Specular and AI

Windows

Ive done quite a few windows recently, there shown with a normal skybox behind them but once I make a real space skybox itll look how its ment to, the problem with windows on a spaceship is trying to figure out what part of the ship your going to see if you put the window there, some are placed the because you cant see the rest of the ship, so its a nice cheap effect. In other areas I've has to do lots of mini outside environments to show the exterior of the ship. I did consider doing this with a 3D skybox but so far the way im doing it now doesnt present any problems

A solid week

As much as i love level design one solid weak has made me pretty tired of it for now. But what a week, managed to get pretty much all the basic layout of the level done plus a few test ideas for cover, defence e.t.c The next step is some windows and then I have something substantial to show my client. I have also been toying with some ideas about how and where the attacking team spawns which i might integrate in in a few days. Current concerns are over the size of the level, I'm worried the Ive been to liberal with the amount of room you get but things like this can be countered with lots of scenery to cramp in in a bit but theres always the problem of snipers shooting half way across the map through a straight corridor or something

Further Development Images

Portal Flow

One of the biggest issues with maps like these is memory usage. It can be easily wasted on something unnecessary or even invisible to the player. Optimization is something that is important to keep on top of as you go along. This means things like making sure objects that the player won’t see aren’t rendered and any objects that aren’t part of the vital layout of the level are turned into entities. As shown in the image below when a solid becomes an entity the game engine does not calculate the environment around the object and so save much space and much time rendering the level especially if it’s a particularly complicated object like a sphere.

Development images

Here are some early layouts for the level, this is the basic shape of the level and allows me to gauge the size of the environment and get a feel for the level. The part is also important because it make a simple "solid" shape for the computer to use as a reference for the playable world in the environment. Any leaks or holes into the void outside need to be sealed in order for the game engine to calculate lighting e.t.c.

Client Designs

I've been working on the basic layout of the ship and after a lot of trial and era came up with some like these. I needed to consider all of the characters that you can play in team fortress so actually coming up with a useful shape proved very difficult. I had to be careful not to allow one type of character to gain a huge advantage or even make it too hard for a team to win overall. I considered the other features of the level such as appearance i would leave later and focus on the level design and flow of the level, after all no matter how good a map looks it can still be rubbish to play.

Further Development Images