Hello. I've never posted any WIP's or anything on this forum before but of the few that I browse I've seen the best criticisms come from the community here, so I thought I'd post some screenshots of my progress on an art pass for my Source mod, Pipe Dream.

Pipe Dream is a puzzle mod using a chamber based map system (Similar to Portal) but instead of being based on Portals it's based on pipes and liquids. The color of the pipes corresponds to the material and gameplay mechanic it's used for. For example, Blue pipes emit water which floods chambers and raises light crates. Yellow pipes emit steam which can be used to boost you over a gap or catapult you up to a higher area faster than a ladder. Similar gameplay mechanics such as Portal style crates and buttons are used to solve the puzzles along with some new mechanics I'm not ready to reveal yet.

Anyway I've done a few gameplay tests and the puzzles were turning out well so I decided I'd get the art pass out of the way so I can focus on puzzles for the next few months.

Here are the latest screenshots I've taken.





Here are some older tests in the same Chamber.





Please ignore the Portal models as they'll be replaced with new models later.

I really need some help coming up with ways to spice up the ceiling and maybe the walls a bit more. I was thinking of adding some large vent/fan openings in the ceiling with a very thin mist coming out.

I also really need some help nailing down a lighting system and tweaking the color correction. I liked the color correction with more of a blue tint but people at another forum I've posted these on didn't like it too much. If you have any other good ideas to make it more interesting I'm willing to try them out.

Thanks!

cool, portal meets mirrors edge so far with the colour co-ordinated pipes, maybe a touch of mario in there


for ceilings maybe look at carpark or warehouse ceilings,
i like the idea of portal vs mario, maybe concrete painted in mario style murals etc etc

I was going for the Portal/Mirror's Edge mix so I'm glad you noticed that.

Anyway someone else suggested a Truss system to me but I personally don't think it would fit into the underground chamber type environment I'm going for. If none of the other ceiling details I try look good I'll try it out though.

that sounds like a fun concept. Looks pretty cool so far...your lighting is pretty nice.

Definitely needs more mood, it doesn't feel underground.
With the clean white walls people are instantly going to think its a portal rip off.

Obviously you want it to be easy to read and use bold colors. Maybe you should look at some of the mirrors edge underground levels.

I was actually going for a Portal feel. And if you take a look at Portal again the walls are actually very stained and dirty. Portal 2 is very clean like my textures though but I had these textures from before Portal 2 was announced.

Anyway thanks for the Mirror's Edge reference images. That's actually where I got the inspiration for the lighting system in the green pictures. I'll take a closer look at them later and see if there's something I can use in the chambers.

i'd try it without the colored wall tiles because they make one color very dominant which results in the rest getting lost. some very very light "dirt". really just a hint of stains to bring in some reds maybe. animated fans in the ceiling and maybe even a few in the walls would be very awesome. some geometry for the lightsources like in the ME screens could help to aswel. you seem to have some already, but they don't read too well. not sure if they are lightsources or just grey angled blocks.

i think i'll watch the progress on this

It used to be without colored walls but I like the colored walls there. They emphasize what the main mechanic/liquid used in that chamber is. I'm definitely going to try out the fans in the ceiling/walls soon because they seem like the best way to detail it while fitting into the environment.

As for the light sources, those grey angled blocks are brush placeholders. I've got a model made for them but I'm not going to post it until I get a better glowing effect coming from the light source.

Got a sprite system and a model on the lights and tested out some new Phong settings on the pipes. Better or worse?



Going to try out some ceiling details now.

if one of the players' weapons (tools?) isn't a brightly coloured wrench i may just be a little bit sad

Well the way I had the mod planned before was the player was equipped with a wrench and a blow torch. I decided to get rid of all tools and the HUD to give it more of a Portal feel and to streamline the puzzles a bit. I think it was the right decision because you don't want a wrench you're barely going to use blocking your screen during all of the puzzles. Anyway it was a standard red rusted pipe wrench so you would have been disappointed.

I'll be uploading pictures of the ceiling tests in a few hours. Been redoing/optimizing some of the models I've made so far but I've decided to save that until the chamber is more completed.

It doesn't look too great right now but I'm going to reskin the models with a chrome-like texture. I think it'll fit in well then.

I'd tone down the white on the walls maybe, as everything is really blown out, and if you're doing to have the hud using additive colour, then it'll be invisible on any of those surfaces , that and the light sources blend into the walls/floors, so it's not easy to tell where they come from.

Could be my Gamma, so forgive if this comes out too much the other way- but a quick adjust in photoshop just to show what I mean :

having the hue and saturation on the walls the same as the pipes isn't working too well. I like the fans, an underground place would really need to have decent air flow.

I don't get why you hate the pipes being the same color as the walls! It's to emphasize the main mechanic you're manipulating for the puzzle which in this case is toxic goo. What do you suggest other than having it the same color?

Anyway here's a picture with new color correction. I'm going to re-texture those fans to be less dirty and see how it looks with 1 fan per 128x128 hole.

have it the same color but the saturation less intense?

looks good

I really dig it, simple and elegant, generally how puzzlers should be.

Dunno how you'd feel about going over the top, but what if the ceiling was glass, and you'd actually be looking out into water:



would help bring the whole concept together.

I'm sure there are plenty of water shaders you could get your hands on and just throw it in there, not sure how easy it'd be to find one meant to be viewed from the bottom of water though, but the effect is close enough either way you look at it.

Something like that would look nice especially with the correct caustics but I'm going to stick with the chrome fans for now. That sort of takes away from the underground chamber feel. I'll write it down though and keep it in mind for another section of the facility or some other use I haven't thought of yet. Thanks for the suggestion!

I've started a simple platform/lift model.





Currently it's 588 Tris but I'll make a LOD model to take out the small beveled details around the window parts. Glass will be added into those holes using a brush in engine.

I think the middle still needs something but I'm not sure what. Anyone have any suggestions?

Time to UV and texture.

I feel it's too plastic.

If you look at similar environments:




You see that though they're minimalistic, and pretty clean, they're still worn and lived in.

You also seem to have plates placed quite randomly, instead of on a grid, and every surface looks about the same material.

Somehow I feel you skipped research and concepting and went straight to modeling.

I love the direction this is going and I have to say I agree with most of your decision, inclusing the colored walls, seems to be a smart gameplay decision. Can wait to see more updates.

Instantly was reminded of mirrors edge. I really liked the way ME looked though

yeah, keep the colored walls, the first screens pulled my attention really fast.
especially the blue levels, blue wall bits, blue pipes, blue lighting and then yellow.
though I think it needs something more, maybe some more colors that are just part of the environment? just to break it up a bit.
good work