So, what are you working on right now?

[Gestas]

Speaking of modular pieces. Still working on this set but I have arches done.

Hard to make all the pieces for every situation.

 

Building with modular pieces is great for scale and reference though, after I made some pieces and started putting them on an existing building I realized that my large building was actually pretty small. So I rebuilt this area.

 

[Bikerdude]

Oh now.... that's very nice indeed young man!

[Springheel]

Very nice arches and pillars. The cornerstones above them are a bit sharp, though.

[VanishedOne]

* No, actually, has anyone really released a Blender-based mission? We can talk all about how it looks superior or how it is industry practice, but if they don't get made, that's all academic.

Maybe Mad's Mountain?

[7upMan]

One thing we can't see from the screenshots however is quality of gameplay, storyline and performance. Also when is the release date on this? I think your mapping skills are fantastic but if all you can provide are screenshots then its a bit underwhelming. Even in my 2+ years on the forum ive seen plenty of empty promises come and go so forgive the more regulars to not sit there and pick everything apart as they have done it countless times only to see that person fade away and never be heard of again.

 

So in terms of story, what do you have so far? Set the scene for why the player is standing I that screenshot, in terms of genre what is this? A city mission? What about length?, how long does it take to complete the mission? Also how much overall is complete? In terms of readables (Bitte verstehe das nicht als Beleidigung, ich sage das mit der besten Absicht) judging from your post I don't think your English is good enough to produce readbles that would match the visual quality of the map, do you have someone else writing them? Or do you just proof read them better?

 

Maybe I can shed some light here. The mission the screenshot is from is called FM0 internally. Back in the day, we had worked out the story from FM1 to FM3 but realized that the events that led to FM1 had not been explained at all. Sure, there's always the fall-back to cutscenes, but they are a lot of work if done well, so to create an entire FM seemed easier.

 

Anyway, the missions are supposed to be short to medium in length, with lessons learned from Sothas mapping skills (always offer multiple entrances). The FMs will be released as soon as they are finished, but as soon as the final mission is released, we plan on backing everything into one campaign - if that is possible now.

 

You can expect very story-driven missions with several twists, not just the usual heist missions (not that there's anything wrong with them). Johannes also plans on adding a number of easter-eggs and little areas to find and explore, so the patient player (aren't we all? ) will be rewarded.

 

I hope that about covers your questions. if not, feel free to ask.

[Noordung]

very good. but i would suggest using bigger corner stones at bottom and smaller at top of buildings. often the first was very big to protect corners of buildings from carriages.

[SeriousToni]

Speaking of modular pieces. Still working on this set but I have arches done.

Hard to make all the pieces for every situation.

 

Building with modular pieces is great for scale and reference though, after I made some pieces and started putting them on an existing building I realized that my large building was actually pretty small. So I rebuilt this area.

 

stones.jpg

Kinda reminded me of this shot I took some weeks ago

 

[Bikerdude]

Here is a shot of first and second maps of the crucible campian, that I merged Just for kicks. It was originally this size over a year ago, but Melan and I had to split it for obvious reasons. maybe at some point in the future we will be able to have maps of this size :-)

 

[jaxa]

maybe at some point in the futuer we will be able to have maps of this size :-)

 

TDM: Crucible Gold Edition

Edited July 1, 2015 by jaxa

[Sir Taffsalot]

@ Biker: Bloody Hell!

[Goldwell]

The light is now visible at the end of the tunnel but there is still a bit to go, this shot is from The Accountant 2

 

[Melan]

That's a nice colour theme you have going.

[Johannes Burock]

Looks good. Maybe some dust or glare effect will pimp it up even more (?)
Only thing i for me dont like: the lamp looks wrong for me. Its to primitive for that kind of room i think.

[Sotha]

I took an old WIP of mine, cut it to pieces and started to refurbish it into a separate mission. After doing three modular maps (LQD, U:G and U2:PTF), I now voluntarily built some areas with the old way. That is so horribly slow and error prone. Not gonna do it anymore. Modular way is the only way.

 

Well, enough ranting, here is something for your eyes, which should partially capture the feel of the mission. Enjoy!

 

Modular sewers!

 

 

Release time is probably early next year.

[Bikerdude]

Will the finished modules line-up correctly? as in the above I can see what looks like a gap..

[Destined]

It looks really nice. I recently tried to make modular sewers, but had massive problems with archs. Especially for bends and intersections I could not shape the patches to a form that kept the arch around a corner. Also on the top of the arch the textures were stretched and did not lok good. But this problem you don't seem to have.

[Sotha]

Yep, they line up. There is no gap, but there will be a texture discontinuity between modules. This is of no consequence because I'm gonna make glue modules (a support vault arch) that will be applied into the module joints.

[Sotha]

@Destined, yes, I also have some patch texture stretching in the corners. These can be mitigated by i) using bevels instead of end caps and texturing the bevels individually, and ii) adjusting the texture scale in the direction where the bending occurs.

 

The end result will not be perfect, but okay-looking if you do not shine lights on it or cover the stretching areas with other geometry or models.

 

I never pursue visual perfection. I just do the minimum effort to get reasonable aesthetics and then move on. Mapping motivation lasts quite well when you keep the ball rolling.

[Destined]

Thanks for the advice! I haven't thought of texture scaling to correct it. But it still leaves the problem of intersections. That is why I switched to rectangular corridors and added some columns. I am not really happy with the results, but I am usually my biggest critic. Still they need some work, befor I can actually use them... I can't post any pictures, because the files are on a different computer. Maybe I will remember to do so, when I get home.

[Bikerdude]

Yep, they line up. There is no gap, but there will be a texture discontinuity between modules. This is of no consequence because I'm gonna make glue modules (a support vault arch) that will be applied into the module joints.

Grand, but may I suggest a different texture, a bit like the one/s I used in the sewers in nhat v3.

[jaxa]

Modular sewers make a lot of sense. If they started to look too similar across missions, you could get some mileage out of changing the shape.

Edited July 15, 2015 by jaxa

[Bikerdude]

you could get some mileage out of changing the shape.

That link dosent work

[Hecateus]

What I am working on...trying to get DarkRadiant to work. good old 0x000007b.dll missing error...can't get rid of it.

[jaxa]

That link dosent work

 

Check again.

[Bikerdude]

Check again.

In FF I get Unrecognized request path! See https://github.com/Wikia/vignettefor documentation, but works in Chrome.