[MAP] Hedge Maze (CV64/LOD)

[Botdra]

Boom.

 

 

I'm sure someone will remember this from their childhood.

 

So waaay back in the day there was a Castlevania mod for JA going on. I wanted to pitch in and Omegasigma told me I could help by mapping out the Hedge Maze from Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness. Long story short, I was 75% done and lost all my work. Fast forward 3-4 years and I decided to tackle it again. Right now I'm at about 90% done with brushwork. For now I'm going to just jack the textures from the original game (just so I can post screens with more than Caulk, and so I can test the map in-game) but hopefully I'll be able to make some real textures or find similar ones elsewhere.

The map is about 95% accurate to the original game. I have added detail on the models that couldn't be done back then, as well as I made the hedges taller to give a more daunting effect, I feel. The scale is the Castlevania scale, therefore railing are just below shoulder height, doors are quite tall, etc. to keep the original feeling of size and keep the map very imposing. It's funny, the longer I spend mapping it the more I realize what a PERFECT FFA map this would be, and would actually be a bit scary having your friends pop out in front of you constantly. I found it quite creepy just walking around in the original version even though I KNEW I had killed everyone on the map, still approached every corner with skepticism.

If anyone wishes to help with this I am in need of someone to make a good shader for the hedges, and a couple of very basic map models. Details upon request.

80%

80%

[ChalklYne]

The "It's a small world" ride in Disneyland

[Onysfx]

Umm...Peachs castle? No...umm....zeldas courtya- no....ganons castl- no can't be...is this a star wars themed map?

 

Goldeneye? Never played it, but just suggesting.

Castlevania (never really played it either)

 

Dah, you got me. I can't guess it. More pics?

 

EDIT: Oh, ChalkYne beat me in the post...I've never been to Disneyland .

[Circa]

It looks like the Garden of Theed level in the Phantom Menace game, somewhat. Minus the door.

[Onysfx]

Hmm...I suppose it does look somewhat like that ibonek...but it probably isn't...too early to say still IMO.

[Circa]

Hmm...I suppose it does look somewhat like that ibonek...but it probably isn't...too early to say still IMO.

Agreed. It was the first thing that popped in my head, but after further examination, I doubt it is.

[Botdra]

It looks like the Garden of Theed level in the Phantom Menace game, somewhat. Minus the door.

 

That game kicked enormous amounts of ass.

 

One of these franchises is correct... it's not Star Wars though. And yes, it's N64.

 

Few more hints:

The Black Dahlia Murder has a reference to this series in one of their album titles.

@@OmegaSigma was/is working on a project from the same genre.

This level scared the shit out of everyone because it had an invincible enemy in it wielding a chainsaw.

 

And Omegasigma, don't spoil it, because you know what it is from waaaay back in the day when I made this map but lost it.

[ChalklYne]

Was the invincible enemy Dracula? Or possibly a Belmont?

[Botdra]

Was the invincible enemy Dracula? Or possibly a Belmont?

 

It was neither. VERY close though.

[ChalklYne]

After I typed that I realized I was referring to Death... but i'm thinking of a completely diff game... SOTN.. which pwned. I want to see someone map out the upside down castle from SOTN

[Botdra]

After I typed that I realized I was referring to Death... but i'm thinking of a completely diff game... SOTN.. which pwned. I want to see someone map out the upside down castle from SOTN

 

Heh, close enough. I might as well give it to you guys. Title change in 3... 2... 1...

[Botdra]

Here's some more images of the details and layout of the map for those not familiar with it.

 

 

 

Map layout:

 

[CaptainChar]

ironicly, I made a map that's a maze, with castlevania in the background, but its a graveyard maze >.> I forgot completely about this map to be honest, and ever since Zion moved to japan, the project kinda went into perma limbo

 

 

 

 

 

[Botdra]

ironicly, I made a map that's a maze, with castlevania in the background, but its a graveyard maze >.> I forgot completely about this map to be honest, and ever since Zion moved to japan, the project kinda went into perma limbo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I heard. Shames, maybe we can get a small release together sometime.

[Onysfx]

So it's a castlevania map...nice.

[Botdra]

So it's a castlevania map...nice.

 

Yuppers. Probably my favorite game series of all time, and a relatively easy map to do so I thought eh, why not.

[ChalklYne]

There is already animated guns... sucks we can't do animated sabers. i.e. whips. Theres a way you could have a whip... make a "hilt" with a coiled up alpha plane whip behind it..

 

Then do a saber swap via cfg file that any time you take a swing, you quickly swap to another saber, then back after the attack. the saber you would be swapping to, would need to have an animated alpha plane that shows the whip coming back then snapping forward. 

 

It would take some timing with the anim, but totally do-able.

 

 

 

 

 

it would be so buggy this way, you would actually need the whole coiling back part be one saber, then the whip forward be another, to avoid il-timed damage from the huge front on the attack saber now that i theorize it

 

Do-able nonetheless. just like my repulse, it might take a good time to tweak it just right

[Botdra]

There is already animated guns... sucks we can't do animated sabers. i.e. whips. Theres a way you could have a whip... make a "hilt" with a coiled up alpha plane whip behind it..

 

Then do a saber swap via cfg file that any time you take a swing, you quickly swap to another saber, then back after the attack. the saber you would be swapping to, would need to have an animated alpha plane that shows the whip coming back then snapping forward. 

 

It would take some timing with the anim, but totally do-able.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it would be so buggy this way, you would actually need the whole coiling back part be one saber, then the whip forward be another, to avoid il-timed damage from the huge front on the attack saber now that i theorize it

 

Do-able nonetheless. just like my repulse, it might take a good time to tweak it just right

 

I think I recall this being pondered years ago and the idea was scrapped entirely because it was so complex. Too bad though, would be incredibly fun! Might try and tackle some more gameplay oriented stuff though, but not until I get this map done.

[Botdra]

Some updated pics. Started texturing a bit using a combination of base textures, modified base textures and free textures found online. The hedges aren't going to be that flat texture, going to try and get some help making a shader for it that has a second layer of some foliage over top to give it some depth. If anyone could help with that I would be extremely grateful.

 

[AshuraDX]

I have an idea for your hedges , but you'd need to duplicate them and shrink them down a little so you get 2 layers

the outer hull will recieve an alpha mapped version of your hedge texture

the inner brushes will be textured with a slgihtly darkened fully opague version of the texture

 

the slgiht offest between both surfaces will create the illusion of depth

[ChalklYne]

Yeah that's what i did in my previous post. But If you built it in a 3d program, you could easily render the shadows underneath the outer alpha layer like I did there, and give it better depth. Hell you could do that, make a texture out of it.. then build it in gtk and use the texture. But lining everything up would be kind of a pain.  Im still voting map_objects as opposed to brushwork. No point in remaking the map exactly the same, or with a little improvement.. if youre going to do it, do it right so it really pays homage and stands out

[Botdra]

I have an idea for your hedges , but you'd need to duplicate them and shrink them down a little so you get 2 layers

the outer hull will recieve an alpha mapped version of your hedge texture

the inner brushes will be textured with a slgihtly darkened fully opague version of the texture

 

the slgiht offest between both surfaces will create the illusion of depth

 

That's exactly what I will do, but as I said I'll need someone's assistance with that, as even after spending a while with shaders for skins etc. I still have a lot of trouble with them and usually have to copy and adjust other people's shaders.

[CaptainChar]

Honestly hedges and bushes have been a pain in my behind in maps when it comes to making them either look like boxes, I hope those textures help you with your map though

[ChalklYne]

Hedges?

Make a 5 layer thick wad of alpha planes...

20 verts and it can be 1024x4096 so you can cover a lo of area.

 

Bam

 

Excuse the textures and weird alpha sorting in this video I was going very quickly... as usual

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksHD5G6w3ok&feature=youtu.be

 

Now that's some shrubbery.

 

If you don't want to see all the way through.. make the center plane a lot heavier with foliage.

[AshuraDX]

That's exactly what I will do, but as I said I'll need someone's assistance with that, as even after spending a while with shaders for skins etc. I still have a lot of trouble with them and usually have to copy and adjust other people's shaders.

 

ah allright , guess I could do that for ya but i'll have to refresh my knowdledge about making shaders for maps