These Meatballs aren't very tasty!

Payload Ravine (PL-ravine)

2011-07-08T02:46:00.000-07:00

Payload Ravine (PL-ravine)

A Team Fortress 2 custom map by Richard Warner

Name: Payload Ravine (PL-ravine)Mode: Team Fortress 2 - Payload
Players: The level is designed a certain number of players as to not crowd the bridges that exist. Max 20 and/or 10 each side.

About:

I am a recent graduate of a BA Hons in Games Design and this level has been in the back of my mind for the past couple of years now. I conceptualized it a few years back on a sleepy summer’s day and have never had the time to anything about it. Since then I have now learnt to how illustrate my ideas better, both on word and through illustration. Whilst I’m not an artist, I can design the hell out a level more quickly. I believe there is a place in TF2 for map like this that can show off a Chasm of Terror.

Summary:

The level is based in a deep gorge surrounded high brown rock and a bright clear blue sky. This gives off a desert feel of the environment that suits well with TF2’s brown rocky colour palette.

The level itself is long and high filled with rocks, water and basic plant life. The Blu’s base is dug into the rocks wall to give a sense of it being impenetrable against forces; that design is about to be tested with Red’s objective where they will escort the bomb to Blu’s generators for detonation.

The rockery also contains pathways that allow players to go down to the waters level and discover passages that lead to the base itself. Enshrouded in little light these passages are illuminated by red spot lights as you would find in a mine along with finding wooden planks hold up the walls where getting closer to the enemy base will they start to see a more concrete structure unfold.

Story:

Whilst BLU were transporting a new highly explosive device through the canyon, Red learnt of this new technology. Many spies died gathering the information as to where and when the bomb would be moved and how it was to be carried; determined to stop BLU in their tracks, Red hi-jacked the train shortly after its departure from the BLU base.

Rather than steal/destroy the device there and then, Red’s new plan was to use the bomb against Blu and stop them once and for all. The level begins in the tunnel where the train was stopped where players will leave behind a smouldering train carriage where the bomb once was.

Objective:

RED must escort the bomb back up the gorge to the heart of Blu’s base. They will be encountering a wide open field of view that allows snipers to pick off targets easily so Red’s must move quickly in order to avoid early bloodshed. This can allow for red medics to uber Snipers for a change as they will also have the same scope to take on these targets.

BLU must stop Red from advancing through the stage at all costs; the level is open for larger projectiles to reach the tunnel when Red players emerge. Soldiers can send a barrage of rockets towards the tunnel before the gate is open and can allow them to gain phat air from rocket jumps.

Concepts and proposed level layout:

Above: Basic level layout through its inception (BWWAAAAAAAAAAN)

Dev notes:

On wall face, have it so if a player is able to rocket jump, have meter height counters for comedy value.
Water physics are needing to be looked at, waterfalls, rocks in the flow, etc etc.

More later...

I wasn't selected for the rapture, so here's a blog post.

2011-05-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Seeing as the rapture didn't appear, as it was possible stopped by Macho Man Randy Savage (God Bless you, Sir! R.I.P), this is probably an opportune time to actually update for the first time since I last actually updated.

The course has now finished, over, ka-put, completed and with any form of loss or sorrow there are various stages of I'm going though. Happy (with mourning, this would obviously be replaced with sorrow) then tiredness and then maybe a bit of fear; as in "HOLY SHIT, ITS ADULT HOOD (again), what the FRAK do I do now?!?!" comes to mind. Bear in mind, to solve the latter, for just a while, I went to Chester Zoo.

Since the start of third year, I once again found myself in love with graphic design. However, I'm glad that because of my course I have just completed, I now have the skills to apply 3D modelling into this career path and a whole bunch of other personal skills I can now use in any work environment. Such as, learning how to juggle a large amount of tasks through out the day and how to plan to reach those goals before the day is through, these really do stick with you. Considering I found out that I'm actually dyslexic about this time last year, I have really discovered to myself how I can actually deal with these issues a work based environment and not get too flustered about it.

So, what shall I do now? I really have started to appreciated graphic design again, folks like Olly Moss are really making a big scene in games/geek culture today and its this sort of flat print I want to get back into. Considering I have been using Flash, and extended from that, Vector, for 10 years now I want to be able to create mini games from these types of graphics and using new found design knowledge from my degree into actually brining a bit more brains behind it.

So as a rundown of things I've learnt from the third year, heres a list.

The 1950's America is EVERYWHERE. Everyone wants to go back to it, everyone wants to live it, life was simple back then. Turn on a TV, theres a diner, theres an American flag, theres a big frock dress with poka-dots on it. Amanda May, Dita Von Teese and Amy Whinehouse are just a small amount of powerhouses for this fashion. If you really look, its there.
Jugging tasks and planning your day, stupidly helpful - even if you have to make yourself OCD for it. Time management will always be the biggest challenge to me, but now I actually say "Yes, Sir/Ma'am, this is when this is going to be finished by"
Printers are dicks - argue with them till they get it right. Don't give them a penny till they do.
Work your ass off, even if you don't get rewarded for it, you can reward yourself knowing you didn't slack.

In closing, there have been things about the third year I loved and hated, thats expected. But all in all, I'm very glad I went back to uni and finished what my 22 year old self couldn't even start. As a reward of reading this fluff piece, heres some work.

Robot Render

2010-06-27T11:36:00.001-07:00

ROBOTS!

2010-02-23T12:27:00.001-08:00

Hello there, been a rather manic couple of weeks. No where near as manic than those on crunch times, mind. New project tho, given a prebuilt propeller assest, build something that can use this propeller in no more than 2000 polys.

I wanted to try something different, so introducing a little service bot that has a propeller located out of his head in order for lifting objects from one place to another. The design pretty much stuck to its first refinement. I think the head's shape complemented the propeller element well. Also making it look attractive at the same time.

So now, here's some theory and silhouettes to make sure it looked fine and eventually into 3d. All 3d work is still work-in-progress. Mind.

More screens

2010-02-15T16:40:00.000-08:00

UT2004 building progress

2010-02-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

Nearing the end of a blocked out level complete and going a head of the curve to getting the lighting level correct before all else. Feel like it needs a lot more polish, features and testing or scale and jumping spacing before all else.

2D Layout for Ut04 level.

2010-01-25T02:44:00.000-08:00

Below is a 2d layout for a two to five minute gameplay level that is to be built from blockmap and into ut2004's engine. The idea of the level comes from watching Total Wipeout/Ninja Warrior (which is infinitely times better) where the player will be testing their jumping abilities through obsticles and ever rising lava.

Character Sheet for Maya

2010-01-14T03:40:00.000-08:00

Sexual Innuendos and character wallpapers!

2010-01-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

Concept art for a main 3rd person character. Managed to sneak in an innuendo, wonder if they'll spot it ;)

Also from the same set of briefs, only at Burtons!

Oh what the hell.

2009-12-31T08:42:00.000-08:00

"// Warning: (Mayatomr.Scene) : no render camera found, final scene will be incomplete and can't be rendered"

Last post of the year...I want to wake up tomorrow to a world of flying cars like I was promised!

Ah winter days...

2009-12-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

MERRY XMAS Y'ALL

what?

2009-12-15T13:10:00.001-08:00

DA FUUUUUUCK?

where the wild things are

2009-12-15T09:28:00.000-08:00

you say?

where are the likable characters...more like.

Coping with Uveitis

2009-12-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well its been about a year since I found out the reason I having more than normal amount of floaters in the eyes. Turns out I suffer from Uveitis that's an inflammatory disease that inflames the insides of the eyes. Now this inflammation can cause a higher than normal debris (floaters) count along with flashing lights of the sort.

How does this effect the stuff I do? Imagine seeing a blank Photoshop doc with a white back ground (or a word document for you design types), and all you can see is lines upon lines of crap flying about that do nothing but bother you endlessly. Well its like that, endless.

Dear Santa, for Xmas I want a dirt bike, a PS3 and some new clean eyes...Thanks - KISSES

END OF THE TERM

2009-12-15T04:06:00.000-08:00

END OF THE TERM...Fecking hell that just dragged on forever. Half way through the COURSE to boot.

Had a dream a few days ago where I had an interview with Rare and where my portfolio got blasted to pieces. But it wasn't just shit work - it was a lack of work coupled with bad presentation, pieces of paper everywhere with bad sketches on it. To boot it was also in a room that's exactly the same as my sitting room at my parents, WHAAAAA?

Its time to man up, yea?

Matt BOYCE

2009-12-11T05:31:00.000-08:00

Matt Boyce linked me on his site. He's a friend of mine from back home. He draws pretty things and many batmans. Check it out for the 10 people that read this blog.

Maya UV Maps and Maya Screenshots

2009-12-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

OH GOD...What a couple of weeks its been. Games Design Document has been finished. Thats that for another game. Whats next...portfolio. Ah yes, lets get some stuff from the first semester up, eh?

Games I have been playing: Microsoft Office Word 2007 and Boarderlands. Boarderlands is ACE apart from its appalling driving and the shear lack of being able to play online through Steam. Or maybe thats me, I dunno.

More to come soon, as per.

2009-11-29T08:23:00.000-08:00

MOTHER!

I made a level using a blockmap given in Maya textured and brought into ut2004.

The brief was pretty simple, so was learning some of the basics of the engine. Through this, its a lot less daunting than those behind the scenes videos that you see in collectors editions.

I still find getting sharp textures in a full UV map pretty hard to get my head around, but thats what this years all about. None the less...bring it on!

Indestructible

2009-05-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

Just got this, time to put the hours in.

Hello!

2009-05-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, here you'll find stuff like the image below and other such from my BA (Hons) Games Design course. Call it an excuse to be sitting in front of my PC more than I should during the LONG summer months.