So this is my next serious map. The setting will be the higher mountain regions where pinetrees and dry grass and moss are most common, with no vegetation whatsoever if you go much higher than that. The layout: number 3 is the highest height level (right side = left side mirrored) This was my first layout, the last pic is more like how it'll be in the end How i'm placing the textures: Which areas are buildable: red = vegetation, brown = too detailed hilly to build, white is buildable (level 3 = white but NOT buildable) There's not much to be said. - The grey in north will be a huge military base. It will NOT just be flat concrete. - I think gameplay will be mostly north vs south (the south river forming somewhat the conflict area), as there's only 3 paths from north to south for vehicles. - River can be crossed with vehicles but only from the north up untill the top of the X where the refinery island is. Below that the river is too deep/steep - Tests of my textures: moss2 and rock6b http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/234836/emp_a2009/emp_a20090005.jpg http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/234836/emp_a2009/emp_a20090007.jpg ground4 and ground6 http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/234836/emp_a2009/emp_a20090008.jpg
I layed out a similar style map once, but never really did anything with it. Basically, if you take where the middle 3 is, and make it a narrow path or something through a tall hill, then have both bases at the base of that waterfall, I think that will turn the map into the best possible gameplay. Just stick an invisible wall to prevent arty spam, or don't prevent weapons spam over the lake to force a team to move away from the first spawn. I like the general flow of this layout, especially with the 3 ways across to the other side, each defendable, but too spread out to defend all 3 at once. You could even make a cool nickname for that river. Like the cockblock canal.
I steal them. Well seriously all but 1 texture come from just 1 site: http://www.cgtextures.com/ There i just use a real life picture and edit it with photoshop, and do color corrections (mainly saturation, brightness and hue). Then i test them ingame to see which stick out too much (a good looking picture does not equal a good looking ingame texture) and i do some more color correction so they fit better. This is what i've done for the moss and the rock texture in the screenshots. The rock texture is the only one i made from scratch using this insanely easy tutorial: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Rock_Textures_Creation. It's the texture i made for the new Arid where it is (dark)brown/gold colored. For this map i altered it to have a lot more contrast and changed it to white/lightblue. Bumpmaps do the rest. Unfortunately those rock screenshots are the best i could take, the other textures don't go that well together at the moment. Still the first 3 images easily cover 50% of the work. Planning is the most important step for me. With a plan i can make the same progress in an hour that i would need several days for otherwise. I suck at coming up with names, so all the way untill it's finished i just use some stupid working name. On my pc the files are called emp_a2009 to know which year i started it and so that the files come first in every alphabetical list. "It looks like ovaries" was the first remark i had after showing the layout and it fits the mentality of the empires community, so for the moment ovaries it is Edit: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/234836/emp_a2009/buildableVF.jpg The picture shows somewhat the size of the BE VF. Keep in mind that for vehicles the brown areas are just as accessible as the white areas
The map NEEDS intersting places. You are a awesome displacement mapper but for example emp_bush has one problem. All those 9 places around the center look quite similar, resulting in me always looking at the minimap to see where I am. You could place props and architecture that makes every part of the map different.
I agree I often tried it but i always fail and in the end i remove my changes. The main problem with area specific displacements is that source fucks up intersecting displacements (shadows at the edge) The main problem with area specific buildings is that i suck at brushwork The main problem with area specific props is that i can't model and every existing prop is overused like hell The main problem with area specific effects like a waterfall is that i can't make particle effects and rarely manage to get some cool effect working like it should. (nicely flowing water for example) It's gonna be a pain already to find someone willing to make pinetrees. And no trees with lods for every 30 meter cause i can't stand having hundreds of props constantly zip bigger or smaller very obviously. I can make caves as they align with the surrounding surfaces, or some bad looking bunkers, but that's pretty much it.
Because there aren't enough maps and even my maps are better than a lot of other customs, especially those customs from the time when i started to map. My interest in mapping is about the same as my interest in real life: nature I hate cities in real life too. I never look at buildings, always at the yards. It's no wonder i have no idea how to create good looking constructions. I just don't think like that. Everyone can always ask if they can work on a map with me. I'm always willing to accept help for brushwork or effects. Credits would be evenly divided.
Thanks they look awesome, with smooth lod levels ! I've just placed 200 of those props to see how expensive they are. With some luck they're optimized well.
Ok why is my waterfall not working? It changes color depending on how i look at it (a bit like when you use model textures on brushes) http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/234836/emp_a2009/emp_a20090012.jpg http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/234836/emp_a2009/emp_a20090011.jpg I've did exactly what's said here: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Creating_a_Waterfall_Material
