Frostbite

[redspike]

Frostbite is the Wip name for a campaign i am making for l4d, i plan on making 4.
As you can tell from the name the map will be a cold themed map with lots of snow.
You start in a cabbin in the woods , there is a medium sized woods and cliffs, the cliffs lead down to a large forest where at the forests edge runs a long train track, there is also caves to explore, a large large area of track scatterd with broken trains and their spilled contents. the level is also coverd by falling snow. from testing i can say that the caves and forest make great gameplay,
I have used many props and textures from left4dead to keep the theme running. there are weapon and item pickups placed aproperatly throughtout the level,
The level will feature storyline , which i wont spoil here.
the maps progress is quite far most of the mapping done 80% , however im currently looking for some snow coverd pine trees, ive seen a few in some CS:source maps, if anyone could help me out with some it would be great, and you might get to test,
Currently im using Episode 2 trees, which are not coverd in snow.
here are some screens from a version of the map that has not been lit, i will be doing the lighting last to save compile time it will visualy look alot more impressive when its correctly lit, the advanced mappers out there will know what i mean.
nothing here is final, i will post more screens in the coming days, and all bugs in these pics have since been fixed, and also falling snow is turned off in these pics, and so are most of the trees.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/akbd2006/left4dead2008-11-1011-32-35-38.jpg
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/akbd2006/left4dead2008-11-1011-33-47-37.jpg
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/akbd2006/left4dead2008-11-1011-34-11-26.jpg
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/akbd2006/left4dead2008-11-1011-33-31-47.jpg
you cant really grasp the size of the map , but its big

[Grubster11]

yay I've been looking for a great big map :D

Great job with this

[Infest0125]

Looks good :D

[awdrgy123]

yes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyqUj3PGHv4) this is a good idea

[Grubster11]

yes
lol

[Braniac]

About how long is it?

Sounds cool any which way, but is it just 15 minutes, like the Subway map, or is it more like a whole movie in one map?

[redspike]

About how long is it?

Sounds cool any which way, but is it just 15 minutes, like the Subway map, or is it more like a whole movie in one map?

depends if you just run through it, but ive aimed to make it longer than the demo maps, there will be some tasks, so you cannot just run all the way through.

[Bobic]

The reason people aren't flocking to this AWESOME!!! map is that you need to make the post title longer. I almost didn't notice it. Needs more CAPS and EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!

[TekkenDevil]

Ehh I hope you can add some snowfall and wind effects to it too, else it will be really displeasing for the eye. Try to get the snow more grey and muddy too if possible.

EDIT:
In fact, the whole thing would be more pleasing if you'd replace the snow with black asphalt, and add rainy weather.

[Haggle]

In fact, the whole thing would be more pleasing if you'd replace the snow with black asphalt, and add rainy weather.
Wouldn't that completely ruin the snow theme?

[G_X]

Wouldn't that completely ruin the snow theme?
The joke was that it would be more fun if it was the Apartments level of No Mercy.

Anyway, yeah. It looks cool, but the black sky and bright snow really clash. You should make the snow darker (recommended) or make the sky lighter.

Or you could make it high noon and rename it "Snowblind."

[redspike]

just to explain, the map isnt lit, so the lighting of the level isnt done , at all,
the clashing of the sky and sno wont be so clashing ect, the map will be darker to match the sky,
pine trees anyone?

[maxy126]

Redspike nice map man :D

[TekkenDevil]

just to explain, the map isnt lit, so the lighting of the level isnt done , at all,
the clashing of the sky and sno wont be so clashing ect, the map will be darker to match the sky,
pine trees anyone?

Good, good, anything that gets rid of that superwhite looking snow is fine with me.

[akali_singh]

how bout adding some x-mas lights :D

[ZiggY]

I like the snow idea. I'd like to see someone make a map that is in the same scope of mind as 'Infected' for the PSP. That game was just fucking awesome.

[redspike]

someone's gotta be able to get some snow coverd trees ?? you will definatly get to test it if you do,
and x-mas lights lol, maybe as a easter egg somewhere lol

[Domo]

have alternate routes for the survivors so it's not just a long bottleneck

sounds like a good campaign though

[redspike]

im definatly adding alternate routes, currently there are two main ways to go, both diffrent directions, and both leading to diffrent endings, ive been thinking about depending on which route you take decides the next map, so the game really will be diffrent every time,
heres a little pic of the cabbin updated, but not how it looks currently, but newer than pics i posted before.

i completely scrapped the caves today and will start redoing them tommorw, the gameplay was awesome but i didnt like my layout,
i want to add some more interactive challenges to the map, like buttons activateing stuff ect, i havent got many ideas tho, i thought pressing a button to start the train would be cool, as there currently is a masssive train track, survivours rideing the train, probally moving slowly so zombies can jump on whilst its going, just ideas, any one else got any ?

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/akbd2006/swishtywoo.jpg

[Enzo]

Please make a 3d skybox. Cough, PLEASE make a 3d skybox.
I cannot stand the way the skybox looks now. And the lighting is all off... I do know that that will be added near the end, but it really bugs me.

Anyways, it looks good, and I can imagine that the gameplay would be awesome. Good job!

Good, good, anything that gets rid of that superwhite looking snow is fine with me.
The snow isn't superwhite, it's just because it lacks lighting.
It looks like half life 1 right now, because of the poor/no lighting, but it will look amazing with the proper lighting.

I've been mapping for a few years now, and I can tell you that this map is going to be professional-grade when it's done.

Edit: It really does look good. PLEASE keep going.
And maybe make that delapidated building a bit better. Looks like it's missing whole walls instead of just normal chunks of it.

Also, floating medkits = blah.
I know it will all be ironed out, just pointing out what I've seen.
POST MOAR, PLZ!!!

[Dark3r]

That idea of the moving train is great! I'll try and think of some nice interactive challenges or set pieces. Maybe survivors need to fight their way to the lead carriage or engine and disconnect/unlink themselves from the other carriages? or possibly speed up the train so no more zombies can climb aboard?

anyway great job. please keep updating!

[redspike]

thanks guys for all the feedback and constructive critisism,
Theres allready a 3d skybox in the current build, tho it nees a bit more tweaking ,
obviously ive noticed the floatingness of the medikits, but its difficult to fix currently, as there is no offical Sdk, the medi kits just appear as big ERROR models in hammer, so placeing them isnt great, and i may also move them to a dirrent location yet.
and im still experimenint with diffrent interactive features, i dont want to reveal to much, thanks for the ideas enzo and dark3r and keep them coming, there will be a update soon !

[Enzo]

obviously ive noticed the floatingness of the medikits
Maybe tie them with prop_dynamic or prop_physics...?
And post more screenies, PLEASE!

I'm first in line for this thing.

[Reptile]

Looks fun!

[DerMangold]

I sent you a PM concerning the pines.

[Amuga]

looks like fun to me, i'm playing it for sure.

[Hobocannibal]

looks extremely good so far, but was wondering.
you meantioned it having two possible ways to go, not sure how you mean that (perhaps two ways that intersect 2-3 times during the level?) but if the two paths are completely separate wouldn't it be better split into two maps for loading time/performance reasons mainly?

Edit: thinking more, perhaps something (avalanche? could block door from outside that way) could break the roof of the starting building during the begin cutscene and debris block one side of the room (or just that door) forcing the players to take one side, I imagine one of the surivors meantioning that it wasn't safe there anymore.

[Kilvoctu]

I like your ambition, redspike. Mainly talking about that branching path thing. Hope to hear more on that soon.

As far some interactive challenges, you could have a finale-esque thing where someone would press a button and the group waits for those gondola lift things to descend into the docking station. Very Valve-style, you know.

[DerMangold]

2nd on the gondola lift. That's just plain awesome.