artpass_whark

[Whark]

Made a little progress toward the direction of Gooba's paintover of the market area (below). Still a long way to go but it feels good to have a solid picture of the target.

I should have more with some new assets tomorrow.

 

[Leminnes]

You need to noshadow those windows or build them into the wall.

 

[Whark]

Edit: Actually, I think it may be better if you made the carpets actually HAVE dimension, even on the ground. Make a flat model like 1-2 hammer units thick. Having it flat on the ground would be odd. Mostly because I can't think of a overlay Valve has right now that is intended for the floor that looks like it should be 3D.

Ah. We talked about that and my only concern about that was performance. I remember seeing in HL2 that rugs and such were often overlays. A particularly small but densely populated level I made for it once had some tricky optimization issues which I assumed ( partially) had to do with too much mesh. But if performance wouldn't be hurt by geometry thats even better because it will look better! I tend to be overly gung ho when it concerns performance, especially for MP levels, so I may need to be slapped back to my senses periodically

 

[Leminnes]

Ah. We talked about that and my only concern about that was performance. I remember seeing in HL2 that rugs and such were often overlays. A particularly small but densely populated level I made for it once had some tricky optimization issues which I assumed ( partially) had to do with too much mesh. But if performance wouldn't be hurt by geometry thats even better because it will look better! I tend to be overly gung ho when it concerns performance, especially for MP levels, so I may need to be slapped back to my senses periodically

I think it may be okay. And HL2 aesthetics are quite a bit different than TF2's. However, in HL2 I think Overlay rugs are ugly (I know which one you're talking about) but a flat rug shouldn't be any worse than a detail prop.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I think it may be okay. And HL2 aesthetics are quite a bit different than TF2's. However, in HL2 I think Overlay rugs are ugly (I know which one you're talking about) but a flat rug shouldn't be any worse than a detail prop.

I'm up for whatever whark thinks is best, as long as it's not expensive. I'll be building a rug mesh next anyway and then folding it to be hung, so I'll be easy to try out a flat one with geometry. Here's a filthy rug.

 

[Tinker]

I agree on the rugs looking a little shiny. Rugs are made of hair, which means they look rather fuzzy, without many actual straight lines running through. They seem fine if you use them from a distance, but from close up it's going to look slightly off.

The design itself is good though, really mathematical like a lot of the Arabian world has it.

EDIT: artghraghra ninja'd

 

[Chemical Alia]

I'm up for whatever whark thinks is best, as long as it's not expensive. I'll be building a rug mesh next anyway and then folding it to be hung, so I'll be easy to try out a flat one with geometry. I also like that example rug pattern, and I'll take down the contrast on the other ones. I don't want to make the lines too wavy though, because if I end up making them 512, the detail will start to get blurry. It really depends on how big they will be in the game. Here's a filthy rug.

I agree that the shadows on the window meshes look a little strange, like they're really soft for the time of day. Someone suggested you can turn them off, that might work, or maybe you could set them in a little more?

 

[Stink Horse]

Hmm, I think your rug might be a bit too noisy actually. the alternating triangle patterns in the middle is just information overload. Consider reducing down the variety of visual elements, such as the variety of colors, number of internal strokes on the diamonds, and the vertical lines in the background pattern to help reduce it's visual footprint.

Also the level is ostensibly owned by the RED team. I don't think that having elements of blue in the rug really fit. Maybe orange or brown? Making even that little change could help make the rug better fit the TF2 style immediately and effectively.

 

[Whark]

You need to noshadow those windows or build them into the wall.

Yea, now that you mention it I do. I was too lazy last night. I'm on it.

 

[Whark]

Tweaked a little more based on the Gooba's paintover and did a ton of optimization.
Added Chemical Alia's rugs on displacements. Seems to work fairly well. Still more passes to do here.

I dug into this area a little between other tasks.

Still a ton to do...

 

[re1wind]

The brick texture doesn't really fit.

 

[Tinker]

Remember that TF2 is a very mobile game as well - demomen, scouts and soldiers jumping all over the place. Make sure that your ceilings aren't too low or areas too restricted - I can imagine it being a danger when your theme is the (fairly close areas of) a middle eastern market.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Maybe you could break up the ceiling arch in the hallway with an open space of some sort? I like the extra room it provides in the original, and its asymmetry. I'd say to google some interiors or even courtyard roofs, maybe there's some neat curved shape you can use that still allows for openness.

The right wall would have more visual interest if it was cut in in some places, maybe like there was a brick wall, which was overlayed by a plaster one over time and the shape became a little irregular. Of even if ther was an archway there at some point, and it was covered up with a new wall, but there's still a few inches of it visibly inset. I wonder what you have in mind for that part, but these are just some thoughts.

I'm still waiting on that one art test, and will probably start the other one tomorrow, so if you'd like I can do some draw-overs when I get off work.

 

[Leminnes]

The hallway doesn't need to be big and open. It COULD, but it doesn't need to be. The original is no taller than his detailed version, so I don't see the issue.

On another note, I'm really interested in what the CPs are going to look like on this. Don't forget to make the the visual points of interest.

 

[Chemical Alia]

The hallway doesn't need to be big and open. It COULD, but it doesn't need to be. The original is no taller than his detailed version, so I don't see the issue.

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but on the left side the ceiling seems to rise up pretty high. It looks like just an aesthetic thing, so I don't think it really matters for gameplay, but it definitely seems like a cool thing to explore for visual interest.

 

[Leminnes]

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but on the left side the ceiling seems to rise up pretty high. It looks like just an aesthetic thing, so I don't think it really matters for gameplay, but it definitely seems like a cool thing to explore for visual interest.

It's certainly Whark's choice if he'd like. I was mostly referring to Tinker's post. He said that areas need to be open, I was saying that's not necessarily the case.

 

[Chemical Alia]

It's certainly Whark's choice if he'd like. I was mostly referring to Tinker's post. He said that areas need to be open, I was saying that's not necessarily the case.

Gotcha. But yeah, I agree that it's not necessary in this area. He probably has something in mind already, too v:

 

[Gooba]

Sorry, I just can't help myself.

 

[The Political Gamer]

Jesus Gooba thats beautiful.

 

[Whark]

It's certainly Whark's choice if he'd like. I was mostly referring to Tinker's post. He said that areas need to be open, I was saying that's not necessarily the case.

Actually, there IS a player clip over that "open" area so it is, in fact, not traversable by players.