Well, Studio 1 is over and I am satisfied with what i was able to pull off. It isn't entirely complete, it still needs tweaking, but I kind of realize now that my scope was a bit big. This was the first time i ever had made a map, and completely making, balancing, optimizing, and doing the art pass for a 5 point capture map just can't be done realistically in 7 weeks. Almost everyone is done, I just need to finish the 3-d skybox, some of the art, and set dressing, and finish area portals and hinting. Then, de-bugging and texture fixes, and minor tweaks.
I have the next two weeks as break and I'm not putting this project down. It will be ready for the world at the end of these next two weeks.
After that I will move right into my next one. I can't just do one map and say I've mastered Hammer, I really got to get back in there and practice. My first map is not going to be my best, and I can't wait to try to face the hard design decisions required to make another fully fledged map.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Second Play Test
Well, the second playtest went really well. I got more good feedback, but less of the same types of feedback. The map is almost fully arted and it is fully lit. I also shrunk the map a lot, but it is still big, although it still isn't as big as say, Badlands, or Badwater Basin.
Some issues people had:
Some people wanted more ins and outs of the long paths, as they felt sometimes the paths were just too long from start to finish and there had to another way to join the fray. This should be easy enough to implement, just need to put in some more doors and stuff.
There were some slight coding issues. There was a spawnroom that was opening when it shouldn't have on the second point so the defending team could run in and out of spawn gathering health to fight off the enemy team. This lead to the 4th point being hard to capture and the negative feedback made the game last a bit longer.
I need to code in a Stalemate.
And everything else was minor, like a texture glitch, a leak in the map, or a badly clipped wall, all easily fixed.
All in all it was fun match and I will be uploading again when it is more complete. It is almost ready for TF2maps.net
Some issues people had:
Some people wanted more ins and outs of the long paths, as they felt sometimes the paths were just too long from start to finish and there had to another way to join the fray. This should be easy enough to implement, just need to put in some more doors and stuff.
There were some slight coding issues. There was a spawnroom that was opening when it shouldn't have on the second point so the defending team could run in and out of spawn gathering health to fight off the enemy team. This lead to the 4th point being hard to capture and the negative feedback made the game last a bit longer.
I need to code in a Stalemate.
And everything else was minor, like a texture glitch, a leak in the map, or a badly clipped wall, all easily fixed.
All in all it was fun match and I will be uploading again when it is more complete. It is almost ready for TF2maps.net
Monday, August 23, 2010
I'm just tightening up those graphics
So I'm just tightening up the graphics , getting it ready to be playtested tomorrow. I finally got everything lit, even the outdoor environments, and every light has a corresponding model. I need to figure out some spawnroom code, I wish there was some kind of node editor I could use in order to have the logic relay, instead of just linking names with actions of objects and such.
Little Tweaks here and there, making sure all the health packs are where htey are supposed to be, and putting in doorways to all of my doors. I haven't started to clutter up the maps yet, It would be nice to have just random boxes and other stuff lying around, so i should get to that soon, but right now I'm more worried about the bigger picture stuff.
Little Tweaks here and there, making sure all the health packs are where htey are supposed to be, and putting in doorways to all of my doors. I haven't started to clutter up the maps yet, It would be nice to have just random boxes and other stuff lying around, so i should get to that soon, but right now I'm more worried about the bigger picture stuff.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Finally, a Playtest!
Well it is the 8th week in and finally, after 3 weeks of struggle, a version of the map was posted and played. I got a lot of good feedback. I made a list of things people said while we were playing it, it seemed balanced to everyone, and most people liked it and wanted to see it with more art.
Things to fix:
-Change the scale of some areas.
The map was too big. There was too much unnecessary travel time. The main paths were long and the long paths were longer. Also, it made it hard for engies to cover large areas. I am going to have to fix this one and it will probably take a long time since I am already so far into production: I wish i had known this sooner.
- you couldn't get out of Red spawn 2 due to a glitch. I found the problem and it has been fixed, it was a naming error.
- Lighting: certain areas were too dark and needed some more lighting.
- Too much/little visual interest in uninteresting/interesting places.
Many were saying that the sidepaths should be narrow, so we know they are side paths and not main paths. Also, no arrows should point to a long path: let us find those, but let the arrows lead us through the space in the fastest way possible.
Also, people wanted landmarks and props to clearly know what room they were in. They wanted each room to feel distinct so that anyone could pick it up and start playing and know their way around. I couldn't agree more, and I do need to implement more props that make each area unique.
Things people liked:
-Plenty of "long" or "secret" paths.
My snipers, engies, spies, and scouts all liked the alternate routes, and thout there were enough to use to tackle a situation from any angle. There wasn't a perfect engy build spot, there wasn't a fortress a sniper could hide in inevitably.
-Well balanced:
Even if it was big it had a good balance against each side, each point felt unique and needed to be approached differently, and each class could have fun and be effective in each area. There are some nice chokepoints for pyros engineers and demos and enough vertical action for scouts and soldiers. They liked the multitude of sniper holes and hidey holes for spys and some nice open areas for everyone else.
- The art and outdoor lighting
People really liked the first red point and the dramatic evening lighting. They said it felt like a western area and that was really what I was going for. It is named cp_Buzzard after all.
Things to fix:
-Change the scale of some areas.
The map was too big. There was too much unnecessary travel time. The main paths were long and the long paths were longer. Also, it made it hard for engies to cover large areas. I am going to have to fix this one and it will probably take a long time since I am already so far into production: I wish i had known this sooner.
- you couldn't get out of Red spawn 2 due to a glitch. I found the problem and it has been fixed, it was a naming error.
- Lighting: certain areas were too dark and needed some more lighting.
- Too much/little visual interest in uninteresting/interesting places.
Many were saying that the sidepaths should be narrow, so we know they are side paths and not main paths. Also, no arrows should point to a long path: let us find those, but let the arrows lead us through the space in the fastest way possible.
Also, people wanted landmarks and props to clearly know what room they were in. They wanted each room to feel distinct so that anyone could pick it up and start playing and know their way around. I couldn't agree more, and I do need to implement more props that make each area unique.
Things people liked:
-Plenty of "long" or "secret" paths.
My snipers, engies, spies, and scouts all liked the alternate routes, and thout there were enough to use to tackle a situation from any angle. There wasn't a perfect engy build spot, there wasn't a fortress a sniper could hide in inevitably.
-Well balanced:
Even if it was big it had a good balance against each side, each point felt unique and needed to be approached differently, and each class could have fun and be effective in each area. There are some nice chokepoints for pyros engineers and demos and enough vertical action for scouts and soldiers. They liked the multitude of sniper holes and hidey holes for spys and some nice open areas for everyone else.
- The art and outdoor lighting
People really liked the first red point and the dramatic evening lighting. They said it felt like a western area and that was really what I was going for. It is named cp_Buzzard after all.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Minute Errors and Wasted Time
So I just spent the last 2 hours fixing a problem that happened 4 hours of work ago.
While I was editing my map 4 hours ago, Hammer crashed and then a large portion of my map, 6 buildings and 2 walkways and the surroundings, got turned by 1 degree. I didn't realize this happened until 4 hours later, when I saw that one of my larger walls was slightly skewed. I could have gone to a previously saved version, but I would have lost 4 hours of work. I could have copied good stuff from an older version, but I was manipulating too much for these changes to be corrected. So I did the fastest thing and manually rotated each item that was improperly aligned.
It took 2 hours.
It was hard to tell what was wrong because such a large portion of the map was manipulated this way. I went through and had to manually change each item -1 degree, finding all the items was tough, what was even tougher was accidentally turning objects that didn't need to be turned making me have to find those items again and turn them back 1 degree.
Is it really that big of a deal? What is 1 degree? It means my maps would have leaks and would render vis leaves oddly. If an architect had half of the walls in his drawing skewed by 1 degree, the whole thing would be a nightmare and probably couldn't or shouldn't be built. Same thing here, it would just really mess everything up.
It is fixed, but the work was grueling.
While I was editing my map 4 hours ago, Hammer crashed and then a large portion of my map, 6 buildings and 2 walkways and the surroundings, got turned by 1 degree. I didn't realize this happened until 4 hours later, when I saw that one of my larger walls was slightly skewed. I could have gone to a previously saved version, but I would have lost 4 hours of work. I could have copied good stuff from an older version, but I was manipulating too much for these changes to be corrected. So I did the fastest thing and manually rotated each item that was improperly aligned.
It took 2 hours.
It was hard to tell what was wrong because such a large portion of the map was manipulated this way. I went through and had to manually change each item -1 degree, finding all the items was tough, what was even tougher was accidentally turning objects that didn't need to be turned making me have to find those items again and turn them back 1 degree.
Is it really that big of a deal? What is 1 degree? It means my maps would have leaks and would render vis leaves oddly. If an architect had half of the walls in his drawing skewed by 1 degree, the whole thing would be a nightmare and probably couldn't or shouldn't be built. Same thing here, it would just really mess everything up.
It is fixed, but the work was grueling.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Lighting
I tested out some lighting. I used the Kelvin scale and I'm glad I did, it helped to pick the right purples, yellows, and reds for my shadows and light. Here are some good and bad screen caps.
In this one the area is just too dark and only has a directional light. I put in an area light to make it better.
A Light without a prop just looks weird.
For this I think I got just the right purple with yellow to give it that afternoon look, and the outdoor spotlights actually point players where they should go.
In this one the area is just too dark and only has a directional light. I put in an area light to make it better.
A Light without a prop just looks weird.
For this I think I got just the right purple with yellow to give it that afternoon look, and the outdoor spotlights actually point players where they should go.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Technical/Social issues and Playtesting
It is hard to get all of the cogs and gears in place for a 12+ man playtest. I have to find a place to host my map file, a server to play it on, someone that owns the server to get my map files and upload them to the server. Then we need to find a time that not only fits into both of our schedule to put the map up for playtesting, but also need to find a time that won't interupt the normal playtime of the people that come to the server. So far the time hasn't really presented itself, tuesday is custom map night, but there are so many little erros that can get in the way and unfortanetly my map isn't going to be playtested.
I won't let this get in the way though, and I will move right into doing more modular art. As long as I don't do little details I should be fine if i have to manipulate the spaces of the map.
I won't let this get in the way though, and I will move right into doing more modular art. As long as I don't do little details I should be fine if i have to manipulate the spaces of the map.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Started Some Art
Been working on the art for the Red first point. I have been looking at old westerns and ghost town imagery while creating this. I'm trying to get a feeling for the way the buildings are created and put together, looking at different door structures, roof systems and other architectural systems. I like the feel of it and now it is time to go work on the blue side. I think I will do the typical red versus blue barn/industrial. Blue is going to be like a shipping yard or something.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
ProTip - Incremental Saves
So on save file 51 I tried to compile the map and I got some stupid error. I went back a couple saves and found out that 40 was the last one that was compiling. Then I tried to figure out what I did between 40 and 41 that made the map mess up. I finnaly figured out my problem, one of my faces that I had edited had too many vertices. It was a four sided figure with 5 vertices and hammer's brain exploded.
So I then deleted that box in save file 51 and tried to compile...
It didn't work. So I had another problem between save 41-51. I finally figured out, after going back and deleting the box in my other save files that at 46 I made a decal under a health box and for some reason this decal (which I copied on both sides of the symmetrical map by the way) was messing up the map somehow. I still don't know how, but the way i had to find it was by deleting half the map, trying to compile, if it worked i knew the problem was in the half i deleted so i then deleted half of that half until i did this like for 40 minutes and finaly found both of the problems.
Now it compiles, but dang Hammer can be annoying sometimes.
So I then deleted that box in save file 51 and tried to compile...
It didn't work. So I had another problem between save 41-51. I finally figured out, after going back and deleting the box in my other save files that at 46 I made a decal under a health box and for some reason this decal (which I copied on both sides of the symmetrical map by the way) was messing up the map somehow. I still don't know how, but the way i had to find it was by deleting half the map, trying to compile, if it worked i knew the problem was in the half i deleted so i then deleted half of that half until i did this like for 40 minutes and finaly found both of the problems.
Now it compiles, but dang Hammer can be annoying sometimes.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Health Packs D=
Right now I am working on putting in health and ammo packs. I am choosing places based on distances and where the action will be. You don't want too many healthpacks near the first point or one team can easily spawn camp the other. You also don't want too many big health packs in places that people usually run as they should be placed in either a hard to reach location, or a location that can be defended so a scuffle can occur while people are waiting for a respawn.
Ammo packs can be put throughout the map where you think Snipers and Engineers will be. It is important to put full ammo packs where you want to encourage engineers to build and in places you don't think they should build you can leave it barren of ammo, making it tough for an engineer to keep a sentry up for long.
Also it is important to place patches underneath the pick ups to show where people should wait to pick them up and to help new players find the locations.
Ammo packs can be put throughout the map where you think Snipers and Engineers will be. It is important to put full ammo packs where you want to encourage engineers to build and in places you don't think they should build you can leave it barren of ammo, making it tough for an engineer to keep a sentry up for long.
Also it is important to place patches underneath the pick ups to show where people should wait to pick them up and to help new players find the locations.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Player Clipping and Displacement Mapping
Started some cool stuff, learning some new tricks in Hammer. I have turned many of my floors into displacements now, making sure to leave a noDraw surface under them so there aren't any leaks. Youtube is great for tutorials. The Displacements are coming out nicely and are breathing some life into the project, having actual ground textures with gradation is nice on the eyes as well, the development textures just don't ever really give you that sense of depth you need.
The player clipping is also coming along well, just above building and stuff so players can't get up there, and also on some of my displacements so players don't get stuck on a wall or exploit an area.
Here is a screen cap in hammer. Click for full resolution:
The player clipping is also coming along well, just above building and stuff so players can't get up there, and also on some of my displacements so players don't get stuck on a wall or exploit an area.
Here is a screen cap in hammer. Click for full resolution:
Thursday, July 22, 2010
9- Putting it all Together
Well, I have most of my architecture done for the map, but there is still a lot of tweaking to do, and I need to still make a couple of buildings.
I want to shoot a video in fraps of a quick run through of the level, I might post that next time when I have a more finished version. For now, I am really liking the level and I should be done with the architecture on schedule and have first playable by the end of the week. Once I can get play testing I can tweak the map and I can start adding details, like props and banners: arrows, and labels for control points, and figure out where I need to place health and ammo.
I have some bugs that I have run into but I am saving incrementally so usually i can go back to a last saved version If I can't figure out what I did wrong, and If I can figure it out the next time the bug occurs I'm able to quickly fix it.
It is a work in progress but every moment I work in Hammer I get faster and more efficient and I cannot wait to see this project as a reality.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Post 8- Art Pass
So I checked the Tf2 blog today, like I normally do, and I found that Valve has a really cool competition going on right now.
The Art Pass Contest
This couldn't have come at a better time. This is really one reason I enjoy Valve: they are there with the community. Valve has actually uploaded an unfinished level. It is completely designed out how they like it and has some artistic flow to it, but they want an artists to complete the map and send it back. they are interested in seeing what someone can do with their spare time and also I'm sure this is a great way for anyone to get their foot one step closer to a job at Valve. If not, it is still practical experience in art creation for a level.
I am going to participate in the competition, but really what this gives me is a goal. I downloaded the map file that is incomplete the play around in it and see what Valve Level Designers do to block out a level in the engine. This give me a stable idea of where I should be in the next week or so, I need to have a product very similar to the product they have up for download. Once I have something up to par with the art pass contest design I can move onto my own art pass.
It is really nice to get that checkpoint shown to me. I like to see each step in the process that the actual developers take and all of the explanation videos, commentary, design notes, and open source nature of Valve's products are its strongest pulls. TF2 has been out for over 2 years and it still has a huge and growing community for a game that is not pay monthly. Multiplayer experiences invite people back and make a game worth buying over renting. Valve has found that by staying abreast of the community and by promoting their games well after they have already shipped, they can continue to sell titles by keeping word of mouth spreading through free updates and contests.
Cool stuff.
The Art Pass Contest
This couldn't have come at a better time. This is really one reason I enjoy Valve: they are there with the community. Valve has actually uploaded an unfinished level. It is completely designed out how they like it and has some artistic flow to it, but they want an artists to complete the map and send it back. they are interested in seeing what someone can do with their spare time and also I'm sure this is a great way for anyone to get their foot one step closer to a job at Valve. If not, it is still practical experience in art creation for a level.
I am going to participate in the competition, but really what this gives me is a goal. I downloaded the map file that is incomplete the play around in it and see what Valve Level Designers do to block out a level in the engine. This give me a stable idea of where I should be in the next week or so, I need to have a product very similar to the product they have up for download. Once I have something up to par with the art pass contest design I can move onto my own art pass.
It is really nice to get that checkpoint shown to me. I like to see each step in the process that the actual developers take and all of the explanation videos, commentary, design notes, and open source nature of Valve's products are its strongest pulls. TF2 has been out for over 2 years and it still has a huge and growing community for a game that is not pay monthly. Multiplayer experiences invite people back and make a game worth buying over renting. Valve has found that by staying abreast of the community and by promoting their games well after they have already shipped, they can continue to sell titles by keeping word of mouth spreading through free updates and contests.
Cool stuff.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
post 7 - Thunder Storms
Well, it has been a thunderstorm filled weekend and thunderstorms bring with them power outages. When you are working on a project you try to frequently save, but many times you get working for a while and you get into the zone. Then lightning strikes, you lose 40 minutes of work and you can hear a collective groan through the entirety of Dyson Lab.
After the first power outage people try to remember to save as often as possible, and you hear about every 10 minutes a good Samaritan from somewhere in the building yelling "SAVE!" Everyone collectively curses and hits "Ctrl+S" in order to save their progress, but still they wait in fear that they could lose precious time.
After the 3rd power outage people just pack up and leave, it is frustrating to even lose 10 minutes of work. You have to remember what you changed and how. When the power goes out you get out of your groove and have to restart the computer, sign back in, get your music playlist back up (without checking your facebook) and get your program back up and running.
So this blog post isn't really on topic, but it kind of is. It is safe to say I have started blocking out my level but in class I just watched the other students play boardgames while I tried to fight against the computer. I should have just played boardgames.
After the first power outage people try to remember to save as often as possible, and you hear about every 10 minutes a good Samaritan from somewhere in the building yelling "SAVE!" Everyone collectively curses and hits "Ctrl+S" in order to save their progress, but still they wait in fear that they could lose precious time.
After the 3rd power outage people just pack up and leave, it is frustrating to even lose 10 minutes of work. You have to remember what you changed and how. When the power goes out you get out of your groove and have to restart the computer, sign back in, get your music playlist back up (without checking your facebook) and get your program back up and running.
So this blog post isn't really on topic, but it kind of is. It is safe to say I have started blocking out my level but in class I just watched the other students play boardgames while I tried to fight against the computer. I should have just played boardgames.
Friday, July 9, 2010
post 6 - Hammer is apparently Outdated
Well I presented my final project pitch and I was unhappy with the critique I received from my professor. I guess I just didn't quite understand exactly what he wanted me to explain in the pitch, and I went into too much detail in certain aspects and by the end I was asked questions that I knew the answer to, but failed to show in my pitch that I knew what I was talking about.
In my class not many people know what Tf2 is or how it is played, and some haven't even touched first person shooters at all. When I did my presentation I was supposed to show my research, and truthfully I showed most my research, a lot of it had to do with the technical aspects of Hammer. There are many things I didn't even realize I would need to do in order to finalize a level such as making player clipping, hinting, area portals, and other efficiency increasing tricks that are required to make a professional level. It turns out the professor didn't think that was important to share to the class and instead thought I should explain more of what Tf2 actually is than all the technical details that I would need to overcome.
I guess looking back on it, I presented the pitch as if everyone knew what I was talking about already, I mean I did a cursory "This is TF2" it has 9 classes and is team based, it has 9 different play styles that are all goal focused and not killing focused. He wanted more, he wanted me to detail each class and I guess to me, since I am fully immersed in TF2, I didn't even think of going into that much surface detail in order to explain the product.
I guess I learned a lesson in explanation. I am going to have to explain concepts to people for the rest of my life for my job, and I really need to understand who I am talking to and what they already know, what they need to know, and what they want to know.
Oh, and apparently the Hammer editor has a horrible pipeline and is extremely outdated. My professor is pushing me to use UDK, but I'm set on using Hammer. SCAD does not offer a class that uses the Source engine and I know I will have plenty of time to learn UDK while at SCAD but right now is my time to familiarize myself with a different level design kit and make the best of it. I have been playing Source games for years and I am ten times more interested in Hammer, and with this interest I feel I can really put my 100% into the product: I have a real passion for this project.
In my class not many people know what Tf2 is or how it is played, and some haven't even touched first person shooters at all. When I did my presentation I was supposed to show my research, and truthfully I showed most my research, a lot of it had to do with the technical aspects of Hammer. There are many things I didn't even realize I would need to do in order to finalize a level such as making player clipping, hinting, area portals, and other efficiency increasing tricks that are required to make a professional level. It turns out the professor didn't think that was important to share to the class and instead thought I should explain more of what Tf2 actually is than all the technical details that I would need to overcome.
I guess looking back on it, I presented the pitch as if everyone knew what I was talking about already, I mean I did a cursory "This is TF2" it has 9 classes and is team based, it has 9 different play styles that are all goal focused and not killing focused. He wanted more, he wanted me to detail each class and I guess to me, since I am fully immersed in TF2, I didn't even think of going into that much surface detail in order to explain the product.
I guess I learned a lesson in explanation. I am going to have to explain concepts to people for the rest of my life for my job, and I really need to understand who I am talking to and what they already know, what they need to know, and what they want to know.
Oh, and apparently the Hammer editor has a horrible pipeline and is extremely outdated. My professor is pushing me to use UDK, but I'm set on using Hammer. SCAD does not offer a class that uses the Source engine and I know I will have plenty of time to learn UDK while at SCAD but right now is my time to familiarize myself with a different level design kit and make the best of it. I have been playing Source games for years and I am ten times more interested in Hammer, and with this interest I feel I can really put my 100% into the product: I have a real passion for this project.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Post 5 - Bubble Diagrams
In my research I have studied many 5 point capture maps both developed by Valve and made by the TF2 mapping community, both good, and bad.
It astounded me that there was actually a formula to making the maps, and with variations on this formula you can mix and match aspects to make virtually any 5 point cap map. Not to say that maps cannot have a unique feel or have a unique quirk to them, but just that there are some consistencies and I would say that each map is in essence very similar. here are some of my findings:
Most maps have 2 main paths. These two main paths share roughly the same travel distance and are the quickest and most used paths from point to point. The easiest examples of this come from the maps cp_Granary and cp_Fastlane. In competitive games these are called lanes, and in some strategies teams will split up in either the left or right lanes in order to cover choke points. In the map cp_badlands this 2 main path example sticks for the most part, but in certain areas, the two paths will cross and become one choke point, and then expand back out again. Having these main paths is important for two reasons:
1. If someone is traveling from point to point and does not expect to meet enemies becuase the front is ahead of him, he can take these quick and efficient paths to get back into the main fray more quickly. Basically, having a main path shortens travel distance when you are catching back up to the front.
2. Main paths are quick and efficient, but they are also open and often traveled. This makes traveling on the main path dangerous because this is where conflicts will occur. If you travel the main path you leave yourself open to Sniper fire, Demoman sticky traps, Pyro ambushes and other nasty encounters.
On these two main paths we meet the next repeated aspect of most maps: Chokepoints.
Choke points usually occur on the main path and somewhere in between two points. Choke points are areas where the main path narrows down to a very small path for a short distance. This usually happens at a building or in between two buildings. Choke points are important because they help control the flow of a map. These are areas to hold while you wait for the rest of your team to respawn. These are areas to fall back to, in order to regroup. At choke points you can really keep the action where you want it and can try to make sure no enemies sneak around and flank you. But, there is always another path.
Always. I like to call this extra path the "long" path. This is usually a path that takes much longer to traverse, but it is quite, secluded and has cover. It is off the beaten path and is a trademark route for scouts, that can traverse them more quickly than other classes, and spys and pyros that are trying to ambush the enemy. Usually long paths are either above ground or below ground, but they use vertical spaces in order to throw off the enemy and to come in with a surprise attack. It is important to have long paths for 2 reasons.
1. There should always be another way. If there is only one entrance to a room, it can be easily held and the map will stalemate. In the map ctf_2Fort there is a room that everyone must traverse in order to get to the flag. It only has one entrance. It is really easy to cover that room and make it virtually impossible for another team to access the opponents base. If there isn't another way it becomes a "turtle fest" where both teams are just playing defense and hiding in their easy to defend shells and no action is really occurring. It creates a negative feedback loop and the map stalls to a halt.
2. To flank your enemy. Sometimes it is worth it to travel twice the time, get behind enemy lines unseen, and put a knife in a Sniper's back. You need to be able to access an area away from prying eyes. You take the extra time, but end up getting a reward in your efforts. It can change games. While most of the team is holding a choke point you have one or two players go the long route and flank the enemies from behind, scattering the defense.
Another thing I looked into was the number of entrances and exits to any given point. I found that as you move closer to the last point the number of entrances increase, and as you move closer to you own first point, the number of exits decrease. This creates a positive feedback loop, giving the winning team an advantage. They are rewarded by easier access to any given point while the enemy is reduced to fewer options. This is important because offense is harder than defense for the main reason of travel. As explained earlier, you want to give players a reason to play offensively because if both teams play defense, a game will slow to a halt.
The last thing I will share is just differences in point sizes. It is interesting to note that most maps have a variety of open and closed spaces, making each point a unique challenge. Some maps, like cp_granary start with an extremely open first point, move to a confined 2nd point, and then move to a medium sized middle. Other maps like cp_badlands start with a closed and tight final point and an extremely open 2nd and 3rd point. Having a variety of point sizes can help make a level flow and can offer a change in experience. If a map is all open everywhere, only certain classes can truly excel and the experience can get stale. Likewise if a map is all closed spaces, all the action is confined and only certain classes will excel. It is best to have a variety of point sizes in order to have the level experience be fresh from point to point, instead of just repetitions. Each point should have its own unique approach and should require a certain type of skill sets and to some extent certain classes to overcome.
Here are some bubble diagrams I have drawn of two created maps and then 2 bubble diagrams I created in order to block out two different maps I might be interested in creating for this class. I like to work on paper, and have more drawings that are much more rough, but here is some digital work:
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Post 4 - No longer a group
So, Kevin and I talked today and after much deliberation we decided that a group project just is not feasible due to the limitations of the source engine, and the difficulty of moving simple models and textures from Maya to Hammer.
To even import a model into the model viewer, Kevin had to download all of this third party software to convert his current models into about 5 different files that the source engine needs to compile it. He got a virus from all of the third party software and stayed up all night one night trying to delete it and find the source.
Even after this fiasco it was just seen as too difficult to be worth trying to import models from maya over to the source engine, so instead he will be building an evironment in UDK, which has a mcuh easier way to import models and textures, while I will be making a level in Hammer but will be set dressing it with pre-existing entities in Source files. We are still doign the same thing in the end, just not workign together anymore.
To even import a model into the model viewer, Kevin had to download all of this third party software to convert his current models into about 5 different files that the source engine needs to compile it. He got a virus from all of the third party software and stayed up all night one night trying to delete it and find the source.
Even after this fiasco it was just seen as too difficult to be worth trying to import models from maya over to the source engine, so instead he will be building an evironment in UDK, which has a mcuh easier way to import models and textures, while I will be making a level in Hammer but will be set dressing it with pre-existing entities in Source files. We are still doign the same thing in the end, just not workign together anymore.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
post 3 - Level Design
Well, my Professor is really trying to push me to do a single player level instead of a multiplayer level. He also wants me to use UDK, the Unreal editor while I am trying to focus on using the source editor, Hammer.
He argues that I can really craft an experience with a single player level, and make it more personal and also learn more about an engine through scripting events and kizmit. Also he argues that he would be able to help me in this more, because he knows UDK and he knows single player.
I just feel like while I have been at scad all I have made is single player games, except for the board games. I really want to craft a digital multiplayer experience. I know in the future I will take Level Design Mechanics and learn everything i can about UDK, but now is a time to delve into something different, learn a different egine, and craft something personal. I won't have this oppurtunity again at scad, and I really want to make something I can really enjoy.
With that, I start my research into TF2 Level design, the Hammer Editor, and even multiplayer level design in general. I stumbled across an artilce that shows a very unique way to appraoch level design for the game Left 4 Dead, which is made by Valve, the same people that made Team fortress 2. Here is the blog post, and let me know what you tghink about it.
12 Terms from the Left 4 Dictionary
He argues that I can really craft an experience with a single player level, and make it more personal and also learn more about an engine through scripting events and kizmit. Also he argues that he would be able to help me in this more, because he knows UDK and he knows single player.
I just feel like while I have been at scad all I have made is single player games, except for the board games. I really want to craft a digital multiplayer experience. I know in the future I will take Level Design Mechanics and learn everything i can about UDK, but now is a time to delve into something different, learn a different egine, and craft something personal. I won't have this oppurtunity again at scad, and I really want to make something I can really enjoy.
With that, I start my research into TF2 Level design, the Hammer Editor, and even multiplayer level design in general. I stumbled across an artilce that shows a very unique way to appraoch level design for the game Left 4 Dead, which is made by Valve, the same people that made Team fortress 2. Here is the blog post, and let me know what you tghink about it.
12 Terms from the Left 4 Dictionary
Post 2 - Project Pitches
So I pitched 3 projects to the class.
#1 Was a side side scrolling action adventure (in the MetriodVania style). It was going to be titled POOH, and would be an American Mcgee style game. American Mcgee was a level designer at id Software in Mesquite Texas, and using the quake engine made a game called Alice. Alice is the story of alice and wonderland, but twisted. He had in the works another game called Oz(like the wizard) where you played as dorothy and your viscous dog toto on a skilling spree in the land of oz. Well our idea was to go with that theme and make a game where you play Christopher Robin rampaging through the hundred acre woods killing all of your possesed stuffed animals.
It would have been really fun to make, and I still want to at some point, the the class thought it was too boyish with all the blood and stuff, and also saw Flash games in my protfolio and fealt I needed more breadth.
So we move on to pitch #2, a level design for TF2. I would be designing the level from the ground up and dealing with all of the techincal issues while Kevin would make all the props and textures for our map. We are thinking of doing a tropical style. This was the one that was chosen becuase the class and professor fealt that I needed to show that i could make a 3d level, something that I do not already have a sample of in my protfolio.
Pitch #3 was a continuation of my final project in Programmign for interactivity. It owuld be a time based puzzle game themed in Aztec. It would have been fun to expand the project, and I probably will someday, but for now that project is going to sit while I do TF2 stuff.
Until next time,
-Monte
#1 Was a side side scrolling action adventure (in the MetriodVania style). It was going to be titled POOH, and would be an American Mcgee style game. American Mcgee was a level designer at id Software in Mesquite Texas, and using the quake engine made a game called Alice. Alice is the story of alice and wonderland, but twisted. He had in the works another game called Oz(like the wizard) where you played as dorothy and your viscous dog toto on a skilling spree in the land of oz. Well our idea was to go with that theme and make a game where you play Christopher Robin rampaging through the hundred acre woods killing all of your possesed stuffed animals.
It would have been really fun to make, and I still want to at some point, the the class thought it was too boyish with all the blood and stuff, and also saw Flash games in my protfolio and fealt I needed more breadth.
So we move on to pitch #2, a level design for TF2. I would be designing the level from the ground up and dealing with all of the techincal issues while Kevin would make all the props and textures for our map. We are thinking of doing a tropical style. This was the one that was chosen becuase the class and professor fealt that I needed to show that i could make a 3d level, something that I do not already have a sample of in my protfolio.
Pitch #3 was a continuation of my final project in Programmign for interactivity. It owuld be a time based puzzle game themed in Aztec. It would have been fun to expand the project, and I probably will someday, but for now that project is going to sit while I do TF2 stuff.
Until next time,
-Monte
Post 1, Studio 1 Exposition of Skill and Project pitches
First blog post for my Studio I class, I have never had a blog before but we will see how this goes.
So, for next class I need to have an exposition of skill, basically showing off what I have done while at SCAD and what I can do. This is basically a rough portfolio to let the other students and the teacher know what I am capable of, what I have, and what I need in my portfolio.
I am in the class with Kevin, whom I shared all 3 classes with last quarter and through our time together we have worked on group projects and know we are good at working together. I'm a designer, he is an artist, and even though Studio I is usually a solo thing, I think we could work together to make something really strong. Maybe Flash, maybe 3D, I'll have to talk to him and see what exactly he is interested in doing and we will probably pitch group project ideas.
That is it for now, next time I will post about how the pitches went and what I will probably be doing for my project.
Until next time,
-Monte
So, for next class I need to have an exposition of skill, basically showing off what I have done while at SCAD and what I can do. This is basically a rough portfolio to let the other students and the teacher know what I am capable of, what I have, and what I need in my portfolio.
I am in the class with Kevin, whom I shared all 3 classes with last quarter and through our time together we have worked on group projects and know we are good at working together. I'm a designer, he is an artist, and even though Studio I is usually a solo thing, I think we could work together to make something really strong. Maybe Flash, maybe 3D, I'll have to talk to him and see what exactly he is interested in doing and we will probably pitch group project ideas.
That is it for now, next time I will post about how the pitches went and what I will probably be doing for my project.
Until next time,
-Monte
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