Ns_nonameyet pics

Unknown · March 2002

<div class="IPBDescription">New ns map, critisism welcome...</div>Well, this is the first time I've done a NS map, but not the first time I took my hand at mapping. I believe I've got the style and 'look' the NS team was going for, but I could be wrong, so please be free to point out any errors or suggestions you might have. The layout is complete but the map needs to be optimized - the highest r_speeds are at about 800 but I should be able to bring them down with minimal effort. I'll post a complete version of the story soon, but the genearal area is within an abandoned space-port which was actually a crashed mothership before it was converted.
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/pic1.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/pic2.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/pic3.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/pic4.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/pic5.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/pic6.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/pic7.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/PIC8.jpg" border="0">

Stupid_Pinky · March 2002

Overall comment ; very complex brushwork, I would say you can still back off a lot of the detailed curves and such, there isnt much of a need for all of it, because you will be killed by going over the maximum plane count. Also, go easier on the colored lighting in places.

Pic 1 - I like what you did with the framework on the computer, but still very complex. The floor is rather unattractive as well. The entire pic ooks very busy, hard on the eyes.
Pic 2 - Textures. Ouch. The wall textures do not match up with the slanted wall texture. I would reccomend better light fixtures also.
Pic 3 - Looks pretty cool, except for the red light flares which go through the grating. Maybe select render mode 'glow' to get a better effect. Again, very busy, and hard on the eyes.
Pic 4 - Same as # 3
Pic 5 - Neat. But the brown beams that come down have an ugly textures.
Pic 6 - Rather large area. Would look better if it wasnt so big. Is there a reason why it has to be this big?
Pic 7 - The grate floor thing on the top looks pretty cool, its support beams remind me of Quake 3 <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> But, that comes with a price; lots of planes
Pic 8 - The indented blue lighting is not too appealing to me. Get a new texture perhaps. The computer console needs to have a light over it.

Lucky I was feeling nice to say all this. Especially after I finished my history project <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>
PS - None of your images worked, geocities = bad, people have to right click > properties, select > copy, then paste it in the hyperlink bar. Takes a lot of time. I would suggest getting a new host.
If you just want to show pics, go to www.hostmb.com - free, 512 k file size limit, 20 MB of space.

Greedo · March 2002

Well, I think you need to have some more variation as far as lighting contrast. There doesn't really seem to be any range of brightness that I can see. Also, I think you may have overdone it a bit with the colored lighting in the last few pictures there. One color with some highlights of a different color would work much better.

And a major flaw: your cielings and walls look, for the most part, like they would be hell on the wallclimbing. Even someone really skilled at it would find it rough to go through all of those bumps and protrusions.

By your comments, am I to take it that you've finished the map? Or have you just finished this area. Anyways, its a good satart, but there's a lot of room for improvement.

realityisdead · March 2002

Ah... I like this. I really dig your architectural style and the detail in those last four shots. Great work there!

The first four shots are a bit iffy to me. I don't really care for the oversized red flares and the teleporty type thingys. That area just seems a bit too random to me.

My biggest gripe is in the lighting though. Try for some freakishly harsh contrasting spot lights.

Then again... don't. I don't think that kind of thing would suit this map very well. Too many dark areas would hide your architecture. You definately need more contrast though. Try for some nice spot lights running down the walls and such. You probably just don't want it too dark overall... it works good in some maps, but would be a bit much in others.

Not that I think this is too dark. It's too bright if anything. I just wouldn't go overboard with it in this one.

Personally, I like the lighting in the last shots, but I think it could be toned down a bit. Try to get rid of the washed out and pale look if you can. And of course, lighting contrast would help.

Overall it looks like a very promising start! Looking forward to seeing more.

-Edit- Greedo has a good point about the wallclimbing... I would think a bit about that.

Monkeyget · March 2002

Nice colors

Unknown · March 2002

Thanks for the suggestions - the wall climbing thing is really something I will look into - for now all I can think of (without sacrificing detail), is to place clip brushes over any detailed ceiling-work. The pale look comes from the resized pics - I think I'll add a spotlight or two as well <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

As for the 'busy' feel - I was kinda going for that look. This is a ship after all and they would not have bothered too much about it looking good on the inside - especially in engineering areas such as this - I do have a 'lounge' area as well, and this will be much more streamlined.

Nemesis_Zero · March 2002

I like the style you're aiming for, although some of the thinner structures seem to 'thick' - look at the rusty stuff holding the monitor in pic one for example. Each is at least 6 units thick, four would be more than enough.

Other than the most I really dig the lightning - it's really not what I would be aiming for, but nethertheless pretty interesting. Keep it until the map's completed and decide then wether it needs some streamlining or not.

[edit] Also, why don't use the kick <beep> Particle System that comes with NS? Some custom effects would surely look better than the sprites you used. [/edit]

Relic25 · March 2002

Be aware that the wallclimbers cannot climb or hold onto clip brushes. If a level 1 runs over a clipbrush on the wall/ceiling, he will fall.

ChromeAngel · March 2002

Pictures 6,7 and 8 are pretty cool. The rest seemed to be lacking contrast compared to many other NS maps. Where some of the details connect to the ceiling doesn't look right to me.

DruBo · March 2002

::As for the 'busy' feel - I was kinda going for that look.::

NS_BUSY!!

I'd play a map with that name. it sounds... exciting.

Visually, it's very cool and if you have any tips for making engineering areas, i.e. what kind of trouble somebody might run into, please drop me a line as my map is pretty much all engineering area.

I agree with whoever said it that those rusty bars are too big. Other than that, I can't offer you any help (besides the name suggestion above).

Unknown · March 2002

There isn't any 'trick' as such but I used a lot of transparent texturing that overlapped - this makes the map look a lot more detailed than it is (low r_speeds). This does bring down your fps a bit though, so use it sparingly... Just my two cents <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

The_Artist · March 2002

OOoohh very harsh on the eyes with alot of color(i may need glasses :S), but i like it alot.

Reminds me of the lamda area of half-life but with alot more sci-fi feel to it.

There are alot of large areas suppose to take advantage of the marines long range capabilities.
Rust...theres alot of rust in most ppls maps doesnt bother me though lots of eye candy to drool over. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

Cremator · March 2002

not bad, but i fear r_speeds. you have a lot of different color with the lighting, but not enough definition between... try to up the contrast a tad.

Unknown · March 2002

Well, here are some new pics (two areas, two situated near the infestation, the others in the crew lounge. The small platform like thing is a holographic T.V. and should have weird, messed up sounds and voices coming out of it to give the player a suitably uncomfortable feeling) I was also going to have a *small* outdoor section, but since the "contreversy" of late decided to ask what the stance was on this one - the area is just the makeshift landing plateform to the crashed mothership. It provides an excellent view at the immense ship itself but is enclosed thoroughly by clif faces... If this is not acceptable I can take it out without too much trouble, but here's to hoping <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/ns_ship0000_4.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/ns_ship0001_4.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/ns_ship0002_4.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://www.unitedgaming.net/~xenocracy/ns_ship0003_4.jpg" border="0">

Greedo · March 2002

Since that is the crew lounge, I think you should probably give it a more friendly texture on the floor. Also, you should probably add a window or two that look out onto the skymap. That would be one of the most important parts about a lounge in my opinion. It is always good to have some kind of relaxing view, or discomforting as the case may be.

I think the area where the pipe meets the wall and that computer type panel should probably be spotlit. I like the way the red lighting adds to the infestation.

realityisdead · March 2002

Awesome. I really like your use of curvy supports and stuff. That infested area looks really great. Very spooky.

As far as the lounge goes, I really dig your light structures in the corner and the way you indented the walls, but the ceiling doesn't look too appealing to me... Maybe something... less broken?

As far as wanting an official stance on outdoors areas... check <a href="http://www.natural-selection.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=4;t=1052;st=60" target="_blank">this</a> thread. Flayra is as official as they get. I would read the reasonings for discouraging outdoors areas on that page, and apply it to your own level. Basically, Flayra doesn't want outdoors to become the norm. Others do. Just keep in mind who is choosing what gets included in NS and what doesn't.

<b>Oh, and for the last time, there has been no sudden anti-outdoors "movement". Quite the opposite, actually. There has been a sudden wave of nice relaxing outdoors areas being displayed for an indoors game. They all look really nice, but it simply isn't what the team is looking for.</b>

Anyway, keep up the sweet work! This thing looks really detailed!

TychoCelchuuu · March 2002

i really like the curvy supports, they scare me <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> no really, they do! stop laughing! <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'>

Unknown · March 2002

Yeah, I like the curvy supports too, but they dont scare me, the r_speeds do <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> Dont worry, the only area it gets out of bounds is within the big transporter/walkway place, and I should be able to bring that down some...

The only problem I hav now is the plane-count. It looks like I have to settle with either a medium sized map that is extremely detailed (The one now), or a large map that has low detail... Suggestions?

Relic25 · March 2002

Use as few brushes as you can and let textures be your detail. This can make a huge map look very detailed.

Ns_nonameyet pics

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