[WIP] pl_factory

Jazz

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 9, 2008
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This is my first payload map that I started yesterday and did most of what I have now today. Either later tonight or some time tomorrow I will add the actual payload entities like the cart and the paths.

Here are some screen shots of what I have done in stage 1.

Inside spawn:
hl2 2008-08-12 22-30-37-50.png


Window in spawn room:
hl2 2008-08-12 22-30-49-51.png



When entering Blue base:
hl2 2008-08-12 22-31-05-77.png



Outside Blue base:
hl2 2008-08-12 22-31-16-80.png



Path out of the base:
hl2 2008-08-12 22-31-41-71.png



Tracks under the bridge
hl2 2008-08-12 22-32-10-75.png



Trains:
hl2 2008-08-12 22-32-43-88.png



Trains again:
hl2 2008-08-12 22-32-46-88.png



Overview:
hl2 2008-08-12 22-33-46-30.png




I will probably update tomorrow around the same time if I'm not busy.
 
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Ida

deer
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Jan 6, 2008
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You're pretty fast, it would probably take me a week or so to get the same progress. :p

Layout looks very nice so far, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this!

EDIT: I'd suggest using less rocks on the ground. It just looks a bit wrong.
 
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laghlagh

L6: Sharp Member
Jul 15, 2008
389
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May I suggest pl_ayground?
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
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Mar 4, 2008
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Very open space, i'm not sure you need that much open area. Maybe try filling it up with a shed or two, if anything.

Try to avoid giant walls (though it does look nice there), it's a cardinal sin of mappers; cordoning off their maps with a big old wall is just a lack of imagination. Though Valve have actually commited this sin on one of their best maps.. we should not stoop to the same levels of laziness. Though i understand this is a beta release.
 

Chilly

L6: Sharp Member
May 3, 2008
326
127
Looking pretty good so far. Besides the things that have already been commented on, I'd suggest rethinking the underpass by the checkpoint. That's just a spammy nadefest waiting to happen. Widening it out would help a bit.
 

Ida

deer
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Jan 6, 2008
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Very open space, i'm not sure you need that much open area. Maybe try filling it up with a shed or two, if anything.

How is there too much open space here? Well, I agree that a shed would be nice, but Valve themselves (I use them as examples quite a lot, don't I?) have many many areas that are a lot more open than this.
 

Chilly

L6: Sharp Member
May 3, 2008
326
127
The difference is that Valve's open spaces are broken up with valleys (Dustbowl 1), waterways (Well), buildings/props/terrain (Hydro), and terrain/bridges (Badlands and Goldrush 1). This is a relatively flat and wide open area. It definitely needs some sort of building/prop/terrain in that area.

Also note that a sniper could sit at the far end of the tracks right now and clean house on the stage. Contrast this to Goldrush 1 where the track bends at the start, breaking it into 2 sections to make it slightly harder on snipers. Consider making a building right next to the track to give people a bit of sniper cover as well, or even a building OVER the tracks.
 

Jazz

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 9, 2008
240
23
Thanks a lot for the comments guys. I added on to the terrain by the start of the tracks today with a bomb pit and some random barrels in the ground. For the tunnel being too slim I widened it up and made it look more tunnel-ey. Chilly, I see what you mean about the sniper problem and I will post some pics of what I can think of to solve that.

New look by the Blue base (Someone help me with my weird shadows by the pit):
hl2 2008-08-13 11-53-20-14.png



Bomb pit:
hl2 2008-08-13 11-53-49-44.png



I am also having major trouble understanding how to set up the payload entities. I had a look at this thread and while it looked like it had everything some things such as the round timer, team winning entities, and logic relays where sort of left out. The entities where not listed in order and that confused me more. If any of you could make/find a easy guide to payload tutorial I would appreciate it.


Going into the tunnel:
hl2 2008-08-13 11-53-58-67.png




Leaving the tunnel:
hl2 2008-08-13 11-54-12-51.png
 

Jazz

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 9, 2008
240
23
Also, I'm thinking of a name like pl_factory or something kind of, industrial sounding.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
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How is there too much open space here? Well, I agree that a shed would be nice, but Valve themselves (I use them as examples quite a lot, don't I?) have many many areas that are a lot more open than this.

It would probably be more noticable if you could see how big a character actually is there. It's not massive but it is a lot of wide open space that only serves to make the map look more empty than it appears, and hard to "pretty up", rather than a matter of gameplay. Yes Valve do have some wide open spaces, but these are normally rectangular with amazing skyboxes. Players have restricted movement, and are controlled with flow, such as the stage 1 of dustbowl; an area which is quite large, but due to player restrictions (the guorge) movement is linear and controlled.

When dealing with large area's you have to keep in mind where the player is looking (the enemies advance). In dustbowl, all attention is set forward on stage 1 to the first cp and the entrances to stage 1. In the area shown here, attention is set to the left, with a massive space behind the player that goes widely unused. Wasted space (a good oppotunity to cordon this area off into a 3d skybox).

p.s. the tunnel is looking much nicer.
 
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Chilly

L6: Sharp Member
May 3, 2008
326
127
Tunnel looks great now. It might look even better if the ambient light in it were lowered slightly so the spotlights stand out even more. Not much darker, but just enough to make it feel like you're going under an overpass.

I'm not sold on your bomb pit, but maybe once the shadows are fixed it'll work better. I think the planks covering it are bothering me right now. If they were real and you stepped on the short one directly behind the sign, the other long one would flip up. Not saying it HAS to be realistic because TF2 rarely is, but I've just never seen a pit covered with boards like that so it feels wrong. I do like the bombs down there, but perhaps instead of covering the pit you could use particle effects and make some weird smoke coming out of there along with a kill trigger. If you do it right it could limit the snipers a bit at the same time. You could also just try making it a square pit with a grate of some sort over the top, maybe even adding a small crane overhead? It might work a little better graphically.

For the payload entities, I believe pl_orangebomb was released with the map file so people could copy/paste the entities. If not, I'd suggest asking youme (once he returns from vacation) or Spacemonkey for specific help, since they will know more about it than most other mappers.
 

Jazz

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 9, 2008
240
23
Thanks for all the feedback chilly. I created a new boxy pit (and kept the old one if this one doesn't work out) and added some toxic smoke. Then I looked at the mini mapping contest entries and got inspired to totally full-out detail my red building. I will put some pics up soon.

For now though, I am having some trouble with the payload track shadows. If a shadow casts on the track at any point, the entire track will become shaded. It is hard to explain so I took two example pictures. I do not have any leaks in the map and I am not using a model / prop texture anywhere.

shadower1.png


shadower2.png
 

Jazz

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 9, 2008
240
23
Last edited:

Ida

deer
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Jan 6, 2008
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You've got some good, unique ideas and layout. It looks really promising. :D
 

laghlagh

L6: Sharp Member
Jul 15, 2008
389
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Looks really good, but I still think that ground texture is too flashy.
 
Feb 14, 2008
1,051
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I think you should star painting the alpha of the displacements, because that ground texture looks unnatural in such high quantity.
 

Jazz

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 9, 2008
240
23
Alright, update time. I have just about finished stage 1 of the map. The cliff displacements are not there yet because my displacements have weird shading. Also the tracks continue to have those strange shading errors that I can not figure out. I took some more pics and I uploaded the .bsp so if anyone is interested they can have a run through of the map.

New screenies:

1.png


2.png


3.png


4.png


5.png



And here is the .bsp file.

There are no payload entities yet because I wanted to make all the track before I set up the different round entities and the tracks.

;)