emp_kingunderthemountain

Could you make the spotlights shorter at least? I liked the darker appearance the room had before the spotlights.

 

I didn't. It looked crap when you had people in there because you couldn't see any detail.

I might make more variation between light and dark, but as I said it takes ages to compile and you can't really see the effect without compiling the whole thing.

 

Are you using HDR? Bear in mind that your lighting will change pretty drastically when you take that into account. You can generally get away with much darker areas without any of that loss in detail.

 

Yeah I haven't put the HDR in yet because I need to sort some tonemap controller settings out first.

I'll actually put the map on HDR compile now.

The main thing I didn't like about the darker lighting was that the rest of the map is quite well lit. Also when I make the night version I want there to be contrast.

I'm entering a stagnant phase, it basically involves me waiting and eventually picking up the map later and doing some more on it. I can't do anything until I get the urge to work on it some more.

There isn't a great deal left to do, but until I get an idea I'm not going to be able to work on it. I'm having second thoughts about the lifts, I don't know how practical they'll be because I don't think they'll fit into the current room layout very well.

I'm not doing too bad given that I started the map only a few weeks ago.

 

This. Map. Is. EPIC.

I MUST DRIVE AN NF LT OVER ITS BEAUTIFUL TERRAIN NAO

 

It doesn't actually have much terrain, all the cliffs are one of two prefabricated cliff lumps with different rotations, and minor modifications in some areas to create sealed tunnels.

I haven't even put in any ground distortion yet.

 

please don't change the spotlights, I love them as they are... it's beautiful.


I hope you're doing a nice 3d skybox, and putting awesome craters and stuff the displacements :D

 

3d skybox no, I don't see the point.

It's surrounded on all sides by cliffs, you can't see over them so what's the point?

 

I just think they look really good... it makes you feel less like you're in a map, more like a real location...

but then again you might not need it for your map.

 

To make it look prettier so the map isn't just inside a box.

 

I would use a 3d skybox if I saw the point.

You can't see over the cliffs unless you're the commander, and the commander view is just hell from a mapping perspective, it throws off nearly all the optimisation techniques we have, so I'm simply ignoring the commander view in all ways except making sure they have access to all areas where there's likely to be signficant combat.

If I put a 3d skybox in you aren't going to see it unless I put mountains and stuff in, which I might do but it certainly isn't a priority. The cliffs block visibility completely in most areas because if they didn't I couldn't use the visleaves to keep your FPS over 60.

I also have some media of the map from the HDR test, it's mostly stuff you've seen before but I took it in GMod with the sun shaders, DoF, and HDR turned on.

I'll upload it in a sec.

Edit:











Oh yeah, I meant to ask, what does the emp_grass_area entity do?

 

I don't think it'll feel very realistic that way, when you have cliffs all over. It makes the players feel that it's just a consealed fighting arena. It would be much nicer to see further away, all around the map. A long desert with palmtrees here and there and an oasis in the distance, a large mountain on the other side, a river, and whatever else. Plain cliffs are meant for HL1, because 3D skyboxes didn't exist back then. You're a talented mapper, so I suggest you squeeze all out of the HL2 engine.

 

I know that ideally you have stonking great big rolling vistas and whatnot, but every empires map I know of has the big cliffs around the edge, or the really tall buildings, or the endless ocean in the case of emp_isle.

I really don't think that I could create a more believable boundary than cliffs. I can put in some blocked passes and stuff but I'm still going to have to go with cliffs for the edge I think. Especially given that if I open the map up then I'm going to have the vis blocking cliffs suddenly terminating into a canyon or something, which will look a bit silly I think.

I'd consider adding some mountains popping up over the back of the cliffs, but then I have the problem of joining the cliffs up to the mountains without it looking absolutely crap in the commander view.

The 3d skybox is a useful tool, you can use it to simulate great distances, and it's vital for HL2 if only because of the citadel, which you couldn't do otherwise. Unfortunately it doesn't work for maps like the ones empires uses because it's impossible to create a clear, believable boundary while maintaining the height required to allow you to see the stuff behind it. It's especially problematic on this map because in order to keep the FPS down I have to keep 90% of the map on more or less the same plane, so I can't have any high area from which you could gaze in awe at the lovely landscape of the 3d skybox.

The other use is to put skybox props and suchlike in which you can see poking over the boundary, this however only works if you can't see that there isn't any land underneath them, which you can in empires with the commander, and while i'm not putting a great deal of effort into making the commander view a pleasant one, I'm at least making it presentable within the expectations of an RTS game, which means that having a map that terminates at the edge into a void is acceptable, but having disembodied objects floating in that void isn't.

It has it's uses, and should you need it you'll be glad of it, but this map doesn't need it as far as I can tell, and I can't force it on it.

 

oh lord that looks beautiful

 

Be mindfull that Empires will soon have aircraft as well... Though I dont think that you could scale this map to x16...

And this is one of the most beautiful looking maps I have ever seen; great job :D

 

Looking good. That depth-of-field effect really is the badger's nadgers.

On 3D skyboxes: I agree with Chris. In this instance it will only serve to reduce performance. They have their uses, but in this case it just isn't necessary. In the first shot where you can see that mountain; I originally thought that was a skybox.

The community map project really needs somebody to create the boundary cliffs for it, as well as the caves behind the waterfall. Looking at that last shot, your skills would be really useful in these areas. If you do run out of steam on this for a while, know that the CMP will always welcome your support.

 

...

:eek:

I came.

 

just like emp_money... but alot of people seem to like that map :confused:

 

You forgot the emp_duststorm or what that desert map was called.

 

Yes, big cliffs are definitely much better than invisible walls.