Ns_cedus
Mentar
Join Date: 2004-08-03 Member: 30321Members
Join Date: 2004-08-03 Member: 30321Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Water treatment facility</div> ok, hi all.
this is my new map, or rather what ive done of it so far,
the cedus water treatment facility. Basicly water is pumped in from sewers, dams, etc. stripped down to the basic elements (2 parts hydrogen to 1 part oxygon) and the pollution filtered out leaving clean water which is then pumped back out of the facility.
the facility became infested when several unconscious aliens were pulled in with a shipment of polluted water. Thought to be deceased they were pulled from the water tanks only to regenerate before they could be disposed of and attacked the facilities personel.
This is my 1st map and im still learning to do alot of stuff so lets please keep the critisicm constructive or the gorge gets it, <!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pudgy.gif' /><!--endemo-->
and im trying to get some screenshots for you but im having a bit of trouble, i cant convert them to jpg or they go rlly dark, even as bmp's theyr still a bit darker than what they are in game. so theyr all 2mb and there lies the problem. i cant get the bmp's up,
heres the .bsp file so far if you just wanna have a poke around for yourselves. <a href='http://mentar.serveftp.net:6880/cedus.rar' target='_blank'>cedus.rar</a>
but heres the jpg's anyway as crappy as they look, again,a fair bit darker than they actualy are so pls keep that i mind before screaming 'to dark!!'
and sorry about the tops of them, kinda messed up when maken em
this is my new map, or rather what ive done of it so far,
the cedus water treatment facility. Basicly water is pumped in from sewers, dams, etc. stripped down to the basic elements (2 parts hydrogen to 1 part oxygon) and the pollution filtered out leaving clean water which is then pumped back out of the facility.
the facility became infested when several unconscious aliens were pulled in with a shipment of polluted water. Thought to be deceased they were pulled from the water tanks only to regenerate before they could be disposed of and attacked the facilities personel.
This is my 1st map and im still learning to do alot of stuff so lets please keep the critisicm constructive or the gorge gets it, <!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pudgy.gif' /><!--endemo-->
and im trying to get some screenshots for you but im having a bit of trouble, i cant convert them to jpg or they go rlly dark, even as bmp's theyr still a bit darker than what they are in game. so theyr all 2mb and there lies the problem. i cant get the bmp's up,
heres the .bsp file so far if you just wanna have a poke around for yourselves. <a href='http://mentar.serveftp.net:6880/cedus.rar' target='_blank'>cedus.rar</a>
but heres the jpg's anyway as crappy as they look, again,a fair bit darker than they actualy are so pls keep that i mind before screaming 'to dark!!'
and sorry about the tops of them, kinda messed up when maken em
Comments
Nice map to be your first.
What came up my mind was that you should replace the infested metal-texture (which you use as wall texture) with something else. And in my opinion, maps look better if they keep to a certain theme in for example lightning. But if this is your first map, then it's better to just learn the engine before thinking about the looks of the map.
Some screens look too dark.
Make the solids with the "{"-textures 'rendermode: solid' and 'render amount: 255' in order to get the blue fields disappear.
Keep up your good work, since it's definately on the right track if this is your first map!
i havnt varied that much.. theres only red light, orange light and a very small amount of green light in the hive.
Add things such as pipes and variation, carve in to walls to make patters, add spotlights, add trims and even use various textures to make an area look busy. Another neat little trick is using wires and other translucent ("{") textures to boost the asestetics.
Keep going <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I'd say he is using them fine, its his RAD parameters that need changing to give the map more atmosphere. I think there is no Sparse or Extra.
Whats your RAD flags Mentar? (Example, Bounce 2, Fade 4, Chop 64, Sparse & Extra).
i prety much just know the basics of lighting.
and hed be right, those white lights are just light entities. the green ones in the hive are just 2 side by side so it looks more like its coming from a rectangle ficture
you know that long guide to setting up mapping thats floating around here somewhere? if uve read it everything thats in that is what ive got.
To advance your lighting understanding I will explain what I've got and why
<b>EXTRA</b>
I have this on because it turns on "9 point sampling". Improving the visual quality, sharpness and tone of light to look alot better.
<b>SPARSE</b>
Allowing a low visibility matrix to be enabled. Takes longer to compile, but you will find you can include more light data in to your map. (I think that simple defination is correct).
<b>SMOOTH</b>
I have set this so that any vertexes that are under 80 degrees in a brush are "smoothed over". For example, it allows a pipe to look more circular.
<b>DIRECT SCALE</b>
I have this set to 1. Direct Scale is default at 2. It is just the amount of layers of light that RAD introduces. As BC says, 1 makes the more realistically lit environment.
<b>FADE</b>
This effects all lighting but is most noticable in texture lights. The higher the value, the shorter the distance the length of light will travel, thus making a shade of light look deeper or darker. The lower the value, the more lighter the value will be and the larger the distance the light will travel.
<b>SCALE</b>
This effects the map as a whole, and is added after <b>DIRECT SCALE</b>. Lower the value, darker the map will appear. Generally I have this the same as <b>DIRECT SCALE</b> because I believe it allows me to create much more atmosphere and accurately.
<b>GAMMA</b>
RAD has its own gamma setting aswell as the NS Entity. I believe 0.1 is brighter than 1.0. Or atleast it seems so whenever I compile. Generally I set this after I've done NS Gamma,DScale and Scale and lighting to try and get a better contrast in my lighting.
<b>SKY</b>
This is how much of the sky's light should be put on any given area. So it affects the strength of the light which will appear on a face, presuming you allow sky in your map. (Not 100% on this definition)
<b>LIGHTS FILE</b>
Link to a .rad or .txt containing the values for texture lights.
Hm yeah I guess so, although it helps in the long run especially if you do some complex lighting, also gives you more of an overall view of how much light data you have left. Doesn't matter too much when you have a nice PC to compile on.
also gotta figure out how to lower the wpolys in the doorway between the pipe room and the hive room, if you look through it you can get a good 800-1050 wpoly, everywhere else is good though, around 200-500
also gotta figure out how to lower the wpolys in the doorway between the pipe room and the hive room, if you look through it you can get a good 800-1050 wpoly, everywhere else is good though, around 200-500 <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hm, HINT brushes can help but you have to experiment. Just try *merging some polygons together and vis blocking with a crate or something.
<a href='http://www.snarkpit.com' target='_blank'>www.snarkpit.com</a> can help for techniques such as VIS Blocking and HINT brush usage. As well as having a load of tutorials.
EDIT: * = word change
Also don't forget that grouping things such as entities and entity tied brushes will draw them all at the same time so the engine may waste valuable polys doing that.
This is how much of the sky's light should be put on any given area. So it affects the strength of the light which will appear on a face, presuming you allow sky in your map. (Not 100% on this definition) <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nearly right, what it actaully does is affect how much of your light_environment is used to light faces which have line of sight to sky, but wouldn't actaully be light by the light_environment.
Easiest way to explain is to look around your room, its lit from the light outside, even though you may not be able to see the sun (which in your map would be ur light_environment)
[Edit]
if you need a lights.rad, i have one that i can put up when i get home
[/Edit]
cant get the ready room to work. go to join a team and it just leaves you in the ready room and totaly munts your walking physics. but if you press tab it says your on that team.
looked at a couple of tutorials to see what im missing and they all say the same thing,
info_gameplay
info_team_start
info_player start
team_hive
team_command
info_mapinfo
and 2 info_join_team
got all that and have em set up, but its stil not working.
i know this is an incredibly simple thing and im probably missing something stupid and small but... anyone? help? lol, whats missing from there <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
start a game, enable cheats, join a team
id kept my map named cedus not ns_cedus so it would be at the top of the list and i wouldnt have to keep scrolling down whenver i wanted to test it (starting with c and all..)
thankyou <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
the hive now:
again, looks alot darker than it rlly is in game, so dont go screamen, to dark! to dark! the hive one to.