uncadonego on 13/10/2019 at 02:44
Yeah, but this is my tenth mission. They still don't look any better.
john9818a on 13/10/2019 at 03:24
I tell myself I don't have to compete with reality, so as long as the terrain looks plausible then its ok. I have the hardest time trying to make creative terrain/buildings, so on some buildings I Googled Victorian architecture.
uncadonego on 13/10/2019 at 03:40
I have the same problem. When I had to make a nice estate home for The Time That Has Passed, I just downloaded a bunch of nice home plans and asked Nightwalker which one she thought was the nicest. Copying was easier than trying to come up with something creative, although I modified the interior somewhat.
Still though, I'm just wondering how often authors have listened to their inside voice and scrapped their work. I play other peoples' missions once in a while, and I'm asking myself within a minute in some of the best ones why I even keep trying.
john9818a on 13/10/2019 at 04:06
I think some people live in cities that have Thiefy architecture so they're more familiar with how things should look. Now that I think of it, my first released mission had very basic buildings with no style, and the beta testers made me aware. My mission I'm currently working on is the same map/terrain as the first mission except there will be a lot more detail and more places to explore.
nicked on 13/10/2019 at 08:59
The most helpful thing for making better looking missions is to simply start ripping off bits of other levels, games, even photographs you like. Try to recreate a building facade from a photo. Open up someone's mission that you were impressed with and see how they made it. Now recreate it yourself to get a sense of the scale and placement of brushes. Open up a game you think looked good and take screenshots. I started making Death's Turbid Veil as an exercise to recreate the mansion from Assassin's Creed 2.
If you end up using the stuff you've built wholesale, you can of course give credit where it's due, but more often than not you'll find yourself expanding on what you've copied until it's uniquely your own. Even if the experiments don't end up in the final mission, it's all good practise.
uncadonego on 13/10/2019 at 09:14
The building in The Power Of Suggestion that you have to hop to and go down the chimney was built from a photograph. In this one I'm working on now, Garrett starts in an abandoned run down building that is actually from a photograph from 2007 of a decrepit building in Chicago. And as mentioned I built the estate in The Time That Has Passed from houseplans.
Hey, if any good FM builder would like to look at this so far and give some helpful suggestions, I'd be grateful. It badly needs improvement.
pukey brunster on 13/10/2019 at 15:06
Interesting to read these, but lol-ed ".. there were two objectives, loot & rescue the hermit".
Uncadonego, assuming you haven't already, maybe step away from dromed completely for a week or three.. read a book, watch some movies, get some inspiration from being outdoors, redecorate the house, etc. Cleanse your palate so you can come back to it with fresh eyes before you decide.
Unna Oertdottir on 13/10/2019 at 16:38
Quote Posted by uncadonego
The reason I want to scrap this is amateur building....
Amateurs everywhere over here, so that's okay.
I don't want some nice looking missions, I want gameplay. We already have a lot of FMs with stunning visuals that lacks gameplay. They are just boring.
Do something quaint to make it interesting but not
nice. Nice is bad.
uncadonego on 14/10/2019 at 00:59
Quote Posted by Unna Oertdottir
Do something quaint to make it interesting but not
nice. Nice is bad.
:laff:
I think I know what you mean, but it sounds funny.:)
john9818a on 14/10/2019 at 04:06
Quote Posted by pukey brunster
Interesting to read these, but lol-ed ".. there were two objectives, loot & rescue the hermit".
Uncadonego, assuming you haven't already, maybe step away from dromed completely for a week or three.. read a book, watch some movies, get some inspiration from being outdoors, redecorate the house, etc. Cleanse your palate so you can come back to it with fresh eyes before you decide.
I think I also had the "get your equipment" objective. I also initially had no concept of building air brushes inside solid brushes. I started making all of my walls and ceilings as individual brushes. :joke: Most of my efforts were based on my experience with DCK.
All of us are amateurs because we don't and can't get paid. :)
