The end...?

I have almost no time right now....or, honestly, ever. Juggling three kids has put this (ig?)noble project on an almost permanent hold.

It also doesn't help that my muse has taken a sabbatical. While I still have visions of Powerplay in my head, when I try to nail down things like overall terrain and even the center area I simply cannot design anything that I like, even on paper. It is extremely frustrating, and is compounded by the fact that I cannot seem to carve out time to play TF2, much less spend any time in Hammer.

I may try to pick this up sometime in the future, but for now I'm afraid it's going to have to go on a shelf. A little piece of me is crying, but the rest is just too exhausted to care too much.

The Ebb and the Flow

unfortunately, we're definitively into "ebb" territory.

work sucks, especially when they lay people off. i'm a survivor, mostly because i'm still a grunt who actually gets work done (at times). this means, however, that i have to pick up the slack left when my boss (co-worker / friend) was let go. somehow, i can't shake the feeling that he's the lucky one.

combine that with everything else and my mapping time has been exactly nothing since my last post. the honest truth of the matter is that i'm exhausted, and trying to work up the energy to stay up that extra hour just to get some work on this done is nigh unto impossible right now. i'm hoping that my lack of real drive and inspiration is just a symptom of adjusting to family stuff. it had better be, because i don't want the Cynical Me - you know, the one who said that actually finishing a level to beta was a pipe dream - to win.

Back On Track

i am feeling much better about my progress thus far - not because i've gotten a whole lot done (which i haven't), but because i'm now pretty confidant about my overall map size. yes, i was planning something that was far too big for a CTF map - i guess i should be thankful i caught it as early as i did.



now the overall shape of the map is obvious. you may also note that i killed my first silo - it was simply way too large for the map. i've got a placeholder there now, and when i'm ready that placeholder will be transformed.

here is a shot from the farmhouse - you'll see the train station (not like Well, just a little stop) which marks the map centerline, and the BLU area in the distance. due to the nature of CTF, the building locations are identical but i hope to give the impression of totally separate areas when i detail them.

one thing i did notice when going through the official Valve maps: there are no critical structures that are angled - only incidentals, like the little shacks outside of Cap A at Gravel Pit. i was planning on angling a couple of my buildings, but seeing them all lined up with the Almighty Grid is making me rethink this. so, my question for anyone interested is this: should i bother trying to angle my buildings (build them out, detail, then angle the entire structure last), or am I just begging for a nightmare, especially when it comes to making playtest updates?

Learning Experience, Right?

quick note: i confirmed that my level is way too big for a ctf map. i'm gonna have to redo the silo and scale the terrain down a bit.

mental note from here on out.....first step, set up the land and connecting interiors only - that way i don't spend as much time on details that i'll just be ripping out later. then i can add blocks for important buildings, and then go from there.

I'm an Idiot.

and no, it's not because i haven't worked on anything. i wasn't even talking about how i check the TF2 Blog on a daily basis, despite the fact that they update almost as often as i.

i'm talking about my tunnel vision with the map. the fact of the matter is that i have done only a little bit, but keep worrying about my scale, and with good reason: i have no overall layout! i've been so focused on getting my grandiose "vision" out into Hammer that i've completely lost sight of potential playability problems. well, no more. after a quick refresher read of the TF2 Mapping Tutorial on the Steam forum, i've decided that my new favorite color will be the Hated Orange Texture.

i also must confess that the bits of spare time i could have used to map were taken up by rediscovering my love for the Heavy, as well as racking up a few achievements. i prefer to wait a bit, just so that i'm not Heavy #6 on a 6-man team. i also picked up a copy of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. yeah, i know it's an old gamecube game, but i'm a sucker for the entire Metroid series.

in other news, i'd like to give a huge shout out to my New Best Friend (only because he commented on my last post ;-) ), Vander. looks like he's in a similar boat, only he's able to devote more time to things than i, lucky guy. thanks for the comment!

Baby Steps

It seems like an easy thing, to grab an hour or two here and there. well, let me tell you, it's very very hard. my progress so far was mostly accomplished over the past two hours tonight.

Here is the inside of the barn, around the sniper window. Not much to see when it's not in-game.

Here is a shot of the Red Complex, including the new silo! The barn will be rotated to a more aesthetically pleasing angle, and then a "secret" passageway will be made between the barn and the silo (yes, you will be able to go in the silo).

Here is the other side. in order to provide some more interesting visuals, this new building will be a garage that is not accessible - it will simply be a play boundary.

I'm concerned about the size of this map ballooning out of control, so I have tried to compress it a bit...but I can't without ruining the farm believability. in your opinion, how large is too large? should i consider it by Hammer units or by scout run time? all comments would be appreciated.

all for now,
-J

New Arrival

hi all - last week saw the arrival of my new son! Third Born arrived with only minor complications! i would gush on and on about him, but honestly it would bore everyone (anyone?) here.





while in the hospital, with wife and baby being taken care of, i got more done. the farmhouse, version 1, is complete!


the above shot is the front of the house. the awning allows rocket/sticky jump access to the second floor, while everyone else can access it via the right-hand stairs. the porch opens to the bottom floor, which opens to two doorways to the outside behind the house.

this is a shot of the back of the house; notice one of the rear entries to the ground floor and the blocked in concrete? inside the concrete (accessible from the top floor only) is the flag room. when everything is complete, the concrete will have radar dishes and other fancy bits on it - my idea is to show a run-down, rustic farmhouse with a poorly-hidden surveillance complex on the back.

one more note: i have put all house brushes into a custom visgroup so that i can easily hide and select them, in the event i want to move or modify the house at all. i will try to do this for all structures; each one will receive its own visgroup, which should make my job easier.

this is the beginnings of the barn - the back part will be red spawn #2, with the metal grate leading to the ground floor and also an open window that can be used as a sniper post and one-way exit. this will eventually also have a rear exit that will lead straight to the house stairs and a semi-hidden tunnel entrance that will lead towards the center of the map (for an alternate route, think 2fort sewers).

all of this was done in the span of two nights, with the house being about 3-4 hours of work and the barn about 1. things are changing at the jynx household, and i'm not sure if it's for the better: Third Born is waking us up a few times at night, keeping us feeling exhausted much earlier than usual, which means putting nighttime time into this will be hard. however, First and Second Born are starting school again, which means i may have some morning time to put in on this, if Third Born lets me.