DM-Aly (NOW FINAL)

[stevelois]

Tipper steve can take all he needs the long the better then map will be lol

LOL
Yeah, I'm slomo

[rathalos150]

From the alpha 3 I can get a good idea of how the gameplay of the map will feel. All I can see that is left to do is some meshing and stuff to make it look nicer.

By the way. I remember a while back when NANO was still WIP, you mentioned that it would take you a while to finish NANO because you were working on two other maps. I'm assuming one of those two is DM-Aly?

Anyways. keep up the good work.

[stevelois]

Yep, the 2 maps is Aly & the other one id CTF-Citius. Sadly, Citius as been erased by error so the only thing remaining is....... the name, quite frustrating because I spend many weeks of work on it for absolutely nothing !

Indeed, Beta 1 have better gameplay then Alpha 3 since I play very often with the map so I manage to push it a bit further. You can't really get the atmosphere of Aly since it's plain BSP but Beta 1 will provide you the map I was aiming for.

I made some good progress in general but I'm stuck at lighting now, I experiment severals settings but none of them satisfied me Also some areas are hard to mesh so that is why it take so long. To give you an idea of the actual scene, I do like the upper lighting section since the directional light from the sun is what I was searching for but the lower sections are dark, which is rather crappy as you can see :

[screenshot]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/6286/screenshot00000py.jpg[/screenshot]

I have some bad things that as happened in real life recently so my time involved in gaming is rather none.

THX for showing interest dude, I appreciate & I'll look forward your B1 feedback

[Bl!tz~]

i really like thoses contrasts...not crappy at all...imo!

[Odedge]

To give you an idea of the actual scene, I do like the upper lighting section since the directional light from the sun is what I was searching for but the lower sections are dark, which is rather crappy as you can see :

The lighting looks really nice. If you were going for a "natural and realistic" look, I think you are there. But we all know for games, we need contrast. Not only in the light and dark areas, but also the coloring.

I presume you will have some sort of light fixtures and those need to be added to start adding some coloring contrast.

[TIPPER]

It's looking good Steve
Hope RL improves for you.

[stevelois]

i really like thoses contrasts...not crappy at all...imo!

Old friend, I'm happy you like it but for me, it's not good at all. Hopefully, it will be much better with some coloring

It's looking good Steve
Hope RL improves for you.

THX mate, in fact I'm feeling better so I hope I will have some time to improve the map & test others maps as well

The lighting looks really nice. If you were going for a "natural and realistic" look, I think you are there. But we all know for games, we need contrast. Not only in the light and dark areas, but also the coloring.

I presume you will have some sort of light fixtures and those need to be added to start adding some coloring contrast.

THX dude

Well, yeah, I do like the upper part & the exterior areas of the map. It's the lower level that need to be lit with warmer colors. I test with different red / brown / yellow tone but it doesn't look good, it's very bland. I also try blue / green but it was even worst It was looking like I caught the flu lol Indeed, the goal is to have "natural and realistic" visuals as you say.

I already put some lights fixtures because I intent to make a night version as well.

THX folks for your comments

[stevelois]

Was trying to work a bit on it today.

I had some great advice from other more experienced mappers but after numerous attempts it's the best I could get :

[screenshot]http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1437/screenshot00001u.jpg[/screenshot] [screenshot]http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7233/screenshot00000l.jpg[/screenshot]

**** crappy

Maybe I'm not just in the mood or out of inspiration, dunno. It's just deceiving

[rathalos150]

Was trying to work a bit on it today.

I had some great advice from other more experienced mappers but after numerous attempts it's the best I could get :

[screenshot]http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1437/screenshot00001u.jpg[/screenshot] [screenshot]http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7233/screenshot00000l.jpg[/screenshot]

**** crappy

Maybe I'm not just in the mood or out of inspiration, dunno. It's just deceiving

Ah don't get too worked up over this. You'll get it eventually.

For the average mapper (like me) lighting and meshing are the hardest parts. This is my motto. "Can I see two feet in front of my face? Yup, lighting's all good!" At least you have some contrast on the top floor. I would be happy with one square inch of good lighting

[stevelois]

THX mate, it's nice of you

I'm also an average mapper dude, so I have the same **** issues. Meshing, lighting, etc. I'm more a tester / player than a mapper ya know.

Still, I always try to make look things unique & different for my maps.

The last day, I manage to get something very descent about lighting. I'm stuck at meshing (again). I don't like the tiling on the building in pic # 2 (the one with a big hole in it) & I'm trying to find a mesh work that will look nice, it's not obvious but I'll surely find something

[Harsh Criticism]

Personally, I love meshing and lighting. With my knowledge of Unreal's Assets, I think it's going to be interesting to see what you come up with for lighting the bottom areas, as I can't think of anything real quick off the top of my head that would go well with your theme short of opening some walls. Then again, I haven't tested this map yet, and my knowledge of the editor is incomplete.

Having said that, I love watching levels evolve from alpha, and I really like where this one is going! I will download it this weekend and see what I can see.

[stevelois]

THX dude

Indeed, lighting the bottom areas is very hard to do, harder than I thought it would be in the first place.

Hopefully, I have some ideas that I'll try tonight.

If everything is going on the good way, B1 will may be available this w-e.

It won't be finish but will be descent & more enjoyable than plain BSP lol

[stevelois]

I just install the UDK this morning. While it's very different, A LOT of assets are missing, like 50% of all the assets I use in this map aren't there.

Epic include some awesome new particle systems but it doesn't fit with my map so I can't use them.

I didn't see any new mesh or materials ? Am I missing something ?

[Odedge]

I just install the UDK this morning. While it's very different, A LOT of assets are missing, like 50% of all the assets I use in this map aren't there.

Epic include some awesome new particle systems but it doesn't fit with my map so I can't use them.

I didn't see any new mesh or materials ? Am I missing something ?

The UDK is meant to be a stand-alone product. They included the "UT Demo" just to give modders something to play with and as an example on how to do things.

The UDK can't be used (to my knowledge) for anything related to UT 3. You can't build a map in there and bring it back as it's using a completely different version of the unreal 3 engine.

I have played with it and it does have some very nice features (lightmass, content browser, etc). But when it comes down to it, it's really a tool for total conversion mods and the people who work on them.

[stevelois]

Yeah, I finally end up with the same conclusions.

Maybe those features will be implemented in patch 2.x, 3.x. Who knows