This is the first stage of my DoD map, I'm thinking of having Allied paras attack a small Axis occupied town, and having to blow up a building with something important in it, or something.

Feeback plz :D

http://www.hemp-blog.com/monkeyboy/dod_town3.jpg
http://www.hemp-blog.com/monkeyboy/dod_town4.jpg
http://www.hemp-blog.com/monkeyboy/dod_town5.jpg
http://www.hemp-blog.com/monkeyboy/dod_town6.jpg
http://www.hemp-blog.com/monkeyboy/dod_town7.jpg

omg.. thats awsome i love the buildings how there diffrent shapes and sizes and not blocky.. i love the textures and i love the windows ! :D awsome work man :p

wow thats really a town!:D

looks fine!

Certainly looks nice, some texture alignment problems but no worries. However, it looks like the r_speeds would be pretty high. Do you have any screens with r_speeds?

-Plato

Yeah they are a bit high, but it plays fine.

Do r_speeds only effect games on the net or something because playing the map with my friends at a lan was fine.

Once I've got the map about 70% done I will get some people to playtest it with me so I can see how the r_speeds affect the gameplay online.

And for the feedback guys :D

r_speeds cause HL to slow down because it begins rendering more polys. People that do not have the new or top of the line computers will have dificulty playing maps that have higher r_speeds. Add in the factor or internet lag and it comes out to a bad result. The general rule for r_speeds is nothing above 800.

-Plato

That's what I've been told, well I'll see how it goes, try and get them down and if/when I release it I will see what people think of how it plays.

Looks ok but...

My VIS blocking heart stopped beating. Oh mother of all r_speeds!!@~ :p

and

dont type WIP, type "Preview"

Heh... :P

/me searchs for tutorials on VIS blocking and reducing r_speeds

Got any links guys?

Yes. click me! (http://www.dayofdefeat.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100) :D

Nice. I predict some bad speeds ;#

That's one of the best looking maps I have seen.

Very nice work man, I like the lighting and the color. It looks a bit empty though, you need to add more stuff. I'd say add some cars, some more sandbags, other things to take cover behind and the like. Like everyone else said, r_speeds. Anyways, good work, keep it up.

Well I'm gunna wait for 1.0 so I can add those nice looking sandbags that are in all the maps now.

I'm going to try and get the speeds down, but seriously, who still has a machine thats below 800-1ghz?

Thx again guys.

Oh and, don't worry lots more detail and stuff to come, its just the basics atm.

i have an 800something mhz :( with a gf3.. and 256 ram

I said below ;)

Surely your machine runs all yer HL mods perfectly?

oh ya they do.. i just meant people lower then 1ghz :P anyway like i said.. nice map :) hope the r speed's arnt ****ed

looks good, but some texture variation wouldn't hurt i guess.

That's pretty damn good. The surroundings look humongous compared to the players, though. Maybe it's just the angle of the screenshot?

http://www.hemp-blog.com/monkeyboy/dod_town1.jpg
http://www.hemp-blog.com/monkeyboy/dod_town2.jpg

Meh, post all the pics bro :).

Don't use those lego brick sandbags though or the penguins might come after your socks. Looks very nice though :).

I think its more the angle.

Playing on lan the scale seemed fine.

Heheh, yeah those pics are old and in Hammer so I didn't think to post em. Oh well thx for sticking em up :)

And about the sandbags, I will replace them with the lovely v1.0 sandbag model when I can get my hands on it.

ya the reason he didnt do the hammer one was its against the rules so.. :p

It is?

ya go read the map forum rules.. its at the top of the mapping forum

**edit*

Originally posted by xerent

Previews of maps must contain pictures of the map from in-game. Pictures from Hammer or a layout picture drawn with Microsoft Paint or any other drawing programs are not valid.

Done and done...

Now to work on those r_speeds

Keep workin on this map, it looks great and I would like to play it soon :) and, yeah you can always use the sandbag models when they come out, along with any other models.

Yeah that will be done during the fun stage, after I've finished the main geometry and layout, then I will make it look really good.

:D

Thx guys. More pics to come.

hasnt the sandbags come out already in that fgd or am i just a total idiot and dunno what im talking about?

p.s. i dunno much about mapping soooo ya... :p

No, no 1.0 models have been released yet that I know of.

i swear iv been seeing maps with the 1.0 sandbags like skdr's scorpian... :confused:

looks very nice

That is looking great especially for your first mapping attempt but like they said your r_speeds are very important I always try to keep my map's max wpolys at around 750 it is fairly easy with the right vis blocking and scaling techniques

Also you can download some nifty sandbag models that are just as good as the ones in 1.0 from dodmaps.com or dodhq.net

NOTE:

You can see your r_speeds by typing "r_speeds 1" in console and you can keep them on the screen when you close console by typing "developer 1" in the r_speeds HUD the first number is the latency as affected by your osd when you have higher r_speeds you will see this rise considerably

what render mode are you using for your windows? I hope its not adative.

other than that looking good. The houses look nice. BUT they are all to much the same for a small village like that, smal villages usally have varied building types its industrial areas that are like carbon copies nearly.

this looks nice, with some hint brushes(if placed correctly) you can bring that down

I really like the look of your map, especially the textures.

Map looks very good, but r_speeds will be pretty high. I don't think it sould be easy to reduce it without at least reworking of rooftops.
Please don't tell people to buy new computers for playing your map, they probably do the opposite.

I'm just going to point out that building a whole town in a large skybox without visblocking what so ever, with a crapload of detail (just look at the fence), is virtual suicide. :D

Originally posted by phokus
i swear iv been seeing maps with the 1.0 sandbags like skdr's scorpian... :confused:

They are custom models made by flomatic. Wait for 1.0. There are nice bags to choose from :-)

looks good,

nuff said :)

Originally posted by xerent
I'm just going to point out that building a whole town in a large skybox without visblocking what so ever, with a crapload of detail (just look at the fence), is virtual suicide. :D

agreed

Yes

Its fun to fix though...if you like long tasks.

God I hate being treated like a complete newb. (thx NC17) :p

It's not my first mapping attempt, I've made a lot of maps, granted I've only really finished about 5 but hey.

http://www.hemp-blog.com/monkeyboy/mapshots.htm

Right I'm going to finish the map and then worry about VIS blocking, r_speeds and stuff. That's just the way I work :)

Oh and I'm working on the texturing right now.

Thx guys

gj, i actually like this map and would play it:D

I want to make a river in the map, with a hill leading down from the town in the screens I have posted to the bridge over it.

How do people recommend that I make the sides of the map, I dont want to use a large wall because it's an outdoor area, I am thinking of making cliffs but I've never made them before really and I dont want to make my r_speeds any worse.

Has anyone got a link to a good cliff tutorial or any general tips for making them?

Originally posted by skdr
They are custom models made by flomatic. Wait for 1.0. There are nice bags to choose from :-)

Thanks for clearing that up. :p As you can see i didnt hang around the mapping forum alot on the old forums. :D

Has anyone got a link to a good cliff tutorial or any general tips for making them?

Just vertex manipulation, combined with good textures. :)

I was looking at the pictures again and i think that if you change the light_environment's brightness to like 100 it would set the mood alot better

Originally posted by monkeyboy
Right I'm going to finish the map and then worry about VIS blocking, r_speeds and stuff. That's just the way I work :)
My crystal ball shows extra work if you choose dark path of ignoring r_speed :).
How do people recommend that I make the sides of the map, I dont want to use a large wall because it's an outdoor area, ...
Make hedgerows and/or forest, woods.

Originally posted by monkeyboy
Right I'm going to finish the map and then worry about VIS blocking, r_speeds and stuff. That's just the way I work :)

And you hate being treated like a complete newb eh?

Look, I don't want to spend loads of time getting the speeds down on part of my map, get pissed off and abandon the project.

Not that it matters anyway it's not like loads of people are going to play it, just my mates, at LANs.

So I really don't care right now :D

Don't worry about all the naysayers here...you have an eye for construction and it's early in the design process. Actually...with some creative sky-box and hint work I bet you can keep speeds low enough for on-line action...your streets don't look too wide at all. You may end up having to blocking off a few long-ranged views by combining buildings...but keep whacking away at your "vision"...I really like what I see...and who knows...if DoD goes the HL2 route your building style might be perfect. I like what I see.

PS...welcome to pimpage hell...post a pic...get some wanna-be mapper telling you that the third texture from the left in pic 2 should be aligned two pixels to the right...LOL...it's all goodness though and the custom community really loves having mappers doing what they can to add to the mix...welcome!

You could try turning a lot of your details (the fence, signs, lamps etc) into model prefabs and just clip them in hammer now that models are visible :).

Every one should really start moving to models for details as opposed to world brushes. Brushes should be used for the visual blocking part, IE construction of a house. And the furniture for levels (not just chairs) should be models.

Originally posted by Kamikazi!
You could try turning a lot of your details (the fence, signs, lamps etc) into model prefabs and just clip them in hammer now that models are visible :).

Every one should really start moving to models for details as opposed to world brushes. Brushes should be used for the visual blocking part, IE construction of a house. And the furniture for levels (not just chairs) should be models.


Exactly.. thats my problem with the new beachmap... still using the same old brush based breakbeams... that will deffinatly take away from the map's visuals . . .

Thx all.

Thx alot Fuzzdad, makes me wanna keep going with the map when people give that kind of comment.

I'm going to download some model packs and get some better detail in there.

More pics coming soon.

what? if you think one more time on not going on with this map I'll have to kill you ;)

Nah thx to everyone, it's not as if loads of people have flamed me, people just have different ways of looking at things :D

Well

The maps come along A bit, I tried to make some cliffs, a hill going down to a river and some nice tree lines and trees.

But the r_speeds suck, the scale of the map is just a little too big, and on a whole, the whole map is full of crap building, clumsy editing and stupidity.

Hence why I will be stripping the map of everything but the layout, then finishing the complete layout, spawn areas first, and then rebuild what I showed the screens of, but this time. Better, with more varied r_speeds and better texturing.

And not so huge.. :)

Yeah, that's the thing with the Half-Life engine--you want to do something other than an inner-city map, but the open spaces kill your r_speeds. It takes a lot of creativity and not giving up to do a map with good landscape, but it can be done! Look at dod_forest!

Yup, hence why I'm doing the map again, I was really pleased with the layout and how it looked but the scale was a bit off and I think I could re do some of the buildings with better roofing and lots of other stuff.

I'm going to start the map tonight.

Originally posted by monkeyboy
Look, I don't want to spend loads of time getting the speeds down on part of my map, get pissed off and abandon the project.
LOL :D
The maps come along A bit, I tried to make some cliffs, a hill going down to a river and some nice tree lines and trees.

But the r_speeds suck, the scale of the map is just a little too big, and on a whole, the whole map is full of crap building, clumsy editing and stupidity.

Hence why I will be stripping the map of everything but the layout, then finishing the complete layout, spawn areas first, and then rebuild what I showed the screens of, but this time. Better, with more varied r_speeds and better texturing.
LOL2 :D.

Ok, the main problem is when you see things in your mind, they are perfect, and then you have to fit them into quite far-from-reality Half Life world. So the right way is to know limitations of the engine and combine your dream map with HL both during whole process of designing (and especially on start). There are many nice thing on this map, move something, join buildings, cut other things.
One general advice I can point right away: HL (and Quake) levels are big rooms joined by small corridors. In this case room is plaza, street, pasture, etc. Corridors are narrow streets, gates, backstrets, doors. Usually sky makes ceiling (including 'corridors'), you have to lower it here. 'Corridor' have to be small holes, so player from other room sees very little in other 'room'.
Look at level in Hammer (with skybrushes visible) not in HL, you will see 'rooms' more easily.

Originally posted by NC17
Exactly.. thats my problem with the new beachmap... still using the same old brush based breakbeams... that will deffinatly take away from the map's visuals . . .

Charlie uses a large number of model based barbed wire setups. There's a new barbed wire model that includes a number of different forms (body groups). Same w/sandbags. Will really help with this kinda stuff.