another update. It's hard for me to remember all of the changes since I last posted. Progress is moving along fairly well, at this point my priorities are to finish the skybox which is only blocked in at the moment and the model for the stern of the ship. Time permitting there are some more models I'd like to make but I really want to be done with custom content production by the end of the week. Thankfully I'm going to take next week off from work so I can really start the process of moving from space to space populating it with decals and models that are part of the existing game. and hopefully that will give me a week to polish things and put in player clips / optimization

One of the main new aspects of the exterior spaces is that icicles are now in the map and all of the spaces are textured trimmed and lit which was not the case in my last update

This image looking out from point A toward the blue spawn is a nice example of the beginning of my process of making the outdoor spaces less sterile
hl22010-09-0823-49-23-17.jpg


here are a handful of other pics from around point A
hl22010-09-0823-49-46-77.jpg

hl22010-09-0823-48-48-46.jpg

hl22010-09-0823-48-04-89.jpg


here is a pic of the space in front of the blue spawn
hl22010-09-0823-46-32-86.jpg

hopefully I'd like to modify the pipe structure model to add some supports and icicles and to visually break up that space a little more. The blue spawn is actually a red building that the blue team tunneled into so the final structure is going to look barricaded up like a forward operating base. you might notice that the text "under blu management" has been painted over the red signs in this area.

here are some pics from around point B
hl22010-09-0823-52-10-10.jpg

hl22010-09-0823-51-57-93.jpg

hl22010-09-0823-52-25-94.jpg


lastly here are some shots from around point C
the major change here is that I made a diving bell model and modified an existing crane model to give the space more of a sense of function
hl22010-09-0823-55-57-30.jpg


I've since replaced the blue block at the time of the screenshot I hadn't decided what I was going to do with that space.
hl22010-09-0823-54-56-97.jpg

hl22010-09-0823-53-36-27.jpg

hl22010-09-0823-52-58-87.jpg


thanks for checking it out. comments and crits welcome
 

Scotland Tom

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 19, 2008
332
64
The combo of that solid deep blue sky with the red team colored textures is breathtaking. It all looks very authentically arctic. You've got an incredibly unique look going here and it'll definitely stand out against the other entries.

A couple things:

1. In your newest screens it looks like some areas have gotten some icicle overkill. Yeah I've seen actual roofs with craploads of ice on them like that, but in this case it may be a bit too much and could potentially distract the eye from more important gameplay manners.

2. On the flipside there are a bunch of walls (screens 3,4,5,7,8 and 9) that seem a little bare to me. Yeah that's pretty realistic for a cold climate (you don't want anything outside because it'll freeze), but it makes things look a little bland.

3. Screenshot 11 looks like a room in a modern art gallery to me rather than some arctic facility. Industrialize that sucker.

Overall it's shaping up to be a really awesomely themed map. If you don't win I'd still love to see you apply this theme to your own custom map sometime in the future.
 

timberghost_paintball

L2: Junior Member
Dec 19, 2007
77
200
thanks Tom my process is to work over all the spaces evenly so at this point the vast majority of the spaces (especially indoors) have not had their main model pass. I definitely plan to have more happening on the walls to break them up visually. According to my intended schedule I should be getting into that next week. Also for the most part the overlays have not been placed either.

I tried to basically get custom models and lighting related models in first so I had time to tweak them and then I would place more typical tf2 props last. For the interior spaces around point C I intend to add a lot of air tanks etc. and definitely more computers and general tech-eryiness

the other thing is that I might have to re-skin a lot of the normal tf2 exterior props so we'll see. That obstacle partially explains my delay in incorporating those elements

I can definitely see your point with the icicles I may have to scale them back a bit, for performance reasons if nothing else. and thanks for noticing the play between the reds and blues in the environment I personally am really happy with how the map's palette is shaping up.

Lastly in all likelihood I'll release my theme to everyone once I'm done with the map. So even if I don't make another map in this style someone can.
 
Last edited:

coagulated

L1: Registered
Aug 12, 2010
26
13
While I love your icicle models, they do attract an awful lot of attention. Keep it away from the player's pov, mainly in the background or in inaccessible areas, and instead replace the icicles in the play area with thicker, less stabby ones, like maybe big frozen cascades of water surrounding columns.

Other than that I love what you're doing with color, and the new wood floor texture is beautiful. You've got the "warm vs. cold" theme down perfectly.
 

timberghost_paintball

L2: Junior Member
Dec 19, 2007
77
200
Well it was a super productive week. I finally finished some key assets and was able do to a model and overlay pass on the blue spawn and the outdoor areas around points A and B. Hopefully I be able to do the model and overlay pass on the interior areas around point C and the redspawn this weekend.

Outside of the Blue spawn
I wanted the blue spawn building to feel like a red building that has been seized by the blue team and has been barricaded off. I modified the fence model to get barbed wire as well as a grain sack model for sandbags to give the building a feeling that the blue team has secured and is advancing from this building.
hl22010-09-1723-47-29-13.jpg


on the inside the red paint on the walls has been hastily replaced with blue
hl22010-09-1723-47-48-81.jpg

hl22010-09-1723-48-12-78.jpg

this area looks down toward the ice tunnel the blue team invaded from
hl22010-09-1723-47-54-25.jpg


I also had time to make a sign for the solar panel installation
hl22010-09-1723-47-02-71.jpg


for the alley area I finished modifying the awnings with snow and placed some more props around to make the space feel occupied
hl22010-09-1723-48-36-43.jpg

I also filled the rooms in the buildings around the alley
top floor
hl22010-09-1723-49-20-98.jpg

ground floor
hl22010-09-1723-49-49-88.jpg


Point A is another area that got a lot of attention
hl22010-09-1723-50-14-24.jpg


I finally finished the ROV and supporting crane models to give the space more of a unique identity within the world
The UV mapping on the ROV alone took 16 hours :O ... glad that's over
hl22010-09-1723-50-14-25.jpg


I also got the stern of the ship model in. It's a skybox model to limit the size of the game world. you can see it in the background here
hl22010-09-1723-50-30-01.jpg


Point B also got some more detailing
hl22010-09-1723-51-23-20.jpg

hl22010-09-1723-52-03-28.jpg

hl22010-09-1723-52-47-71.jpg


well that's it for now. Hopefully I finish the detailing in the rest of the map this weekend and then get the soundscapes, spectator cameras, various optimizations and gameplay related stuff done next week.
 

Jetti

L5: Dapper Member
May 2, 2010
226
111
Man, you have totally won this! You went the whole hog, it's god damn amazing!
 

Acumen

Annoyer
aa
Jun 11, 2009
704
628
that red color on the texture to me is kinda too intensive. i think you should desaturate it a bit.
i think you totally overdid it with the icicle props.
like on this pic in the upper right area - the straight line of icicles looks so repetetive. i think valve uses them pretty clever. not on every other edge or trim and i think you would be good to kinda imiate that way - guess just study some of the viaduct stuff.

also i don't like the red/white textures combination at all. it's very harsh on the eyes. i think you should've used some of the stock valve material, cause it really jumps out on you.

i think if you kinda adress the icicle and texture issue the map would benefit a whole lot. cause the new models in general are very cool and clever, i also really like the theme and how you've executed it. i just think you're not quite there with the texturing.
great job so far !
 

re1wind

aa
Aug 12, 2009
644
588
the contrast and colour are very nice, but i agree with icicle spam and maybe desaturating the red *SLIGHTLY*. otherwise it looks good.