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PranQster's mapping thread


PranQster

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I figured I'd start this so I can keep much of my questions, ranting and raving in one place.

 

Excuse me while I think out loud (as loud as silent electronic text can be)...

 

What to do next?

 

Hmm... I have the beginnings of a large mansion creeper started. It is mostly initial brushwork so far. It is very loosely based on exterior photos of a real castle somewhere in Europe (I know where but not saying which). I have modified the layout and dimensions of the building slightly to make it easier to build in DR. The interior is entirely up to my imagination and so far has a dining room, auditorium, wine cellar, and part of a pantry finished. Oh yeah, the eaves have rain gutters and drain pipes too, lol. I set it aside to re-do SiegeShop and the Halloween mission. Right now I'm not sure if I want to continue it or work on something more adventurous. Building bunches of bedrooms seems tedious and unappealing right now, but someday I'd love to do a large mansion with many secrets, hidden rooms etc.

 

My next planned map was intended to be a crypt/bonehorde style mission. But the Halloween build came up and I made a miniature version of what I had in mind for that.

 

Time to put the thinking cap on. Maybe I'll watch a few movies, seeking inspiration. I need to make a city map soon too and need much practice at making an urban setting.

Edited by PranQster

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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You are the perfect candidate to create a gantlet style mission where you must survive harder and harder sequences of booby-traps 'till you get to the prize (maybe built by The Inventor's Guild?).

 

Yes, this has a little resemblance to your Siege Shop concept but we have yet to see a really lengthy series of mechanical trap after mechanical trap.

 

Do you accept? :laugh:

Please visit TDM's IndieDB site and help promote the mod:

 

http://www.indiedb.com/mods/the-dark-mod

 

(Yeah, shameless promotion... but traffic is traffic folks...)

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@Siyah

 

Hey!

 

We all recycle each others' ideas anyway.

 

Don't feel bad. And please, if you like the idea "GO WITH IT" and make it happen. Your idea for a gantlet will likely be wildly different from another author's idea. Don't let the superficial similarities get you down.

 

 

Even if we have hundreds of city missions, folks will enjoy each minor variation. Don't feel trapped to come-up with the most original thing in the universe. We all inherit our ideas and even the wildest weirdest mission will come from somewhere...

Please visit TDM's IndieDB site and help promote the mod:

 

http://www.indiedb.com/mods/the-dark-mod

 

(Yeah, shameless promotion... but traffic is traffic folks...)

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Hmmm... I will be making the mansion, eventually. I have pretty good framework for it so far, but it needs many, many rooms and passages which will tax my imagination. I suppose that a dozen or two guest rooms should not differ much from each other and that a lot of cloning will be in order. But still... ugh! The good news is that what I have made so far can be loaded into TDM and fully explored with all working doors and portals... though it is almost all large, empty hallways so far.

 

And Yes, I do accept the challenge of a mechanical trap gauntlet mission. Maybe an initiate has to do this as a rite of passage. LOL, you must have liked Samhain ;)

 

Edit: LOL, what timing. After finishing Samhain, then doing a full system update to my OS, I can now not launch DR :( My lib64png15 libraries are likely at fault, or gdk-pixbuf. This has happened before and I'll be patient and either wait for more updates, or find a workaround. But still... damnit I want to run DR now.

 

Fixed:

Forgot I installed Google Picasa two nights ago, which I hadn't noticed depended upon 'lib64gdk_pixbuf2.0_0-loaders-png12' being installed. That little fucker has screwed things up for me in the (recent) past. Now I know exactly where to look to fix this in the future.

Edited by PranQster

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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Sorry to hear that PranQster.

 

Yes, I like Samhain in spite of the withering difficulty of that part I'm stuck at :laugh:. (...and even there each failure is a unique experience )

 

You seem to a hint of that Komag "let's break outta this box" kinda spirit.

 

Now that I think of it. You should create sort of an homage to the traps and gadgets in "Return of the Jedi" where the Ewoks used falling logs, rocks, etc to stop the storm troopers. I'm certain you could come-up with hilarious ways to incapacitate Guards in a mission where you make your way through the woods to a castle (etc.).

Please visit TDM's IndieDB site and help promote the mod:

 

http://www.indiedb.com/mods/the-dark-mod

 

(Yeah, shameless promotion... but traffic is traffic folks...)

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I've just made something totally cool, I think anyway. I'll probably be making a custom texture to make it even better and as authentic as possible. I wish I could share it but it will have to wait until I release this mission :)

If I can work it and it's surroundings in a convincing manner, I'll be a proud papa!

 

Edit: Custom texture is a total success. I'm very happy :)

Now to find a way to build the world around my new object in a convincing way which doesn't totally cripple performance.

Edited by PranQster

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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  • 1 month later...

The good news:

I've nearly finished the second half of my new map (brushwork) and it's looking pretty good.

 

The lesser news:

I have not yet started the first half :P

 

I have most of the mission done in my head and can visualize it. There will be city, forest, mountains/canyons, and pagan village. I have much of the forest, canyons and pagan area done. Yet to do is most of the actual pagan village (huts, tools, decorations, etc.), a farmstead outside of the city, and the city area itself.

Screenshots to follow...

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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The first photo on the second link is not far from what I had in mind. I have already done a spiked log fence in part of their area very similar to the one in that photo.

My village is going to be in a swampy basin, so some of the houses will be in trees.

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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  • 2 months later...

My current map, "j11", is getting rather large. I have not made any city yet, except for 1 "museum" building. So far, the file sizes are as follows:

j11.map = 4.3M

j11.proc = 16.1M

j11.cm = 25.6M

j11.aas32 = 2.7M - a few AI so far, but without paths yet.

That's just the map files, without any gui assets, readables or custom textures, etc.

Brushes = 1701

Patches = 1651

Entities = 849

Only a few loot items are yet in the map, all in the museum.

Still a long way to go :)

Edited by PranQster

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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  • 4 months later...

Mapping is on hold for me for a while. I will need to either set up a second computer for running DR, or add a drive to my machine and dual-boot. That will almost certainly be a version of Ubuntu. And I'll have to make it a mainstream version, no alpha or beta releases.

I am an upgrade junkie, even if that takes me into the realm of pre-alpha operating systems. I am currently running Mageia 3 pre-alpha (Cauldron), Therefore the libraries I have installed which are required to run (and even compile) DR are incapable of doing so.

As much as I would like to tackle this project right now, I am getting ready to pack everything and move to California next month. So my time is better spent preparing for that than it is building missions. I can't wait to see my employers' faces when I turn in my resignation notice tomorrow.

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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  • 4 months later...

Back at it for a couple weeks now. I reverted to using Mageia 2, allowing me to compile DR and use it again.

Now all most of problems I used to have with DR are gone. Sometimes DR crashes when I press H or Shift-H to hide/unhide things. I'm in a good habit of quick-saving often, so that's no big deal.

What is awesome now is that the Scripts menu is now available to me. Finally I am able to convert to .ase which is helping me make small prop items :)

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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What is awesome now is that the Scripts menu is now available to me. Finally I am able to convert to .ase which is helping me make small prop items :)

There have been a couple of issues with this script. A (hopefully) fixed version can be found here

http://bugs.angua.at/view.php?id=3058

It's the file ase_export.py. The changes also allow you to keep the origin on export if you only export one func_static. This is handy if you want to make models that should be used for rotating things, such as shields, levers, doors and so one.

 

Under linux the file goes to usr/lib/darkradiant/scripts/commands

Edited by Obsttorte
  • Like 1

FM's: Builder Roads, Old Habits, Old Habits Rebuild

Mapping and Scripting: Apples and Peaches

Sculptris Models and Tutorials: Obsttortes Models

My wiki articles: Obstipedia

Texture Blending in DR: DR ASE Blend Exporter

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Hehe. I figured that making Bag End would give me good practice with mapping, especially using patches. So far inside I have roughed out the entry hall and parlour (just rectangular rooms right now. Then come 17 more rooms/halls and their connecting hallways, windows, back door, etc. Most of those rooms are not even shown in any artwork or the movies except the entry hall, parlour, kitchen, pantry, study and east hall. The rest will be up to my imagination.

The front door works well and has iron decoration/framework on the interior side as part of the hinge :)

If I can get it to being even remotely close to the layout of the Weta Workshop floor plan then I'll be happy.

1RIL7.jpg

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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