Th-Bankjob: a picture preview (warning 56k'ers)

[Predator]

Bankjob has been worked on for a good long while now, and is coming along very nicely, but still has quite a long way to go. I'm still quite a bit less than half way done, and it's already at 11 meg, with 1266 brushes, so needless to say, it's a large map. It's basically a small town with a bank, and every building in the town can be entered, as there are no unopenable doors in the map. Players start in their own house, apartment or hotel room, depending on where they happen to spawn, and they have the key to it so that no one else may enter if they locked up their quarters.

-Interior of a starting house-


-The Drunken Clam Bar-


-Exterior of another starting house-


-Top floor of the same house-


-Conference room in the bank-


-Second floor hallway-


-Gallery-


-Lounge/bar-


-1st floor: Work area | 2nd floor: Dining area-


-Stairwell for church tower-


hopefully I can get this thing done before the end of the year, but it's not looking promising.

[DarkProject]

looks cool! crazy architecture

[LaughingRat]

The screenshots look awesome, Predator. I have a question, though. Is this a map similar to Bougeois, in that there's loot scattered all around, but most of it is concentrated in one place, ie, the bank? If it's scattered all across town, it'll be a nightmare to guard.

[Predator]

loot will be lightly scattered through town, so if you want to reach the loot limit you'll really have to go through about every building which will take quite a while, but the bank will have a much more dense concentration of loot, so if you want to worry about the other objectives (get into the vault and do something) than you'll take the bank-only approach. I think it should work out well.

[SiLeNt_NiGhT]

Predator wrote:

I'm still quite a bit less than half way done, and it's already at 11 meg, with 1266 brushes, so needless to say, it's a large map.

Just curious. Your map seems like its been a huge undertaking considering its size. Sounds awesome! The screenies look great (and thanks for making them a little brighter than the usual Screenies we get at these forums). But I'm curious about the difficulties you've run into while making it. I don't want to sound presumptuous here but I would have never guessed that Ued2 could handle such a big map without it, (Ued), making things very difficult for you - but then my experience with Ued is small. My first map is currently at about the level of 'Aquatone' in brush count and size, well, just under....(700 brushes and 4000 KB and I figure I'll cap 1000 brushes max.) - and I'm struggling with bsp and HOM fairly frequently - though they seem to go away just as frequently :? . I realise there's more to it than just number counts but I'd be interested in what problems you've run into that are making you seem less than optimistic about it. Or is it just the sheer scale of it?
Well anyway, keep up the good work, it'll be fun to get lost in something that huge!!

- from a frustrated fellow mapper....

[Predator]

to tell the truth, I'm mainly just worrying about one thing at a time with it, for instance, if I find any bsp errors, then I'll fix them after I've completed all the architecture in the map. Going through it in steps helps me to not be so overwhelmed by the sheer size of the level. My main problem is that I often get a mapper's block where I'm unable to think of what I'm going to build next, but I usually get back up to speed within soon time. But yeah, I'm sure I'll be overwhelmed by annoying bsp holes, so don't feel alone

[MrEricSir]

Wow, very professional! Do you have a degree in architecture or something?

[Nachimir]

Cool; interesting lighting in the gallery.

[modetwo]

Oooohhh, I can feel the atmosphere.
Nice work!

[Predator]

thanks so much guys, it means a lot

Do you have a degree in architecture or something?

Wow, what a compliment To tell the truth I'm only 16 so I'm not that high up the ladder yet, but maybe some day
This is my first real map, which explains why I'm not going really fast on it, but I do usually take quite a bit of time to make sure what I'm working on looks right before I move on to anything else.

Cool; interesting lighting in the gallery.

thanks, I figured out I could make some interesting lighting effects by subtracting a cylinder out of the ceiling and placing a light in it so it creates a spot effect, which is seen in the gallery picture, and also in the conference room (the two in the back corners) and in the lounge. In the gallery, you can actually walk all the way around the middle spotlight while remaining invisible in the triangular shadow I also created some pretty cool tube lights around the side of the bank that shine through the top and bottom, but they aren't pictured.

Kinda funny, I haven't learned how to zone or botpath yet, but I'll get to those later

[Lurox]

Yo Pred
Your screenshots rock, man. 8)

[[E.D.G]Chief]

SiLeNt_NiGhT how much ram does ur comp have? UEd 2 is a crazy resource eater and after some time with it open expect your ram to have reached the level for auto reboot computer :grin: try a ram defrag program auch as analogx's MaxMem 8)

[SiLeNt_NiGhT]

Hey Chief,
Yea, I have bout 200MB sdram(thats right not 256); my clunker's an old 366 Celeron with a 32 meg nividia. Surprisingly enough I can run Thievery no problem but occasionally Ued and I have words....but I think we understand each other. I'll look into analogx's Maxmem. Thanks. :wink:

[NeoPendragon]

Looks good so far! Are you going to put trim around your doorways? Makes them look a lot nicer. Put trim everywhere you can. It makes levels look twice as good and more realistic.

[Predator]

good idea, I knew there was something missing with the doorways. Thanks