[Scot]

So this is the first time I've seen this map in a few weeks.

What the fuck is with the tunnels? How could they possibly be of use for building (the entire purpose of construct)?

[GameDev]

Again, I can't stress enough how you're not using light_spots. Using light entity gives that extra lighting above the prop which is unrealistic.



You can clearly see the light_spot gives a more realistic appeal, and it looks perfect for an underground environment. With a bit of tweaking from the default settings, you can make it look really good.

[Gran PC]

Chippiewill00 posted:

Some people might even want to play hide and seek on the map. Garry's mod is often just for pissing around on and you cannot forget that.

Yeah, this is true. I love how the map has some places to hide in.

[PenguinGuy]

Gran PC posted:

Yeah, this is true. I love how the map has some places to hide in.

And I hate the way people don't see that!

[Zoshi235]

Scot posted:

So this is the first time I've seen this map in a few weeks.

What the fuck is with the tunnels? How could they possibly be of use for building (the entire purpose of construct)?

If I'm not mistaken, the tunnels were Garry's idea.

[Timezbrick]

I'm just loving where this map is going, you guys are doing a great job

[Kavukamari]

Chippiewill00 posted:

- The tower with the floors in it needs that hole in the floors back. I don't really think garry was thinking straight when he asked for them to be removed, but it now neglects the main use it was going to have, which is being used for shitty battle floors for those terrible kill breen things. And whilst I and most people probably hate those things new users probably love making them, and considering gm_construct is mostly used by new players you really do need to cater for them quite heavily. In the same manner you need the space there so that people can build elevators for their lair they inevitably build in the tower. Currently the only practical way to get to each floor is no clipping since building an elevator up the side of the tower is in my opinion too difficult. In my opinion all areas of the map should be accessible without noclip... (Except for maybe the skybox)

I agree 100%. The holes in the floors were nice in the building, it made everything a lot more accessible and it just made a lot more sense to me. I especially agree with the notion of making everything accessible without noclip. As someone said earlier in the thread, I think it's important for every area to at least be mostly accessible without noclip, if there is an area that's difficult to get to without noclip, that's fine, but no area except the credits room and skybox (or some other things or whatever, I dunno) should be impossible to reach without noclip, in my opinion.

Chippiewill00 posted:

The reason why this is one of the first successful attempts on an improvement to gm_construct is because neither of you are excellent mappers, this seems counter-intuitive but bear with me. A decent mapper would turn the map into something different, the theme and tone of the map would be changed entirely, they'd change textures to make it pretty, improve brushwork to make it less blocky. These mappers are too focussed on the aesthetics to realise that this map is primarily to build stuff on, the blockyness makes it more practical, the simple textures don't serve to be a distraction. Also the bits you've done fit in pretty well with garry's not-so-great mapping. The map STILL feels like gm_construct.

The underground complex is different, the tunnels themselves are never going to be used for building (Someone might build a train system in there but that's about it), they're either going to be used for posing or shitty kill breens, so suddenly aesthetics aren't that bad to have, they don't distract from anything else and in fact top notch mappers could add SO MUCH here where they would overcomplicate else where. What you need to do is let some really good mappers loose on the underground bit, and it already seems like you're going to do this with the competition thing, just watch out for the style from becoming inconsistent.

I think I get what you mean here. I think this project is great in the first place and does fit the game and the feel of original construct very well. If a "professional" mapper was doing the remake I think there would be too many superfluous things added like all of the construct-flatgrass combo maps all over the place (which aren't bad, per-se, but they wouldn't fit as the new default construct if you ask me) if I remember correctly, weren't the original construct maps (3 through to 9 or so) made by garry personally so that he could mess around easier in the earlier versions of GMod? I like the idea of keeping it a small project, but I also like the idea of expanding to newer/more mappers in the community by having the chance to edit some vmf's for potential modified areas, if you know what I mean.

Chippiewill00 posted:

Optimisation:
Again, as a non-mapper I could be wrong about this however I'm braced for boxes. The impression I get is that most of the optimisation can be done post-event, so under what logic would you waste time when making something to see how it looks and to get feedback on it to to also optimise it when it's actually possible to do it after the map is "feature complete" and not waste mapping time on optimising stuff you later remove?

Yeah I think optimization can be mostly saved until the end, but I'm not sure it matters when it's done, as long as it's done pretty well..

[skullorz]

Kavukamari posted:

I agree 100%. The holes in the floors were nice in the building, it made everything a lot more accessible and it just made a lot more sense to me. I especially agree with the notion of making everything accessible without noclip. As someone said earlier in the thread, I think it's important for every area to at least be mostly accessible without noclip, if there is an area that's difficult to get to without noclip, that's fine, but no area except the credits room and skybox (or some other things or whatever, I dunno) should be impossible to reach without noclip, in my opinion.

Garry said to remove the holes.

[Kavukamari]

skullorz posted:

Garry said to remove the holes.

That doesn't mean we have to keep it like that if the majority of people think it should be the other way, I'm sure garry would understand.

(that doesn't mean I think the majority of people DO want it the other way, we should have a vote on it or something to find out)

[vexx21322]

GameDev posted:

Again, I can't stress enough how you're not using light_spots. Using light entity gives that extra lighting above the prop which is unrealistic.



You can clearly see the light_spot gives a more realistic appeal, and it looks perfect for an underground environment. With a bit of tweaking from the default settings, you can make it look really good.

Could also simulate light bounce with a light entity at a very low brightness. if used right, it looks good.

[Colton Rappe]

vexx21322 posted:

Could also simulate light bounce with a light entity at a very low brightness. if used right, it looks good.

We are tidying up the lights a little, making them not flicker anymore, and such, but I cannot stress it enough that we would like the community to stop reporting bugs and issues with the map for now, we are very near publishing the Community Contest VMFs to the internet for everyone to get started with. That is our primary focus right now, not fixing parts of the map that might be replaced with something better from the community contest. (The tunnels, possibly).

HighVoltage will inform everyone of when the VMF's are available.

[Aurora93]

so you're setting up the map as just a series of func_instances?

[Darkassassin0]

Aurora93 posted:

so you're setting up the map as just a series of func_instances?

no there isolating areas of the map into separate .vmf's for the community to work on.

[Aurora93]

Darkassassin0 posted:

no there isolating areas of the map into separate .vmf's for the community to work on.

func_instance is an entity that recreates sections from other VMFs as if the part of the VMF already existed in the map in the first place. effectively by setting sections of the map up as func_instances, one could easily "swap" between different VMF entries instead of having to delete and replace brushwork in the main VMF manually

Edited:

of course you might have to set up a few temporary nodraws and some other essential entities to make the "mini-VMFs" compilable and testable, but that's really nothing

[highvoltage]

I have finished sectioning off and uploading the .vmfs of various parts of the map for anyone to modify and improve on.
This is going to be like a small contest, starting right now and ending at 11:59 PM on April 10th, people will be able to submit their modified .vmf(s). Then a series of voting will take place in this thread. All entries for each section will have their own post and voting will be done through the rating system and will last 48 hours to ensure as many votes as possible.
The community will then get to choose their favourites (whether it be any of the new ones or how it was orginally) and if the votes are too close then a compromise will be made (combining top choices, or something similar).
I will then merge the winners to the actual map and post it so everyone can see how it turned out. If a section is greatly disliked then a re-vote may be considered.

So,

Here are sections that you can modify along with some rules/limits:

Underground bunker
-The room can't go any higher then the ceiling that is already there.
-It can be as wide and long as you want as long as it fits between the tunnels and the floating walls at the side and back.
-Can go pretty much as deep as you want.
-Your may change the tunnel walls if you want to add/remove doors and windows.

Download

Skyscraper
-Your only size limit is the walls of the building itself.
-You may modify the walls themselves as long as the shape and preferably outer textures stay the same (eg. Adding openings to the baloneys is okay)
-I have included the end of the tunnel because I have yet to build a staircase to the interior of the building. You don't have to include them but it was the original plan.
-One possible idea that I had was to make the top open somehow and design the inside for building rockets, kind of like a missile silo.

Download

Submarine room
-The isn't much of a size limit as everything but the water passage is out of the map.
-Feel free to modify the water passage, tunnel and displacements.
-The water level cannot be moved and making the water lower in the room as already been explained to cause problems.

Download

3D Skybox
-The sky is the limit ()
-I included a bare bones version of the map itself so you can see how it would look from the map itself.
-I also included a skybox scale edge of the map in the skybox so you can get an idea where everything can go.

Download

Top of darkroom stairs
-I included this because a few people wanted another room there.
-Not much of a size limit because its outside of the map, but remember that you run the risk of it being seen in the skybox.

Download

Tunnel from spawn building to apartment
-Pretty basic, includes because it needs improvement.

Download

Overall rules and guidelines
-No custom textures or models. I'm not sure how open Garry is to adding them too the game and any attempts of packing them into the map ended in game breaking glitches.
-Make sure to only use textures and models that are default to HL2 and won't be overwritten if you mount TF2 first or something.
-Try to keep the construct feeling. I know I failed this with the Silent Hill like tunnels. (I'm going to fix this) We don't want the rooms to be a huge contrast from the rest of them map.
-I think that's pretty much it..

These rules aren't final and will probably change over the next few days

[BLOODGA$M]

Regarding the "elevator holes" that were removed from the building interiour, in my experience with the current map it's easy to make a decent elevator system using the balconies that already there, and my opinion is that the removal of the holes makes the floor plan more consistent and makes each floor feel more "private", which I like.

[Dr.Cola]

The mirror, the door leading to the colour room and the walls for the colour room are apparently movable

[highvoltage]

Dr.Cola posted:

The mirror, the door leading to the colour room and the walls for the colour room are apparently movable

Strange, I cannot confirm this.

[GameDev]

make a keyvalue gmod_allowphysgun and set it to 0

[PenguinGuy]

Thanks for the VMFs! Gonna work on the skybox!

Edited:

Done the skybox, gonna see what it looks like in-game
Here's a link of JUST the skybox.
[OLD LINK REMOVED]

Edited:

Latest version of my Skybox:
VMF: http://www.mediafire.com/?4l2z4zon8t3p7ue
BSP: http://www.mediafire.com/?9chkqtd91noswc9

[phabeZ]

PenguinGuy posted:

Thanks for the VMFs! Gonna work on the skybox!

Edited:

Done the skybox, gonna see what it looks like in-game
Here's a link of JUST the skybox.
[OLD LINK REMOVED]

Edited:

Latest version of my Skybox:
VMF: http://www.mediafire.com/?4l2z4zon8t3p7ue
BSP: http://www.mediafire.com/?9chkqtd91noswc9

Could you just post a screenshot/image of the skybox?

[PenguinGuy]

phabeZ posted:

Could you just post a screenshot/image of the skybox?

Will do, but the lighting isn't the same as in the map, I think HV changed it so people can't see the values they use!

http://i.imgur.com/4SxdU.jpg

Not fully finished, got some cutting to do and fixing of the displacement! (Update coming soon)

Edited:

UPDATE:
BSP: http://www.mediafire.com/?c3ucmyacusn4hkm

Not much different, just fixed disappearing buildings displacements and camera!
( ALL OF THESE ARE COMPILED ON FAST!!!! I WILL NOT CHANGE THIS BECAUSE IT TAKES 2 MILLION YEARS ON NORMAL!!!!!! )

[highvoltage]

I didn't change any of the lighting settings, they are exactly the same as the actual map.

GameDev posted:

make a keyvalue gmod_allowphysgun and set it to 0

I already did that, which is why its strange.

[Robotboy655]

highvoltage posted:

I already did that, which is why its strange.

Maybe Dr.Cola is just not using sandbox?

[Dorkslayz]

The map looks like it's getting along wonderfully, however

I think you should add some sort of door (or tunnel even, would be cooler) to get from the what appears to be a boat building section to the main lake on the map.

[highvoltage]

Robotboy655 posted:

Maybe Dr.Cola is just not using sandbox?

-snip wrong topic-
There might be scripts bypassing it

[Dr.Cola]

highvoltage posted:

A lack of HDR might also make it seem different.

I am on sandbox, but it's on multiplayer too if that could make any difference.

[kill for fun]

highvoltage posted:

Strange, I cannot confirm this.

Yeah this happens on a lot of servers with movable doors and elevators some how the map brakes and everything is movable and nobody ever nows what causes this

[highvoltage]

kill for fun posted:

Yeah this happens on a lot of servers with movable doors and elevators some how the map brakes and everything is movable and nobody ever nows what causes this

I think maybe some script is bypassing it either by accident or on purpose.

[CloneDeath]

Is this also a bug in gmod 12? I vaguely remember being able to mess up some stuff before, but I figured it was the mapper's problem, not a bug in gmod.

[mil0001]

highvoltage posted:

I think maybe some script is bypassing it either by accident or on purpose.

Probably prop protection script like FPP or SPP. If your owner or admin it will probably let you move everything.

[jackool]

mil0001 posted:

Probably prop protection script like FPP or SPP. If your owner or admin it will probably let you move everything.

Yeah this is most likely exactly why, all prop protection addons allow owners to pick up anything unless it's toggled off.

[highvoltage]

mil0001 posted:

Probably prop protection script like FPP or SPP. If your owner or admin it will probably let you move everything.

After messing around in the map for a bit it seemed like if you load the map a bunch of times you gain the ability to move objects with the gmod_allowphysgun keyvalue set to zero. And even after changing the map to gm_Blackmesa_Sigma I noticed that I could move the lifts and doors there too, when you couldn't before. So I think it might be a bug in Garrys Mod itself.

[Zoshi235]

I can confirm that Physgunning the doors, walls and mirror is possible, but only in Multiplayer. The fact that you can also physgun other players in Multiplayer tells me that it's Garry's fault, not yours.

[kill for fun]

highvoltage posted:

After messing around in the map for a bit it seemed like if you load the map a bunch of times you gain the ability to move objects with the gmod_allowphysgun keyvalue set to zero. And even after changing the map to gm_Blackmesa_Sigma I noticed that I could move the lifts and doors there too, when you couldn't before. So I think it might be a bug in Garrys Mod itself.

Report this to Garry please :)

[mil0001]

I kind of thought up this idea for the submarine room. I fail at mapping but someone should take this idea and make it HOT.

When pressing the button it lifts a big platform out of the water. Since we can't move the water... we can move the ground :)

[MacD11]

I have been thinking about what i want to do for this project, and im wondering, would remaking Red Faction's glass house be okay?

My idea for it is it would looks the same and/or similar, and the main idea for it is to show what source can do as well as provide something fun for people to goof around with with their weapons.

It would either feature fake DMM glass and wood, fake DMM wood and func_breakable_surf glass, or completely indestructible wood with func_breakable_surf glass.

I'm not sure what room this would be in, haven't looked at the vmfs yet (currently making a TF2 map), but if its possible and/or liked i will work on it, even if im relatively new to mapping.

I also have ideas to make the bunker room an "aquarium room" and to make the room by the dark room stairs the old color room, but im not sure.

   of course there wouldn't be destructible ground, if your wondering. :P   

Not understanding what the disagrees mean...

[danielmm8888]

Zoshi235 posted:

I can confirm that Physgunning the doors, walls and mirror is possible, but only in Multiplayer. The fact that you can also physgun other players in Multiplayer tells me that it's Garry's fault, not yours.

Can you try doing it with ASSMod disabled?

[Zoshi235]

danielmm8888 posted:

Can you try doing it with ASSMod disabled?

I'll ask my buddy Mr Blue next time he plays.

[Dredile]

Im helping High Voltage remake the inner halls, ive come up with a design that i think is good, (im mapping it out at the moment) ill post a pic in a bit to see if you guys like it.