Mr. Happy - level design and related

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Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Mr. Happy on Sat May 30, 2009 8:51 am

Mr. Happy - Level Designer

Name: James Lea
Email: jamess [@] happy-hills [.] net
Location: USA
Age: 23


Short Bio
I have been modding Valve's games on and off for the past eight or nine years though I did not release anything until last year with my contribution to version 2 of the Gear Portal Map Pack. I am currently working on a Team Fortress 2 map with MrTwoVideoCards as well as several other projects. I am taking time off from the Pierre Laclede Honors College at the University of Missouri.

Skills
Nut's 'n Bolt's: Source Engine - I am generally knowledgeable about scripting in the source engine for things such as weapons, HUD, menu's, choreography, soundscapes and generally understanding how everything comes together to make the game.

Level Design: Hammer - expert capability in all areas except scripting AI behavior. Special skills in complex entity logic, gameplay, and detailing.

Texture Work: Photoshop & Illustrator CS5/CrazyBump/FontCreator 5.5 - medium capability. Good understanding of some more complicated Source Engine shaders (for .vmt's)

Modeling: Softimage 2011 - intermediate working knowledge. Intermediate capability in modeling, U/V'ing (and texturing) and basic understanding of simulation and animation tool functions.

Game Design Goals
I am still trying to figure out what to do with my life. Game design is something I have considered. For now, I want to produce a few high quality game experiences and just have fun with it. I am also interested in learning some programming, and working with a 2D engine package to make my own platformer.

Levels


I won second place in the Brutal level design contest with this level. I created many custom textures and my first custom props for this level.

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After the level design contest I was paid by Surrogate Interactive to do an art pass on the fight level. Using existing art assets I improved the visuals of the level for their trailer.

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I worked on the last two maps completing the largest chambers and working to bring together the puzzles from all members of the team into a cohesive whole. I also bugfixed other team members levels and built the intermediary chambers.

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Arena_Desolation is an arena map for TF2 I built last summer and fall. It is still in beta as I took a break from modding over the winter, but I aim to release beta 2 in the coming weeks. Download it and have a play!

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CP_Factory is a major work in progress. Me and MrTwoVideoCarts are hard at work doing a complete overhaul of it's design. There is no public beta currently: stay tuned!

New Screenshots Coming Soon!




Artistic Scenes


I won the map battle with this scene I made of my dream home.


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I made this scene for the Interlopers.net "Film Noir" map battle. It conveys the fear of a man about to die.


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Tutorials

I have written several tutorials for this site. They are linked below.
Lating Part 1: Some advanced brushwork techniques - The spindle.
Lathing Part 2: creating a vase-like object.
Episode 1 Crank
Managing Events in Entity Setups
Last edited by Mr. Happy on Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:37 am, edited 12 times in total.
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Mr. Happy on Sat May 30, 2009 8:52 am

First version of portfolio up whoo!

TODO:
Get a fourth screenshot of identify yourself to replace duplicate
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby MrTwoVideoCards on Sat May 30, 2009 9:06 am

It's all looking great Happy, I've been happy to work with you across all the silly things we've made, whether we ended up totally breaking it or saving the day.

Keep making the rock sauce!
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby krainert on Sat May 30, 2009 10:57 am

Damn, that's sweet. I just can't help but think the Identify Yourself map really points out the flaws in Source; you did a really good job with it, but everything still looks sharp and sterile. Dynamic lighting would really have spiced things up as well :(
Enough whining. Nicely made :)
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Duke Nukem on Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:27 pm

your refinery is looking HOT! :D
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Naticus on Mon Jun 01, 2009 4:56 pm

All I have to say is WOW! Mr. Happy, your portfolio is really impressive. You can really see the time and hard work that has gone into your mapping. I wouldn't be surprised if a career in game design is in your future.
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby punky on Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:33 pm

Amazing stuff as expected Mr. Happy :)
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Ezekel on Wed Jun 03, 2009 11:27 am

that brutal fight stuff - is that source engine based?
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Mr. Happy on Sat Jun 06, 2009 3:34 am

Thanks guys.
Ezekial, everything I do is source engine. I wanted to learn UE3 but I haven't found a game I would want to make a map for it in.
If in the future I do something in a different format I'll mention it in the portfolio.
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Ezekel on Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:51 pm

cool.

i'd love to make a map for brutal. the game looks like it'll be a lot of fun.
think you could offer any advice in that regard?
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby nub on Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:55 pm

Ah, there's your portfolio!

Not much shown, but it's always quality of quantity. Great work on the Noir scene especially, I like it a lot.
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Atos on Tue Jun 09, 2009 5:50 pm

How do you make to do this effect lava? :)
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby nub on Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:37 am

Happy, your portfolio has some major layout issues, buddy. :D
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Zipfinator on Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:42 am

lol yeah... Site update ruined it!

And Atos, the lava is done with a scrolling lava texture. I'm not sure if it's on a displacement or a model, but I think a model because I'm not sure if scrolling textures work on displacements but I know they do on models.
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Re: Mr. Happy - level design and related

Postby Atos on Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:50 am

Oh Okay thinks, Great job ;)
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