It's been nearly two months now since my last blog. My utter failure to execute on my past two projects (and the outcome of one that I deemed not worth showing) brought my motivation down a few pegs. I've been feeling the itch to get back into working for at least one of those two months now (it's comforting to know that I've developed a genuine craving), but even then I felt the glaring absence of a kernel of a good idea. I felt that if I tried to execute anything lacking this element, my work would remain the same.
But you know what? That's bullshit. There are no great ideas, it's only the execution that matters, because I know that people will enjoy - on some level - the vision that I have in my minds eye. Following out that vision is the only barrier between me and where I want to be, and the only way you can possibly get to where you want to be is to keep moving towards that point, suffering through whatever is standing in the way. If you want it in a metaphorical format: It's a better idea to butt your head against a wall instead of waiting for a sledgehammer to be delivered to you. So that's my advice, I hope it wasn't too "motivational". Anyway.
How 'Bout that Team Fortress 2?
I've been playing a decent amount of TF2 since it went free-to-play, and I love it! When I began playing, I was immediately struck by the beautiful, truly timeless art style, and the sheer ingenuity found in the design of the game. It occurred to me that Team Fortress 2 may be the most well designed FPS I've ever played. If we compare it to it's peers in terms of map design, none of them hold a candle: COD has always been a somewhat rough collection of ideas (It would be like totally wicked if we had like a window here and you'd be like BLAT BLAT BLAT), and BFBC2 requires even less finesse as far as maps are concerned (Okay, middle-eastern town, scatter with vehicles aaaand done).Of course, that's a pretty unfair summation, as there are very much "good" and "bad" maps for those games, but you can't deny that TF2 tends to take a little more finesse then many others in the genre. Balancing the games 9 classes is an absolute feat when so much of their effectiveness comes from the ways they can utilize and exploit the map to their advantage. It must have been an absolutely terrifying prospect for the folks at Valve, attempting to build around a game that had such a complex core, to the point where I'm even amazed they went through with it. And pulled it off to boot!
So obviously, that short meditation on this game led me to thinking: The tools are there, I have less than a quarter of the know-how: Let's do this.
And Lo,
I found my first hitch: I have to use their kind of crappy editor to make this thing. It's certainly not bad, but oh how great it would be to be able to export a fully furnished map from my 3D package of choice. Importing/exporting is certainly possible (and necessary if you want to do anything complicated), but - from what I gather - cannot be used exclusively. The major parts of the level (I.E., walls, floors, ceilings) should comprise of brushes. Nevertheless, I thought it prudent to initially create my level in a familiar environment, and so I decided to go ahead and make it externally before finalizing as needed within the Hammer editor.
My first thought was focused on developing a theme for my map in order to establish a style from which to work from. Honestly, looking at the current list of maps it seemed like all the good ones were taken! A dam, a sawmill, a granary, and that one with the trains. How am I expected to beat trains? Eventually I settled upon the idea of a waterfall. Not as good as trains, but it's the best I could do. I also just kind of assumed it was possible to do a waterfall in source. I still don't know if it is. I have a feeling that I opened a large can of worms when I picked this theme. The implications are slowly sinking in.
I even tried at developing some "concept art" at a point, but unfortunately my hands failed me again and I was unable to put what was in my mind to paper. I decided to take it in to the only medium I was capable in: 3D.
I'm giving myself a meaty deadline for this one: August 21st. From my progress thus far it seems pretty likely that I'll need all, if not more then that time, but I'll mostly be engaged in other things past that date so I have little leeway. Till then, I will be reporting in on my progress at appropriate intervals.
Help Me Out
I've noticed from my older blogs that many expressed some trepidation when commenting and criticizing my work simply because they felt they lacked knowledge of 3D. First of all, I don't care; criticism really helps me out, so fire away. Secondly, in this case, you guys have just as much expertise as I when it comes to video games, if not more. As far as I'm concerned, most of you guys are qualified to be a designer already. So I'm calling on the collective powers of Giantbomb in order to figure out how to make this rough copy eventually work, in the gameplay sense.Rest assured, this map will get made, but I fear that it's primary function will prove less then fun if I'm the only one thinking on it. All you see is not even close to final. Hell, it's unplayable in this state. So I'd like to hear some suggested changes from you guys, drastic or small. It would help me out infinitely if you can provide me some sort of feedback.
Here are a few more renders that are a bit more "diagnostical", to give a clearer picture of what I have going on here so far:
Gallery
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