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WIP: Orbital Transfer Station


wedge2211

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Despite the fact that CotA is not quite yet finished (I'm gonna run the final compile overnight tonight), I'm going to post the WIP notice for my next map: the Orbital Transfer Station. THis is a space spation designed as an intermediate step for cargo between the interstellar bulk cruisers and planetary shuttles. It features two large hangar bays, a three-tiered cargo bay, control rooms, living quarters, a reactor core, and many windows for viewing the outside of the station. It is a very vertical level, but I plan for all of it to be easily accessible and the cramped crew decks will be offset by the immense hangar area. You can see a front-view Radiant screenshot at my site, http://wso.williams.edu/~jshoer/outcast.htm, this is the shot that best gives an impression of the layout of the station. More to come after I finish up City of the Ancients, look for that midweek...

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I've been a fan of your maps from the beginning, Wedge. This one looks like another great idea. I'm anxious to see screenshots!

 

I'm also jealous that you can pump out great maps so quickly. What I really need is more time to map... my schedule is so busy. :(

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Gee, thanks! A fan...gosh...and this is only my second map, too!

 

The only reason I've been able to finish CotA and get the OTS jumpstarted so quickly is because for the month of january I'm looking at a "winter term" where my college only has me taking one class that meets twice a week, and then I get more vacation. :) Which means lots of time to blow on Outcast mapping...

 

:comp9:

 

OTS screenshots will be a little while coming, I've gotten the basic architecture of the station all finished (that's the Radiant screenie), but so far I have no lights placed or anything yet. Don't worry, there will be more updates soon!

 

One problem I'm struggling with: I have to make a few elevators that move up an angled wall, and I don't want to use a func_train to do it, I want the thing to be toggled by triggers, not move automatically. On this I'm kind of stuck...I'll have to find some way around it, I guess.

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Okay, I have 3 screenies up on my site. It's not much, but it shows a little of the architecture. The first two shots are in the control deck at the very top of the station, looking towards the secondary hangar. The last shot is in a catwalk between the secondary hangar and the main station, looking at the control deck.

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I wish I had your gift, Wedge - to be able to visualize everything you wish to include in a level and map it. I can map anything, ,given time... I jsut cant figure out WHAT to map, if you take my meaning.

 

Good looking, though still a little blocky looking in places. I'm sure you'll be taking care of that soon, though, so keep up the good work.

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Look at this picture: http://wso.williams.edu/~jshoer/images/ots.jpg

 

(Make sure it's full size, it'll be easier to see the lines that way.)

 

The large hexagonal thing in the middle is the main hangar. There are hangar control pods (the octagonal lumps) above and below the hangar, and stacked directly on top of the hangar are the power generator (curved structure) and control rooms. Below the hangar are a few crew decks, and sticking off to the left is a sensor gantry. Now, to the right of the main hangar is clamped a structure shaped like a backwards "C," this is a stack of crew decks and control rooms. On the rightmost portion of the "C" is a three-tiered cargo bay (the pentagonal block), directly above the cargo bay is a small connector that connects the crew decks to the secondary hangar. The walkway in the top-center connects the secondary hangar to the control decks.

 

It's all one interconnected structure, but the secondary hangar is rather separate from the rest.

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Okee-doke, I put up 5 new screenshots, there isn't a whole lot of new detail visible (with the exception of that catwalk, I took another shot now that it has pipes and lights and things), but you can at least get a look at the inside of the cargo bay and get a feel for the size of the main hangar. Both are FAR from finished: when this is completed, the main hangar will have plenty of cranes, catwalks, ships, crates, etc. You can see a LITTLE of that now.

 

One other announcement of sorts: I will be releasing two versions of this map, separately. Version one will consist of the station itself, a few docked ships, a few loose crates and other odds and ends. Version two will include a large cargo hauler that will hyper in from time to time in the main hangar, and a smaller cargo shuttle that will come and go in the secondary hangar.

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They are supposed to be interstellar cargo ships, so they are designed for hauling capacity. I'd expect them to be at least half as tall as the hangar, after all, some room to maneuver is a good thing.

 

What, do you expect the pilot of a flying junk crate to touch down in a field full of junk and rubble? ;) No, there will be plenty of crates, starship equipment, cranes, etc lying around, but the basic idea is just a large, open area, there will be two catwalks along the sides, that's about it.

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The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated...

 

I have been working a bit on the OTS off and on...and there are now some more shots of the new, improved, less bare, more detailed main hangar on my site. That is, right there, all the basic stuff I want in the main hangar: a few catwalks and some gantries. In the final release, the version without moving ships will have lots of ambient junk on the floor, but the cargo-ship-including version will be pretty bare...until a ship comes in. :)

 

My next stop is the cargo bay!

 

Aru-wen, that crane prefab was really neat, but I just don't think it would fit in this hangar. It's a small, free-standing floor unit, this hangar might have something hanging from those upper gantries (nothing I make looks quite right, though...) :)

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Originally posted by wedge2211

Aru-wen, that crane prefab was really neat, but I just don't think it would fit in this hangar. It's a small, free-standing floor unit, this hangar might have something hanging from those upper gantries (nothing I make looks quite right, though...) :)

 

No problem. I just saw it and thought of your new project, so I figured I'd tell you to check it out.

 

The new shots look nice. :D

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Okay, another update, I've got the cargo bay looking the way I want it to, I think. Some of the shots look a little crowded, so I'll explain a little:

 

The cargo bay is a 3-deck, open room, where the top 2 decks are made up entirely of catwalks. There are crates scattered here and there. In the middle are 2 elevators inside the girders. The top level also has a cargo control room with several windows and such. Actually, this section of the map was a little influenced by the gold vault showdown scene in Goldfinger.

 

I've got the top 2 control decks finsihed, the cargo bay finished, and the main hangar is pretty much all set. I just have to go about the rest of the station putting in consoles and crap.

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Originally posted by Shadriss

NIce nice... When? :)

 

Glarblerg. I was afraid of that question. Actually, progress has slowed a lot, but just because i haven't been working on this as much as I hoped. Anyways, here's a basic status report: I have finished 4 decks, although there may be some details I'll put in later. I have finished the main hangar, cargo bay, and reactor core, but I intend to go back and rework some areas of those. The secondary hangar is still unfinished. 5 unfinished decks still remain. Each deck is about the same size as that one in the latest round of pics. So, I guess you could say the map is architecturally complete and halfway through details and lighting.

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