I guess its time to show what I have been working on. This is a 2v2 map that me and Solo XIII have been working on. Its not playable right now. But as soon as it is you guys will all know.
I would like to introduce you to Anna. She's a little bit shy, doesn't want to come close to others thinking she might kill them. But she is a nice girl.
VOTE for your favorite Community Breakout maps! Poll affects the permanent Breakout playlist http://bit.ly/1KfiXZM @buddy - Thank you for putting that together, I remember asking Tom for giant rock boulders and he was like 'why would anyone need that?' to which I ecstatically replied 'Indiana Jones!'. They need to be bigger though...can you put fire on your boulder? That way it won't look like a cancerous piece of lightmap.
I think half of Pylon is really interesting, the other half not so much. I would have liked the map to be cut down in areas. The map can easily find room for improvement with feedback and refinement. It does play well in certain parts though, agreed.
That's the only problem right now... Anna is too black (no pun intended). Putting Fire on the outside could make her look sexy, even though it wouldn't seem realistic anymore. Another option would be opening the cave, I'll see what I can do.
When you do, remember to include some classic Indiana Jones style rope bridges! Here's an example of what they look like:
Trim [6x32x10] eats up a TON of lightmap budget. I removed around 35 of them on my map and got 16% lightmap back. You've been warned.
There seems to be a few objects, particularly natural pieces and larger blocks that take up about .5% lightmap. It's sad that we have all these objects, yet halfway through that budget we're hitting the lightmap budget. I know it can be worked around, but it's still kind of ridiculous.
I've noticed the same. What's even stranger is that a lot of the problematic non-natural objects I've run across have similar objects that are slightly smaller/bigger but are infinitely more efficient in terms of lightmapping. For example, the Trim [6x24x10] is super efficient in terms of lightmapping, whereas the aforementioned Trim [6x32x10] is the absolute opposite. If I recall correctly, the Ring 2' [32x32x2 Eighth] is another culprit compared to its counterparts, notably the more efficient Ring 2' [32x32x2] Quarter. From what I've found, the easiest way to spot problematic pieces is to see which objects' lighting start glitching when you hit around ~125% lightmap
This is what happens when I load WAYWO while i'm forging http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/A 3 Legged Goat/video/14302356
Here's my aesthetic theme for my next map, which I'll probably submit to the contest. It's very early stage and I am hoping to get a little feedback before I go all the way with it.
So this is what I've been working on If you don't know already know, this is Fallingwater. I've been trying to make this since Halo 3, and every time the forge didn't have enough in terms of objects and power to bring it to life, until now. I always thought that Fallingwater would be great as halo map, there's just so many things that the original design has that encourage map movement and verticality while naturally blocking lines of sight. The integrity of the house has been kept as this is an approximate 1:1 scale replica of the house and the surrounding landscape, complete with the falls and trees. But I've altered some aspects to flow better as this is a halo map first and foremost, the most notable addition being a dock by the bridge. The reason for this is the attackers needed a safer place to spawn and a smoother transition between the higher and lower sections of creekside. There was also a giant rock from the canvas terrain that blocked the end of the bridge, so I had to think of something else. The defender's spawn cliffside overlooking the water. For those who know Fallingwater the path here should extend to the guest house, but this has always been a 2v2 map even way back for Halo 3. The guest house could potentially be added in an alternate version, but for now I'm sticking with just the house. With the extra resources I went in and replicated the layout and style of the furniture inside. The interior will be furnished but it is still a work in progress. I am working on optimizing the structure to see how detailed I can get. The map is in a playable alpha stage as of last night; if anyone would care to help me test it either today or tomorrow it'd be greatly appreciated. I will make a WIP thread once testing has been done and I get it into a prettier beta version.
Oh dang, I thought it was just gonna be an aesthetic map. Interesting to see it's meant to be playable.