The Making of DM-1on1-TerrorNite

Thrallala · Level Designer

The Making of DM-1on1-TerrorNite

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

Thrallala wrote:

This screenshot should give you an idea of what the map will look like.

...ZAxed!...

stevelois · ...

Looking forward the WIP of this new project :)

I to, since some time, have the idea of making a 1-on-1 map. I did some tests layout without finishing one yet. Time will tell.

I like your starting look :D

Odedge · Feedback-Master ..

It looks like a futuristic Egyptian theme to me. I like WIP threads, when people share their experience building the map. I may actually do this one day.

Thrallala · Level Designer

Thanks for commenting.

@ Odedge, I can see why you'd think that. However that's not the case, I don't really know how to explain the theme properly. But it is a little influenced by the trailer from Tron Legacy (2010). In the end I'm hoping to have a futuristic high tech themed map with some horror elements.

Oh and fyi, I had a 1 day break from the map yesterday (my parents came to visit so no time for UT3 Editor). Today on the other hand was not a break day, but I have not been able to spend as much time as I wanted due to having some issues with my computer. I will however post a new screenshot later tonight to show my progress.

Odedge · Feedback-Master ..

Thrallala wrote:
But it is a little influenced by the trailer from Tron Legacy (2010). In the end I'm hoping to have a futuristic high tech themed map with some horror elements.

So is my map that I am working on. Copy Cat! Actually, it's probably a bit more OG Tron than the new one with Star Trek/Star Wars. But I digress.

Time will show what the theme really is and I really don't want to know too much right now. wink

1xTrEmE · its me .. i'm back

Best of luck to you on this one little brother ..

As you might consider to aspire to be a professional level designer I think this will be great experience for you.

I'll take a peak at this now and then over the coming 20 days .. ;)

Thrallala · Level Designer

Thanks 1xtreme!

seems like I forgot to post the pic from Day 2, anyway here it is.

rathalos150 · Monster Hunter

Wow great progress mate! I have a vague idea where this is going and I like it so far. I've never seen another map progress day by day so this will be very cool!

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

yeah it kicks the butt and green is a top choice; not usual & original; gj

Thrallala · Level Designer

Day 3 done, finished the Link Gun area.

1xTrEmE · its me .. i'm back

Thrallala wrote:

Thanks 1xtreme!

seems like I forgot to post the pic from Day 2, anyway here it is.

Ah! was wondering how much forward progress you've already made ..

Looks great m8! What style map will this one be? - HOLP, next-gen, mixed/hybrid? I see you mention a futuristic theme and your BSP and light sources will compliment that nicely .. - seems like you've got a lot of room to work with - nice slice of creativity dude.

I''ll guestimate you've given this some thought and as good as you've become with meshing you could trim this one swiftly, or stream-line and develop some nice envy effects and what not, what ever the end result i know you'll make us proud bro.

So we're 10 up today boss .. <date being 10/10/10>

1x's word to the wise is pace yourself and make sure you eat and sleep well & hf <have fun of course> little bro. TTYS <talk to ya soon>

Thrallala · Level Designer

it will be 100% HOLP styled with as few meshes as possible. Will also be pretty much only stock textures etc due to the limited time. (I will add more info by then end of this week or something like that).

Hehe don't worry, eating, sleeping and school remain my top priority!

stevelois · ...

Looking very good Thrallala. Like Odedge, it look original biggrin

Thrallala · Level Designer

Got some kinda bad news, my computer hates me and I have now missed 2 days cause of it.

If you're a computer expert maybe you can help me out?
Here's the issue, whenever the computer has been shut down it takes somewhere between 30-300 reboots to get the monitor to start. I've also suffered 3 of the same BSOD within this week with the code "0X0000003B SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION", before this week I haven't had any BSOD since my CPU fan was wrecked.

This issue has been going on for about a month, before that I had a similiar one, whenever the computer had been without power it would take 10-40 reboots for the monitor to start, slightly less annoying than the issue I have now :P.

Here's what I've tried:

1. I figured it had to be the PSU that did not have enough power (I did not have these issues before I replaced my old PSU), so I unplugged 2 harddrives, my dvd burner and all external stuff like my external harddrive etc. Basically I only had what was really necessary for the monitor to show a picture plugged in. And I figured that if I unpluugged all that stuff there would definitely be enough power for the monitor however the issue was still the same.

2. A friend advised me to test the memory sticks (I have 4 of them, 2x 2048mb and 2x 1024mb), so I unplugged 3 of them, tried booting, still the same issue. Swapped the 1 memory card that was plugged in, still the same issue.

3. That friend also advised me to try with a different graphics card, luckily I had my old one at home. I put it in and took out the newer one, still the same issue.

(none of my computer parts are overclocked, I use Windows7 64bit, 4 memory sticks (as I said before), GeForce 9600 GT 1024MB DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 SLI. The rest I'd have to check and my computer is currently being a bitch and still won't boot properly even after about 500 reboots.

I have not installed any new hardware in 2 years or so. (Besides a new CPU fan)

I have ordered a new PSU and it should arrive tomorrow, if that won't work I really have no idea what could be causing the issue is and I really don't have the money to have a professional look at my computer.

Would appreciate some ideas :)

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

lol..srry i m not an expert of anything but...remember... i had the exact same issue one month ago?never found exactly what was guilty but i had to "demolish" all the PC and to reconstruct to get it workin again...with no noticeable or visible action
no success while:
-changing part after part the cpu;CPUcoling;GFX & PSU for other older ones
-removing all secondary HDs
-remooved 3 rams on 4
-changed the ram for 1 old one

disapointed i did a last try and have reconstruct the PC as it was when the bug appears but with new HD cords...and ohhh...surprise it was working again
to get it working i have remove and re-add all thoses parts from the mobo:
CPU;RAM;CPU cooling;GFXs;HDs & PSU...unplug/plug process sometimes fix things if micro-oxydation appear on some connection

that s not really satisfaisant for me because there s no explication but after some reflexion i have change the SATA cord( MainHD to mobo) and replugged all mobo connections

that was for sure related to the mobo; the HD or the cords....u pick :p

some differences with your bug: i had the fraqn BSOD + total freezes randomly while using the PC and not only when starting it

some questions:
- when...after 100 reboot ur pc is on and working;does nothing more happen til u stop it and try to restart?..hm...more simple....: is the pc working fine and have only that problem if u restart it?
-what CPU PSU HD & MOBO are u using?

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

oh i forgot to add that i like the ambiant darkness in the last pict...superb & strong contrasts...right in ze target

Thrallala · Level Designer

I'll give a try to unplugging -> pluggin' it back in.

Also a little update, I've now also tried to reset BIOS, no luck here either :P

Oh and when I reboot the computer, everything seems to work fine except the monitor which doesn't seem to get a signal. After many reboots it finally starts properly.

I can't check what CPU I have without having access to windows, all i know for sure is that it's a dualcore, kinda old I think it's either 3.0 or 3.2gb+

The PSU is 460W

Motherboard is MSI K9N SLI Platinum

I have 3 Harddrives, although 1 of them is never plugged in, the 2 I use are both SATA, one is ancient and only has like 180GB the newer one has 750GB. The reason why I'm not using one of them is because when the issue first started it helped to unplug one of the harddrives.

-- Edited by Thrallala on Tuesday 12th of October 2010 06:01:30 PM

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

tell us more bout ur rig m8; cpu AMD intel? dual? quad?
PSU power? xxx W?
mobo socket? type?

stop pressing thoses keys!! ...& dont stress!...u will find the soluce

edit: obsolete questions...u re too fast :p

ok so ...socket AM2 ; i bet u have an athlon x2 6000 or 6400 = 125w ...damn 460 w for that must be largely enough, the gfx dont eat a lot

perhaps can u try to exchange the cord on two HDs (main include of course)... i think sebastien had such a **** too and if i remember well it was related to the HD cords too (alim or sata not sure)

-- Edited by Bl!tz on Tuesday 12th of October 2010 06:18:52 PM

stevelois · ...

As I can see, you boot with the minimum hardware & are able to do the POST.

Windows BSOD's can happen for several reasons & the main difficulty is to know if it's hardware related or software related. Once you found if it's hardware or software, now you can go further.

A 460 PSU isn't big (I put a 650 in my cheapest kit) but it's enough to provide enough juice for at least 1 of each device (1 HDD, 1 DVD or Blue-Ray drive, 1 CPU, 4 RAM stick, 1 GPU) under full load. I don't count audio / NIC cards since the one onboard do the job.

What I can say is :

If you do the POST right with the minimum device (I CPU + 1 RAM stick + 1 GPU), then it's a good sign meaning your mobo is working fine with the minimum. You can add more RAM stick & boot each time you add one to make sure that your POST is fine. Plug your HDD after. If BSOD's still happen, use another HDD power connector from another cable from coming the PSU (maybe your 12 v as a unstable signal in this particular cable), boot windows in "safe mode" which will load the OS without any third party & embeded drivers & without all microsoft services. If you can boot in safe mode, at least, you know it's a sofware thing & you can investigate more into windows. If you can't boot in safe mode, with the minimum hardware, then it's hardware. It may be your PSU 12 v rail, or your SATA cable or your MOBO SATA port. Make sure your fans run well & your temp is ok in your BIOS.

You can also Googleing to find what that "0X0000003B" error is all about.

GL

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

just googled ur error code....sadly i ve read that it can be related to a virusy attack...did u run a complete scan of ur system?

fyi this mobo have onboard nforce570 chipset; u can desactivate ur GFX to verify if it work (on asus same kind of mobos u can)

-- Edited by Bl!tz on Tuesday 12th of October 2010 06:44:58 PM

Odedge · Feedback-Master ..

Well the map is looking very nice.

As for your computer, what Blitz suggested is a good thing to check, especially after resetting or updating your BIOS. From what I know and can tell, if it's just your monitor not getting a signal, that's where you should start.

Maybe the monitor is going bad, the DVI/VGA cable has issues, or maybe even the PIC Express bus has issues.

You could also trying seeing what your refresh rate is set at? I had an older Viewsonic that wouldn't turn if the refresh rate was set at 75, but worked fine at 60.

Hope you get this sorted out.

Thrallala · Level Designer

Bl!tz wrote:

just googled ur error code....sadly i ve read that it can be related to a virusy attack...did u run a complete scan of ur system?

fyi this mobo have onboard nforce570 chipset; u can desactivate ur GFX to verify if it work (on asus same kind of mobos u can)

-- Edited by Bl!tz on Tuesday 12th of October 2010 06:44:58 PM

Currently I'm not too concerned with the bluescreens. I'm one hell of a lucky guy if I manage to get the computer powered on for a day :P

Anyway, I tried replugging everything in the computer and then booted it with 1 harddrive, 1 memory card, CPU and the graphics card. And to my big surprise the monitor booted fine and I really thought I had fixed the issue somehow. So I turned off the computer and plugged in some more hardware, this time however the monitor did not respond. So I unplugged the things I just plugged in, but nope

I guess that successful monitor boot was one of those 1 in 100-1000 times it works. Anyway, I will try with a new PSU tomorrow or the day after that. If that doesn't work I will have my brother bring one of his old monitors and a CPU when he comes to visit in a few weeks. If that doesn't work I guess I'd somehow have to get my hands on a new motherboard.

Lord_PorkSword · Connoisseur of Bourbon!

Sorry ta hear about ya PC issues.

I've done some research and that BSOD appears to be common with gfx hardware/driver issues. The fact you are having issues at boot eliminates it as a driver issue, and the BSOD is probably being caused by some kind of failure with ya gfx card.

I'm in agreement that ya PSU is getting a bit long in the tooth and is failing to produce enough power to ya rig. A better PSU should help out immensly and give a nice flow of power to ya components , especially ya gfx card.
Out of interest what's the PSU you've ordered? Hopefully it's got dual(or more) power rails on it, which will provide plenty of power for ya!

It is rare, but does happen, that mobo batteries can screw up over time and they end up over-charging back to the motherboard and issues like the PC not booting correctly start occuring. I've never heard of this occuring with a decent mobo like yours, but we've had a few HP PC's here at work fail due to this issue. Most times though, this only happens when you boot and doesn't seem to affect PC's that are already running, so I don't think this is the issue in your case.

Let us know how it goes once the new PSU is installed.

-- Edited by Lord_PorkSword on Wednesday 13th of October 2010 02:36:45 AM

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

yeah good idea for the battery Mick; here too often oxydation contact problems if someone touched it with wet hands..perhaps just a contact on it too; try to replug it correctly u neva know

i m more septical about the PSU; as Thrallalas PC succed to start normally sometimes (even 1 times/1000)..neva heared of PSU ressurection but u never heared of all

i ve recently buy that tool to mesure the real power consumption and i was surprised about the difference on what i was expecting (phenom 125W with OC + 9800GTX x2 in sli with OC+ 3HDs + fans 1x200mm + 4x120mm + akasa fancontroller + screen22' + scannerprinter + lot of lights and leds + BFG800W PSU with two fans + gamer mouses & KB quite never hit........500W....the more high i saw was 580W while playing UT3 :D
using the asus PSU calculator too...l it told me i needed 700w minimum (without the screen & the printer/scanner of course)

phenom & athlon are quite same 125w consumption; i have both and mesured em during my last BSOD/freezes testing week +.+

Lord_PorkSword · Connoisseur of Bourbon!

A good test for hardware is to install windows XP. In my experience...if the install fails during install then you've got hardware issues.

Hirens has a great BootCD that contains a heap of utilities for free use, including hardware testing tools. I'll start a thread about it for anyone interested.

1xTrEmE · its me .. i'm back

I know you've had a lot of advice here ..

I agree about installing XP, that's a good test for the hardware, it will put it through its paces ..

Also-
My experience with BSOD, (everyone will have an opinion, for me I'll qualify myself by the fact that we ran a PC hardware consulting business for some years and never had a single problem thrown at us we couldn't ultimately resolve)

OK again in most of my experience the Blue Screen of Death is typically from a memory issue, either bad memory or a Video memory sharing error caused by software drivers or bios settings.

If a video board goes bad GPU, memory or anything else typically you'll see tearing or weird pixelations of some type or the system will do random reboots more often than BSOD.

Sometimes your RAM memory will cause issues if the timings aren't set right, not all motherboards can detect appropriate timing or more importantly voltages, if memory is underpowered it can cause troubles like your having .. Usually if the memory isn't getting enough power the random BSOD can result, you might need to slightly bump your voltage on the memory, but that means bring it up a single increment at a time nothing radical or kiss it good bye and it will surely burn up, just bump it .2 - .4 of a volt max and try to reboot each time you slightly increase it and see if it increases stability.

Remember when you plug your memory be sure it snaps in firmly and completely.

Also stagger the memory if you have 2 dimms stagger them in the slots do not place them directly next to each other.

Also remember resetting the bios isn't going to help if your memory is under-volted and the board can't determine the correct voltage, its going to place you back at square 1. Some memory runs more stable with a tad more voltage, but if you attempt this move it up in as small of increments as the bios settings will allow each time rebooting and testing for stability until you find the sweet-spot manually, its easy to fry something if your not careful on this one.

G/L.

Thrallala · Level Designer

Tried with a new and better PSU, still not working :(

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

i m still very suspicious about some oxyded connection between mobo & hd...or the mobo itself

try to reproduce the unplug/plug process to see if it rework again at/for first try....this quite look like a bad contact in some connection (damaged cord or oxyded contact)

perhaps can u try to reinstall ur OS on another HD (xp if u have it for the try, like others recommended to you) just to be sure of the HD

Diesalot · Drinker of too much beer

I had this issue last time on my PC. It was Motherboard.

Not a bad thing since its about the cheapest replacement.

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

mobo rebellions!...lol^^

@hey thrallala; any news? u found the **** ? or still searching?

Thrallala · Level Designer

Nope, still no luck. I'm going home for the weekend, gonna get some spare parts from my old computer when I'm there. If I recall correctly I have an old motherboard, a CPU, a graphics card that fits in the AGP slot (OLD mothercard) :P and all of these should be working.

I'll also make sure to get some SATA cables and one of those cables that goes from the monitor to the computer although the monitor seems to be working fine, including the cables. Worked fine when I plugged it to my laptop.

Btw, I don't think there's an issue with the SATA cables I have now. Cause then wouldn't the monitor start fine when I had unplugged all my harddrives?

What exactly is needed to be plugged in for the screen to show an image? Besides Motherboard and PSU

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

the big difference between cables and the rest is that a fraqd connection in a psu is 99% of the time definitive...a **** in a cable depend a lot how is positionned the cable...i can tell that because one hdmi cable was "hurt" between my tv and the parabollic terminal...took me ages to find it, one day it was ok for 4 hours and suddently the cable have moove 1cm...and hop all was wrong...the only way to prrove that the cable was guilty was to try another one

i hope u ll fix that it s really getting on the nerves when PC things dont work normally

Odedge · Feedback-Master ..

Thrallala wrote:
What exactly is needed to be plugged in for the screen to show an image? Besides Motherboard and PSU

RAM, Video Adapter (onboard or seperate), hard drive?, and a monitor.

stevelois · ...

Thrallala wrote:

What exactly is needed to be plugged in for the screen to show an image? Besides Motherboard and PSU

Well, all primary components are MOBO + PSU + CPU + RAM + GPU (onboard or discrete).

It's the minimum. All others devices aren't required (HDD, DVD, Blu-ray, floppy, wathever). But they're useful to diagnose your PSU power.

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

hey thrallala; i have an Am2 mobo sleepin here; do u think it costs a lot to send it to u?
works good ; it come from my old acer ,have pci express connection and 4 DDR2 ram slots
was working with a athlon x2 5000first and with an athlon 64 x2 6400 for the last monthes

it sleeps here ...so ...tell me

Thrallala · Level Designer

Shipping a motherboard from France to Sweden, I dunno maybe like 20-40$ or so. My brother probably knows better, I'll ask him when he gets home!

How much would you want in cash for the motherboard? (I would pay the shipping cost ofc)

Also, in case it's possible. Give me a week or so to decide, my brother is visiting my apartment next week and he's gonna check to see if he might know exactly whats wrong with my computer (He has a bit more computer skills, atleast the technical part). From what I've said he seems fairly certain it's either the motherboard, the CPU or both but we'll see :)

your sleeping motherboard seems pretty much the same as mine, AM2 4 DDR2 slots and PCI Express, fits my hardware parts like a glove hehe. And btw I should have said it already, I really really appreciate all the help and time you've all given this subject UOF ftw! :D

And also big thanks Bl!tz for volunteering with your unused motherboard :)

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

lol np bro...mobos are done for computers not for abandonned places

i dont want anything mate; u pay the shipping and it s ok

NOVA · French cat under acid

Thrallala wrote:

Day 3 done, finished the Link Gun area.

I dig it !

Hope you will find a way to fix your trouble with your computer ;)

barballs · Unreal Old Friend

Great idea! love the style

stevelois · ...

Ho yes, this is looking damn nice :D

Thrallala · Level Designer

Heh thanks for the compliments :)

Good to see you here too, Barballs!

Thrallala · Level Designer

Ok, back to my computer issues (sorry) :P

Something wierd happened now, I haven't been trying anything with the computer lately. This time I had a new (old) SATA cable.

So I plugged out my new PSU, my graphics card and my harddrives. Then I plugged in my old PSU, the graphics card and 1 harddrive (using the new SATA cable), computer starts fine. However the harddrive I had plugged in was not my windows harddrive.

So I plug in the windows harddrive aswell, computer starts fine again.

After a reboot, the monitor won't start (I have 2 harddrives plugged in, the ones I usually have)

So I unplug one of them, computer starts fine. Then I try again with both, monitor doesn't start. So I go back to only 1 harddrive, monitor won't start again.

-.-.

So Bl!tz, I might actually have to take you up on your offer. You don't happen to have a CPU that fits the motherboard aswell? (Socket AM2), cause I can't be sure if it's the motherboard, the CPU or both that is malfunctioning.

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

shame i ve sold an athlon64x2 5000+ for 35€ some weeks ago....but...
lol u are a lucky guy...i have ordered a phenomII1090T and it must arrive theses next days (toomorow or friday) i ll put my actual phenom 940 in my doughter s pc and i was going to sold my AthlonX2 6400 3.2ghz on EBay in the next hours
but i must sold this one round 40€ because it must pay a part of my upgrade
the CPU is the biggest AthlonX2 and work nicely; the cooling was installed 1month only and was replaced by a freezer64 so it s quite new
the cpu work on the mobo that i wanted to send to u, if u dont want to buy it i can send it to you for testing if u do it fastly, i can wait for a couple weeks to sold it
let me know what u think

Thrallala · Level Designer

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yes ofc, CPUs are not cheap and I'd most definitely pay you for it. And only sending it for testing would not be that good of an idea, shipping probably cost a bit :P.

But yes, I'm totally up for buying. My brother and I are pretty much 100% certain that the issue is caused by the CPU, Motherboard or both and while I have good patience I really want to get my real computer up and running so I can atleast return to the UT3 Editor :D.

I'd need some info from you so I can pay you. I have a Paypal account so it should be no problem at all, you could PM that to me and also the amount for shipping. I'll PM you the info you need for shipping.

Thrallala · Level Designer

Oh and I forgot to say but I could not find out how much the shipping from France would cost, I Don't speak french so I could not really understand much of what it said on this site http://www.laposte.fr/ which I assume is the place you'd use for shipping. Maybe you could have a look there since you speak french? :P

Shipping from Sweden to France would cost a little less than 20£ where I estimated the package to weigh 1Kilo, and the package size of 40cm X 30cm + 20cm (height). And would take around 3 days to arrive from the day it's posted.

I guess the cost wouldn't differ that much from sweden -> france, france -> sweden

Lord_PorkSword · Connoisseur of Bourbon!

Thrallala wrote:

seems like I forgot to post the pic from Day 2, anyway here it is.

I'm still catching up on threads...

That looks pretty sweet M8! Loving the glow ya got going there!

Thrallala · Level Designer

Good news everyone! As you may or may not know, Bl!tz sent me a Motherboard and a CPU to me for a very cheap price. After having some trouble installing it I finally got it to work, goodbye PC issues!

Everything works the way they are supposed to, which means that I'll get back to UT3 mapping very soon (I'll probably reformat my windows harddrive first seeing as some of my drivers are no longer valid). So here's my plan, I will get back to Legacy first so it'll be finished in time, then I'll get back to this one and after that I have a secret map to work on which I will not reveal yet.

Last but not least, THANKS to everyone who've been helping me with these computer issues I've been having and an extra big thanks to Bl!tz for selling some computer parts for a cheap price and sending them to me, you guys are the best!!!

Bl!tz · ...ǝp¡s ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo

haha... now u ll have to face that uggly ACER logo each time u boot :p

welcome back to buisness mate

Thrallala · Level Designer

Haha, I had another ugly ACER logo from my other motherboard too. Probably a little bit better looking though ;)