[WIP] Arena Lockdown

samn

L4: Comfortable Member
Mar 28, 2008
158
47
Arena LOCHdown
A few months ago I started making a 5 CP map called Interlock and I held a few playtests within my community. It was fun and seemed to have potential, but the map was full of bugs, it looked awful, and I knew very little of optimisation so often the whole map was rendered at once. The design process had been 'make it up as you go along' so elements of the map often felt like they'd just been shoved in. I found that it was going to be almost impossible to optimise and detail so I eventually gave up on the project.

Last week, the day the heavy update came out, I decided it was time to start remaking it using all the knowledge I'd learnt from the SDK Wiki, posts from this site and tutorials from various other useful sites. So far I've started to creat the Blu half of the middle cap area. Initially I will release Arena and King of the Hill versions, then I will spend some time designing the 2nd and 1st CPs and release the 5cp version.
I've been working on a remake of Interlock, this time it will look and play much better and hopefully it'll be much more optimised. I will first create an Arena and King of the Hill version before I get to work on the final 5cp version.
Blu's part of the middle cp so far
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4094/arenalockdowna20022fp0.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/2365/arenalockdowna20020lt0.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/5753/arenalockdowna20019iz0.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/5545/arenalockdowna20018tq3.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/8541/arenalockdowna20017ra3.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1728/arenalockdowna20016rq6.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/4986/arenalockdowna20015kr4.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/7905/arenalockdowna20014ak0.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6659/arenalockdowna20013hu9.jpg
 
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YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4...na20022fp0.jpg
Displacements look quite bumpy, have a go with the smooth option to make them a bit nicer. The roof at the right should probably be thinner, I generally use 4 units thick and sometimes 8 in rare cases for rooftops and make sure you rotate the texture on them, if its at a 1:2 ratio use 63.5 or -63.5 degrees to get the right angle.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/2...na20020lt0.jpg
Far too dark, add a light inside there, dark areas are generalyl bad because it makes it harder to see players silhouette and colour. If you can't see a players silhouette and colour you have no idea what course of action to take. Its really important you can see the the other players in good lighting.
The edge of the wall at the right has a texture that needs to be rotated though 90 degrees, although personally I'd put the nodraw textrue on that and add a frame covering up the nodraw.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/5545/arenalockdowna20018tq3.jpg
Those window props, they're designed to be sunk into the wall slightly, to do this you'll have to clip a hole in the wall and make the section behind the window thinner so that it doesn't stick though the prop when it's edges are flush with the rest of the wall, if you get close to the wall you'll be able to see though the window. looks strange doesn't it? Thats because it needs to be sunk into the wall.
Make the metal door recessed into the wall slightly, the foreground building looks a bit bland having every detail flush with the same edge, by recessing the door inwards you'll add just a little bit more variation, and variation is great.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/8541/arenalockdowna20017ra3.jpg
Try adding point_spotlight or env_lightglow entities at each of those lights to make some nice beams or glow. Don't forget to add some env_cubemap entities and run buildcubemaps properly before you release any public versions (correct buildcubemaps process - http://forums.tf2maps.net/showpost.php?p=23632&postcount=3)
Those stairs look quite steep and lighting looks very dark at the top of them. 1:2 and 1:3 make good ratios for stairs, 1:1 is far too steep for most instances and 1:4 is often too shallow for stairs and would look better as a basic ramp.
The metal door in the background, it's little wheel is floating in mid air, not terribly realistic if you ask me, just add an overhang in the wall so that the little wheel is attached to something and looks less silly.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/4986/arenalockdowna20015kr4.jpg
Lots of textures that need rotating in this one and that balcony looks like it needs some bigger supports than those little model ones, why not substitute them for some brushwork?
The decking looks a tad on the thin side but that's hardly a major issue.
The inside again looks far too dark.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/7905/arenalockdowna20014ak0.jpg
Scale down the chicken wire texture and rotate it slightly for best results, I think I use 0.1 for scale and 30 degrees.

Overall:
you need lots more props all over the place and a little more variation in the textures you're using, theres a lot of the dark metal and the dark wood at the moment.
A good start, lets see you make it even better now.

That should keep you busy for a while.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/7905/arenalockdowna20014ak0.jpg
A suggestion for balancing the appearence of your "prop rooms", bunch all your barrels to one side and place a few corrigated irons sheets or wooden planks on the other, but only a few so that one side is packed and the other sparce. To make a dynamic visual scene it's best not to have things evened out and/or symmetrical. Asymmetry is also a big thing in the TF2 theme, especially for the Red team.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1728/arenalockdowna20016rq6.jpg
Again, asymmetrical window placement is a good idea, it's not important for a building to look realistic. Obviously, pay attention to distance from sides and top+bottom of your building, but ultimately be quite carefree with window placement.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/2365/arenalockdowna20020lt0.jpg
Half the size of this decal/overlay. It doesn't need to be that big.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/grazr/arenalockdowna20018tq3.jpg
 

Chilly

L6: Sharp Member
May 3, 2008
326
127
Wow, I just learned a crapload about mapping from those 2 posts. Thanks from a bystander. :)
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Youme beat me to most of it! When i came back to reference the links i noticed he had already said most of what i had, and that's all i had different to mention so i got rid of the rest. No need to reitterate.. :cool1: I wanted to add you can get away with symmetric windows on the metal textures for the most part, but for wood like in those ss it is a good idea to move them about a bit and provide a building with character. Try to give an impression of what's inside too.

P.S. There is a thanks feature on the forums :p
 

Nineaxis

Quack Doctor
aa
May 19, 2008
1,767
2,820
Also, for the sake of my sanity, only use the strapped down barrels when they are strapped down to a flatcar, please. :)
 

Username

L2: Junior Member
Aug 26, 2008
96
61
Heh. You might want to fix the title. I came in thinking you were making an alpine environment that revolved around a large loch (Scottish for lake, for the confused folks out there) in the center of the map.
 

samn

L4: Comfortable Member
Mar 28, 2008
158
47
That was intentional.

EDIT: Okay who changed my topic title :p It is supposed to be called Lochdown
 
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