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Other Stuff / Re: Can One Paintball 2 Map Screenshot Become a 15-Second Trailer?
« Last post by Zenit on Yesterday at 06:37:45 PM »thanks chatgpt
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Other Stuff / Can One Paintball 2 Map Screenshot Become a 15-Second Trailer?
« Last post by MartynFoster on September 23, 2026, 01:31:07 AM »Suppose I have one screenshot from a Digital Paint: Paintball 2 map and want to turn it into a 15-second trailer. There is no recorded match footage, no fly-through, and no second angle. What can that one image support without inventing details that may not exist in the map?
Start with what the screenshot actually shows
I would first mark the useful information already visible: entrances, ramps, corridors, open ground, cover, height changes, flag locations if shown, and any strong landmarks. Those elements can suggest how a player might read the space. A narrow doorway may feel tense, while a wide open lane can suggest speed or exposure.
The lighting and colours also give the trailer a direction. A bright outdoor screenshot could support an energetic introduction. A darker interior might suit a slower reveal. The image may also hint at the kind of match atmosphere the map aims for, but it cannot prove how the map plays.
From one screenshot, I would not claim to know the full route layout, the fastest flag path, where players usually fight, or whether a visible opening is accessible. Those details should come from the map author, an overhead layout, or real gameplay.
A possible four-shot structure
For a 15-second edit, I would keep the plan simple:
1. Establishing shot, about four seconds. Begin with the full screenshot and a slow push toward the main landmark. Show the map name here.
2. Route detail, about three seconds. Crop toward one visible path, doorway, or ramp. A subtle directional graphic could indicate “one possible route,” rather than presenting it as the best route.
3. Match atmosphere, about four seconds. Use another crop from the same image, perhaps focusing on cover, a flag area, or a height difference. Sound design could suggest movement and pressure, but it should not pretend to be audio recorded on this map.
4. Return to the wide view, about four seconds. Pull back to the original composition and end with a short invitation to play or test the map.
Using several crops from one screenshot has an obvious risk: the trailer may feel like a slideshow. Small camera moves, clean cuts, text, and restrained sound can help, but exaggerated motion would expose the limits of the source image. I would avoid fabricating players running behind walls, turning corners, or entering areas that the screenshot does not reveal.
If I wanted to explore the motion before recording any real gameplay, I could use MiniMax H3 to make a short visual draft from the screenshot. I would still treat it as a concept: any invented camera angle, route, player movement, or hidden part of the map would need to be replaced or checked against actual game footage before calling it a map trailer.
What would make the idea stronger?
The most useful extra material would probably be one overhead map view, one screenshot from the opposite direction, and a short note from the author explaining the intended routes. Even a few seconds of genuine spectator footage would change the project from a visual teaser into something that can represent actual play.
Until then, I would label this as a concept trailer based on a single screenshot. Its job would be to communicate the map’s visual identity and invite interest, not demonstrate layout balance or match flow.
For map authors and regular players: which part would you want a 15-second trailer to show first—the main landmark, a flag route, a difficult jump, or the overall atmosphere? And what information would you consider misleading if it were inferred from only one screenshot?
Start with what the screenshot actually shows
I would first mark the useful information already visible: entrances, ramps, corridors, open ground, cover, height changes, flag locations if shown, and any strong landmarks. Those elements can suggest how a player might read the space. A narrow doorway may feel tense, while a wide open lane can suggest speed or exposure.
The lighting and colours also give the trailer a direction. A bright outdoor screenshot could support an energetic introduction. A darker interior might suit a slower reveal. The image may also hint at the kind of match atmosphere the map aims for, but it cannot prove how the map plays.
From one screenshot, I would not claim to know the full route layout, the fastest flag path, where players usually fight, or whether a visible opening is accessible. Those details should come from the map author, an overhead layout, or real gameplay.
A possible four-shot structure
For a 15-second edit, I would keep the plan simple:
1. Establishing shot, about four seconds. Begin with the full screenshot and a slow push toward the main landmark. Show the map name here.
2. Route detail, about three seconds. Crop toward one visible path, doorway, or ramp. A subtle directional graphic could indicate “one possible route,” rather than presenting it as the best route.
3. Match atmosphere, about four seconds. Use another crop from the same image, perhaps focusing on cover, a flag area, or a height difference. Sound design could suggest movement and pressure, but it should not pretend to be audio recorded on this map.
4. Return to the wide view, about four seconds. Pull back to the original composition and end with a short invitation to play or test the map.
Using several crops from one screenshot has an obvious risk: the trailer may feel like a slideshow. Small camera moves, clean cuts, text, and restrained sound can help, but exaggerated motion would expose the limits of the source image. I would avoid fabricating players running behind walls, turning corners, or entering areas that the screenshot does not reveal.
If I wanted to explore the motion before recording any real gameplay, I could use MiniMax H3 to make a short visual draft from the screenshot. I would still treat it as a concept: any invented camera angle, route, player movement, or hidden part of the map would need to be replaced or checked against actual game footage before calling it a map trailer.
What would make the idea stronger?
The most useful extra material would probably be one overhead map view, one screenshot from the opposite direction, and a short note from the author explaining the intended routes. Even a few seconds of genuine spectator footage would change the project from a visual teaser into something that can represent actual play.
Until then, I would label this as a concept trailer based on a single screenshot. Its job would be to communicate the map’s visual identity and invite interest, not demonstrate layout balance or match flow.
For map authors and regular players: which part would you want a 15-second trailer to show first—the main landmark, a flag route, a difficult jump, or the overall atmosphere? And what information would you consider misleading if it were inferred from only one screenshot?
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Other Stuff / Making short videos with AI tools - anyone tried this?
« Last post by MartynFoster on September 20, 2026, 12:12:32 AM »Not directly Paintball 2 related, so posting it here instead.
Lately I have been messing around with AI video generators instead of hunting for stock clips. The newer ones let you describe the whole shot in one prompt - subject, movement, camera, look and audio direction - and then iterate on the render instead of re-describing the scene every time.
The one I have been testing is Muse Video (https://muse-video.app/). It runs in the browser, and the project describes its model as preview-stage, so there are no confirmed limits, pricing or performance figures published yet. I would treat it as an early workflow experiment rather than something you rely on for a finished edit.
What is still hard everywhere in this category is consistency - keeping the same character or object recognisable across several shots. Fine for a single loop, painful for anything with a recurring subject.
If anyone here has been using AI tools for frag movies or map intros, I would be curious what you're using.
Lately I have been messing around with AI video generators instead of hunting for stock clips. The newer ones let you describe the whole shot in one prompt - subject, movement, camera, look and audio direction - and then iterate on the render instead of re-describing the scene every time.
The one I have been testing is Muse Video (https://muse-video.app/). It runs in the browser, and the project describes its model as preview-stage, so there are no confirmed limits, pricing or performance figures published yet. I would treat it as an early workflow experiment rather than something you rely on for a finished edit.
What is still hard everywhere in this category is consistency - keeping the same character or object recognisable across several shots. Fine for a single loop, painful for anything with a recurring subject.
If anyone here has been using AI tools for frag movies or map intros, I would be curious what you're using.
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Beta / In-Progress Maps / Re: New Map: Haruko
« Last post by zipfile on September 13, 2026, 04:37:03 PM »new beta
Added speed ramp on mid
new path to 2nd flag
2nd flag area minor changes
texture + light fixes
named to b8 since b7 got error "same filename"
Added speed ramp on mid
new path to 2nd flag
2nd flag area minor changes
texture + light fixes
named to b8 since b7 got error "same filename"
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Beta / In-Progress Maps / Re: New Map: Haruko
« Last post by zipfile on August 19, 2026, 11:54:34 AM »new beta
- added cover on mid
- changed to ericw light
- some texture + light fixes
- capture point outlined
didnt let me post other screenshots.
- added cover on mid
- changed to ericw light
- some texture + light fixes
- capture point outlined
didnt let me post other screenshots.
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Beta / In-Progress Maps / Re: New Map: Haruko
« Last post by jitspoe on August 18, 2026, 09:56:41 AM »Merging the threads to keep everything in one place. Nice looking map! Like I mentioned when we played, there's a really long straight shot across the bridge with no cover -- basically right as you round the corner from the base you can see all the way across to somebody on the other team doing the same, so it's just kind of a race to that position. The paths are much more straightforward now, though! I'd suggest having a different indicator for where the capture zone is (both the flag stands look the same).
By the way, if you set a light value (but don't check light) everything with the same value will get phong shaded together, so you can use that on barrels, grass, etc. The barrels should have that set by default, so I'm not sure why those are flat shaded. I did notice a couple misaligned textures: the ramp made of boards entering the base and the bottom of the sideways barrel but nothing major.
I think we can really bump up the quality of the lighting with the new ericw tools. These are the settings I use for ericw's light for the final compile (takes a while): -gamedir "C:\paintball2_mapping_resources\quake2\pball" -addmin -bounce 3 -bouncescale 1 -bouncecolorscale 1 -emissivequality high -soft -extra4 ${MAP_FULL_NAME}
And while you're working on it for a quicker compiler, you can use: -gamedir "C:\paintball2_mapping_resources\quake2\pball" -addmin -bounce 3 -bouncescale 1 -bouncecolorscale 1 -extra ${MAP_FULL_NAME}
By the way, if you set a light value (but don't check light) everything with the same value will get phong shaded together, so you can use that on barrels, grass, etc. The barrels should have that set by default, so I'm not sure why those are flat shaded. I did notice a couple misaligned textures: the ramp made of boards entering the base and the bottom of the sideways barrel but nothing major.
I think we can really bump up the quality of the lighting with the new ericw tools. These are the settings I use for ericw's light for the final compile (takes a while): -gamedir "C:\paintball2_mapping_resources\quake2\pball" -addmin -bounce 3 -bouncescale 1 -bouncecolorscale 1 -emissivequality high -soft -extra4 ${MAP_FULL_NAME}
And while you're working on it for a quicker compiler, you can use: -gamedir "C:\paintball2_mapping_resources\quake2\pball" -addmin -bounce 3 -bouncescale 1 -bouncecolorscale 1 -extra ${MAP_FULL_NAME}
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Beta / In-Progress Maps / New beta: haruko_b4
« Last post by zipfile on August 06, 2026, 03:52:41 AM »adding screenshots when it lets me, failing security checks.
- Removed low
- Path to 2nd flag moved closer to flag
- Rotated bridge
- Texture changes
- New path on middle
- Removed low
- Path to 2nd flag moved closer to flag
- Rotated bridge
- Texture changes
- New path on middle
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Bugs, Feature Requests, and Feedback / Build 48
« Last post by jitspoe on June 12, 2026, 08:28:24 AM »Most of the discussion happens on Discord these days, but I figured I might as well create a thread for build 48 in case anybody wants to discuss it here.
What's new? The big things are projectile latency compensation, paint grenade updates, and tweaks to the player movement code to make ledge and ladder jumping more consistent.
Here's the full changelog of the engine:
build 48 (2026-04-03):
- Bugfix: Fixed mouse freecam looking when playing back demos of player 0. Oops. 6:24 AM 4/3/2026
build 47 (2026-03-15):
- Feature: Paint grenades now simulate the projectiles on the client using a synchronized random seed so all the paint flying out is visible. Note: This feature requires every player on the server (and the server itself) to be updated to this or a newer build to function.
- Media: New animated flame texture, rendered in Embergen.
- Tweak: Changed player movement ground detection to make ladder and double jumps (ledge jumps) more consistent.
- Tweak: Removed some grenade bindings from the menu and just kept the prime and impact grenades for simplicity.
- Bugfix: gl_showtris now properly displays for transparent surfaces.
And game server updates:
*** 1.936 build 205-210 ***
- "g_latencycomp" cvar enables latency comp and specifies the max time, in seconds, of compensation (0.4 by default, which compensates for a ping of up to 300 ms + 100 ms of interpolation)
- "g_latencycomp_test" cvar adds this value to your ping to simulate a higher ping with latency compensation for testing purposes.
- fixed issue with autobalance in booting bots when "bots_vs_humans" is set. 8:18 AM 2/9/2024
- Tried to make the nVidia and ATI cards take priority on Laptops, according to: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68469954/how-to-choose-specific-gpu-when-create-opengl-context
- Player spawn logic now attempts to spawn players away from other players and away from where enemies are looking. 7/31/2024
- Map voting prioritizes maps that have just been voted for to hopefully behave more like players expect. It's also less strict about min/max player counts. 8/14/2024
- Don't re-send voting map list unless it has changed (prevent spamming console when opening/clossing vote menu). 9:55 AM 1/12/2026
- Better distribution of splatter for paint grenades. 8:29 PM 9/29/2025
- Paint grenades now sync a random seed so the client can reproduce the projectile path. Note: Requires all clients to be using a new build or it will be disabled for everybody.
- Fixed buttons not respecting teamnumber when health is set. 9:33 PM 3/14/2026
What's new? The big things are projectile latency compensation, paint grenade updates, and tweaks to the player movement code to make ledge and ladder jumping more consistent.
Here's the full changelog of the engine:
build 48 (2026-04-03):
- Bugfix: Fixed mouse freecam looking when playing back demos of player 0. Oops. 6:24 AM 4/3/2026
build 47 (2026-03-15):
- Feature: Paint grenades now simulate the projectiles on the client using a synchronized random seed so all the paint flying out is visible. Note: This feature requires every player on the server (and the server itself) to be updated to this or a newer build to function.
- Media: New animated flame texture, rendered in Embergen.
- Tweak: Changed player movement ground detection to make ladder and double jumps (ledge jumps) more consistent.
- Tweak: Removed some grenade bindings from the menu and just kept the prime and impact grenades for simplicity.
- Bugfix: gl_showtris now properly displays for transparent surfaces.
And game server updates:
*** 1.936 build 205-210 ***
- "g_latencycomp" cvar enables latency comp and specifies the max time, in seconds, of compensation (0.4 by default, which compensates for a ping of up to 300 ms + 100 ms of interpolation)
- "g_latencycomp_test" cvar adds this value to your ping to simulate a higher ping with latency compensation for testing purposes.
- fixed issue with autobalance in booting bots when "bots_vs_humans" is set. 8:18 AM 2/9/2024
- Tried to make the nVidia and ATI cards take priority on Laptops, according to: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68469954/how-to-choose-specific-gpu-when-create-opengl-context
- Player spawn logic now attempts to spawn players away from other players and away from where enemies are looking. 7/31/2024
- Map voting prioritizes maps that have just been voted for to hopefully behave more like players expect. It's also less strict about min/max player counts. 8/14/2024
- Don't re-send voting map list unless it has changed (prevent spamming console when opening/clossing vote menu). 9:55 AM 1/12/2026
- Better distribution of splatter for paint grenades. 8:29 PM 9/29/2025
- Paint grenades now sync a random seed so the client can reproduce the projectile path. Note: Requires all clients to be using a new build or it will be disabled for everybody.
- Fixed buttons not respecting teamnumber when health is set. 9:33 PM 3/14/2026
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Beta / In-Progress Maps / Re: bedwarskoth map
« Last post by Alexekokota on April 25, 2026, 01:11:49 PM »preview pics also wrong feed so will resend in the in progress feed I don't know how to delete the post from here
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Beta / In-Progress Maps / bedwarskoth map
« Last post by Alexekokota on April 25, 2026, 01:06:37 PM »This is a bedwars inspired map that is meant to be played in koth mode for now, it is my first test at making a map so still need to work on some optimization. 
There is a skybox that needs to be put in the env folder, you need set allow_download_env 1 in your server file so players can download the custom skybox
-Castle in the middle that needs to be climbed in order to reach the white flag, at the top of the castle there is a bit of arsenal to help defend your position, there is 4 entry points to the top of the castle where someone that wants to take your place, as the king of the hill may approach, stay vigilant.
-Fun slippery ice prison (even if the respawn timer is short).
-a bit of parkour and various weapons set up in multiple areas, if you spawn in the attic of one of the house yes it may take longer to get to the island but at least you spawn with better equipments
the textures are in a minecraft subfolder.
-multiple different respawn points, facing towards the middle isle so you don't spawn backwards.
Made a tool to convert minecraft schem into .map file for trenchbroom, will make a tutorial on how to make a map with it soon.
There is a skybox that needs to be put in the env folder, you need set allow_download_env 1 in your server file so players can download the custom skybox
-Castle in the middle that needs to be climbed in order to reach the white flag, at the top of the castle there is a bit of arsenal to help defend your position, there is 4 entry points to the top of the castle where someone that wants to take your place, as the king of the hill may approach, stay vigilant.
-Fun slippery ice prison (even if the respawn timer is short).
-a bit of parkour and various weapons set up in multiple areas, if you spawn in the attic of one of the house yes it may take longer to get to the island but at least you spawn with better equipments
the textures are in a minecraft subfolder.
-multiple different respawn points, facing towards the middle isle so you don't spawn backwards.
Made a tool to convert minecraft schem into .map file for trenchbroom, will make a tutorial on how to make a map with it soon.