What are you working on RIGHT NOW? - Community WIP thread

[rujuro]

Thanks for all the encouragement.
I actually think the labyrinthine twisty space you've got going there is pretty cool Ghandaiah. Quick question, how are you mashing all those bits together, are they all static meshes? I'm amout to start working on the inside of the mountain, and I've had some trouble getting brushes to intersect without breaking everything (I've looked at the unreal wikki, but haven't found the info I need).

[Ghandaiah]

The main area seen in those two shots is supposed to be a deep, narrow chasm, so basically it's just one big rectangular brush (with a bit of a tilt to the walls), and then that doorway is just another rectangle carved into one side. Everything else, all the uneven structure of the rock and arched formations, the columns, all that, it's all static meshes. It was kind of funny, the way I just kept dumping loads of them in and slapping them together without really caring what was intersecting what and where, as long as it looked good. A lot of those meshes are 90% in null space at really funny angles and whatnot. Turned out not to be problematic at all, runs fine, looks good. Most of them don't cast shadows so I've gotten a lot of detail in already.

Now if I could just get my damn emitter to work. Figured out how to make a custom door type (rotted little wooden trap door that rotates on a Y axis) just through experimenting, yet I sat there and copied all the settings from a company emitter effect into my own, with slight variations, and the damn thing still shows up weird in-game.

[LordK2002]

Wow. I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far. I can't wait to play these.

I'm still looking forward to finding out how these maps are going to be distributed.

Currently it looks like the only way to play these FMs is to download the 330 MB editor package, and then wait 3.5 minutes to load each level (due to the lack of .ibt files, whatever they are).

[Ghandaiah]

And that will always be the only way to play them.

Regardless I say they be distributed by small donkey.

Trust me on this one. I'm good at giving advice.

[rujuro]

I actually don't think that downloading the editor is going to be necessary, if I understand the stuff that d'Spair is discovering correctly (he seems to have gotten missions playable in the standard T3 install), but they will take a long time to load unless someone figures out how to compile .itb's.

It also looks like there will need to be a lot of replacing and backing up of original content with custom content. Hopefully someone will make a utility to make that process easy on the user.

[New Horizon]

Check out this thread.

http://ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94324

All hope may not be lost for IBT generation.

I'm curious as to who would know how to do this? Surely there must be an ex Ion staff member we can contact?

[deadman]

http://img73.exs.cx/img73/8159/castleview13dr.jpg

*greedy masses:* Higher resolution screenshots, dammit!

This would definitely rock as a first Thief 3 FM. I'm sure someone with a much smaller/simpler vision will surpass you... Not that this is a race, or anything

deadman.

[Weasel]

It also looks like there will need to be a lot of replacing and backing up of original content with custom content. Hopefully someone will make a utility to make that process easy on the user.

That sounds like Darkloader. Or Fleshloader. Or whatever the next one gets called. Dracflamloc already has plans to start making it (or maybe he already started making it).

[rujuro]

As requested, higher res. Still getting the opening area set up, reworked some scale, and got stuck trying to get my meshes to cast shadows. Very frustrating. I really hope someone can figure out a clue. Some meshes it works perfect, some partially, but on my custom ones, nada.

Little wall climbing in there too, alternate route.

[sterlino]

rujuro that last screenshot is AMAZING !!!

just a week and you put it out this marvelleous thing .... WOW.

can't wait for more to come

[rujuro]

Hey, Thanks! It's obviously still got a long way to go, but I have most of the mission flow, narrative, and objectives worked out now, know exactly what rooms the castle/ancient area under the castle will need, so it's really a matter of banging my head against this thing to make it all possible.

[Eshaktaar]

Impressive work, rujuro! Gots me a question: How did you go about making that mountain? Does it largely consist of BSP or did you create custom static meshes for it?

[goldwolf]

Rujuro - Out of curiosty, how much work did you do before you started modelling? I saw the 2 concept drawings(great by the way), did you do floor plan work aswell? more concept drawings?

I`ve never made a thief FM and after this came out I`m considering starting one, perhaps doing concept drawings first as I already have an idea of what I want.

[rujuro]

Heh, the mountain is one huge static mesh. It's far less complex than it looks, the normal mapping does a great deal in this regard. As far as prep work goes, I started with a thin idea, did those concept drawings, then wrote down the key objectives and narrative points for the level. I knew the basic spaces I was going to work with from the sketches, I then figured out exactly what rooms would be necessary for the story and gameplay that I have in mind (also some which just make the world more "real").
I will be doing a detailed floorplan before I construct the interior of the mountain/castle, but I have given myself a lot of space, and the general layout is already clear in my head.

Hope that helps. Obviously the more planning/drawing you do beforehand, the better the final result will be.

EDIT: BTW, take everything I say with a huge grain of salt, this is my first FM too (although I do make game art for a living, so that's something I guess).

[goldwolf]

Thanks for the input. You have already done some amazing work and I`ll be looking forward to trying it out.

[Twist]

EDIT: BTW, take everything I say with a huge grain of salt, this is my first FM too (although I do make game art for a living, so that's something I guess).

You're stuff is damn impressive. I immediately wondered where we might've seen your work before. Usually someone doesn't exhibit such impressive material without having some kind of reputation or portfolio.

So when you wrote "I do make game art for a living," I thought "Ah."

I like your stuff enough that I'm curious to see some of your other work. Care to share games or companies for which you've produced art?

(If you'd prefer to keep your privacy, I can respect that. )

[rujuro]

No problem, I've actually been at the same company since I got out of school (5 years now). Incredible Technologies in Chicago. Our big game is Golden Tee Golf, although I've worked on a number of other projects here (in fact my contributions to golden tee have been minimal, except for the new version, all new engine, shipping next month, where I did quite a lot).

It's almost all coin-op: Carnival King (shooting game), A 3D video pinball (which is still testing), a prototype for a PS2 game (which I thought was damn cool, but it never got off the ground).

My real passion is for games like Thief though, hope to someday be involved in a project more like that (hence spending all my free time making this FM).

[Komag]

Well, Sledge worked on Thief FMs and then got a job working on Thief 3! (What's happening with him now, anyone know?)

[epithumia]

I believe Sledge was reborn as Raen, who you should see around here and the T2X forum quite frequently.

[ReapMyster]

I'm not learning to use the editor (not enough time). But I am really looking forward to seeing what people come up with. Rujuro.. is there any way you can add some kind of thunder claps to the outside (kind of like widow moira mission)? That would make the castle on a mountain theme look awesome.

[rujuro]

I have thought about that, but I'm actually going for a different tone, more of a impossibly high, secluded, ancient place that is being put to a new (potentially dangerous) use. I'm actually hoping to do a lot with wind sounds.

[Rosd]

Nice work so far rujoro!
Right now I'm just working on a simple mission set inside the City, maybe with some rooftop acess if possible. I'm not trying to go too crazy though, just make a mission that runs decently and works. Everyone likes work-in-progress shots, so I grabbed a few last time I compiled it.









Oh, and lets see some more pictures, seeing what other people are doing is great, even if they are simple tests

[bloodyzeppelins]

Looks awesome Rosd! Will you be releasing that once its finished?

[Rosd]

Releasing it is the plan, with some betatesting before then. Can't give you a timeline on anything though, I only started this 3 days ago and I'm not even half done.

[ReapMyster]

hey rujuro i see what you mean... still i reckon a bit o thunder with some heavy wind sounds wouldnt hurt for any vibe hehe... i just visualize that quick lighting effect you get with thunder bringing everything into stark detail before it all dissapears again.. but its probably my own fantasies coming out into play here... man i wish i could make my own mission but just dont have the time it would take...

however i should let people know that ive been doing some sound engineering as a hobby for the past few years and for the moment have my hands on some equipment so if people need some cleaning up of conversations (for instance background noise reduction) or the production or music / sounds (particularly spooky ones ;P), ive got some experience