[Mapper] Caboose's Developer Application

[Caboose.]

In-game name on all servers you play:
Lee "Caboose" Contreras

Steam ID:
STEAM_0:1:650652206

Age:
16

For how long have you played on our servers?:
2022

What country are you from?:
USA

Time Zone:
CST

Do you have a mic?:
Yes!

Is this your first application for Mapper? If not, link previous ones:
This is my very first application for any developer position.

Have you received any bans?:
No.

How confident are you with Hammer (Rate yourself 1-10 using rating guide):
5 - There are still many things I could learn and improve as you never stop learning when using the hammer editor. I'd say I would confidently put myself at 5 because I've had the chance to learn more than the basics of hammer and make more complex maps.

Do you have previous experience as a Mapper for GMod?:
I do not have any experience working for communities, only making maps for myself to enjoy.

What source games have you mapped for and used the content of?:
I've only mapped for Garry's Mod as it's the game I play the most, and I have used the following game content;

HL2 E1 - Half Life Episode 1
HL2 E2 - Half Life Episode 2
CSS - Counter Strike Source
BMS - Black Mesa

How many hours can you commit to Mapping per week?:
It depends, somedays I'm busy then others but I should be able to commit 4 or more hours.

Why do you want to be a Mapper? What can you help us with?:
There is a list of reason I'd like to become a mapper within the community, firstly, I find strong interest in the server. I believe this server is like of no other, and I really want to help develop the server that I've been playing and enjoying for the past 2 years. There are so many ideas I want to implement, especially with the discussions I have had with others in the community. I think there are many ways to make the server more enjoyable, and listening to the community (in a reasonable manner) is one of them. Secondly, I find joy in creating in the hammer editor. I've always had a interest in the creation side of things, and being able to see that creation in hammer is extremely enjoyable to myself. With the couple months of me learning hammer, it has been nothing but enjoyable. Of course, there are some times were it becomes frustrating, but the end product is worth it. I think if I were to make content for a community, I would enjoy providing and assisting with my content to give players some form of refresher.

Now moving on, there are many things I could help the community with, some being my skills using; VTF Edit, Crowbar, BSP Source, GCFScape, etc.
I think my content is well enough developed for the use of this community and I'd be able to assist with any mapping projects thrown my way. I'd like to start on smaller projects to begin and gradually make my way up to bigger projects.

Which server(s) on Civil Networks do you play on and which ones would you most prefer to map for?
I only play on SCP-RP USA. I would rather only develop for such server and no other.

Have you made & edited any map before? if so attach some images showcasing your map & edit
Yes! I have, I will list some photos below, showcasing them.

https://imgur.com/a/jiYYwE9

Yes, my portfolio is not too large but that does not mean I can't preform excellently as a map designer. I will be continuously adding more pictures over the duration of this application of the projects I'm currently working on, and when I believe them to be fit, I will upload them to the same Imgur link.

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

D-Block Bathrooms --> I want to add more detail to the d-block bathrooms, of course not to the point were it is ridiculous. I want to separate it into 2 different rooms. One being the shower/locker room almost and the other being the toilet room, with stalls, urinals, and sinks. I feel the current d-block bathroom is lacking.

Lore Accurate CC --> Although this is already being developed for some SCPs, I'd also like to help create more lore accurate CCs for SCPs.

CI Base Vents --> Due to CI base often being difficult to raid for some, I think adding some vent locations to get inside would be a cool and enjoyable addition. For example; There could be a vent entrance on the top of CI base that leads into the generator room.

Pinewood/Surface Update --> With my past time as SOP/CI, I've gotten quite a bit of time on surface. There is many things on surface that could be added, changed, and edited. One thing that comes to the top of my mind is pinewood. Pinewood has many building that look identical. I want to add different building layouts and fill more space within pinewood to give surface some form of refresher for players. I also feel like something could be implemented into planes on surface, as right now it's just a big open snow field.​

 

[Judge]

Hi Caboose,

Would you be able to provide any screenshots from Hammer of different optimization methods you use?
Is it just those 13 screenshots of that one area you can show, or do you have more?
Also, have you managed to fiddle around with things features like Propper++ to model world geometry?

Regards,
Judge.

 

[Caboose.]

Hi Caboose,

Would you be able to provide any screenshots from Hammer of different optimization methods you use?
Is it just those 13 screenshots of that one area you can show, or do you have more?
Also, have you managed to fiddle around with things features like Propper++ to model world geometry?

Regards,
Judge.

Would you be able to provide any screenshots from Hammer of different optimization methods you use?

Yes, I will leave them below.

I mostly use NoDraws, Area Portals, Func_Details, and Hint/Skip Materials.




This mostly shows the no draws. Each and every face that the player cannot see has has the nodraw material applied. For the other things like area portals, this project is fairly new so I've only gotten the chance to apply nodraws and some func_details. (When I make maps, I usually do the other optimalizations later as long as the map is not too complex.) I will be adding other optimalizations later tonight when I get the chance. I will update you then.

Some of these faces are not nodrawed because they connect to a piece visible inside the map.

Is it just those 13 screenshots of that one area you can show, or do you have more?

Like I said above prior, these are most of the images I feel comfortable showing as of now. I'm currently still working on a few projects and will continue to update the imgur link when I feel like the project is ready (I'll do this over the next couple days.) I just not rather upload any low quality work of mine.

Also, have you managed to fiddle around with things features like Propper++ to model world geometry?

I have yet to manage to use this tool as I never knew it existed, but with how helpful it seems, as I'm reading it now, I will be using this. I'm going to go play around with the tool and learn a few things once I'm finished replying. Thank you for the tip.

-Caboose

 

[Caboose.]

I have managed to get a few videos of very simple area portals I created. These are extremely basic but show I have the ability of creating them to begin with!

New Clips -
https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/j1lGNixPG59Z7wzz5?invite=cr-MSxBcTEsMjEyODU4NDg0LA
https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/j1lLpqcVfQHtd3q9W?invite=cr-MSxWbXcsMjEyODU4NDg0LA

 

[Cheetah]

I have managed to get a few videos of very simple area portals I created. These are extremely basic but show I have the ability of creating them to begin with!

Showcase 1 - https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/j1ggDGXp2QbkPPfjC?invite=cr-MSxHTWcsMjEyODU4NDg0LA
Showcase 2 - https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/j1gj1in0CQQNHGxxW?invite=cr-MSxENjcsMjEyODU4NDg0LA

Thats is not a working area portal. That would be the vis leaves not loading the entities cause you dont have line of sight of them.

An area portal is supposed to completely hide what is behind it, unless a certain condition is met. Such as when a door is open.
This is an example of how an area portal should hide entities: https://streamable.com/4b4512

 

[Caboose.]

Thats is not a working area portal. That would be the vis leaves not loading the entities cause you dont have line of sight of them.

An area portal is supposed to completely hide what is behind it, unless a certain condition is met. Such as when a door is open.
This is an example of how an area portal should hide entities: https://streamable.com/4b4512

Hello, Cheetah,

It seems I have been looking at area portals completely wrong, I've only seen a few demonstrations of them and I thought mine was working as intended. There is still a few things I need to learn of course and I deeply appreciate you correcting my errors.

I've managed to get it to actually work the way intended.

https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/j1lGNixPG59Z7wzz5?invite=cr-MSxBcTEsMjEyODU4NDg0LA

Thank you for the feedback, if you have anymore criticism, please tell me!

 

[Caboose.]

Another Video in reference to the message above - https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/j1lLpqcVfQHtd3q9W?invite=cr-MSxWbXcsMjEyODU4NDg0LA

 

[Caboose.]

CI Base Garage -

I have been working more on the CI map project and so far this is what the garage looks like. There are some lighting bugs because of the environment light coming in due to there not being a garage door just yet. Also some rough spots here and there that I'm fixing. If you see any or have any suggestions, please tell me.

See the screenshots on imgur;
Link

 

[Alpha rest]

=Support: If you return with enhanced knowledge of optimizations, that would be great. Your use of displacements is impressive. Additionally, consider experimenting with overlays at the base of your walls to add more detail and create a smooth transition from wall to floor. Lastly, I recommend using hint/skip techniques on maps with densely packed indoor corners.

Additionally, I recommend reviewing your light map grid in high-traffic areas like meeting rooms, as players are likely to congregate there. This adjustment is located in the Camera and Light Map Grid settings. You can also change the light map scale by going into your displacement menu (Shift + A) and adjusting the light map scale.

There's always room for improvement, but I wish you the best with your application. Keep refining your skills and stay determined!

 

[Caboose.]

=Support: If you return with enhanced knowledge of optimizations, that would be great. Your use of displacements is impressive. Additionally, consider experimenting with overlays at the base of your walls to add more detail and create a smooth transition from wall to floor. Lastly, I recommend using hint/skip techniques on maps with densely packed indoor corners.

Additionally, I recommend reviewing your light map grid in high-traffic areas like meeting rooms, as players are likely to congregate there. This adjustment is located in the Camera and Light Map Grid settings. You can also change the light map scale by going into your displacement menu (Shift + A) and adjusting the light map scale.

There's always room for improvement, but I wish you the best with your application. Keep refining your skills and stay determined!

Hello, Alpha,

Thank you for your criticism! It is much appreciated. It only helps me get better. I will see what I can do and update this thread more on this topic when I can.

-Caboose

 

[Hypnos]

Hello Caboose,

I have taken the time to look at your application and the feedback people have given you. It is a good skill to have being able to take peoples feedback, so I appreciate seeing the changes be made to your work when brought up. I think you have a solid start with Hammer, and mapping in general, however I have a few critiques here and there that I will provide that can hopefully provide some insight as to things I learned in my time.

- The first thing I noticed with a lot of the provided work is it feels very jagged, or "boxy" in a way. This is something that is inevitable, and has its time and place. You'll notice in the current map we have on SCP-RP, there is many areas that have corners, or turns that are either rounded, or partially rounded using a triangle shape. This provides a more seamless transition between walls, rather than every corner of your map being super flat. Another thing you'll often find is pieces of walls that stick out, almost like supports in a way. This is an intentional way of making the wall feel less flat, and gives it a more dynamic look. I have taken the time to make a small project to demonstrate some of these skills, and I highly recommend experimenting with them when you get the chance. Like I stated previously, there is a time and place for these to be applied. Realistically in the real world, most rooms are very flat, and cube shaped so I do not blame you for this approach, and it is partially preference of the mapper. However, applying some of this to your maps can make them feel less flat, and boxy.

- Similar to the topic I brought up before, I wanted to touch on your displacements. You'll notice on our current map, especially in HCZ where we use displacements a lot, the tunnels have smooth transitions, and the seams are difficult to pick out. This makes the tunnel feel more realistic, and overall ups the quality of displacement work. I noticed with your displacements, the corners tend to meet and form that box shape I brought up previously. I provided a quick example tunnel I made to demonstrate exactly what I mean by this. I would try working to make your displacements more rounded, and not as boxy where the seams meet, as this will increase its quality tremendously.

Link to examples:

https://imgur.com/a/56wwBcQ

You're on the right track, it would be nice to see you try some of these things and see how you can incorporate them into some of your projects.

Best of luck on this application, Hypnos.

 

[Caboose.]

Hello Caboose,

I have taken the time to look at your application and the feedback people have given you. It is a good skill to have being able to take peoples feedback, so I appreciate seeing the changes be made to your work when brought up. I think you have a solid start with Hammer, and mapping in general, however I have a few critiques here and there that I will provide that can hopefully provide some insight as to things I learned in my time.

- The first thing I noticed with a lot of the provided work is it feels very jagged, or "boxy" in a way. This is something that is inevitable, and has its time and place. You'll notice in the current map we have on SCP-RP, there is many areas that have corners, or turns that are either rounded, or partially rounded using a triangle shape. This provides a more seamless transition between walls, rather than every corner of your map being super flat. Another thing you'll often find is pieces of walls that stick out, almost like supports in a way. This is an intentional way of making the wall feel less flat, and gives it a more dynamic look. I have taken the time to make a small project to demonstrate some of these skills, and I highly recommend experimenting with them when you get the chance. Like I stated previously, there is a time and place for these to be applied. Realistically in the real world, most rooms are very flat, and cube shaped so I do not blame you for this approach, and it is partially preference of the mapper. However, applying some of this to your maps can make them feel less flat, and boxy.

- Similar to the topic I brought up before, I wanted to touch on your displacements. You'll notice on our current map, especially in HCZ where we use displacements a lot, the tunnels have smooth transitions, and the seams are difficult to pick out. This makes the tunnel feel more realistic, and overall ups the quality of displacement work. I noticed with your displacements, the corners tend to meet and form that box shape I brought up previously. I provided a quick example tunnel I made to demonstrate exactly what I mean by this. I would try working to make your displacements more rounded, and not as boxy where the seams meet, as this will increase its quality tremendously.

You're on the right track, it would be nice to see you try some of these things and see how you can incorporate them into some of your projects.

Best of luck on this application, Hypnos.

Hello Hypnos,

I'm glad you took the time to reply and give me some feedback here.

I can agree that my maps do look very boxy. I have noticed prior and tried experimenting some to prevent this but could not find anything I would be comfortable with. I will try something similar to what you have provided and see if it might help with my map being more dynamic in certain areas.

With my displacements, I can also agree, they need some work in certain criteria's. I think blending them from one place to another for smooth transitions is definitely one of them. I've been noticing some mistakes here and there so I have already been planning to go back and edit some of the displacements, so I will keep in mind your feedback when doing so.

Thank you, I appreciate you providing some examples and a well thought out response as feedback. I will try my best in implementing this into my work, Caboose.

 

[Caboose.]

Small Update in response to Hypnos,

I have created/updated the 'crossroads' inside my CI base map to be less blocky in some areas. I'm still editing parts here and there but overall does not look to bad. (Lighting in photos is being worked on, the light_env is under work at the moment.) Photos of that are on imgur with the same link. There are other parts of the map I'm editing in response to this as well.

As for my displacements, I'm still working on making them transition better from wall to wall. I've managed to get something sorta similar to what Hypnos mentioned, and what was shown inside the example. That can be found on the imgur link. It's not much, but shows a smooth connection and transition between certain parts of the displacement and brushes.

Hopefully this is similar to what you meant. Like I said, still some things I'm editing and will be updating the link accordingly. If there is anymore feedback, please send it.

One last thing, I've been focusing more on my CI base project as it's more enjoyable at the moment but I will try my best in working on other maps to update here.

Imgur Link for reference;

https://imgur.com/a/jiYYwE9

 

[Skinner]

Do you model for raw photo scenes or for actual interiors? These interiors are small and not really that expandable but they look alright
Neutral

 

[Caboose.]

Do you model for raw photo scenes or for actual interiors?

Well to be completely honest, I'm not sure. I kind of just think of something that sound interesting enough and create it in the editor. I guess it'd be hard for me to make "actual interiors" as you put it, without having a project or goal.

I'm not sure if that makes any sense at all but I hope it does. If you have anymore questions, please ask.

 

[Judge]

Do you model for raw photo scenes or for actual interiors? These interiors are small and not really that expandable but they look alright
Neutral

what does that even mean

 

[Judge]

Do you model for raw photo scenes or for actual interiors? These interiors are small and not really that expandable but they look alright
Neutral

 

[Skinner]

Well to be completely honest, I'm not sure. I kind of just think of something that sound interesting enough and create it in the editor. I guess it'd be hard for me to make "actual interiors" as you put it, without having a project or goal.

I'm not sure if that makes any sense at all but I hope it does. If you have anymore questions, please ask.

I mean the meshes you present look small and don't seem to carry a big deal behind all that small-space you present to the camera, it looks like work in progress to me and not fully finished projects, which is always nicer to see in a portfolio rather than just small extracts of something that's being developped, or was made without much thought.

View attachment 19354

I don't think I worded myself right, I mean these interiors look quite small yet so detailed so it feels like a photoshoot interior and not a fully-playable map intended for gameplay.
I think you are a good artist nonetheless as this looks good from just 37 images, you could add more to your portfolio as it is kind of dry in my opinion, I think some people might argue otherwise but that's just what I think - a big portfolio with a lot of images, projects and annotations to each image is always a blessing to my eyes; don't sweat it this is still very nice.
+Support

 

[Douglas]

I guess it'd be hard for me to make "actual interiors" as you put it, without having a project or goal.

Something that could help with this would be picking an outdated area/room that currently exists on site-65 and redesigning it. It allows you to focus more on the lighting, props, optimization, logic, theme, rather than creating a huge project from scratch (this was one of my big mistakes). It could be a containment chamber (SCP-049, SCP-173, SCP-096, SCP-966, SCP-7722, etc.) or an already existing area that could be revamped which isn't huge like CI/GOC Base (Tribunal room, D-Block, reactor, PW loop, HCZ entrances, electrical rooms, surface garage, CI bunks, GOC wardrobe room, D-Block showers, etc.). Just something I've learned over the past few months.

 

[Caboose.]

@Douglas

Thank you for your feedback,

I will try this some time hopefully. It has came across my mind a couple times but I guess I couldn't completly commit to it. Although, it does seem to help quite a bit so I will for sure be trying that, so that I can improve.