Has anyone seen a map where a small building or structure exists externally, only to have an enormous inside once entering?

I am in search of some examples of affective ways to use occlusion blocks so that I may mask very large structures. This will be an important gameplay mechanic for an experimental map I would like to complete my Map Trilogy I have begun by making [360] Hobo Hodge Podge

Here is the idea for the third map..
Large Area or structure masked completely from the rest of the battlefield. Multiple tunnels that act as gateways between the two sides of the map that are separated by the occlusion wall. Think 'Stargate' type element.



This could make the map better because
1) The result would allow the illusion of teleportations when soldiers exit small exposed structures.

2) Spawn Points can be placed in a way to make structures feel as though there is an abundence of soldiers that can poor from them.

3) Improves Performance because the map can be more detailed on either side more heavily since it is masked off visually from the other side.

4) It would create a uniquely Crafted experience for players that steps beyond the normal Map Formula.

5) Improves Balancing each side against eachother by forcing bottle neck areas to the middle of map.

Can anyone suggest some maps I should look at that can show me how this has gone horribly wrong, and/or wonderfully seemless? I have FarCry2 on all platforms so where the map is should not be a concern.

I know of someone I recently talked to about using occlusion via Xfire, but atm I cant remember who; I talk to a ton of peeps on xfire. They also mentioned the Stargate thing; and I had an idea for a teleport style map already but not really using occlusion.

My version is combat takes place in two seperate areas; one in the Starship and one on the surface, with team spawns distributed evenly between the two. Players would spawn in Star Trek-ish transporter rooms and/or areas on the surface with my 'transporter' lighting effects. I have no pics but the effect is done. Thats all though, Ive been playing Borderlands.

Aaaaanyway, Ill try to figure out who, or just look through all my xfire friends' published maps (big task) and see if I can get the name/author for ya.

Biggest problem i saw when trying out occlusion blocks for different things is the fact they are blocks and not planes. If a player walked in just far enough he could be completely invisible while able to see and shoot everyone else.

If used like neo's drawing(i'm assuming the blue bit is occlusion) then you will lose a lot of the background and terrain, unless of course you ramped one side up, so from outside you could have the OB's a few feet in the air.

Doing this you can still see terrain and trees and grass(not sure what effect you want) behind the structure as though theres nothing else there. From the other side though you'd need a wall in front of the block like normal otherwise you'll again see buggy terrain and detailing.

Also keep in mind that you need to keep your occlusion blocks 16 seconds running distance away from ppl or have a see through barrier placed. Invisible walls may work but if your occlusion blocks are too big they may occlude terrain again when you get too close.

quote:

Originally posted by Agent00Kevin:
Aaaaanyway, Ill try to figure out who, or just look through all my xfire friends' published maps (big task) and see if I can get the name/author for ya.

That would be great! Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by matty101yttam:
Biggest problem i saw when trying out occlusion blocks for different things is the fact they are blocks and not planes. If a player walked in just far enough he could be completely invisible while able to see and shoot everyone else.

I agree that it would be very useful to have thinner occlusion areas but there must be a reason this did not make it to the final game. It seems like an obvious choice to make. Since I have blocked shapes, I will adapt my level to the tool.

quote:

If used like neo's drawing(i'm assuming the blue bit is occlusion) then you will lose a lot of the background and terrain, unless of course you ramped one side up, so from outside you could have the OB's a few feet in the air.

There are a couple options to fake the effect. Playing with the height of opposing areas will be my greatest ally in conquering this feat. I believe I am going to have more trouble hiding shadows then any other challenge. I am aware that occlusion blocks can be used to do this as well.

I have experimented with other techniques also. In my Temporal Expansion level, there is a bridge that appears in stages as you walk over it. I hadn't seen anything like it and it has since sparked a number of other tricks that I have been trying to accomplish. Tilting the level, lowering background terrain, or even removing it all together, and a combination of all of the above might work for what I am trying to do.

quote:

Also keep in mind that you need to keep your occlusion blocks 16 seconds running distance away from ppl or have a see through barrier placed. Invisible walls may work but if your occlusion blocks are too big they may occlude terrain again when you get too close.

I am not sure that your entire thought is here. I apologize for not understanding what you are trying to say.

In the Diagram, the yellow represents terrain. As it moves toward the UFLL base it will travel up hill so there will be an elevation change. The edge of the yellow terrain is a cliff. Moving toward the Red areas would result in death. This is so that people can not walk through occlusion block areas. The dotted line represents the distance a player could get if they jumped. This would likely be the best area for invisible walls. The Blue Triangles are angles of incident (angles needed for full occlusion) The Small Red areas will be suspended in the air. (maybe some space ships with grappling anchors tethering them down and runways for cargo delivery) This will force the players eyes upward, drawing their attention away from the terrain, if any, below. The setting is in a place with little or no trees so occlusion areas won’t be problem some there either. The Large Red area represents the inside of an APR ‘Mothership’. None of this area will be viewable from the sloping Yellow Hill, the Alter, or the UFLL Temple.



Maybe that will answer some of the questions or problems you were proposing in the last part of your comment.

sorry i was tired and didn't realize you were using a cliff face...yeah i was just saying you need to keep ppl from getting past your occlusion and seeing the "real" map,(16 seconds being the time ppl die if outside playable area).
I was thinking you meant something you could play around making it feel like theres nothing there.
So have it up in the air but playable area below/"in/amongst" it as well as to one side.

Why don't you build the TARDIS from Doctor who. Have one team start in the real world. They enter the police box which is normal sized but once inside its enormous and have an exit door to a sci-fi setting.
You could build the box with stuff around it so that itlimits access around the box and stil use occlusion blocks to make the rest of the map invisible from either side.

UPDATE:
Here is a sketch of the Idea.

hum, if it were in TSFP I would know how to do that, but now I'm not sure...

you probably don't want occlusions blocks going through the tunnels, which means you have to put 4 occlusions blocks around each tunnel.

the problem is they won't merge. if you could use a single 30 x 20 occlusion blocks, it would be easy to occlude the whole base.

actually, something that could work is if you merge several walls of occlusion blocks together that way :

each square of color being an occlusion block. I occlude the sky that way to block a maximum of shadows.

quote:

Originally posted by zeeEVIL1:
Why don't you build the TARDIS from Doctor who. Have one team start in the real world. They enter the police box which is normal sized but once inside its enormous and have an exit door to a sci-fi setting.
You could build the box with stuff around it so that itlimits access around the box and stil use occlusion blocks to make the rest of the map invisible from either side.

This sounds a lot like the idea illustrated above. It is hard to show through illustration but in the map, I dont not want the player to be able to interact with the occlusion blocks. They will only be used to make things disapear.

In a different map i toyed with an idea where occlusion blocks were placed above the terrain so that players head would clip through them causing flashes to happen but they could still be seen from other enemies. This would cause seasures so I have since thrown it in the trash. I dont want players to be able to cheat by sitting inside the occlusion blocks either.

So imagine your diagram but with multiple ways past the barrier and its all hidden in the nothingness of space so its all invisible. I think everyone in this thread is thinking along the same lines.

Practicly Impossible. Unless remains of a glitch with (well, maybe physics objects and) occlusion blocks can be found , the occlusion blocks will cancel evitable physical properties for anything on point of effect.

The Idea that I put up only uses a single Occlusion block which is shown
All I have done is broken the map into 3 differant areas. You would run through the block to get to the larger battlefield. You could actually put the TARDIS on both sides. The alley and the other world with the inside of the TARDIS in the middle. We are talking a 1x5 block
Think of DeathWeapons Portal map.

quote:

Originally posted by zeeEVIL1:
would run through the block to get to the larger battlefield.

Again, I dont want my players having sezures

Did you get that picture I put in the Art thread?

Yes I did. Did you get my PM's?
How would players have a seizure by running through a single occlusion block?

this is what I think neokinesis wants to do : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiVly3YJAsE

quote:

Originally posted by zeeEVIL1:
Yes I did. Did you get my PM's?
How would players have a seizure by running through a single occlusion block?

Point taken. One flash is hardly a seizure.

The 1 occlusion block trick won't work because I don't want players to be able to go inside the block. If I raise the block then it doesn't occlude the things behind it unless the player is inside the block. I also don't want the effect of the level deconstructing while playing. That worked for the 'Building Bridge' in [360] Temporal Expansion but it wont help me here.

It's purpose will be to expand the universe of the level. I want for one team to see something from thier base that will hopefully envoke an emotional response. Unfortunately, balacing the gameplay requires a bit more depth. Don't worry though, my hat is deep and my sleeves stuffed!

quote:

Originally posted by Fauch_:
this is what I think neokinesis wants to do : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiVly3YJAsE

Yes Fauch, this is perfect! Only one thing, we aren't playing Time Splitters...

at least everyone knows what you want now. it seemed unclear to some people.

did you try what I posted above?