Surface Tension Uncut - Re-Adding Cut Areas/Scenes (Expansion Project)

General Development Source 1
#2221

That destroyed wall is a badly stitched model. I can’t fix it. It needs a modeller. It’s a very minor issue, anyway.

The second problem is Z-Fighting, but I’ve already fixed it. Z-Fighting is simply when 2 things overlap into one another on the same plane, the game doesn’t know which to render first, causing the flickering back and forth.

It will come in handy if I ever do design to embark on that path - an idea I’ve been toying with on numerous occasions, but it’s still a tenuous vision at best. That’s not why I’m designing this stuff, anyway. It’s for fun, for learning. To make Black Mesa better. Honest. The portfolio stuff is just a nice bonus.

I fail to see where you made the logical step from me observing that you’re generally fairly negative to me belittling your contributions (which in itself is a strange thing to say seeing as I’ve PERSONALLY credited you in the readme and thanked you numerous times on these forums), but okay. I wasn’t being rude either. If you want to toss around accusations of being “rude,” I would kindly suggest that you observe the tone in which you commentate on things. As I said before, I’ve never had a problem with it personally (though it seems other forum-goers have), but it’s kind of a pot, kettle, black type issue here. Whatever, doesn’t really matter. Let’s just leave it at me saying that I disagree with your observation on this particular matter. It’s not necessarily (nor has it ever been), a case of right vs wrong, but more a case of agreement vs disagreement. I like to think I’m a fairly logical person, I can adapt peoples’ opinions and viewpoints into my own when I deem it necessary. Hence my folding on issues that have been raised before.

#2222

Fair enough. Re the new sound system…should work well, so long as a sound that’s selected PRIOR to opening the door is able to be PLAYED OUT FULLY once the player opens the garage door. You don’t want it to cut out mid-dialog or mid gunfire as it would sound awkward.

#2223

Well, actually it’s a bit of a lose-lose there, I have to admit. We have 2 options here:

  1. (Current design) Sound cuts out mid door-opening. Abrupt, no question.
  2. Sound doesn’t cut out mid-opening. Sounds are now being generated by NPCs who no longer exist.

The other problem is there’s no real way to make it so the NPCs disappear immediately but leave behind the remnants of their sound. There’s no way that kind of feature has been coded in. It could potentially be an issue.

But, on the plus side, the door’s opening sound is fairly loud. In the several tests I ran, the sound of the door opening + the fight now properly starting, seems to cover up (at least I NEVER noticed) any abruptness.

#2224

Trigger in one of those screen shaking rumbles and associated sound file. That should help mask any abruptness.

#2225

Never thought the battle sounds going when the battle began was an issue unlike whoever brought up the complaint. You could just add a nearly dead vort by the door w/vort noises like in an old beta. Then soundscape the door like the TOW courtyard.

#2226

Yeh, I wasn’t implying it, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility. It’s similar to me and re-writing the code for NWN2 at the moment (which is an massive undertaking). It’s a learning experience, and it’s rewarding in its own right. The product is just the fruits of your labor in an attempt to make things better than they already are. :wink:

And if anything, you can use it to apply for other dev teams even if the BM team doesn’t accept you.

That being said, you’re awesome for creating something like this from scratch and in 2-3 months no less. It’s an achievement you should be proud of, and one I will likely have in my BM client for many years to come.

#2227

I’ve noticed the death sounds of NPCs always play, even if they gib. Which is a bug, but would seem to prove that’s not entirely true. Speaking of which, what if you triggered a death sound when the door opens? That would easily explain why a taunt would be abruptly cut off, at least.

#2228

I’m happy that text is actually dealing with that issue of the silent car park. I always felt that it was strange that we hear nothing until the car park door opens, then a full scale battle is revealed.

#2229

Text, I know it’s very late in the process for the release of v1.0 Final, but I came across a couple of minor issues apparent at the very beginning of C2A5G. I’m not implying or asking that anything be done with these, just making you aware of them for future reference. You may want to address these at a later date, or not.

The first one is with the blast door that’s immediately behind you when you first spawn. https://i.imgur.com/uQWQc.jpg and https://i.imgur.com/utmoQ.jpg.

The second one is for the blast door around the corner to the left. It suffers from the same ailment, but in addition to that, the light fixture above the door does not make contact with the wall. You had mentioned that the BM Devs had neglected to do this in their maps on several other occasions, well here’s another one. https://i.imgur.com/Iv5jR.jpg and https://i.imgur.com/UfVj2.jpg. I suspect the hole in the blast doors is also a BM Dev oversight.

P.S. To guard against these issues being overlooked or lost within this thread, they’ve been added as items #104 and #105 to my final feedback report for v1.0-RC3, which can be found here https://forums.blackmesasource.com/showpost.php?p=530096&postcount=2188.

#2230

Is there any way to fix the ‘dropping’ body when you load the first level?

#2231

Nope. No way around it without modifying C2A5F. Most of the issues right at the start of the level cannot be solved without modifying C2A5F, which isn’t something I’m willing to do.

As for my progress, it’s ready for a release tomorrow evening. I’m happy with how its gone. I ran into a major snag today where an areaportal on C2A5H bugged out and it was driving me crazy, and then after about an hour of pulling out my hair found it was a ridiculously simple problem. That set me back a fair bit. But it’s ready, and I’m ready to move on.

#2232

Sorry to hear about your struggles with the areaportal problem. It’s usually the simple things, isn’t it.

We’re all very eager to get our hands on the FINAL version of ST Uncut, and not a moment too soon, it seems. With all the recent hair pullin’, you must be lookin’ a lot like Kleiner these days. Hopefully, only one more sleep to go, Text, and then your masterpiece will be done and released. I’ll be marking my calendar as January 6th, 2013 being one of the momentous days in the history of BM, with another one occurring in the not too distant future (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?), and then the expected monumental event hopefully taking place before the end of the year. I’m sure we’ll all be sporting huge grins then, even more so because of your tireless, dedicated and exemplary efforts in augmenting the already outstanding work of the BM Devs.

P.S. Save some of that hair for OaR Uncut, else, consider shavin’ your head. You won’t look so funny, plus you’ll save lots of money on shampoo!

#2233

This one’s for you:

1024×559 105 KB

#2234

OHHH BABY, THAT LOOKS SWEET ! ! !

You know, this is all the result of a call I got from Dr. Breen, telling me that my application to work at BM had been accepted. Shortly thereafter, I arrived at the facility and was shown where I would be working. It was in the furnace room. I hesitated accepting the job on the spot due to the safety issues I observed, specifically the odd location of the fire extinguisher in relation to the fire alarm switch and bell. After all, I would be working in a furnace room, where unexpected fires are apt to occur. I told Dr. Breen I’d have to think about it and get back to him. Well, Text, after seeing the changes you’ve made, all concerns about my personal safety have been quelled. I’ll be calling Dr. Breen (collect) later today and accepting his kind offer. Although, I do remember him saying how tough it was to keep this position filled. Ha, it’s probably nothing, just the poor caliber of people they hired before me. I’ll show 'em! I just hope my call to Dr. Breen isn’t affected by those two communication satellite dishes on the roof, interfering with each other, in the tank yard.

Ooo… that reminds me, I need to talk to him about all those squealing small creatures lurking about and that moaning, shuffling security guard… what’s his problem? Oh yes, and those military types seemed really tense and overly eager to shoot anything that moved. In time, I’m sure once we all get to know each other, things will be fine. I’m a pretty easy goin’ guy, not causin’ or lookin’ for trouble. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to start work right away, as I’m still nursing a twisted ankle from tripping on a curb right in the middle of the TOW yard. I went flying. Who came up with that idea?

Thanks Text. I’ll send you a picture from my first day on the job. Should be exciting, eh, and I have you to thank for it all happening.

I owe ya’ a cold one, or two!

#2235

[COLOR=‘Red’]Update: Released![/SIZE]

Latest Version: 1.11 (Hotfixed) - Final Release. Download here.[/SIZE]

Right. This is the finished. Final. Release. Done. Dusted. Over. Finito.

A few major(ish) changes from RC3 but nothing too serious. Several bugfixes and graphic fixes, but don’t expect it to be too different. My involvement with this project is now over. I will no longer continue to update it or work on it, except for when the Black Mesa team updates their mod, where I will patch any breaks it creates.

Thank you everyone, again, for helping me along this wild ride. I’ve learned a lot about mapping and the mapping process from all this and hopefully OaR Uncut will be much less painful. I’ve made many mistakes here which I don’t think I’ll repeat again. I’m going into this new project with a lot more knowledge under my belt. Thank you community, you’ve helped to make this little “mod” of mine great.

My plan is as follows: I’ll leave this 1.1 final, sitting here for a little while. I’ve already run a “dry test” (with no prior installs) with a friend, and he had no problems whatsoever. Once I’ve got reports from a few people on here saying everything works fine, I begin my media campaign. I’ll be posting this in the Cafeteria, on various other gaming forums and places. I want to spread the word now. The time has come, the work is ready. Any backup you guys are willing to provide will be appreciated. I want people to take a look at this, to enjoy it. Thanks! I’m also about to update the OP with new screenshots and information, as some of it’s fairly outdated.

06.01.13
==1.1 Final== <-- Surface Tension Uncut - Finished Edition

Assorted/General
-Numerous bugfixes/clipping fixes.
-Actually reworked a few small details, did a bit more than I thought I would but it’s made things better.
-Probably lots of misc fixes which I forgot to note.

C2A5G
-Probably lots of misc fixes which I forgot to note.
-Added battle sounds to the Garage which play after you flick the switch in the side room. Makes it more obvious you’re meant to be going that way and makes it so that the sounds no longer magically start when you open the door.
-Re-did ALL the model based destruction for the two holes in the garage. There should be literally NO Z-Fighting anymore. It should all look good now.
-Re-aligned and increased scale (from 16 to 8) the lightmaps for the ceiling on the ground floor to fix weird lighting abnormalities on the ceiling (particularly between the destruction and the fixed part of the ceiling).
-Moved the light by the ground floor exit sign down a little bit to make the lighting consistent.
-Fixed some of the tight curves by the ramps so that they no longer have visible texture/lighting seams. They still exist due to the unavoidable nature of the way curved textures work, but they should be FAR, FAR less noticeable now.
-More lightmap fixes on the top floor to make the shadowing less abrupt.
-Managed to address most (but not all) of the lightbleeding on the top floor walls.
-Fixed a pretty serious areaportal bug in the drop-down vent which caused the sky to be rendered for a few seconds on dropping down.
-Fixed up some more railings near the TOW courtyard.
-Hopefully fixed a few seams in the big red wall leading to the helipad.
-Fixed up pretty serious (yet somehow unreported!) texture seams at the edge of the map, between the rock, rough sand, and smooth sand. They were actually really bad.
-Fixed the sides of the raised walkway by the helipad so they no longer got merged into one face by VBSP, making the railings look like they were floating from certain angles.
-Fixed up the Laser Manta’s approach path so he no longer does a really awkward L motion.
-Reduced the hangar door’s openings a little bit.

C2A5H
-Probably lots of misc fixes which I forgot to note.
-Added blood to the Barney desk at the start.
-Fixed up the hole a bit so it’s less possible to get stuck on it.
-Edited the sound script at the start of the map to match that I used on C2A5G. Much better, (and less annoying) system.
-Fixed some Xen Moss clipping through the vents near the bathrooms.
-Lowered the pipe in the satpipe to reduce the “bounce” effect a little bit. It’s still present, sadly, but a bit less apparant (physics engine bug).
-Edited the Furnace Room layout a little bit. Moved the fire extinguisher next to the fire alarm, added some more pipe/valve systems to where the extinguisher used to be.
-Added another headcrab and adjusted HECU positioning and node positioning a bit. Battle should favour Zombies massively now, though it doesn’t really matter too much if it doesn’t.
-Many misc. artistic edits around the gasworks, most too minor to warrant a mention. Trialed a system where some of the lights in the ceiling were off/ruined, but it made the lighting/shadowing in the gasworks look awful.
-Fixed a stupid gap in the railings in the gasworks.
-Swapped the control panel in Barney’s Room for one similar to the one used in the security hut.
-Fixed a pretty serious (and very, VERY dumb) bug where the door was 1/4 clipped into the ground at the end of Barney’s Room.
-A few misc fixes by the end of the level.

C2A5I
-Probably lots of misc fixes which I forgot to note.
-A few miscellaneous clipping and seam fixes around the garg chase hallway.
-Moved around some of the fencing near the end to eliminate clipping with the electric fences.
-Painted even more rocks in the Garg courtyard to reduce the instances of VBSP procedurally placed plants clipping through pipes.
-Made the Crownvic near the end of the map destructible by the mortars. It exhibits really horrid bugs when it’s destroyed (Devs fault, not mine, it’s a bug in the physics engine), but it’s probably better than it being indestructible.
-Fixed a bit of blue debris near the end of the map (hopefully).

Final
-FINISHED THIS PROJECT! ON TO GREENER PASTURES!

#2236

Awesome. Thanks for the hard work and dedication.

This alone let’s me replay BM a second time before that is patched.

#2237

Sorry Text, but link takes me to Mediafire’s homepage. I don’t see anything pertaining to ST Uncut. Am I missing something?

EDIT: Link on first page works fine. I’ve noted that you’ve now fixed the link on page 112. Thanks!

#2238

No. I missed out a single quotation mark in the link. Should be fixed now.

#2239

Thanks a lot for all the hard work! I’m still going to wait until the Xen release, but it looks like your maps will add a lot to the experience. Looking forward to progress on your OaR maps, too.

Thanks!

#2240

Congratulation textFAMGUY1 ! But I have to say “NOOOOOOOOO…” because I just did the files for subtitles available here : https://www.mediafire.com/?zei98438avyhwrt
(yeah, I know I’m annoying with that, but this is because it’s in conflict with the translation project and the next patch of BM)

All you had to do is changing the directory of the different sound on hammer :

“vo/c2a2a/SatelliteLaunch/grd01_goodluck01.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a2a_satellitelaunch.grd01_goodluck01_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Garage/hgruntvent_young_hearthat01.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_garage.hgruntvent_young_hearthat01_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Garage/hgruntvent_young_hearthat02.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_garage.hgruntvent_young_hearthat02_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Garage/hgruntvent_gruff_quiet01.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_garage.hgruntvent_gruff_quiet01_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Garage/hgruntvent_gruff_quiet02.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_garage.hgruntvent_gruff_quiet02_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Satchel/hgrunt03_heycatch01.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_satchel.hgrunt03_heycatch01_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Satchel/hgrunt03_heycatch02.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_satchel.hgrunt03_heycatch02_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Satchel/hgrunt03_tooeasy01.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_satchel.hgrunt03_tooeasy01_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Satchel/hgrunt03_tooeasy02.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_satchel.hgrunt03_tooeasy02_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Satchel/hgrunt03_tooeasy03.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_satchel.hgrunt03_tooeasy03_wav”
“vo/c2a5g/Soldiers/mar01_semperfiradio.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5g_soldiers.mar01_semperfiradio_wav”
“vo/c2a5h/ComeInCooper/Radio_comeincooper_main.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5h_ComeInCooper.Radio_comeincooper_main_wav”
“vo/c2a5h/ComeInCooper/Radio_comeincooper_radiosilence.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c2a5h_ComeInCooper.Radio_comeincooper_radiosilence_wav”
“vo/c3a1a/ForgetAboutFreeman/radio_forgetaboutfreeman_edit02.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c3a1a_ForgetAboutFreeman.radio_forgetaboutfreeman_edit02_wav”
“vo/c3a1a/ForgetAboutFreeman/radio_forgetaboutfreeman_knoboff01.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c3a1a_ForgetAboutFreeman.radio_forgetaboutfreeman_knoboff01_wav”
“vo/c3a1a/ForgetAboutFreeman/radio_forgetaboutfreeman_radiosilence.wav” [COLOR=‘Red’]to “VO_c3a1a_ForgetAboutFreeman.radio_forgetaboutfreeman_radiosilence_wav”

then, always in hammer, compile…
I tried to do it by decompiling your map then modifying myself and finally compiling but hammer crashed every time because it’s too long (and my processor is used at 100%) or because there is “too many brush/entities” …

Anyway, despite I’m a bit disappointed, that’s a great work !

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.