Resource Request: Suitable Xen/Alien Textures

[Rex Claussen]

I ran out of steam working on Deimos-themed maps and switched to an Inferno-themed map. Of course, instead of Inferno textures I'm using Xen textures. The main problems I'm running into with the available Half-Life Xen textures are the following:

1. Lack of Xen switches
2. Lack of Xen "decorative" textures

In Inferno, for example, SKULWALL & SKULWALL3 provide great decorative surfaces and also enhance the horror of the place.

Does anyone have decorative Xen textures and Xen switches? An an alternative, suitable alien switches and textures might work just as well.

[I've done a limited internet search for Xen "art" but have found nothing I felt would fit.]

[Rex Claussen]

I tooled around in MS Paint and came up with these switches:

xswit22a.png (825 Bytes) Viewed 1393 times

xswit22b.png (911 Bytes) Viewed 1393 times

xswit23a.png (20.08 KiB) Viewed 1393 times

xswit23b.png (20.11 KiB) Viewed 1393 times

[Enjay]

I certainly don't have anything like that handy.

Have you seen this texture pack? (Judging by the textures you posted, the answer may be yes.)
https://gamebanana.com/mods/6725
Slade can open the HL format WAD and export the textures as PNGs if you like any of them. A few of them look as if they might be editable to make a switch or two.

[Rex Claussen]

https://gamebanana.com/mods/6725

The site doesn't let me get past the privacy pop-up, but from what I saw before I got blocked, the textures are virtually the same as what we already have in Paranoiac.

[EDIT: I closed the page and re-opened it. We already have many of the textures, but this is a very cool resource. Thanks.]

[Enjay]

Best I could do. A combination of the texture you posted and the alien "trampolines" from Half life (plus using the Doom eye switch as a guide).



Intended to be used like a Hexen-multi frame animated switch (defined in animdefs, possibly with a nice squelchy sound as it opens/closes).



Feel free to use, or not.

And yes, it does look a bit like a cat's anus.

[edit]
Here, have a demo with the switch set up using suggested timings (feel free to tweak - but longer durations expose my poor graphics skills ):

HLSwitch.pk3

(65.68 KiB) Downloaded 56 times

[/edit]

[Rex Claussen]

That looks excellent! I do plan to use it. Thanks.

[Enjay]

Glad you like them.

Initially I tried to make the circular part close more symmetrically (radially speaking) but my efforts looked awful. That's when I hit on the idea of making them close like an eye/mouth.

However, thinking about it, maybe they look a bit too eye/mouth-like. So, I have now also done a vertical version. And spurred on by that, I tried to re-do my initial radial effort by combining the horizontal and vertical ones.

Honestly, I don't know if any of them are an improvement but feel free to load up the attached and pick whichever you like the best. (I did tweak the original one slightly and rename it so that I could name all three sensibly.)

HLSwitches.pk3

(144.92 KiB) Downloaded 51 times

[Rex Claussen]

I will check out your new work.

Meanwhile, I'm not clear on why the XSWBlnk1.png texture is needed. I didn't see it defined anywhere, especially in the ANIMDEFS lump.

[Enjay]

I put XSWBlnk1.png on the pillars that lower in the map just because I thought I might as well put it somewhere. The only reason that I included it is because it's slightly different to your original (the place where your switch is, is just a "spine" instead of a recess) and it's the one that I used as the blank to put my switches on.

In other words, it's not really needed.