[Mark]

A few months ago I finally decided to learn how to make maps with Mapster32. Its a learn as I go project which is why it's taking so long to get as far as I have. I have included a link at the bottom to my webpage with some screenshots. It takes a little while to load. Click on the photos button and a slideshow will start and you can click on the button to enlarge the photos.

I wanted to try something a little different from the usual space station or modern city maps. Don't be too critical on what you see. Its my first map ever and there is still a long ways to go with aligning textures adding monsters and weapons, shading etc... I forgot to include some screenshots of the indoor areas. I'll add some later. By using sprite based floors and ceilings I have a few 2 and 3 level buildings and even an underground tunnel leading to the river. Kind of a cheater's way of ROR. I've probably spent as much time with shading as I have creating the whole layout. Now soon it could be done automatically with Polymer

After struggling with this I now have a new appreciation for all the people and their hard work making great maps and TC's for us to play.

EDIT: outdated link deleted

[William Gee]

This is really your first duke map? Have you mapped for other games before? I ask because your screenshots are very high quality, I really love what you are doing, fantastic looking level! Cant wait to play it.

[TerminX]

Looks awesome, though that is probably the worst screenshot gallery software I've ever seen. I wouldn't have even bothered finding the shots after seeing flash based bullshit if WG hadn't of said they were nice shots.

[Danukem]

I can believe that it's your first map because it is pretty simple looking. But it is clean and aesthetically pleasing. It reminds me of some of the higher quality early Duke maps. My only advice would be, if you find that your style is changing and getting more complex, finish the map and move onto another one. Otherwise, you will have different styles in the same map which won't look as good, then you will want to go back and redo all the earlier areas...

[Mark]

I'm very disappointed with the webspace that Roadrunner cable changed us to. It used to be wide open to do whatever you wanted. Now they have taken away FTP functions and gave us this generic junk. It looks like it was made for grandma to keep in touch with her family and friends. not very functional but user friendly.

William Gee: No I never mapped before this other than making a very plain map where I tested out my HRP textures before submitting them.

DT: Good advice on when to start another map. I'll keep it in mind. Thanks.

[William Gee]

You should move over to duke4.net then.

[Mark]

And after getting everything in place I have to try and make it interesting to play too. Now I can see why some of the better maps and TC's have taken 6 months to a year to create. A lot of head scratching and beard tugging while figuring it all out. Well I won't know until I try.

[chicken]

These screens look interesting. A not so often used theme is always good. Keep it up!

[The Commander]

I can see why William liked the looks of the map,

Nice work.

[Master Fibbles]

very open it seems. I"d have to play it really to comment more on aesthetics (though my studies are actually more in Greece, I get nit picky about stuff like this sometimes;))

It looks nice though.

[Mikko]

Some areas look better than others; it looks good especially when you have big, relatively simple structures casting long, dark shadows (such as this, although it doesn't seem finished; what is its purpose?). But some areas are way too simple (such as this). Also, those sprites on the wall look like posters on a wall.

I wonder how the level plays. It looks pretty unlinear, so would it be like a city map where you have a street area working as a hub?

[Jimmy]

I echo what DeeperThought and Mikko have said.

[Mark]

Mikko: Inside the "simple building" are a few rooms on the ground floor plus stairs leading to a basement and stairs leading to an open upper level. And from the upper level you can get to the outside ledge of the building and walk around.

The "long shadowed building" is incomplete. You can't see from the pic but there are interior rooms in this one also and a staircase leading to the upper platform.

If you mean the paisted on arches I am still deciding whether to leave them or create something else.

Yes it is unlinear. I am still deciding if I should try to make this a single player map or a deathmatch type. I guess that will depend on my untried skills at making the game interesting with monsters, weapon placement and any puzzles. Right now I have many instances of more than one exit out of a place to keep a fast pace.

And as I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of interior rooms and hallways not pictured yet. You may be able to see some of their entrances in the large outside walls of the map.

Thanks for the critique. I'm an "old dog" but still ready to learn new tricks Its my first map. I can only get better( in theory )

[Tea Monster]

Marked, on May 23 2009, 08:20 PM, said:

....Now they have taken away FTP functions and gave us this generic junk. It looks like it was made for grandma to keep in touch with her family and friends.

It is. RR is for getting your mail and all that other bs. If you want a "real" website, you have to get a hosting solution.

I'll check out the map, it sounds intriguing. I can't at the moment as I have 10kbps connection. I'll check it out when I get to work tomorrow.

[Sangman]

Looks interesting. I'd like to play it.

[Mark]

After messing around with this mod on and off for almost a year I have reached the point where I am getting the feeling I don't have the creativity to finish it myself. Instead of it just laying around on the hard drive I would like to hand the project over to someone who can make it playable. The buildings and landscaping are there with some detailed interiors but more details are needed along with ammo and enemy placement. And of course whatever else you want to add.

In recent months I have posted a whole bunch of screenshots( for which I was ridiculed ) but the reason for it was I wanted people to get a good look at the map so they would know if its something they would enjoy working on. According to the forum's page counter there were 18 downloads of the zip file I posted with dozens of screenshots a few weeks ago so I'm hoping maybe one of those people would like the job of finishing it up. We could either work together or you can have it all for yourself if you prefer to work alone.

If anyone is interested leave a message here on the forum. I will then find somewhere to upload a roughly 20MB zip file for you to download along with any instructions about what you might need to know about what has been done so far. I PM'ed a few people a while back but most were busy with their own projects. That is why I am putting out a general call now.

BTW, right now the mod is using the HRP and Polymer but no DukePlus features yet. Adding some would be good.

[Inspector Lagomorf]

I'm interested in taking a look at it. I have nothing going on as far as mapping at the moment and I'd like to try working with a project of this type.

[Mark]

Bison: Someone else from the forum here contacted me before you did. I am going to send him the materials tonight and let him look it over and decide if he wants to help out or not. I'll consider you next in line if it doesn't work out. Thanks for your offer.

[Carl Winslow]

none of the screenshots are showing up. I take it the bandwidth limit was reached on them?

[Mark]

I had a lot of the pics posted on this forum which has a 10MB limit. Since I am also posting pics in another part of the forum for a different project I had to remove these to make room for others.

[Mark]

After a couple of months of doing other stuff I returned to mapping. With the help of the "legendary" DanM, who added a bunch of trees and bushes and a few simple houses in the empty areas, it's looking much better now. He also convinced me to change it from the original dark night-time map to a daytime version. It's a good thing because with all of the dozens of point lights and spot lights the FPS was dipping down into single digits in some areas. It also made mapping more difficult because of how the map fades to black in the distance and made it tough to judge how things would look during editing. It did look way cool when it was dark and all those torches were glowing but I'm happy I made the change. I still have dark areas in the buildings to show off the Polymer lighting. I still have a long way to go with adding stuff and aligning textures and shadows. And before someone mentions it, yes I know the torches are still burning in the daytime. I haven't decided what to do with them yet. It has been over a year since I started this and it is still my first and only map. The map has also been a good place for me to put the textures and simple models I am learning to make.

As I have mentioned before, it will be ready the day after DNF is released.

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[Stabs]

its shaping up nicely, i didn't do a great deal but gave it a bit of direction

actually wondering what was going on with that the other day, also i was thinking perhaps you could grab some areas with alt and change their height, and then use slopes to make the terrain line up right again, take the flatness out of it.

also making the water work around that would be good as it would probably create some new waterfalls here and there

[Mark]

Good idea about the terrain thing. I have a little of it along the outskirts of one area that is not pictured.

One of these days I'll make a new file pack and send it to you so you can see all the changes and new stuff.

[Spiker]

This is looking great. I wonder about the gameplay though. Unless this map is made only to admire the buildings and monuments

[Mark]

There is a story line and puzzles to complete but still in the planning stages. No enemies will be added until all the surroundings are complete. So I guess at this point it is just a tour of the city

[chicken]

This looks really promising.
Did you model the cross in the first picture?

[Mark]

Thanks for asking about the one model I DIDN'T make.

I found it on a "free to use website" but it had no skin so I made one up quick. Its more of a placeholder for now. If you look at it you can see there is no shading in the model. Its all done by the Polymer lighting. I plan on making one just like it and other similar ones for a different part of the map.

[chicken]

That's not fair .
It's the only model to be seen!

Maybe we could use those for the Decay-Mod as well?

[Mblackwell]

Sounds like a fine idea to me.

[Danukem]

I really like the atmosphere in those indoor shots; they use Polymer well. Regarding the outdoor areas: I hope you make up your mind whether you are using sprites or models, hi-res or low-res. Imo it doesn't look good to have 8-bit stuff mixed in with hi-res and models.