INFRA - A Portal 2 total conversion single player puzzle mod

[oskutin]

Hello people!

INFRA is a Portal 2 totalconversion mod, where is no guns, portals and cores. INFRA will have unique puzzle and exploration filled story and plus to that, the story is set on real life problem.

You are an engineer with a mission: investigate old infrastructure and look for any damage caused by years of neglect and environmental hazards. As you travel through old water treatment plants and sewer systems you discover that much depends on your actions and thoroughness.
INFRA is a Portal 2 total conversion mod which features gun free story-based puzzle solving, lots of side stories and secrets to explore and stunning visuals that aim for realism.

Our ModDB page:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/infra

Videos:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/infra/videos/work-in-progress-gameplay

Images (more on ModDB!):

Spread the word!

[Zecrah]

That third screenshot. Holy tits. The skybox.

Awesome.

[joe_rogers_11155]

yea, if only that building looked better (windows look copy-pasted across, insert some broken windows and boarded up sections) then that 3rd shot would totally be my new desktop wallpaper.

[oskutin]

Its glass blocks.
Refractive.

[Zecrah]

Doesn't mean they look good. Everything else does though.

[oskutin]

In newest version, there's areaportal window closing when the window starts to look plain.

[BaRRaKID]

I'm guessing you guys have several level designers with different styles and skill levels since the levels don't look like they're from the same game. You need someone to dictate the art direction off the game, everyone should be using the same style instead of doing whatever they want. Whoever made the scene in the 3rd screenshot is a good candidate for this position since he obviously knows what is doing.
The best way to accomplish this is to create an "art bible", which should list all the models/levels/etc that need to be made and for each of them add reference pictures, concept art, style guidelines, color shemes, etc.
The easier way is to change your team to a production line. Instead of having each LD working on his own map, have each of them working on the same map but doing specific tasks. Let's say you've 5 LDs, you can split them like this:
LD1: Creates the block out of the map and adds gameplay elements. This should be done by someone how understands the game, and is able to create fun puzzles, but that is not so strong on creating visually appealing levels.
LD2: Adds the textures and basic lights. For this position you're looking for someone which understands how light and colors work, basically a more artistic LD.
LD3: Props placement. This should be done by someone with a good eye for realism since prop placement is what usually makes a map feel more real and believable.
LD4: Adds final light and visual effects. Whichever of the level designers is better at creating the intended mood for the level, someone which knows how to effectively use things like fog, color correction, etc to get the best out of the map.
LD5: Makes sure that the level fits with the games art direction, and makes any changes needed to make it part of the game (even sending it back to the beginning of the production line or removing the level from the game). This is the most important job, and should be done by someone who is reliable and responsible and that is strong on all aspects off level design.

[|Yucca|]

I'm guessing you guys have several level designers with different styles and skill levels since the levels don't look like they're from the same game. You need someone to dictate the art direction off the game, everyone should be using the same style instead of doing whatever they want. Whoever made the scene in the 3rd screenshot is a good candidate for this position since he obviously knows what is doing.
The best way to accomplish this is to create an "art bible", which should list all the models/levels/etc that need to be made and for each of them add reference pictures, concept art, style guidelines, color shemes, etc.
The easier way is to change your team to a production line. Instead of having each LD working on his own map, have each of them working on the same map but doing specific tasks. Let's say you've 5 LDs, you can split them like this:
LD1: Creates the block out of the map and adds gameplay elements. This should be done by someone how understands the game, and is able to create fun puzzles, but that is not so strong on creating visually appealing levels.
LD2: Adds the textures and basic lights. For this position you're looking for someone which understands how light and colors work, basically a more artistic LD.
LD3: Props placement. This should be done by someone with a good eye for realism since prop placement is what usually makes a map feel more real and believable.
LD4: Adds final light and visual effects. Whichever of the level designers is better at creating the intended mood for the level, someone which knows how to effectively use things like fog, color correction, etc to get the best out of the map.
LD5: Makes sure that the level fits with the games art direction, and makes any changes needed to make it part of the game (even sending it back to the beginning of the production line or removing the level from the game). This is the most important job, and should be done by someone who is reliable and responsible and that is strong on all aspects off level design.

Sorry but different places look different. The office will stay modern and shiny, while the forest areas will stay old and run-down.

[Major Banter]

Yes, but there's a huge difference between 'different places look different' and a radical change in art design. Yes, the office looks nice and shiny new, while the river looks a lot more overgrown, but they could be two different games.

Take any game and you'll see the design is scarily consistent. In Deus Ex, the harbour, Hengsha, the LIMB clinics - they're all dramatically different, but all clearly similar. The same with Portal 1 and 2; the background areas are hugely different from the main chambers, but clearly similar again.

It's about design and colour, and it's an important fundamental. Players hate being jarred from place to place, and they'll notice a change. And I guarantee they won't like it. It also shows a laziness on the design part. If you don't care about something this simple, that raises questions as to 'why not?'

When I got someone to model a few new guns for my mod, they got previous models, normals, bumps, screenshots of maps - everything they needed to make them fit in. Stuff must fit. Even the inside of the factory just doesn't look quite right.

Maybe I'm being pedantic, but take a good long hard look at your art design. In a mod without weapons, where the player focuses on the environment, lighting and colour play a very, very big part.

[BaRRaKID]

Sorry but different places look different. The office will stay modern and shiny, while the forest areas will stay old and run-down.

Sorry, i think you've missed the point.
First of all, don't take what I said personally, it wasn't meant to offend or disrespect your work, but you need to be pragmatic, you posted those images here to get feedback, to get other people to look at your work and say whats good and what's bad about it, and as off now the biggest problem is that you clearly have two different styles that have nothing to do with the fact that an office building and a forest are different settings, it has more to do with the fact that your level designers are different both in terms of style and skill, and when that happens someone as to step up and make everyone work in the same direction. I can give examples:
The textures are of different qualities and styles, the ones in the forest level have more detail, while the ones at the office have lower resolution and much less detail (having clean textures is not the same as having less detail btw).
The color palettes are also very different, while the forest is mostly blue the office is white, yellow and gray, you need to define a consistent color palette.
The lights are really different as well, the biggest issue is that the office building seems to be using a single white light at a 45º angle (or something in between) which is just wrong and shows a lack of understanding of how lights work. Besides there are no detail lights, it's all very bland and all the shadows are at the same angle. Changing to a light blue light at a different angle and adding some smaller detail lights and a subtle amount of fog would really improve the scene.
And i could give a handful of more examples like the overall differences on architecture, composition and attention to detail on both scenes.

Again, its nothing personal, I love to see new mods succeed, and I want you guys to succeed as well and hope that you make a great game, but you really need to learn how to accept critics when they're fair, well justified, well explained, and specially when they're true.

Best of luck to you and your team

[oskutin]

Actually the office has more highres textures than in that water reservoir.
Also the sun's angle in office is about 10º.

[oskutin]

And that offices is set several hours before the forest, in early morning. Also there's about 30km or more distance between office and forest.

[|Yucca|]

Sorry but different places look different. The office will stay modern and shiny, while the forest areas will stay old and run-down.

Sorry, i think you've missed the point.
First of all, don't take what I said personally, it wasn't meant to offend or disrespect your work, but you need to be pragmatic, you posted those images here to get feedback, to get other people to look at your work and say whats good and what's bad about it, and as off now the biggest problem is that you clearly have two different styles that have nothing to do with the fact that an office building and a forest are different settings, it has more to do with the fact that your level designers are different both in terms of style and skill, and when that happens someone as to step up and make everyone work in the same direction. I can give examples:
The textures are of different qualities and styles, the ones in the forest level have more detail, while the ones at the office have lower resolution and much less detail (having clean textures is not the same as having less detail btw).
The color palettes are also very different, while the forest is mostly blue the office is white, yellow and gray, you need to define a consistent color palette.
The lights are really different as well, the biggest issue is that the office building seems to be using a single white light at a 45º angle (or something in between) which is just wrong and shows a lack of understanding of how lights work. Besides there are no detail lights, it's all very bland and all the shadows are at the same angle. Changing to a light blue light at a different angle and adding some smaller detail lights and a subtle amount of fog would really improve the scene.
And i could give a handful of more examples like the overall differences on architecture, composition and attention to detail on both scenes.

Again, its nothing personal, I love to see new mods succeed, and I want you guys to succeed as well and hope that you make a great game, but you really need to learn how to accept critics when they're fair, well justified, well explained, and specially when they're true.

Best of luck to you and your team

We are open for criticism, but: the mod's goal is realism, and in reality, places look very different. "Two different styles" -well, that's the exact point! Player is supposed to encounter the huge difference between the modern world and the older, partly forgotten world. That's the goal we're going for. If we weren't aiming for that, the office wouldn't even be there.

Same goes for color palette. The office is in the newly built commercial district of the city, the forest is tens of kilometres away of the city centre. That's why they have a different color palette, a different mood and different design.

Anyway, you're completely wrong about the textures. The textures in the office have actually more detail and are more higher res than the one's used in the forest. You're wrong about the lighting as well. The office has both light entities and light_spots combined with natural light coming from the windows. The lights aren't white either, they're colored light yellow. Also, lighting in a real life office is very bland and like I said, the main goal is realism. I'm not saying the lighting is final, but it's very close to what I want it to be.

[oskutin]

Only -staticpropligting -textureshadows -staticproppolys are missing, Yucca

[LordDz]

I say, go with whatever you feel because there will always be someone who have a different opinion than you.