Submerge map

[Senast]

Well, what can I say. Beta 3 is here :P

No more chit-chat. Here's the thing

Sin Episodes: Emergence Submerge Arena Map

Submerge is set in an underwater facility. Inspired by bioshock, motivated by lack of arena maps.

Beta 3 Changes include:
-Improved NPC A.I.
-Added more spawn points
-Changed outside ocean tremendously
-Added background music
-Changed alot of prop_physics_override to prop_static, better performance and works better for gameplay.
-Changed some textures
-Added a secret(still need to add it to the stats)
-Added shimmer textures near glass windows
-Added explosive barrels
-Added ammo pickups
-Changed lighting in some areas
-Added intro and outro
-Added detail to overall map.
-Improved framerates in some areas
-Just simply, alot more spit and polish!

Screenshots:








Also, I recently lauched my profile website(Thanks to googlepages :P)
http://hhound.googlepages.com/

You can find more screenshots there.

Download link is on my site, but for the eager...
http://files.filefront.com/Submerge+.../fileinfo.html
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redheaded Webcam

[badman]

That looks really great! Keep up the good work!

[Xenogenetic]

Downloading now, feedback soon, merry 2007.

Awesome map, lighting is cool, sprites are plenty, architecture is cool, NPC placement is good, and it's pretty. One room was kinda dark compared to the others (I had to find something to tell you to improve it).

Now all we need are harpoon guns and mutant fish and you can start working on the outside of the map

[Riddled]

Also downloading, looks very promising.

[Iggy01]

My first impression of seeing the screenshots is that you've got a pretty cool map on your hands. Especially the last screenshots looks really cool. There is just one point of critic I got;

Originally Posted by Senast

This is just another lounge with a bar

As nice as this lounge looks like I would try to do something more with the ceiling with looks quite empty. Perhaps some beams or other lights hanging from it could do a trick.

[ninken]

Wow you gave the game a fresh look.
Awesome map 5/5 Stars from me!

[MeatPuppet]

Likes:
1) The flow of the level feels good. I could bunny hop around and keep a good pace up.
2)The environment look and feel.
3) Enemy placement feels good.

What I would change:
1) Add player clip to the stairs so it is easier to bunny hop up them. (pet peave of mine.)
2) Frame rate! There is a lot of overdraw in the long hallways. I run a P4 3ghz, 1gig ram, 7800gt card and was seeing 15 fps at 1024x768. I would aim for 35fps with combat going on.
3) Where the glass meets the tile on the floor I would put a metal frame or trim of some kind. It just struck me as odd.
4) The bathroom and closet. If you have dead end rooms, give the player a reason to visit them. I would put in some pick up items (health, ammo, etc..) or maybe put in a health dispenser. Playing the level, once I realised they were dead ends I never went into them again.
5) The Dopefish should make an appearance out in the water. I didn't really look for him so if he is already there forget I said anything.

I dig the map so far. It's fun.

[enthusiastic]

great map, but about 13 mins into it, it crashed on me.

[Senast]

Originally Posted by MeatPuppet

Likes:
1) The flow of the level feels good. I could bunny hop around and keep a good pace up.
2)The environment look and feel.
3) Enemy placement feels good.

What I would change:
1) Add player clip to the stairs so it is easier to bunny hop up them. (pet peave of mine.)
2) Frame rate! There is a lot of overdraw in the long hallways. I run a P4 3ghz, 1gig ram, 7800gt card and was seeing 15 fps at 1024x768. I would aim for 35fps with combat going on.
3) Where the glass meets the tile on the floor I would put a metal frame or trim of some kind. It just struck me as odd.
4) The bathroom and closet. If you have dead end rooms, give the player a reason to visit them. I would put in some pick up items (health, ammo, etc..) or maybe put in a health dispenser. Playing the level, once I realised they were dead ends I never went into them again.
5) The Dopefish should make an appearance out in the water. I didn't really look for him so if he is already there forget I said anything.

I dig the map so far. It's fun.

1) I'll do so, will also make the stairs walking less "bumpy" probably.
2)The framerate is something I am constantly working on. I am planning to remove the volumetric lighting since it doesn't really makes sense to be there and I also get a feeling it might look better without it.
3)Will also improve on that, there is also a error on the top most glass stair I can't seem to fix.
4)I mostly added them, just for detail. I'm not sure how I would go about with them. I might add some health dispensers as you mentioned.
5)lol, I would see into that. I am currently editing the map to have fishes on the outside.


@Enthusiastic, I think I know what kind of error you have gotten. It should be fix in the next update. It is a error where there are too many entities. Once I have removed all the volumetric light, that problem should be solved(I think). If you please could tell me more what the error contained, it would help alot.

@Xenogenetic, Could you please tell me what room was a bit dark, so I can see what I can do about it.

@Iggy01, I see what you mean, I am currently looking into ideas on how to improve it.

I'm glad you guys like it.
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HOT BOX VAPORIZER

[elwing]

downloading it right now, it looks quite great, i'm sure i'll love it but meatpuppet is right a dopefish would fit well

[enthusiastic]

ok in the top blue bar it says engine error
below it it says edalloc:No free edicts

I clicked ok or something then it gives me

Sin Episodes.exe - Application error
below it

The instruction at "0x24007107" referenced memory at "0x00cc3d60". The memory could not be "read"
Click ok To terminate the program

[Senast]

Yes, that is the error I'm currently working on, it was a while that I didn't get that error, so I thought it was sorted, but will try and fix it when next release comes.

As for a update. Here are some stuff I have changed:
*Removed excess of volumetric light on one side of the map. The only volumetric light is the ones that will appear in the 3d skybox.

*Added detail to chandeliers by adding architect around them and adding light casting effects on floor and ceilings. I'm trying to spice up the ceilings

*Added trimmings around all glass floors and the glass ceiling.

*Added empty dispenser to bathrooms and two canisters in maintenance room.

*Remove light beams from the Bar's, felt that having them there is a bit too much.

*Added 3d skybox with volumetric light to simulate light coming in from above. Still trying to figure out how to get a effect with a sun shining through and getting refracted.

As for progress screens, here they are
Edit: Please note, I didn't do the gamma correction on these images, they are darker than what they appear ingame.







These three screens are from the new design I'm thinking of for the chandeliers, I might expand on the design idea and also add it to other places, I already added the frame to the hall with the glass ceiling, looks very nice. If you look close, you can see the trimmings I finished last night.



This is just one of the two health dispensers I have added. I made it empty so that there is more of a rush when trying to fill it up with the canister in the room next door. If this feels a bit unbalanced, I will make the dispensers full and remove one of the canisters.
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Softair Tanfoglio Round Airsoft Magazines

[elwing]

wow, i checked your map, it is great, even if it is quite laggy on an old prescott 3GHz and a leadtek a7600GT... i think my computer is getting old...
lol levelord is surely woried with such map designer

[Rosco]

Wow, nice art deco look! Has a bit of a hint towards BioShock in the appearance, and that's a good thing. Great styling.

[Xenogenetic]

If I may, you seem to use a LOT of sprites, I noticed all the windows have volumetric light (I think) and I was wondering if you are using lod, hints, areaportals, etc. because that would help people's performance. Also taking out some sprites maybe.

btw, I have a texture that looks like light reflected off of water, the only problem is that it doesn't move. If you want to try and animate it or if someone here can then it should work for your map. As for refraction, I think there might be a way to make a vmt do that.

[Senast]

I would love to have that texture. Yes, I did have a lot of volumetric lighting, but it didn't look correct so I removed them after the first release. I also removed some sprite based effects from a few other stuff. I'm using hint brushes and areaportals, I use only sin models, which already has lod. I have already gotten a 8 fps boost in the hallways once I edited it. I have also added starfish

Edit: I am also planning on lowering the lightmap scale to 8 for sharper shadows in the hallways, it doesn't really effect performance, because all the calculations are done in the vrad.
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Anime cartoon

[mongis]

Finally a new arena map! An a good one, too. Nice design (but I too would like to bunny hop stairs ) My framerate was perfectly playable, but (I think) I experienced some very slight mouse lag compared to other arena maps.. What I noticed is that some of the grunts stay put in their position, arms down, until you run into them, not sure if that's deliberate. I also think a couple more enemy spawn points wouldn't hurt, but maybe that's just me.. Keep it up!

[Senast]

I have worked on the map alot the last few days, fine tuning some parts etc. I making it ready for the second beta release and hope that the third release will be the final.

As for changes:

*I've darken the skybox, outer water and lighting to appear deeper down in the water and in a result I have also removed all volumetric lighting.

*I had remove even more props, but it's unnoticeable unless you go looking for it between the two beta's

*I have added skylights to the halls and the inner lounge.

*Fixed a few prop bugs

*Fixed a few texture bugs, there is one specific texture bug I just cant seem to fix, It the top most glass stair the texture randomly appears and disappears.

*Reworked some hint brushes and areaportals, also increased the overall fps, but specifically the halls got a major boost.

*Added more npc spawn points

*Added player clip to the stairs

*Tweak some lighting

*Added the dope fish

*Added some fish swimming around including moon fish, sea catfish, black angelfish. I've also added jellyfish floating around in the distance.

What I still want to do is to tweak the ai to respond better to the players presence.

Screen of some of the fish, this screenshot is not the latest of the fish swimming, I have added a lot more swimming in both directions, but this will give you some idea of what you can expect.



My next map has also gone into pre-production and I have already got a solid layout for my next map.
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HOMEMADE VAPORIZERS

[Sarkie]

Looking rather good, once you have a final and you are happy, I'll try and get you another post. Very Fun though, keep up the good work.

[Senast]

Thanks, I would really love to have this map completed soon, so I can start to work on my next one.

Here is also a small update I would like to post.

I have rework the ai and they are much more responsive to your presences. I'm tweaking my hint brushes for better performance.


A newer shot of the fish.

It looks a lot better when they are moving.

Here a shot of the inner lounge with the new skylights, Please note, this is a low angle shot and the bright glowing effect isn't a problem on normal play.

This shot I made to show you what skylights basically look like. I don't think I'm really going to expand on them, but any suggestions is welcome.
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Body Science

[Senast]

I worked on my map to give it more atmosphere and also to fix the critics I have gotten so far.

I have changed the ceiling texture to something I feel is better suited for the area. It's not yet final, but it pretty near it. If people dislike the new direction, I will change it back to concrete. This is an attempt to make the ceilings appear less dull and boring.

Here's a screenshot to show what I mean. You can also see two fish through the glass.




I have also removed all point_spotlights from the lounges since I figure that those area's are to brightly lit to be able to see the light effect in real life. I then went and delete all the spotlights and spotlight models from the inner lounge and rework them to fit in with my new trimmings I have added. I really like this and hope you do too. There is glass below the spotlights if you didn't notice.





So, I hope you like it.
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MOTORCYCLE TIRES

[Senast]

I'm really sorry for all the postings, I just want to keep this thread updated.

Well here it is, Beta 2 have been released

This is my second release of my submerge map. I'm quite please with how far it has come and is proud to say that it is ready for another release. The release doesn't contain anything drasic, such as new rooms or new layout. It was majorly a update of the performance loss that was experienced on beta 1 and some critics I recieved such as the ceilings and props. The credits still remain the same.


Changes between Beta 1 and 2;

*Removed all volumetric lighting

*Details to the chandeliers were added, by creating trimmings around them and have light casting effects on the ceiling and floor.

*Added metal trimmings around all glass floors.

*Remove light beams from the lounges, also removed light beams from the bars.

*Darken the skybox, outer water and lighting to appear deeper down into the water.

*Removed props that was not needed for atmosphere.

*Added skylights to the halls and the inner lounge.

*Fix prop bugs.

*Fixed few texture bugs, few still remain and will have them fix by the next final release.

*Increased the overall fps where possible.

*Added more npc spawn points.

*Added player clip to the stairs.

*Changed lighting to fit the atmosphere.

*Rework the AI, much more responsive to your presence

*Added the dope fish to the outside

*Added fish swimming around including moon fish, sea catfish, black angelfish.

*Added jellyfish floating around in the distance.

*Changed ceilings textures that is better suited for their area.

*Rework the inner lounge spotlights, added trimmings to them.

*changes were also made to the ceilings in some places.

*fixed a few other bugs

Screenshots of changes.







Shots of the new ceilings



Shot of what the hallway looks like with the new ceiling textures.

You can download Beta 2 here
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Gang bang mature

[mongis]

Just a quick comment on the grunts from me. For the most part I like the new enemy behavior (and that there's more of them), but I did notice a serious tendency for them to run to the same place and "group" there.. One time I was running around without seeing an enemy until I started to wonder if there was something wrong, when suddenly I ran into 9 or so of them at once. And this turned out to happen quite often. In a way it's pretty exciting to face whole bunches of grunts at once, so it's not neccesarily that bad. But in higher difficulties it might make things a little too hard. Just thought I mention it since it might not be what you want (?)

[Fluffy]

Will definatly give this a look, I am looking into teh sin episdoe sdk pack soon used to map for a clan bout 1 year ago with a friend, not brand new map ideas, but still kool, I made part of a matrix lobby/building and part of the club from kill bill gonna give this a go soon with post how i get on here.

Will post on you map too looks very sweet mate nic job!!

[Senast]

@mongis: To get the grunts to work similar to that in the arena modes prove quite difficult, since I did everything that was done in the office arena map. I'll see if I can reduce the grouping.
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Creampie Hardcore