LegoManOnHash Mapper Application

[LegoManOnHash]

-In-game name on all servers you play:
James Henderson // ‘The Disciple’
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-Steam ID:
STEAM_0:1:575681357
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-Age:
17
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-For how long have you played on our servers?:
Since August 2022
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-What country are you from?:
Germany
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-Time Zone:
CEST
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-Do you have a mic?:
Yes.
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-Is this your first application for Mapper? If not, link previous ones:
Yes, this is my first application for mapper.
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-Have you received any bans?:
No I have not.
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-How confident are you with Hammer (Rate yourself 1-10 using rating guide):
I would rate myself a 5-6.
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-Do you have previous experience as a Mapper for GMod?:
No, I do not.
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- What source games have you mapped for and used the content of?:

Source: GMOD // CSS // HL2

Source 2: S&box // HLA // Dota 2
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-How many hours can you commit to Mapping per week?:

I can commit 10+ hrs at the minimum, but closer to 20+ hrs once I finish my finals.
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-Why do you want to be a Mapper? What can you help us with?:
I would like to be a mapper for CN for two reasons;
Experience/Feeling: I would like to map for CN due to me being able to gain more experience in mapping and gain more experience in mapping for a community nonetheless. This community is something I have been a part of for a decent amount of time in both the RP field and the Staff field. I have made my way up to both SC in SCP-RP and have been in the staff team twice as a SM and Moderator after reapplying after my resignation. I have found in interest in mapping ever since I started working on S&box after I obtained access to it, in which I started speaking with people like Cassius, Harry, and Cope to further my knowledge and ask if they can provide me with any helpful material to guide me and assist me on my journey of mapping to where I’d be at a comfortable position to apply if my skills add up to the role. I then spent a week or two non-stop watching videos and working on very small projects as I am more comfortable making quality work on projects that aren’t “giant”. My end goal was clear, which is why I am writing this application today, and throughout my learning to map, I have enjoyed it as a hobby which I feel has increased my will to learn and to continue to map. The feeling portion pertains to mainly if I get accepted and make a small change or even a major change to a map and others in the community like the change and enjoy it then that would make me just feel more motivated and show me that I have improved a lot, and even if it doesn’t go the way I’d like, I can see I have room to improve in and I can learn more through those failures as well.

Connections: I have made a decent amount of connections in terms of people I’ve talked to leading up to this point, like Cope, Cassius, Harry, etc… It has helped me a lot to get suggestions from them and ask them for advice and I feel that is why I have grown so fast in knowledge and skill in mapping. I also look forward to working with other developers and further gaining knowledge from them to increase my capabilities and understanding of mapping.

I can help with anything that I am tasked with as part of the reason I am applying for is experience, and with that you don’t always get to pick what you want and I am happy and fully motivated to get into new areas and learn how to perfect my skills in those areas/perfect my skills in mapping those environments.

I have done extensive practice and I have followed this checklist which I was provide by Cope and I believe I have a good understanding of everything on this “checklist” and know how to perform the majority of them accurately/know how to fix them where applicable.

- Basic optimisation (nodraw, hint and skip, func_detail, optimal brush geometry, displacements)
- Knowledge of how a compile runs and works.
- Ability to read compile logs and debug the most common errors, as well as how to solve unknown errors
- Downloading and extracting workshop maps into vmfs, as well as common problems with bspsource that should be looked at before editing any decompiled maps.
- VTF edit and creating custom textures and assets (photoshop helps with this)
- VIDE (extracting content from a map, packing content into a map and generating lmp files for map protection)
- Propper
- Generating Bz2s
- Familiarity of the process between finishing a compiled map and having it playable on the live server
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-Which server(s) on the CG Network do you play on and which ones would you most prefer to map for?
I play on SCP-RP UK // MRP UK

I am motivated and willing to learn/adapt, so either MRP or SCP-RP is sufficient for me, or any other map that needs help designing.

(As a side note, I have spent 95% of my time on SCP-RP)
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-Have you made & edited any map before? if so attach some images showcasing your map & edit

https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/XbpoOB5QnKUE3/d1337FwbHhO4?invite=cr-MSxRZ0osMjM5MzM1NjYs

The clip and Picture above was of a mini project I also made in Hammer++, in which I had cope review it, along with the .vmf file and he gave me a good amount of suggestions from changing the roof I made to func_detail, which I later found out messed with the ambient sounds I was trying to implement, and I also cleared some of the decals I had as it ruined the immersion. I then made the outer walls so that the place couldn’t see “nodraw” so it would increase performance and optimization.

He told me it was very advanced in forms of the roof and the geometry I used seeing as I am fairly new to mapping so that definitely motivated me more and I have already started working on my next project.

Overall I did a decent job on this and Cope thought so himself as well.
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This was one of my very first projects in Hammer++ and it was the start of my mapping experience and knowledge.

https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/XbtbrPBfGs33i/d1337smHtiMo?invite=cr-MSw4MWEsMjM5MzM1NjYs

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Whilst writing this application over the past week or two, I have worked on yet another project of mine that is significantly better than the past two above, and it involves a more large scale map in which I used copes suggestions/feedback to make it really good, along with making it fairly optimized.

I plan on turning this into a workshop map, which I will most likely do after posting this application or would have already done pre-posting.

Images/Workshop link of map below;

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2941607834

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-List any ideas of new maps/map edits for CG that you would like to work on.

I would like to work further on spaces such as HCZ or even spaces by 914 as there is not a lot of direct traffic in that area and the rooms where 912 and 999 CC are in could use an update or be extended/replaced with another possible entry to HCZ.

Another map change/edit I’d like to work on would be possibly an underground passage or secondary passage in which CI can raid the facility. So it would sort of be something like another entry point like vents which would be relevant for CI or even D-class to escape/use for raids. This could be done under the lake house area during my time in Nu-7 and from events I’ve seen, it tends to be a more “mysterious” area of the map that has an inconspicuous look, yet it could be hiding a secret entry or path. This would be useful to anyone trying to get access to the facility or vice versa in trying to leave the facility. Not to mention, it would direct more traffic in that area of the map and allow squadrons like DB to have POI’s setup there and make them meaningful.

I would also like to look through suggestions, or approved suggestions that have been sent out for mappers to work on and get the smaller, more easy projects done as I believe there is a lot and it would be beneficial to get those finished and done with and then work my way to the bigger, more
time-consuming projects that I choose or am assigned too in the future.​

 

[Lord_Fr3ze]

Hello,

as well as common problems with bspsource that should be looked at before editing any decompiled maps.

Decompiling was added in Source as a way for map developers to get access to said maps, in order to learn, if for example you want to learn how X thing was done or how a certain logic system was put together for it to do X thing. Decompiling was not meant for people to take said map and edit it over and re-release it. Here we do not work with decompiled parts of maps, as we either only take VMFs that have been released by the original map creator, or we make the maps ourselves.

Going back to what you have showed in the application, I suggest you get better at the texturing tool, as it seems in your test map that you haven't really played around with it that much. What would've been nice to see as well is some in-game screenshots, to rate your experience with lighting an environment, which in my opinion is the biggest thing when it comes to making a map look and feel good.

What could be a nice addition to that small map of yours, with the trees. Is thinking of a creative way to get rid of those bland walls around the environment. You could make use of a 3D Skybox to make your map feel way more alive than just walls that go nowhere. Things like those are small, but they add a lot to make an environment or scene look real and make players think they're in an actual place.

Additionally, you could look into playing around with the ground, turn them into displacements and make some small hills/ditches and such, what you would normally see in terrain outside, and maybe make use of a blend texture, so you can have 2 textures on the same displacement, which allows creating pathways as an example. And maybe put in some foliage, bushes, rocks and such.

 

[LegoManOnHash]

Hello,


Decompiling was added in Source as a way for map developers to get access to said maps, in order to learn, if for example you want to learn how X thing was done or how a certain logic system was put together for it to do X thing. Decompiling was not meant for people to take said map and edit it over and re-release it. Here we do not work with decompiled parts of maps, as we either only take VMFs that have been released by the original map creator, or we make the maps ourselves.

Going back to what you have showed in the application, I suggest you get better at the texturing tool, as it seems in your test map that you haven't really played around with it that much. What would've been nice to see as well is some in-game screenshots, to rate your experience with lighting an environment, which in my opinion is the biggest thing when it comes to making a map look and feel good.

What could be a nice addition to that small map of yours, with the trees. Is thinking of a creative way to get rid of those bland walls around the environment. You could make use of a 3D Skybox to make your map feel way more alive than just walls that go nowhere. Things like those are small, but they add a lot to make an environment or scene look real and make players think they're in an actual place.

Additionally, you could look into playing around with the ground, turn them into displacements and make some small hills/ditches and such, what you would normally see in terrain outside, and maybe make use of a blend texture, so you can have 2 textures on the same displacement, which allows creating pathways as an example. And maybe put in some foliage, bushes, rocks and such.

Hello Fr3eze,

I appreciate the constructive criticism, I will definitely make sure to incorporate displacements along with make a virtual skybox and add some proper lighting to where it will cast shadows and make the map feel more “alive”.

I have started a new project which involve the aforementioned points you raised along with what I stated above.

I also see my mistake in how I explained decompiling, and I have made sure to keep that in mind.

Overall I will make sure to take your feedback and use my motivation to keep pushing forward no matter the outcome.

Thank you for replying, it genuinely was helpful.

 

[LegoManOnHash]

Short Update

I have started working on the feedback given from Fr3ze and I have made a small little map (which is not finished yet, as I need to add proper lighting and a 3D skybox) which I thought I would plop in here and show my progress so far.

Here are some Images/Videos;







In-progress map here

 

[LegoManOnHash]

Small Update Pt. 2

I have added a "rough" 3D-Skybox and I am in the process of adding some proper lighting.

Here is some of the screenshots/short video of the 3D-Skybox;





Video for 3D-Skybox

 

[LegoManOnHash]

Small Update Pt. 3

I added some proper lighting to my level!

(I have now started working on making a small tunnel opening that would go into the cliff wall and make it look like there is some place to go other than being surrounded by cliffs.)

Screenshot/Video below;



Proper Lighting Video!

 

[Cloak]

Accepted for Rust mapping