WiP in WiP, post your screenshots!

[Rexy]

 

[MangyCarface]

Brick is part of an old retaining wall. Stone structure is the basement foundation of a building, exposed when the cliff next to it was excavated and held back by said retaining wall. There's a narrative that'll be more clear once the entire thing's detailed; I've got some good reference material, as well as my own experience in such settings to draw upon. Wish I had more to show at the moment...

 

[Fruity Snacks]

how do you not have a job yet.

 

[Penguin]

My issue with that screenshot is the abundance of red textures on the blu side.

 

[grazr]

Well, you should wait playing the map before saiyng that Grazr

I don't need to, i can see from that screenshot that there's no dividing skybox brushes culling areas of the map, particularly because of the fact it's taken from so high up. For instance, as seen in badwater, dustbowl, hydro, granary, badlands... in fact the only maps that don't feature vis blocking skybox brushes are sawmill and 2fort.

As for Mangy's picture, both sides make valid points, though for consistancies sake i agree the brick is very jarring, but then i've also come to accept that a lot of Mangy's map's themes are very schizophrenic anyway. Some people just map that way without thinking too much about it.

 

[Deodorant]

God this is taking forever

I think the three houses with completely different colors look somewhat distracting. I'm perfectly ok with the stone-brick-stone transition, though. That sort of thing is pretty likely to occur in a city that evolves over time.

 

[LeSwordfish]

I think it's realism isn't relevant: I just think it's kinda ugly. Correct me if i'm wrong, but we want pretty only slightly before realistic, yes?

 

[Sergis]

i for one have no problem with the texture switch, though im not sure if those two textures look good together.

 

[xzzy]

It would probably look a bit better in game. Some shadows and world light can do a lot to improve aesthetics.

But even so, it does seem ill-fitting.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

If it is a retaining wall, then having some cracks in it showing stuff falling out wouldn't hurt.


But overall, I don't mind it.

 

[xzzy]

It's certainly not the worst crime ever committed in a TF2 map.

 

[re1wind]

reworked encrypted middle. again.

 

[grazr]

i for one have no problem with the texture switch, though im not sure if those two textures look good together.

Exactly this. I've often found that no matter what little narrative i made up in my head regarding any particular detail, if the player doesn't understand, it doesn't matter, you've failed to make that translation.

It's like when Ravidge tried to do his desert snow theme. It happens, but it still confuses the average player because the average player can't put 2 and 2 together.

But i guess that's always been the artist's dilema no matter the medium.

 

[Deodorant]

Exactly this. I've often found that no matter what little narrative i made up in my head regarding any particular detail, if the player doesn't understand, it doesn't matter, you've failed to make that translation.

It's like when Ravidge tried to do his desert snow theme. It happens, but it still confuses the average player because the average player can't put 2 and 2 together.

But i guess that's always been the artist's dilema no matter the medium.

I think it's all about how intuitive the narrative is. Ctf_sawmill places two modern spytech rooms in an area of rundown wooden shacks, and we accept it because we instantly understand that the shacks serve as a facade. To me, the brick wall looks natural, because I assume that someone built it to block up an obsolete channel, decades or centuries after the stone walls were built.
If I entered a map with a desert-snow theme, my natural reaction would be to think 'attention-grabbing gimmick' and be annoyed.

 

[xzzy]

I'd be challenged to identify a player I've known who have ever noticed a "poorly chosen" texture. For the most part they're pretty quick to point out nodraw errors or clipping problems but transitions from brick01 to brick02 go completely uncommented.

I really only see discussion like that come from actual mappers, people who willfully spend hours a day nudging vertices around to make every polygon perfect.

Obviously there's a threshold to this. Players will certainly notice desert-to-snow but other than that there's a whole bunch of leeway.

 

[Shanghai]

It's like when Ravidge tried to do his desert snow theme..

Are there still screenshots of this? You've piqued my interest.

 

[Wilson]

Are there still screenshots of this? You've piqued my interest.

I think he means Nineaxis and his early detailing of Runoff.

EDIT:

Here:

 

[grazr]

That's the one. ::

 

[xzzy]

That's actually not that bad, you can in fact get snow and frost in the high plains of Arizona.

I'm sure it happens elsewhere, that's just the only place I've seen it with my own eyes.

 

[soylent robot]

I think he means Nineaxis and his early detailing of Runoff.

EDIT:

Here:

i dont mean to be mean, but...
you know that feeling when you cross your eyes? i get that when i look at this, except the feeling is in my brain