Arena Lighthouse

[Psy]

I've been working on this some more (basic texturing, lighting, all that jazz) to the point of being releasable so expect the first alpha tomorrow!

 

[Psyphil]

great to see that you've got that far already, think the well sky/lightning will fit pretty good

just can you take a picture to show how this part looks now when you removed the stairs/ramps?
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll263/Psycho-LD/media-7.jpg
cause I think that part looks great in the picture

 

[gerhard2202]

Water Fix

Water fixed with 3d skybox and fog?

Anyways, looks real cool.

 

[Psy]

Alpha 1 is here! - Huzzah!

Visually it's not finished but the gameplay is there and, hey, it's an alpha!

 

[Psy]

Coming in at around 1300 polies is the brand spanking new lighthouse which is looking a lot better than the brush-based lighthouse if I do say so myself.

 

[Galago]

Impressive!

 

[Psy]

So I playtested this Tuesday night with about 14 people and it was a blast so I'm quite happy with both myself and the map.

Planned Changes

Gameplay

• Scouts easily dominate the middle so I think some more small/medium cover will help to overcome that problem.
  
• The addition of a second floor to the side buildings. Should encourage snipers to be somewhat more useful!
  
• Moving the existing ammoboxes to the side paths and adding some nearer to the cap to encourage engineers.
  
• Set the cap enable delay to the default 60.

Visuals

• More lights need to be added to the area outside spawn. It's especially dark for Red's side.
  
• A vista that can be seen from the windows at spawn. Gotta fill up that ocean with something!
  
• Shaping the surrounding cliffs. Possibly lowering the top section down and extending it into a 3Dskybox, allowing me to add more buildings and details which add more depth to the world.

Known Issues

• I forgot to pakrat the custom rock textures so hopefully I'll remember to add them for the next version.
  
• You can get behind the fence at spawn.

I'm sure this list will grow come Gameday!

---

Now for today's work.

I know that somebody wanted me to release this model so you can expect it to be released separately with the next version of the map.

 

[Captain Planet]

if you're going to release it, can you do a 1/16th scale for the skybox to?

 

[Psy]

if you're going to release it, can you do a 1/16th scale for the skybox to?

Of course.

 

[Psyphil]

That is one beautiful lighthouse!

 

[DarkNoghri]

Coupla things here:

Seems like it needs more cover. It's basic layout seems to be wide-open space, small shack, wide-open, small shack.
Desperately needs a raise in the mid-point unlock time.
I like the suggestion of a second level (accessible to everyone) on the lighthouse as well.
Needs less pyros?

 

[TheDarkerSideofYourShadow]

I really liked the map. I didn't notice anything (maybe a little open because Al kept trying to snipe me), but nothing that I couldn't dodge by using the side shacks. Also, I still think you might want to consider these reskinned rocks, though they might not be exactly what you want (a little too dark of a gray?): http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=3367

 

[Psy]

So after last night I've added a few new additions to the list. There are a lot of things which I'd like to try out but this list contains definite changes planned for the next release.

Planned Changes

Gameplay

• Set the cap enable delay to the default 60.
  
• The addition of a curved staircase along either side of the Lighthouse to allow all classes access to the second floor. This will make it a lot harder to cap because it's very easy to just sit at the point and keep checking for people coming in from one of two directions. The two extra entrances will make it harder to just sit at the point and keep turning around every once in a while.
  
• The addition of low/medium cover to help make the middle area less of a wide-open area and something more concise.
  

Visuals

• More lights need to be added to the area outside spawn. It's especially dark for Red's side.
  
• A vista that can be seen from the windows at spawn. Gotta fill up that ocean with something!
  
• Shaping the surrounding cliffs. Possibly lowering the top section down and extending it into a 3Dskybox, allowing me to add more buildings and details which add more depth to the world.
  
• REMEMBER TO PAKRAT ROCK TEXTURES!

Known Issues

• I forgot to pakrat the custom rock textures so hopefully I'll remember to add them for the next version.
  
• You can get behind the fence at spawn.
  
• You can get stuck between a rock and the T-shaped fence.

 

[Chilly]

I'm getting a purple/black checkerboard on the glass in the lighthouse. Make sure you put a cubemap inside and build your cubemaps in both LDR and HDR mode.

 

[Psy]

Thanks for all the comments guys! Still lots to be done but here's the latest build.

The lighting has changed to something that is a lot cooler which I believe fits the theme a lot better then the harsh sunlight and long-shadows of the old setup, plus it creates a nice, calm, relaxing atmosphere which is what I'd imagine to be my perfect island.

I've also created a new soundscape. I'll upload a short audio clip of it when I get onto my main PC. It's basically the two high and low desert wind noises combined with random seagull squawks and distant waves crashing in the distance. Hardly groundbreaking but it works very well especially with the calmer lighting and definitely reminds me of the seaside.

You may have noticed a few minor changes to the layout where I've gone around adding cover and generally moving and adding bits and pieces to help improve the flow in some areas. There's not really much to say about the changes as I think playtesting will decide whether the changes are good or bad.

Anyhoo, I hope you like the new changes. I've still got to add a 3D skybox, finish detailing some of the buildings, add blocklights behind those damn displacements, and model a staircase for the lighthouse!

 

[TheDarkerSideofYourShadow]

Looks good. I'm looking forward to many more pyro/soldier matches against Dox while playtesting this

 

[Psy]

Download

 

[toutfou]

Looks nice I'd work on the lighting though, I think it looks rather flat in some areas (ie first SS) and then casts some not so flash shadows in others (last shot).

I think you could also throw some detail inside that building with the two black windows in the last shot. Black windows only really work well when you're too far away to bother trying to see inside them.

 

[TheDarkerSideofYourShadow]

I'm looking forward to playing this on saturday. The only thing I see from the SSs are some text alignment issues with the cliffs, usually the transition from the side to the level area.

 

[cornontheCoD]

I always thought of doing a lighthouse themed map, but never got around to it, as I knew I didn't have enough experience with models/brushwork to make a lighthouse.

I love your lighthouse though, looks awesome. it is simple, but that is a good thing.