Despite the fact that CotA is not quite yet finished (I'm gonna run the final compile overnight tonight), I'm going to post the WIP notice for my next map: the Orbital Transfer Station. THis is a space spation designed as an intermediate step for cargo between the interstellar bulk cruisers and planetary shuttles. It features two large hangar bays, a three-tiered cargo bay, control rooms, living quarters, a reactor core, and many windows for viewing the outside of the station. It is a very vertical level, but I plan for all of it to be easily accessible and the cramped crew decks will be offset by the immense hangar area. You can see a front-view Radiant screenshot at my site,
http://wso.williams.edu/~jshoer/outcast.htm), this is the shot that best gives an impression of the layout of the station. More to come after I finish up City of the Ancients, look for that midweek...
I've been a fan of your maps from the beginning, Wedge. This one looks like another great idea. I'm anxious to see screenshots!
I'm also jealous that you can pump out great maps so quickly. What I really need is more time to map... my schedule is so busy. :(
Gee, thanks! A fan...gosh...and this is only my second map, too!
The only reason I've been able to finish CotA and get the OTS jumpstarted so quickly is because for the month of january I'm looking at a "winter term" where my college only has me taking one class that meets twice a week, and then I get more vacation. :) Which means lots of time to blow on Outcast mapping...
:comp9:
OTS screenshots will be a little while coming, I've gotten the basic architecture of the station all finished (that's the Radiant screenie), but so far I have no lights placed or anything yet. Don't worry, there will be more updates soon!
One problem I'm struggling with: I have to make a few elevators that move up an angled wall, and I don't want to use a func_train to do it, I want the thing to be toggled by triggers, not move automatically. On this I'm kind of stuck...I'll have to find some way around it, I guess.
Originally posted by wedge2211
Gee, thanks! A fan...gosh...and this is only my second map, too!
Third, by my count. You never released the first one, though. (The CTF in some kind of space station, remember?) ;)
Okay, I have 3 screenies up on my site. It's not much, but it shows a little of the architecture. The first two shots are in the control deck at the very top of the station, looking towards the secondary hangar. The last shot is in a catwalk between the secondary hangar and the main station, looking at the control deck.
I wish I had your gift, Wedge - to be able to visualize everything you wish to include in a level and map it. I can map anything, ,given time... I jsut cant figure out WHAT to map, if you take my meaning.
Good looking, though still a little blocky looking in places. I'm sure you'll be taking care of that soon, though, so keep up the good work.
Stop making me envious :D
Looks good, is it giong to be like 2 buildings that revolve around each other with a bridge in between them? or more buildings than that?
Look at this picture:
http://wso.williams.edu/~jshoer/images/ots.jpg)
(Make sure it's full size, it'll be easier to see the lines that way.)
The large hexagonal thing in the middle is the main hangar. There are hangar control pods (the octagonal lumps) above and below the hangar, and stacked directly on top of the hangar are the power generator (curved structure) and control rooms. Below the hangar are a few crew decks, and sticking off to the left is a sensor gantry. Now, to the right of the main hangar is clamped a structure shaped like a backwards "C," this is a stack of crew decks and control rooms. On the rightmost portion of the "C" is a three-tiered cargo bay (the pentagonal block), directly above the cargo bay is a small connector that connects the crew decks to the secondary hangar. The walkway in the top-center connects the secondary hangar to the control decks.
It's all one interconnected structure, but the secondary hangar is rather separate from the rest.
Okee-doke, I put up 5 new screenshots, there isn't a whole lot of new detail visible (with the exception of that catwalk, I took another shot now that it has pipes and lights and things), but you can at least get a look at the inside of the cargo bay and get a feel for the size of the main hangar. Both are FAR from finished: when this is completed, the main hangar will have plenty of cranes, catwalks, ships, crates, etc. You can see a LITTLE of that now.
One other announcement of sorts: I will be releasing two versions of this map, separately. Version one will consist of the station itself, a few docked ships, a few loose crates and other odds and ends. Version two will include a large cargo hauler that will hyper in from time to time in the main hangar, and a smaller cargo shuttle that will come and go in the secondary hangar.
once again looking good. for the main hangar, would ships be about as high as the roof? it seems to me you don't need a really hight hangar if you don't have doulbe stacked or tall ships, as in x wing hangars can be short.
So far it looks to be up to your usual high standards, Wedge. :)
The main hangar looks a little bare, but i'm sure you'll fix that in time.
They are supposed to be interstellar cargo ships, so they are designed for hauling capacity. I'd expect them to be at least half as tall as the hangar, after all, some room to maneuver is a good thing.
What, do you expect the pilot of a flying junk crate to touch down in a field full of junk and rubble? ;) No, there will be plenty of crates, starship equipment, cranes, etc lying around, but the basic idea is just a large, open area, there will be two catwalks along the sides, that's about it.
:lol:
I didn't mean to imply you should have stuff covering every inch of the floor. I'm sure you'll put in the necessary details.
BTW, I saw a great crane prefab over at
http://www.pcgamemods.com). Even if you don't want to use it, you should go check it out because it's quite impressive.
The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated...
I have been working a bit on the OTS off and on...and there are now some more shots of the new, improved, less bare, more detailed main hangar on my site. That is, right there, all the basic stuff I want in the main hangar: a few catwalks and some gantries. In the final release, the version without moving ships will have lots of ambient junk on the floor, but the cargo-ship-including version will be pretty bare...until a ship comes in. :)
My next stop is the cargo bay!
Aru-wen, that crane prefab was really neat, but I just don't think it would fit in this hangar. It's a small, free-standing floor unit, this hangar might have something hanging from those upper gantries (nothing I make looks quite right, though...) :)
Originally posted by wedge2211
Aru-wen, that crane prefab was really neat, but I just don't think it would fit in this hangar. It's a small, free-standing floor unit, this hangar might have something hanging from those upper gantries (nothing I make looks quite right, though...) :)
No problem. I just saw it and thought of your new project, so I figured I'd tell you to check it out.
The new shots look nice. :D
Okay, another update, I've got the cargo bay looking the way I want it to, I think. Some of the shots look a little crowded, so I'll explain a little:
The cargo bay is a 3-deck, open room, where the top 2 decks are made up entirely of catwalks. There are crates scattered here and there. In the middle are 2 elevators inside the girders. The top level also has a cargo control room with several windows and such. Actually, this section of the map was a little influenced by the gold vault showdown scene in Goldfinger.
I've got the top 2 control decks finsihed, the cargo bay finished, and the main hangar is pretty much all set. I just have to go about the rest of the station putting in consoles and crap.
Lookin' good! Appears nicely detailed, but a bit dark. Maybe lighten it up a bit?
Thanks. I took another look at it, and found that one of my light ents ended up inside a crate. Oops! Fixed that, it's much brighter now.
I just finished up the main power generator room, there are a couple new shots up on the site.
Another minor update. Finished off one of the secondary decks, shots on the site.
Looks good, Wedge. Just how big is that control room? There seems to be computers, screens and controls everywhere. Well, it is a Orbital Station after all, so its realistic in that sense.
Not like driving a Chevy, eh? Keep up the nice work! :)
Originally posted by Shadriss
NIce nice... When? :)
Glarblerg. I was afraid of that question. Actually, progress has slowed a lot, but just because i haven't been working on this as much as I hoped. Anyways, here's a basic status report: I have finished 4 decks, although there may be some details I'll put in later. I have finished the main hangar, cargo bay, and reactor core, but I intend to go back and rework some areas of those. The secondary hangar is still unfinished. 5 unfinished decks still remain. Each deck is about the same size as that one in the latest round of pics. So, I guess you could say the map is architecturally complete and halfway through details and lighting.
That transport looks sweet, Wedge. Does it move?
Very interesting... I take it the engine gloolws were done with flares?
It's just the "scow" model from the Bespin Tavion duel. :D
Doesn't move quite yet, but I'll be putting that in sometime soon.
Minor update, I have only 3 decks to go...Not too much. Then I'll finish the main hangar with a cargo ship and various crates and things.
Looks good, Wedge - but still a bit dark... reminds me of your Mars map. Maybe a couple more light sources to brighten things up?
I like the dark better when you pull out a saber in a fight in a dark place it 0wns alot just my opinion though but it does need alittle more lighting.
In game, I've thought it looked good, personally. Which areas are you talking about? The computer rooms?
The 'pipe' room looks pretty dark. Actually, the whole overall map sort of is (which is expected - hey, it's space), but they should have enough light to work in. Just my .02.
You know this is interesting with screenshots. Mine are too bright compared to ingame experience. I think this is the consequence of the JPG compression. Have anyone ever tried the screenshot_tga command?
I saw them. Looks up to your usual standards, Wedge. I want to see that flying ship! ;)
Well well well, I can guess who's got email notification turned on. :D
I have only one deck to go, unfortunately, it's starting with the worst exterior wall configuration ever, so I'm a little confused about how to put in interior structures...but it's divided into identical quarters, so once I get the first one done (and it won't be THAT long), I can just clone away. THEN I will make the ships fly. :cool:
I estimate an ETA of mid to late next week.
Actually, I don't have email notification on. I just am here all the time. :lol:
Okay, I finshed up the main hangar for the static-ships version. (Screenshots up--how's that for not so sparse?) Next come powerups and bot routing. I think I will release that one as soon as I finish it, and then work on making the ships move (shouldn't take too long, but will be a pain to test out and I'll have to reroute bots) and release that version. The static-ship map will probably be submitted around the end of the week, the moving-ship map maybe at the end of the weekend.
One other thing...I think for the "moving ships" version, I will ahve to build my own transport to fly into the main hangar. If anybody knows any really cool prefabs for an interstellar cargo ship, please let me know, as I have some suspicions that mine will suck. :P
Um, not quite what I have in mind. This transport has to be a huge, hulking thing, not designed to enter an atmosphere, it's designed to maximize cargo space for interstellar travel. I'll see if I can build a decent-looking something.
Hmmmmmm...why have a shuttle prefab when there's a perfectly good model included with the game? :D
Originally posted by wedge2211
Hmmmmmm...why have a shuttle prefab when there's a perfectly good model included with the game? :D
You can walk inside the prefab, something you can't do with the model. :p
Aaaaaaah...I wonder why they didn't show interior screenshots, then? Or maybe i'm just going blind. I think I'll put that in instead of the model if it's really cool. :)
Anyways, I just finished spritzing powerups all over the place, the map seems to be functioning the way I want it to...spawn points, good to go, detailing, about as good as I feel like making it...I'm going to run a final compile tomorrow during modern physics class (yeah Einstein!) I'll probably have the static-ships version submitted by tomorrow night. No guarantees. :P
Originally posted by Aru-Wen
You can walk inside the prefab, something you can't do with the model. :p
I downloaded it, and it looks to be nothing more than the shuttle misc_model with the shuttle_physics prefab slapped on it. :confused:
That's really odd - monsoontide, the guy who did the Anchorhead map, had a shuttle prefab that you can walk into, with room for cargo (where he kept some animals). I always assumed it was the one on that link I gave you, but maybe he got it from somewhere else or made it himself?
I'll keep looking for potential places for you.
I made a cargo ship myself...it doesn't look half bad, actually. Que sorpresa. :D
I also fixed my forcefield/loading FPS issues. That means all that remains is to run a final compile, and the static-ship version will be complete. I've decided to finish the moving-ship version right after that, and then release the two of them together at the end of the week.
Now looking for beta testers (
http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1041649#post1041649) (psst...Aru...:D). I'll send whoever's interested a link to the map as soon as I resolve an annoying glass VIS issue (
http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=92932) and complete the bot routing.
I've fixed my glass VIS issue, and the moving cargo ships work even better than I expected...check out the shots on my site! The thing exits the hangar, jumps into hyperspace, waits a bit, reenters on the other side, and lands in the hangar again. Woo hoo!!
All that remains is bot routing.