DM-Valas, post # 3

After working few hours more on Thaq base by the extremely small feedback I’ve receive from the community, it’s time to focus on another map and like all my maps, I like to build something different. Not only using a different theme from my previous maps but also try a different gameplay approach while keeping in mind UT playability and not just create a pretty level.

For Valas, I got myself inspire by DM-Stalwart, a classic UT99 map. DM-Stalwart layout is on 1 level height only with few small variation of height between areas. In valas, the layout is roughly the same height but in some areas, you have 2 level high. The theme is industrial and dirty and is relatively ‘closer’ to reality in term of visuals.

There are awesome pipes included in the Bunker pack. It would be really easy to make awesome pipeworks everywhere, but I try to limit myself not to use too much pipes for ressources reasons.

So, this time, to add details into the scene, I’ll mostly use decals instead of trying to make awesome meshwork, because yes, meshing is a form of art, which is by far more complicated than using decals. First pic is only the meshing without decals and second with the decals. For me, with the decals, the visuals reach my minimum visual standard 🙂

Meadows by David Holland

A short BUT very nice and charming scene made by David Holland 😀

If you’re eyes are good for recognizing little details, you will notice there is a subtle wave of color that is applied to the grass and I’m not talking about the shadows created by the moving grass and not the grass material color neither! Really sweet 🙂 This is the kind of visual enhancements UE4 users have with latest engine version!

DM-Thaq R1 Release!

So, after spending months making this map, there you are, you can play it too 😀 Head over DM-Thaq page to get all the details and download link 🙂

I hope that players will like the gameplay, which I really like because there is a good balance of close / tight areas and open areas, perfect to practice your precise shooting. The lifts in the belt area offers many moves and it’s up to you to discover them. Flying monkeys players should like it 😉

Note that file size is rather big (362 MB). I would had like to make it smaller but since there are many assets and textures I couldn’t really make it smaller. The only solution to shrink the size is to compress the textures more but after many tweaks and ingame tests, I found the maximum compression ratio without sacrificing the visuals. Many textures are in 512 or 1024 rez. Only few are in 2048 rez. Originally, the size was 587 MB before I tweaked the compression!

Before you play it, know that I made all I could to optimise the map for max FPS. I hope it run well for you!

Enjoy, and let me know what you think 😉

Note, depending on how your graphics settings, the look of the map will be very different from me. For all my maps I use Cinematic quality with Temporal AA since it offer the best visuals. I join few pics here and you can see the huge difference between the various values you’ll use ingame. The ‘sparkling effect’ is related to your Antialiasing value :

Low

Mid

High

Epic

Cinematic with Temporal AA

Cinematic without Temporal AA

Cinematic with FXAA

Cinematic with MSAA

DM-Valas, post # 2

This week, my UT4 editor time as been mostly put on Valas. I made some small progress on Thaq too. There is only 1 corridor that I need to mesh and R1 (Release 1) will be release. I didn’t get inspiration to finish meshing Cruel yet. But I made progress few weeks ago on the Shock room 🙂

I made 2 rooms in Valas. The first post was the Link Gun room which I made some changes. The pics in this post show the second room (far away room with red light door) and up close, the third room. The second room have health and ammos while the third room is for the Flack and small armor. First pic is without Post-Process and the second with Post-Process. Notice how everything is looking way much sharper, vibrant and define with very nice occlusion and all 😀

DM-Valas, post # 1

Few days ago, I mentioned that if I make another map after DM-Thaq, I’ll use the free Bunker pack, remember that?

Well, this afternoon, I started to play with those assets. I’ve got a couple of not so good surprises concerning the scale and alignment of the meshes but it’s not too bad neither to work with them. I started the first room and after few hours, I got this.

This is the basic meshing, with basic lighting. No Post-Process added at the moment, only reflection box’s. This map is call DM-Valas 🙂

Junk planet by Nikhil Kedige

Junk planet, yet again, another awesome UE4 project made by Nikhil Kedige 😀 I simply love this kind of environment!

UE4 and Unity real-time game art comp #1 by Stylized Station

Another awesome Unreal Engine 4 and Unity Real-time game art compilation by Stylized Station 😀 Good watching!

New awesome free assets, the Bunker pack

September is really, really a awesome month for free marketplace HQ assets. In all of what as been release, few packs got my attention and I’ve downloaded them BUT if I make another map after DM-Thaq, I’ll use the free Bunker pack 😀

I think it’s the first time in years that it is a painless process to import new meshes used for UE 4.25 to the old UT4. I mean, 99% of the time, it’s a very long process to recreate all materials, mi’s, material functions, particle and such. Not to mention various settings that can be a real headache when importing static meshes, which I always have to guest the right import settings even if I triple check the original static meshes settings in UE 4.25. Have to check this, uncheck that so the import work like is supposed to be. Brief, it’s painful.

Originally, the pack is made of 45 master materials. That was a surprise I must say, saying to myself WTH?! I’ve made very few materials, like 4 and all the rest are material instances 🙂 I took the time to make the materials look even better than the original by adding additional detail normal maps, color contrast, metallic, opacity, roughness parameters.

Most of the time, I make a ‘demo’ map just to check if all assets looks correct. This is a preview pic of all the Bunker assets and decals (it miss only the warning decals). So after DM-Cruel & DM-Thaq, I’ll have more 3D toys to play with 🙂