WiP in WiP, post your screenshots!

[Harribo]

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

Ravrage needs to finish his detailing of that map, the newest version looks great

 

[Seba]

I thought he finished it?...

 

[TheKieranator]

It kind of reminds me of the Rorschach Blot Test.

 

[Shanghai]

It kind of reminds me of the Rorschach Blot Test.

I can see my emotionally detached parents!

 

[grazr]

I thought he finished it?...

Last i heard it was dropped because who ever was working on it, nineaxis/ravrage/ravidge couldn't/didn't have the time to put into it anymore and is now available for anyone to continue working on it (within reason).

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.

That's exactly my point. It's not an attention grabbing gimmick, it's no different from any other legitimate theme, and there in lies the problem. It's just that most players tend not to make the association of a desert and snow (that isn't a tundra), because that's more specific/niche knowledge than the other themes. It's not the artists fault he knows more about the world than certain groups of players. Unfortunately for any particular artist trying to make a connection with his viewers/players, certain compromises to his narrative are necassery to reach and be accepted by a wider audience.

 

[Deodorant]

That's exactly my point. It's not an attention grabbing gimmick, it's no different from any other legitimate theme, and there in lies the problem. It's just that most players tend not to make the association of a desert and snow (that isn't a tundra), because that's more specific/niche knowledge than the other themes. It's not the artists fault he knows more about the world than certain groups of players. Unfortunately for any particular artist trying to make a connection with his viewers/players, certain compromises to his narrative are necassery to reach and be accepted by a wider audience.

Heh, you make it sounds like adding car chases to a Dostoevsky novel.
I assumed from the start that the desert snow map was based on an environment that exists. I probably should've clarified that.
I think some of the jarringness lies in the simplicity of the contrast; mixing desert and snow seems like a gimmicky idea someone spontaneously got. Mixing brick and stone walls seems more like something that has to be based on observation.
Wait. I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying. Why am I arguing?

 

[LeSwordfish]

Wait. I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying. Why am I arguing?

Welcome to the internet.

 

[tyler]

 

[Freyja]

 

[soylent robot]

looks good!
whats that blue thing under the cubemap for?

 

[Freyja]

That is a skip brush. All the mapper pros use it because that way you can copy and paste and the cubemap always stays 64 units off the ground.

 

[grazr]

Yes, because the compile process skips... skip brushes, it's a useful alignment tool, i've seen it used to align overlays too, in cp_badlands. At least that's what it looks like.

Those buildings look great Aly, though their height is blocking a lot of light, it might be practical to increase the sun angle or at least provide some lamps in the lower areas.

 

[Freyja]

I'm thinking of boosting the ambient light a lot too. The map's supposed to be ponyville (the contest rules require it), where there isn't much shadow at all. So I'll see what happens.

 

[Mr. Wimples]

whats that blue thing under the cubemap for?

I have a prefab of a cubemap entity enclosed in a skip brush at just about the player's eye-height so I can plop 'em around the map quickly. I'm pretty sure this is what Yyler did.

Also @Aly that looks cute as hell.

 

[Godslayer57]

This maybe me just coplaining but, I really do hate that transition from dirt to nice and 'posh' room. Needs something to beak it up a tad... somehow

 

[Fruity Snacks]

If that is hella, I don't know what a posh room is doing there in the first place

EDIT: you probably don't need all those lights on the chandelier.

 

[Mr. Wimples]

This maybe me just coplaining but, I really do hate that transition from dirt to nice and 'posh' room. Needs something to beak it up a tad... somehow

Put a bit of a landing outside and broken down doors on the floor in the direction people are attacking from.

 

[YM]

If that is hella, I don't know what a posh room is doing there in the first place

EDIT: you probably don't need all those lights on the chandelier.

I might be wrong, but I may have done exactly that for manor

Also I agree 135% with godslayer on this transition.

 

[grazr]

Just gotta time the respawn journey's and then i'm ready to test.

 

[Jeremy]

Those reptiles had better be in the actual map or I will be severely disappointed