[WIP] "Down On The Farm" L4D2 Scavenge/Survival

[Oilcake]

OK, figured I'd move the thread over here, seeing as it's developing into something beyond the Winter Challenge. Think I'm gonna call it Down On The Farm, but I reserve the right to change it later on! You can thanks the UK Subs for that one... :lol:

Anyway, for anyone who's interested or hasn't seen it, the first part of this dev thread is over in the Winter 2011 Challenge section. You can check it out here.

Now on to recent progress. I've been working on the barn interior, for the most part. I've done a lot of the detailing, though there's much still to be done in that regard. Started working on some lighting, too. A lot of the lighting you'll see in the following screens is very temporary; some of it will stay, but get tweaked a bunch.





Working on the lower level in Hammer.


Upper area of the barn, facing west.


And the other way round, looking east.


Basement of the barn, just inside the main door, looking west.


Facing north. That's where you'll drop down from the north side of the barn...


Looking out the main doors, facing south east. You can see the ladder to the upper area there, too. That comes up by the really bright floodlights in the second upper level shot above...

Right, that's it for now. Must sleep! :lol:

Cheers! 8-)

[keithgarry]

So out of curiosity, when do you plan on releasing this? Did the map grow too complex for the challenge due date?

[Smog]

Do I see a fance outside without snow displacements! Come on, Andrew, consistency is the key :lol: .

It's looking really good. I love the barn interior.

[Oilcake]

So out of curiosity, when do you plan on releasing this? Did the map grow too complex for the challenge due date?

When it's ready! Yeah, the level of detail and polish I'd like to get out of this were just impossible in that time. Doesn't help that my back is slowing me down, but I don't think I would have finished in time anyway. It would have meant cutting a ton of corners. Basically, I should have made it a bunch smaller to finish in a month. That said, I'm very happy with how it worked out. I'm shooting for another two weeks, which I hope is enough.

Do I see a fence outside without snow displacements! Come on, Andrew, consistency is the key :lol: .

Haha! What's odd is that there IS snow on that fence, but it sure doesn't look like it in this screen, does it? :lol:

-----

More work on the barn interior today, I think...

[Smog]

I'm afraid without evidence to support your claim, Mister Searle, I cannot afford you the luxury of a public apology.

Is their a fade distance on small on small and intricate displacements? I can't say i've noticed such a thing. Interesting though. I can't wait to see more of the level as a whole and of course I can't wait to have a run around and admire the details that you're taking such a long time to finish. For the greater good, I suppose. Or rather greater appeal for the map. I'm rambling.

[Fight]

This is looking better everyday! Would it help performance if you made all those displacements into props? or are you already planning on doing that?

[Qmaster]

I don't think you can do anything with displacements other than just make them. They alread behave like props anyhow since they don't block vis.

[Oilcake]

Those displacements are actually part of the fence model, and shouldn't do anything differently from it. I looked in the full-size original screen, and you can kinda see the snow, it's just a bit hidden by light and stuff... Anyway, a lot of the other bits of snow are models or part of models as well. I'm sure I'll be making more as well! :lol:

And, yeah, I know it's taking longer than I expected, but I think it's gonna be worth it!

[Oilcake]

Did a lot more work on the barn today. Tons of detailing, and a boat load of trim. I figure another day should finish it up, though it still may not be lit properly... A few screens:


Still haven't done any of the snow displacements, but it's starting to look better. I'm really trying to fight that red barn texture into some semblance of decency... :lol: As usual, the ground displacements are crying for attention. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with the foreground exterior, but I'll figure out something.


North side of the barn. Did a load of work on the entrance area. Still need to work on the entrance hatch to the lower level on the left.


Interior shot, facing NE. Pretty sure I'm just about done with work on the beams in here. Just a couple more I need to put in... It's really starting to fell like a barn, I think! Although I gotta say I'm a little annoyed with that tractor...


...Which doesn't want to light properly at all. Not that the lighting is anywhere near done anyway. The prop has to be dynamic, I think, and that may have something to do with it. Anyway, I'll figure it out. Brain dead right now. A little back pain action. Going to bed! :lol:

[keithgarry]

So out of curiosity, when do you plan on releasing this? Did the map grow too complex for the challenge due date?

When it's ready! Yeah, the level of detail and polish I'd like to get out of this were just impossible in that time. Doesn't help that my back is slowing me down, but I don't think I would have finished in time anyway. It would have meant cutting a ton of corners. Basically, I should have made it a bunch smaller to finish in a month. That said, I'm very happy with how it worked out. I'm shooting for another two weeks, which I hope is enough.

You know what though, that's a great learning experience in it self. Now you have a much better idea how long certain sized maps will take to complete and should be able to set much more realistic goals. That's probably worth its weight alone

[Oilcake]

You know what though, that's a great learning experience in it self. Now you have a much better idea how long certain sized maps will take to complete and should be able to set much more realistic goals. That's probably worth its weight alone

Yeah, it sure is...

[Oilcake]

Today I stepped away from the barn for a bit, to get a bit of perspective on it. Instead I did a bunch on the starting area by the plane crash. The idea being, of course, that your plane crashed in the field and here you are... :lol: Several more roof displacements done, as well as a bunch of work on the ground displacements in this area. Still need to work on the ground texturing, but I'll do it all at the same time later on, I imagine. Added the walls down the driveway by the wooden barrier. I'm not positive about using this barrier model here, but it's far down my list of worries right now! Stuck some snow on that SUV model, which I'm not sure I like either. I'll probably mess with it some more. I spent quite a bit of time on the plane crash scene itself...


Finishing up the basic scene. I'm kinda happy with those broken walls. They took long enough! :lol:


I made them (very carefully!) with displacements.


Here it is with all the particle systems and lighting placed. That part is really quite time consuming as well... I'll be doing more work on the lighting, that's for sure!


Plane crash in the game. Looks OK! 8-)


Over view of the driveway/starting area. You can see a lot of the other work that was done here, too.


Looking at the starting area by the plane, barn is behind camera.

That's all for now!

[Aldighieri]

This looks really great. Nice starting area!

Is this going to be available for single player?

My complaint is that I don't see any single player maps from anyone, which sucks because I don't have a good enough internet connection for multiplayer maps.

[Oilcake]

This looks really great. Nice starting area!

Is this going to be available for single player?

Thanks! Well, it will have survival and scavenge modes, so you'll be able to play survival with bots! Best I can do for you...

[keithgarry]

...

I want to play this.