Hello Guys,
currently I'm stucked at my skill level. I can make pretty good maps but they never look really detailed or realistic. I don't know how to work with brushes to make things look realistic. Also I don't know how to use brushes in a good way. Are you placing your walls ON the ground-brushes or next to them? Do you place sky-brushes on top of the brushes below or next to them? I don't know what way is the best one.
As I said, I want to make better maps and create more realistic maps.
some things I'm interested:
Outside-Areas with Buildings
Mountains/Caves with Displacement
Realistic Leveldesign
How to use brushes the right way
How to make Buildings the right way
And one last question:
Everytime I'm really in trouble because I think "wow I can't use so many brushes just for one wall" because I never read about the limits of the source-engine or how critical its to the performance of my map.
Thank you guys, I hope you can help me!
You should draw concept art for your map(s).
You should think of every detail you want to put in your map, whether it should be here or not.
You should see some real pictures of places you want to make.
Those are basic 3 rules of realistic mapping, nothing else is needed.
Go out into town with a camera, snap shots of buildings you think look interesting and try your best to replicate them with brushwork
Thanks for your advices guys. :)
Do you have any webpages for good image references? There was an german mapping website in the past with a big link collective but I think its lost.
Now I still have the question how you guys build indoor and outdoor areas together. Are your start to build the frame of the house and then build the inside with walls etc or how do you start?
Also here are some screenshots of an old project. My problem is that I can build indoor-areas pretty well but when it comes to outdoor areas with buildings you can go into, I'll start to have my problems.
Thanks for your help guys! Love mapping. :)
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/id/tyskkk/screenshots/[/url]
[QUOTE=tysk;43367686]
Thanks for your help guys! Love mapping. :)
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/id/tyskkk/screenshots/[/url][/QUOTE]
Your biggest issue (for me at least) is that your rooms like like cubes with stuff added to them.
The lighting really doesn't help. Make a contrast between light and dark using falloff.
Add some wall columns, makes holes in the walls with vents or pipes in them.
Heighten the ceiling and add missing tiles revealing pipes above. Make it look like there is more to a room. Otherwise it is just a cube with some washing machines inside it.
Not a tutorial but decals goes a long way making stuff look real.
Also, Scale is everything when you want to make realistic mapping. If you're planning to do open environments, buildings, etc. Try to archieve game's scale and you'll see your mapping getting better.
Check out tophatwaffle's tutorials, he's got some useful information, including resources you can use in your maps. [URL]http://www.tophattwaffle.com/tutorials/[/URL]
Also, use the dev textures with the measurements on them to help you keep things down to scale, then texture it when your done.
[QUOTE=kaskade700;43367881]Not a tutorial but decals goes a long way making stuff look real.[/QUOTE]
Not when the room is a box to begin with.
I might be wrong but in my opinion decals should only be used to add detail to places (slime running down from a pipe, a sign) or to stop tiling on a large wall (stains or plants etc)
If you want your building to look realistic it has to make sense architecturally. Every thing has to be there for a reason. Is it an old building? Try giving it a chimney which becomes an integral part of the architecture across all floors not just the roof. Is it a residential building? Where's the kitchen, bathroom, bed room, etc. Stuff like this is always important to keep in mind, even if you're making an abandoned building.
If you want some real time help you could add me on steam. I would be happy to help you.
Random example of my work:
[url]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1229749[/url]
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/id/leonladisic/[/url]
You need a keen eye on your surroundings.
Every buildings and architectural style follows simple rules determined by the buildings purpose. Details and environments are usually a consequence out of those rules.
here are some rules I've come to find helpful:
1: Develop an eye and learn from your surroundings. You can do that always - build a repertoire!
2: Every building or detail is a product of its purpose and its environment
3: Start with a simple premise (e.G. "abandoned mining complex in a valley in a cold climate zone)" then think it through - it will help you to build a consistent and credible setting. What does the setting need? What infrastructure is there? What is important?
Every detail in your map has a purpose and is a consequence of the premise at the very beginning, nothing is "just there"...
4: Make a story. Even if you don't see it in the final map, consider your setting. How would people have lived there? What were possible difficulties and challenges? How did the place change over time? Why are people gone? What have they left behind?
One of the things I enjoy most when mapping is designing a place that tells a story. Not with text or sound, but with details spread across the map. I makes the map much more interesting and gives you a lot of inspiration for details or whole new settings...
wow, wall of text oo'
tl;dr:
Add me on Steam, I have some tips ;)
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/id/Freakrules[/url]
This guy has some good tutorials [url]http://www.youtube.com/user/3kliksphilip?feature=watch[/url]
I sketched and painted well before I discovered level design and environmental art. This helped me tremendously, and I think it is a crucial part in achieving realism. Drawing and painting are possibly the easiest mediums to develop this talent. Nothing is easier than holding a pencil or paintbrush and pressing it against a piece of paper. You just have to think about how you're going to get what's in your head onto paper. This leads me to my next point...
What's in your head isn't real, it's an *assumption* of what something is supposed to look like if it were in the real world. *Achieving realism is a matter of eliminating assumptions*. In mapping, the assumptions will be about scale, lighting, brightness, and color. Lots of comparisons to real-world references will eliminate assumptions, but the small discrepancies will escape your perception at first. It takes practice to see them. The Source engine imposes limitations you can't overcome. How source renders lighting is an assumption all of it own, though fairly accurate in some instances. Don't be so quick to blame Source though; it's mileage depends more on your input. Rarely has anyone ever used most of Source's full potential.
Pertaining to mapping, my biggest chunk of advice will be about textures. There is a lot more to textures than you think. They are a foundation to creating a realistic scene, but their importance is overlooked a lot in this community.
- Don't assume the textures you are using are correctly made. There is a few things to look for.
- Aperture: Don't use textures that are taken out of focus.
- Lens Distortion: Don't use textures that have a "fish eye" effect.
- Angle: Textures need to be photographed perpendicular to the surface captured.
- Exposure: Generally, just make sure the texture is adequately visible, enough to see everything easily.
- Lighting: Use textures taken under white light only. Avoid textures that cast shadows or specular reflections. The reason why is because textures taken under specific circumstances can only be used in similar circumstances in-game. What we try to do is make textures that can work in any kind of situation. In a perfect world, our textures would simply be color with NO shading, and we would let millions of polygons describe the texture. For now, the only thing we need shaded in a texture is what we don't intend to show with extra geometry.
Edit: I've been itching to write up a nice tutorial on all of this, it would just take so long to organize my thoughts.
Scale your brushes carefully, and make it the same size as it would be in the real world (Hammer Scale)
This tutorials hows you how to use photos to scale brushes
[URL="http://worldofleveldesign.com/categories/sourcesdk-authoringtools/hammer-source-real-world-scale-from-photo-reference.php"]
http://worldofleveldesign.com/categories/sourcesdk-authoringtools/hammer-source-real-world-scale-from-photo-reference.php[/URL]
Many source games uses two different "scales".
Human scale where 1unit= 1inch = 25mm.
And world scale where 1unit=0,75inch = 19mm
And that causes this:
[IMG]http://www.visualwalkthroughs.com/halflife2/episodeone/urbanflight1/1.jpg[/IMG]
Humans are tiny.
[QUOTE=oskutin;43385152]Many source games uses two different "scales".
Human scale where 1unit= 1inch = 25mm.
And world scale where 1unit=0,75inch = 19mm[/QUOTE]
A long time ago I was trying to make a mod with all characters rescaled to fix this. Of course I quit eventually but I remember it looked really strange at first yet incredibly better.
Thank you guys for all that input! I'm trying to look forward and optimizing my next projects.
Also I added a few guys in here. Thanks for your help :)
If you want to add me, check my steamprofile:
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/id/tyskkk/[/url]
I might be biased, but this is a pretty helpful guide. [url]http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=207666387[/url]
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