Oswald Rant: Get the Perspective

Wow, I have been away just a bit too long since my last rant. This time around, I am truly out for blood and looking to enrage the mappers in the Urban Terror Community. When it comes to creating a high quality and flowing levels, some just don’t listen, while others make some attempt at tweaking their levels. We all know layout and texturing are two of the most talked about attributes when it comes to level design. A third and sometimes overlooked or forgotten point is scale.

Scale is defined as, “A proportion used in determining the dimensional relationship of a representation to that which it represents. This seems to have become a personal crusade of mine, one that had become evident in many Urban Terror levels.

Not only do mappers need to make sure their buildings, structures and doorways are in proportion to the real world and that the player model size, also need to maintain a realistic scale to boxes, crates and containers. Almost all maps whith boxes in their maps have them way too large. This is a common problem in many maps and therefore takes away from the ‘realism’ which is meant to be portayed in these maps.

Example #1: Land of the Giants?
When you think about this, when was the last time you saw a cardboard box twice the size of you. This is not realistic. Please think about this – for a box to hold something that is twice the size of you it would need to be made of something far stronger than cardboard. Again, how many times have you seen a box made of anything, twice the size of you? Only shipping containers and other such containers made of a metal would hold such weights (see bottom pic).

Example #2: Ammunition Boxes
These boxes (as shown in ‘Example #2’) hold small arms such as pistols and rifles. They also hold ammunition. Once again these objects are continually used in maps and are scaled way too large. These boxes should only come up to your knees. In order to use them as cover, you would need to stack a bunch of them together. That’s why I made the ammunition box/crate. This would only be the height of a human.

Example #3: Reversed Texturing
Another continuing problem we have seen in many third party levels are the that most textures are applied backwards. This is only a small problem – but still takes away from your maps quality. Please take the time to make sure your textures are around the right way. This should add to your maps quality.

Example #4: Military Crates at Your Work
This is happening way too much. Honestly, who stocks EXPLOSIVES at the office or around the home? Unless your one of Dr.Evils henchmen, this doesn’t usually happen. Please look at your level and think about where your map is situated and think if military boxes would really suit your maps environment before placing such items around your map. Finally here is a picture to help you with the recommended sizes which your boxes and crates should be according to your player model size.
The information provided in this document was created by Freak Storm, 2D Artist/Skinner for Silicon Ice Development.