UT2004 Map: 1on1-MobiusLabs

FunkaDelicDass

Hey, so I've been out of the games biz since Sept. last year, dealing with illness. When I had moments when I was feeling well, I decided to keep my skills up to par by working on a map for UT2004. Here are the finished results:









More screenshots, wires, texture flats here:
http://www.sunny-d.com/mobiuslabs_pics.htm

Oh, if you want to download it, you can grab it here:
http://nalicity.beyondunreal.com/map_hub.php?mid=9036

It's 100% new textures and static meshes. Crits appreciated, especially from those of you who play it. It's my first map and I'd like to make more, so I'd like to hear what you think about flow, size, etc.

-Sundeep

malcolm

Wow man, that's really cool. I really like your colour pallette and all those little red dots on the props.

Daz

yeah that looks fantastic. Really nice feel to it. Great lighting too.

PlayfulPuppy

Yeah, the lighting's fantastic!

About the only crit I have is that it looks far too busy, especially in the second shot. The eye doesn't really snap to any place in paticular, which I've always found to be a nightmare with navigation.

However, I feel this way about many of the UT2004 maps, so it's probably just a personal preference thing.

Irritant

Love the detail and colour palette.

I'll download this one and let you know how it plays.

Downsizer

Very cool, i'll play it when I get home. My only thought is that the transition betwwen floor and wall or wal and cieling is too sharp, and needs a distraction border or something, like... futuristic crown...moulding...ill be... over...here..

ScoobyDoofus

That is really neat! I like the aesthetic you've created here and the all new assets are impressive.
It looks like you've got some mega-stretched textures in the ceiling.
It does indeed seem a little busy. Hard to follow visually.

I really like your textures. Very clean & well made.

cman2k

Very cool man, I especially loved the way you showed your progression on the other page, and the paintovers on the blocked out level. Really awesome stuff, thanks for sharing!

FunkaDelicDass

Hey, thanks everyone for the comments. I wasn't sure if the lighting was totally successful or not, but I'm glad you guys like it.

Scooby - That texture that looks stretched actaully has some subtle horizontal lines running through it. I guess a little too subtle though. I wanted a texture to reinforce the verticality of the skylight areas, but I probably should have used a different pattern.

cman2k - thanks for the comment on the paintovers. I'm not exactly a pro concept artist, but doing those helped me really visualize the look, and lighting, most importantly, before I started making an art pass.

cholden

Wow, initially this level looks pretty cool, but the more I look at it, I can see some bothersome errors.

The way you built this level looks odd because you have massive, major level layout details, with small map object details and no mid-ranged shapes. Additionally, the materials between the level and the map objects is high contrast. This means the transition between the big and small details is very noticeable (like lego pieces tossed about). This reveals how your level was built just by quickly looking at it, and breaks the illusion or imagination that the user is actually in some facility.

Your base level is just too simple. Building up trims, more angular extruded shapes, texture variety, etc would have a huge effect. Work on making your level look nice and detailed before you pound in the map objects. Basically, you want to take a step back and look at how shape and detail is handled on old fps games such as the earlier versions of UT, quake, etc. Then, pour in all that map object detail and you'll have an amazing map.

One problem with the lighting is it's mostly sourceless, had you build up trims everywhere with little recessed lights, I think you'd be set.

GLandolina

i love it visually but i think it might be a bit too much to take in for playability, my eyes are darting around at all the tech.

rooster

I definately agree with cholden about the mid level detail, the basic shape of the room isnt hidden at all by the fine tech stuff, and the stark contrast from low to high detail is a bit distracting. Having said that I love the fine detailing and I think the actual work youve put into it is fantastic.

Zergxes

It reminds me of Metroid Prime... I really can't add to the good advice folks have already given.

FunkaDelicDass

Thanks for the comments, guys. cholden, I totally agree with what you're saying. I'm used to building levels completely in Maya, so working with BSP in UED was very cumbersome when I first started out. I jumped the gun and went into building static meshes without adding BSP details, and I agree that it hurts the believability. I'm a little more comfortable with UED now, so I'll defintely place more BSP detail in my next map before adding static meshes.

Zergxes - Metroid Prime happens to be my favorite game from the current gen.

Irritant

Ok, I downloaded this last night, and gave it a few minutes of play(all I had time for). My first impression is that it looks gorgeous, and is very professionally put together and layed out. It has good verticality, which is important in any 1v1 type map, and it's small enough that players are not getting lost from one another.

It has a very attractive look to it, and it's fun. I'd say top notch job there.

As a designer, sure, maybe there could be some minor issues with light sources, I guess, but as a player, I couldn't give two shits less. The only issue I had as a player, is that in the center with the tech items, my framerates slowed just a bit.