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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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third beta is nearing completion

For the most part, the third version of this map is complete. As far as overall layout and gameplay goes, there are just some minor details that need to be ironed out. For the most part, there just needs to be some optimization and graphical details added.
I am uploading new pictures of the most recent additions. The caves beneath the map have had some minor lighting changes and the tunnels are a little bit wider. I constructed a wide cave with a skylight for detail, I'm hoping to add more random details like that as time goes by.

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new update, with pictures

I've worked pretty hard for the last few days to finish up the bulk of what I want include in on the third beta version of this project.



The backyard is close to what I want it to look like. It's a bit bigger now, and the addition to the house itself is pretty close to complete, if it isn't already. The building addition isn't much more than a visual addition, but there is a significant extension to the cave portion of the map. There's a new large room, and it connects to the backyard via a tunnel. I've added pics of the new room and the building extension, and I'll add more of the tunnel when it's more detailed.

The additions are still works in progress, I'll update as often as I can.

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the learning process

Learning a new skill set can at times take an amount of patience that you might never have known you had. The villa map I'm working on is still my first major solo project that I'm aiming to release to the public, and it's the first major project I've done with the latest version of the Hammer Editor. That means that some days I'll spend five, maybe six hours working on a room that's roughly the size of my bedroom, just ironing out wrinkles and correcting mistakes. That's not a bad thing, though, and this is where patience becomes important. 

For every portion of a map I spend five hours on one day, the next day I'll tackle something just like in time enough for my Pasta Roni to finish cooking. It's a fantastic feeling when you have solid evidence that you're learning something, like you can actually prove to yourself that you're not just wasting laaaarge chunks of time. And I mean those chunks of time can feel large! 

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finally an update!

It's felt like maybe a few months, but the villa has seen an update.

The back yard is a bit bigger, and the building extends around the whole yard now. I liked the two-tone look of the villa, with the courtyard done up in brick and red paint, and the outer portion with stones and browns. I played around with a number of different configurations for the building itself and I ended up dividing the wall into about four portions, each with a different texture. I'm still learning a bit about visual design technique, and this is the first time that a number of different textures have been used on one wall. I'm happy with the look.

The next job is to extend the tunnels underground. They might end up connecting to the back yard via a doorway in the brick wall, as well as through the trap door which is now behind some cover in the back corner of the yard.

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i feel an update coming

Finally I am going to have something worth writing about! I've worked for weeks and have added (and deleted) large portions to the villa map, and after all that, I've made slight progress. The entire frontal addition to the map I deleted.  I felt like it's openness and size contrasted with the overall small, tight, and fast design of the previous map.  The back yard and the underground portions are slightly larger now, in hopes that the map will still feel fast and furious for a few players, but accomodating for a larger group at the same time. The update will be coming soon! *fingers crossed*

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