Blog entry - Environment concepts
Flayra
Game Director, Unknown Worlds EntertainmentSan Francisco Join Date: 2002-01-22 Member: 3Super Administrators, NS2 Developer, Subnautica Developer
Game Director, Unknown Worlds EntertainmentSan Francisco Join Date: 2002-01-22 Member: 3Super Administrators, NS2 Developer, Subnautica Developer
Comments
Awesome work! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" /> I like that grunge style.
If anything, you could make the infestation build up in such a way as to create a different feel to the map - distinctly organic in contrast to the metalic feel that would usually be there. It may have been a while ago, but I remember how much I enjoyed the alien world at the end of Half-Life single player. It was completely different from the rest of the game and added a lot to the sense of Gordon being completely out of place in the alien world. Perhaps infestation might cover the work of map makers, but that doesn't mean that the result can't look just as good if not better. Also, infestation would be more interesting if it were not uniformly spread. It should gradually decrease in density as one moves further from the hive.
--Scythe--
Looking great. I think that more the infestation the better, to add to the feel of the game.
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I agree with spark and scythe, looking good so far though
EVEN IF THE ALIENS CAN'T MOVE OUT OF THEIR HIVE ROOM, THE MORE INFESTATION, THE HAPPIER I AM.
Just make sure Friendly-Fire is always on, so the lil skulkies!!! can get out. lol.
If you look at NS you'll quickly realise how much explosives and bullets get spread in the enviroment, so you'd think that kind of massive amounts of damage on the infestation would break it's structure pretty quick.
I do think it should take quite a while for the infestation to grow in to that kind of measures, but overrall, I feel the idea of areas that have been untouched for a long time should really LOOK like there hasn't been a trace of a human there in ages.
The wandering type of marines would definately think twice before going down that hallway with incredibly thick layers of infestation.
One might also think that different Hives might have slightly differing bodies of infestation, to represent different "strains" of the Kharaa bacteria. Short-term evolution, y'know.
Great conzepts, i realy like the blue light, and the infest.
Heavy infestation should be reserved for hive areas, tough.
Looking forward to seeing the next blog in particular!
Our team is more focused on the sketch phase of conecpt work now days, becuase we have our colour scheam down, and working - but good to see how you guys are going about game design.
Keep up the good work - and if you need any third party support just ask us, and we will see what we can do for you.
Adam
(Nigredo Studios)
One question, do you guys thinking about adding some <b>infestation props</b>, like f.e. this orange thingie hanging on the celling on screenshot no. 4 ?
but i think only hive areas should be heavily infestated.
the longer the hive is there, the heavier the infestation should be
so if the rines come to an hive which is up for 30 mins or so, there should be no metal visible <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink-fix.gif" />
on the contrary there should be no infestation on the game start at all, so the world realy gives a living feeling
I love the infestation! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
but i think only hive areas should be heavily infestated.
the longer the hive is there, the heavier the infestation should be
so if the rines come to an hive which is up for 30 mins or so, there should be no metal visible <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink-fix.gif" />
on the contrary there should be no infestation on the game start at all, so the world realy gives a living feeling
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I disagree, i think there should be infestation at start of the map at the alien hive, not ALOT, but a small amount and then continuously progress. I don't think it should start at nothing at all imo.
On the other hand, if Gorges can build infestation, you have to have a Marine counter (in step welders, hand grenades, the grenade launcher and the flamethrower). Where a GL or Flamer is needed to clear creeped areas, newbies will stick with that teammate, so in a way it could help newbies stick with the rest of the group and learn from example.
As said in the original infestation blog comment thread, if the creep also has some negative effect on the Marines to impede their progress, it will make the end-game scenario much more fun as before they set down their siege cannons they're gonna have to clear an area of creep with a team of welders. I personally really like the idea that Marines have to fight their way into Kharaa-held territory instead of having free roam of the map.
*waits patiently for the 3D version*
I think NS2 should be a little more grungy than current NS. I think current NS style is too clean and sterile, with too many straight lines, partly due to engine limits. I like the falling-apart millennium falcon look more than the clean imperial star destroyer look, though both have their place in ns <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink-fix.gif" />
I really want the mapper to have a lot of control over where infestation goes, so that there can be hive rooms that become completely infested and areas that never become infested in case it would look really bad.
I'm also loving the regular updates :] :]
Looking at the colored concept made me realized something.
How much effort will be put into NS2 for realism in terms of map structural details vs static/dynamic models ?
I mean, just looking at this corridor, you see right there a high volume of poly amount if you want it to be that detailed. Now doing this with map brushes is a bit of pain and you loose a bit of quality doing it this way. Doing it as a model static or dynamic, you can achieve a high quality detail. Maybe having some of those pannels or corridor componants as models would be a better approch but then, I don't know what is your budget in terms of model limits.
So what is the NS2 developement team comments on this ?
What kind of structural models are planned for NS2 ? Static or dynamic ?
If dynamic, how dynamic will they be ? Moving parts ?
Having structural models would enable re-usability and modular design for NS2 maps and even give the NS2 future community something to play with when designing their own maps. You could have endless combinations of corridor types just by assembling different pannel models.
Maybe a friendly competition amongst the community to bring some of the models static or dynamic would be a good idea ? The chosen ones would be included as a standard package to NS2.
What do you think ?
Also, Cory's working on Lair? That explains why it looks so neato.
I think NS2 should be a little more grungy than current NS. I think current NS style is too clean and sterile, with too many straight lines, partly due to engine limits. I like the falling-apart millennium falcon look more than the clean imperial star destroyer look, though both have their place in ns <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink-fix.gif" />
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I prefer the clean imperial star destroyer look because its simpler, easier for me to navigate through and easier to remember(?). I dont see very many curved walls where I am, so that might be a reason <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />.
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I really want the mapper to have a lot of control over where infestation goes, so that there can be hive rooms that become completely infested and areas that never become infested in case it would look really bad.
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I second that. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
HIVE in ventilation: The hive room would be full of infestation (like 3rd image).
The red tunnels next to hive room: Very much infestation (like 3rd image)
Maintenance room: some infestation (like the 2nd image)
- Garo