[align=center]
Something I made up during the break.
I didn’t see any Decay remakes in the Source Engine, so I think it deserves a work.[/size][/align]
Decent start! Of the dozen or so versions of Dual Access that have popped up for Black Mesa, this one’s probably the most competent-looking.
One overarching criticism I’ve got for you is that your brushwork is very strange at parts, and doesn’t match up with the texture well. Pretty much everywhere that there’s an obtuse change in angle, or a few spots where different textures meet it looks odd, very unnatural.
Very good job indeed, especially with the lights! But I agree with Crypt, you need to rework a bit on the textures where they meet, it just seems weird. Also that vent looks like it’s litterally going through the wall, it seems a bit wrong
Oh, so I guess there were other Decay remake maps for Black Mesa? Well, I been known for bad googling skills so I really should have expected that.
I do think some brushworks and textures are rushed, after all, I made this in a single day (Gevanni helped me do it in a single night, if anyone gets the reference here). And I was most likely getting crazy during the last time too. And it’s my first time working on Anomalous Materials labs. I only worked on QE lab since.
But I’m not sure exactly which of them are wrong. I mean, it does feel wrong for most parts for me, but can’t pinpoint. I did try go and re do some of them today.
Some big changes I removed the big… thing, and replaced them with the pipes. And worked more on the trims.
… And the ceiling things.
It’s not shown in the picture but I added some more wall details later on.
I personally have gripes about that window. I didn’t like it from the beginning, really. I think it’s unnecessary long and dull. But believe me, I tried several different versions, this is quite the best as of yet. Maybe I’ll try more different design.
There have been a ton of attempted remakes of Decay in the Source engine but I’m pretty sure literally all of them have died before really getting anywhere. Your stuff looks good - maybe a few odd angles, like I don’t know exactly what’s going on on top of that security door in the last shot you posted, it looks really weird, but overall I think it’s pretty great for early shots, really reminiscent of Gearbox’s brushwork style on the HL expansions. Put some atmospheric details like fog and enhance the lighting a bit and you’ll be well on your way!
Are you planning on making the entire Decay campaign, or just Dual Access?
It’s taken me a while to figure out just what was bothering me about these maps, and just now it’s hit me that they’re a very “literal” reconstruction of the originals- similar geometry, layout, etc.
The Black Mesa maps are overall much more of a reinterpretation, which helps make them look less ‘barren’ and ‘contrived’. I’d suggest reducing each area down to just a set of bullet points (like the above two would be “catwalk leading to a tram station” and "long corridor with a security office behind one wall) and redeveloping the areas from there without looking at the originals.
Furthermore, while it’s good that you’re keeping to the texture sets used in the Black Mesa analogues of these areas, it needs to be a bit more granular than chapter-by-chapter- personnel and security areas in AM have a different texture set than materials/logistics areas, and then there are at least two if not more sets for labs. Not everything should be the same “white striped metal wall” texture. Conversely, I think you should also be applying the concept of these ‘sets’ to level geometry- that window immediately stands out to me as something that belongs in Questionable Ethics since all of the AM windows are square, for instance.
That is a fair point.
Also something to keep in mind is that the area of AM seen in Dual Access seems to be entirely labs and server rooms to support the Anti-Mass Spectrometer’s operation, so there wouldn’t be much in the way of staff areas down there - Maybe a bathroom or two. Anything else they’d probably just grab the tram back to the main area of Sector C for.
Some people on the Russian forums were talking about having the game start on the tram-ride in instead of just dropping the player in a station, and actually allowing you to go and pick up your suit. I think that’d be a neat addition.
bm_c1a0 is in the mapsrc folder, could be done. Though I don’t know if most players would want to have to get off a tram, trek through AM, get their suit, then backtrack to the tram station only to sit on the tram for longer.
I dunno, I for one thought the HEV suit was weirdly far away from where it was used as is. I think having another suit room in the service area of AM would be a good addition.
Possibly, but I think the intention when Gearbox made Decay was for the other two, empty HEV containers in AM to be Gina and Collette’s.
There’s also another solution to this issue I just thought of - the redesigned AM labs have a section past the “Wrong” airlock that’s caved in, and also an elevator - maybe one of those could lead to the airlock in Dual Access? Technically, we don’t know for sure the spawn area in DA was a tram station - we never saw a tram or tram line, just the inside of an airlock.
That, or the locked door at the end of the Personnel hallway could connect them.
My current proposal would be something like this:
- The player(s?) start on a tram in some unseen part of the facility.
- They merge into the Sector C line (i.e. the part seen in bm_c0a0c) by coming up from this elevator shaft, since it also has an access from below:
- They then continue on past the first Sector C station through here:
- The tram then stops at the start of Dual Access, which could either be just after the actual tram platform or modified to accommodate it:
- After going through security, they reach an area similar to the guarded door in bm_c1a0a, where they are required to get hazard suits to proceed.
- They go through a door that turns out to be the other side of this door in bm_c1a0a…… and get their suits from the same locker room as Gordon. I don’t think this is the only door connecting the two Sector C areas (it’s rather small, and positioned weirdly close to the personnel areas but far from everything else), but it’s probably the only one we can go through.
- They then go back through that door and are allowed deeper into Dual Access.
I agree! I am very excited to see the fruits of your labor and I am very interested in this project.