[In Progress] Custom Dungeon Quest

[Toop]

Hey everyone, just stopping by to show off some stuff from my custom dungeon that is currently in the works. It is not going to be super long, but I'm trying to keep the quality factor high throughout the whole thing.

Progress:
Crypt
Environment
Props
Lighting
Enemies
Quest Pieces

Caves
Environment
Props
Lighting
Enemies
Quest Pieces

Jungle Village
Environment
Props
Lighting
Enemies
Quest Pieces

Mountain Fortress
Environment
Props
Lighting
Enemies
Quest Pieces

I have written short blog posts on the development of each section:
http://spencercongdon.com/2010/04/torchlight-custom-level-part-1-crypt/
http://spencercongdon.com/2010/04/torchlight-custom-level-part-2-caves/
http://spencercongdon.com/2010/05/torchlight-custom-level-part-3-jungle/

There are some screenshots in those posts and I will be adding a gallery at my site for the next blog post. I also have a YouTube playlist covering the level in various stages of development:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Toop6#p/c/A ... qNtpcKWftE

Feedback would be appreciated, either here, on the blog, or the YouTube videos. Thanks for checking it out.

UPDATE May 26, 2010: Final test video (I think) added to my YouTube channel.
UPDATE May 26, 2010: Another video added for the cliffs and another screenshot.
UPDATE May 22, 2010: Post about the new video, new screen for the Fortress, updated progress.
UPDATE May 19, 2010: Reorganized this first post and added a screenshot of the Mountain fortress.
UPDATE May 10, 2010: Third blog post has been added above.
UPDATE May 5, 2010: New videos have been added to the YouTube playlist (Jungle Village Test 1 & 2), and another screenshot.
UPDATE May 3, 2010: The next section (Jungle Village) has been in the works, two screenshots added.
UPDATE April 21, 2010: I added Crypt and Cave screenshots under the spoilers tags, they are fairly large.

Crypt screenshots:

Spoiler: show

Cave screenshots:

Spoiler: show

Jungle Village screenshots:

Spoiler: show

Mountain Fortress screenshots:

Spoiler: show

[Toop]

I updated the first post with screenshots of the Crypt and Cave sections from in the editor.

[Toop]

The next section has been in development, with the floors, walls, and water stuff almost complete. The first post has been updated with a new screenshot.

Spoiler: show

[Dusho]

woa.. thank looks wicked
you should really check new tileset revility made ( viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10602&p=106756&hilit=cliffside#p106756 )and try to make some maps with it
I'm sure people would love too hack some monsters in new environment.

[Toop]

Ah yes I've seen that tileset, its quite good. I'm glad it was based off of the cave tileset, it is much easier to work with. I don't know if I can fit that into my plan for the last section of this dungeon, but I will give it some though depending on what I want to do after this one. Thanks for checking it out.

[Toop]

Small Update:
A video of the section I am currently working on is up on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQWYIiUhsLM The next video updates will be made as each part of it gets filled in with props and lighting.

[Toop]

I've been adding the floor props (dust, moss, bugs, rubble, etc) and I took a better screenshot of this section of the level in its entirety:

Spoiler: show

[Toop]

I have uploaded two videos of the level over the last couple days. The first one is a walkthrough of the Jungle section with the floors and walls in place, quite barren but it demonstrates the entire level in a rough stage. The second one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2dF2uta2wY) shows the first part of it in a near-complete stage with all of the props and lighting ready to go. This section is looking quite good, so I'm excited to have that one up there. I probably won't post another video until the props and lighting are complete for the rest of the Jungle level.

A new screenshots as well:

Spoiler: show

I've added this info to the first post.

[Toop]

Alright, now that the environmental stuff is done for the Jungle Village level, I have made a brief blog post about it (http://spencercongdon.com/2010/05/torch ... -3-jungle/). I also uploaded a video of the rest of the level with props and lighting and whatnot on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFEOCiAeym4). Finally, what kind of update would this be without another screenshot:

Spoiler: show

[Toop]

I've taken some breaks while developing this last section to get some other stuff done, but it is still coming along. I also played through the Aegis Maps Volume 1 just to check out the quality and size of a popular map release. The Aegis Dungeon included with that volume (two floors) is probably a third the size of the one I am doing, just for comparison. I do not believe I will be including any puzzles like Aegis has (the first one was the kind of little puzzle I like ) though I may consider one for the fortress. Those maps also involve more wandering in my opinion. I prefer a more direct route and I think that is something my dungeon will deliver, but some may disagree when they hit the Jungle.

I can also say that one should expect longer loading times when mine is done... I have to admit that the Jungle level got a bit on the large side I think. Even though I don't think it will be a problem for anyone, the last floor won't be as large to avoid another big loading time.

To wrap this up, a screen of the progress on the final floor:

Spoiler: show

[Toop]

New video up on my Youtube Channel walking through this last floor in an unfinished state. The next videos of it with props and lighting shouldn't be too far behind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et7O-1fQzpk

New screenshot of part of it:

Spoiler: show

[BanalityDUFF]

looks like a big task! looking good though.

I hope you persevere and finish it up!

[Toop]

A new video is up of the first third of the floor. Environment, props, lighting all 99% complete. The end also shows the lightning effect I'm trying to use. It works in the editor, but not in the game. I've gotten some suggestions here on the forum, but I'm still working on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnmJ61MFhUE

Another screenshot of the cliffs, which the player traverses to get to the fortress on the mountain. I'll get a prettier one for next time.

[BanalityDUFF]

what's the performance like in-game? i've never played any released mods that make use of single large areas (only mods with interconnected custom chunks).

[Jarcho]

Looks good so far, really hoping you can make the lightning work in game.

Just two things I've noticed are the braziers look like signal fires when compared to the torches in the amount of smoke they give off. I'd prefer the torches giving off more smoke considering how well it seems to fit with the rain IMO. And the puddles look way to obviously on top of the ground they, should be on the same level as the ground.

Again, it's looking pretty good so far .

[Toop]

@Banality The performance seems to be just fine when running the game in the editor, though I'll admit there is a decent sized load time before the levels. I'll talk more about that when I create the portal scroll and do some complete in-game (not just running it from the editor) tests. I'll see how those compare, they might be faster than running it through the editor, and I'll either make some changes or it will just come with a notice to expect a decent sized loading time if that is the case.

Have there been other large area mods with problems?

@Jarcho We'll see about the smoke, the last thing this level needs is more particles I'll check the puddles, but I think they are on the ground. Torchlight puddles in general are quite bright, making them appear to not be on the ground. I'll give it another look though.

[Toop]

So I tried to do some more development today (it has been too long, but there are good reasons for it), but between problems with my mouse and TorchED crashing on me I didn't get as much done as I wanted.

There is good news though, since so much of the last section was already done, I was able to my final test video! At least I think this will be the last one, unless I do a couple with enemies, but I don't think that will be necessary. I updated the checklist in the first post accordingly, and the new video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5doXASRkuLY

[Dusho]

glad to see you back with more nice levels
rain part of level looks nice, but still feels like inside cave - maybe it's just because of background sound (dropping water) or the fog settings. Maybe you could try to boost the light bit in that level.. and find some sound of nice summer rain to replace that cave background sound

[Toop]

glad to see you back with more nice levels
rain part of level looks nice, but still feels like inside cave - maybe it's just because of background sound (dropping water) or the fog settings. Maybe you could try to boost the light bit in that level.. and find some sound of nice summer rain to replace that cave background sound

Yeah, I mention in the annotations that I forgot to turn on some of the sounds which I had deactivated. They can get really tedious when editing for long periods of time. I'm still considering making it a little brighter, I do really like how it looks when you're not watching it on YouTube, but I agree that it is really dark and cave like.

[CelShaded]

I can really get behind this, always welcome new levels.