First Multi-Player Map.

[Epifire]

Hey guys, I am happy to announce this is my first bit of content to ever be prepared to hit the internet. It may not sound like much, but when you have been modding for two years, this is big for me. I have been learning all I can with Source modding, and I am quite a perfectionist, to the extent to hold me back from releasing anything at all.

But we all start somewhere so here is my first try at some thing simple. The goal of this whole project is to make a simple, enjoyable mod. So starting out I thought a full mod was to large, so I thought to go smaller. In doing that I wanted to make a simple close combat level in HL 2: DM. The idea was simple, make a map, clean it up, package it, and release it.

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HL 2: DM ~ Csm_Bunker

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Description: This is a underground bunker, that has now been turned into a sort of battle ground, with defense barricades obstructing some access halls. It is also designed to be multi-leveled so that you never have a straight shot for long. With the exception of the dark halls in the upper corner seen in the top screen shot.

Okay so these are the main areas so far of interest, shown below (thanks to Steam for screen shot abilities).

Top Overview of the layout...



Okay now here are some of the other areas, in the map...






Any and all suggestions on things to edit or change would be great. That and my other question is how would I go about finalizing the map and sending the final version out?

[Ark11]

Ok, a few things.

1. The sprites are way to bright, make them more transparent.

2. In the 2nd picture the lighting and the light texture on the monitor holding thing don't seem to match, maybe try changing the texture.

Otherwise it's good.

[Epifire]

Thanks for the quick reply. Tell me what you think, I changed the overhead lighting sprites, to look more ambient in this picture. Left being the previous, and Right being the edited version...



And I changed the control room lighting to try and match the rest of the map. It's using texture lighting only so that's why I had chosen the other one before. I could pick another lighting method, but I think this looks a bit better. You tell me?

[Major Banter]

Right hander is better.

Get some colour variation in there. Some blues, a few greens.

[Epifire]

Get some colour variation in there. Some blues, a few greens.

How would you suggest I go about that? Setting some extremly dim blue lights in the darker areas, is my guess. I am still trying to learn the best means of "realistic lighting", so I am not in to big of a hurry in the case of redoing some spots if need be.

No skybox in this map either so I guess I will have to get creative with variants. By the way I might tone down those sprites towards the edges of that lamp so that it is just a little more suddle. Other wise I will look into some more options once my PC is done defraging latter.

[Major Banter]

Realistic lighting is a joke. Go for what looks good, not what looks like real life.

Since it's a multiplayer map, and pretty simple, try to use colour to enable the players to map out areas in their heads. Isolated, unusual rooms can have a different lighting scheme entirely - just put in a doorframe and suddenly it's a different section with a different theme, but blending into the map as a whole.

Alternately, blend lighting schemes together - in your tunnel area with the cars, why not deepen the orange a little, brighten it, and add blue lights behind the pillars in the enclosed areas to either side? In the generator room, brighten it up and lose a bit of yellow saturation, and add a red light by a generator or on the ceiling, just a small one.

Suddenly map comes alive, and things really stand out a lot more.

Clearly it's a HL2:DM map, so make pickup areas a little different from the yellow scheme. A shotgun would be a dominating weapon in your map, so give the shotgun pickup area a nice bright whitish blue, so it's recognisable AND easy to shoot the guy picking it up.

Have side areas holding some drums and pallets in your corridors, and light them with a green or red light. It just adds a bit of variety.

And vitally - have no dark areas.

[Epifire]

Well if thats the case I would have liked to leave the comp room with white. I just set the map by default to the "dirty yellow" so that it would light things, but not be hard on the eyes for longer periods.

I would have liked it if I could have had some sort of alternate source of light, but the main reason why I leaned away from placing lights beond whats there is because it didn't make sence to me. Say for instance putting green where there is apparently no light source that should be eminating it. Honestly I think if you were to go into a real bunker it would look kinda drab, because there are no natural light sources from the surface.

Other wise I think some things now that you mention them could be added. I would use some bluish shades in darker areas. Then some red, and maybe green, (although I thought green would look odd) in the areas of interest. The main color is so that most of the detail is displayed.

[Major Banter]

You misunderstand me - use light models, obviously! It's about changing it up a bit, using different lamp/light models and colours.

Ok, bunkers are drab. This means your map is drab. That's not a good thing; realism is a bunch of bollocks when it comes to mapping. Like I said - do what's pretty.

If you're willing to upload the VMF, I'll show you what I mean.

[Epifire]

Okay well I will try adding some characterizing shades to surrounding areas, like you say.

Not that I am fighting the idea of it, I just haven't done to much with lighting is all. I would upload the vfm but I want to try and do it myself, cause that is the only way to really learn. I'll be back when I have got more news worth reporting about it.

[joe_rogers_11155]

Light almost ALWAYS looks more interesting if it is coming from player-height or lower.

-Vehicle headlights (white or pale blue, brightness 300) can cast long shadows down a hallway.
-An overturned industrial lamp (pale yellow,brightness 600) can cast shadows up onto a wall and/or ceiling.
-Grates casting light up from below the player's walking surface (deep red light, brightness 300) can make the ceiling look really cool and ominous.
-A dark room with a furnace behind a metal grid of brushes (variety of deep orange, red, and yellow, brightness 150-300 each) can cast a horizontal light onto a wall.

Use light_spot as much as humanly possible. Any time you use a light_spot, also place a regular light entity to simulate radiosity (reflecting light from a surface to the rest of the room). The regular light entity should have the same color as its corresponding light_spot, but should be at least 1/4 of the original brightness.

Final tip is to keep generic light entities at least 32 units away from any brushes unless you are going for a specific effect. Any closer, and the light will turn into a blob of brightness against any texture.

[Kubata]

Real, real nice for a first map. Damn I'm impressed, I wish my first map was this good. Since I'm not sure what to really recommend for this map, I'll just list some general things I see missing.

Always make sure to include lots of detail insofar as electrical boxes, warning signs, pipes, shelves with boxes, and any other clutter, but make sure there is a method to the madness and they aren't just assorted randomly. For instance, electric boxes tend to be away from centers of activity, and shelves and boxes tend to be grouped together in separate areas.

As was mentioned, try to include interesting lighting. Play around with the values "50% fade off distance" and "0% fade off distance" and try to include some dim lights that are cast far off, and include multiple angles - this really adds to the flavor of an area.

Vents and vent covers, radiators. Always overlooked, these are present more so than pipes or electric boxes - they're usually present in every room in some way or another.

Good job though, keep it up.

[Epifire]

Here is an update. Have been busy at my job so it's been a while since I could work on the map.

Got some changes, and one that I want to keep. I also have a sound issue that I was wondering if you guys could help me with.

First off I still have to add more detail props, that I will continue after I am done posting. So that being noted here is about the final lighting change to the control room...

Thought the sprites gave it a more softer look.

Now here is the sound issue I am dealing with...

Got that swinging cable you see in the picture rigged to activate a sound on sparking. It all works fine except for some reason I can hear the sound any where in the map. I am using a Ambient Generic and I don't have Play everywhere checked in the flags, I made sure of that. I also decreased the field of Audible Distance down to the size of that generator room, but I can still hear it anywhere in the map. So that's the only issue so far.

Other wise lighting, and props are a main thing. I am just detailing from here on, for the most part.

[Kubata]

So, you've got real solid brushwork which is awesome. Since you said you were going to add more detail props I don't have much to suggest, other than I liked when the lighting in the first picture was a little more warm. I really don't like white lights for some reason, they really feel ugh just like in real life.

Afraid I can't help you much with the sound issue, but I'm sure someone here will let you know.

[Kubata]

Looking at your screenshots again, specifically your overhead map view - try to vary the color of your lights in certain areas. I know you added those red lights, which is a great start, try and add some lights on the ground, like maybe a fallen flashlight that casts real dramatic low light. Try some different colors, experiment with a dark room light by a green exit sign, anything.

[Ark11]

With the sound issue, go to the bar at the top of Hammer and click 'View' then select 'Show Helpers'. Now select the 'ambient_generic' and it will show a 3d bubble around it. This is it's maximum audible distance. Now in any of the 2d views resize that bubble to the size of the room, or to where ever you want it to be heard.