Learning from Nobody, SG, Cozmo 2, Chinny, Facetown/Face and Hengsha etc I would say there are some points to consider about lighting big maps.

1. Try to avoid lights in very large open areas. Easier said than done.
2. Generally you will need some form of zone lighting. The trick is varying it and using lights at portals to blend/hide.
3. If your lighting budget is small because the map is so big, then be tactical and strategic, street corners, nice glows, non-zone lit areas with real shadows, firebarrels, radioactive barrels, there are many ways to break up the dullness of the zone lighting, hard to explain, but I found using the brushwork itself is most useful in polishing a zone-lit area, i.e. placing lights nearer the street corner or window frames or whatever to make shadows... and also having a few non-zone lit areas.

Cozmo wrote:Blood stained surface textures might really make this area this area, will possibly pester you for them in future.

Just link me to the textures you want bloodstained or give me an idea of the types of texture you need, i.e. bathroom wall or office or house wall or etc. Maybe some people died and wrote messages in their blood as they were turning to zombies...

Screenshot I took was unfortunate; map is actually quite dark, just not main streets, rooftops etc. Warehouse area behind this shot is barely lit at all. I've always used lots of dim low radius lights because the original Cozmo_RPG got ruined by a lighting bug. I think you're right about brightness though, so I'll dim things down, limit it to lightsources etc. Going to keep rooftops somewhat lit though, so the map looks okay when you're looking down from a higher roof etc.

Also, it'll be very player vs player Romero zombies on their own aren't too much of a threat when you can just outrun them. However, they will be a threat if you're firing at or running from a player, or indoors with low ammo looking for food etc. You can work with other players, but this would require a lot of trust when everyone's starving, getting shot at and looking for food, all while avoiding zombie hordes.

Anyway thanks for the help! There's no pressure on anyone to do anything, anyone's free to contribute whatever they're feeling at any time. Also Chin, if Milkshape's giving you trouble, I HIGHLY recommend Wings3D (freeware!). Try out this tutorial and see how it feels for you. http://www.wings3d.com/paulthepuzzles/aaBT1w.html It's ridiculously fast once you get the hang of it, to the point of being like doodling.

And thanks Rollo, will do more interiors first, and think about where bloody textures / massacres should be. I'll probably end up doing some zonelighting, and zoning off interiors, alleyways etc. Chees played around with a lot of the lighting, will use his as a base.

Good to hear people are helping out...

Sounds good, like a zombie movie, human thinks he going to kill a human, but no zombie gets in the way...

Not sure if you watch the walking dead Coz, but it was interesting seeing how cagey humans were with each other even within a group scenario, I guess we all go into survival mode and it's everyone for themselves. Will there be human NPC's too?

Definitely. At first I was thinking survivor NPCs that could trade stuff for lockpicks or medkits etc, but now I'm not so sure - I hate invincible NPCs, but players might just kill them on sight in the hope of gaining something. Trying to think of a way where killing them wouldn't net you their stuff. Locked container maybe?

Another possibility would be nutty survivor NPCs randomly spawning around the map, slinking from building to building. They'd attack on sight, with varying difficulty, ranging from a homeless guy with a knife to someone kitted out with assault shotgun, LAM etc. (Possibly their weapons could be a reward for taking them out?)

Nice idea Cozmo

A couple of sshots of the Mall/Shopping Center I'm doing for Cozmo, spent less than a day on this so yeah it's pretty bare atm and the lights still need doing. Lots more yet to map.

I'll create ya some decos, just get me a list. lol


plus I can throw in a new Fire effect (for when things are on fire.) It looks SO much prettier.


Prefabs are fun to do, I'll need a list of those also.



email me the lists if ya want: brdane@gmail.com

That's amazing for less than a day of mapping. I think I procrastinate far too much.

Nice one on the TNM fire btw Atrey. I've realised invincible decoration can't be set on fire, even with bFlammable=True. bInvincible=True probably cancels out the entire function for taking damage. I'll have to implement flammable invincible furniture soon anyway, so I might borrow that off you in the near future and chuck that in while I'm at it.

Alright sounds good... in the mean time do you need anything made?

Looking good, i see lots of custom made brushes which is cool.

Its good to see that this is being made quickly.

Atery or anyone for that matter can you make me some Cheese actors to stack on the shelf? the same heal points and similar script as say a soda can does?
I could try myself bth not enough time to do so atm!

I don't like using other prefabs other than default or ones I made myself.
The checkout desk is made fresh and intersected but I want the conveyor belt on it to act like one, ie Kalmans map Strange docks before he got rid of the big moving belt. not sure if it's worth the hassle tbh the moving texture seems to give the effect so may leave it at that...pondering atm

chin.democ. wrote:Looking good, i see lots of custom made brushes which is cool.

it took some effort with the roof Chin in some ways! had major HOM's/mirror effect and bsp from it. Took the time to problem solve it and seems ok atm fingers crossed That 2mb challenge taught me so much others are oblivious to. Will I pull the overall look I'm going for...time will tell

Ill make the cheese model now.. and ill make it heal 5 points