Half-Life2 - LBA1 Citadel Island

[DarkOnistar]

Ok I've decided.
I am going to make a map for LBA in Half-Life2 (Source SDK).

My map is going to be of LBA1 Citadel Island.
I much hoped of doing LBA2 Citadel Island but was kinda stuck on how design most of the layout, I haven't used the Hammer editor much so making the geometry would be a nightmare.

Anyway heres a WIP (Work in Progress)

Yes I know theres no gate, nor any walls. This is just the layout which things will be added afterwards.

I'm using this image as the base. (I've circled areas for suggestion)


I'm considering the following:
HL2 Deathmatch
Rebels spawn near houses. Combine spawn near funfrock teleporters.

Garrysmod
Everybody spawns in an area around the docks. (purple/pink marker)

Team Fortress 2
Blue marker shows blue spawn. Red shows red spawn. Green = capture points.

Counter Strike Source
Hostage situation perhaps? The island is such a shape which makes it awkward to place teams except a stand off since theres no cover.

What do you think?

[Kobold]

Would have fitted into the Fan Maps forum.

[DarkOnistar]

Originally Posted by Kobold

Would have fitted into the Fan Maps forum.

Ah sorry, I didn't see the forum otherwise I would of placed this thread there.

[Kitarii]

Moved it.
Anyway looks pretty good, these maps need to be fairly simple anyway.
Don't suppose you could knock up a Counter Strike (Source) version?

[DarkOnistar]

The good thing about it is I considered various versions to begin with.
A CS:S version could be made since I'm mapping in "Ep1 Half-Life2" the default Half-Life2 engine, so it will convert without compatibility errors.

Once the overall map is done, I drag the map into Hammer (but changing the settings of hammer before hand to be set for "Counter Strike Source", the scripting will be a challenge. I'll need to read up on it, but for the time being I'll just make the layout)

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Edit: Argh!!
Curse Steam and its automatic updater! It closed hammer on me without warning, and while I was saving.
I made a backup earlier, but I gotta redo an akward shaped corner with getting a visible areas to the void.

(The map can't have any gaps between each 'block' or you lagg or glitch / crash. - Unless theres a skybox or something around the whole island. Although you don't want to see the sky through a set of stairs though do you..)

[Zerath^]

yeaj that happens to me all the times :/

[xesf]

Good luck dude, hope to see more progress.

[DarkOnistar]

CModelLoader::Map_IsValid:  No such map 'lba'
map load failed: lba not found or invalid

Steam hates me..

I'm never had this error before but now I'm not sure why its coming up.
I wanted to test the section I done so far to see if a block was displaying.

Aparently a corner which connects two slopes at a right angle keeps glitching and disappearing. I thought I fixed it and wanted to check ingame but this error has put me back.
I'm not sure what I did last time, but I didn't ever get this error.

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Edit: If your interested Zerath, I could send you my work so far.
Modelling the map seemed pretty straight forward, but getting it to preview is a pain.

I'm working in "Source SDK - Half-Life2" (not any other modes like Deathmatch or CounterStrike, so the map can be easily converted later for the various games.)

[leoboe]

actually that might be an error caused by your running-program
I think you should try to export it for HLM and load the map manually
Iirc I had the same erro when trying to run a map for CS 1.6 I made in Hammer.

[RosaMarietheCow]

whats this deathmatch, half life 2 thing?

[DarkOnistar]

Originally Posted by RosaMarietheCow

whats this deathmatch, half life 2 thing?

Steam game.. Half-Life2 Deathmatch.
It uses the source engine.

Originally Posted by leoboe

actually that might be an error caused by your running-program
I think you should try to export it for HLM and load the map manually
Iirc I had the same erro when trying to run a map for CS 1.6 I made in Hammer.

I'll go export and see if that helps.
If not I'll go try modifying the map I've done earlier that did actually run.

Heres showing the maps I've done before
http://halflife2.filefront.com/devel...kOnister;27355
note: the lighting in that map was meant to be like that, otherwise it felt way too small. That was first map and my test map to test out all the building tools (and weapon entities).

I did make a 2nd map, but it wasn't published due to bad design and I decided to scrap it. (Building inside confined space, with alot of clipping errors) - I've made a note of that and been checking for bugs in this new map.

[Zerath^]

Also, never make maps and name them like : "Lba 2" instead name them "Lba_2"

[DarkOnistar]

Originally Posted by Zerath^

Also, never make maps and name them like : "Lba 2" instead name them "Lba_2"

Yeah I found that out when I tried making my 2nd map.
The name glitched and the console couldn't read the name, said it didn't exist.
I've been naming my project by one word for now, which might bring up the discussion for the map name later.

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Edit: I've found the problem.
I haven't been using Hammer for a while so I didn't think much of the compiler; it was on expert mode and set for settings that were just impossible or asking for a computer crash. - I went to set it to default. I've had a steam update sent to me after HL2 crashed, apparently compatibility errors with x64 version which is fixed now so I can view my own map now.

The map will run on everybody's version of half-life2.
CounterStrike, TeamFortress2 won't work, since no scripting yet.. but since I've got that section shown in the screenshots above to full work without having the horrible starting bugs, I'm well on my way to making progress.


Bugs fixed: The ramp at the bottom had a grassy slope to the side which when I tried to link to slopes at a right angle together it formed a horrible glitch which I've tried countless times to fix. I've fixed it by removing it, which hasn't changed too much but I'll try covering up later so the map does look the same. (I'm trying to keep it the same without any major changes to the layout)

=========

Post2: Doing some re-adjustments and fixing up several clippings. There's barely any clippings now with the surface blocks and the wall blocks.
I'd say I've done about 1/5 or 1/4 if your not counting the docks.

Check the screenshot to see progress.

========
Post 3: (somebody post.. this post is getting really long now..)

I've made progress and I'm currently doing the ramps which is heading into Lupinburg. I was thinking of how lame a Team Fortress2 capture the points would be since the map isn't even so people would complain. Then it hit me. Steam has recently released the scripts for the 'payload' which is where you push an object all the way to selected location.

Heres a screenshot with my idea. - I would post a screenshot of progress but I'll wait till people post again in this thread or it'll seem pointless adding more to this 1 post.

[Jasiek]

Can't you do the grass parts as models? Or height maps? The engine should allow those... HL2 had them.

[DarkOnistar]

Originally Posted by Jasiek

Can't you do the grass parts as models? Or height maps? The engine should allow those... HL2 had them.

You can add grass models, but the fact is do with gameplay.
Each item of grass that sways produces lagg or lower fps.

Multiplayer that is one of the worst things, singleplayer it isn't.
On top of that I'm not sure how to do that yet. It could be added later.



It is scaling which has been what I've been focusing on.
Another thing is that every block (wall, surface..) has textures on every side by default. I gotta put "NoDraw" on all the sides not being shown otherwise lower fps and higher lagg.

note: I added a temp skybox just to 'run map' so I can search for errors easily which are covered by the grid lines in the editor.

[Jasiek]

I don't mean swaying grass sprites, I mean model the areas you need to be more smooth in some modelling program and import them.

[xesf]

Great improvement. Keep going.

[DarkOnistar]

I now feeling like crying.

I've got to put a border/wall/coast line to the whole map.
My idea of putting blocks around the map completely failed as they are seen as errors.

If anybody has any ideas of how to fix the coast line it would be nice.



The coast line blocks you see at the bottom. I dunno if I'll keep those, since they're glitched and constantly changing shape.

If I can ask, I could simplify the bottom coast of Citadel Island it would greatly help. 1 big stretch block would solve all my problems right about now. (It would then look the island from LBA2 some what)


I'll put a list of the things to do still in the modelling/mapping stage.

1. Add cliffs around Asylum/citadel area
2. Add coastal line
3. Add water or fake water around the island
4. The walls are in place but some have fences on them, which need adding in.
5. Add doors to the buildings; I'm thinking of making a real door opening to a small tiny space/room for one person.. so if need be it could be used as a teleporter later, but for now its just appearance.
6. Set all blocks to "NoDraw" then put the textures on only visible areas to improve gameplay.

I was also wondering if anybody has any textures to suit the LBA theme.

[DarkOnistar]

No reply.. and my edit time has expired..
Anyway.. continuing on.



I have added the sand texture to the bottom of the skybox and a object for water.
The water works, splashing.. sinking the works; although I was considering putting a kill floor over the water so you die when you touch the water.

I gotta put 'NoDraw' on now, which will be my next step.
Check out the steps I gotta do in my last post.


Textures for LBA would be appreciated.
LBA remake or any fan projects. If I don't have any LBA textures, I'll have to improvise which won't look as good.

[Bot13]

This project is becoming way more exciting than I expected. Keep adding detaills, as you've got your basic layout blocked out now.
Can't help you with the technical HL2 Engine stuff, but it reminds me that I should mod something for HL2 in the near future as well.

[Zerath^]

Looking good there champ!

[Kitarii]

Yeah it's looking good, should be a cool map to play.

[DarkOnistar]

I've added all the doors to the level now.
Theres a small room for each of them only big enough for your character to stand in, this will be used for teleporters later.

I'm now sectioning off the map and dragging in out into another map file, then I'll put "NoDraw" on all blocks and start texturing them.

I can replace textures, so if theres any LBA textures then I can change it to them.

[DarkOnistar]

(24 hours, cannot edit last post)

I've got even further now.
The main part of the map is now complete and I've put it into HL2:MP (aka.. deathmatch)

Heres a screenshot from doing a beta test with 2 people I know from Teppe Community. (I scratched that onto the sign using the crowbar )



Map bugs found:

• Some trees weren't touching the ground but hovering. (simply mistake that can be corrected quickly)
• Sv_cheats 1 = all textures goes black since theres no light source in the map. (Gotta add a light source to the map)
• Players run across the water - need kill trigger for the water.
• Ammo needs to be seperated from weapons to prevent weapon camping. (gonna move items about)
• Saw-blade physics props don't work, they just become part of the map and not a usable prop for killing. (going to remove)
• Console says theres an error with no actions set on the doors (dunno how to fix. Its always the same)
• Textures are unsupported warning. (Works but console brings it up at the start of the map)

Besides those bugs the map has been working well.

I've been quoted on the size of the buildings, when in actual fact I never did the inside of the buildings yet. Theres doors to buildings but only a tiny inside that only allows for opening and closing doors.

Once these bugs are fixed I'll be ready to release the map publicly.

[Dino-Fly]

Hey, that looks excellent!