Looks really interesting... maybe too grey-ish... though...
Add pipes and crates, and here is a Quake map ;) 

Another map that reminds me of Unreal! Like the look of this one.

JPL has a point, it is looking very clean and not very "lived-in" at the moment, if its a Dm map then thats fine but if its Sp, then perhaps work on it a little. 

But uniform in terms of colour - maybe some trims thrown in as suggested.

For some reason I was thinking PCB inside the stonework. Wouldn't work with the specular effect I'm thinking of though. 

This is funny, I actually have screenshots and a beta at the same time!?! :P The map is for a mapping contest, closing date tomorrow. So if you spot any cosmetic/item changes please let me know.

Web: http://www.simonoc.com/pages/design/maps_q3/focal.htm
Screenshot: http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/focal1l.jpg
Layout: http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/focal5l.jpg

Kaz, very nice level, it is coming along really well with the industrial look but I think the lighting needs more colour and contrast. If you any white point lights, replace them with something coloured (even a mild white if nothin else) You also need a strong coloured light source somewhere in the map, either from above, a window or a certain large spotlight.

Are you compiling with any dirty q3map2 settings? you should at least try low values first and start tuning lightmapscale for your shadows. 

 

That is not the map I am looking for. :(


Yay anyways! Gonna try it. 

i'll take a run around this and i'll take a finished version of that other map as payment. ^_^ 

very dark and dull. passing your shots through photoshop and playing with levels, i was able to bring out some colours and actually see what was in those shots.

that said, shot 2 is very nice. i like that it implies there's more to the map than just the area you're in. also, off-axis arches are always cool. i think a bit more texture variation is called for, though. it's got a bit of a q1metal vibe because of the focus on small spot lamps and the one texture with the lines. (which i really like). i think if you aggressively use the lined texture to cut through in different ways, it could add a lot. 

took a quick look around. there's a bug in the map when played in ioquake3 1.36. the texture on the wall behind a box of grenades on the first level (roughly the area you spawn in when using /devmap). the wall shows up as just solid colour, but looks fine in normal quake3. dunno if that matters or not. 

I ended up browsing your site and noticed that among the list of you design work, you list the Train level from Crysis Warhead. How much of it was your own personal touch and how many people in total worked on it?

I am asking because I played through Warhead only recently, about 2-3 months ago and found Train to be the best looking FPS level ever made, for any game, by far :P 

Tried to take everyone's advice into consideration, and I'm glad I did, I'm 100X happier with how it looks:

http://student.cs.appstate.edu/freemancw/junk/shot0062.jpg

http://student.cs.appstate.edu/freemancw/junk/shot0065.jpg

http://student.cs.appstate.edu/freemancw/junk/shot0069.jpg 

... a great improvement :) 

definite improvement. btw, have you got Anistropic Filtering off? textures look very blurry. 

I worked on Train at the end of the project, about 3-4 weeks. I was responsible for the main train scripting system and the first action bubble (first valley and station). I did write up a page on my website talking about all the things I did with the map. I was mostly involved in the AI combat (pacing) systems and the main train script, it took forever to test it correctly.

I thought the map was cool because it took a traditional game element (rail shooter) and turned it into a sandbox element. (Player freedom) Unfortunately people either loved or hated the level and that was often linked to how they play games. People often expect something to be the same in every game and when it is different, they sadly (for them) forget to try new ways to play. Some reviews and community comments did not even realise you could get off the train and play the level at your own pace, oh well. :/

My postmortem review:
http://www.simonoc.com/pages/design/games_pro/warhead_train.htm

I even put an easter egg in the first valley across the lake behind the tree's. It was sort of my signature for which levels I worked on. 

Hi evrybdy !

I'm Mic , italian quake player & mapper..

I've been working hard for months and soon i'll show you my first levels (mostly single player.. eheh)

But can you tell me if "Quark" editor is better than "Worldcraft" and why?

Is it true "Quark" lets you modify everything (models, skins, sounds, weapons..) ??

Pleaz letme know : ) 

not really the right thread for this, mapping help would be more applicable since you're asking for, well, mapping help. :P

anyway, which editor is better is widely disputed. it comes down to what you like, and it's up to you to try them all out and see.

quark is a good all purpose tool because, yes, it has the capability to modify almost everything. worldcraft and radiant (qeradiant and gtkradiant) are only for mapping. i feel those two have superior mapping capabilities than quark does. 

Necros is right - apparently QuArK is not so good for mapping.
I use Worldcraft for mapping :)

Basically Worldcraft wins in my personal opinion because it has a very good texture lock feature, allowing you to rotate multiple brushes (although you really have to set it to "default to 15 degree rotations"). This makes level creation quite a bit faster.

I have never really managed to try Radiant, but apparently it is also very good.

Which editor have you been using?

Also are you planning on getting your maps tested? If so I would be happy to oblige!

Also: - Screenshot please :) 

QuArK can rotate anything just fine without screwing up the textures. You will just end up in floating point hell. It is a fantastic mapping tool if it wasn't for its quirks that sometimes screw up your map. 

BspEditor

http://www.bspquakeeditor.com/index.php

Good tutorials as well. 

http://student.cs.appstate.edu/freemancw/junk/shot0076.jpg 

In between the food and drink festive excess I have had some time to do some detailing on this old familiar area, which I have featured in many screenshots. (Sort of a benchmark progress screenshot) Getting close to the end of this map, I am hoping to finish it for the beginning of the new year!

http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/moteof1ei1.jpg
http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/moteof1ei2.jpg 

I am hoping to finish it for the beginning of the new year!

^_^ 

detailing is fab 

Love the little skull on the ledge outside.

If you want any more testing, feel free to shoot me a link to the latest. I'm being a lazy bastard until the new year and faffing about doing nothing much.

*raises beer* 

Ok this was a stupid idea (from a technical point of view), but it was something I thought would be cool (in my headTM) so I decided to try it out. I wanted to have the Guardian portal show where you are going, so I created a special model of the outside of the castle and then pointed the portal at it. After a lot of work trying to make it look good and match it all up to the insides of the building I finally got it working.

OMG it is freakin awesome, the screenshots do the whole effect no justice. As you walk up to the portal it fades into view, a closeup of the outside of the castle and then the camera pans outwards as you get closer to the portal. You can slightly turn the camera left and right by moving left and right and get the whole depth thing of the model. Plus the electric shader effect on the transformer in the first room you can see working correctly through the front window. Need to add some more moving fog/mist layers around the bottom and across the front and it should be complete.

Walking up towards the portal as it fades into view
http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/moteof1el1.jpg

The final view when you are next to the portal
http://www.simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/moteof1el2.jpg