[WIP] Anathema - A Map for F2S: Stronghold (and eventually other gamemodes) - Developers

Hey there, I'm usually not that great of a mapper and I really only have one map released, but I'm enjoying my progress on a new map. I don't mean that in a pompous way - I'm just happy to be happy about my maps for once. ;D This map is for RoaringCow's [url=http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1131112]F2S: Stronghold[/url]. Stronghold, if you don't know, is a gamemode for Garry's Mod. There's no set goal or any meter of "winning" in Stronghold outside of your self-evaluation, and there's a certain freedom that I love about it. You can make teams at will, you can play solo at will, you can build forts at will, and you can pretty much do whatever it is you want to. Hold down a section of the map. Go destroy bases. Get a million kills. Start a two-sided war. Do whatever. I'm trying to make a map that's good in both the eye-candy and game play department (which is hard because I've never really done anything special in either department). I didn't want to spam the Map Pimpage thread, so I made a new thread, and I absolutely encourage criticism. Here's the first building so far, along with some comments: [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20037.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20038.jpg[/t] This is the first room of the first building I am working on. As you can see there's a large number of windows, and a large amount of area for building. While that's true, I've stuffed props here and there to kind of ease the emptiness of the building, and also to make the builder think outside the box. It's also a reasonable room for deathmatch - at least in context. The big thing about this room is the lighting, which I spent about an hour working on: [img]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/2013-03-28_14-48-09.png[/img] The reason I went crazy with the lights is I didn't want the drastic shadows, haha. I plan on skinning crates to make them fit the color scheme, but before I do - is it uncool that I'm using Black Mesa props? I'm going to heavily crediting the Black Mesa team. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20039.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20040.jpg[/t] Here's the "warehouse floor", I guess you could say. Because of building being optional, I decided to stuff the floor with crates and forklifts for cover and also to provide an additional path across the room - you can jump across the crates to get to the other side. I'm also using complimentary colors as well to separate floors and to highlight different paths. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20042.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20043.jpg[/t] This room is connected with the warehouse floor. I don't know if this is stupid, but those crates in the middle of the room is actually meant for gameplay. If you're on the stairs, you can't see the door because of the crates, and if you're on the ground to the right of it, you're not going to be able to see the window. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20045.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20044.jpg[/t] This is one of the rooms I can't figure out how to fill. The player is going to be forced to use some of his fifteen props to build up to the windows, I know that for sure. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20031.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20032.jpg[/t] Not sure what to fill this hallway with. The blue light highlights the path. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20025.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema20026.jpg[/t] These two screenshots are old but the only thing I've changed since then is the addition of parking spaces. [b]OTHER THINGS I'M TRYING TO ACHIEVE IN THIS MAP:[/B] - I'm really looking to emphasize teamwork and good building. I don't want a single person to hold down a large building so easy. For the extremely powerful buildings I'm going to add a million exits as they're going to be meant for bigger teams. (Note that there's a limit of two doors per player.) - I'm really looking to add some interesting level-design for those who simply run-and-gun. [b]I REALLY WANT CRITIQUE BECAUSE MY BRAIN IS INHERENTLY NOVICE, FORGETFUL, AND RIDICULOUS SOMETIMES.[/b] Anything you could comment on in regards to the level design, gameplay, or the looks would be awesome! I'm hoping after the map is finished for Stronghold, I could port it to other gamemodes or Source Engine games. :D inb4istopthisproject

I'd play stronghold again for this map.

You have no idea how awesome that is to hear! :D How's this for the style of the outside? [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50000.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50001.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50002.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50003.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50004.jpg[/t] I'm having a hard time with the outside because it was originally really bland. Also, I'm fixing the HDR so it's not so intense, which is why the inside of the building looks a bit dark. I'm also going to try to ease the shadows of the ceiling on the outside.

Nice theme, 10/10 lighting, the darker areas like in the basement place with the blue lights, that looks way empty, try adding ceiling detail

I think having a parking lot wouldn't hurt

Well, I have parking lot decals on the garage, but the problem is finding a fitting, not-broken vehicle to load the garage with. [editline]29th March 2013[/editline] So, today I played on Stronghold and really, the only problems with the gamemode were mapping wise. The map in particular is a map titled sh_lockdown which has gameplay issues for your run of the mill deathmatcher: If I'm roaming around on the ground there's an inane ability to get sniped seeing as there's 0% cover. The entire bottom portion of the map surrounding the buildings is literally just the ground and surrounding walls of the map. This lack of cover is also an extreme factor in the amount of times I've been killed. Because the spawn points are easy to pin-point and player props are pretty much free-reign (so long as it is not literally inside of a spawn point), you can easily trap players and camp. The only remedy available at this time is just the moderation of the server's staff, which isn't apparent. The open space also removes the incentive for the weapons such as shotguns. Most of the times I started a gunfight I was extremely far away - and that's where it stayed. Going around with a shotgun on sh_lockdown is a stupid idea. It's unfortunate seeing as shotguns are my go-to weapon in other games. I'm definitely taking these problems into major consideration as I map sh_anathema. [editline]29th March 2013[/editline] [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50006.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50007.jpg[/t] Is a slight amount of desaturation okay? I'm not going ridiculous with color correction like this: [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50008.jpg[/t]

Woah, Battlefield just popped out all of a sudden. The second picture is not all that much different from the first, just a overall darker hue. I don't know, I guess I like the warmer (first one) better. Great work, especially on the lighting! Could I ask what your light setting is, and how you do that for the windows?

Basically, if you want your shadows to cast nice little shadows, you have to compile your map and really figure out where you want it. Split your brushes accordingly and lower the lightmap settings in the areas that matter the most: [img]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/2013-03-30_10-04-51.png[/img] I'm probably going to chop up the ground brush to save time compiling later on. [img]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/2013-03-28_14-48-09.png[/img] The top light_spots settings use a standard tungsten light color and some actually relatively low light settings: [img]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/2013-03-30_10-06-07.png[/img] Apparently I messed up the color or something and I didn't realize until now. :V It works though! [img]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/2013-03-30_10-08-35.png[/img] [editline]30th March 2013[/editline] This is from a compile I did last night: [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema50010.jpg[/t] I'm trying to think of how to add some interest to the top left area of the building - its totally empty. Dunno what to put there. I need to make some decals that say, "BUILDING 01A" and stuff but I dunno.

[t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema80008.jpg[/t] I'm getting some progress on this. I need to get some work on the HDR, though. Seems a bit brutal at the moment. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema80009.jpg[/t] This sign is animated. I'm going to be doing more with the jittery glitchiness later though. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema90000.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema90001.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema90002.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema90007.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema90004.jpg[/t][t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema90005.jpg[/t] The third to last one has some weird lighting that I already know how to fix, but outside of that here you go. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema80030.jpg[/t] pew [editline]6th April 2013[/editline] Okay so since Steam sucks... [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/Error!_2013-04-06_00-15-41.png[/t] ...I'll post an image of the fenced area sans the fences. I replaced them with rails.

Will this map be open like the old maps people used to play FTS on (really depressed how FTS: Stronghold made that map so small and removed vehicles)?

I'm not too sure. I don't have a map layout designed at the moment, but I will try to add some open areas as you see in the current Stronghold maps. I really don't like the idea of being super open as a whole, but I want to add some open fields or something.

[t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sh_anathema90009.jpg[/t] Rails, as promised. The fences seemed like they would add power to the building. The team needs to prevent the prop-climbers and create their own fort themselves. [t]http://www.wauterboi.com/screenies/sign01.gif[/t] Here's the new sign in .gif format. This doesn't represeent the map's version of the texture seeing as the map automatically switches between the frames randomly and at different time intervals. (It can go from 0 seconds to .25 seconds between frames.)

[QUOTE=wauterboi;40075120]Hey there, I'm usually not that great of a mapper[/QUOTE]Are you kidding me?