"New year, new URE" - URE:E2 - E2M2 up!

12 minutes ago, Gez said:

More precisely, segs are mere segments. In a way, a seg is to a linedef what a subsector is to a sector.

In comes @Gez, showing even more severe, reckless disrespect for the no-sense authorities!

This is a detail I will definitely submit to memory for the sake of completion / wholeness.

Am I right to presume that- in layman terms- a linedef might be further split into segs, then? I mean during (node / tree) computation.. I remember seeing in the Nodes Viewer that sometimes vertices are added.. is that where the distinction comes in?

During mapping, it's enough for me to remember "more vertices = more heat" (to not distract myself from the actual mapping) but those are details I am always interested in!

43 minutes ago, Zylinderkatze said:

Am I right to presume that- in layman terms- a linedef might be further split into segs, then? I mean during (node / tree) computation.. I remember seeing in the Nodes Viewer that sometimes vertices are added.. is that where the distinction comes in?

Yep, that's it.

Hey!

I mean.. uhm.. hey, remember that "barely contained" heat from that one Drawsegs view from that post from November 28th?

Yeah.. it's so much better now!

^{No.. seriously.. so much better!}

Granted, the curve is a little less smooth now.. but who knows- maybe that's just how they make curves there? You don't know. 

Okay.. so.. yeah, if it's still "cold" enough there at the end, I'll likely round it out again.. but for now this gives me a little peace of mind.

Yay!

Did you notice anything different?

Hello!

So yesterday I visited my parents and there wasn't much mapping going on (i.e. none).. and then in the evening I playtested @tamara mochaccina's recent invocations (no further details revealed here though- at least not by me)! You're in for a treat :D

Today, though!  Today I quickly mapped out a few ideas that I've had.. basically just some detailing shenanigans. Sadly, they didn't really turn out as nice as I wanted.. maybe more on that later.

However! I just continued mapping out some other idea that I was going to put into either E2M6 or E2M7.. and here's a very sneak peek.

^{Wait this isn't a tech base.}

Please excuse any not well aligned textures, it's just a "mood" thing.

As I might've explained / mentioned / elaborated on before, the maps will, naturally, gradually turn more and more demonic.. so this is one of the transitional ones. Which means I am not sure whether it'll be E2M6 or E2M7.. depends on how much longer I want to maintain a semblance of sense in my maps, before they unravel :3

Hint 1: You'll likely get a bunch of ammo in this area.

Hint 2: I'm not saying why.

I'll map a bit longer now.. perhaps about 2 hours or so.. but back in E2M4, since this was just a brief excursion ^^;

I may do that on twitch.

If I do, it'll be with music by @Lippeth this time!

20 minutes ago, Zylinderkatze said:

before they unravel

This made me try to imagine what a ZK take on E3 would look like. Do you plan on eventually doing all four episodes?

1 minute ago, Omniarch said:

This made me try to imagine what a ZK take on E3 would look like. Do you plan on eventually doing all four episodes?

Good question! 

Mediocre answer: I have no idea xD

The map & detail ideas just keep coming (as well as "pre-existing", since I still have a whole lot of stuff in that folder of mine).. I think it would be cool to make a third act; However E2 is still only.. hmm.. maybe a little more than "about halfway done".. so I don't dare think of "what comes after" seriously yet.

I do have a bunch of "more hellish" ideas, though.. I could just put the stuff from my previous post (as in: transition to "more infested grounds") towards the end (i.e. E2M7 rather than E2M6).. and thereby save a more of the demonic ideas for a whole "all demons, all the time" kind of "E3" (not the expo, the episode).

I'll see how things transpire as I work my way through the guts of E2 ^^;

Stay tuned!

More pictures? How kind*

^{(*of excessive)}

This is not a new area but a new angle and I kinda thought it looks nice so here you go:

^{That's mainly just scenery with some actual "rooftops" for.. uh.. things!}

I like the way the different heights and the "wraparound" work out. Especially considering how this is the "last resort" thing I did because that area of the map was getting too "Drawseggy".

Disclaimer: this is a "no monsters" view. Don't expect this area to be this peaceful when you come visit.

Smol updt.

Intuition is a fickle beast!

I had this building (and still have it) somewhere in the back of the map:

^{Knock knock?}

You get to it, it's not a locked door you can just run in.. and when you step in..

I had this, initially:

^{An abrupt stop with a small path, off to the left..}

..then leading into this:

^{A meager opposition.. how lame..?}

Some stairs, basically just around the corner after that previous picture.

But!

Today out of the blue I had this "vision" of how I'd rather have the player "descend into darkness a little". And quickly whipped up this (as the first view when you step inside):

^{Ooo.. in-game!}

This is not anywhere near as "detailed-out" as the previous stuff (and I didn't delete that, I simply moved it for now).. but to me it just feels more right. My progression to this point is that- once the player escapes the fireball-heavy outside air, the inside would vaguely forebode something sinister to come.

Though.. in my mind, now that I look at it, I believe the whole thing was longer (no comments please) and I think the metal wasn't just at the sides but formed into actual archways of sorts.. I'll have to reflect on it. It was a very fuzzy, brief, weak image when it came and went.

Slightly related: This is my first use of LITERED in URE:E2, perhaps a first sign of things to come.

Or perhaps to be replaced with a regular light fixture later on xD

But not today!

Goodnight :)

No news are good news?

Work has me back, this past week has been getting gradually busier with non-Doom things (boo!) so I haven't mapped at all the past 2 days. Including / transitioning into today. So.. I'll see you later!

Stay awesome c:

WIP

^{"The P stands for Procrastination"}

Here's a little update but I'm not really in a mapping "flow" right now so it's more of a bit of dabbling in detailing.

^{The "Imp'ed" outside area on the left is just a test.. I'm not "feeling" it yet.}

This is kind of a crammed area, at least in the parts that you can't see, inside the building. And since I am doing this Vanilla, I'm out of room for expanding this outside part.

Take a good look at it, it will probably look much different when it's done ^^;

Gimme the deets

No.. no not those~

^{What's going on here.. aaa.}

I think I went a little overboard with the way these things blend / grow into and out of each other. I need to reflect on this a little.

Next stop: less noise.

Reuse, reduce, recycle.

I changed a bunch of stuff around (still being moved around so nothing worth sharing yet).. tried out the changes / reduction results and I'm already running into trouble as it is..

^{D'aww. naww. Boo.}

I already have ideas on what would be more fun / make more sense in this area but it's getting late.

Maybe I'll get some chance to work on this tomorrow but it's a work day so.. *shrugs*

Goodnight!

Guess who got sick again!

You'll never guess.

It's me!

Oh that's what you guessed?

Smarty Pants.

You win nothing.

So today is the first day I feel a little better so naturally I got to mapping!

Already removed the Drawsegs "Overflow" from the last post.

And continued into the "rooftops?" area that I showed (way) before.

Here's a picture of the passage that will likely be the connecting.. uhh.. tissue?

^{Not really much in ways of a passage, I guess xD}

Maybe I just wanted to show off another console.

Okay okay.. here's the actual overview:

^{Happy now? ..I hope so :3}

Actually, exactly where that "Previous Stuff™" arrow is pointing.. is still kind of an empty area. that will likely have to remain empty because.. I'm running out of Drawsegs (have you even been paying attention? >_<)

So I'll either do something "lame" (like putting more enemies in there <3) or find a way to free up some resources.

We'll see!

Oh hey I.. uh.. I didn't see you there..

Are you.. planning to stick around or..

^{I mean.. I'm not complaining, per se..}

..uhm..

More updates? Don't mind if I do!

So there's this building that I put in the "rooftops" area mainly to block sight lines. 

It seems lower than the surrounding but it is- or at least originally was- fully sight-line-blocking.

This is it now:

^{Hmm.. that BROWNPIP block looks suspicious..}

As you can see (kinda), it's very "64-by-64-y". Which limits (some might say "challenges") some texture use and intental room availability. I mean- the player fits through.. what is it? 32x32x56? ..if you really try. But that's too narrow even for the kind if maps I usually make. Kinda.

So (if you don't know me this might come as a surprise..) I played around a bunch and ultimately blew everything out of sensible scale. The outside stayed the same but the inside was basically.. switchception.

The problem is, it ended up with too many lines visible from the outside area, thereby basically "obsoleting" itself because it caused more Drawsegs heat than it dissipated ^^;

So now I removed the inside again and made it a little easier to get in there- and get what's in there.

Also.. for some reason at some point early on I seem to have picked the ICK*-variety of textures.. and now I am kind of stuck with them xD

I think I am kind of getting the hang of them but they don't feel as versatile to me (yet?) as some of the others do.

Well- as always- we'll see where this goes.

However maybe not today because I'm planning ("planning" being the critically frail word here) to go to bed at a decent time because of the whole holidays thing starting tomorrow.

Speaking of which, happy holidays (in advance or whichever applies to you)! I'll still be around a bit but probably not too much longer and not at all tomorrow, I predict.

Bye for now!

Okay one last update before bed.

It's still before midnight. Don't look at me like that.

I removed the additional sector(s) necessary to make the buidling appear lower than the others. I figure you will likely not even notice while playing:

^{It does feel kind of weird though. I'm not used to that xD}

What mostly "irks" ne now is that the outcrop with the weapon is now in the "vertical middle" of the building (with 128 units below and 128 above it.. not visible in this screenshot ^^;).

But having said that, I think I'll just raise the surrounding base / floow by 64 and all the rooms inside by 64 as well (thank you, Sector mode "Height Offset" tool!).

Diary Entry / active reflection to the rescue!

Oh.. And the reason I originally made / uploaded that picture:

I think I will have to remove those stairs in the foreground. Too many sectors, too many lines. I will probably just put a lift there instead. hmpf.

It's times like these where I question my self-implied "Vanilla limits" rule ^^;

Okay- now I am really off.

Bye!

Lazy lazy

I'm still alive but once again life got in the way so I haven't mapped all year yet! :o

That's got to be a sin.

It's enough for me that you're posting again, man.

On 1/15/2023 at 1:12 AM, jerrysheppy said:

It's enough for me that you're posting again, man.

Well too bad. Now (after a post like that) I suddenly feel like mapping again, instead of just posting.

You brought this onto yourself.

Just watch me update these maps like it's nothing!

A short update..

..after a short mapping foray.

I realized again why I stopped working on E2M4! There's 2 areas that are both reaching their Drawsegs limit. Meaning: Both of them are close to where.. if I add another sector in any of them.. the limit-exceeding heat starts to bleed into the player-accessible area.

So there's no way for me to add details.. or even lifts of doors to lead to further areas.

Also, it doesn't feel like there's much for me to take away, either. Everything is already reduced to what I consider the bare minimum.

Though of course if I take something away and no one else knows it was there, no one will miss it but me xD

Here's some examples:

Area 1 (the first bigger area you step into)

^{This building in the background (made of STONE3) is merely a sight blocker..}

^{..but its addition already has the heat in the "photo spot" exceed the limits.}

Also, on the left you can see that there's a lot of heat that's encroaching on the area outside of the raised platform (the line around most of the white heat).

Area 2 (the "rooftop" area, later on)

^{Not really that much going on yet..}

^{..but it's a big open area with hardly a sight-blocking structure.}

I will likely have to reduce or remodel a bunch of stuff in both areas. 

Not a fun first activity when coming back to one's own map ^^;

Maybe I'll just go to a different map first and try out / add some stuff there. There's still E2M5, after all, which will have a similar theme :3

I'll keep you posted!

10 hours ago, Zylinderkatze said:

There's 2 areas

One might even say that there are two areas.

^{See me after class.}

The second one needs to stay open because it's part of the design.. however, the second one is also the area that still has a small bit of reserves. I just need to be very sensible about it. Let's see if I can be sensible xD

The first one.. I may just have to change. Like.. the way that this whole "hot" area is laid out. Maybe just pull up a fully blocking row of (considerably low-detail) buildings that cut off most of what you can see. So that you can not see it anymore ^^;

I'll look into it later today (I'm currently at work.. don't tell anyone!)

But at least now (after sleeping on it) I have a few ideas :>

Update tiem!

^{Or should I write that with a "z" at the end for added effect? Would that be trying too hard?}

Hello Doomworld.

My idea for "Area 1" that came to me at work today.. for some reason actually worked. I reverted my attempts of last night (it was only about an hour of questionable effort anyways) and instead very much simplified the stuff you see there.. and this is the result:

^{That grey tower there, mostly. With some height variation behind it.}

Admittedly, not really a marvel of detailing. I might try to add just a smidge of detail to it if I can get away with it.

Either way, for some reason.. my heat map is still (if barely) "cold enough":

^{That's (roughly) the cone of vision from the "screenshot" above}

That white heat towards the left is befind a non-scalable / non-surpassable wall so it's not really a problem right now.

Sadly, though.. this is the end of the rope. I can't put any doors back there to lead anywhere because.. well.. Drawsegs. 

I already removed most (probably all) superfluous vertexes.. vertices.. so reducing further, at this point, would mean to remove sectors.

I'm not ready for that yet.

So it'll stay at this detail level, I think.

Stay tuned!

Aaand done™

Here's what I think will be the final version of that building:

^{Still talking about that "tower" at the crosshair in the middle.}

It's BROWN96 at the top and BROWN1 (which actually lines up with the texture alignment of the raised walkways around the area) at the bottom.. with one single wrap-around sector as an indentation, "adorned" with TEKWALL4. It looks pretty good to me, despite the lack of any further outcrops, supports, etc.

I think I'll leave it at that for now, Relieved that I "solved" this problem.

Also, I am at the point where (it feels like) every other time I save (and thereby trigger the BSP process), the heatmap changes, sometimes bleeding into the accessible areas, sometimes not. I think I am in the process of stretching this a bit too thin.

I also think I should try using a different node builder.. perhaps. I don't have much experience with it. Right now it's ZenNode (Fast / Normal).

Edit: I believe I had suggestions to other Tree Builders in a previous post but it never came to anything. I think out of the ones that come with DoomBuilder, ZenNode is the one that's best suited for Vanilla maps but I'm open to suggestions!

Update?

I'm still around just not in a "mappy" mindset at the moment. Please stay tuned! But also please don't hold your breath ^^;

Update 2? So soon?

So yesterday I opened the E2 wad file again- and ended up aligning some textures that were bugging me in the screenshot from this previous post ^^

I think I am slowly approaching critical mass, at which I will likely dive back in and take care of the section of the map behind that TEKWALL4 building.

Which will actually already be the exit of E2M4 (in a way).

However, there's still some stuff there that you will need to traverse.. and that's not done yet. Most of which having to do with "the rooftops".

Also, I am for the first time (at least in E2), I think, making a whole part of the map optional. Like I originally had thought I would, with E2M3.

Not sure how much of it will actually stay optional, though, once I "felt it out".

This whole "organic" approach to mapping does have its drawbacks sometimes..

..but I just can't get myself to work out every possible path of a map before I start mapping ^^;

At least not with this map.

Okay enough talk. Next update will be when I have screenshots!

All right, this has gone on too long, and by "this" I mean lack of URE2 posting.  >:(

On 3/5/2023 at 8:25 AM, jerrysheppy said:

All right, this has gone on too long, and by "this" I mean lack of URE2 posting.  >:(

This warms the void in my chest where humans would have a heart. At least that's what I think that's what that was called..

..humans? Am I saying this right?

I have a few days off now and there's been a bunch of things going on in my life which I am not at liberty to disclose yet (nothing great, nothing terrible, just time-consuming). I will be diving back into editing either tomorrow or "later today".. then again, it's already 9pm.. so..

..no wait, that time has never stopped me before, either.

Oh.. wait I said I wouldn't post unless I had Doom-related screenshots.. >_>

<_<

...

^Loophole!

I vow to actually post real content tomorrow!

Okay I'm not that mean.

Not always.

Here's a sneak preview of a quick addition I added "around the corner" from the last real screenshot.. on the other end of that new sight-blocking structure:

^{Based on an idea I had on how to carve a path.}

Thing is, I haven't tested the Heat yet (Draw Segs, etc) and I will leave that for tomorrow xD

It's an Update!

I'll have to compare my scribbles with the way it looks now. I think this passage was bigger in my imagination. Also, this is a critical path (to the exit of the map, eventually), so it should be a bit more obvious.

Basically, the idea is that it's a big TEKWALL4 on the inside (with about 128 x 128 of it visible from the outside area) with a 220 light level (glowing, with 130 adjacent) and a bunch of floor and ceiling indentations with a similar light setup leading further into the structure.

Also, I've had a few ideas on how to make it feel like you're walking across some sort of machinery that's embedded in a bigger room with a tech theme.. I'll have to scribble that out, to see how much of it is possible in vanilla ^^).

I'm at the "I want to see if I can make it work!" point so this evening there's going to be napping mapping, baby!

3 hours ago, Zylinderkatze said:

I'll have to scribble that out

Here's a peek (now embedded from ImgBB because I'm home now ^^)

^{Lighter? Darker? Such pressure D:}