Post news RSS Dogfight leveldesign

Leveldesign and mapping mechanics for Dogfight has aroused some questions for me and here come the answers!

Posted by on

Leveldesign for Dogfight is something new for source engine. Having airplanes scaled down from real size has benefits aswell as some drawbacks. However the solution is simple let's just scale down the whole world!

Mapping
Scaling of dogfight mod: notice the small aircraft next to the player model.

Using the Source engine's automatic detailprop and -sprite system making maps for Dogfight is quick and fun. Adjusting the detail.vbsp values to just right making some realistic environments is easier than ever.

Making farmlands will generate bushes and trees around the farm. Making displacements with forest texture generates woods and using texture for urban areas detailprop system generates random house props.

Mapping
Detailprop system in DF

I have coded in a particle entity for clouds. This brush entity generates chosen types of clouds from thin to heavy rainclouds inside the brush. Using this entity you can easily add some nice details to your map and maybe use it ingame for some cover from enemy sight!

Clouds
Flying in clouds

Using these techniques in mapping you can easily create nice looking maps for the mod.
Finally here is a wip map called df_artois. In hammer and ingame:

Mapping


Df_Artois


And btw, Dogfight mod is now looking for talented webdesigners, link to recruitment post here:
Moddb.com

That's all for now. I hope this news post made some things clearier for you!

Regards
-Ztormi

Comments
Mr.Walrus
Mr.Walrus

Looking good!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
nlr
nlr

Would this muck up the physics?

Reply Good karma Bad karma+3 votes
Guessmyname
Guessmyname

Not really. If you think about it, all that really needs any physical simulation is the stuff in the air; planes etc. Given that any connection with the ground is generally going to equal 'splat' plane-wise...

Yes, the planes will probably fly straight through detail props, but you can get around that easily by plonking down some clip brushes. Per-polygon levels of accuracy probably aren't needed here.

EDIT: On a side note, redo your grass texture. It's tiling badly!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Anonymousperson
Anonymousperson

Damn this looks nice

Those are some good textures, and Holy Eff, cloud effects

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Armageddon104
Armageddon104

Wow, I hope we can make some custom maps for this.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
MitchellS
MitchellS

Pretty cool!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
RogerRamjet
RogerRamjet

Looking good all round guys... parts of the ground need a few large decals to break up the darker green areas so they don't look so tiled... but nice work...

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Tokoya
Tokoya

That was a really interesting look into the dev process, thanks for sharing it with us!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
Murdouken
Murdouken

Seems nice! A city map could be really cool. Like, a dogfight over London or something.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+3 votes
GunShip05
GunShip05

Wow, that's very impressive!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
ALIENwoods
ALIENwoods

This small ideas maked GREAT mods/games! ;)

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Jike
Jike

Please dev team. This looks very cool. Please test the gameplay enough and make sure its a longterm fun game and that its very nicely balanced! :D

I hope the best for you guys!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
SolidFake
SolidFake

hmm, you should consider creating some megatextures for the terrain

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Croco15
Croco15

Those maps look really nice.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Khelben
Khelben

really nice, hoping for a soon beta

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
UKcharlie
UKcharlie

Looks sweet to me. Great progress

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Jesusfreak
Jesusfreak

WOW.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Post a comment
Sign in or join with:

Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.