Station60Ville – Mapping Challenge Theme Announcement

15th July 2015

Station 60 was one of the last Resistance station created. As such it is slightly bigger and better hidden than most other stations.

Its exact location is a very closely guarded secret and even the personnel are taken their blindfolded and with a very circuitous route.

Even its purpose and objective is know to only a few high-ranking resistance leaders.

Theme Details

I want mappers to create a resistance station.

The exact gameplay objective will be the decision of the mapper. It could be simply finding the station while being chased by the Combine, defending the base from attack or you could even play AS the Combine and attack the station.

The station must be the central theme of the map and the player should be able to explore its various parts.

With regard to its location, that’s entirely up to the mapper. It could be partly underground and partly above, it could be a series of town houses connected via tunnels or a dam. The choice is the mappers’.

Ideally, there would be some hard to reach sections of the station that require the player to explore.

The player should feel that this base has been around for a while, but also it should be clear that the rebels have made the best of a bad situation and not built something from scratch. Don’t make this a newly built fortification – make it a re-purposed area/building/location.

Inspiration

The CombineOverwiki has plenty of pages for you to peruse. Checkout the index page of resistance locations and perhaps pay special attention to the Stations pages: 1, 6, 7 and 21.

Of course, feel free to be inspired from anywhere!

Deadline

The deadline for submitting maps is:

Monday 3rd August at 12pm GMT

That’s 19 days, with 3 full weekends.

General Advice

DO NOT GET TOO AMBITIOUS. If you can’t build it in 2 weekends then think smaller.

Something is bound to delay your progress. Leave time for testing, bug fixing and polishing!

Testing

I highly recommend The Beta Testers Collective.

Of course, you can get anybody you want to test your maps, but the BTC are very good at it and provide excellent feedback.

Prizes

I will be giving away various Steam and ORIGIN games. A final decision will be made after the deadline, although there will be at least 3 $5/10 games available.

Judging Criteria

The winner will be chosen by a readers vote lasting 2 weeks after the release of the mod.

General Rules
  • Maximum two maps per mapper per entry.
  • The map must be original and not have been released publicly before.
  • The map must run in system with only Ep2 installed
  • By entering the competition you grant PlanetPhillip.Com and RunThinkShootLive.Com the right to release the map as part of the Station60Ville Mod.
  • Maps must not appear on ANY other website before the release and for one month after the release of the mod.
  • No assets from retail games other than HL2, HL2: Ep1 or HL2: Ep2 are allowed.
  • Other assets are allowed with written permission from their original authors, which MUST be included in the entry.
  • Phillip’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into about it.
  • The map MUST have a proper name.
  • The map MUST have a proper filename: MapName_s60v.bsp
  • All entries must be sent to: [email protected] no later than the deadline.
Bonus Map

There is no bonus map for this challenge.

Final Thoughts

I’m hoping that this theme provides something for modders to focus on, but still leaves them plenty of scope for creativity.

If you have ANY questions, please don’t hesitate to ask, either here in the comments or by email if you prefer a private answer.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

I’ve been made aware that Jason Gimba has written a short tutorial on “Making Func_Dustcloud Not Suck“. I will be incorporating the mod update into Stastion60Ville, so you won’t need to do it for your maps. Thanks to Jason for writing the tutorial and ESToomere for telling me about it.

97 Comments

  1. Actually, this sounds like something I’m pretty interested in. It’s a theme that would pretty much be doable by probably anyone, as these bases can literally be located just about anywhere. Overall, great idea for the competition, and I’m really looking forward to working on this one.

  2. I might be able to wip something up for this. I’ve got less time, but if I just leave it to a series of buildings…

  3. This is a good theme.

    That’s… all I have right now.

    1. I’m hoping you have the inspiration to create.

      1. Most likely not, sorry. But it is a cool theme, as is evidenced by how many mappers are excited to work with it.

        1. I should feel more confident after this weekend, but I might have something here after all.

  4. Super intrigued by the premise, and I have time to actually participate this time around.

    Immediately, I’m imagining some of the more sinister backstories of the various vaults from the Fallout series with the description of Station 60.

    Trying to think simple this time around though.

    1. The eerie, disturbing Vaults are the best thing about Fallout. Such twisted, self-contained little stories. I’ve been playing Fallout: New Vegas a lot recently in preparation for Fallout 4 and Vault 11, in particular, is an amazing piece of video game storytelling.

      For those who don’t know the series, Fallout takes place after a massive nuclear war destroyed most of the cities on Earth. A small fraction of citizens were shuttled into giant underground Vaults, which were promoted as being luxurious fallout shelters. But in reality, the government used the Vaults as a sinister social experiment to test the dwellers inside to see if they were “fit” for survival. As a result, almost every Vault had some intentional flaw, whether in its design or its policies. Or they were poorly assembled to begin with. The government didn’t care. More often than not, these problems were lethal to everyone inside. But you, as the player, get to explore these rusted-out Vaults and find out what happened from computer logs, notes, silent scenes of devastation, etc. And sometimes, you must come face-to-face with what did survive.

      It’s safe to say that I can’t wait to see what twisted stories they come up with for Fallout 4! ^_^

    2. Yeah, Fallout sounds like perfect inspiration for this.

  5. With this I have many ideas but I know if I try to do them all I will burn out. Hopefully I will be able to (this time) enter as I have free time and there is plenty of time to do this. Neither the less I hope that I can make a map which I am proud off.

    1. Sounds like you gotta manage your time and planning really well. Hope you get something you are happy with.

  6. Ok, I got something. I’m thinking some small compound along the coast, but built up enough to have at least 4 buildings and a dock. I’m hoping to look at picture of Rockport, MA for inspiration.

  7. after 4 tries finally settled on a ‘theme’ that shouldnt be to big in scale to complete (as the other ones where)

    two questions thoe:

    1 is it okay if the station is deserted

    2 it was metioned something along the lines (i dont recal where) that we should post WIP pics. i wanted to ask if and where to post them.

    1. For the WIP pictures, post them here.

    2. Yes, it’s okay if the station is deserted.

      And as dino_yoshi13 said, just create a new comment (not a reply) and link as you have done.

  8. Alright, so I’ve been working on this entry today and got most of the basic shapes, plus a few large details added into the map. The final theme of the map is going to be that of the sewers in HL2 encountered in chapter Route Kanal.

    Here are a few images of the blocked map (keep in mind that there are very few details at this point:

    http://imgur.com/dTPvKLS
    http://imgur.com/q42Q5eI
    http://imgur.com/NYWwvIm
    http://imgur.com/dDvWVOS

    1. Salamancer

      My initial advice would be to consider the use of that supported pipe in the real world.
      Why is it running on stilts as opposed to being incorporated into a wall? Why is it running through the centre, demanding the entire room be dedicated to it?
      It’s a fairly straight and thin pipe, so is it transporting something valuable or particularly hazardous? For instance a pipe carrying rocket fuel to a silo would be raised in such a way, with a room around it, so that cracks and weaknesses can be easily detected and worked on, before it sprayed fuel around the shop.

      Inventing a story for rooms like that, and considering what it’s original use is can be really powerful in selling a location. Consider the story of the rebel occupation, conflicts and the likes within it, and it’s effect on the environment. Make up stories for your rooms.
      Perhaps the rocket fuel pipe was hit in a firefight with combine forces prior to the player entering. What effect would it have on the environment? Perhaps the rebels attempted to shield it in some manner?

      Perhaps it doesn’t even contain rocket fuel? Perhaps it is to elevate it off the floor where water or sewage runs. and suspending it from the ceiling is not an option for some reason.

    2. So, I’ve been working out some of the combat and puzzles in the map, and I’m actually pretty happy with the way things are shaping up. There’s still some work to do with a few of the combat areas which aren’t completely finished and there’s still a lack of physics props which I’ll need to add since I’m giving the gravity gun as one of the weapons, however I think I should probably have a version for testing by the end of the day tomorrow. I also took some new screenshots:

      http://imgur.com/yQ95fre – A hint at what the puzzles may consist of.

      http://imgur.com/ElP6Ig7 – Again hinting at a puzzle, but also one of the combat areas.

      http://imgur.com/17kc2Pr – Second combat area. Pretty close to the first, but the puzzle is between the two and there is a chance to explore this arena first before activating the combat here.

      http://imgur.com/8Dy6zxa – The same room as the previous image, but from a different angle.

      1. I like the verticality in that last image. Can’t wait.

  9. started with the basic geometry and layout of the level. i want to leave the windows open from both sides to give the player a chance to look at the layout beforehand.

    http://i.imgur.com/a4IIMpM.jpg?1

  10. Salamancer

    I’m embroiled within a creative project right now, but this theme is too good to pass. I’ll do my best to enter.

    1. Fingers crossed you can manage your time.

    2. Salamancer

      Ducking out of this one, real life getting too much in the way. Best of luck to everyone else! I look forward to this one

      1. Pity, sorry to see you go.

  11. Fish house and barracks layouts done!

    barracks
    fish house

    I’ve got two more “big” buildings planned, but I’m going on vacation for a week, hopeful I can finish those layouts the week after, and than start making the location. Worst comes to worst, I can use the buildings else where.

  12. DefendVille 2.0 minus rules, yay!
    Might go for this.

  13. Hello, My name is Huskyx94.
    I’ve been mapping for many years, though i have never released any work, i always use it to do testing and to help friends out.
    You’ve probably never heard of me because of never releasing anything, but i would love to Try this Competition to see if my standards of testing can make me a map.

    Quick Questions!
    #1: Can the combine already own the Resistance Base and you have to take it back?
    #2: Can we include other enemies like the Antlion, Zombies, Headcrabs, ETC?

    My Story:
    You meet a bunch of rebels outside the Outpost/station and they tell you that the combine have taken over the Base. You fight your way back into the base to Resume Supply’s and communications to the rebel units.

    Thank you,
    Huskyx94

    1. Hi Huskyx94, welcome to the site.

      In answer to your questions:
      1. Yes, the Combine can already own the station.
      2. You have full choice over what enemies are used.

      Please don’t hesitate to raise any other concerns.

      May I ask where you heard about the challenge?

      1. I’ve been watching Custom Gamer (Daz) for awhile seeing him play other mods, and i saw the ville maps and other maps for PlanetPhillip mapping competitions. So i’ve decided i should try to enter one, see if i can put my Test mapping into actual mapping! 🙂

  14. Very exciting! I think I’ll have a go at this one too. Maybe make something Hl2 beta related.
    I also see more activity on this page, hopefully more than one will join this time 🙂

  15. I’m in. Sketched something a week ago that will work perfectly.

    1. You’ve had a head start on the others!

  16. IMPORTANT UPDATE

    I’ve been made aware that Jason Gimba has written a short tutorial on “Making Func_Dustcloud Not Suck“. I will be incorporating the mod update into Stastion60Ville, so you won’t need to do it for your maps. Thanks to Jason for writing the tutorial and ESToomere for telling me about it.

    1. does this acutaly change the size of the sprites (seen ingame) created from func_dustlcoud entities?
      Since the tutorial states that in the vanilia game it uses a low res texture (“It’s an extremely low-res, 32×32 ball-shaped gradient”) and replacing it with a high res texture might cause scaling issues?

      just a small concern of mine dont know if anyone tested this

      1. I didn’t test it personally but it shouldn’t change the size of the actual sprites. You set the size of the sprites, and then the texture is stretched to match that size. This is the reason why dustcloud looks so horrid by default, a low-res texture is being stretched to match a large size – kind of like using a wall texture designed for 128-unit brushes and fitting it to a 1024 unit brush.

        Anyway, thanks to Phillip for doing this!

      2. It’s as Blazer says. The example image on the page has min/max size settings set to 64 and 128. So, it’s basically stretched to whatever numbers you give it there. The caveat is that since this file is shared with dustmotes, dustmotes will appear a bit smaller.

        It’s fairly simple to copy-paste that example text into a .txt file, name it sparkles.vmt and put it into your desired folder and try it out.

  17. Stuff going on here.

    The facility entrance is based on the Olavsvern Naval Base, a decommissioned submarine secret dock in Norway.

    I’m using one of Firegod522‘s skyboxes again. He makes some incredibly beautiful skies, and I think that the appearance of the sky is more visually important than most people realize. It is what occupies half of your field of view most of the time, afterall.

    I played around a lot with the fog to get that atmospheric scattering-like effect. The func_dustcloud improvement news is awesome for me since that means I’ll be able to spam plenty of dust to give the wasteland/dried seabed a more desolated feel. Func_Dustcloud particles can also be moved around by wind which is even more awesome.

    And yes, the rock face looks god-awful. I think I should add a slanted upper part or something like that. Perhaps even a mountain in the 3d skybox when I get around to making it.

    That said, all of the above is secondary for now, as I have decided to focus mainly on gameplay from now on after the first two days of environment design.

    1. Yes, there are certain things that func_dustcloud is simply better at, and one of them is being able to populate a much larger area with dust without hitting framerate since it culls based on distance, rather than how smokevolume renders all the time unless you set its density to 0. And since it reacts to env_wind, so you can create dramatic effects with it.

      Of course, making your own particle system is the best of all worlds, but it’s not always practical.

    2. Getting a very hl2 beta wasteland feel from the pics. Nicely done.

  18. Can 2 mappers work together on 1 entry?

    1. My first thought was YES, then my second thought was MAYBE but now I am at YES again. Since the prize is pretty small I doubt another entrant would be too upset if they didn’t win and I’ll try to include at least one randomly drawn prize too.

      So, Yes, go for it. Looking forward to seeing what two people create.

      1. You had allowed it in the past anyway. I forgot what Ville it was, but there was a submission by the “Minimod” team that was made by at least two different people.

  19. Marbledemon

    Sounds like a great premise, already doing some sketching and testing some stuff out in hammer.
    Since the map’s objectives are defined pretty vague in the challenge description, a map (mostly) based on exploration would still be valid, right?

    1. Yes, exploration is fine, although action always is more fun.

      1. Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man…

        But really, I feel like exploration and discovering, when done right, is often so much more interesting than the gunplay alone.

        The only thing is that’s really hard to fit enough content to do it right. And two weeks isn’t that long to make a lengthy rewarding experience of exploring something large.

        1. You’re right, it’s just my opinion and since it’s a public vote that will decide the winner, modders should make whatever they enjoy making.

  20. Late night update. Stuff still going on here, no important screenshots for now though. I’ve done quite a bit of sketching/gameplay planning. Further graphical/gameplay improvement (as in, both graphics and gameplay were improved. The wasteland now looks better, and now moving through it actually requires a little bit more than just going in a straight line).

    I’m also pleased to announce that I managed to get the playable area to the size of 30720 Hammer Units (more than half a kilometer). This was pretty much as far as I could push it without getting a fatal “out of bounds” error.

    On a related side note, prop_dynamic and prop_physics apparently support scaling now. I have no idea how long this has been available but I only noticed it now. Could be related to a recent 200+MB update for HL2 games I guess? Setting a scale different from 1 seems to make the prop non-solid however, so I’m not sure how that’s supposed to work with physics props (my test was done with prop_dynamic). It doesn’t preview in Hammer, either. Regardless of those limitations, I can see this being immensely useful. Those times of “man, I wish I could put this prop in the 3D skybox, but there’s no scaled-down version of it!” are gone (I know I had a few in the past myself). It could be useful for my map, provided that I have time left at the end for that kind of polish (spoiler: probably not).

  21. Another late night update. Waaay too late. Anyways, one of the main gameplay areas is almost complete. This particular area took longer than expected because it required a lot of thoughtful placing of entities, and I had no previous experience with this type of gameplay. Luckily, the next area I’m planning is something that I’ve done (and actually released) in the past, so I should be able to go through it fast enough. The format of the map also allows me to just cut out areas if they end up being too problematic without having any problems in reconnecting the remaining pieces. It’s like the “modular” approach that I took when making Canal Flight but even easier.

    Anyways, I wanted to share a screenie of this new area, but I didn’t want to release a full, clear view of what it’s all bout. So here is a very distant view of the area captured with AI node connections and AI hull connections on. You’ll notice that the rest of the map seems to have gone, this is because I’m creating each area in a self-contained mapfile to then paste the whole thing into the main map. This allows for easier testing.

  22. So… I’m slowly making progress on my entry. I don’t have much that’s visually appealing to look at or any mechanics yet. I decided to experiment with fog again and focus on a darker, more story-driven adventure.

    No spoilers yet. I’m not even 100% what direction I want to take it in yet. Fingers crossed I finish this time!

    http://i.imgur.com/ngvRX36.jpg

    1. It’s quite dark, but what I can see is very atmospheric, well done so far.

    2. I will say that if you use darkness+fog properly, you have some great gameplay possibilities. Besides looking better, illumination will be more noticeable allowing you to guide the player better… or lure him into ambushes. With darkness zombies are also much more easily hidden – with only 2 “play dead” poses, most players will immediately notice and attack fake-dead zombies, while in the darkness they’re harder to notice, especially if you highlight something else with powerful lights.

      Although, perhaps your fog could use some tweaking on the color, especially the saturation. Even if you’re going for a for a radioactive/tainted/polluted/etc feel, when fog is over-saturated it can easily look unconvincing. You may also want to try something for the tiling on toxic water – even simply increasing the scale could do.

  23. I’ll try to do something.

  24. I don’t have anything to show yet, but I kind of have an Idea.

    More to come when I got something.

    1. Okay, I got something.

      Don’t mind the weird lighting or the hastly done displacements or the emptyness above.

      http://i.imgur.com/iz3kNdv.jpg

      1. Secret bunker? Looks interestig.

  25. Anon_1396581

    I don’t think i’ll be able to submit a map for this but it did inspire me to try and make my own map, the only problem is that Hammer keeps telling me that the system can’t find the correct path, even if there are no errors detected. Also every entity I spawn is apparently a leak despite them being within the room of the level, can anyone help?

    1. Ok, theleak problem should be easy to fix. There should be an option under the “properties” tab in the upper right of hammer. It’s called “load pointfile” or somethin like that. This will show where the leak is. If the line meant to show the leek loops, you probably have an area portal problem.

      To fix the path thing you need to change it in the “tools” dropdown, I think. There should be something that says “properties” or “options”, I don’t remember which. From the window that link opens you can fix the path issue. There should be preset path options.

      I don’t have access to hammer ATM, if that was too confusing I can find better explanations.

      1. Anon_1396611

        @ihonnyboy
        Fixing the leak is a problem because the red line would start from under the floor, go straight through the floor and point to the entity inside the level, all the tutorials i’ve seen have just had them close up a hole in the level yet there are no holes in my level also for some reason my newer attempts at making maps don’t have a pointfile for them.
        Also what do I click to fix the error? There’s a load of similar options in that window.

        1. If it goes straight through the floor, and you’re convinced that there’s no entity that’s out of bounds and all brushes seal the world (i.e. you didn’t accidentally tag the floor as a func_detail or something), then consider rebuilding the floor. I’ve had this happen to me once and it confused me to no end. I rebuilt the floor (which was a triangulated rounded corner) and it went away.

          1. Anon_1396634

            Ok, i’ve fixed that but i’m still getting the path error, does the place where the file your editing is saved have anything to do with it?

            1. Anon_1396636

              If it helps I this is what the compile process window says

              ** Executing…
              ** Command: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer\bin\vbsp.exe”
              ** Parameters: -game “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer\ep2” “C:\Users\user\Documents\SourceSDKprojects\basicroom.vmf”

              Valve Software – vbsp.exe (May 15 2014)
              6 threads
              materialPath: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer\ep2\materials
              Loading C:\Users\user\Documents\SourceSDKprojects\basicroom.vmf
              Could not locate ‘GameData’ key in c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\source sdk base 2013 singleplayer\ep2\gameinfo.txt
              Patching WVT material: maps/basicroom/nature/blenddirtgrass001a_wvt_patch
              fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides…
              ProcessBlock_Thread: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              ProcessBlock_Thread: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Processing areas…done (0)
              Building Faces…done (0)
              FixTjuncs…
              PruneNodes…
              WriteBSP…
              done (0)
              writing C:\Users\user\Documents\SourceSDKprojects\basicroom.prt…Building visibility clusters…
              done (0)
              Creating default LDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials:
              skybox/sky_day01_01*.vmt
              ! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps.
              Creating default HDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials:
              skybox/sky_day01_01*.vmt
              ! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps.
              Finding displacement neighbors…
              Finding lightmap sample positions…
              Displacement Alpha : 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10
              Building Physics collision data…
              done (0) (9447 bytes)
              Placing detail props : 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10
              Compacting texture/material tables…
              Reduced 62 texinfos to 33
              Reduced 13 texdatas to 12 (318 bytes to 292)
              Writing C:\Users\user\Documents\SourceSDKprojects\basicroom.bsp
              0 seconds elapsed

              ** Executing…
              ** Command: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer\bin\vvis.exe”
              ** Parameters: -game “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer\ep2” “C:\Users\user\Documents\SourceSDKprojects\basicroom”

              Valve Software – vvis.exe (May 15 2014)
              6 threads
              reading c:\users\user\documents\sourcesdkprojects\basicroom.bsp
              reading c:\users\user\documents\sourcesdkprojects\basicroom.prt
              35 portalclusters
              84 numportals
              BasePortalVis: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              PortalFlow: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Optimized: 0 visible clusters (0.00%)
              Total clusters visible: 1015
              Average clusters visible: 29
              Building PAS…
              Average clusters audible: 35
              visdatasize:645 compressed from 560
              writing c:\users\user\documents\sourcesdkprojects\basicroom.bsp
              0 seconds elapsed

              ** Executing…
              ** Command: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer\bin\vrad.exe”
              ** Parameters: -game “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer\ep2” “C:\Users\user\Documents\SourceSDKprojects\basicroom”

              Valve Software – vrad.exe SSE (May 15 2014)

              Valve Radiosity Simulator
              6 threads
              [Reading texlights from ‘lights.rad’]
              [48 texlights parsed from ‘lights.rad’]

              Loading c:\users\user\documents\sourcesdkprojects\basicroom.bsp
              Setting up ray-trace acceleration structure… Done (0.02 seconds)
              118 faces
              28631 square feet [4122880.00 square inches]
              0 Displacements
              0 Square Feet [0.00 Square Inches]
              118 patches before subdivision
              2894 patches after subdivision
              1 direct lights
              BuildFacelights: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              BuildVisLeafs: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              transfers 154174, max 182
              transfer lists: 1.2 megs
              GatherLight: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Bounce #1 added RGB(19128, 13662, 3278)
              GatherLight: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Bounce #2 added RGB(2670, 1567, 294)
              GatherLight: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Bounce #3 added RGB(466, 231, 30)
              GatherLight: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Bounce #4 added RGB(71, 29, 3)
              GatherLight: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Bounce #5 added RGB(12, 4, 0)
              GatherLight: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Bounce #6 added RGB(2, 1, 0)
              GatherLight: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Bounce #7 added RGB(0, 0, 0)
              Build Patch/Sample Hash Table(s)…..Done
              FinalLightFace: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              FinalLightFace Done
              0 of 0 (0% of) surface lights went in leaf ambient cubes.
              ThreadComputeLeafAmbient: 0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 (0)
              Writing leaf ambient…done
              Ready to Finish

              Object names Objects/Maxobjs Memory / Maxmem Fullness
              ———— ————— ————— ——–
              models 1/1024 48/49152 ( 0.1%)
              brushes 25/8192 300/98304 ( 0.3%)
              brushsides 150/65536 1200/524288 ( 0.2%)
              planes 124/65536 2480/1310720 ( 0.2%)
              vertexes 198/65536 2376/786432 ( 0.3%)
              nodes 83/65536 2656/2097152 ( 0.1%)
              texinfos 33/12288 2376/884736 ( 0.3%)
              texdata 12/2048 384/65536 ( 0.6%)
              dispinfos 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
              disp_verts 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
              disp_tris 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
              disp_lmsamples 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
              faces 118/65536 6608/3670016 ( 0.2%)
              hdr faces 0/65536 0/3670016 ( 0.0%)
              origfaces 59/65536 3304/3670016 ( 0.1%)
              leaves 85/65536 2720/2097152 ( 0.1%)
              leaffaces 143/65536 286/131072 ( 0.2%)
              leafbrushes 51/65536 102/131072 ( 0.1%)
              areas 2/256 16/2048 ( 0.8%)
              surfedges 798/512000 3192/2048000 ( 0.2%)
              edges 468/256000 1872/1024000 ( 0.2%)
              LDR worldlights 1/8192 88/720896 ( 0.0%)
              HDR worldlights 0/8192 0/720896 ( 0.0%)
              leafwaterdata 0/32768 0/393216 ( 0.0%)
              waterstrips 10/32768 100/327680 ( 0.0%)
              waterverts 0/65536 0/786432 ( 0.0%)
              waterindices 147/65536 294/131072 ( 0.2%)
              cubemapsamples 0/1024 0/16384 ( 0.0%)
              overlays 0/512 0/180224 ( 0.0%)
              LDR lightdata [variable] 78876/0 ( 0.0%)
              HDR lightdata [variable] 0/0 ( 0.0%)
              visdata [variable] 645/16777216 ( 0.0%)
              entdata [variable] 1982/393216 ( 0.5%)
              LDR ambient table 85/65536 340/262144 ( 0.1%)
              HDR ambient table 85/65536 340/262144 ( 0.1%)
              LDR leaf ambient 115/65536 3220/1835008 ( 0.2%)
              HDR leaf ambient 85/65536 2380/1835008 ( 0.1%)
              occluders 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
              occluder polygons 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
              occluder vert ind 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
              detail props [variable] 1/12 ( 8.3%)
              static props [variable] 1/466 ( 0.2%)
              pakfile [variable] 106202/0 ( 0.0%)
              physics [variable] 9447/4194304 ( 0.2%)
              physics terrain [variable] 2/1048576 ( 0.0%)

              Level flags = 0

              Total triangle count: 326
              Writing c:\users\user\documents\sourcesdkprojects\basicroom.bsp
              0 seconds elapsed

              ** Executing…
              ** Command: Copy File
              ** Parameters: “C:\Users\user\Documents\SourceSDKprojects\basicroom.bsp” “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer\ep2\maps\basicroom.bsp”

              The command failed. Windows reported the error:
              “The system cannot find the path specified.”

              1. Anon_1396644

                Hey,
                that error is a general error which could have many potential causes (such as that leak) even if the other problems are fixed. The majority of times ive solved that problem just by copying everything, every brush and entity and pasting it into a new map and saving that new map. A good tool for understanding compile errors is interloper’s compile checker. Good luck.

                It seems I don’t have enough time to map for this competition, but it does give me nice inspiration. I really like the idea.

              2. You most likely need to change where it’s placing compiled maps. Go to Tools -> Options. Click on the Build Programs tab. At the bottom, where it says “Place compiled maps in this directory before running the game,” point it to something like:

                $SteamDir\SteamApps\common\Half-Life 2\ep2\maps

                Right now, it’s apparently pointing to Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer or something along those lines, and I doubt that has the folders you need to properly test it.

                1. Anon_1396675

                  That fixed it up, thank you, but now i’m getting another error; “could not load library client” whenever I try to run the map it shows the blurred HL2 menu image and then quits, i’m sorry if this is getting annoying for you, it’s my first time with Hammer.

                  1. Are you trying to run it from Hammer itself? Could you try launching Episode Two on its own and use the console to launch your map instead?

                    Your fundamental problem is that you’re using Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer to build your map instead of Half-Life 2. This is more of a generalized product for building a Source game from scratch, not a mod based on Half-Life 2. While you can configure it to work, ideally, you should be using the hammer.exe in steamapps/common/Half-LIfe 2/bin instead. Because you’re using Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer, it’s assuming that it needs to launch and put all these files in the Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer folders rather than Half-Life 2.

                    1. Anon_1396680

                      Holy crap, it was that simple. Thank you so much

  26. Becuase of me using my free time to play Games isntead of making an entry its gonna fall a little short. I want to keep my (low and rushed) quality standards which means the map is not going to be too big. I hope thats not a problem.

  27. I feel I should at least write something about the progress of the map.

    I haven’t posted anything recently because progress has been, ironically (considering the type of map), extremely non-linear. By dividing each gameplay section in isolated, independent maps, I was able to work on and test several parts of the map in a parallel fashion, jumping from section to section as I felt like it. And I did this a lot. I just like it – I often get “mapping fatigue”, if that makes any sense, after working on the same map for a while and have to take a break every now and then. With this method I just jumped to another section that was different.

    The caveats of doing this are mainly two. First, gauging my progress isn’t as easy because I can’t just look at my plan, then at the level, and calculate how much I have progressed through the mapmaking process in percentage (like I usually do). Second, I don’t get pretty areas that are screenshot-worthy, so I don’t really have anything to show in progress posts.

    So instead of screenshots, in this update I’ll try to summarize my work on the various sections of the level:

    Main Environment: 85% done – Missing: 3D skybox, a way to prevent the player from reaching the map’s boundaries. (this is optional – as cheesy as it may be, bumping against the skybox doesn’t actually break anything besides the player’s immersion). Last priority as it’s only eye candy.

    Section Zero (HUB): 60% done – Missing: a room or two, two corridors, a medium-sized section, lighting.

    Section One (SAND): 99% done – Missing: nothing, but I could add another layer of complexity if I have time, for this reason I didn’t set this to 100%.

    Section Two (CAVE): 70% done – Missing: Lighting and related props, enemies. (only 30% counted as missing because lighting is simple and enemies are one type only, with no scripting)

    Section Three (GEN): 0% done – Missing: everything.

    Section Four (RISE): 0% done – Could be cut. This is going to be a very small section anyways, so I hope I can fit it in.

  28. So yes, despite starting a bit late, I’m pleased to say that my entry is progressing nicely now. I knew what I wanted to build on the 15th, but the structures just weren’t coming together. I revisited it from scratch on the 22nd, a week later, and have made a lot of progress. There will even be a couple Faceposer scenes with voice work courtesy of Mr. Rob Martens.

    Right now, 99% of the level’s gameplay logic works and it is playable from beginning to end. It’s otherwise at a first pass state, with most areas lacking a prop and detail pass. But I’m pleased with how it’s coming together and it’s going to have a couple things you may not have seen before. 🙂

    1. Sounds great. We always love your work, so I am sure I speak for everybody when I say we are looking forward to playing it.

    2. Still chugging along. The last major issues have been banged out, so it’s entering the polishing phase now.

  29. I think I might have to sadly pass on this challenge after all, due to having such little time left and I realized how this theme wasn’t really my style. I hope to join the next mapping challenge though, hopefully it will be a theme I can work better with.

    Good luck to all participants!

  30. Looks like I won’t be making it either. My computer died, lukly I could save alotta the map files, but I can’t acceses hammer.

    I couldn’t save the other mod I was working on. I have an older version…but a lot is missing. IF I can finish that I might release my orginal idea later.

    Good luck to everyone! I’m excited to play it.

    1. Another one bites the dust. Pity, but I understand that sometimes Real Life gets in the way of gaming.

  31. Philip et al, given that you’re going to incorporate the func_dustcloud fix, I wanted to ask about another change.

    Avenue Odessa had a couple material overrides for the tree_decidious_card and tree_pine_card props. If you’re a mapper, I’m pretty sure you’re aware of what these models are – they are the silhouette trees you generally have on the perimeter of the level.

    Well, because of the way they are built, the polygons in them sort weirdly. In other words, if you have tree 2 behind tree 1, sometimes tree 2 will render in front of tree 1. This phenomenon is described here:

    https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/$alphatest#Caveats

    The fix for this was really simple as it involved making the materials use $alphatest instead of $translucent. I’m wondering if we can incorporate this fix.

    There are two files involved.

    (modname)/materials/models/props_foliage/tree_deciduous_cards_01.vmt

    “UnlitGeneric”
    {
    “$alpha” 1
    “$alphatest” 1
    “$alphatestreference” .01
    “$basetexture” “models/props_foliage/tree_deciduous_cards_01”
    “$model” 1
    “$nocull” 1
    “$nodecal” 1
    “$allowalphatocoverage” 1
    }

    (modname)/materials/models/props_foliage/tree_pine_cards_01.vmt

    “UnlitGeneric”
    {
    “$alpha” 1
    “$alphatest” 1
    “$alphatestreference” .01
    “$basetexture” “models/props_foliage/tree_pine_cards_01”
    “$model” 1
    “$nocull” 1
    “$nodecal” 1
    “$allowalphatocoverage” 1
    }

    (Note, if you copy-paste the above, the quotes need to be Shift-‘ quotes, not the slanted kind)

    As this setup was used in Avenue Odessa, I can attest that there aren’t any drawbacks to this change. You can’t tell the difference looking at the model texture and they will sort correctly.

    1. Yep, that sounds fine. If you recommend it, then I will include it.

  32. Wait, I was supposed to be working on this? My brain got consumed by the first Minecraft 1.9 snapshot today…

  33. Oh my god, where has the time gone!?

    1. Oh well, hope you can release it soon.

    2. I’d appreciate it too, as I ended up losing my entire last weekend to working on other things that I’ve needed to do. I’m fine with releasing a map with very little to no detail in some areas other than some textured walls, but I simply ran out of time on this.

    3. Marnamai is a huge negativity to productivity

  34. Unfortunately, I think I’m going to probably just cut my entry out in the end. I’ll keep working on it as a separate release, but it’s just not finished enough to submit. Some personal life stuff kind of reduced a lot of my time and the time I did manage for this I feel like I squandered on brush and entity work.

    As it is, I don’t feel like it’s anywhere close to playable, and I think I kind of knew that for a while. I plan to continue on it and finish it later on, but not by tomorrow.

    Here’s some of the highlights for now (very dark at the moment):
    http://i.imgur.com/E3Adgji.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/oMbORJR.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/QwJ1PRx.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/9ssp21f.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/c7PtvDn.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/nmKG0Vq.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/fD6NBpk.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/3z4ms6t.jpg

  35. Phillip tweeted that there was only one entry. :<

    1. marnamai

      That’s a shame, because it was a great theme.

      1. Yeah, I thought so too. But it’s clear that Time Managment and Real Life are key factors too.

    2. I submitted late, so there will be more maps in there, but mine wasn’t able to be finished. I released it though, as I had most of the game play finished, and I can always use more opinions on how to proceed with the map and maybe release a finished version at some point. All three weekends ended up being take over by other things in my life, which I didn’t expect to happen.

    3. I did. But as everybody has probably seen, I have one late entry too. Hope to get the mod out in a few days.

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