Oh dang, first post in a while. No I didn't forget about this site. I just didn't have much to talk about. That and I'm too lazy to write stuff nowadays due to all the brainrot and low attention span. But today is a great day! I'm about to release a COOL BRAND NEW map. Let's celebrate!
The map is currently set to unlisted on the workshop and not available for download. Once it's ready to go live publicly I'll put the VMF and all necessary assets in the downloads page.
Two months back, on February 18th, the Hammer Editor Discord Group or HEDG for short organized a TTT competition. Yeah pretty much create a map that's suited for TTT and plays good I guess? the judging criteria were set in stone, things like visuals and environment, gameplay and optimization.
The theme was left abroad so as to encourage creativity and I made use of that. From the very beginning I wanted a map that was DARK and GRITTY. Themed around rust and decay and things to that nature. After all one of my favorite games of all time is a little known game called .flow, which is a Yume Nikki fangame from 2009. I even cosplayed as the main protagonist Sabitsuki at a convention isn't that cool? and sure, nobody recognized me, but it was pretty fun! Basically it's a dream exploration game. You explore the protagonist's dreams and collect certain objects or effects to finish the game. Not much of a game but an experience.
Its main theme I would describe as rust and decay. In fact it's the only game that's made me feel uncomfortable in many years, and it's all due to the combination of the visuals, audio and themes. Really gritty and grotesque and I love it so much!!! Wouldn't you know it, the verb to rust is called sabiru in Japanese and I'm a huge weeb so that's what I went for. Sabi means rust, the noun, but I decided for sabiru.
This map is separated into well defined areas with their own themes and soundscapes which is cool. A lot of effort was put into making each area feel unique and whatnot. Verticality became more and more defined as the map gained iterations. For instance, on the very first unlisted version (uploaded weeks before the deadline), the map had little to no verticality. The rooftops were mostly inaccessible and you'd only get on them by propclimbing or getting pushed with the Newton Launcher. This was improved upon with each new iteration. At the present moment, you can easily gain access to roofs by climbing ladders and ropes, jumping across gaps or doing parkour which is neat.
Check the image above and analyze it. Of note is the fact that, if the current gamemode is TTT and a minimum player requirement isn't met during preparation and round start, certain areas of the map will be disabled so as to reduce the playing area. Don't worry, this only affects TTT, and there's both a console command that admins can execute and a physical button located in the admin room that can toggle these barriers on and off.
It's not the first time this feature appears in one of my maps. There's another one, Cold War Office, which is a cs_office edit with some added quirks and features, which uses the same system. In short: you got the classic cs_office playing area, and then another one under the office which is sort of like a bunker with a lobby area, dormitories, mines, and in earlier versions a shooting range and some cool optional areas. There's different entry points between the bunker and the office. Essentially, if a minimum player requirement isn't met on map reload, so during round preparation, the bunker will remain inaccessible. This was done for a simple reason, and that is you want a map to adapt to the number of players. cs_office wasn't made for 20 plus players in mind, and my reimagining of it with the included bunker certainly isn't comfortable for a small number of people to play on. So blocking off certain sections of the map is an acceptable way to remedy this issue.
Here's an analysis of every area in the map, let me show you their features:
Most of the gameplay will take place here I'll assume. I placed plenty of dumpsters and physics props around so as to give the Poltergeist some utility. It's the TTT weapon that launches props around. Overall pretty dangerous as you'll be exposed from every angle. To add to the danger you'll face by walking down the streets, there's three separate traitor traps placed all over the map that involve pouring gasoline all over people and lighting them on fire and whatnot. The fire resulting from such traps also disable certain routes for around 20 seconds forcing people to go around (or it would if the map wasn't so big)
The soundscape in this area comes from here (extremely loud, do not play)
The very first area I started working on. This one is something else. The house itself is very elongated and it takes a while to get through, as can be seen in the exterior shot. The walls pulsate and are strange in appearance, almost organic looking. Same could be said of the floor, which resembles carpet but is still equally organic. It too pulsates and moves around. In terms of soundscapes, it's composed of a rapidly beating heart and a constant whine that puts you on edge. I'd say it would be more effective as a singleplayer map and not a TTT one, but oh well. The walls and floor pulsate to the heartbeat and it's pretty neat!
Another thing I have to talk about is the absolutely repulsive art scattered all over the house. Art made by Biljana Djurdjevic and Ruby Osorio. Well, Ruby's art is much more tame and safe compared to the other one. You're free to look them up, but I must warn Biljana's art is peculiar. Why did I include it? it's weird and unsettling, which fits the theme pretty well. There's also a very secret hidden puzzle which involves these paintings, but I can't say much about it.
In terms of decoration, this house is certainly not lacking. You've got big speakers, TVs, pottery and stained plastic tarps. Some wooden counters. Also a lever in the kitchen which does something.
This area's soundscape comes from a short snippet from Stardust by Johnny Jewel
There isn't a whole lot to say about this one. It's a three story building, half of it being made of bare concrete pillars and bricks, the rest moldy, damp plaster with funky mushrooms growing all over the floors and ceilings. I made the mushroom models in half an hour in Blender but I'm happy with how they came out looking. I always found fungi to be weirdly unsettling, almost like an alien organism that shouldn't belong here. And what results from it, mold and mushrooms, equally as alien. Especially mold and mushrooms growing where they shouldn't like restrooms and food. So here's some apartments overrun by fungi.
There's one point of interest here however. In the large barren concrete section of the building you'll notice a wooden board with a torso on it. By gathering the head and all four limbs, traitors can summon a biblical creation to chase down innocents. This one is harder to kill than the different denizens that populate the map, and is much faster as well. It can catch up with a distant player in a matter of seconds. On a positive light, it can be occasionally stunned by shooting at it, thus automatic weapons are recommended. I must say that the requirements for summoning this thing, are too boring. Gathering limbs from different corners of the map is LAME and boring once you do it enough times. I imagine most people won't be bothered.
This area's soundscape originates from the song 6 Days by Memo Boy, but slowed down. Well, the moldy apartments. I made the concrete area's soundscape myself from different samples.
A sandy and innocent place that's in the process of being consumed by them barriers. There's some points of interests in this location. Ignoring the devouring denizen, a superpowered carousel can be found here. It's hooked up to a V8 and can either kill you in amusing ways or fling you large distances. Something cool happens if you fly past the school on the other edge of the map using this carousel. Although I wasn't inspired by it, I can see see the resemblance to the GTA IV swingset. That was the shit.
Another point of interest are the pink orbs that can be found throughout different parts of the playground. Walking into enough of them triggers something cool, but you'll see.
Fun fact, the playground was originally one of the areas to be disabled if the minimum player requirement isn't met, just like the school, apartments and some of the industrial area. However, people liked it so I kept it in at all times.
Soundscape for this area comes from a snippet from the song For The Children by L'Enfant De La Foręt
Sorry for flooding your screen. Anyway here's the industrial area. What you see is what you get. Good mix of indoor and outdoor combat with some verticality thrown in the mix. Some containers used to break line of sight and provide cover. Plenty of ladders and ways to get high up. Note the crane whose only purpose is to lift a container up in the air to get players to a secret area, one of many at least. I'll probably end up disabling it in a later version.
Of note is that, if playing on TTT and the minimum player requirement isn't met, one third of the industrial area will be blocked. Just like the funky apartments.
Indoor soundscape is the intro to Blue Moon by Chromatics. Outdoor soundscape is the intro to Dark Space Low by Angelo Badalamenti with some construction site noises added in the background.
Four establishments comprise the shopping district of this map: a kebab shop, a bar, a generic convenience store type place, finally another forgettable souvenir shop.
Rapid fire, there's a traitor button in the Kebab shop that turns bodies into usable medkits that slowly regenerate health. I tried balancing it by adding a cooldown between each use, but it's subject to change at a later date according to feedback gathered during the playtest session next week. Of note are the different denizens in this place who you should avoid damaging. Localized entirely within the restroom is a portal that is enabled after completing a series of actions in the playground.
Kebab soundscape is Slow 30's Room by David Lynch & Dean Hurley, the soundscape that is unique to the restroom sounds like a screaming child but it's actually sampled from an angle grinder.
From the Kebab restroom it's possible to access the bar through a hole in the wall. The bar has an oppresive red ambience with an instrumental cover of Closer by Nine Inch Nails blasting from the speakers. Not many people seem to know of the lever right behind the counter which opens a super secret passage to the boring convenience store nextdoor. From the bar it´s possible to access the meat locker. In contrast to the bar, this freezer is cold and greenish in color with hooked meat hanging from beams. The walls appear to have orifices in them from which a cold stream of air originates.
Bar soundscape is a short loop from the instrumental of Closer by Nine Inch Nails
Also through the meat locker the player can access the boring convenience store which I won't even bother showing because it's very uneventful. Also very uneventful is the souvenir store which serves as a connection between the shopping district and the industrial area.
The semifinal area to be worked on. It's a three story building with only two of them being accessible. A decent sniping spot. Otherwise a very plain building that is completely abscent if playing in TTT and the player requirement isn't met, just like the funky apartments and a third of the industrial area. The soundscape in this area is dreary, and if I remember correctly, came from a documentary about some shithole orphanage in Bulgaria with horrible living conditions. One name comes to mind, Bulgaria's Abandoned Children, but I'm not certain it's that one. Still worth giving it a watch if you want your day ruined.
Okay so in terms of layout, prior to the final release, I had to make it smaller by sealing certain classrooms and preventing access to them. It also wasn't until the final release that you could get down from the top floor onto the streets by climbing down some ropes. That did wonders for the layout. No one likes dead ends in TTT maps. Oh and it's based on a real school, recreated hallway by hallway, window by window.
In terms of set dressing, I must admit it's severely lacking in that department. No school desks or chairs to be seen. In fact you wouldn't think it's a school had I not told you that. I'll improve upon that before the public release.
Bright and bloomy!
The final area chronologically added to the map and definitely my favorite. Certainly a tonal shift in contrast to the rest of the map. It's the obligatory credits room, except here it's part of the layout and can be accessed freely by any player. The design is reminiscent of these old hub worlds from virtual worlds and interactive social experiences like Worlds.com and Active Worlds if you're familiarized with them. Essentially, mid-90s and early 2000s virtual chat rooms. The design can be inferred by all the eye cancer, the fullbright, animated, low res textures, rotating beveled text and objects all over the place, things from a bygone era.
Credits for all assets used can be found here, as well as some nice words from me!
You got some arcade machines which tease an upcoming map pack which will never come out and interactible objects which take you to my profile and this site. Cool!
Arcade soundscape is PARANOiA by 180
So yeah they can be found all around the map, usually standing idle or putting disgusting food into their mouths. They're always neutral to the player unless damaged, at which point they begin chasing them around rapidly. To say they're tanky is an understatement, but I'll fix that for the final public release. They serve little to no purpose other than set dressing and to set the atmosphere even further. The sounds they make are actually sampled from a baby, just slowed down. Their dying gargling sound is that of a drunk vomiting Russian man in the stairwell of a commie block and not someone getting their throat slashed.
Quick behind the scenes peek at how this model was made.
In case you're wondering, they're modified and repurposed Half-Life zombies with a brand new texture. The way it works is that the Half-Life 2 zombies that are placed all around the map have their models swapped at runtime at the start of the map. The sounds are handled with a combination of Lua and animation events. I must also tell you that spawning a Half-Life 2 zombie in Sandbox via the spawnmenu while running this map also has this same effect, meaning they will get replaced with this variation.
Yeah not much to say about this one. I already explained how it works in the Funky Apartments section. It can only be encountered in two locations, the overworld and a secret area. Chases innocents relentlessly and is very durable, yet can be stunned. Another repurposed Half-Life zombie with a new coat of paint. Also the hitboxes are messed up because they don't scale up alongside the model. Oh well.
You know how if you spawn a regular zombie in this map it gets turned into a Sabiru one? Well spawning a zombine results in this type being created instead. Oh damn. Under the hood they're still npc_zombine.
The rarest type to encounter. The Stranger towers over all. Legends say it may crash your game by merely looking at it. Even having it render on screen is hazardous. You can get rid of it but it always comes back.
It's too big like o dang! It takes too long to go from one place to another, even when the playable area is reduced. Then again it's too late to go back and make significant changes to the layout.
It runs surprisingly well despite being a mostly open outdoor map. Prop fade-in can be noticeable at times, oh well.
I didn't build cubemaps for LDR which may be a problem, but nobody plays on LDR anyway. I also didn't compile software and DX8 meshes for any of the custom models because nobody plays on DX8.
Overall it was a pretty straightforward map with no hitches encountered during development save for a few minor things.
It's late and I'm tired. This map doesn't suck that much, but I'm still going to bed