[WiP] Frozen_Temple

[Regorty]

Thanks for the monster list and wads. Now that I got my computer back ill be able to work and rework on this map to make it look a little better. I'll try to get some new screenshots up when i can, but for the moment I think im back to only having 1 room fully constructed. Which also is one of my more loved rooms due to how its set up. I may also just do both full bright and lighted screenshots so you can more easily see everything.

How in the world do I get rid of just the white null texture? Its confusing when trying to make a snowy map and I really like the blue null thats in the zhlt.wad. Any help would be great!

 

[Thothie]

Try removing the wad with the null texture you want, restart Hammer, add it again, and restart Hammer again. Should change the texture load order.

Tis a pain, I know - I dunno if those other Hammer alternatives give you an option to choose texture priority order - I know it doesn't always match in game either (ie. when two textures with the same name are used by two separate wads shared by the map, Hammer's decision doesn't always match Half-Life's).

The alternative, of course, is to grab wally, hunt down the offending null texture, and delete it. (Quick reminder: you can't do this while Hammer is open.)

I have a white null texture in my temporary custom wad (thothie.wad). I dunno if I accidentally let that wad slip, or if it somehow wound up in one of the miptex wads I sent out. (It shouldn't be stored, but ya can check those.)

 

[Regorty]

Yea I went with the Wally idea and found it in the Catacombs and Tundra WADs I believe. I don't know someone maps a snowy map with white null textures.. Maybe my eyes are just that bad.

Here's a little teaser of the progress I've made with a new room. It isn't much yet, but it'll be nice when its done!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g0ak2yejkvtaj ... ew%202.png

 

[ceriux]

reg i suggest getting gimp or something and doing a few simple tutorials. as a mapper you should at least be able to edit / make textures out of existing ones.

 

[Regorty]

reg i suggest getting gimp or something and doing a few simple tutorials. as a mapper you should at least be able to edit / make textures out of existing ones.

Could you post a link for me to download? Then, I will look into it and see if I can make some textures more fitting to my map.

 

[ceriux]

GIMP

GIMP tutorials

now, i will say i prefer photoshop. but photoshop isnt free and GIMP is as close as you can get and be free. (afaik)

 

[Regorty]

Well, I worked myself into quite a pickle. I crafted the mini-boss chamber and now have all but the boss chamber done, unfortunately now I can't build the boss room due to Alloc. Block sneaking up on me once again... So now I got a map where you fight your way to mini boss, defeat him and open the teleporter to allow access to the other regions of the temple to gather the crystal/keys to open up the boss teleporter to go the boss chamber... well, I ain't got no boss room so I don't how to... fix it so it gives the key gathering a point. I thought about making a small boss chamber and having a tunnel transition leading out into a cave system. The room would be empty but contain the loot. Then you can continue onwards to the boss to defeat him. Buuuut, that would require another map and my master isn't exactly wanting me to spend any more time on this map series and I can't figure out what to do. I think having the mini boss chamber being the actual boss room and afterwards you gotta trek onwards to unlock your reward. But idk how popular of an idea that would be. I think people wanna kill the boss and just have the loot shoot out of its corpse.

So I would like some input. I am a bit hesitant to give out the source map openly. Then there wouldn't be any surprises for anyone

 

[Thothie]

Pick an existing room, and turn it into a hallway. That'll probably give you the alloc blocks you need for your boss chamber, at the expense of one encounter.

As for Ceriux, dun worry about it. Most game artists tend to specialize - you can use Wally, tis good enough. I think I'm the only one on hand that specializes in Jack of All Trades, and, while it has its advantages, what ya gain in breadth, you sacrifice in depth. (Which, on an unrelated note, seems to be where I'm headed in my old age.)

 

[ceriux]

true, but if he at least learns to edit existing textures using things like alpha masks and layers, he can really push his maps with out the need of help from others.

learning something like that takes all of like 2 mins.

 

[Regorty]

true, but if he at least learns to edit existing textures using things like alpha masks and layers, he can really push his maps with out the need of help from others.

learning something like that takes all of like 2 mins.

Knowing me it'll take a couple days, things don't really stick with me right away. But, when it does I will mostly likely remember for a long time, maybe.

 

[ceriux]

yeah but layers and alpha masks are simple, in photoshop when you paste a picture over a picture it adds a "layer" to the image so you can edit it and not affect the image below it. gimp does the same thing. and an alpha mask lets you paint black (erase) or white (un-erase) on the alpha mask. which is applied to a specific layer. the combination of these two features lets you blend and edit textures together with ease.

Layers

Alpha Channels

 

[Thothie]

Jeeze, you guys are smart. I went to tech school for 2 years learning Photoslut about twenty years ago... And they didn't even teach me dick about palette management. Makes it tricky to make those blue masked textures in Photoshop.

Looking back on it, it's kinda amazing how little Illustrator and Photoshop have changed in all this time...

 

[ceriux]

managing those palettes can be annoying.

 

[Regorty]

Well I re-colored 2 textures, which are my most used ones; the cave and the block textures. I put them into my map and they do looks a lot nicer than I expected them to be, but now after seeing the blue blocks with the default grey ones. I am now unsure if I should make a blue variant of all the textures used or just some or just the one I did. So I would like some input on what you think of the new textures.

Here are some screenshots of the 2 textures:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ms4tfk6ys9870 ... _00001.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/agbwhembuzuuw ... _00002.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6dn5azp2w8e08 ... _00003.jpg

 

[ceriux]

i'm really liking the blue bricks with the grey trim peices . its hard to tell in screenshots because of your lighting, but from what i can tell. it looks good. you seem to already get the idea when it comes to textures, that you want them to compliment each other. good job so far.

 

[zeus9860]

Dem shrooms though.

 

[Thothie]

Does seem to be an awful lotta shroom lighting...

Could keep Mario powered up for weeks in there.

 

[TheOysterHippopotami]

I do agree that the shrooms are way out of place (and not even that nice looking). Why not make a few ice formation prefabs instead?

 

[Monika's_BFFEx0256]

I do agree that the shrooms are way out of place (and not even that nice looking). Why not make a few ice formation prefabs instead?

Ice doesn't give off light, unless there was a crack in the ceiling... that beamed onto the crystal, which dispersed the light. Which would look fantastic.

 

[TheOysterHippopotami]

I do agree that the shrooms are way out of place (and not even that nice looking). Why not make a few ice formation prefabs instead?

Ice doesn't give off light, unless there was a crack in the ceiling... that beamed onto the crystal, which dispersed the light. Which would look fantastic.

neither does water but that doesn't stop it from being a good looking light source in gold source maps.

 

[Monika's_BFFEx0256]

All I'm saying is if he used crystals he should add leaking light, it's possible- and when done right, looks amazing. With that said, just because something "works" doesn't mean he should go to it immediately. I think trying something original and flashy may be good at adding ambiance to ruins.

 

[Thothie]

Well, it's not like we don't have a billion prefab lights laying about somewhere that you could recolor / retexture as needed, but it may also be only these rooms are suffering from fungal infestations, and we've been given the impression there are more shrooms than there are... Or they could be placeholders... Maybe.

 

[ceriux]

I do agree that the shrooms are way out of place (and not even that nice looking). Why not make a few ice formation prefabs instead?

Ice doesn't give off light, unless there was a crack in the ceiling... that beamed onto the crystal, which dispersed the light. Which would look fantastic.

this could look really cool.

 

[TheOysterHippopotami]

All I'm saying is if he used crystals he should add leaking light, it's possible- and when done right, looks amazing. With that said, just because something "works" doesn't mean he should go to it immediately. I think trying something original and flashy may be good at adding ambiance to ruins.

That's not really realistic for every single light in his map, though, barring tons of work.

 

[Monika's_BFFEx0256]

Didn't say that, stop trying to shoot down my ideas because they aren't yours.