Progression Portfolio

I want to focus on map making. However a lot of my previous maps have been lost without backups. So sadly I will have to try and use whatever I can to show that my passion lies with map making.
If I had a capture card for my xbox I could capture movie footage from the maps I had made on the console.
I definitely do want to specialise in map making however.

Influence of games psychologically

I have been looking into studies that examine the effect that games have on gamers psychologically. I am doing this to see whether games have can influence or change an individual. I have found some interesting studies linking violent action games with an increased mental ability for concentration, multi-tasking and decision making.

http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/02/how-playing-violent-video-games-may-change-the-brain/

Map making pt 8.

My map is close to finished. I have added doors which I have scripted to open and close when the player "uses" them. I have added a skybox and a smaller skybox of trees to give some sense of enclosure to the cul-de-sac.

The two large yellow blocks in the distance are detail objects to give a sense of scale to the map, one is a water tower, and the other is a large tree.
Note you can see the props inside the house through the window.

Map Making pt 7.

I have started to furnish the houses. Adding physics props to the inside to give them a lived-in feel.

Im trying to add small details to make it seem this is the house of a single occupant who isnt used to visitors, the tv is facing towards a small single chair as opposed to the double-seated sofa.

Map Making pt 6.

I have been unable to create custom textures and get them into the game editor. So for now I am going to use in-game textures to create my buildings. I have started adding more props to the level now, fleshing it out to make it more realistic.

The pink and yellow blocks are the various props. Mostly they are just hedges and fences. The squat pink blocks infront of the bungalow are a car and junk.

The pink blocks signify physics props, these can be manipulated by the player in game. The yellow are static props, unaffected by the physics engine. In the end alot of the pink blocks had to be turned yellow due to unpredictable ways the props would react to the physics engine.

Map making pt.5

The final 2 houses are completed giving me a total of 5 enter-able buildings on my cul-de-sac.
I have been experimenting with adding custom textures, following tutorials online, however I have not been successful in getting them to appear in the editor.

The house on the left has a garage, the pink block is actually a car prop that has been added.

Map making pt 4

The second building is now basically done and i've moved to the 3rd. This third house is somewhat modelled on my own.

Again I'm using different textures to differentiate the buildings. Inside the nearest building you can see some stairs I had just finished building.

map making pt 3

Progress has now started on the second building having finished adding doorways and windows to the first building

I've used some default textures to make the houses stand out from one another and to differentiate the rooms within. The blue spots on the ground above the green player spawn are some weapon spawns, to see if i could get the glass in the windows to react like real glass. It did

Map making part 2

I have started to create my map in the Hammer editor. I am learning the UI of the program and starting to block out the first building.

Here you can see i've created a ground space, added roads and paths, and started the first building. The green object is the player spawn point.

Map making

Before I start my map in Hammer Editor I am going to block it out using Google Sketchup.
Using this program I will make a rudimentary form of the map that I am aiming to make. Giving me a starting point that I can come back to.

 The first concept is above. It is sparse but it puts across the basic layout of my map cleanly.

The second concept. Here I have added some additional detail such as vehicles and trees as well as looking at the map from a new angle.