Well, I suppose it's time for a WIP thread for my new, first, and only map, "ctf_derelict". It's playable now, but I would guess I'm still a couple weeks from an alpha 1 release.
Basically, a red tugboat and a blue tugboat have pulled up alongside a derelict container ship lost at sea. There are two superstructures facing each other, each with its own bridge and chart room, where the intel is hidden. The upper and lower decks serve as battlegrounds, defined largely by shipping containers. In addition to the superstructures, the upper deck has two large loading cranes. A skilled Scout can go from the top of one superstructure to the other by executing a series of jumps, similar to 2fort.
Inspiration for this map was an article in Wired, earlier this year about the "Cougar Ace," a huge container ship sinking near Alaska and the crack team of badass engineers from Titan Salvage who went in to save it. The photos of the Titan team made me think of the TF2 crew, and I just took it from there.
None of my containers are props. Instead, I borrowed the texture and applied it to brushes which gives better framerates and cuts visleafs. I need to do some texture work on the containers to add the vertical metal bars the prop has on the ends, and to bumpmap it properly. The pass-through containers are just four brushes textured like a container.
A few things I know I need to work on (amongst many others):
1) On the upper deck FPS can drop to the 30s (otherwise it's 80+ on a GeForce 7950 at 1280x1024). I'm moving some containers around to bump up the FPS in some problem areas. Also, I haven't hinted anything yet. The good news is I understand the whole "avoid open areas" thing now.
2) A few HL2 textures here and there that need to be replaced.
3) I need to block off the tugs so I can seal it off with areaportals. The containers on the edges already meet the skybox, I just need to seal off the fore and aft somehow.
4) Lighting tweaks. Screenshots below are just fast RAD, no HDR.
I have never mapped anything before in my life. I'm a software engineer by trade, so none of the SDK is over my head really, but I still had a lot to learn to get it this far and I've got a lot more to go. Comments and suggestions are very much welcome. I have more SS if anyone wants to see more.
The Tugs (starting spawn)
The Hold
The Bridge (flag is in the room behind the window on the right)
The Deck (blue front door)
Basically, a red tugboat and a blue tugboat have pulled up alongside a derelict container ship lost at sea. There are two superstructures facing each other, each with its own bridge and chart room, where the intel is hidden. The upper and lower decks serve as battlegrounds, defined largely by shipping containers. In addition to the superstructures, the upper deck has two large loading cranes. A skilled Scout can go from the top of one superstructure to the other by executing a series of jumps, similar to 2fort.
Inspiration for this map was an article in Wired, earlier this year about the "Cougar Ace," a huge container ship sinking near Alaska and the crack team of badass engineers from Titan Salvage who went in to save it. The photos of the Titan team made me think of the TF2 crew, and I just took it from there.
None of my containers are props. Instead, I borrowed the texture and applied it to brushes which gives better framerates and cuts visleafs. I need to do some texture work on the containers to add the vertical metal bars the prop has on the ends, and to bumpmap it properly. The pass-through containers are just four brushes textured like a container.
A few things I know I need to work on (amongst many others):
1) On the upper deck FPS can drop to the 30s (otherwise it's 80+ on a GeForce 7950 at 1280x1024). I'm moving some containers around to bump up the FPS in some problem areas. Also, I haven't hinted anything yet. The good news is I understand the whole "avoid open areas" thing now.
2) A few HL2 textures here and there that need to be replaced.
3) I need to block off the tugs so I can seal it off with areaportals. The containers on the edges already meet the skybox, I just need to seal off the fore and aft somehow.
4) Lighting tweaks. Screenshots below are just fast RAD, no HDR.
I have never mapped anything before in my life. I'm a software engineer by trade, so none of the SDK is over my head really, but I still had a lot to learn to get it this far and I've got a lot more to go. Comments and suggestions are very much welcome. I have more SS if anyone wants to see more.
The Tugs (starting spawn)
The Hold
The Bridge (flag is in the room behind the window on the right)
The Deck (blue front door)
