xbmapsnow

[bLiNdThInG]

Hi all,

So, a while ago I saw this in the forums:

How about we get into contact with server hosts and every holiday we could have set maps that are festively remade like a "snowy wobluda" with christmas decorations etc..

And I decided recently that i'd give it a go (not wobluda though). xbmap seemed like a good map to try first, as it's still fairly popular and not too big.



Just a couple of notes about the map:

-I've tried to create a sort of blizzard effect in the centre of the map using a scrolling transparent snow texture so i'd like to know if people like that or just find it annoying.

-r-speeds arn't great but arn't terrible either. I've managed to get them down to below 2.5K after playing around with hint brushes.

-I've had to upload the file elsewhere as it was too large to post here (mainly because of the new skybox). Even when I split it into two parts the upload kept timing out...



Here's BETA 1: http://www.filedropper.com/xbmapsnowb1


BETA 2: http://www.filedropper.com/xbmapsnowb2_1


BETA 3 is here = http://www.filedropper.com/xbmapsnowb3

(Screenies updated - b3)



All in all hope people like the map.

ps. if anyone wants any other maps texturing like this (maybe wob) i'm happy to give it a go as well.

Thanks,

blindy.

[Foxhound]

omg, the sewer part is ice now... that's awesome

[Chef-Killer]

I'd prefer a snowy terrain jitspoe used for pbcup_dsm1q (screenshot 1) and fixing old bugs and problems with the map while mapping. It would look a lot more realistic and improve the map instead of just changing textures, etc.

There's a problem with your script and with some of your textures (screenshot 2).

While running the script the game crashes all the time. Try this one:

Code: [Select]

textures/blindy2/Sandlight2
{
{
map textures/blindy2/Sandlight2.tga
alphamask
scroll static 1 static 0
}
}
models/blindy/tree1/branches1
{
{
map models/blindy/tree1/branches1.tga
         alphamask
}
}
textures/blindy2/snowstorm
{
        {
                map textures/blindy2/snowstorm.tga
                alphamask
                scroll static 2.5 static 2
        }
}
The size of the lowres textures seems to be wrong. 128x128 for a barrel and 256x256 for the hr4 barrel can't be right.

Also the barrels are looking very strange (screenshot 5).

[bLiNdThInG]

Thanks for the replies.

Well i've always thought previous snowy maps etc. looked unrealistic. In your first screenshot for example, the wood texture has no evidence of snowfall. Either way, I wasn't really aware of any bugs for this map? Apart from the blue ladder jump of course. Indeed I tried to fix this, using clip brushes, but even copying the red side so both were identical didn't fix the issue, so I gave up. I think the jump is still possible though as I did to it once in testing.


- That's odd regarding the code, it's never crashed my game? Thanks for the improved version though!

- As for the texture sizing, I wasn't really sure what the difference was meant to be. I saw one texture in another folder at 128x128 so I just made them all that size. Are they supposed to be 64x64 then?

- And the texture load problem, well i've no idea whats wrong there. 'Bad .jpg file'? What does this even mean? They've all been fine for me thus far...

- Im not exactly sure what's caused the problems in screenshot 3 and 4 but i'll see if i can fix it. Judging from the position of them it may be something to do with the hint brushes i've used.

- Yeah, the barrels just came out like that after the decompile, I forgot to fix them haha, i'll do that.



Thanks for the help, I'll get round to a b2 as soon as I can.

[Ace]

For the textures, it might be an uppercase letter issue, I know that's been the cause in the past.

[BASEBALLDUDE]

For the textures, it might be an uppercase letter issue, I know that's been the cause in the past.

It's not. The jpg images are in a format the game does not recognize. Just open them up in Wally or something and re-save them using the JPG format.

[BASEBALLDUDE]

Thanks for the replies.

Apart from the blue ladder jump of course. Indeed I tried to fix this, using clip brushes, but even copying the red side so both were identical didn't fix the issue, so I gave up. I think the jump is still possible though as I did to it once in testing.

Try using hint brushes or using "detail".

[Chef-Killer]

Well i've always thought previous snowy maps etc. looked unrealistic. In your first screenshot for example, the wood texture has no evidence of snowfall.

I meant more the well done snowy terrain than the texture choices. How about an combination with such a terrain and your textures?

- As for the texture sizing, I wasn't really sure what the difference was meant to be. I saw one texture in another folder at 128x128 so I just made them all that size. Are they supposed to be 64x64 then?

It's different depending on what kind of texture you have. For a barrel texture I think it's 64x64 and 256x256 for the hr4 version, yes.

- And the texture load problem, well i've no idea whats wrong there. 'Bad .jpg file'? What does this even mean? They've all been fine for me thus far...

BASEBALLDUDE is right, resaving the jpg files works for me. You should work on them again and update the download zip.

Some more stuff to fix and improve from the old map:
There's a PB_droptofloor warning when loading the map. It seems to be the missing second ammo item on the right side on top of the red teams ramp.

The map still supports the gamemode 1Flag without having a single flag. You should add the missing single flag and remove the team flags from this gamemode. Or just remove the gamemode from the worldspawn, flags and player spawns if you don't want to add it.

Moving some of the player spawns out of the corner to avoid spawn killing. Maybe change the angle value after that.

The lighting can be improved a lot in my opinion. Use the sun lighting more efficient with adding the keys/values. Maybe some more lamps or light textures can give the map a nice look, too.

Align all wood textures and use the same width for all colored wood brushes around the map (high).

I'm not sure if hint brushes can help a lot, because the map is very open and you can see almost everything all the time (apart from the way behind the flag down to the ice). It also looks like your hint brushes doesn't really work. Make sure to skip the non-used faces of the brush, otherwise it can make the result even worse.

[lukip]

wow, it look amazing on the screenshots

[ulappen]

yes looks great, like dp can be looking, great.
but on one or both ramps from base are a leak.
and if somebody know(i already downloaded and played)
how can others download the files to play, the other players didnt have textures, or havent most, and the snow script i think didnt worked too by them.

German: ja sieht toll aus. Wie dp nun super aussehen kann.
Aber an einer oder beiden Rampen von den bases weg ist ein leak.
Und falls jemand weis(ich habe sie schon gedownloaded und gespielt) wie können andere alle files downloaden. Andere Spieler hatten die meisten Textueren nicht, und ich denke das Schneescript hat auch nicht funktioniert bei denen

[bLiNdThInG]

It's not. The jpg images are in a format the game does not recognize. Just open them up in Wally or something and re-save them using the JPG format.

I think Ace may actually have a point though, as the only textures that failed to load properly were the ones that contained capital letters. Either way i've changed all the texture names to non-capitals and open and resaved from inside wally, so hopefully that should solve that one.

Try using hint brushes or using "detail".

Hint brushes are only for the vis and I can't see detail helping to be honest. I can try add detail though although where do you mean, the clip brush or the ladder itself?

I meant more the well done snowy terrain than the texture choices. How about an combination with such a terrain and your textures?

Ah I see, well I could add some more interesting terrain here and there? Maybe in corners and make the ramp more interesting?

I've fixed the PB_droptofloor error and the gamemode issue, changing it to two flags only. And great point about the player spawns, i'll be sure to move (maybe half of?) them around.

As for the lighting, this was an intentional choice. I used sun lighting originally but could never get an adequate look, too many shadows etc. But i'll give it a go again.

Well the hint brushes seem to be stopping the game drawing the other base when your in your own base and in a few other places they have helped keep the r_speeds down. Just to clarify  the hint brushes should have one face hint texture/value and the others skip texture/value?

wow, it look amazing on the screenshots

Thank you! hopefully I can get it to look like that for everyone.

yes looks great, like dp can be looking, great.
but on one or both ramps from base are a leak.
and if somebody know(i already downloaded and played)
how can others download the files to play, the other players didnt have textures, or havent most, and the snow script i think didnt worked too by them.

German: ja sieht toll aus. Wie dp nun super aussehen kann.
Aber an einer oder beiden Rampen von den bases weg ist ein leak.
Und falls jemand weis(ich habe sie schon gedownloaded und gespielt) wie können andere alle files downloaden. Andere Spieler hatten die meisten Textueren nicht, und ich denke das Schneescript hat auch nicht funktioniert bei denen

What do you mean 'leak'? There is no leak... And for other players to play the map, all the files would need to be uploaded to the server I believe?

Thanks all for your help! B2 coming soon!

[ulappen]

i found a leak  i tray to make screenshot
and its already all on server

[BASEBALLDUDE]

i found a leak  i tray to make screenshot
and its already all on server

I believe the proper term is HOM (Hall of Mirrors) on one of the ramps. This sometimes happens when qvis makes a mistake, and it can usually be solved with hint brushes.

A "leak" refers to something where you can see or access stuff beyond the map's bounds. It's also associated with HOM, but it's the mapper's fault rather than qvis. I don't think this map has a leak.

[bLiNdThInG]

I believe the proper term is HOM (Hall of Mirrors) on one of the ramps. This sometimes happens when qvis makes a mistake, and it can usually be solved with hint brushes.

A "leak" refers to something where you can see or access stuff beyond the map's bounds. It's also associated with HOM, but it's the mapper's fault rather than qvis. I don't think this map has a leak.

Ah okay yeah I know what you're on about now. I think I may have already fixed this. There's a hint brush at the top of both ramps and I'd forgotten to make the bottom (which touches the ramp) a skip texture. Hopefully that was it. Thanks for the feedback ulappen.

[Zenit]

I really like the rework, looks great. Well done!

[bLiNdThInG]

I really like the rework, looks great. Well done!

Thanks!

BETA 2 is here = http://www.filedropper.com/xbmapsnowb2_1

Fixes/adjustments:


Sun lighting added.
Extra lighting added (lanterns low)
Texture load error fixed
Texture sizings fixed
Odd shaped barrels fixed
More interesting terrain added (in bases)
Script fixed (thanks chefkiller)
HOM fixed
Gamemode issue fixed
2 Spawn points moved




Still to do:


Texture alignment
Minor lighting changes
Suggestions?



Thanks,

blindy.

[T3RR0R15T]

Suggestions?

The sky textures are 2048x2048px. I would use them as hr4 versions and add low res files.

[bLiNdThInG]

The sky textures are 2048x2048px. I would use them as hr4 versions and add low res files.

Ah yes! That had slipped my mind. Thanks! Link Updated.

[Chef-Killer]

Some textures are working now, but there're still problems with some other textures (screenshot 1).

Screenshot 2, 3 and 4 are some lighting issues (colored and black spots).

Screenshot 5, 6 and 7 are some more wrong/misaligned textures.

Maybe you should try adding phong shading to the ground.

This example map shows you how to use the flames:
ftp://otb-server.de/pub/Maps/map/_flametest.map

[bLiNdThInG]

Some textures are working now, but there're still problems with some other textures (screenshot 1).

It is odd that you're having problems with the textures as I've tried playing the map on 3 different pcs with a fresh install of dp2 and it's worked fine every time. Nevertheless I opened and re saved every texture with Wally so hopefully there should be no issues now.

BETA 3 is here = http://www.filedropper.com/xbmapsnowb3

Changes:

- The blizzard effect has been moved to the low ice area as it was a little too annoying across the main route and caused some low fps rates.
- Majority of textures aligned correctly (except the flames for now).
- Slight lighting changes, trying to get rid of coloured spots etc.

Thanks all for the feedback. Enjoy,

blindy.