Done! (100%)
It's now done. Head over to this page to get your hands on it!
Posted 14th of February 2011
Almost there! (99%)
As said before, the Open Road campaign will be released on 15th of February 2011 to the general public (day after tomorrow!). I am just making final changes and enhancements after 3 days of tests that were made on it.
For everyone who has been waiting this for long time, i think the wait has been worth it. You decide. It is not insanely hard to play through, unlike some other custom campaigns that spawn 1000 regular infected in one wave.
It isn't funny and when played on expert difficulty, it's impossible to win.
So, on tuesday, go to http://www.ics-base.net/openroad for renewed layout of the website and download the campaign! I will contact today and tomorrow for some server owners so there are actually servers where you
can play on. There will be atleast 5 servers upon release, if you live in Europe.
Posted 13th of February 2011
Soon (97%)
http://ics-base.net/openroad/comingsoon.jpg
Posted 8th of February 2011
Train is moving! (94%)
Actually there is no train (or there is but i ain't saying anything) but things are going forward once again. To say it short, didn't go for map 5 yet but after tomorrow, maps 1, 2 and 3 are completely done.
I just need to set some infected populations of the nav (in maps 2 and 3) and then all 3 maps are done 100%. After that, i'll go on for map 4 and add some light, effects and missing props. Then nav it and tune
it and make it ready. If i have time left this week, i will also work on the finale. I have been clocking crazy times on mapping & testing for the past 2 weeks (over 100 hours!) to get this done. Seriously, working
as fast as i can and when i have any extra time.
Open Road consists of maps:
1. Cliffs (swampy cliffside area with a ranch of some sort on top of the hill)
2. Path (Road through the swampy river area while survivors take the other side path to the city)
3. City (In and out of the houses at the city, going back to the road near a forest)
4. Forest (Road is blocked, shortcut through the forest is a necessary task, arriving at ranch)
5. Salvation (Ranch with a failed barn dance, salvation waiting at the end, or is it?)
So, if i get all 1-4 maps done this week and the finale does not produce any further issues, it's testing time. Right now, 94% done. Soon...
Posted 2nd of February 2011
93%
Still progressing! I have been at building the 5th map, finale at last saturday and yesterday on sunday, including the continued finale work, i tuned up and you could say polished map 3. Got rid of all the known
issues with it. After the work i did on it, the map is ready to be released when other maps get into the same state. Plans for this week are:
- Improve the map 5, finale
- Work on map 2 and make it ready
- Work on map 1 and make it ready
I think i can manage these things this week, because they are very close to be finished completely except the finale that will get most of the work. If all goes well and if i have time (note the if's) to also finish
map 4 at the beginning of next week, then perhaps at the end of next week, i have time to look into releasing campaign, do the necessary things and i just might have a working campaign after that. Then it comes down to
testing with others and if nothing big and really gamebreaking comes up, then it's time to release it to the public. All mistakes i can think of are lack of time from my end and issues coming up upon packaging it. Did not
seemed so hard last time i saw some guidelines of it.
I will not set a definitive deadline yet, because if it isn't coming out at that time, then people who have been looking forward to this are going to be disappointed for the 3rd time. I do not want that. I would like
to release it as soon as possible, even now but there are personal standards that i want to keep and tune things up before i will go public with it. So, I'll be making another status update next weekend. We'll see how things
have progressed.
Posted 31st of January 2011
Campaign progresses! (92%)
For the 5 days, since i posted the last note into this page, i have been work at hard. Seriously! I updated the progress page with accurate data. 4 of the 5 maps are in nearly perfect working condition.
All that i have left is to add some things that i think they could have some more. I have played through those maps few times with bots and the things are working ok. After i have released the campaign, i will try to add more things
to it and randomize some of the events further. Due to lack of time (i want to get this out) and partly lack of skill, this campaign doesn't include straight away all the things i wanted to put in. I will try to implement them
later.
So the next goal is - get map 5 in fully playable condition and add the finale into it. I have the basic layout now fully in place, planned where the survivors can go and where infected can go. All that it needs is - the finale events
and 3DSKYBOX + of course the sounds and ending stuff. I will work on these during weekend.
Right now, i think i deserve an evening off so i'll go ahead and play some Team Fortress 2.
Posted 28th of January 2011
On Development
If you didn't already spot it, the campaign is back on the road. I posted a notice a week ago at the
Open Road Steamgroup about dead men walking again. However, also the females walk too! But where are the kids? Who knows! I got new energy from
couple of things and the 2 side projects, CS Source map and Team fortress 2 map are now
done so i can concentrate on finishing this campaign. It has been ongoing too long and was supposed to be out already 6-7 months ago.
Anyways, the nav griefing is still continuing and it is the biggest issue that holds the things down. However, with glue, bublegum and wire among with some old fastion ducktape, i have managed to things going.
Map 1 needs tuning, as it has the previously listed items the most and i have plans of outsourcing aka getting some help with it. Maps 2,3 and 4 are pretty much done and map 5 needs an ending. I am not setting
any timelines for release but working as fast as i can.
Meanwhile, in Finland we have lots of snow but in Internet we have images. For new screens, click
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here and
here!
PS: The images make the campaign look darker than it really is so don't be alarmed that you can't see anything.
PPS: I'll be updating the progress of each map later date, right now i just work on the campaign instead.
Posted 23rd of January 2011
On Hiatus
As you might have noticed, there hasn't been any progress updates within the past 2 months. This does not mean that the project is scrapped and it won't be either. It is too far along to deserve that fate. No, i will make it ready.
There have been other factors contributing it's current fate, one being my somewhat lost interest to Left 4 Dead 2 mapping due to the navigation issues. Now i know why some other people who have been mapping have had so long
duration on creating their own works. It isn't so easy. Otherwise everyone would make these campaigns and maps.
Posted 24th of October 2010
Progress update #27 - Hitting head on the wall
I haven't worked on the finale since the last post but instead,
I have been trying to work out the map 1 "flow issues" which basically prevent regular infected to spawn in the map. Special infected, such as Smokers, Spitters, Hunters and such spawn OK. However, there is no logical reason why
the regulars should not spawn. There are no errors reported on navigation mesh by nav_trouble_report nor there isn't anything blocking their way, preventing the spawn. No floating nav areas, no unconnected areas, nothing.
So, while i hit myself in the head with this, or should i say hit my head on the wall, this campaign isn't going anywhere untill i get this sorted, because propably the other maps have the same thing ahead on me. I'm out of
ideas so i have no damn clue what to do! One good thing i have managed to done and that is the intro scene for map 1. It look nice now but the map is useless without the working nav mesh that the regular infected use to navigate around to the survivors.
I think i'm on quite advanced level with my mapping skills but things like these nav meshes just piss me off. I mean, in Counter-Strike Source, they were relatively easy to do. Just connect the areas, mark the names on the
nav mesh and be done with it. Now with Left 4 Dead 2, it's like "we can't spawn because daddy can't yank his dick around to spread us". There are nav meshes all around the map. They are connected so why the hell this
thing isn't working?
Overall progress of this campaign is now 86% and propably will remain so for a long time, unless someone can provide me a solution what to look for or how to fix this thing. I hate it when you are so close and something like this
comes and slap you in the face, because you have no idea how to avoid things like this or make it work.
Posted 31st of August 2010
Progress update #26 - Weekend update
Weekend is over and i did infact spent a lot of time with the Left 4 Dead 2 Authoring Tools. I was working with the 5th map, Salvation also known as the final map of the 5 map campaign. I had an idea what it was going to be
like in my head but the idea i had, just wouldn't work out. So many custom campaigns already have had the idea of military base from which the survivors escape so i really didn't want to go there. But this isn't the end of
this story because i found a great idea - not 100% sure if i can implement it the way i want to but we'll see.
I do not want to do a regular finale, where you first fight a couple of infected hordes, 1 Tank, another couple of hordes, T tank (or 2 if you have played swamp fever) and then escape. No, i do not mean i'll be adding more Tanks
to fight on but something different. How about you go and start the finale, something happens and you need to do something to get things going again. Sounds fun? It might be, if i can get it done.
I have also updated the progress page with the details of 5th map so those of know something about mapping will know how far ahead it is. For everyone else, let's just say that the layout is 98% done
How the map looks visually) and i'll be starting to add things that are necessary for gameplay to work soon. This includes sounds, places where infected can go and where survivors can go. No invisible walls for survivors or fences
that appear like they could be jumped over, no sir. I hate those myself too.
Once the finale is somewhat done, i'll be digging into the navigation files (which the infected are using to navigate to the survivors and attack) so they work with the maps nicely and gameplay is enjoyable. I'll be also looking
into adding more details and special things to the maps in the same time as i work on the navigation. I am also thinking of adding something to the map 3, as it feels kind of short now. I could add a little route to it that would
make it longer but we'll see if i do that or not. It's not much of a work though, from what i have planned.
Overall progress of this campaign is now 85%
Posted 23rd of August 2010
Progress update #25
First of all, i just want to say that i'm very angry towards Valve for breaking up the Authoring tools of L4D2 with todays friday update to the game. I was just about to continue my campaign and boom.. tools crash on me on startup.
I was about to say pretty angry things about not testing their stuff but luckily i mailed on the L4DMappers mailing list and said that the tools are indeed broken. I had a reply from Chet @ Valve that they are fixing the issue
with another update today. So i hope they do it quickly so i can continue working on the campaign. I have weekend free so i also have lots of time.
Past 2 weeks since the last progress update 24, i have been working the campaign maps 1-5. Mostly adding effects and details. Started to work on the navigation files but ended in a dead end with the 1st map (the "flow" is broken on it).
2nd map runs fine and i haven't started navigation on 3rd and 4th map yet because i plan to add more stuff into them before i do that. I added 3dskyboxes to all of the 4 first maps (mainly maps 3 and 4) and lightning among other
details. I also added proper fog_volumes and color correction effects. However, there is still some work to do with maps 3 and 4 and mostly with 5th. The finale isn't yet ready. I was going to work on that this weekend but we'll see
if Valve can get the tools fixed first. Still, i doubt i can make this ready within August 2010 so be prepared for another delay. I won't name a date because that seems to be bad omen.
Summary: New release date for the campaign is postponed to the future. Valve broke the tools with an update to L4D2, i hope they fix them fast. In the meantime,
here's a shot from the 4th map of the capaign. Imagine zombies. Imagine you. Imagine going through that. Overall progress is now around 82% done.
Posted 21st of August 2010
Progress update #24
I added after effects, such as fog_volumes, color correction and other finalizing things to maps 1 and 2 yesterday and today. They look somewhat awesome now but they both could use still some work. There is always something to
improve and i need to add more infected ladders before i can start working on the final navigation file. I will be adding 3dskyboxes, new effects like fog_volume and color correction to maps 3 and 4 too in the upcoming days.
I have also started working on the 5th map and it's halfway done. Now i need to do the real finale area and escape things. This is going to be tough so i'll save it for the weekend, or next week. We'll see how things are progressing
and how much i will have to spent time with maps 3 and 4.
So, the overall progress is now around 80%
Posted 4th of August 2010
Progress update #23
I really hate to say this but i won't be able to make the campaign ready at the end of July. It will take longer than i expected. Some of that is just plain lazyness but i also had other things going in at the time and still have
those other things on me too. Basically it's a not-enough-freetime style of issue. What is fun and what is not. Since this is a free project and i don't get paid, it's coming along itself whenever i have chance and interest to
continue. If i would get paid, this propably would have been done couple of months ago already. Fear not, this will be finished.
For the past days, i have been adding sounds to each of the 4 maps. I have also tuned in the 3dskyboxes for maps 1 and 2 and added lightning to the maps 1 and 2 too. Next thing i will do is add 3dskyboxes to maps 3 and 4 and
also the final lights. I also did some initial work with navigation files, which define where and how the bots spawn. I let the game create the navs, connected few routes myself and had a look how the game does it's thing. It showed
me that there is still something wrong with map 1, map 2 was running great, map 3 was startng slowly but it needs work and map 4 was sort of failure. I have no idea why but the infected ladders i added just didn't work. I need
to have a closer look why.
I also pretty much completed the work on 4th map and i can start building the finale anytime now. I know i said this already around 2 weeks ago but lately i have been working with the previous maps, tuning them in and so on while
thinking what kind of epic finale i will do. I updated the progress page with fresh tech information if you are interested. It will show what's in place and what is still missing.
Overall progress is now around 78%
Posted 22nd of July 2010
Progress update #22
This is a compilation video of work in progress game scenes from 1-4 maps total of 5 from the campaign.
The scenery and lightning in these videos is NOT final. There will be more light and more zombies once i get everything done. The fps is around 30 due to video capture tool,
it is not how the map runs. This will run smoothly even on older computers.
Overall progress is now around 75%
Posted 22nd of July 2010
Progress update #21
Took a little time off from the mapping itself. I needed that because things were not going so well. I had also other things to do in the same time. Blame Valve for releasing engineer update for TF2 because i had a lot of
time with that but the rest goes on me. So, i'm back building the campaign now. I said it would be out in June - July 2010 but it appears that i will once again not make that deadline. Got around 2 weeks left and theres still
a lot to do.
Good news is that the 4th map layout is now locked. I will start building the 5th map, the finale next. This will propably be the shortest map in the game but also it is the finale, so not much left for it anyway, except the ending
fight. The progress page is unupdated, i have no time to do it now but i will update it next time i release a progress update.
This will be completed, i'm so far right now that it just frustrates me the most because i don't have everything working yet the way i want it and i cannot share this campaign with others yet. I heard Valve is starting to playtest
custom campaigns and promote them on their official blog. That's a good thing. Perhaps i get there someday too.
Overall progress is now around 74%
Posted 15th of July 2010
Progress update #20
During the weekend, once again i have been working with the 2nd map. What i did to it within the last couple of days is remarkable change from what it used to be. I still have some more work ahead with it but the progress has been slow
but interesting. Like i previously have mentioned, i was never happy with the layout it had in the past. So i rebuilt the map quite a lot to get it into the point where i am more than satisfied with it. As a result, i revisited the
maps progress and lenght bar that i did over 2 months ago.
Overall progress is now around 70%
Posted 21st of June 2010
Progress update #19
I have been working on the 2nd map of the campaign. Soon it is ready for a further testing to see how it plays out. I have done tests like this with the 1st and 3rd maps previously so it's soon the 2nd map turn to get the same
treatment, as well as the 4th map too but i'll get on that one later on.
The fifth map, finale i have not yet started. I have a couple of ideas that still need some thinking to do but the finale will be different from all the current ones. If i can, i will make it as unique as possible but it
requires for me to do some further studying on the matter. I'll get to that point when i have to but for now, i am concentrating to making these 4 almost ready maps to be playable, smoothly running on any pc with the additional
eyecandy whenever possible.
As a side note, i've been working this campaign now on and off now around 5 months. There are times when i have constructed this whole day and times when i have opened editor, did something for 10 minutes and closed it right away.
It's a good thing i am not a professional mapper. Then again if i were, i would have a lot of people helping me out with the dead ends and obstacles i have encountered while constructing this and other issues that i have bumped
into. If i would have set a definitive deadline, this propably would be out already as i mentioned earlier about the May 2010 release, but it would look crap and it would be missing a lot of things that i have added within
the past months. Nobody likes to play a thing that is not working properly and looks like crap. Just wait untill you see what i have here and i'm sure if you have been waiting this to come out, the wait has not been in vain.
This turned out to be a bigger work to do than i expected. If i would do this full time, 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, 320 hours a month + being a pro, it would have taken roughly over 2 months instead but this is just a hobby for me
and other duties take time too so i kind of have to share my free time with this and other things i do. Now i know why Valve took so much time with The Passing campaign and that is only 3 maps. They had to do some new models, sounds
and textures for the game among the plain level design. I do not have that luxury so i'll just manage with the current content instead. Still, it's a lot of work.
A little technical note while i am at it, i optimized the maps even further on the same time as i changed the textures from L4D addon support to L4D2 compatible. All 4 maps now use the L4D2 textures and models instead of previous L4D
so addon support from Steam tools is no longer needed if you play this on the future. I still have to do some changes to the 4th map to make it work better but all the other 3 maps have been already redone. I replaced some of the
textures while i was at it with the existing ones, so i didn't really need some of them while keeping the same visual quality.. This means that the texture memory dropped. Here's a list of current texture memory usage. For comparison,
Valve maps almost all use under 70 megs so i'm well within the budget that i also try to aim for.
Map 1 texture memory 43.93 MB
Map 2 texture memory 45.35 MB
Map 3 texture memory 63.92 MB
Map 4 texture memory 30.52 MB
So what does it means for you as a player? It means that the levels will load faster and it will run smoother on your PC. The more textures there are used in the map, the longer the level usually loads and the more memory it will
consume on your pc. This might lead to crashes if there is too much memory in use and other players waiting for someone to get map loaded, untill a campaign begins and the intro movie fires away for all.
The maps filesize isn't that large either. Even with HDR on and all the light data inside, no map currently exceeds over 10 megs. However, they are still missing lights and such so propably each level will be somewhat 15 megs or lower.
Not much more. The nav meshes are from 2-6 megabytes so everything is all within the filesize i am aiming for. My goal is to make everything fit to 50 MB vpk file.
Overall progress is now around 69%
Posted 17th of June 2010
Progress update #18
Now that you have seen the screenshots from the first map, i have to tell you that those are now outdated a bit. I have previously stated that this campaign will not require L4D2 addon-support but i seem to have used some models and
textures within the campaign that are in it. So i have now removed the models, replaced some with others and changed the textures to L4D2 originals. I will have to do a bit layout changes but that should not be major thing and
will not delay this campaign more than a day of work. Yeah, a day for all the 4 maps total so really not that big deal.
Why this is so important to me that no content from Left 4 Dead 1 is used on this campaign? That is due to me believing partly through experience that many people do not realise that
they need to install the Left 4 Dead addon support from the Steam tools. They either do not know that it is required to see no errors within custom campaigns that are ported from L4D to L4D2 (and there are a lot of those, currently
like 95% or even more!). Then they see error signs
and missing textures all around and think that the fault is within the campaign or maps and never play those "crappy campaigns" again. So overall it comes to the user experience. It is odd that Valve did not include this tool
pack within the game, just like they did with The passing campaign. It causes a lot of confusion but then again, it is understandable. There was some number on the Valve L4D blog recently where only 3% of the played campaigns
were custom ones and that number only consisted campaigns of playd within the last week. There are even more players who have the game so actual number for custom campaigns could be something like 0,1%. So there isn't much point
of putting every L4D2 owner to download that pack, was it over 1 gigabyte. However, it would be more clear that it is required once you try to play custom campaigns that require it. Currently putting it on Tools isn't like that.
Not at all.
So there is that and i will make this out without the L4D content. Pure L4D2 just for the sake of better user experience and i don't really need the L4D content. I'll be fine with L4D2 ones alone as this is for L4D2 and not for L4D.
I said on the previous post that i will be working on the 3rd and 4th map during weekend. Guess what? I didn't. I worked on map 2 instead. Almost got it sealed up and playable area marked. I also did some layout changes to it to make
it look and feel better to play on. Might be that further changes are needed when i start to optimize it to the fullest but we'll see. Next thing i will do is add details and make it look
more nice and at the end, optimize it even more. Then i'll propably go on the 3rd and 4th map and replace the damn L4D textures and models (there are few) with L4D2 ones. That's enough work for few days for me. I'll keep posting what
i do and rework the progress page to show better what is still missing and what is already in the maps. I'll include the changed progress page on the website when i do next announcement.
Overall progress is now around 67%
Posted 13th of June 2010
New screenshots
As promised, here are some more images from the first map of my campaign called Open Road. The first map is just sort ofintroduction to the whole thing and you cannot see that actual road anywhere but there are other things in this one,
just like the crashed chopper where they arrived. These images do not tell the whole story or display the whole map. Infact the biggest house you can see in the images is huge and there are no shots taken from the inside of it or the backyard.
click for larger images
I'll be doing some work today on the 3rd and 4th maps during the weekend. I still am not quite sure how to do one part of the 2nd map of mine.
Posted 11th of June 2010
Progress update #17 - Layout
I decided to share some preview images from the map 1 layout areas that are most finished and detailed. I have spent a lot of time to make it as real looking as possible. I hope to move on to the other maps soon as i get this done.
Next week i plan to post more images, if not sooner from the other places of the map. Perhaps even from the other maps too. There are some already on the previous posts so you get some sort of idea what's going on. Enjoy!
click for larger images
Posted 10th of June 2010
Progress update #16 - Bad luck
So whilst i was having a break from L4D2 mapping playing some Team Fortress 2, the screen jammed, sound started repeating over and over and boom, pc reboots itself. After that, no image on screen. Guess what? Yeah,
GFX card burned and broke. Luckily i had old card as a spare so farewell old X1900XTX. 4+ years served. So now i have X1950GT as a replacement which has little lower fps level than the old one, that is, unless i overclock
a bit. I dare not to because if this burns, i actually have to go and get a new card from the store. This would be bad as i would have no comparison how the campaign runs on lower end pc's like mine. New GFX card would
be a huge boost to framerates so i don't want to go there yet. After this campaign is done, then perhaps yes. I do not want to spend money on this old pc more so i might just get completely new rig later on. Here's a picture
of the old hag below. Took that with my new cellphone, Nokia N900. Yeah, i changed the phone too which you can see on the old images.
click for larger image
As for the campaign, i've been working on the first map again. Adding more details and models into it. I also added 3Dskybox so now the outskirts look more amazing and beautifull. Now that it needs is intro movie thing, soundscapes and the final navigation file marked in with all the things in needs. I have also worked with the 4th map and finishing it's layout up. I will continue it next as i work towards the final map called salvation. Total progress now 65%. Perhaps during the upcoming weekend, i will make a big progress but then again, Valve releasing new update tomorrow for Team Fotress 2 and if it indeed is the engineer update, it might just delay things a bit.
Posted 10th of June 2010
Progress update #15 - Time off, time on, studying, testing, detailing
Last update i did on this site was around 2 weeks ago. I was busy at the first week and studying mapping related things and also playtesting some of the other campaigns. I was along with a bunch of people on last friday that was able to
demonstrate some versus related issues on L4D2 for Valve's own Chet Faliszek. The main idea was to investigate why does the custom L4D2 maps fail on versus. They either show wireframed textures (see-through) or the game simply
crashes. So there's that. It was success. Fix should be available later.
So after that, there was weekend and it was off time. This week i have been studying and testing the one thing i have always hated even on previous projects, the bots navigation system. Yes, i know how to create new areas and how to
give names but it is so annoying to do. Then because L4D2 is so different from Counter-Strike: Source nav thing, you have to know how the "flow" works and that everything spawns and is able to move to all places and so on. It is
annoying thing for me but also time consuming. I tested the nav thing on first map of my campaign, which i thought was the most done. Well it was not and the nav sucked so hard that i had to do changes to maps to make it more "nav
friendly". I still have some issues with it so i'm thinking that i must show the game how to do it and not let nav_generate command do it as a first step (the damn thing (the flow) was running backwards, from saferoom to player start point!).
So as a result, regular infected didnt really spawn but the special's did. Odd thing is that with the more broken nav, the regular infected spawned nicely so i have to read some more and try even a lot more with the map.
Also because of this, i started editing the 3rd map while i am at it, because it's the next most ready map i have. I have been adding more details to the map, infected ladders, more spots (changed some buildings to have windows where
infected might attack) for infected to spawn on and most importantly, optimizing it further. I played one custom campaign recently which appeared that it had a lot of time spent for doing it but the optimization lacked skill or knowledge,
as it really ran bad on my old'ish comp so keeping that mind, i will try to make this campaign more friendly to the older comps too as keeping the detail and eyecandy for the newer ones.
So, i'm back in the saddle now. Hammer here i come. Yeehaw!
Posted 3rd of June 2010
Progress update #14 - More sealing and planning to do
Like i said in the previous update, i have been doing the 4th map of the campaign since the update whenever i have had time and felt like having the good mood on. It is getting the same treatment as 3rd map and is coming
along nicely. So the map is over half now "sealed" and playable area designated. There are the PLAYERCLIP and CLIP brushes + it has been sealed with a skybox, nearly.
What it is still missing is the last saferoom, the house where it is located in, is still needing some work (it's not done) and so on. It needs more more details which i will add later once i get it done properly. Those are
then easy to put into afterwards.
The finaly is yet to be started but i have had a lot of thingking what it will be like so i think it will be a positive experience. Surprising but yet interesting. First i planned the finale to be just the stand-alone map, only
the finale parts, just like in almost every Valve map where you can pretty much start it straight away but i am turning to Swamp Fever style. Little road to go on and then the finale. It seemed the most appropriate. I can tell you
now that it will not be scavenge finale. No sir, not a chance.
I have another plan that i still want to keep a bit of secret. If you have played Dark Carnival, you might get some idea what the ending will be but still a little more special. I'll see if i have the skills to do what i am
planning on.
Overall progress of the campaign is now around 63%.
Posted 20th of May 2010
Progress update #13 - Things getting done
In the past 6 days, i have worked with the campaign now and then when i have had time. Total of maybe 20 hours. I have now "sealed" the 3rd map of the campaign like the first map before and it is starting to be on the same stage as
the first map. I still need to do the same thing to the 2nd map after the layout change, with the new route is complete. What i did for the 3rd map, city:
- Added proper 3dkybox instead of 6 side square around the map. No more unnecessary empty space.
- Added areaportals to the pre-determined places. Fps is now great but can still be tuned up
- Added CLIP brushes to models so infected can climn over them and sealed the playable area with them.
- Added PLAYERCLIP brushes to prevent survivors getting into certain spots where infected can go or spawn from.
- And so on
I'll be concentrating to the 4th map next and saving the finale for the very last. If only i had more time. As a treat, here's a rough layout of the whole campaign i have now planned and created. As you can see from the image,
some of it seem quite small and some quite large but there is plenty to do on every map and the picture lies a bit too. It isn't completely accurate so don't jump into wrong conclusions. The survivors will travel the "Open Road" during the campaign,
getting off from it time to time but always getting back to it. Only the parts that player will travel are drawn, not the whole road. For example, the whole city is along the road but i left some of it off the image.
I'm really excited to get this done but it will take time. Thanks to delffi for the new logo for Steam Group - Open Road!
Posted 11th of May 2010
Progress update #12
The Passing came out from Valve to L4D2, so i've been playing that for couple of days (ehm week) and in the meanwhile, thinking out what to do with the campaign of my own. The first map is quite done, still missing things but
whilst i moved into the 2nd map, i noticed that the map is seriously really too short. The idea that i had, has changed on the way. The idea that i had, was to have 2 panic events in that map. If i would do that, it would be
ultimately very boring.
So i have already taken some redesign on it and made it longer. Removed the 2 panic event idea completely. The idea really is to travel from one place to another and not fight and fight so i think this will work just a lot better.
Had also new ideas for the 4th map, which will be epic. Gotta love those.. things, coming out from the woods at you. Garden gnomes! Or not!
As you might notice, the last update is from 2 weeks ago. The other week i played The Passing, the other week i took off from the campaign completely and gave some of my free time to the community i run. Picked up some new
maps for TF2 servers, tested them and so on. It's nice to have new something to play on and not just the same old maps. This is also one of the reasons why i am building this campaign. I will provide new screenshots later on
when i get the lightning and layout of the 2nd map done and tuned up the first one.
I also have sad news, the date that i promised the campaign will be released, it is not going to happen. I can't get this done for the end of may 2010. Sorry but that's the deal now. I could set a new date but when it's ready still
applies. OK, fine, i'll set the date. June-July. Seriously? Not Likely! Possibly. I know this is disappointment to some of you but it's not like i'm getting paid for this and even if i were, i don't want to do half ready thing.
I want this to be as perfect as possible.
I have added a counter on front page of the website telling how many percent of the campaign is complete. It will make things easier to follow.
Posted 4th of May 2010
Progress update #11
In the last days, i've been working with the 1st map of the campaing, bringing it to nearly ready state for testing and special effects. It has quite nice fps but i haven't done the final optimizations to it yet. I am saving those
to the last moments. It runs nicely even now so there is no need to work with this longer as there are still plenty to do in other maps of the campaign.
I started working the 2nd map of the campaign while i think about the finale (4th map ending leading to 5th map and 5th map in general). So i tried to do some panic events while working on it. Sadly the L4D2 is not so very
friendly for people who have no experience on these. There is only one example on Valve's developer site, that concerns panic
event with an elevator - but i do not have an elevator in my map! I would require setting panic events of:
- Activating a gate to open (general example)
- Getting panic event started and then stopped with another button press (Parish map 2 style).
- Activating endless zombie horde spawning on button press (Dark Carnival 4 style)
- Making an alarm car which would then activate panic event if shooted or jumped on.
- Gassing up on a car and then escape
I had a look on car alarm event thingie, it was a mess i tell you. Too many entities for me to understand how they work. I hated programmable logic programming back at school and this is just like it. I really dislike this.
Why there cannot be a prop_alarm_car that would be a ready thing that you could just add in? Why it's made from so many pieces and entities that it's just hard for anyone else than a real pro to understand?
So meanwhile i think about the panic events, i try to do the same optimizations and other things that i did for the first map. If this campaign will be slowed down, it may not be due to map designs but due to this entity based work.
I really suck at those and there really isn't enough tutorials around. For me, it's not so simple as saying "do entity logic_relay and tie it up to blablabla while logic_timer hits x then do this and that. Just look at that
elevator panic event thing. Does that look easy for you? Even that is hard for me. I mean, to get simple sign like that info_game_event_proxy is made so hard to implement that user friendliness isn't really been thought there.
Posted 19th of April 2010
Progress update #10
The 4th map, forest, is now nearly done. I'm about to add the ending saferoom into it as soon as i get the current issues solved. Those issues are the visual look of the last area. I'm not quite sure about the looks of it yet.
I returned to the first map, Cliffs and had some work with it. Added the areaportals, fps optimizations and other things (***** *****, no more clues). I also aligned the playable area within certain area where you can go and where you cannot go. So now the zombies
spawn pretty much next to players instead of the edges of the map like before. You couldn't shoot them from there. In short, this means that i added clip and playerclip brushes to controll the playable area. I will still need to add
some more clip brushes due to zombies being idiots and cannot reach player if he's standing on the table or some other prop (nav mesh isn't being generated on it so they cannot go there).
The fps in the first map is good. I can still improve it if necessary but i compared it to the dark carnival's first level and generally what i get while i play Left 4 Dead 2 myself. It's the same as Valve maps have, perhaps even better.
This means that the map will run ok even with low end rigs like mine is. For your information, my E6600 CPU is from 2006 and my X1900XTX gfx card is also from 2006 which means that the both are
around 4 years old!
Some information from the first map of the campaign (current status, may change):
Map file size: 12,5 MB
Navigation file size: 3 MB
Unique textures: 73 (texture memory ~68 MB)
I've noticed that the Valve maps usually use only as few textures as possible yet keeping the visual look nice so i aim for the same. Same goes for texture memory. In Valve maps, it's from 25-75 megs. In my maps, it's currenly
as low as 29 megs on the forest level, around 60 megs on the city and around 40 on the path. Levels load fast and are light in that matter. Just wait untill you see the final work :-)
(PS: as a real comparison, my levels in CS Source used texture memory atleast 150 a piece, over 200 on others and in the biggest, over 300 megs. I really improved my technique this time)
Posted 16th of April 2010
Progress update #9
Again for the last 3 days i've been working with the campaign (having some sort of urge for a change) so i've actually managed to get something done. The 4th map will be located in a forest mostly. The survivors have to find their
way through the woods and find a way to back to the road - and perhaps into the rescue (final map) if they are dedicated enough for the cause. This is second of the long maps in the campaign and thus perhaps the hardest. I will start
plannign the finale in the next coming days if i can keep this "urge" up. If not, i will take a week off or something.
Today i also learned that Left 4 Dead 2 is missing proper support for custom campaigns and maps in other gamemodes than coop. Looks like there is a
temporarely fix provided by the community and it says that Valve has been notified.
However, that doesn't mean anything. From my experience (since 2004) i would say that some things just won't be fixed - no matter how obvious they are - _ever_.
This might affect my plans. If i cannot get the campaign working properly and if Valve has not fixed this bug before mid May 2010, i might not release this campaign untill there is a proper way to provide all gamemodes or i might
just strip off anything else than coop. We'll see how things develop.
Posted 12th of April 2010
Progress update #8
Again the last 2 days i have been working with the campaign quite a lot. Around 60% of the 4th map of the campaign, aka Forest is now done. There is still quite a lot of work ahead and planning too so it won't be ready this week.
Not for a long shot.
In addition to this, i decided to share some insight to the plans that i have for the campaign. As i can't reveal reasons why i designed the levels like you are about to see (so i won't spoil your gaming experience), i just want
to say that there are reasons why these levels are like you can see from the image. This is not a regular (all 5 maps will be the same lenght) campaign. All these are for different lenght for a reason. It's not like i try to do them
too hard or anything like that but let's just say it has something to do with the campaigns originality. Enjoy!
Posted 8th of April 2010
Progress update #7
Last 2 days i've been building the 4th map of the campaign and it is now around 25% done for the layout part. From the safehouse, survivors will head to forest, as the road is yet again unavailable. Through it they
are trying to find their way to the road again and follow it to anywhere it will lead them, hoping to get rescued from the infected people.
So, i would say that while this is progressing nicely, i'm not sure if i can keep the timetable. We'll see. I'll do what i can on my freetime. It's not like i'm getting paid for this so i have no obligation to do it
as a first priority. Sorry.
Posted 6th of April 2010
New screenshots
Here's some screenshots from the 3rd map of the campaign. Fresh out of the oven. Recently, i bought new monitors so these screenshots are somewhat larger than the ones from the previous maps. The fog in these isn't permanent either and they this is not the final view of the map. These are just
for me to test out the map layout and how draw distances are. Atleast you can have a little peak what will be in the map. Enjoy!
Posted 4th of April 2010
Progress update #6
The 3rd map is now done and tomorrow I will be starting the 4th map layout designing. I am not sure yet how to continue so i need to think a bit first. This will be the map before the finale so i need to think how i want to
end this whole campaign. As the title "Open Road" says, it kind of has this road that you go on and off during the campaign so I just use that as a theme. Maybe. We'll see what the twisted mind will do.
Last post i posted an image of my workstation and talked about still having CRT-monitors and thinking of getting LCD to replace them. Well i kid of did that, 2 times. Got two 24" screens instead of one. Was a real
bargain so now i have more space to work on, play on and so on. There's another image below if you want to have a look.
Posted 3rd of April 2010
Progress update #5 - status
I have been sick and unable to build my campaing in almost a week. However, before i got ill and now that i am able to do the campaign again (not yet quite well yet), the progress
on map 3 has gone from 35% to 55% so the layout for it is now almost done. I will be starting the 4th map soon. I'll be continuing the campaign starting today. It's going to be tight
if i manage to get something released during May as i promised.
Now for some inside sneak and peak! I also cleaned out the "data corner" (see image) where i keep my PC, my home server and other things. As you might see from the image,
i am still in process of buying a new LCD monitor to replace
the 2 CRT ones (19") standing on the table taking a huge space. On the right side monitor, i have hammer open and at the left, there is currently IRC window open.
The pc itself (C2D E6600, 4 gigs of mem, X1900XTX, etc) is the black one at the right lower corner under the switch. There is my backup drive next to the monitors,
Sennheiser PC-350 headphones, G15 keyboard and G9 mouse. The switch shares the internet for my PC, my home server, my printer and for my Wii console.
Other additional things you might notice are the cellphone (Nokia 6230), the flashlight (LED powerlight) at left side and the knife (Suomi puukko) under the left monitor. I use that to keep
noisy people away. Just kidding.
Posted 1st of April 2010
Progress update #4 & New website
I re-created the website to suit future needs. Things are much more easier to update now and i will be updating the site frequently. I will also release all the notes in this website
at the Steamgroup announcements. Steam Group - Open Road
The 3rd map is around 50% done for the layout part. I have been planning what direction i should take the map on. I have several plans but i'm not yet sure which of them i will use. Things
are still progressing nicely.
Posted 21st of March 2010
Progress update #3
After taking some time off with the campaign / mapping (over a week), i have been working the last over 3 days with it again - a lot. I have around 1/3rd of the 3rd map layout done.
While i build my maps, i try to use as less resources as possible. Keep things clean and tidy. While many mappers would not be concerned with the things i am, it is in my nature to do things good from the start. This is why i take my time with the maps. I am unsure if the promised April-May will hold for the beta. Most likely it will not be ready on April yet.
However, things look better now than 2 weeks ago. Overall progress: Around 30% done.
Posted 14th of March 2010
Progress update #2
Website updated. Layout of the 2 maps is done and they are still missing eyecandy, additional details and other things. I have started building the 3rd map. This will be 5 maps total after all, not 4.
Maps are: Cliffs(1), Path(2), City(3), ? (4), Salvation(5).
Posted 2nd of March 2010
Map 2 shots
Here are some development shots from the second campaign.
Posted 19th of February 2010
Progress update #1
Due to "popular demand" by Caspah, here's a progress update. The second map layout is almost done. The cave area takes long time to do, as it is very difficult to make displacements (there is so many of them) to mach so they can be sewn together at the end.
I have also been planning and tuning the already existing area a bit too and adding more models and other stuff into it.
OVERALL PROGRESS: 21% DONE
Posted 19th of February 2010
Map 1 shots
Some screenshots from the first campaign. Not the final view or anything like that. Just test shots.
Posted 15th of February 2010