Second map is finished

I finally made it, second map is finished, at least for the upcoming new version of Last Summer. Maybe I'll make more changes to this map in the future, depending on people's comments and reviews, but by now it is finished. And I tell you it was harder than it seems. Map will work in coop and versus mode. In fact, there are two different maps, one for each game mode (I hope that this don't make the final campaign file to be huge, but I don't know how to make the same map works on different game modes and read different nav files, so I just made two different maps with their own nav file). Here there are some images of the map:

Second map's new area.

 New area's inside.

 I added a ladder to pass trough the fence, so now bots don't get stucked in there. It also will help players to see wich way they must follow.

I changed a little the position of this ladder, so now bots don't fall when they get to the roof (well, they still fall down, but less than before, and eventually they get to the roof without teleporting).

I also made a new skybox, and improved the view of the roofs, wich were glitchy in version 4.

There are more changes and surprises waiting for players to find them. I remade all the lightning of the interior areas, so now it looks much realistic than before. Also, I added some custom textures and music. As I said before, it was a really hard work to finish this map, and I hope you all enjoy it when I finally release version 5 of Last Summer.  

Some improvements to the first map

This are some improvements I made to the first map "Campanar". I also made the changes needed for versus mode.

New trees and new sidewalk custom texture

 Custom textures, also the new curb for the sidewalk.

I added some streets name plates. The names are real, you can look for them at Google maps.

More custom textures, the new curb and also new ramp.

New area. Also streets name plates.

New area's storefront.

New area's inside. 

 New area's sideview.

 

More detailed places.

 

Intro sequence: second version

I remade the intro sequence, making it shorter. The first version was 45 seconds long, but this second version lasts less than 20 seconds. I think this way intro will be less annoying.  Also, I didn't like the camera turns of the previous version, so I used a fixed camera traveling for this version. Hope you like it. 

UPDATED:  I don't know exactly why, but the previous video is much darker than the game. That is the reason why it is difficult to read the texts (wich look much better in the game).

New fence

I've changed the perimetral fence of map three. At first I just used some fence texture that was included in the left 4 dead 2 sdk, but now I made a new fence that's more like the real one.

Here you can see the real fence from a Google Street View capture.

To make it, first step was drawing a 3d model of the fence in Hammer:

Then, I captured the image of the 3d view window, edited it to create an alpha channel, and then converted it into a texture file wih VTFEdit:

And, finally, I added the columns and the top beam to complete it:

But it was not easy, and I had to pay a price to accomplish this change. I had to turn some func_details into func_brushes, and increase the lightmap of the whole map from 16 to 18. This way I keep my waterindices under 100% and prevent vrad from crashing when compiling with hdr. Bad side is that now shadows and reflexions will be more diffused, but I think that this new fence worths it.

Lord of the flies

New captures

It's been a few days since my last post. The reason is that vrad crashed again when I tried to compile map three with hdr. I knew it could happen again, and it did. But finally I found some kind of logical solution, that consists on increase the lightmap of the whole skybox. This way, map compiles again. And because I'm happy again, here there are some new images from map three:

More detailed building.

Another more detailed building and the name Cullera on the mountain (this was a petition of Akae, from L4Dmaps). In the real place, the name "Cullera" is written on the other side of the mountain.

The squash court.

Squash court from inside.

This is the new texture I made for the stairs. I actually took a picture of the real stairs wall and converted it into a texture with Photoshop and VTFEdit. I learned how to do this by reading the tutorials made and/or translated by ShaunMAD: http://left4dead2maps.blogspot.com.es/ (tutorials in spanish)

 I made the bump map texture too, so when you light the walls, it appears to be in 3d.

So this is how the stairs look like now, from a distance. You can also see the broken wall. I made it to indicate the route, because someone told me it was confusing to have to jump this wall. Now you don't even have to jump, you can cross it just walking.  

Broken wall from the other side. You can also see the detail bricks and the stair with it's new texture.

Cool!!! An electric guitar!!! Let's rock those zombies as hard as we can!!! Also, a new custom texture overlay featuring Non Essential!!!

Problem solved and new images

After some days of tension, and some optimization, I finally was able to compile map three (Cullera) with hrd. I still don't know why vrad crashed before, but it seems that the problem is solved by now. Bad news is that it happened before and it can happen again, because I don't really know what caused it.

Anyway, I'm a happy man now. And because I want to share my happines with everyone, here there are some captures from map three, in wich a new area can be seen. As I announced, I am making maps bigger, but not longer, and what that means is that I'm making new areas to explore that are integrated in the original route.

 New area placement. Also, you can see the castle at the upper left corner of the capture.

The dining room from inside.

 

 Main bedroom.

 Same bedroom from the outside.

Computer room.

 Baby's room.

That doll looks much creepier when you see it in the cradle.

And that's all by now. Soon, I will post more images and videos.

Hope you enjoy playing Last Summer.