Cafe Cont.

Latest progress on this cafe.  Working on texturing and importing into BF2 engine now.

Cafe Belle Vue

Some new work in progress.

Covered Bridge

A covered bridge I worked on a while ago for cancelled project.  Decided to dust it off and finish it.

More Dutch

Another Dutch House for Airshark's map. 

 Work in progress of a Dutch Windmill.  Enter-able version and non will be made. 

More to come, and the map coming in June.

Dutch Thatched Farmhouse

Here are a few work in progress shots of a Dutch farmhouse I'm working on for an upcoming custom map made by Airshark79 for Forgotten Hope 2.

Tramcar №2

Here is a tramcar I'm working on.  It's a mixture of a bunch of different tramcars.  I basically took my favorite elements from these Russian Trams. (Link is dead)

Abbey Year 2+: More Abbey Work in Progress

This is my latest work in progress of the Abbey model and two connecting buildings.  

Day 365+: Abbey Blockout

Nothing ever goes as you plan it.  No, I haven't made posts 3-5 times a week since the start of this project and, no, I didn't finish my Abbey map in 30 days.  Live and learn.  This is old work in progress of the Abbey model with more to come.

Day 1: Abbey Planning

Planning Phase

History: 

The origins of Abbey of Sant'Antimo date back to 352 a.d. where once stood a oratory.  In 770, a monastery was constructed at the site.  In 1118, construction began on a new monastery over the old one.  During the 1870's, the abbey was restored. There is no history of armed forces fighting here during World War 2.  This is a complete fictional battle that I have envisioned.  Because of this, I have come up with a little background information that is purely fictional.  During the early 1900's, the abbey was abandoned for unknown reasons.  Since then, the abbey has settled into disarray and is at natures will in til the allies invade Italy and both sides realize what an advantage the abbey holds over the surrounding area.

Guideline Questions:

Here are various questions I feel I need to address before I begin production (I referenced World of Level Design for some ideas of questions)

1.  What is the map's game type?  Koth (King of the Hill)
2.  What is the story of the map?  The idea is that who ever holds the abbey will have supremacy over the entire area.  The abbey is an old, run down monastery that was vacant in til the war came to Tuscany and both sides realized the potential it had for scouting troop movements, calling in artillery, etc.
3.  What is the objective of the map?  The objective is to hold the abbey in til the enemies tickets run out.
4.  How big is the map?  The map will be a 16 player size map and will encompass the area around the abbey.
5.  How will I make the map memorable?  I will make the map memorable by designing a very thought out monastery that will be tough to hold but satisfying when accomplished.  I will also make the visuals a top priority that will hopefully leave a lasting impression on the player.
6.  Is the map original?  The setting for the map is original, Tuscany, but the idea of holding a "church" for a king of the hill game mode is not.
7.  What is the time of day and atmosphere of the map?  I am thinking either afternoon with a yellow and gold color palette and bright blue sky or early morning dawn with a heavy fog and a golden sunrise.
8.  Will exploration be rewarded?  Exploration will be rewarded.  I will place pick up kits in various places around the map that players will have to find.  I will also build other areas that hold vantage points over the abbey, but the ultimate goal will be the abbey itself.
9.  How will I direct the player?  I will direct the players via roads, dirt paths, and the mini map.  There will be plenty of cover for players to make it to the abbey.
10.  What is the visual trademark of my map?  The visual trademark of my map will be the abbey itself and the rolling, surrounding hills and vineyards. 

Reference Sheet: 

The 6 top left photos are of the Abbey of Sant'Antimo, the 3 top right are some ideas I have for lighting/setting, and the bottom 3 photos are ideas I have for surrounding area.

Model Checklist:

Abbey of Sant'Antimo
Small ruins to the immediate south of abbey
Small shed to the immediate south of abbey
Medium sized building to the immediate south of abbey
Small sized building to the immediate south west of medium sized buildilng

Day 2 Plans: Tomorrow I plan to draw a detailed floor plan of the abbey and surrounding buildings.  I also plan to draw the layout for the map including where the spawn points will be, lines of sight, and paths to the abbey.

The Start of Something New

Introduction

Today, after creating this blog over a year ago, I am writing my first post.  A little background information on myself, I started modding for Battlefield 1942 when the game was first released. That was short lived because after only a few months of learning a few things here and there I moved onto Call of Duty when it was released to try modding it.  I stayed with the Call of Duty series in til the fourth game was released.  During this time, I learned many things including: low poly modeling in Maya, BSP mapping in radiant, model importing, and texture design.  Between Call of Duty 2 and today, I hadn't done any modding of any sort aside from a few model creations in Maya but I hope to change that starting today.  Some of the things I hope to learn are high poly to low poly normal map creation, better texturing skills in Photoshop, module building design, UDK, modding BF2, and other techniques that I will be detailing in the coming months.  My goal is to update this blog 3-5 times a week and keep a nice journal of my work in progress so I can easily reflect on what I have learned and how far I have come.  I also want this blog to help others new to modding to not get discouraged and to stay motivated. Hopefully I can stay motivated!

The first project I will be working on is a map for the popular BF2 mod, Forgotten Hope 2.  For now I will refer to this project as Abbey.  This will be based on the Abbey of Sant'Antimo.  This project will be my introduction to mapping, static mesh importing, and various other tasks that are specific to BF2.  I hope to have this project completed in a time frame of  approximately 2-4 weeks or 22-33 days.  Here is an outline of what I hope to accomplish in a 33 day schedule.

Schedule

Days 1-2:  Planning & Research, Reference Sheet, Top View & Sketches, Guideline Questions, Background Information & History, List of models I will need to create
Days 3-6:  Blocking in map by creating a base terrain, modeling block out static meshes, placing of spawns and flag zones, and testing the maps gameplay, functionality, and flow
Days 7-8:  Detail modeling of the main focal point
Days 9-14:  Placing models, better shaping of terrain, adding roads, and detailing the smaller static meshes
Day 15:  Spend time making sure gameplay is how is how I want it to play and also doing medium terrain light maps
Days 16-21:  Painting detail textures, using detail models from the FH2 common folder effects such as ambient sounds and effects like smoke
Day 22:  Effects such as smoke and ambient sound
Days 23-24:  Lighting and Lightmapping
Days 25-26:  Post process, configuration of the map folders, and other text files
Day 27:  Beta Testing
Days 28-30:  Editing map based on user feedback and changing anything else that I feel needs optimizing
Days 31-32:  Navigation meshes for bots
Day 33:  Final release

Final Thoughts

I'm giving myself plenty of time to complete each task because I won't have much free time to work on this project this month.  Any days that I do not work on the project, I will give myself extra days to make up for the loss.

Here are some sites that contain lots of useful information that helped me create this blog:
World of Level Design
Polycount
Forgotten Hope 2 Forums