exterior for a 1940ish building

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Lpfreaky90
2,842 Posts
Posted Apr 01, 2012
Hello everyone;

I'm currently working on a map for portal stories where I will need a 1940ish exterior for an office building. I searched a bit and I found a couple of images of buildings made around 1940. These are real buildings and I was wondering what style do you think would be most fitting for a 1940ish aperture science exterior.

TL:DR: Aperture, 1940, portal 2, what looks best?

img
"Den Haag"

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"Van Nelle"

img
"Museum"

img
"Moscow"

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Djinndrache
1,442 Posts
Posted Apr 01, 2012
Replied 8 minutes later
I think that Vanilla Van Nelle looks more like Aperture Laboratories than the other ones do.
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FourthReaper
356 Posts
Posted Apr 01, 2012
Replied 3 minutes later
I've for one always pictured aperture to be layered. I'd go for a whitegrey-ish version of the museum, maybe just 3 times bigger. Still, Van Nelle isn't half-bad! :thumbup:
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Lpfreaky90
2,842 Posts
Posted Apr 01, 2012
Replied 5 minutes later
Some information on the buildings:
Den Haag: constructed in 1922
Van Nelle: constructed in 1929
Museum: constructed in 1935
Moscow: constructed in 1941
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Vordwann
767 Posts
Posted Apr 01, 2012
Replied 23 minutes later
I think Van Nelle is the one, hands down. Especially the curves, the large glass panes, railings, and the big letters at the top.
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FourthReaper
356 Posts
Posted Apr 01, 2012
Replied 4 minutes later
Of course this is one of the only forms in wich Aperture really reveals itself at the surface:

img
You know, at the end of the game? Golden fields of splendor with a little wooden shack sticking out?

But I get the gist of this idea... Good luck! :wink:

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Lpfreaky90
2,842 Posts
Posted Apr 01, 2012
Replied 7 minutes later

FourthReaper wrote:
Of course this is one of the only forms in wich Aperture really reveals itself at the surface:

img
You know, at the end of the game? Golden fields of splendor with a little wooden shack sticking out?

But I get the gist of this idea... Good luck! :wink:

No one said this was above the ground... :lol:

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ChickenMobile
2,460 Posts
Posted Apr 02, 2012
Replied 12 hours later

lpfreaky90 wrote:
FourthReaper wrote:

Of course this is one of the only forms in wich Aperture really reveals itself at the surface:

img
You know, at the end of the game? Golden fields of splendor with a little wooden shack sticking out?

But I get the gist of this idea... Good luck! :wink:

No one said this was above the ground... :lol:

Ohhhhh I see what you did there.

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josepezdj
2,386 Posts
Posted Apr 02, 2012
Replied 1 hour later
Hmmm... I'd go for the Musseum or Van Nelle... Van Nelle is so Apertureish. I like the rounded shape of that building and the many windows, also those "cornices" that look unparallel. Although I like much the musseum look surrounded by water...

Looking forward to see whichever in game!!

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CamBen
973 Posts
Posted Apr 02, 2012
Replied 8 hours later

FourthReaper wrote:
Of course this is one of the only forms in wich Aperture really reveals itself at the surface:

img
You know, at the end of the game? Golden fields of splendor with a little wooden shack sticking out?

But I get the gist of this idea... Good luck! :wink:

actually, in portal 1, at the very end it shows the aperture parking lot w/ glados all strewn about. if you noclip up there before the game ends, you can walk around, and it does sorta look like Van Nelle (the style).

so thats why i voted Van Nelle. :thumbup:

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FourthReaper
356 Posts
Posted Apr 02, 2012
Replied 1 hour later

CamBen wrote:
actually, in portal 1, at the very end it shows the aperture parking lot w/ glados all strewn about.

Hmmmm, I always thought that to be some kind of gas station. But fair enough. Shabby shack and gas station are some of the only surface objects. (I assume there are more, Aperture is huge!)

CamBen wrote:
if you noclip up there before the game ends, you can walk around, and it does sorta look like Van Nelle (the style).

Cheater! :evil: :wink:

But seriously, it appears I got that part all wrong back in the days. Dang.

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Lpfreaky90
2,842 Posts
Posted Apr 02, 2012
Replied 5 hours later
This is my first attempt to be somewhat "Van Nelle"-ish:
img

EDIT: the textures for the building are far from final; I think they're a bit too dark at the moment. I could also choose to remove the big white surfaces between the glass planes, it's more like the van Nelle building.

Let me know what you think :smile:

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drewdinie
40 Posts
Posted Apr 02, 2012
Replied 3 hours later
The Van Nelle Building was not just a boxy building it had rooms popping out of the main part which kind of gave it that look while this still looks more than amazing i feel like its not taking the full van nelle look

Edit: and it wasnt just a square more of a trianglular looking building

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Paradoxic R3mix
87 Posts
Posted Apr 02, 2012
Replied 10 minutes later
I just have to say one thing, WOW! That is amazing! :eek: How long did it take you to get that done?
Well now for some constructive criticism. Remember about Aperture's 'dynamic' useless stuff for fun and testing feel. How they sometimes go overboard with the craziness? I hope that didnt make me look stupid. :lol:
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Lpfreaky90
2,842 Posts
Posted Apr 02, 2012
Replied 6 minutes later
I think I should add a bit more variation in the shape.
I'll post an update when it's done :biggrin:
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Spam Nugget
492 Posts
Posted Apr 03, 2012
Replied 2 hours later
I like the building, but agree that it needs to be a bit less cuboid. Also, to show the age of the area visited, maybe you should raise/lower the lake of goo, show that the area has not been cared for-water levels in a cave are unlinkely to remain constant for decades. Unless of course the map is actually set in the 40's.....in whoch case just ignore everything i said haha
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Lpfreaky90
2,842 Posts
Posted Apr 16, 2012
Replied 13 days later
A quick update, please let me know what you think :biggrin:
img
img

I know it's still a bit dark; working on that :smile:

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RustyDios
154 Posts
Posted Apr 16, 2012
Replied 19 minutes later
I like it. It reminds me of some kind of "old nuclear fallout shelter"... "everything we would need to survive under the surface in this hanger"... including a rusted up portal gun. The crux of it though will come in how the/any puzzle fits in. From what I can see here, it looks as the the puzzle runs the length of the building inside (maybe a gauntlet style puzzle), allowing you to look into the puzzle from any point along the entire outside edge (to give that oh! I could jump from there to there, can't see that ledge when I'm in the building on that balcony)..... ....
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Lpfreaky90
2,842 Posts
Posted Apr 16, 2012
Replied 26 minutes later

RustyDios wrote:
I like it. It reminds me of some kind of "old nuclear fallout shelter"... "everything we would need to survive under the surface in this hanger"... including a rusted up portal gun.

The crux of it though will come in how the/any puzzle fits in. From what I can see here, it looks as the the puzzle runs the length of the building inside (maybe a gauntlet style puzzle), allowing you to look into the puzzle from any point along the entire outside edge (to give that oh! I could jump from there to there, can't see that ledge when I'm in the building on that balcony)..... ....

Challenge accepted:
img

Conclusion: a puzzle would fit, in fact lp's lazr0rs fits entirely in this room (exluding the elevators).

You're wrong about the puzzle though. This map won't be heavy on puzzles, it's more a map to explore and solve a couple small exploration like puzzles.