Maybe three or four days ago, Podcast17 interviewed some of the members of the Orion mod team to discuss our feelings about the game postpartum. Praz (lead designer), Ezzy (lead level designer), and I (a guy they found passed out in the gutter) talked about upcoming changes to the mod with our Monday patch, various challenges with level design and design of the project as a whole, and our feelings about how things have been and where they might go.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
orion mod podcast 17 interview
Sunday, December 13, 2009
orion beta 1 is going live in less than 7 hours
The project that I've spent the last six months mapping for is releasing in just 1/3 of a day from now and I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty good show. Progress has been steady and I have to say that I'm proud to be part of a team that's able to get so much done in such a short period of time.
I'll be posting more on the game and my map after it's released tomorrow. In the meantime, here is some media from moddb:
Sunday, November 01, 2009
happy l4d halloween
This is by far the best duo costume I've seen yet. I say yet because if someone were to post a good boomer costume they would be the winner hands down.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
orion mod is drawing attention
I didn't want to say too much initially about the mod team I had joined, mostly because I didn't know right off the bat what kind of contribution I would be making and I didn't want to overstep my bounds as a new member. Now that I am making steady progress on my map and have been a part of the team for some months now I am confident and happy to say that I am a level designer for Orion Mod, which is a pretty slick sci-fi multiplayer mod if I do say so myself.
This mod looks like it's getting lots of really positive attention from the community and I am really looking forward to its impending release.
Friday, September 11, 2009
of cosplay and swine flu
Four days now since PAX and I'm happy to say that I'm swine flu free. I wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that nearly 100 people got the disease while I was there, seeing as how I caught a cold the day I got back. I think my associates managed one synchronized eye-roll when I became that "I think I might have swine flu" guy for a day. I at least like to think I was acting cool and collected about it.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
pax 09 aftermath
Wow. This was without a doubt the greatest gaming venture I have ever participated in.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
heading to seattle tonight... pax tomorrow!
As I type this I am gathering up every last thing I'll need for PAX tomorrow and the two days after. This is harder work than I realized, what with all the hyping of this event that the internet and my brain are doing to me right now. At first I thought, "Okay, I've got clothes and a toothbrush. I'm set!"
Sunday, August 30, 2009
pax 2009 anticipations
This year I'm heading to PAX. If you're unfamiliar, PAX is a weekend long gaming expo that takes place in Seattle every year. They cover consoles, PCs, board games, card games, the list goes on. It's my first year driving down to Seattle to participate and I'm utterly blown away by how much is going to be going on down there. A few snippets from the various panels they'll be showcasing (at least the ones I'm going to try to hit up):
Hey Ash, Whatcha Filmin: How to make a moderately successful viral video series that confuses the hell out of people.
Game Design 101
Working with Fans to Create Better Video Games
How can we make online gaming communities suck less?
LIVE ON-STAGE DEMO – Assassins Creed®II and Splinter Cell Conviction
Penny Arcade Makes a Strip!
Star Wars: The Old Republic live demonstration
...the list goes on. And on. I mean, really, they are packing as much gaming into one convention center as I think physically possible. More than anything I want to go see those game demos. I've never had a chance to actually see something like that in person. The event map promises a slew of A-list game companies setting up shop in the convention center as well. I am completely amiss as to how I'm going to even come close to seeing and doing everything I want to there. I mean you might as well take a six year old and put them in a candy store the size of Walmart with a ten minute time limit.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
the internet is back on!
Things tend to go awfully bizarrely when you move into a new place. Specifically the internet connection goes completely insane!
Okay... not that bad. But not fun either. I just went and bought myself a new 75' LAN cable to make sure I don't have any more problems with a slow connection with a love of disconnecting itself.
/rant
Soooo... now that I'm connected again, I'm working on some serious projects and working on some fun side-projects at the same time. If I can iron out a few wrinkles, I just might be able to add new pictures. I know it's the pictures that actually count for anything in these damn internets!
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
dm_villa_b3 released 6/30/09
dm_villa_b3, the third beta version of my map is finished and is available for download.
dm_villa is a deathmatch map for HL2 that spans three levels vertically and spreads across a diverse playing field. Players will fight both in tight hallways and in open arenas, with interesting variations in texturing and lighting to make it more interesting. The bulk of the gameplay will take place in and around the villa which has been built into the side of a mountain. Underneath the villa itself is a network of caves and passages, leading players to various extremities of the villa itself.
This is a map best suited for anywhere up to 10 players.
Thanks again to everyone from interlopers, fpsbanana, and hl2dmu for play testing my map and giving my useful, constructive feedback! Updated pictures after the jump.
It feels like I've worked on this for the last three years. I'm done! The third beta is ready for review and play testing, and not a moment too soon! I'm going to have to start devoting my time and effort into moving into a new apartment now, which is why I'm extremely glad to have this off of my back.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
the tedium of perfectionism
So now that I'm 95% finished with my map, I've discovered that I'm willing to spend 95% percent of my effort on the finishing touches. The villa looks exactly like I want it to visually, and the graphics aren't taking up too much memory. I've been testing it and retesting it, and so far, it looks like it should run much more efficiently than the last version. In terms of file size, the map is one quarter the size of the last version, even though it's quite a bit bigger. I'm smoothing out the gameplay, but it's looking like it's on track too.
The hard part now is knowing when to stop. I keep making to-do lists, and every time I finish one I make a new one with five or six new tasks to complete. This is new to me, since I normally crap out after a few months. Maybe I'm just old enough now to make a task for myself and see it through to fruition. Whatever it is, I'm spending the bulk of my time just ironing out wrinkles, but I'm loving every second of it.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
dm_villa beta 3 is nearing completion... again
It looks like my latest version of the villa is almost finished! Visually, it is close to what I want it to look like. I went through yesterday, taking all of my nice pristine architecture, and I covered it all with trash, graffiti, and wear and tear. It was quite satisfying!
As far as work needed, I need to optimize weapon and item placement, and I need to play through with different groups of players. I think I want to get some outside opinions on the visuals as well. Most importantly, the area portals need to be optimized to take it easy on older computers.
Yep, almost done!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
just messing around
I've got a couple more pictures that I took just playing around with different lighting settings. If only this weren't too dark, I actually like this level of ambient lighting. The dark foreground with the brighter background produces quite the strange effect.
Monday, May 25, 2009
new project, with pics
So now it looks like I'm stretching my poor self even farther! Ah well, I asked for it. I've gotten myself involved with another project, and it looks promising so far. I'm making a map for a HL2 mod, which shall remain nameless until further notice, but I can say that so far this project looks like it will be giving me plenty of opportunities to flex my creative muscle. I'm still working on the first project, so that means it's only a matter of time before I go completely insane. I'll make sure to update when that happens!