[wip] House

[bob_arctor 0]

[Domarius 2]

I've noticed each map has a slightly different sort of feel depending on the author, I like it.

[Maximius 0]

bob, your stuff is looking good, keep up the great work!

[SneaksieDave 40]

...and better and better.

[Gildoran 0]

Wow... looking much better.

[bob_arctor 0]

I must confess that I am proud of this room.

 

[sparhawk 17]

I think it looks really good.

[Arumakani 0]

You learn quickly buddy. Have you seen Mike's stuff in Off topic?

[bob_arctor 0]

 

The ensuite crapper.

[Arumakani 0]

You're from the UK aren't you Bob?

 

The light around the lamp looks odd. It's almost like steam. The door looks untextured. BTW, it's better than I can do !! So don't take offence.

Edited August 8, 2006 by Arumakani

[Dram 123]

Definitely your best so far

 

I still don't like those globes but I guess that's just me

[Arumakani 0]

The globes of light don't look right. Have you tried putting candles in the rooms instead or those candle like lights on the walls ?

[bob_arctor 0]

Um. Well I like the globes. Unless someone can give me a step by step way of doing something better it's all I can do.

 

What it is is 4 elements: Globe, light, flame emitter, and a "lamp haze" particle emitter. It's what TII FMs used all the time around their lamps.

 

Re: Door: It's a straight flat texture taken from the entrance door of the 19th century cathedral overlooking the old quarter of Lyon. I know it's rubbish, it doesn't have a handle, and it slides into the wall. I have no model, and although I see on Dark Wiki there is frob and rotate code for doors, it's not native D3 stuff.

 

Re: Candles: Um. I could try making a candle. It'd be several cylinders. Yeah it could be done. Have to find a tiny flame particle in D3. I haven't started on the particle editor yet.

 

You must understand though that I have no models, and until the guys decide I'm good enough for beta mapping I will never have any models.

 

@ Arumakani

 

Yep. The westcountry in fact.

It's a combination of learning and realising that everything needs loads of work these days.

I played Goldeneye 64 multiplayer recently. Boxes. Boxes and boxes. The demand for skill has gone sky high, especially in a game where environment is key and it provides an alternative, hard to do, setting, like TDM.

[Arumakani 0]

I thought you must be when you said crapper

[bob_arctor 0]

 

Candles. The best particle I could find. On the right in the dining room is the other candidate. Looked small in the particle editor but is actually massive and dangerous looking. The other candle flame is a bit weedy.

 

If anyone could tell me a nice D3ed particle for candles I'd be most grateful.

 

I do like the candles. They look better really, and are actually quite simple, as long as you have a nice particle.

[Arumakani 0]

Looks ace mate. The flames look a bit small for the candle, but it's dependent on the wick. Candles seem huge, but then again, without technology at that period, it's better to relight one huge candle then keep on bringing smaller candles in.

[bob_arctor 0]

 

I'm loving the warm lighting you can do.

 

And I make no apologies for the 70's bedcover (which is actually wallpaper with an "Alien" colour map and stretched out). Until I get a bed model that's the best I can do.

 

Likewise for the pillow which seems to have come from Deus Ex.

[Arumakani 0]

Absolutely brill mate. Are you a student? You learn quickly !! You know all those rooms you've done recently really remind me of Resident Evil 1 in the mansion. Really spooky. I'm waiting to see you put a zombie there !! The dark area under the candle in the first pic seems very dark in reference to the surrounding light.

 

Does Doom3 have problems with soft shadowing?

Edited August 10, 2006 by Arumakani

[Gildoran 0]

True soft-shadowing isn't possible with D3, though maps with well-designed lighting can usually hide that. I think bob_arctor's map needs to make use of ambient lights more. The D3 render engine is capapble of pretty much anything TDS's render engine was capable of.

[OrbWeaver 662]

I think bob_arctor's map needs to make use of ambient lights more.

 

Indeed, more ambient and less high-contrast single-source lighting would improve things a lot.

 

Still, the texturing and layout is a vast improvement over previous shots.

[Arumakani 0]

The second pictures in both the last 2 sets of pics he put up look like they are from the same corridor/ stairway. Is that true Bob?

[bob_arctor 0]

Yeah, but before that little landing was it, it stopped suddenly and went into limbo. The point is that the corridor layout is now finished. Plus I like that classic perspective view down the corridor.

 

I have actually always had ambient lighting in there, making the shadows slightly lighter, one big ambient light covering the house, outside and in. Proof of this is in this shot [http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=corridor1qv0.jpg] where you can still see the floorboards (It's dark though, especially on this old CRT monitor on my net PC) even though it's in shadow.

Without any ambient light D3 renders shadows in 100% black. Nice.

 

However recently I turned the ambient light up. And sometime (not today. Had enough mapping today!) will look at that main corridor, in which the candles do cast too heavy shadows.

 

A few new shots:

 

 

As for occupation, yes student. Obviously. I decided to spend my summer holidays before university learning to map. Hence I would like the models etc before the end of the holidays, after which I won't be able to spend 3 hours (or more...) a day mapping.

The only game I play at the moment is Grid Wars 2. Most of the time, mapping.

 

Edit: Yes look the shadows are less extreme now with the ambient lighting turned up. Is that what you wanted?

Also: Things to do: Brick cornering all around the house. Makes it look a lot nicer.

[Spitter 0]

Your skills have improved vastly! It's nice to see your definite progression from the screenshots.

 

What I'd try is to move the actual lights a bit further from the candle objects - ie. from the wall towards to the middle of the corridor. This would eliminate a good chunk of the large shadow created by the torch itself which frankly I'm not that fond of.

 

Also there's still something odd about your scale. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I can say that the ceiling seems to be pretty low on most of the shots. The rooms also still look a bit empty (the dining room in particular) and may become cramped if you add further details, such as smaller tables, chairs, shelves or bookcases.

 

Nevertheless you're certainly learning it fast! Keep it up.

[Dram 123]

For the candles I'd recommend either no shadows at all via selecting the candle->func_static->key "noshadows" val "1". You can always put a small round top under it which is textured textures/common/shadow - it casts a shadow and is invisible, so basically you can have the candle be there but not have a massive shadow under it but a smaller one or whatnot.

[New Horizon 534]

What I'd try is to move the actual lights a bit further from the candle objects - ie. from the wall towards to the middle of the corridor. This would eliminate a good chunk of the large shadow created by the torch itself which frankly I'm not that fond of.

 

Yes, the shadow casting can actually be turned off on most light models. They tend to be far too harsh and with our custom 'moving' lights...the shadows bounce around far too much. Check out T3 and you'll see that torch brackets also have the shadows turned off. Leave shadows turned on ...only when absolutely necessary. Try turning off the shadows for those candle holders and you will find that your map will look a whole lot prettier.