We all live in a yellow submarine! (More models)

Alright, so here's pics of some new models I just made. It seems that I'm either posting like a fiend or hardly at all. Oh well. A submarine, plant, generator, and hanging monitor. Very random when put together, but it works in the final, trust me. This is the last of the pre modeling that I'll be doing within Maya, and I'll start focusing again on roughing out the actual level within hammer.

The sub is gonna sit in an indoor hangar which is visible through a window that is behind the inner intel point. Just one high res model, as it is only visible from on viewpoint, no need for LOD models.

I will do any kind of task that needs to be done in modeling without complaining, but foliage is the death of me. Though it is a bit more simplistic, this is the first plant that has turned out good for me. I did a pine tree and some oak trees in various projects for school, and I was marginally satisfied with the results. I guess the practice of doing it before helped this to become what it is today. And all in 1197 tris, no less!

I couldn't decide what exact look i wanted, as I also looked at ones with more tubing, gears, etc. A design principle for tf2 helped solve this problem for me. This more simplistic design saves polys and also doesn't distract the player from combat by creating too much visual noise. These are two important things to think about when modeling for TF2.

Just a simple, hanging tv monitor. I took several elements from different references and mashed them together to get the best overall look. There might be different versions of these as there will be multiple ones next to each other in control rooms, stations, etc. I'm thinking maybe 3 or 4.

Stay tuned for some 3D sketches!

A new, unnamed mod project

It looks like I'll have a little bit more on my plate throughout the next year or so. About a week or two ago, a friend of mine from Columbus contacted me to ask if I would be interested in working on a team mod project which would use the Source engine. Since I know a bit about Hammer, and environmental work, that's what I'll be doing. More specifically, I'll be working on UV mapping, modeling objects and environs, and showing others the workflow for getting objects into hammer from 3D and 2D software. As I've said before, this process can be a reeeaaaal bitch to do. So, I'm glad that maybe I can speed up the process of figuring stuff out which has already taken me quite some time to do. There's no title yet, though a rough timeline for completion has been made. I don't know alot of specifics yet, but as long as it's cool with everyone else, I'll be posting stuff from that project here as well. Not sure when this will happen, but I would bet on sometime next year.

Stay tuned.....

UV time!

Alright, in my last post I mentioned some UV mapping pics, and here they are so far. I tried to make as much use of the UV spacing as possible, even if it meant making more seams. I can clone them out in Maya if they become too visible anyway. I overlapped some uvs to make even more room in instances where you wouldn't notice (ex:symmetrical models that have a side you wouldn't even see.) Enjoy!

Modeling progress

Well, it looks like it's once again been a long time between posts, but it's all once again due to an increasingly busy schedule. Having a new job helps, plus many other distractions such as Fallout 3, Mega Man 9, and GTA4, have all kept me quite occupied. I have still been hard at work on some modeling and uv-ing, which is what this post is all about. I decided to take a break from conceptualizing color, layout, etc to get back into some modeling in Maya. It's been a long time since I've fiddled around with it, so it seemed that knocking out a few models was in order. I've done some LOD models on ones that seemed to need it, which is pretty time consuming in itself but it'll take down some poly counts which is nice. I basically just took a look at what I thought could be modeled without any concept imagery, you know, props and such that I know are going to be used and how they are going to look regardless of anything else. The helicopter is what I'm proud of the most, as it's my first vehicle. The front still looks kinda weird though until I apply a texture to it. If it still looks weird in-game, then I'll have to go back and fix it up. This is all about 1/2 of the work i've done thus far.


So what now? I'm going to finish up with a few more models and then get cracking on finally getting everything conceptualized. I'm going to make posts showing UV layouts, color concepts, drawings, and perhaps one detailing the different locations of the map. After concepting, which will probably be the toughest part, I'll start on full production which is where I really want to be before the year ends. I guess we'll see what happens :)

Don't worry, I didn't die...yet.

Oh man, oh man, oh man. I knew that this process would be long and involved, but damn! It's been a while, but I didn't want to post again until the beta was finished. Guess what? IT'S DONE! That's right, the core gameplay layout is complete. I'm sure it will change through feedback, but now I can finally share my early efforts with the public. I've learned a lot since the last post, including things like optimization, lighting, functionality, and getting the prop pipeline to work the way I want it to. Making custom props and materials is probably the most fickle process I've ever embarked upon, hands down. Getting materials to show up, models to compile, collision to work, it's all just about done. Once I understand lighting a little more and I can get specular maps to work, I think I'll finally be ready to begin conceptualization and start making those first few assets. Actually making art, who'da thunk it?

As for specifics on testing my map, I uploaded the BSP to tons of file sharing sites, so you can find it on just about any legit, free hosting site. TF2Maps.net and FPSBanana are the ones that I am using the most, however and I would recommend those. I have uploaded the map to be played on the official server for TFMaps.net, and I'll have to wait and see when and if it gets played. For those who are interested, the IP is 72.233.93.233:27015. We have a game day event on Saturdays where we go through and play each other's maps from 3 to 7 pm, but other than that I'm not quite sure when everyone gets on to play. Speaking of which, I would like to thank everyone at TF2Maps.net for all of their help. It's hand down the best TF2 mapping community site out there, and I wouldn't have had a clue how to do half of the stuff I've done without them. It's full of great, patient people that are always willing to help the clueless, and you can tell that they love to do what they do.

I 'm gonna try to update more once I get the process spinning a bit more. Expect things in the future like reference photos, concepts, and production pics as they come. The pics I'm giving you for this post are for the beta as it currently stands. Not pretty of course, but functional for gameplay, so that's all that matters, right?

Design, design, design.

Specifics on the map:

-CTF with 2 intelligence briefcases. One is outside of the base (while not being too easy to cap, it will be considerably easier than cap 2), and the other is deep in the base.

-Map is symmetrical, very similar to 2Fort

-Once you cap the outside case, the interior one is able to be capped. Cap the first one, then the second. In this way it's very similar to CP games, and is intentionally set up that way to be a unique blend of CTF and a CP Dustbowl stage.

-Respawn rooms will be halfway between capture zones for each base and do not change. This way, the teams have enough time to get to and defend each point.

-capture zones for the moment, are where the home teams' briefcase is ala 2Fort. If the journey is too long for the final cap, I will move the second cap zone up a bit.

For whatever reason, most TF2 maps suck. Half of the time, it's because the person just felt like making something simple and stupid to mess around in with friends, or as a joke. The other half are serious about it, and fail to think about all of the different aspects of map creation. Not everyone is in it to build a portfolio up, but I am. Though I'm an artist and mainly focus on visuals, I also want my map to be fun to play as well as pretty to look at. Let's treat it like this: Valve told me that if I make a great map, they'll hire me. I'm gonna work my fingers to the bone to make sure that my map is the best ever created. I want this map to fit right in with everything that Valve has released up to this point. Nothing wacky like Mario Kart, but something that fits within the TF2 universe. There are several aspects of design that Valve utilizes that I will also:

1) Environments are minimal. Textures are less detailed and realistic and modeling is conservative so that the players focus on each other, rather than being distracted by complex surroundings.

2)All textures are hand painted, in an expressionistic style. I will look at reference, but everything will be fresh out of photoshop, no photographs. This will take considerably longer, but is good exercise.

3)Conservative lighting, gotta watch that lag.

4) Since it's a ctf level, keep it small. No one wants to run forever back to their base with the intel.

5)Fun for all classes. I want this map to be fun for anybody, no matter how early or late in the game. Places to snipe, places for spies to hide, places for scouts to access, places for sticky and rocket jumps, places for sentries, and a good balance of open and closed areas for pyros.

6)Many routes to go throughout the whole level. More routes to defend makes everything more unpredictable.

In regards to things I will do differently than Valve, there are a couple. I'll use 2Fort as a case study. 2Fort is:

1)Too hard to cap. games last forever. Make games more speratic. shorter games, with easier caps. Second cap is not as buried in the base too far, making it a shorter journey. I think this was the main cause of long, drawn out games.

2)Has only one area good for sniping. Mine will have two main areas, located around each cap.

3)Physics objects: do they even matter? I noticed this in all of the valve maps. There are only a couple of these in each, and they are just bottles and cans. Nothing of interest. I actually had to pause and think about whether or not TF2 has physics objects to begin with. I know it's to prevent lag, but should there be any at all, if it's barely noticable? No physics objects for me.

Finally, I'm sure that I should show some pictures and stop talking, right? The one with tons of orange shows that I've only focused on spacing and rough shapes. I currently only have two textures. One for the outer "no-leaks please" box, and one for the actual level.

CTF_Platform: A Team Fortress 2 Map

Okay, so I've decided to give this whole blog thing a try for my next project. I'm making a Team Fortress 2 map, and my postings will be for showing progress through time. I'm sure more people will see this once the beta for the map is up and hopefully people will be playing it, and I can get some feedback. As for a time frame, there is none. I'll take the approach that Valve and Blizzard take and say that it's done when it's done. I don't want to take forever on this, but at the same time, I want the quality to be as good as it can be. I would like to have this and a single player map (using another engine) done by the fall of 2009, which is when I will hopefully be moving to a larger city with companies that I can show my demo reel to.

Here's a rundown of my process:

1)Build a prototype in Hammer that represents proper spacing and collision for the level. In other words, no art at all, just for gameplay sake. As I'm doing this, I will be thinking about concepts. As of now, I'm calling the map CTF_Platform.

2)Think out conceptual props, structures, and ideas, and adjust the level to meet such things. If I nail it just right, I'll be able to make the environment look interesting while keeping the original spacing intact.

3)Add details such as decals that point the players in the right direction, and that avoid any confusion as to where to go.

4)Work on functionality. Add the intel, set respawn times, round times, invis walls, etc.

5)Add placeholder textures that make it clear what is what, and which base is which. Still no art, but enough to not hamper anyone's experience.

6)beta release: Give the beta map to servers and see what happens.

7) Adjust the map based on feedback, while adding in art to make the level more enjoyable and immersive. The only pre-existing textures and models I will use will be for respawn rooms and guidance signs.

8)optimize the level and release the final version to servers.

That seems pretty far off :)

Demo Reel 2008

Enjoy!