[Guide] Details: how VALVe do it

[Burnzoire]

Anyone have any idea where I might find those red arrows? All I can find are arrows in circles, and blue arrows in squares but not red ?? Also, the sign props only have cap point skins as far as I can tell. Help appreciated!

 

[jpr]

Anyone have any idea where I might find those red arrows? All I can find are arrows in circles, and blue arrows in squares but not red ?? Also, the sign props only have cap point skins as far as I can tell. Help appreciated!

The red arrows are the blue arrows, but on the other side of the billboard

 

[Psy]

Search for 'billboard'. There's a small and a large version; both with an arrow of both colours on either side.

 

[Ninjilla]

I think doing the nature would be best as well, you've explained what makes the inside environments so great, but not what makes the grand ol' plains look nice.

 

[Burnzoire]

oh wow, I never thought of looking on the other side! thanks

 

[Fraz]

Do sawmill, lumberyard, and pipeline please :3

 

[Fogold]

I would love it you could do a more on spytech things, I'm doind a spytech map and am having trouble with the detailing.

 

[Icarus]

Spytech?

Have a lot of complementing, but irregular angles ad curves. High contrast lighting works well with spytech and can be used to mask an otherwise lack of detail.

Spytech is more "Modern Architecture" than the rest of the game.

 

[Nutomic]

Very interesting and helpfull, didnt know that with the displacement roofs and skybox on badlands :blink:

@Youme, maybe it would be a good idea to put all your tips (and also those of other users of course) into the first post, so that everyone can find them easily.

 

[Ninjilla]

Spytech?

Have a lot of complementing, but irregular angles ad curves. High contrast lighting works well with spytech and can be used to mask an otherwise lack of detail.

Spytech is more "Modern Architecture" than the rest of the game.

Now explode that into 4 paragraphs and 5 or so pictures with examples, and you will be king

 

[Cornish Gamehen]

Thanks very much Youme for a very interesting and helpful guide. I never noticed half of these to be honest. When I started getting into custom maps I actually started studying Valve's architecture whilst in the middle of a battle/other unhelpful situations, so to absorb it in screenshots is very nice.

 

[Tapp]

Thanks very much Youme for a very interesting and helpful guide. I never noticed half of these to be honest. When I started getting into custom maps I actually started studying Valve's architecture whilst in the middle of a battle/other unhelpful situations, so to absorb it in screenshots is very nice.

EPIC 4-month bump!
[ontopic] it should also be noted that the spire in badlands has a lot of clipping in it, and as such that should be mentioned.[/ontopic]
BUMP!

 

[Pocket]

func_lod = able to set draw distance
func_illusionary = doesn't clip

Gotcha. Wow, there needs to just be a central resource for useful facts like this.

Making structures look believable is easiest to do when you have some to look at. Michigan Tech has an Industrial Archaeology Image Archive online. It is a great archive of 20th century American industrial architecture.

Holy... thanks for that! It's almost all exteriors, for what it's worth, but that's probably most of what people will be building anyway.

As far as interiors go, urban exploration galleries seem like a good place to start, although you won't get to see what the places looked like new. The urban_explorers and abandonedplaces communities on LiveJournal have pretty big (as in I've never gotten through them all) backlogs of photos from posters who've sneaked into abandoned factories, power plants, etc.

Guttering! no one uses the gutter props in their maps, its such a mind-blowingly easy way to add simple detail to an otherwise bland patch.

I will be honest with y'all. I never even noticed the gutters until I saw one on Double Cross and thought it was one of the new props. And then of course I started seeing it everywhere.

 

[Cornish Gamehen]

EPIC 4-month bump!
[ontopic] it should also be noted that the spire in badlands has a lot of clipping in it, and as such that should be mentioned.[/ontopic]
BUMP!

Oops :blushing:

I'll tell you now that despite being a member of various forums, the one thing I never learnt was to read the date of posts.

I'll actually make a point of having date-checking OCD from now on, Tapp.

 

[The Political Gamer]

Bumping da thread. Youme we want a new one!

 

[DaBeatzProject]

Well... since it's quite silent in here, i decided i could add something to this How VALVe Do It show.
2fort is absolutely magic. I showed this one to some people before, so this might not be new to you: Take a look at RED's tower.

Ta-dum Tsh!










(For those who really don't see it: the tower is slightly rotated.)

So that's it for today's How VALVe Do It show! Small details, do the trick!

 

[VelvetFistIronGlove]

Yeah, 2fort is an amazing example of detail in TF2, definitely worth studying if you want to learn detailing or lighting.

 

[zpqrei]

Well... since it's quite silent in here, i decided i could add something to this How VALVe Do It show.
2fort is absolutely magic. I showed this one to some people before, so this might not be new to you: Take a look at RED's tower.

Ta-dum Tsh!

(For those who really don't see it: the tower is slightly rotated.)

So that's it for today's How VALVe Do It show! Small details, do the trick!

:O

 

[Moth]

All the screenshots are down! Must be because of this week end's server apocalypse.

 

[Mikroscopic]

Or because this is a very old thread from 2008. Unfortunately that happens to images sometimes.