Valhalla Remake - A look into my build process

Halvalla - A look into my build process​

Hello everyone.

This thread will be explaining a basic account of my build process with Halvalla, along with some extra tips. Hopefully it will instill some confidence in those that dont know where to begin or dont feel as though their favorite map can be done. I assure you that anyone can do it themselves with patience. This is how i did it myself with two tvs and two consoles.



Step 1: Canvas, Location and Grid for scaling

Knowing that i wanted to remake Valhalla i considered what would be my best canvas option for the terrain and skybox. After deciding on parallax I filled the bottom boundary of the entire map with the largest flat terrain pieces and decided on the section of the map that had the best texture layout for this build. (If you are making a symmetrical map then i highly suggest using the 0.0 X and Y coordinates for the center of your map. This will help with reflecting your map perfectly.)

Using a stopwatch i timed the walking distance in the most linear path from one side of Halo 3 Valhalla to the other. I did this multiple times and in multiple locations to get the most accurate measurement. Afterwards i marked the width and lengths with placeholders, as well as a pillar in the center of the map. I built a grid over the map and then used gimp(free photoshop) to overlay a mirror image of the grid over a high quality aerial heatmap of Valhalla.





Step 2: Walling

After printing the heatmap out to repeatedly reference from along with halo 3 in front of me, i began walling off the map to replicate each square on the grid. I built the walls as though Valhalla was a flat plane, and later adjusted them. I examined closely to replicate the walls and caves while still maintaining a tight budget mindset. (Its always easier to revise something by starting out simple and later going back to add more detail if your budget allows. Its also important that you don't rush your piece usage. Lay out all of your options and choose one by one which piece will be best. This will help to use minimal objects. Also do'nt waste too much time on aesthetics for the blockout. Factors change.)




Step 3: Choosing my references and building the stream

After finishing the walls and now having basic boundaries, i chose what would be my best reference for height variations and landscaping. I added rocks here and there, built extremely basic bases and built the stream. (For geometric and smaller sized maps, i recommend always building from the inside out, as the center point is usually your main reference. Repeatedly use a stopwatch from one piece to another to find the correct scaling along with a grid if you use that method.)







Step 4: Landscaping, the fun part!

I slowly built section by section from the stream while adding rocks and some trees. Along with this i adjusted my walls height coordinate and phasing to reflect the new changes. Its really important here that i focused on the 'feeling' of an area and line of sight rather than purely grid based. Some areas were reflected perfectly by grid, but just didn't feel right until i made small adjustments.

This was my favorite part by far. Terrain pieces are lenient in the sense that i can rotate them however the hell i want rather than having a strict guideline. This part is mostly easy but it can also be very hard. Finding the correct pieces to use and evening them out to match the map takes some ingenious thinking and multiple rebuilds of the same area. I rebuilt portions of the center hill many times over and especially the pelican ditch. (To help with height coordinate scaling, commit suicide and when you respawn, do not move your aim up or down. Rotate your view to see what else is at the same height and this will be your reference.)








Step 5: Building the bases

Like i recommended earlier, i found a 0.0 coordinate to replicate symmetry and build the base on it. (I also used the same method for the pelican at the end of my build.) This was a very complex structure to rebuild and took a lot of time. Building the corner banks on the ramp inclines confused me beyond belief. Usually people just leave these areas blockless because we currently dont have good pieces for doing this. After it was built i grouped and replicated it and moved them into position. Both structures got pretty ruined by the grouping so i had to readjust every piece on both bases. (Pro tip: I watched all three toy stories during this step for sanity reasons, you should too.)



Step 6: Bells, whistles, lighting

Now that i had mainly everything done i went through adding any trees, rocks, lights, the water and etc that i left out before. I also evened out terrains and made things look better after having more practice. Any rocks missing in the final build i am well aware of, i just didnt feel they were necessary.

The hardest part of this build by far was the lighting. After all objects were on the map, it maxed out at around 260% lightmap i believe. I went through and unbaked everything save for the primitives. I still had around 110% lightmap along with many terrain pieces that were black or discolored because of phasing and wall shadows.

Here i used a technique that i learned with my remake contract.(Using a theme with black pieces so i could unbake them) I found a good combination of pieces from the structures that i could make a separate color and unbake them(picture below). Afterwards i had to constantly adjust colors and metallics of pieces until they all looked even, while also having to turn baking on for others. Slowly balancing lightbaking of terrain pieces and structures, i ended up with 100% lightmap. Just enough to avoid random pieces out of my control from looking bad. (Lighting takes time and can really kill your confidence but the longer you work at it, the better it gets and the easier it is to deal with. Don't constantly generate lighting as you build your map. Wait until the end and then make your adjustments so you dont get too detoured)



Step 7: Cleanup and Pelican

This is the final step where i added spawning, gametypes, killzones, cameras, weapons and the pelican. I was extremely short on object budget and couldn't even afford more than 50 spawns, more than two grenades at certain locations and built my lovely 26 object pelican. Killzones are very important on this map or else spartans and banshees would be having a fiesta, so i truly had to do a good job with those. (Also, dont name your map halvalla, everyone will hate it.)



I hope you have found some useful information in this thread or at least enjoyed the read. Thanks for taking the time and you can all check out Halvalla from my collection of maps.

-XGOD

 

Meh. I dont really like the new grid personally. I can do without. It was definitely a little ironicthough.

Thats why i posted it, so you guys can get some ideas! I wish others would do this as well, because im sure there is more for myself to learn.

I feel the same way when i see maps like Shurima from @Demption.