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RPG map Early days.
Posted: 23 Nov 2011, 23:21
by [FGS]Chees
A very very small peak at a very small part of what I'm doing in my RPG map. It's looking very bare at the min and not sure on the lighting as of yet and standard textures is doing no favors, also far from finished!

- Trailer is not mine. The truck i made from scratch (not textured)

- Taken a few days ago so lots have changed in this part of the map now.
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 23 Nov 2011, 23:35
by ~][FGS][Nobody~
I really like those stairs!

Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 23 Nov 2011, 23:38
by [FGS]Chees
Which ones?
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 23 Nov 2011, 23:55
by ~][FGS][Nobody~
The ones on the second picture.
First of all the one in the front.

Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 00:31
by ~[FGS]SaSQuATcH~
That's some lovely mapping!
It really helps with buildings when you add some brushwork to the external walls, textures sometimes might not be enough. I noticed this in DXSP too, there's so much you can pull out of UnrealEd if you spend some more time on things that might seem to be obvious.
Keep up the good work!
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 02:00
by [FGS]Chees
Nobody I thought you were being sarcastic about the stairs!
SaSQuATcH thanks I'm trying

. Can anyone point me to a nice texture package to use it's so limited with the basics that I can apply!also does the truck look ok? i have my doubts on that one.
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 04:30
by ShadowRunner
To answer all points:
1. The trailer appears fine, but the truck's cab appears to be missing all it's wheels, so far. Texture is good.
2. Textures are very much a matter of personal choice, you really need to texture something and look in-game, some textures are good quality and give a good atmosphere and feel, some are atrocious and imo, should never be used. Probably one of the best texture packages overall is rocket.utx, but for a city, hmm, well the Hong Kong ones are great, I'd say be selective with NY textures, not all are good. Paris textures are good too, especially the Catacomb ones. But it's your art, don't let people tell you, find your style, your "look".
What Sasquatch is trying to say, is not so much about textures, but about the fact that we can't really just have one flat surface and call it the front of a building. Check out Mainman's Landernau map in DXAG, or the unfinished version on Altfire. EVERY single window has a brush around it for a frame. EVERY door has a frame and mantle. Some windows will then have a sheet over it, which has the same texture as underneath, but the sheet is set "unlit" so the effect is realistic, not all roomlights are "on". Having said this, you need to strike a balance between detail and fps. Mainmain does it beautifully. 99% of mappers are too lazy to do this, so their maps feel rather dated, like the less exciting NY maps from the original game.
(The other two tricks he employs are, to use a minimum of actors, especially crud like trees, and to make his textures all very similar in tone. If you look at the original Landernau, every single texture almost is grey, he doesn't mix textures that vary too much.)
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 08:14
by ~DJ~
Nice work Chees,

Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 09:21
by ~][FGS][Nobody~
ShadowRunner wrote:What Sasquatch is trying to say, is not so much about textures, but about the fact that we can't really just have one flat surface and call it the front of a building. Check out Mainman's Landernau map in DXAG, or the unfinished version on Altfire. EVERY single window has a brush around it for a frame. EVERY door has a frame and mantle. Some windows will then have a sheet over it, which has the same texture as underneath, but the sheet is set "unlit" so the effect is realistic, not all roomlights are "on". Having said this, you need to strike a balance between detail and fps. Mainmain does it beautifully. 99% of mappers are too lazy to do this, so their maps feel rather dated, like the less exciting NY maps from the original game.
Just like you hinted.. for the sake of performance it's sometimes better (especially on MP maps) to trick a little bit with textures instead of making perfect details.
Chees wrote:Nobody I thought you were being sarcastic about the stairs!
No, I was being honest. The first thing that stoke my eye was that stair.

I know you didn't make every step yourself, ofc, but still the idea of the style counts!
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 20:59
by [FGS]Chees
The truck has wheels, the front ones are out of shot on the pic! as for the stairs on the left yes made step by step just move created brush down a step and add repeat..stairs are a bit** even the stairs pre loaded are are a pain sometimes! i must upload some recent pics of this area as it was taken a week ago it all looks different now. As for flat faced buildings i agree so much. if you look at some original maps in new york map most are flat faced with textures, and not to professional standards people accept nowadays. Thanks for the feed back everyone, say what you think or it will not look the way everyone wants it to

i will upload more next week of rooms and Mall if UED cooperates and stops crashing 24/7!
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 22:39
by [FGS]Kalman
The creators of dx made it in flat, because the PCs can't render so fast 10 years ago
It's really annoyin, when u make a lot of details (which is pain in the *ss for me), and u get an error
Save ur map in every min
(I learnt this first lol)
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 23:02
by [FGS]Chees
I did aswell! i now have a folder 200mb+ in saved maps for rpg! UnrealED Crashes more than Bill Gates can comprehend compared to windows! mehh as i always say

Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 23:05
by Magus
Autosave is your friend.

Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 23:13
by ~][FGS][Nobody~
When working on complex maps, back then, I was pressing CTRL+S almost after every action and I made a backup of the map every day.
Re: RPG map Early days.
Posted: 25 Nov 2011, 06:28
by [FGS]Kalman
I thought Ctrl+L is the save map o.O