Ok so I’m nearing some cool testing stages of my map and its getting pretty close to completion! I got my bud Mr. Happy testing it with me to make sure all the puzzles and stuff come out fun and stuff. Hopefully ill have this finished before Christmas! Heres another sneak peek!

- vivi

Halloween! woot! So I decided to make my costume this year and I went as a test subject from portal! I made my cube which took me about 10 hrs! I wish I could have done all sides but 1 side took me about 6 hrs and the contest was the next day. But here are the final shots fallowed by the work in progress pictures of me putting the cube together! All in all tho I got to the judging kinda late and they had already picked the people to win the prizes but they gave me Honorable mention “Best minor costume” lol. Anyways here we go.

Final pictures!

Ok and heres me making my costume! For the cube I used a hot glue gun and foam core. I also went out and got some colored markers. For the jump suit I went to the costume store and got a convicts costume. I also purchased transfer paper a printer and an iron :P. All materials and things came to a cost of about $200

The making of!

After getting the basic square shape I had to figure out how I wanted to handle the small extrudes on the companion cube. I busted out 3ds max and recreated one of the corners while looking at some reference photos I took while in portal. I figured out the best way to do it was to cut out the slanted angles and stick to one face. If I ended up doing multiple faces I would have eventually made small slanted pieces that I would have put on the corners of the blocks.

Each corner piece took about 30 mins to make. Because of the strength of the foam board I had to make halfway cuts through each bending piece so it would be easier to fold. I also had to do some crazy stupid stuff to get the pieces to fold into each other so I could glue them and they would stay there. Some people might wonder why I didn’t just make separate pieces and glue them together in the end. Well the answer to that is if I bend them I get a nice rounded edge where as if I cut them and glue them together they look not as nice!

And the center piece! :D!

Here I started putting the corners on the cube just to see how they looked along with the center piece.

After doing that I started putting the pink lines on the cube. I wanted to put grey on the cube but I didn’t have time to color each square panel! In the end it still looked nice tho so I’m happy with it!

You can see that even tho I didn’t have enough corner pieces to finish off the rest of the cube I still completed the outlines as to give off the look that they were there. Also since that’s where I would be holding the cube I didn’t want there to be blocks in the way. That decision seemed to be a wise one in the end

Now onto the costume!

And here is me wearing the jumpsuit

So I guess that’s about it. I did have some troubles with making the jumpsuit and using the transfer paper but I solved them and now I’m ready to go trick or treating!

I want to thank valve and the Portal team for coming up with such a great game! I had fun working on this costume and I’m looking forward to Halloween. Ill post more picture of the Raven Halloween party when I get a hold of the picture!

-General vivi

Ok After a week of extreme hard work and little sleep I’m proud to show off the piece I made. It started out as me helping out futty but then turned into me making it my piece. Was waiting on him to make a final back wall brush piece but I ended up finishing it myself since he didn’t seem to want to get on msn. Anyways guys here it is! Noir of teh aquarium!

Noir Final shots
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Color shots (For Fun)
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I would like to thank reko and Spajsat from wiseguys for donating the mobster model to me. 99% of the other custom materials / models were made by me. I will also be making a small post next about how I went about making the scene and stuff.

-vivi

Woot! Raven and activision 10 year partayyy. They held a pretty cool thing over the weekend and lots of people went to it. I was like the only one that ended up wearing white XD! I think there is a rule about labor day or something i’m not really sure XD! but yeah everyone pretty much wore black. Im still not old enough to buy drinks but I grabbed some of the raven chips that looked like casino chips with the raven logo on them. heh was pretty cool tho. Also we all got raven playing cards can’t imagine how many people will be playing cards on monday and not actually getting work done

Anyways the dinner was good and all was fun!

-Generalvivi

I haven’t done anything in awhile . kinda waiting on Dave to help me with some coding stuff for conspiracy . GO Dave GO!!!! . Kinda hoping to finally make my professional portfolio by the end of next year* errhmmm *tips glass to that*. I opened ye roboblitz editor today to play with some lighting. This is what I came up with .. I guess.

Might be cool to see it as a final scene. If anyone is interested in teaming up and finishing the warehouse scene let me know. I know my way around the blitz editor pretty good so we shouldn’t have a problem ^_^.

I also just finished god of war 1 and 2 over the weekend. Both are great games but id have to say this would be the first time I’ve played a sequel to a game and it be better then the first! Gow 2 had sooo many nice environments it made my toes curl! :P! I’m a softy for shit like that. I didn’t play Gow 1 or 2 for the longest time because i thought it was just some overrated game but after sitting down and actually playing it for a bit i realized …. damn … this is a nice game! Wish i could make some maps and puzzles for it! I’m addicted hard core!. I stayed up till 9am the other day just to see the ending. hehe. Some of the things i didn’t like about the game were like moral choice related puzzles where you had to put people into harms way . Like 1 time you had to put a dieing soldier onto a spiky conveyor belt …. i was like…. i don’t want to do that……. . . . . but then I did it anyways ^_^!

Anyways good game and you should def check it out peoplez!

SOOOOO DOUBLE INTERVIEW!!!!! crazyness!
So uoz surprised us all with this really cool well thought out mod called Riot Act recently. The mod is all around great and I found myself playing it a 2nd time through. <---- I never do that. The mod had so man nice features in it and great "holy shit" moments that i just have to give it a 4.5/5 ! why not 5 you ask? only because i had to noclip 4 times but anyways! So yeah mods great and everyone should check it out.

download it from here :(copy the link and paste it into your browser) http://uoz.multiplayer.it/ra/index.php?content=download

ALRIGHTY!! now onto the interview!!!!!!!!!!

Whats your Name?
My name is Germano Guerrini.

How old are you?
31

Where do you live?
Rome, Italy

What made you decide to start mapping?
It was quite a natural step. Passion for games plus passion for creating things

When did you start mapping?
My first map is dated back to 1998 I think.

What engine did you start with?
A modified version of Quake 2 engine for Heretic 2 from Raven Software.

What do you like/dislike about mapping?
Like every other human activity, the best part is when you have just your empty canvas and infinite possibilities on it.
Then, you have to pick up one and made it. Take off and landing. That’s it.

What maps / environments have you made so far?
I have made over 20 levels for Half-Life, Quake III and Half-Life 2.
Gameplay wise, I made single player maps, deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and so on.

What are you most well known for?
Not sure about that. “The Long Night”, my first singleplayer map pack for Half-Life was very successful, but even “Up & Down” for Quake III and “Backbone” for Half-Life 2 are well known.

Which was your favorite to work on?
Oh that’s impossible to say. I loved to work on every single brush I made.

Where do you get inspiration from to map?
Well, inspiration is a perspective on the world around you, the way you make it shape your mind. I’m just curious about everything and try to be as permeable as possible to new stimulation.

How many times a week would you say you open an editor?
Impossible to say. Over the past 9 years I’ve been endless hours with an editor open, but I need a vacation from time to time. Beside, I have a real life too

Do you provide your own custom content?
Whenever possible. For Riot Act, for example, I created a few texture, the bridge model and skin, and other things.

What modeling program do you use?
I’ve used Maya and, recently XSI

What do you use to make your textures?
Photoshop

Do you find custom content very helpful when mapping? Especially if you make it yourself?
Generally speaking: yes. But it all depends from the quality you can achieve.

Do you want to be in the game industry?
Skipped

If you could choose a game company to work for which would it be?
Skipped

Who’s your favorite mapper?
Well, when we talk about quality, I think it’s pretty hard (and maybe useless) to try a possible ascending or descending sort.
As a mapper myself, I’d say that a better map is generally the result of the effort of a team more than a single person today.

Whats your favorite game?
Oh, what a long list here
Ok, if I absolutely need to choose one, I’d say Double Dragon 2

Where do you see yourself in 5 or so odd years?
With a child and a lighter mortgage

What inspired you to make this mod?
It was a natural impulse. I can’t imagine me not doing that.

Are there any elements that make this mod stand out from any other mods?
- A complete sound track
- First SP mod featuring HDR
- First SP mod featuring custom hands model (not only skin)
- First SP mod featuring Phong shading (even if only on the model above)
- First SP mod featuring bugbait again
- Short but rather sweet voice acting
- Infinite passion behind it
That said, you’re perfectly allowed to dislike it, of course

what was the hardest part of making this mod?
The hardest part was to cut feature after feature because I wasn’t able to find people to make them.
I had much higher expectations for Riot Act (like being three times longer, a custom vehicle, much larger custom environments), and it was really frustrating to cut them out.

wat was the easiest part of making this mod?
To decide to make it

how long did it take you to make this?
Almost two years I think.

What is your favorite part about this mod?
The bridge scene for sure.

can we expect anything like this from you in the future?
Hard to say. From Half-Life to Half-Life 2 the complexity increased of an order of magnitude at least, and I’m not a kid anymore.
Probably I’ll go for much smaller projects. But, hey, you’ll never know

Well thanks for you time Uoz! It’s great to see good mappers like yourself in the community. The mods great and it obviously took you a good deal of time! Thanks for sticking with it to bring the community such a great mod!

-vivi

Ok so this week I got to sit down and talk with KillerWorm and interview him. He just recently released a new map called cs_meridian. A very nice map thats setting is on a boat. It looks very stylized and cool. A definite must check out map for all you guys looking for cool custom stuff.
Lets get this interview started!!

Whats your Name?
David (online KillerWorm)

How old are you?
19

Where do you live?
USA - California

What made you decide to start mapping?
I always liked to create things, so when I got a copy of Duke Nukem 3D and saw that it had a “world” editor I decided to try my hand at it. To give myself some “extended play” lol

I always liked making maps for Half-Life games so when I bought CS:S I started mapping for it so my clan’s server could get some new maps!

When did you start mapping?
I started mapping about 5-6 years ago. (for CS:S about 2 - almost 3 years)

What engine did you start with?
Build Engine

What do you like/dislike about mapping?
I like seeing the map come along and my idea grow. I like making a fictional place come real in a map that people can play in. I also like to hear everyone have a great time when they play the map. The only thing I dislike (about CS:S mapping) is that the compile takes so long and I have to wait sometimes up to a couple hours or so to preview my work. haha

What maps / environments have you made so far?
cs_meridian (a Yacht) (newest),
cs_topsoil (a underground old mining facility),
aim_amwoods (a pretty river map in the northern California forest),
de_coldfire (a zombie infested city) ,
bethlehem (… just as it sounds lol),
de_rotterdam_css (a fictional place in Rotterdam),
cs_maimi_css (a bank)

What are you most well known for?
Well, as far as mapping goes, I am known for having unique environments and also having unique features in my maps. (such as the fade-to-black in de_coldfire. Or the landslide in cs_topsoil). Also a lot of secret (or really good) hiding places.

Which was your favorite to work on?
de_coldfire. Even though it took me a year or so to make it (due to tons of errors).. I think this was my most fun map to make due to the theme. A zombie infested city. Its a huge download but is really fun!

Where do you get inspiration from to map?
Everything.. from a cool looking building that makes me think it would make a good map, to movies, to other people’s maps.

How many times a week would you say you open an editor?
I open it very often. But when I am in-between work.. not too much.

Do you provide your own custom content?
Yes, a lot of it.

What modeling program do you use?
I don’t know how to model =/ Wish I did.

What do you use to make your textures?
Paint Shop Pro / Photoshop

Do you find custom content very helpful when mapping? Especially if you make
it yourself?
Ohh yeah. I can find a texture or picture of something specific that I want and be able to use it.. instead of being stuck with default textures.

Do you want to be in the game industry?
I have always wanted to be. But I want to keep it as something I can do for fun and keep it fun and not have it just be “Work”

If you could choose a game company to work for which would it be?
Hmm… that is tough. One that pays well? Haha… but no, really I am not sure. I would have to look into it.

Who’s your favorite mapper?
Hmm… I don’t really have a favorite mapper. To tell ya the truth I know most of the people by maps not names. But I guess the Dimension Studios team and Alex Royce have really good maps.

Whats your favorite game?
Hmm… CS:S (but tied close with any game that is extremely fast-paced like Unreal 2004).

Where do you see yourself in 5 or so odd years?
Still making maps! But whether for free or getting paid for it… lol

Thanks for the enlightening there Killah! It’s always great to learn about mappers and how they think and stuff! Once again thanks for filling out the interview and ill see you next map!

-vivi

Click picture

- A video which basically explains why its good to use sketchup for level design

So somewhere it was announced recently that Middleton, Wi was America’s best place to live! and thats where Raven Software is!! wooters! we are smack dab in the middle of Middleton :P. Id like to think we are the reason why its so great but i highly doubt that but still! its pretty cool ^^ and its a great place to work

-vivi

Hurray! I had a bit of time today to take a break and play around with some ideas for my rooftop fight scene for conspiracy (my mini sp mod for hl2) It actually came out pretty good and i’ve already started mapping it out. Basic idea is that the player goes from one roof to the next. I do have some cool points with some neet interaction with the player. Well anyways here are the sketchup pictures!

Hope you enjoyed!

-Vivi