It's about time I showed some of what I've been working on since the end of NightFall. These screens show the visual style I've settled on for the interior areas of 'Enclave':
Soft yellow and green tones, high-res lightmaps, and density. Enclave is getting closer to Deus Ex (and more specifically Hotel Carone) than Half-Life, and being able to spend days working on each room knowing that it'll get more than enough use to justify the time is wonderful.
The biggest visual problem so far is wall detail, since I'm avoiding those clichéd graffiti decals. On the one hand the walls in these places do tend to be quite bare, but on the other, far weightier hand players need landmarks. It's a tough call, but thankfully no other components rely on me making it.
Audio
Screenshots can't give you the sound of Enclave, so you'll have to trust me when I say it's getting just as much attention as the visuals. And now, a rant.
I'm sick and tired of hearing Valve's stock soundscapes in every mod I play! It is so easy to make one, and the results are fantastic. Just throw a playrandom filled with sounds that reflect the environment on top of a generic soundscape and you've made an instant impact. Take some extra time to mix your own base 'scapes from scratch and you've got something every bit as important as your textures and static props.
Why on earth does nobody seem to put much effort into this area?
AI
AI code is another underexploited area I'm looking into. I don't think any mod has made a serious effort with regard to it yet (if you have, please get in touch!) and I definitely feel as if I'm treading virgin ground.
I've got my work cut out for me further still thanks to the fact that my NPCs will be sticking around unscripted for far, far longer than Valve's ever have. It's a matter of packing detail in again: like patrolling squads getting distracted, more and better reactions to the world, and, going against everything Valve have done, genuine aggression during combat.
It's all possible, but learning is a slow old process. Especially when you're writing the textbook at the same time...
