[WIP] ctf_Aerospace

Hey all!

First off, my apologies for not making it on weekend. I got really sick and am getting back just now, but that stuff is unimportant.

I'm glad you guys had a good time playing my map. Thanks a lot for the feedback!

I'm planning for a final Alpha release before I move on to Beta, as the map now has a pretty solid foundation.

@ CTFan: I have noticed those respawn visualizers as well, and they are not exactly random. They are exactly on the map origin (coordinates 0,0,0) and I wonder if it has something to do with it... I'll definatelly look on the catwalks as well. The blue elements on the red base are being reskinned for the next release

@ Mangy: Thanks a lot man, I belive you are correct about the underground, I'll make it smaller gameplay-wise but keep about the same size with off-limits areas.

@ roninmodern: Thanks! I'll sure try to get Valve's attention when I have a more advanced version of it!

@ Bonafide: I know what you are refering to, and it's not really HDR related but in fact a bloom effect used in the tunnel sections in HL:2. I was quite happy with the way it looked, but if it's detriment to gameplay I'll consider toning it down. I placed a very narrow aeroportal in the cave entrance, so I still need the effect to hide it somewhat. I want the cave to really be kind of hazardous an perilous place to play in though

Thanks a lot for all that played it, I'm not sure if there was a demo recording of it or not, but your feedback has been more than enough for the next iteration!

BTW: What did you guys think of the bigger intel return timer? I doubled it from the standard.

Bonafide said:

I kinda think its a detriment to game play. For about 3 seconds my screen was basically pure white everytime I went into the cave.

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I'm working on this, I'm having a hard time with the HDR settings as a minimal change to the tonemap controller results in a drastic change in lightning. I also changed my skybox and that changed a lot the way the light is cast around the map.

DragonFlame said:

You know what? I was all proud that i finished a basic design and started work, and then i look at this... >: O... But really nice map

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DragonFlame, I hope that my work is inspiring you to do your best

Laz said:

I only do some pencil concept sketches of some buildings, a general area, but nothing near as professional as yours.

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Well, each person has it's workflow, and even if the standard for art production is conceptualize > sketch > create each one will find what works best for them. I would, though, encourage you to try and do one project with detailed planning and conceptualization as I am, you never know if it wil help or hinder your work unless you try it!

BreadHeadFred said:

This looks amazing. The cave has got to be the most well-crafted thing I've seen in a custom map ever. The mountains also look really great, there's just a few things that look a bit strange. For example, it looks like there's grass/plants growing on the vertical sides of some of the mountains, which doesn't really look right.

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Hehe, thanks. The cave is pretty well final. I wanted to get to the final stages of at least one area of the map to get the way of the engine and the compiling process. Now comes the real work! The skybox from the last version was just a rough of what I wanted, check out the next screens for my current progress.

I've been working on the 3Dskybox, and even if it still need a little bit more work (some custom props for sloped terrain and some polishing) I think it's quite near the final form:











AS I said, I'm having problems with the HDR settings, if anyone knows of a good tutorial for it, or some basic parameters, please share.

Thanks a lot for all the help so far. I can't belive it's finally taking shape!

Youme said:

http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=2755

please stop working on the detailed areas you can't get to and work on the play area

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Hehe, fear not! I am done with this stage of the skybox and have started to flesh out the sewers and interiors. I go on making a list of the custom texture/props I'll need and then make a "pass" and do them all at once. Then I go back in hammer and keep working until the point where there is a good number of models/textures to be done. That way I keep myself from getting bored with a single part of the map and also avoid switching back and forth from hammer to photoshop to 3Dsmax.

And thanks a lot for the link. I'll try those settings you suggested. I guess the problem is with my bloom scale, the tutorial I followed was for HL2 singleplayer, where you don't feel that pissed when ambushed by the combine because you are bling from HDR

Lolz1337 said:

Damn that skybox looks good, i'm surely going to noclip into the skybox just to walk around the skybox.

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Oh noes, then you'll see all the sloppy work I hid with my props!

MangyCarface said:

Skybox is sweet! Starting to look like an actual flight zone. Would you want a gameday this weekend to test any changes?

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Thanks man! I surely hope to have a more updated version for gameday this week!


DragonFlame, thanks a lot for your input. Why is it that the trees don't please you? Is it their color or texture? Their shape? I live in a tropical country and city, and I see wuite a lot of vegetation around me and am taking them as a base to model the trees here. Although there is a lot that I still need to do to make them look as I want, they are quite close to it.

I belive they may seem out of place if you are not familiar with this kind of vegetation, and as they are in TF2, and not on Battlefield: Vietnam. But I would still take your opinion into consideration, for it might as well raise some point that I need to work on.

Problem is, I'm at my budget for mid and high poly models. Anything I need to add from now on (on the skybox) must be low-poly or sprites, otherwise I'll hinder my choices for props in the play area and world geometry.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback guys, now let me get back to work

Youme said:

please stop working on the detailed areas you can't get to and work on the play area

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The basement. As suggested by Mangy, I removed the path leading to the small shack in the back of the Hangar. Following that I also made the sewer area more streamlined, less space and more directional. These should help keep the action more packed at the center, as well as creating more "choke points". I'm trying not to have a major and definite chokepoint like the bridge on 2fort or the middle trainyard on well, let's see how these changes go on gameday.

And someone please remind me to put the signs and directions

Snipergen said:

Jezus christ arhurt the first pic on prev page... I thought it was a picture. Really nice work.

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Thanks Sniper, I was also impressed by the way it turned out to look in the end. I have to redo the textures on my skybox props though, as they turned out to became too streched out. But I have to finish the gameare first or Youme will be displeased

Mangy, thanks for the compliments. I always get the same dark result on my first compile. But I was in a hurry to have lunch and go to work and didn`t have time to fix it and recompile. I also have to make a test compile with -final to see how much of a difference it makes with the extra light bounces. From the different you notice of a compile without radiosity from a correct one, it may be brighter exactly to the point. Only experimentation will answer that though

:thumbup1: I was already planning on doing this. Alongside with a custom soundscape it's going to be very cool.