DESCRIPTION:
* Valve, the creators of the GoldSource engine that the original Counter-Strike runs on, released a free tool called "Valve Hammer Editor" that allows anyone to create a map for the Half-Life mods, Counter-Strike in particular. Well I like Counter-Strike and map making. This is what I come up with.
DURATION:
* Valve, the creators of the GoldSource engine that the original Counter-Strike runs on, released a free tool called "Valve Hammer Editor" that allows anyone to create a map for the Half-Life mods, Counter-Strike in particular. Well I like Counter-Strike and map making. This is what I come up with.
DURATION:
* Working on and off for about eight years from 2002 to 2010. Create a map, polish it, polish it again. Start working on a new map, polish the previous one. Start working on a third map, polish the first two, the cycle never ends.
TEAM SIZE:
* One person--me.
PRELUDE:
* The question everyone asks is...why is this page even here? I'm a programmer. That's my expertise. Level design is left to the producers, developers, and artists. So I was able to learn to use some outdated tool and create some new game content for an old game. But it demonstrated a few things: I really wanted to try out level design. And I really wanted to use the tools that professionals use and make new worlds out of it...ludicrous ideas that no one ever expected. And like game design, it involved learning new tools and garnering the will power to complete a project out of NOTHING and having the faith to finish through when you don't think it'll work out in the end. They may not be the prettiest maps but I sure tried my best. And isn't that the spirit of game development--to leave it all on the table to make something genuinely interesting and "artful"?
PERSONAL GOALS / ACHIEVEMENTS:
* Learned how to use Valve Hammer Editor, Adobe Photoshop, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, and Goldwave sound editor. Also learned plenty of patience as maps can take a very long time to compile, sometimes hours.
* Learned to respect things like r_speeds (how many faces are being rendered at once) and basic tenants of team-based map design for exceptional gameplay.
* Made about 26 finished maps that (I presume) are above the quality of the generic Counter-Strike dreck that consists of the same generic Half-Life textures and map layout which duplicates aim_ak_colt and fy_iceworld.
MEDIA:
This is a local mall from my hometown of Slidell, Louisiana. It was not made to deface any one person or business. It was made on pure gusto to try new things that I found rewarding (being able to "visit" places in the past in a free-roam, consequence-free environment).
This is the Space Colony ARK from Sonic Adventure 2. I love crazy colorful levels in my video games so this place is perfect.
This is a fictional casino & resort from Gulfport, Mississippi.
These are all maps I recreated from Goldeneye and Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64. You have no clue how many iterations it took to ensure the layouts are as close to the original as possible.
These are some more unique maps I made. Things like convention centers to McDonalds playplaces to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Nothing stood in my way.
LINKS:
