Editing and Customization > Community Content

[W.I.P] Sub Pen from Nightfire

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twitch:
This looks amazing!

WNxSpectra:
This looks amazing! I remember testing the map a few years ago, and I can't wait to play the completed map.  :)

xXAkelaWolfXx:
Ou yes sub pen i love to see it in goldeneye
its my favorite map

WNxRicky:
With less than two months to go to the initial deadline I want to give an extensive update and give my thoughts for what I will do next.

How has it gone so far?

Well, things haven't gone as well as I hoped for. I will start explaining by giving an overview of the months so far. In December 2017 I started my master's thesis (which was the only remaining part in my master of science in electrical engineering degree). At first the work burden wasn't too bad. This enabled me to do some work on the Subpen (although I still didn't work on it often enough). However, already in March I started getting more and more busy with the master's thesis. Things got especially bad in April, May and the first half of June. In April I pretty much stopped working with the Subpen. In June and July I was busy with finishing up the last parts of my master's thesis (there wasn't much left to do but I had to correct some errors in the report). In August I was finally able to apply for my degree (I had to wait for the university administration to return from their vacations). In August and September I was somewhat busy looking for work. I didn't have the will to return to working on the Subpen until I got this sorted out. In October I finally returned to working on Subpen, although I took a break in the beginning of November.

But how much work did I get done on the level during these months? Well, not much. I added a few props to the map (mostly existing ones). I tried adding new parts to the map but didn't feel inspired enough to go through with that. I experimented with an underwater tunnel only to come to the conclusion that it wouldn't fit in the map. I fixed some minor bugs. And so on.

An issue of motivation

But why do I work on the map so rarely? Why do I have trouble to keep being motivated? Is it just an issue of being busy? Nope, the main issue is not that I'm too busy to work on Subpen. Sure, now I'm working so I'm busy most of the time on weekdays. Despite this I could easily find maybe even 3h per day on workdays to work on Subpen and then even more time during weekends. Time is not the main issue. Neither is tiredness. Sure, after work I can be tired sometimes but I still tend to find enough energy to do other things such as learning German (I started learning German in the middle of August). The issue is that I lack the motivation to work on mapping. Unlike programming for instance I don't really enjoy it too much. There are three specific parts I have issues with:
The main issue is creating custom props. I don't think it's fun to create 3D models, especially complicated ones. The issue is that I'm not good at Blender (or any other 3D modelling program) and I don't have the motivation to become good at it. Thus I don't enjoy creating 3D models and I tend to get stuck when trying to create more complicated ones (I simply give up).
The second issue is that although I have visions for how extensions to a map could look (for instance the harbor part I mentioned in my original post), I fail to implement them in practice in Hammer. It's not so much that I lack creativity in this regard, it's just that I don't have the creativity to make the new segments fit with the rest of the map. I suppose I prefer if I'm given the measurements rather than trying to figure out suiting measurements on my own.
The third issue is that I don't like creating custom textures either. However, creating custom textures is much easier than creating custom props (for the most part at least). Since I've done lots of photo editing in GIMP I for the most part have the skills needed in order to create custom textures. Still, it can be a hassle, especially when you can't find a good template texture to work on.

What's next?

With all that being said I still want to finish the project, but it will be not as ambitious as described in the original post. I will keep the current extension of the map but I will not add any new parts such as the harbor or an underwater tunnel. I will however create the underwater transition between the two parts of the maps (see point 1 near the end of the original post).

My main focus will instead be on finishing what I've got, specifically:

- I will add the missing props. Wherever I can I will use existing GE:S props rather than creating new ones. An example of this is the computer panel props in the submarine. I re-created one of the computer panel props from the original map but the other two computer panel props from the original are harder to create and I did get stuck when trying to create them. Thus creating the two remaining computer panel props might be a futile effort for me. Instead what I will do is that I will simply re-use some of the existing GE:S computer or computer panel props. Although it won't anymore look like in the original map (not that it has to, it is after all not a classic version of Subpen), there are two advantages: The first one is that I don't have to expend much time and effort into creating my own props and the second one is that the GE:S props are much more detailed and much better looking anyway. A similar case can be made for other props. For instance I can re-use the existing office chair prop rather than creating a new one. I can also re-use one of the hanging lamp props instead of creating a new one. Furthermore I can modify existing GE:S props to suit my needs instead of creating new props from scratch.
- The same goes for textures. To the extent possible I will either re-use existing GE:S textures or find textures on sites such as fpsbanana and use those (possibly with some modifications).
- After I add the rest of the props, the rest of the textures, finish the current extension to the map and create the underwater transition between the two sides of the map, there will not be a whole lot work left. The remaining parts will include: improving the lighting, adding sounds, adding music, changing or adding spawns, changing or adding armor and weapon locations, fixing bugs, testing (to make sure the map balance is correct), optimization, and so on.

Needless to say I probably won't be done with the map this year. I'm actually aiming for beginning of April but who knows, maybe it will be done before that.

Will I work on other maps?

Given what I've said in this post it's not likely that I will work on other maps but I would love to see Auric Enterprise from Goldfinger and the Space Station from Moonraker. If I would work on another map I would not make the mistake of getting stuck on the minor details of having the exact textures or exact props. Sure, it's nice to have textures and props resembling the original ones (in this case from the movies) but I won't be the one creating them at least.

Entropy-Soldier:
Sorry to hear that you've had so much trouble with the map, but good for you for sticking with it!  I'm looking forward to your tentative April release date.


Congrats on your graduation and new job!

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