Level Design KF-Monastery (WIP)

[Nenjin]

Hey all, this is my first real attempt at a KF map. I've never worked in the UTE before, but plenty of work in other games has served me well.

This map is not ready for download. I have a lot more work to do before I'm ready to release it. Here's a preview though.

The level will be huge. I'm considering finishing it and slicing it up into smaller chunks. I think the map might be a bit larger than any of the official KF maps.

Things I'm going for in this map-

Lots of atmosphere.
Convoluted internal routes, secret passages, one-way deadman drops.
Variety in looks and styles.
Lots of player movement. Compared to BioticsLab, I'm hoping this map forces players to constantly stay on the move, since traders will be an average of 100m+ away at any time.

Back to work.

 

[Gammro]

Looks promising! keep working on it

 

[Brother]

Looking good and the premise sounds pretty awesome. Always love secret passage ways.

 

[dragoon10]

I like it.
A big map would be good, as more and more people are making big servers with more than 6 people. The only other huge map is KF-farm atm.

 

[Nenjin]

It will definitely be an experiment. Lord knows it takes the Patriarch forever and a day to find the players even on KF-Farm. I'm not sure how smoothly it will go with a) a level this big and b) interior pathing that will be as whacked out as mine. Will have to see when I get it all laid out.

 

[[FVB] Hazard]

I'm very interested in this map, especially the trader distance.

 

[Nenjin]

I did a timed run. From one trader on the East Side of the Monastery (near the Meditation Garden) to the one on the West side (in the graveyard) took over a full minute to reach running along the exterior. You *might* shave 15 seconds or so off of that taking the interior routes, but I haven't tested them yet. In total I think I'm going to have 7 traders for the map, give or take.

 

[[FVB] Hazard]

Well then I can not wait for beta/full release.

So far, atmosphere wise, it looks good.

 

[Sren]

Map looks awesome

Keep going cant wait to play a creepy monastery map

 

[Bravo]

Excellent map idea, can't wait to try it out!

 

[Nenjin]

Big map is big. But I'm trying to keep each room different and varied as possible. That said, I decided to cut out ~ 1/3rd of the level. I do want to finish this sometime If people enjoy it enough, I'll add the last few areas. As it is now it's plenty big. I'm almost finished designing rooms and can get down to detail work and all the nuts and bolts like working doors and the like.

Anyways, here's a screenie of the Monastery Graveyard. Taken in the editor because I don't have lighting really laid out and it is a better representation than in game.

 

[Anemia]

Awesome always nice with new peoples in ued just make sure to zone it properly

 

[Nenjin]

That's been something I've been putting off >.> But I know it's gotta be done right for this big of a level.

 

[arramus]

This is coming along very nicely indeed. I particularly like the graveyard as it's truly dead in every respect (except the atmosphere and look of course).

7 or so traders eh? That'll keep everyone on their toes...before they get bitten off.

 

[Nenjin]

It's 5 now that I've sized the map down. Rooms are all complete, time to start detailing and zoning.

 

[Nenjin]

The work continues. Finally started detailing and working out lighting. Was hoping to complete the map before classes started again, but that may not be happening.

Here's the graveyard, with detailing and lighting passes mostly done. I'm saving distance fog and final ambient light tweaks for last. Coronas could use a little work too. The screen shot is actually quite a bit darker than it appears in game.





And here's a pic of the graveyard chapel, with it's electric-Jesus-Se7en style cross.

 

[The Fortune]

Man that is looking sweet!

Just asking though, I see a lot of detail brushwork, you might find this interesting [url]http://book.hourences.com/tutorialssemi.htm[/URL]

Because I've used hammer the last few years I'm used to making a hell of a lot out of func_detail brushes, so this is pretty handy.

 

[Nenjin]

Thanks, that was handy. I'll make that part of an optimization pass and see what brushes I can convert to knock down the poly count.

 

[The Fortune]

You just have to be careful of errors that's all. I duplicated a semi solid brush earlier and the original works fine but you can pass through one side of the duplicated brush, so I had to turn it back to solid.

 

[Nenjin]

Some shots of the finished Meditation Garden. Some of the lighting is a little less intense than it appears here.