Sunday, October 7, 2012
Oilcake Productions Website Now Live!
Just a short note to announce the launch of the new Oilcake Productions website. Along with the launch of the site, you may notice that the blog has some changes as well... A new header and several new links, etc., down the right side. Hope you guys like the new look & feel! Cheers!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
CS_Qasba For CS:GO Almost Complete!
Well, It's been a pretty crazy summer, that's for sure! Work in film/tv has been constant, for the most part. I've had a couple of weeks free to get back at mapping, though, and have managed to (almost!) complete the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive version of my old, unpublished and unnamed CS:S map.
I've decided to call it CS_Qasba, which has a bit of a story behind it. When I began work on this map almost 3 years ago, I was really just starting out with Source mapping. Besides trying to design a well-balanced, fun-to-play map, one of the main things I wanted to learn was how to texture properly. Being a big fan of David Johnston and his work, I decided to go with the Dust environment... All this went quite well, all things considered, but at the end of the day, the CS:S version of the map was never released. It never quite looked the way I wanted it to, and then it got lost in the tidal wave of L4D2 work.
With the release of CS:GO, I decided to resurrect the map, which still remained nameless (well, I went through a series of names, but they sucked for the most part!). Finally, I settled on CS_Casbah, only later remembering that David Johnston (again!) had made a Team Fortress Classic map called Casbah... Obviously, this wouldn't do, but at the same time I liked the name a lot, and it fit with the map very well. I ended up deciding to change the spelling to the Arabic version, Qasba. That way I could keep the name, while still paying homage to the Johnston link.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it: "The Casbah (Arabic: قصبة, qaṣba, meaning citadel (fortress)) is specifically the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns."
So there it is! Very close to completion now, only a few last things to do... I'm still trying to decide if I should wait for Valve's CS:GO Map Workshop to release it, or just go ahead on my own. I'll make that decision soon.
In the meantime, here are some before and after screen shots, CS:S version on top, CS:GO below. Enjoy!
I've decided to call it CS_Qasba, which has a bit of a story behind it. When I began work on this map almost 3 years ago, I was really just starting out with Source mapping. Besides trying to design a well-balanced, fun-to-play map, one of the main things I wanted to learn was how to texture properly. Being a big fan of David Johnston and his work, I decided to go with the Dust environment... All this went quite well, all things considered, but at the end of the day, the CS:S version of the map was never released. It never quite looked the way I wanted it to, and then it got lost in the tidal wave of L4D2 work.
With the release of CS:GO, I decided to resurrect the map, which still remained nameless (well, I went through a series of names, but they sucked for the most part!). Finally, I settled on CS_Casbah, only later remembering that David Johnston (again!) had made a Team Fortress Classic map called Casbah... Obviously, this wouldn't do, but at the same time I liked the name a lot, and it fit with the map very well. I ended up deciding to change the spelling to the Arabic version, Qasba. That way I could keep the name, while still paying homage to the Johnston link.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it: "The Casbah (Arabic: قصبة, qaṣba, meaning citadel (fortress)) is specifically the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns."
So there it is! Very close to completion now, only a few last things to do... I'm still trying to decide if I should wait for Valve's CS:GO Map Workshop to release it, or just go ahead on my own. I'll make that decision soon.
In the meantime, here are some before and after screen shots, CS:S version on top, CS:GO below. Enjoy!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
[L4D2] Down On The Farm - Final Version Available Now!
Well, I've actually managed to get a fair bit done lately! Here's the final version of DOTF, available for download at l4dmaps.com... I've fixed a bunch of bugs, added a bunch of doors, cut a new pathway into the back of the barn, changed some lighting, worked on the nav and a bunch of other stuff! Unless there are any remaining game-breaking bugs, this one is out the door!
You can find a load of other screenshots over here! The (really, really long) WIP thread is at WOLD. Hope everyone has as much fun playing it as I had making it!
The next order of business is to build a proper web presence, expanding from this blog to a portfolio site and including Facebook and Twitter... Hopefully I'm going to have all this working by the end of the weekend... As usual, we'll see! :)
You can find a load of other screenshots over here! The (really, really long) WIP thread is at WOLD. Hope everyone has as much fun playing it as I had making it!
The next order of business is to build a proper web presence, expanding from this blog to a portfolio site and including Facebook and Twitter... Hopefully I'm going to have all this working by the end of the weekend... As usual, we'll see! :)
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Escape From Parkdale v.9 (Final) Released
Well, it's been ages since I've posted anything here, but I have been getting at things slowly in the meantime. There were issues with the last version that was up on l4dmaps.com, so I've done a little tweaking and uploaded the final version. I made a few other minor changes and worked a little bit more on optimization, but that's as far as I'll go with Parkdale. This one is finished!
Next up is to get at bug fixes for Down On The Farm. I've made some progress with this, but have some more work to do. As it has been for ages, Film/TV is booming in Toronto, and I'm staying very busy with that. I will be trying to get the final of version of DOTF out soon, though, hopefully in the next couple of weeks at most...?! We'll see how time permits...
I'm developing a tentative long-term plan to follow that. First up is to finish up my Counter-Strike: Source map, so I can see how it's received. It'll be nice to have a map that can be upgraded to CS:GO soon after it comes out... After that, I may finish up the first map of the L4D2 campaign, which is relatively close to complete. If that's well received, I may actually finish the campaign, though that is a punishing amount of work to be looking at, given my already brutal schedule. The other option (well, ONE other option!) would be to finally get at making a TF2 map, which I've been wanting to do for ages... We'll see!
Next up is to get at bug fixes for Down On The Farm. I've made some progress with this, but have some more work to do. As it has been for ages, Film/TV is booming in Toronto, and I'm staying very busy with that. I will be trying to get the final of version of DOTF out soon, though, hopefully in the next couple of weeks at most...?! We'll see how time permits...
I'm developing a tentative long-term plan to follow that. First up is to finish up my Counter-Strike: Source map, so I can see how it's received. It'll be nice to have a map that can be upgraded to CS:GO soon after it comes out... After that, I may finish up the first map of the L4D2 campaign, which is relatively close to complete. If that's well received, I may actually finish the campaign, though that is a punishing amount of work to be looking at, given my already brutal schedule. The other option (well, ONE other option!) would be to finally get at making a TF2 map, which I've been wanting to do for ages... We'll see!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
L4D2 Scavenge/Survival Map Nearing Completion
First of all, some news about this blog. It will soon become part of a bigger portfolio site, which I'll start on just as soon as I'm finished "Down On The Farm". I'm seriously considering doing all my development updates through this blog after that, as opposed to posting on other sites. I'm not sure about this idea yet, though. I would still be posting on other sites, but just some occasional screens and things... Anyway, we'll see!
For the time being, here's a few new screens from [L4D2] Down On The Farm. I've been doing a lot of work on lighting, which still takes me a long time and many iterations to get right. That said, I feel like I am actually getting better at it, which makes it all worth it! I'll do the final detail and lighting passes next, I think. After that, I'll get onto sound. I haven't done a lot with audio in the game before, so this will be fun. I've done a bunch of reading on soundscapes and some basic tests, so I don't think it will be too hard to achieve something I'm happy with.
There's not actually that much left to do on this map now, comparatively, at least! Haha! It shouldn't be too much longer in any case...
As usual, the full dev thread with additional screens and commentary is over at the brand new WoLD forums. Here's a link to the latest page of the thread. Cheers!
For the time being, here's a few new screens from [L4D2] Down On The Farm. I've been doing a lot of work on lighting, which still takes me a long time and many iterations to get right. That said, I feel like I am actually getting better at it, which makes it all worth it! I'll do the final detail and lighting passes next, I think. After that, I'll get onto sound. I haven't done a lot with audio in the game before, so this will be fun. I've done a bunch of reading on soundscapes and some basic tests, so I don't think it will be too hard to achieve something I'm happy with.
There's not actually that much left to do on this map now, comparatively, at least! Haha! It shouldn't be too much longer in any case...
As usual, the full dev thread with additional screens and commentary is over at the brand new WoLD forums. Here's a link to the latest page of the thread. Cheers!
Friday, February 4, 2011
[L4D2] Down On The Farm - Scavenge/Survival Map
Quite a bit has happened since that last post...! Made a lot of progress on both maps. Then the holidays hit, and as January began I decided to take a bit of a break from the campaign and do a map for the WoLD Winter 2011: Level Design/Game Env Challenge. I'd been asked to help with the judging, so I wouldn't be eligible, but the idea of having another published map at the end of the month was quite appealing! The challenge is now complete (Grats to all involved!), and here I am still working on it... Haha! Anyway, I'm aiming for completion in another two weeks; I think that should be enough time.
Here's a link to the original dev thread in the Winter 2011 Challenge section. I've started a new one in the Work In Progress section that continues on from where the challenge thread leaves off.
A few screenshots, all WIP:
Here's a link to the original dev thread in the Winter 2011 Challenge section. I've started a new one in the Work In Progress section that continues on from where the challenge thread leaves off.
A few screenshots, all WIP:
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