Mapper's Journal

[Circuitous]

I was thinking that, too. I found some site with an online NES emulator that had Sonic on there, haha. No idea what that was about.

[o_kam]

ROFL AT THIS MAP

[o_sizeablessonic]

Originally Posted by The Howling Man

omg liek make a bonus game where you can go in and see secret screenshots from RICOCHET REBORN or maybe a place in the base's resupply wehre you can like hit your use key on a nintendo and play sonic teh hedgehog LOL he liek so totally pwns just like this map

Dont Bring up that mod. It has nothing to do with this map.


Oh my god as soon as this map looks so much better I swear I will..... You know what just to make everyone happy ill take the journal idea and put it into action. were would you want it? Mapping? Chat?

Also again I have no idea what the hells fucked up my skybox......... I have DX 9C and I did it correctly.

[Circuitous]

That skybox is fucked up for everyone. To fix it, use a different skybox.

[o_sizeablessonic]

Ahhhhh thank you. Now it wont look like I have a giant cube around my map.

[mervaka]

this reminds me SOOOOOO much of this test map for my 'desert storm' mod i attempted to make back in 2000. oh by the way i didnt inflict it upon the community, just my mates.

[o_nezumi]

Originally Posted by SizeableSSonic

Ill take the journal idea and put it into action. were would you want it? Mapping? Chat?

Why not use this thread?

[o_buckshot enema[x7]]

Sonic, some of the people here have made jackass comments but others have offered some very good advice.

In case you missed what they said (since you almost never acknowledge good criticism or ideas) here's all the things that have been said that you should really listen to:

Originally Posted by Ambex

You have to work harder on the lighting..

As you know good lighting can make and break a map. But apart from setting the mood of your map there’s a few practical things to keep into account when setting up lighting:

1. Players don’t like dark or over lit maps. Dark maps are hard to play and people will get frustrated cause they get shot from dark spots. Over bright maps will make your eyes more tired after playing it for a while. Over brightness is easy to avoid but handling the contrast of your maps lighting is sometimes hard.

2. Colored surfaces will change the lighting solution of your map. A red texture will become dark when blue light hits it and It will not cast back anything apart from red light. A yellow texture will become green when blue light hits it and will only reflect yellow light. Think about this before thinking a red brick will suit your evening sun map.

3. Avoid high contrast places.
Where light and darkness meet its often hard to see anything. This is pretty hard to solve especially on a map that has outdoor and indoor locations.

Indoor lights are pretty much location specific and may be used in any color.

But the sad truth is : you have to work more on the map man.

Originally Posted by Sh4x

If you posted screens like that it's probably because you want opinions so here's mine: it looks horrible.

Now for the constructive part:

- I can see the edges of your skybox, something is wrong.
- Your sand texture is repeating and it shows way too much.
- You should try to learn how to build complex brushes because right now it's like all you're doing is putting big boxes all over the place and it doesn't look good at all.
- If I were you I would concentrate on making a very small map with nice details instead of a big one with no details at all and boxes all over the place.
- Have a look at the screenshots of the maps made by the dev team and compare to yours. Find something that you like in those maps and try to reproduce it in yours.

Sh4x's point that you should start small before tackling big projects is a great piece of advice. If I were you I'd put this project on hold, and instead try to map a single flag room first, and try to get that to look as good as you can, before you try to tackle something as complicated as an entire map.

This should probably be last on a list of changes, but don't forget cubemaps.

[o_sizeablessonic]

Yea I did buildcubemaps because my dudes fingernails were shiny.

I am now changing the topics name to mappers journal.
WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS MEAN? ^

The Bond thing.

I also have taken peoples ideas and decided I will practice by making a little maze like Flag room.


Why is it in my topics name? after journal. What. the hell. does that. MEAN?!?!

[o_buckshot enema[x7]]

A maze for a flag room doesn't sound like a good idea. Flag rooms should be relatively defendable, but also give concers opportunities to get in and out fast.

[Circuitous]

A maze?

I... er... why? What do you have against offense?! WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST MY SANITY?!

[o_vorm]

Originally Posted by Circuitous

A maze?

I... er... why? What do you have against offense?! WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST MY SANITY?!

What does he have against mapping.

[o_sizeablessonic]

Al right then, scratch the maze flag room.

Maybe I can practice by remaking some TFC flag rooms.

[o_sizeablessonic]

I have read tutorials.

Also know I have to find out whats making my computer freeze.

[o_sh4x]

What you need is to look at architecture books really.

[o_buckshot enema[x7]]

And just practice practice practice for ~6 months and only show your best friend what you've made. Then, when you've grown and learned more come post your work on a public forum. You'll get better feedback this way.

[o_sizeablessonic]

Deciding to take the point of the title "mappers journal" and, well write about mapping, not the maps themselves.

Yea I know I need to practice.
Of course I cant map if my computer freezes after using hammer a bit which is what its doing.

However I have read a few tutorials, simple stuff.

And as for Desert strike, well, I have decided to do something you may have not seen mappers do, .plan files, and thing is I don't know exactly what symbols you are supposed to use. So if there is a [] next to something that means its not done if there is a * next to something it is done. A ^ means I'm working on it. And here is the list:

[^]add more lighting and adjust existing
[^]add spawn rooms
[^]make bases more complex[*]Fix skybox
[^]make displacements soft and smooth like sand dunes
[]Add arches
[]add architectural detail and style [iris doors, rounded corners]
[]add detail

[o_skanky butterpuss]

[] remove map
[] start over

[o_buckshot enema[x7]]

The idea behind a mapper journal, I think, was for you to post screens of your progress so people could see the progression and growth. I don't think anyone particularly wants to read a "to-do" list. Just make some serious changes to your map, post screens here, get feedback, then go make more changes.

[o_nezumi]

so what does the [x7] symbol mean in such a list?

Hah, lol, jk.