Hostel's Mapping Tips: Tip 1 - Ambient Space

[Jazer]

    I think the biggest thing mappers lack today is the concept of ambient space.  It's a critical part of detailing a map and more so making it look attractive.

I made an example map to show my point. Study the corridor below.



1. I originally started out with a square corridor with the orange tiles.

2. I extended the walls upward and gave the extended section a different texture to stop the over consistency of the orange tiles.

3. I added pillars to the side of the wall and red supports to add to the color variety. These are called buttresses, they add depth to a simple scene by having the brush protrude into what was once the boring square corridor. Also take note they are curved, another great way to make architecture more interesting.

4. From there, lighting was the next issue. The color of the lights I chose had a green tint to them, they complement the other colors and add a very disturbing ambience.

5. Here's where ambient space comes in. The buttresses have contributed greatly, but it's not enough. Props are needed. But prop placement is something nobody ever thinks of. To resolve a scene's emptiness, props to be placed where the scene needs them the most. Simply piling props in just few spots will leave the rest feeling exposed.

6. To solve the empty feeling, I carefully observed the corridor and looked at what places felt empty. From there, I put props in those locations. Crates, barrels, tables, and chairs did very well with this scene. If you are having a hard time thinking of props to put in the scene, leisurely scroll through all the props to get them in your head. You'll probably find props you never though of putting that would work well and when placing props in the future, you'll likely remember important props you saw in the model viewer.

7. Props are like little buttresses, they fill in the next biggest gaps of the maps. But unfortunately, props commonly cant occupy walls much. To resolve this problem, adding doors, missing wall tile pieces, pipes, and graffiti was necessary. The angles props sit at are also important. The crate and different angle and the flipped over table make the scene look more interesting and stop it from looking it look too square-shaped everywhere.

8. For the ceiling, putting in the lamps helped fill in the emptiness. The fact that they were hanging was an important key too. They filled in more space than a tiny little bulb would ever had.

9. Additional details were added to the floor to fill in the spaces between the gaps such as trash and missing floor tiles. The trash was made from decals. Decals are another great way to fill in empty spaces while not getting in the player's way.

The final scene looks much better. Adding hazy fog and light glow for light sources will help a lot also. I hope these tips were informational and helpful. I hope to write another one of these soon!

[Dom]

You took art A level?

[Creeding]

Im great at makeing spaces look "Real" or Ambiant.

adding a single prop/doodad can make all the diffrence in enhaceing the realisam of a space.

i got 1/2* 18th out of like 300 place on MODdb SDK map makeing compatition. (*My freind made the map, i doodaded, colored , lit it near perfectly)

[Silver Knight]

Moved to Public Development, i may make a tutoral section for this, if Hostel plans to make more tutorials =)

[Jazer]

Most of my tutorials are a bit unorthodox since they really don't explain exactly how to make something like displacements, buttons, triggers, etc. You can find those tutorials anywhere. My tutorials are more around concept, atmosphere, and art. Basically, things that are not tapped on enough, but really make more of a difference in a map.

[CortezV]

Very nice, It seems as if your in an abandoned asylum, walking down a corridor, Its like you can practically hear leaking water, and your own foot steps in the picture, I'll take these tips, they'll make my mapping so much better. because I suck horribly at it D=