So this is the first time I have ever actually posted a topic in this forum. I have finally got something to show.
I'm working on a little mod called Double Action: Boogaloo as the artist. I have spent most of the last few weeks polishing one of the maps in rotation, da_streets. But before the wall of text, have some screenshots:
So this map already existed in the mod but it lacked shine. It was fun to play and worked well with our gameplay elements but it never really had visual appeal. I decided that with a little spit and polish I could make it look better, so I have been working on it for a few weeks now. I have never really done much work in hammer, I have always made my models for mappers and they use them in their maps. It's nice being able to make your own models exactly as you need them, and then using them in ways you hadn't planned. It was also eye opening to see just how hard hammer is to use, but once you get over its quirks it really is an amazing tool. I never knew the player interaction with simple triggers could go so smoothly when everything else I have done in source has been a hard slog uphill through shit. I'm excited to do more stuff like that in my new maps.
I have never done much lighting in source either so I'd appreciate feedback on it. I think I went too dark which is a rookie mistake but I really wanted to emphasize that dark night city feel. Like when you're in a taxi and all the colourful lights go spinning by. I also wanted to avoid any washed out colours. Double Action takes its cues from a mix of tacky 90s action movies (like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard) and cool smooth stylish movies (like Oceans 11 and Desperado) so I wanted to emphasize that 'Neon Miami' feel, while having more calm areas as well. I paid particular attention to breaking up areas into lighting groups, so the player can navigate the map and recognize areas easily.
For instance, the inside of the construction site is a warmish orange glow, because I was thinking of wood and tools stuff in there. However the car in the alleyway uses a low-angle white spotlight to illuminate the scene, giving the alleway a colder feel and a different profile in the players mind. There is an area with red and green traffic lights which is easy to recognise and near the truck crash I used more orange and red lights which seemed appropriate for the scene. In Double Action players spawn immediately into the firefight at times and I wanted to make sure they always knew where they were.
I could work on this map for months to come but DAB is releasing soon! I'd appreciate it if you guys could play the mod (and this map) when it comes out, and give me some feedback. I'm trying to develop a bit of a portfolio and I need all the criticism I can get. There's heaps of custom content and the game is super fun. Also we are trying to get on greenlight so we can distribute through steam and add achievements etc. Vote for us to support mods on steam.