Game Design Geek

Lets focus on some positive stuff for now. All this negativity is driving me crazy, and I would like to share some some news on Urban Terror that is something to be happy about.

http://www.urbanterror.net/news.php?extend.104

While Im waiting for the Frozen Sand version of Q3map2 to get repaired, I decided to take a shot at trying to light crenshaw as a little experiment with the last working version of Q3map2 that Ydnar had going. I believe it was 2.5.14. I was using mobb 0. It turned out a little darker then I thought it would considering the settings, but I think thats because I didnt have floodlight working. This is with the entire level using _lightmapscale of 2. So, as you can imagine it was going to be pretty ugly shadows everywhere where the sunlight was hitting geometry. Of course this isnt the desired lighting that I had in mind for the level, but it did give me a rough idea of what I had to look forward to later on down the line when I finally do get the FS compiler back. I know a lot of the other levels are actually compiling with it now, but you know me. Nothing I ever do is easy, nor do it go smoothly. I guess I was just meant to be the sufferer so that others that go a little overboard dont have to go through what Im going through.

Well, whilst I wait for the compiler crash to be fixed I have been working on docks new layout. I have been rescaling for the new player mesh size, and I have been finding that the old level was so out of whack for scale that Im going to have to make some sweeping changes to make the level actually look like something.

The main layout is pretty much intact, the only sweeping changes are going to be in the water area. I am going to keep the playable space the same, but I am going to add some areas in there that make the level look like an actual dock. I contemplated a few different things, most of which was do I make it a fishing dock, or do I make it a commerce dock. After some serious thought I am going to do half and half. I think the one side will become a fishing dock and the other side will be sort of a warehouse and a dock area for the unload of containers.

Wow, it’s been one of those weeks; I have to say that even though the career thing isn’t happening most everything else going really good. I’m going to be turning 40 in a few months, and I have to admit that I’m not as freaked out by it as I thought I would be. I’m not really sure what I will be doing for it yet, I still don’t have any plans. No plans with either family or friends.

I have very few friends that I consider close, and my family and I are far from close. So, most of the time, holidays, birthdays, and other important occasions are spent pretty much in solitude where I contemplate just why it is that I am by myself. Don’t get me wrong, I have had more then my share of on again, off again relationships, sprinkled with short glimmers of “could have been” here and there. But when it comes right down to it, I have been for the most part, alone. Most of the time self-imposed, choosing solitude over being with someone for the wrong reasons. Some I have pushed away, others I have just screwed up so bad….There wasn’t anything I could do to fix them.

Out of the 22 years of my adult life, only a handful was spent with someone special. And as I get older it gets easier and easier to bare. It’s just the way things turned out I guess. As I turn into what will more then likely be the last half of my life, I will more then likely need to make some sort of change….Or it is more then apparent that I will forever be alone.

So, what does this mean? Start realizing that I need to let others in. Be more accepting of my family and who they are. And try not to distance myself from them out of guilt of shame. Embrace the things I have done wrong, the people I have hurt, and the people that have hurt me, and that these things don’t entirely define me. To move on with my life and make peace with the decisions I have made, and do my best to make sure that from here on in to do the best I can to make better ones.

Another month without an update! Someone should really fire me, Im so bad. Ok, so where to start. Well, here is the current state of things. EA pulled a swticheroo on me. I was offered a compensation package that included a base salaried position with up to a 15% annual bonus and a performance bonus. all that is now gone after 3 months and replaced instead with an hourly position with a minimum of 45 hours a week to recieve the same salary, no bonus…period. So EA strikes again. What does this mean? Right now Im not sure what Im going to do. I am still trying to sort this out myself. This switch to hourly was done with the artists, and now is being done to the designers and programmers. I have no choice other then quitting, and to be honest I really am not looking forward to moving again any time soon.

Ok, enough depressing stuff. I know what you really want to know about and thats Urban Terror. So, here is the current state of things. I have been working more on Crenshaw. As you can see I have rounded out the pool area, and have reworked the texturing to more fit what the real pool at the apartment complex looked like. I have also done some major texturing work and have flushed out some of the buildings so that it looks more like the delapadated and abondoned building it is.

I also changed the skybox and lighting scheme. Jeff (rabidcow) made me a new skybox and I have been tweeking with the lighting so that its a little brighter sunrise with cool lighting to give it more of a morning feel then a late afternoon vibe that we had in the original. Im thinking this will solve a lot of the lighting problems that I was having early on in the nextgen stage of development. Keep tuned, Ill make sure to post some lighting tests.Another month without an update! Someone should really fire me, Im so bad. Ok, so where to start. Well, here is the current state of things. EA pulled a swticheroo on me. I was offered a compensation package that included a base salaried position with up to a 15% annual bonus and a performance bonus. all that is now gone after 3 months and replaced instead with an hourly position with a minimum of 45 hours a week to recieve the same salary, no bonus…period. So EA strikes again. What does this mean? Right now Im not sure what Im going to do. I am still trying to sort this out myself. This switch to hourly was done with the artists, and now is being done to the designers and programmers. I have no choice other then quitting, and to be honest I really am not looking forward to moving again any time soon.

Ok, enough depressing stuff. I know what you really want to know about and thats Urban Terror. So, here is the current state of things. I have been working more on Crenshaw. As you can see I have rounded out the pool area, and have reworked the texturing to more fit what the real pool at the apartment complex looked like. I have also done some major texturing work and have flushed out some of the buildings so that it looks more like the delapadated and abondoned building it is.

I also changed the skybox and lighting scheme. Jeff (rabidcow) made me a new skybox and I have been tweeking with the lighting so that its a little brighter sunrise with cool lighting to give it more of a morning feel then a late afternoon vibe that we had in the original. Im thinking this will solve a lot of the lighting problems that I was having early on in the nextgen stage of development. Keep tuned, Ill make sure to post some lighting tests.