[KIRBY] wrote:if you are just learning hammer, forget about displacements for now
block things out first and make sure your map works, because displacements will not guarantee good looks, and they are not guaranteed to improve gameplay
The first thing I do is draw out my map from the top view, then drop it into 3D to get an idea of what I am trying to accomplish. I don't go ape with the architectural ideas until I get into hammer. Next I build the basic floor layout to see if I like the feel for the map and tweak my ideas from there. The next thing that I do is drop in the walls to figure out my height, seal the room, compile it with a few lights spread around with a spawn point, and then run around in side seeing how I feel about it. I then grab a couple of friends I game with and bring them into the map and ask them about the layout after I get a quarter or so of the map finished. I listen to their opinions and make changes from there. Then I start to build up the architecture to the place where I want it. Hammer is not Maya so, it is rough going trying to build things in the engine. Maya is far more flexible and I so wish Hammer had a quarter of its options. I might be new to Hammer but, I am not new to layout or building architecture in engines. I have to learn to work around Hammer's limitations which, I have started to do. That is why when I come up with a solution I put forth a post in order to ask folks such as yourselves who have far more experience than I. I appreciate all the help I have received from the forum already.
"That's like saying 'forget about lighting' because it's not fundamental to gameplay. No, it's not, but how else are you going to learn the intricacies that later enhance the gameplay? There's plenty of good tutorials for beginner displacement work, and the quicker Bean gets a grasp of them, the quicker he/she can implement them thoroughly. Equally, there does get to a point where you're spending more time on a displacement than finishing the damn level. Don't do that."
I have dealt with learning how to cut up geometry to get rounded angled arches to achieve great results but, I noticed Mulchman's (one of the very experienced mappers for Fortress Forever that has moved on to work for Sony)
architecture was simply smoother and realized he was using displacements. Even though I had never used displacements for anything other than ground affects, I took a week to figure out how he used them to do architecture. My architecture on my current map is looking fabulous. It is a mixture of displacements and clipped geometry. As my map grows and I feel comfortable with the results, I will post some screen shots for you to view so I can get your opinion on my creation. Hopefully I will get some feedback on my project that will help it become even better than what I feel it already is.
I am a firm believer in doing something once, I don't care how long it takes as long as it gets finished and I am satisfied with it. This is not a job so, I don't have a time table. This does not mean that I want the map to take 6 months. I prefer to work on it for a month, month and a half and be done. Hopefully it goes that smooth. If not, that is fine but, I am a detail oriented person so, I don't do simple ever. Btw BEAN is a he and he is hoping that Hammer 2.0 is better than what we are currently dealing with....
