Death Canyon

[DaRKToFu/CoNFuZD]

I'm thinking of starting a campaign called "Death Canyon" for L4D. (See "What do you guys think" in the L4D Section.) Does anyone have the willpower and ninja hammer skillz to help me?

[Stobbin]

Is there even a SDK for Left 4 Dead yet?  If there is, I've never seen it.

I'd be willing to help with the project, but my main skills are layout and modeling.  My coding abilities are sub-par.

[David!!]

i have nunchaku skills, and computer hacking skills

[Stobbin]

I can't stop thinking about creating a L4D campaign...  I've been writing down ideas for like 3 hours now.  I'm about to go get a real Hammer and smack myself over the head with it.

So far the highlights are:

Casino:
Start in a casino vault (a decent refuge from zombays) venture through powerless and extremely dark casino.  Eventually you have to raise a security gate which means turning on the power.
Once the casino has power, the dark and quiet disappears and a cacophony of light and noise attracts a horde.  Keeping track of your fellow survivors will be difficult during this mayhem.  You take refuge in the Gift Shop and prepare for the next stage.
(I have enough ideas to make the casino into a whole campaign of itself named Dead Mans Hand. (Tagline: The Last Four of a Kind))

Junkyard / Parking Garage:
Another way to keep daytime scary.  Lots of hiding places for zombies.  Ideally a section of the campaign where piles and rows of trashed cars keep survivors from going in a straight line.  Could use a necessary crane lift as a horde attack area.

Scenic Overlook:
A series of switchbacks and tunnels takes you (eventually) to the canyon riverbed.  Dangerous falls and narrow paths make this section interesting.

Forest Fire:
A way to have low visibility in a daytime setting.  Lots of smoke and a wicked cool burning skybox.

Canyon:
Flash floods are easily caused in canyons, so steadily rising water from a rainstorm could make this section a race to higher ground.

Finale:
In order to escape the survivors must activate the canal locks (at the end of the canyon) and raise the water level to release the rescue boat.  This process is slow and makes lots of noise (machinery and water pumps) the trick from keeping survivors from just getting on the boat immediately (or at all) is that they'll have to open up the last canal lock door before they can jump on.

[DaRKToFu/CoNFuZD]

Well ive been using a modified ep2-engine based SDK's hammer to map for l4d i havent started anything for real cuz in the real sdk we get more entities and stuff.
BTW I like how someone >_> renamed my topic >_> >_> >_> lol jk

[Kenyan Bee Thief]

Ideally a section of the campaign where piles and rows of trashed cars keep survivors from going in a straight line.

That might make the tank extra dangerous.

[Undakada (UOM)]

I hate water. HATE IT. I can't edit any part of it. But if it's blood water, it's more rewarding since your players will get their daily dose of WTF.

[DaRKToFu/CoNFuZD]

The tank would be able to hit cars and throw them at you haha

[{TD}YautjaLanu]

I would love to help but I have to skill in makeing Maps for L4D.

[Mayhem]

how about a catapult?

[Luko]

My friend's working on a highway/bridge campaign (chaulk-full of surprises) lol.
It's turning out great, but you guys've got some hella tight ideas, specially stob; junkyard would be sick. The forest fire theory would be extremely high-maintenance though, unless you've got a monster rig, it maybe an issue.

[Stobbin]

Low wind would just blow smoke over the whole area.  It'd look like fog.  Fog is easy in the source engine.  The sell is the giant fire area in the distance.  Heavy wind would create an inescapable fire that would overtake those on foot.  It would also need the smoke to appear as if it was moving.

[Kenyan Bee Thief]

I like never ending fires.  flaming hunters deal craptons more damage.

[Luko]

Low wind would just blow smoke over the whole area.  It'd look like fog.  Fog is easy in the source engine.  The sell is the giant fire area in the distance.  Heavy wind would create an inescapable fire that would overtake those on foot.  It would also need the smoke to appear as if it was moving.

Ah, I'll just shut my mouth now =P

[Kenyan Bee Thief]

My poor reading skills DO NOT DULL MY LOVE FOR FIERY HUNTERS!!!!

[Stobbin]

I was just clarifying the idea I had for a forest fire.  Ideally it would also have ash falling like snow and drifting winds, but since that would be graphic intensive the idea is just fog = smoke.

All of the above ideas would take place during the day, so most of them need something to keep the players from just sniping firey hunters from a mile away.  Lots of turns, smog, smoke, ...  stuff like that.

[Luko]

Ugh, I've had way too many issues with Ashes as precipitation in Hammer (back in the deathmatch days that is)

[Dominator]

doing all that in hammer sounds like a bitch... Why can't an awesome map maker just join our server one day and be like these guys are awesome, ill do anything for them!!

dss

[Luko]

Because such a thing only exists in fairy tails.
>.< Mappers unite!

[DaRKToFu/CoNFuZD]

YEAH! lets do it... FOR NARNIA BITCHEZ!

btw a trigger to create moving fog isnt hard at all

[Stobbin]

Early daytime forest with fog (looks like a forest fire to me).


Twisty dark daytime canyon.

[Boba fett]

Is that actual screenshot of the map?

[Luko]

I REALLY doubt that, Boba.
3DXMax or RL, fairly comparable programs (IMO). =)

[Stobbin]

Those are actual photographs of actual places.  I found them after typing out the ideas or they would have been in the original post.

Anybody wanna 'shop a tank into the canyon one?  I have neither the render nor the patience.

[Luko]

Hm, I've got neither the program, nor the potential.
but how is this:

I just have a lame program that came with my scanner, I do it pixel by pixel. =/

[Luko]

The pictures remind me of HL2ep2 if it was Sepia.

[DaRKToFu/CoNFuZD]

I volunteer on making the canyon one part of death canyon lolz. I think i can make something similar in hammer, and with the sunlight.

[Stobbin]

http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-national-park-photos.htm

Slot Canyons.  That's what those narrow funky eroded passages are called.  That link has a shitload of reference photos if you need some inspiration.  My favorite of them are Mystery and Keyhole Canyons.  Same geographic location as the Grand Canyon (they're about 200 miles north of it).

[Stobbin]

Double Post!!  I fucking rule.

So you can import Digital Elevation models into Hammer and get terrain in an instant.  DEM files for Kane County (which would be the canyons at the above post's link) are at the following link:

Best one yet is Orderville.
http://data.geocomm.com/catalog/US/61068/1619/group4-3.html

Download for free after registering.

Edit*
forgot the instructions on how to do this...
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Digital_Elevation_Models

Double Edit*
So very complicated...  and I have no idea how the maps at that link are filed.  I thought I was getting an awesome canyon area and it just turned out to be a field.

[DaRKToFu/CoNFuZD]

U does it wrongz!

[Stobbin]

Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools Beta. Now available in the Tools section of your Steam window.

Go go go.

[DaRKToFu/CoNFuZD]

WHEREWHEREWHERE

[Combat Wombat]

I wish I could actually get Hammer to work but I suck. So I'd best not even bother with L4D stuff.

[Stobbin]

You could help by drawing a picture (or just typing ideas) of what you would like to see in a map.

[DaRKToFu/CoNFuZD]

That would help! I'm gettin raped by school, so post ideas and i'll start working in a couple weeks when i finish school!

[3xtacy]

I can't stop thinking about creating a L4D campaign...  I've been writing down ideas for like 3 hours now.  I'm about to go get a real Hammer and smack myself over the head with it.

So far the highlights are:

Casino:
Start in a casino vault (a decent refuge from zombays) venture through powerless and extremely dark casino.  Eventually you have to raise a security gate which means turning on the power.
Once the casino has power, the dark and quiet disappears and a cacophony of light and noise attracts a horde.  Keeping track of your fellow survivors will be difficult during this mayhem.  You take refuge in the Gift Shop and prepare for the next stage.
(I have enough ideas to make the casino into a whole campaign of itself named Dead Mans Hand. (Tagline: The Last Four of a Kind))

Junkyard / Parking Garage:
Another way to keep daytime scary.  Lots of hiding places for zombies.  Ideally a section of the campaign where piles and rows of trashed cars keep survivors from going in a straight line.  Could use a necessary crane lift as a horde attack area.

Scenic Overlook:
A series of switchbacks and tunnels takes you (eventually) to the canyon riverbed.  Dangerous falls and narrow paths make this section interesting.

Forest Fire:
A way to have low visibility in a daytime setting.  Lots of smoke and a wicked cool burning skybox.

Canyon:
Flash floods are easily caused in canyons, so steadily rising water from a rainstorm could make this section a race to higher ground.

Finale:
In order to escape the survivors must activate the canal locks (at the end of the canyon) and raise the water level to release the rescue boat.  This process is slow and makes lots of noise (machinery and water pumps) the trick from keeping survivors from just getting on the boat immediately (or at all) is that they'll have to open up the last canal lock door before they can jump on.

Just wanna say, these are hella good ideas <:.