At this stage I don't really like to think of it as criticism, but rather observations. If this was a finished project, then yes, it would be criticism, but only because I don't believe in releasing projects and calling them finished when they clearly aren't. However, my blunt style of delivery probably alludes to far more hostility than is intended. I apologize if this is ever the case. I merely wish to see some friends create an exceptional project and expand the boundaries of their perceived abilities.
They wanted feedback. I am giving feedback. In the modding world, "oh my god this is so amazing!!!!" is not actually considered feedback. I'm not trying to be negative, if that's what it comes off as.
Being an artist takes a lot of dedication, that's for sure. I've been modding for a very, very long time, and I'm still a long ways from trying to become an artist.
I can review these screenshots I suppose. If I did a real playthrough I would record it into a series of videos, because that's how I normally do that. But, yeah, kind of got a lot going on as it is.
1 - While the white tiles appearing as sort of plates or additions to the wall is kind of a neat idea, they lack the grunge texturing of the base textures. If possible, adding some dirt to them would go a long way to helping them fit in the scene. Additionally, consider breaking up repetitious segments with smaller details, perhaps some cables or small vents. Nothing that affects the collision, just something built into the existing framework. For the floor, I was exploring the idea of making custom metal decals to break up repeating paneling, but unfortunately I wasn't able to actually test the idea. I think it still has some merit in concept. Some decals of some nature to help break up the flooring will also help, but keep them fairly minimal as the color balance of the scene is already fairly noisy and too much more can easily hurt readability. You already have some decals for the door which is great.
2 - This scene is more indicative of what I was thinking for scene #1. The objects on the walls have some variation between them. Consider adopting a standard for the decals for the doors, as this door appears to be dramatically different in labelling compared to the one in #1. The pipes in the upper corner are blocking access to the gas tanks, which seems illogical if this is where they are accessed. If the gun turrets are insinuated as being placed as defenses prior to the events, considering encircling them in decals. This was something I did with gas geysers and similar structures in a space platform map for Apex A and I felt it made them appear more like they belonged. That is to say, make the turrets a part of the environment rather than existing solely as a gameplay element standing out of it.
3 - The gas tanks appear repetitous and monotonous. Unless it's insinuated that the facility is fully stocked, consider having some empty or drained cabinets. The left and right walls are comparatively bare, and I feel like something should be between the pipes to justify their entry and leaving the surface plating (which is otherwise engineering complication for the sake of complication and breaks realism). The lower level is pretty solid.
4 - I feel like the terrain texturing should be more detailed in that the cliff areas should have more weathering. The far right cliff I think symbolizes this well, but the sentiments are not fully shared with the left inner cliff. The most problematic part to me seems to be the back area in general, which has this feeling of being a bunch of random doodads taped together. This could be alleviated by working the rocks into more parts of the terrain so they feel more natural when viewed in this context, and consider that the burning charr doodads are in fact burning and are standing next to vegetation that otherwise may not survive. Using the grass more liberally to flesh out the valley will also make its appearance in the corner less unexpected. In general, I feel like the color palettes here kind of clash between the purple-orange and then the blue terrain, but you could, if you have a free texture entry, slip in something to help blend them together via the texture tiles.
5 - I feel like the compositing here is much more patient than #4 and as a result it appears much more natural. Most of my qualms about this are subjective, like how I really, really hate how heightmap mountains look like, but there's not much you can do about that. In the left far corner there is vegetation that I feel like could use some support from the ground textures. I would also consider placing very sparse amounts of creep about the zerg structures to help them fit a bit more, perhaps using some of the doodads in very small scale to give them more footing.
Hopefully that helps you with some alternate perspective!
Your fourth screenshot looks very strange. The lighting for the static mesh objects is very bright and oversaturated compared to the rest of the scene (e.g. the heightmap terrain). I find it hard on the eyes, even. It would also appear that, while you placed many objects and decals for doodads on opposing walls, the walls facing away from the camera very clearly have no detailing whatsoever, and break the scene considerably. You should add details there to complete the scene. Additionally, I would consider turning down the specularity for the water in that second image. A sheet of white is also not very easy on the eyes nor pleasant to look at (maybe this is due to your camera angle, though). A consideration is to also brush work some textured weathering into the shoreside to reflect hydro erosion. I also recommend updating Gna's carrier texture to fit more closely with the existing protoss textures. I have such an updated texture on hand, but I also updated it for my modified version of that mesh which uses player colors. If you are interested perhaps I can modify it for your needs.
I have too much on my plate to give you a playtest, as I would probably spend hours per mission nitpicking details and I have a lot of other stuff to cast at the moment. Perhaps in the late future.
That sounds like... CC. And SEN. And probably every other pre-wc3 community except phrozen keep that still exists at all, haha.
@3yks: Go
iirc their forum was invite only or something. Been a while since I looked, though.
Brood War has always been my home for a reason. I'm afraid Antioch is too exclusive for me, though.
Yep. Perfectly understandable.
At this stage I don't really like to think of it as criticism, but rather observations. If this was a finished project, then yes, it would be criticism, but only because I don't believe in releasing projects and calling them finished when they clearly aren't. However, my blunt style of delivery probably alludes to far more hostility than is intended. I apologize if this is ever the case. I merely wish to see some friends create an exceptional project and expand the boundaries of their perceived abilities.
They wanted feedback. I am giving feedback. In the modding world, "oh my god this is so amazing!!!!" is not actually considered feedback. I'm not trying to be negative, if that's what it comes off as.
Being an artist takes a lot of dedication, that's for sure. I've been modding for a very, very long time, and I'm still a long ways from trying to become an artist.
I can review these screenshots I suppose. If I did a real playthrough I would record it into a series of videos, because that's how I normally do that. But, yeah, kind of got a lot going on as it is.
Hopefully that helps you with some alternate perspective!
Your fourth screenshot looks very strange. The lighting for the static mesh objects is very bright and oversaturated compared to the rest of the scene (e.g. the heightmap terrain). I find it hard on the eyes, even. It would also appear that, while you placed many objects and decals for doodads on opposing walls, the walls facing away from the camera very clearly have no detailing whatsoever, and break the scene considerably. You should add details there to complete the scene. Additionally, I would consider turning down the specularity for the water in that second image. A sheet of white is also not very easy on the eyes nor pleasant to look at (maybe this is due to your camera angle, though). A consideration is to also brush work some textured weathering into the shoreside to reflect hydro erosion. I also recommend updating Gna's carrier texture to fit more closely with the existing protoss textures. I have such an updated texture on hand, but I also updated it for my modified version of that mesh which uses player colors. If you are interested perhaps I can modify it for your needs.
I have too much on my plate to give you a playtest, as I would probably spend hours per mission nitpicking details and I have a lot of other stuff to cast at the moment. Perhaps in the late future.