What are you working on now?

[High Treason]

   Damn you...

Something tells me I didn't think my cunning plan all the way through.

[Micky C]

As part of my Serious Sam styled WGRealms episode, I'm remaking the Great Pyramid, and part of Grand Cathedral, plus a level segment loosely inspired by the Karnak level, and some random little bits and pieces in between.

So far here's my progress of the Great Pyramid. A spaceship flies over your head to the pyramid, then you go inside and the top opens up so you can see it above you as you fight the boss. How the boss fight turns out entirely depends on whether DT is willing to code a new boss/boss variant. Hopefully he will since I'm aiming for epicness and hopefully some conceptually grand design.

It was surprisingly easy getting the pyramid to open up (moving the sloped roof diagonally downwards) by using shrinking sectors. I had hoped that I would be able to actually get the whole thing to move instead of shrink however there's currently a limit in TROR that prevents me from constructing that with any effect.



I'll probably tweak it to look a tad more like the original, but there's only so much I can do, and a 1-1 remake would be pointless anyway. Part of the reason I'm taking a lot of interest in this is because basing it on another game means I already know what gameplay and architecture to do, and given how it relies on gameplay and large architecture rather than actual detail to fill up the levels, I can actually build them pretty damn fast when I have time (although exams are coming up..)

[Puritan]

Looks like a damn cool effect, that opening sequence 

[Micky C]

Some more pics:

[Gambini]

I have posted about those in the other forum.

Regarding your previous shot, of that opening ceiling: It looks awful. I don´t know how much the opening effect constrains the design but generally huge scaled stuff in Duke never turn out well (unless you are Willam Gee).

Take it, please, as something constructive: watch that texture pattern repeating over and over! It will hurt everyone´s eyes! The edges, of a completely different texture, that doesn´t align to the shape also look ugly. The UFO looks good but the overall scene looks too noobish, even if the ceiling moves.

[Forge]

I know you're only working with a certain texture set, but it does kind of look dull, and the big bulky architecture and structures does make it seem very simplistic. Maybe if those pillars in the first shot weren't free-standing and were actually holding up a walking platform and a small section of overhanging roof, it might look better. I'm not sure what texture aligning Gambini was referring to, but in the second screen shot the blocks in the room the player is standing in don't match the blocks adjoining it at the hallway entrance and that looks kind of odd.

Not that I'm doing anything worth crap myself, but it's just my opinion

[Gambini]

I was talking about this one:

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww345/crimic01/inside.png

I think the shot with the pillars looks very well.

[Forge]

ah! we were talking about different screen shots.

I don't know, there's something about that room with the pillars that just seems "off" to me. like it's missing something.

[Gambini]

Yes it lacks a small waterfall from the top of the pillars to the pool (because it is a roman aqueduct!) and some ivy growing through the bricks.

[Forge]

That would be cool 

edit: i've never played serious sam (yea, I should be banned or something, right?) so I don't know if he's making replicas or not

[Merlijn]

I can see what Gambini means, although I don't completely agree with him. Maybe you can replace the texture with something more neutral or a less obvious pattern. Or maybe the texture should be broken up a bit, by adding some trimming and variety.

I like the conceptual grandness though, please keep the big scale and the effect. It's potentially epic.

The other 2 shots look very good to me.

[Puritan]

@ Micky C


You like domes right.
Check out the first image in this article :
http://e24.no/eiendom/kaaret-til-europas-flotteste-bygg-i-betong/20292163

[Micky C]

Phew haven't visited this thread in a while... here we go...

@Gambini, yeah I agree with you to some extent about that pyramid shot. Not to mention that the white fullbright pixels are particularly ugly. I've since added a fogpal to try to mask everything.

But the fullbright pixels still show.. I wish I could make the textures bigger, but I want those ones because they best resemble the hi-tech Sirian theme.
Btw, maybe I'll make an aquaduct/waterfall area as one of the future rooms, that would look pretty good... thanks 

@Forge, Serious Sam revolves around killing large amounts of weak enemies in large, relatively simple environments typically thematically based on an ancient civilisation. The architecture is fairly basic and layout consists of a moderately linear series of interconnected rooms indoors, and open areas you can weave through outdoors. Therefore people will easily forgive the "simple" architecture here. Plus, the lighting here is awesome and my maps will try to focus more on the gameplay and the scale anyway.

I'll see what I can do about adding ivy to the walls, but I think the thing that's most missing is that the roof is flat and could use some slopes on the sides.

@Merlijn, I can't break up the pyramid due to how the effect works. Maybe I can break up the area around the sides, but the middle definitely needs to remain intact.

@Puritan, there's no way I can make that in eduke32 

[High Treason]

Posting in the Mods section as this one relies heavily on TROR and only works with Polymer, which to guys around here is probably alien technology - I still get a DNR 8-Bit Only vibe around here, not saying that's a bad thing, part of what makes it worth being on both forums.

Anyway, you may be aware that 1. My bike is broken and 2. I haven't been very well. So, in this time, I couldn't concentrate enough to get much done (besides cobbling together Exterminate (A joke mod) in a few hours) so I decided to start a side project to my side projects.



I was working on another map called "Riverside Copyright Infringement" which may yet see the light of day, but right now I'm not fussed about it. Currently this map is "Stoneledge Prison" though that may change, I'm trying a lot of new techniques this time, I want it to feel a bit like an old map and have it centre more on puzzle solving than my usual work, I've already come up with some nasty ones so I expect you all to get rather annoyed with it if you didn't like the six switch thing in my spaceport map. The location is a prison out at sea, there's a stupid backstory I invented too in case I get this done.

And I hate working with TROR, don't know why I do it.

[Gambini]

The half top looks quite good. The half bottom looks quite bland.