Pre-Disaster Planning Thread

General Development Source 1
#1

Now that there’s like three or four different people working on pre-disaster chapters, we’re going to have to set up some kind of central clearing-house to prevent from running into each other. If you want to work on a pre-disaster project, please oh please consider coming here first. This is also the place to talk about connecting maps via elevators or the rail system, expanding new parts of the facility, or the logistics of submitting what would end up being a massive project to the workshop piecemeal.

ADDITIONAL POSTS[/size]
I’m working on collecting people’s individual project threads into a central index for reference and ease of use. Not sure how useful such will be, but this is the thread for that sort of thing:

AREA ALLOTMENT[/size]
I’ve tried to establish a survey of the PD “landscape” to the best of my knowledge. This likely contains errors, so don’t hesitate to inform me if you see something incorrect. Furthermore, I’m still on hiatus from serious work on the project so, despite having “claimed” a massive chunk of the facility, other people are free to work on those sections and will probably beat me to most of it:

ANOMALOUS MATERIALS
SB776 still plans to refit this area somewhat, but it’s already pre-disaster so it’s not really in contention.

UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES
Map A- RELEASED by The BM Devs
Map B- RELEASED by The BM Devs
Map C- RELEASED by ArcHammer
Map D- RELEASEDby ArcHammer
Map E- RELEASEDby ArcHammer

OFFICE COMPLEX
Map A- RELEASED by AdmiralSakai
Map B- COMPLETED by AdmiralSakai
Map C- CLAIMED by AdmiralSakai

WE’VE GOT HOSTILES
Map A- RELEASED by MisterDigitalGuy
Map B- CLAIMED by MisterDigitalGuy
Map C- CLAIMED by MisterDigitalGuy

BLAST PIT
Map A- CLAIMED by FRAG
Map B- CLAIMED by AdmiralSakai
Map C- CLAIMED by FRAG
Map D- CLAIMED by AdmiralSakai
Map E- CLAIMED by FRAG

POWER UP
Map A- CLAIMED by DvD
Map B- CLAIMED by DvD

ON A RAIL
Map A- CLAIMED by DvD
Map B- CLAIMED by DvD
Map C- CLAIMED by DvD

APPREHENSION
Map A- CLAIMED by TJHL
Map B- CLAIMED by TJHL
Map C- CLAIMED by TJHL

RESIDUE PROCESSING
Map A-
Map B-
Map C-

QUESTIONABLE ETHICS
Map E- UNDER DEVELOPMENT by AdmiralSakai
Map F- RELEASED by AdmiralSakai
Map G- RELEASED by AdmiralSakai
Map H- RELEASED by AdmiralSakai

SURFACE TENSION
Map A-
Map B-
Map C-
Map D-
Map E-
Map F-
Map G-
Map H-
Map I-

FORGET ABOUT FREEMAN
Map A- CLAIMED by X-Ray
Map B- CLAIMED by X-Ray

LAMBDA CORE
Map A- RELEASED by SB7766
Map B- RELEASED by SB7766
Map C- RELEASED by SB7766
Map D- RELEASED by SB7766
Map E- RELEASED by SB7766
Map F- RELEASED by SB7766
Map H- RELEASED by SB7766

MULTIPLAYER MAPS

Bounce-
Stalkyard-
Undertow-
Gasworks-
Stack-
Crossfire-
Subtransit-

#2

I think I’ll claim Map D of Unforeseen Consequences, and I’ll hold off on claiming anything else until I at least finish my first project, Map C.
Useful post!
Oh, and I think we should not only ‘claim’ our own maps, but work together on chapters. Since there seems to be at least us three working on them currently, we could essentially form a ‘team’ so that the maps all fit in with the same style and so eventually, we could upload it as a bundled map pack or even a mod.

#3

I’m somewhat reluctant to start a formal team because a number of people on the project (myself included) have very irregular work schedules and passing VMFs back and forth is a pain, but this thread is definitely intended to foster more collaboration on individual maps and chapters.

Case in point, that D map… I for one never liked the way that it was kind of a mashup of two distinct areas, and was very small. When I got to Unforeseen Consequences working alone (which, given the current pace of the project, probably would have happened over winter break), I was planning on splitting it up at the freight elevator and sticking the pieces onto the C and E maps as appropriate, since both sections are pretty much just a single room. Thoughts?

#4

Well, currently the only problem I see with that is the fact that the C map may even have to split into two, with the addition of these laser labs and all these extra sections. Already the entity use on the original C map was 147% or something huge. But yes, if I split it up into C-a and C-b, C-b being the lower floor of coolant rooms, I think it should just include that freight elevator too, and have a loading screen to the E map in the same place that D transitions to E (after the small collapsing bridge room). That means we basically don’t have a D map anymore, though I could just call my C-b map ‘D’.
Also, when I suggested a ‘team’ I basically just meant we would host our own Google Drive for our stuff to go in, and we would collaborate on thinking about the sector’s meaning and etc. using Google Docs. It all goes into a shared drive so I think it could be very useful. It also acts as a place to keep all of our to-do lists, info about the area and diagrams, rather than on posts here.

#5

That sounds like a very good idea.

Some of the stock maps have entity utilization percentages up in the 170s, so I don’t think the C map is too large… however, if you want to split it again, you could always put another transition in the maintenance (and personnel?) elevator, between the AM-style labs and the coolant reserve proper, making a new “C0” map.

#6

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’ll take a look at setting up Google Drive - should be useful!

#7

I think on the uncut maps for On a Rail I pushed 210% or more entdata before things started getting weird. At that point gibs would disappear and things would start to misbehave. I would suggest 200% at the maximum.

#8

At ST Uncut you made I was getting these kind of errors sometimes (first map of STU, not in OaR:U though), probably entinty’s utilization maximum level can vary for different PC’s and different entities, so its better to play-test it imo

#9

I’m really excited to see how these maps will connect the different areas of Black Mesa to each other as well as fleshing out what is behind every door.

On that note, Sakai, I think you posted an image of the complete tram line to connect the various maps together as a sort of scenic tour? Would the tour start exactly like Inbound, (Which could really use the whole fleshing out as well) or at the Level 1 Main Facility Entrance mentioned in the tram map?

It always bugged me how few views we get of Black Mesa on the surface, much less, seeing all the visible parts of the entire facility that are above ground, just to get a sense of exactly how large it really is.

That was one of the reasons I especially liked Half Life Mods like Visitors that showcase a few of the unseen locations heard in the Tram Announcements.

Speaking of Tram Announcements, if the player is taking a tram to tour the facility, wouldn’t there need to be more lines for the VOX to say, perhaps something similar to the medical emergency we saw in Office Complex?

Anyway, it’s my hope that once Source 2 is fully released, we can compile all the maps together so that the player can go anywhere in the facility without seeing a single loading screen.

#10

Just putting a reply here to confirm that I’m back on track, and will finish the lambda core. On the topic of anomalous materials I plan to do a similar makeover like I did with the Lambda Core Level A, meaning removing dependencies on scripted events. Of course progress will be pretty slow, as I’m trying to balance a lot of things right now.

#11

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=576153898

#12

What about it?

(“It”, by the way, being a mod that puts Corporal Shepard from Opposing Force into the Lambda Core final level, in case you didn’t bother clicking the link.)

#13

Hey Admiral, sorry about my lack of communication for a while. I’ve just started Christmas holidays and am back on track! (Also, Star Wars Battlefront, Fallout 4 and Just Cause 3 probably had something to do with it…)
Anyway, my PD map is pretty close to being complete as a pre-disaster version of the original map, but my plans for the expansion mainly on the top floor, have been halted for now. I’m thinking of releasing the map first on steam workshop and then if I have the dedication to do so, I could update it later with the new areas.

#14

No biggie- if I tried to hold myself to a proper schedule with this I would go mad.

I’d encourage you to post what you have to Steam as soon as it’s ‘polished’ satisfactorily because I’d quite like to see what you’ve done; however, do whatever you feel like and I’ll try to keep the progress board updated.

I also added some material to the old Google doc about the time you went on hiatus, so I don’t know if you had a chance to see it.

#15

I saw it, interesting stuff!
And I agree, I will attempt to polish it off and get it onto the workshop soon enough.

#16

Any chance I could claim some Blast Pit action?

Loved the chapter, so would love to look at getting it functional & xen free :smiley:

#17

I wanted to do Blast Pit myself, but am still very confused about how to go about getting it working. I’d be extremely glad to at the very least talk it over with you, and possibly either work with you or hand the whole level off to you. Just name the sections you want and I’ll put you down for them when I make the big list update.

Given that you seem to have the most mapping experience of anyone on the project, I feel like your input on things is going to get solicited a lot if you decide to join the project.

#18

You’re making me blush :smiley:

Alright, I’ll be very happy to collab on it, maybe leap frog the maps? So I could start with Map A and then the rebuild design should start to fall into place with the following maps, if you would like to chat over steam then search for [LDT] FRAG or if you prefer another method I’m all ears :smiley:

#19

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=608116737

#20

…
What about it?

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.