Second Update to CTF Despos WIP

[Cuplacakes]

CTF Despos

Scroll To End For Newest Screenshots

Posted on July 16, 2013 by georgehulm

Hey all! Time to unveil my latest project! Like any Level Designer, I have many started projects, but not very many have ever made it all the way to completion.

Anyway, I was browsing through all of my old UT3 Level files, when I came upon one little gem of a layout; all of the basic brush-work was done, and most of the surfaces already had materials applied. It did not take much imagination to see where I could take it visually, and a few rounds with bots allowed me to discern that the layout was already quite fun.

This gave me the idea, of revisiting old concepts and layouts that I never had the time to finish. I would only work on the most promising ones, and after an evening of comparing various BSP shells, I have settled on 2 or 3 that I think will provide the greatest reward for the least amount of time.

In the interests of getting these levels finished in a timely manner, the rules are as follows:

No Custom Meshes
No Custom Materials
No Major Changes To Existing Layouts
What you see below, is the product of a mornings work on one of the most promising layouts that I found.

Click here, or on any of the below images, to see more pictures, and jump straight to my site.








I am calling the map Despot, which is short for “Despotism”. As you may already be able to tell, the map takes place in the slums area of a futuristic city. A futuristic city in which the gleaming homes of the privileged exist atop great skyscrapers, and look down upon those less fortunate than themselves with disgust.

There are a set of contrasts that comprise the main visual themes of the map, which are:

The contrast between Light and Dark
The contrast between the shining spires up above, and the grotty slums below
The contrast between warm natural light, which struggles to reach so far down, and cold, artificial lanterns that light up the alleyways.

I also plan on having many dynamic elements, such as spaceships that fly between the skyscrapers, fans, hanging cables and wires, sparks, fog and smoke. These dynamic elements are what I believe will set this level apart from other Designs.

I will try to keep everyone updated, Feedback is very welcome.

[Cuplacakes]

Hey y'all!

I thought that I would try to keep everybody up to date with the progress I have been making on CTF Despos (formerly known as Despot).

I spent the majority of this morning working on the visuals in the level. And seeing as pictures speak a thousand words, here's 16 of them!

[Cuplacakes]

Hey all!

Here is a quick update!





I flew to Greece this morning and I am currently sitting on a veranda overlooking the Agean Sea! Unfortunately these screenshots represent the last work I will be able to do on Despos until august, so no more updates relating to that for a while.

But more on that in a weeks time, meanwhile, I’m just going to enjoy my holiday!

Oh, and here is a picture of Despos’ current layout, for your delight.



George, Signing out!

[gaz661]

starting to look real nice,i hope you get it finished this time around.

[Cuplacakes]

Hey Gaz, thanks for the feedback. Once I get back from Greece I'll finish up this rough version of the level and upload an Alpha for people to try out

Any ideas regarding the theme and visuals?

[gaz661]

as much clutter as you can get in the lower levels without impeeding the players progress would work well.the walls already suggest this and makes the floor area look empty.
the odd bit of falling debris now and then,or maybe a jumper or two.
its actually quite hard to say without being able to walk around the level and get a full picture of how it all looks,but as you say you are going to post an alpha,i look forward to seeing it.

[Waldermar]

It's looking nice mate, the lighting is looking awesome and post processing, but i feel like the proportions are a bit off. I feel as if you are trying to go for that collosall felling, but i do feel as everything is to big compared to the player. If you look at the window it looks around 1.5 times bigger than the player but in reality windows are usually smaller than average humans.

[Cuplacakes]

as much clutter as you can get in the lower levels without impeeding the players progress would work well.the walls already suggest this and makes the floor area look empty.
the odd bit of falling debris now and then,or maybe a jumper or two.
its actually quite hard to say without being able to walk around the level and get a full picture of how it all looks,but as you say you are going to post an alpha,i look forward to seeing it.

Thanks Gaz! A cluttered environment is very much what I am aiming for, as far as impeding player progress is concerned, any smaller meshes will have their collision disabled by default. Any other meshes that are purely for decoration will also have their default collision disabled, and I will create much lower poly custom collision for them. This should prevent any of the "clutter" from impeding movement.

I assume you mean dynamic falling debris, I honestly hadn't considered that and I really like it as an idea, I'll look at ways to implement that! However, I'm not sure what you mean by "jumper", do you mean a jump pad?

I appreciate the difficulty of giving feedback on pictures, but you have actually managed to be quite helpful, I look forward to getting you an alpha to see what you think.

It's looking nice mate, the lighting is looking awesome and post processing, but i feel like the proportions are a bit off. I feel as if you are trying to go for that collosall felling, but i do feel as everything is to big compared to the player. If you look at the window it looks around 1.5 times bigger than the player but in reality windows are usually smaller than average humans.

Hey Waldermar, thanks for the constructive feeback, and I'm glad you like the lighting and post-processing. What you are seeing lighting and post-processing wise actually only represent about 20 minutes of work, but I guess I've been getting better at capturing the general feel I am going for quite quickly. Needless to say, the lighting in the final build will require hours of work, and I'll be aiming to emulate the effect of dynamic global illumination and bounce lighting in the level. I am also looking at a way to implement some form of ambient occlusion via post processing into the level. (This level is being built in the UT3 Editor, not the UDK)

In terms of scale, I think it is actually alright, perhaps if you were to run around in it you would agree with me. I'll take another look when I get back from my holiday, you may be correct, I'll have to delve into the editor and take a closer look.

Thanks both for your feedback, I hope you continue to follow progress on this map as you have both been very helpful thus far!

[gaz661]

by jumper I meant a person from the upper levels who can no longer take the stress of your future city.

[Cuplacakes]

Ha, that would be pretty grim :L I'll consider it