NS_Stage, in progress
StixNStonz
Join Date: 2006-11-06 Member: 58439Members, Reinforced - Shadow
Join Date: 2006-11-06 Member: 58439Members, Reinforced - Shadow
<div class="IPBDescription">...this section needs some activity :P</div>So, as I was wrapping up Nexus, I made a floorplan for another NS map. It turned out pretty decent, but for whatever reason, it didnt stick. I built maybe 3 of the rooms then lost interest. It was to be called ns_nootka, and the Marine Start (built) was actually pretty awesome.
But then I made the plans for NS_Stage. I know its kind of hard to tell what a map will be like from the top-view (basically like the minimap), but here it is.
<img src="http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/669/nsstagedesign2ht2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
MS is in the top left; circles are res nodes, plus' (+) are weldables, dots are vents, and 'S' denotes siege areas (though some are unmarked cuz they were blatant in my mind). Near the top right, where it looks like theres a lined wall dividing two big rooms, that's actually a huge Iris door (already completed... looks hot). The messy area outside of the middle hive is actually a big room with high dividing wall running from top to bottom; this room is kinda complex to explain, like Hera's Processing, but its far simpler than that room.
So far, about 80% of the entire left half of the map is built. Only one texture on it all though <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />. I'm going to build it all first: get the layout set, fix the runtimes, make sure everything fits together. Once thats done, its on to Texturing and lighting. I've already combed through the Wads, and i've picked out all the textures i want to use. I have a small field of visgroup'd brushes, where every side is a different texture, so when I do start texturing, everything is already under the 'Already Used Textures' filter. Its all about streamlining <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
I'm hoping for a December release. Nexus took me a year and a half; it seems I learned quite a bit during that time. I'm mapping at a blistering pace compared to before, with the same attention to detail. IMO its actually a confidence thing; I'm past the 'empty room syndrome', which demoralized me each time I had to start on a new section, creating it out of nothing, often leading to months off.
NS_Stage will be to Metal, as Nexus is to Machina. It should be a much more 'mainstream' map, with less drastic height variations, the standard diamond layout, 'regular' vents that mainly just connect rooms to nearby rooms, and overall less complexity. I'm also using architecture techniques inspired by Metal, with its basic floors that are accompanied by detailed wall nooks and ceilings, offering a multitude of ambush spots for skulks without much in the way of ground cover.
If i hear begging, I'll think about texturing and lighting some of the sexified rooms that are already done, for some screenshots. Or I might just do it anyways <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
P.S. This will definitely be ported and polished up for NS2.
But then I made the plans for NS_Stage. I know its kind of hard to tell what a map will be like from the top-view (basically like the minimap), but here it is.
<img src="http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/669/nsstagedesign2ht2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
MS is in the top left; circles are res nodes, plus' (+) are weldables, dots are vents, and 'S' denotes siege areas (though some are unmarked cuz they were blatant in my mind). Near the top right, where it looks like theres a lined wall dividing two big rooms, that's actually a huge Iris door (already completed... looks hot). The messy area outside of the middle hive is actually a big room with high dividing wall running from top to bottom; this room is kinda complex to explain, like Hera's Processing, but its far simpler than that room.
So far, about 80% of the entire left half of the map is built. Only one texture on it all though <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />. I'm going to build it all first: get the layout set, fix the runtimes, make sure everything fits together. Once thats done, its on to Texturing and lighting. I've already combed through the Wads, and i've picked out all the textures i want to use. I have a small field of visgroup'd brushes, where every side is a different texture, so when I do start texturing, everything is already under the 'Already Used Textures' filter. Its all about streamlining <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
I'm hoping for a December release. Nexus took me a year and a half; it seems I learned quite a bit during that time. I'm mapping at a blistering pace compared to before, with the same attention to detail. IMO its actually a confidence thing; I'm past the 'empty room syndrome', which demoralized me each time I had to start on a new section, creating it out of nothing, often leading to months off.
NS_Stage will be to Metal, as Nexus is to Machina. It should be a much more 'mainstream' map, with less drastic height variations, the standard diamond layout, 'regular' vents that mainly just connect rooms to nearby rooms, and overall less complexity. I'm also using architecture techniques inspired by Metal, with its basic floors that are accompanied by detailed wall nooks and ceilings, offering a multitude of ambush spots for skulks without much in the way of ground cover.
If i hear begging, I'll think about texturing and lighting some of the sexified rooms that are already done, for some screenshots. Or I might just do it anyways <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
P.S. This will definitely be ported and polished up for NS2.
Comments
Spontaneously, I feel the need of adding another hallway from the middle to the north part of the map, outside the north-eastern hive. Maybe also make the ventilations go deeper into the actual hive area at both the north-eastern and south-eastern hives. Also, maybe you could colour some of the places in that minimap you posted, so it's easier to see where the hallways are? Like colour the void areas black or vice versa. Not that I can't see it now, but it would be helpfull and easier to judge the balance by seeing the big picture more clearly.
I wanted a bit of a divide in the map; much like Tanith (dbl to chem?), Metal (mineral to storage?), or veil (cargo siege to dome?).
But its not a full divide (like Caged's stability). That strange-looking northern exit from MS is actually two routes. The one that is on top is a ground exit, while the one on the right takes a small ladder up. The higher route (the one that goes east out of MS, not the north or south) goes all the way east for awhile (with a small left turn), then turns south and goes way down. This entire route is called the High Road; with High Road West, North, and South. It becomes dotted once it turns south, but its still a medium-small corridor. It connects to the large siege room outside the middle hive (at its most eastern point); but it also continues South, to a catwalk that goes along the top of the divide of that same room. It ends at a ladder, at that southern extreme, the box-like room at the bottom middle.
So thats the explanation of the High Road, but theres also the other northern exit from Marine Start. The High Road is basically the 'next story up' from marine spawn, reached by a ladder; the other exit from MS is on the ground, and snakes around the High Road while always being underneath it. There are balconies connecting the two, as well as ladders (denoted by tiny square protrusions). The High Road is what attaches that extreme northern node, and the lower corridor connects to that node just east of MS.
I dont know if that's clear or not. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
Any questions, just ask.
Left half of the map is almost complete (in brushwork). A december release will be tricky, we're looking most likely at January. Its turning into a very interesting map though <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />