Destroying Ceilings
I have recently started work on a Pre-GLADOS Awakening themed map and I have been having trouble making the destroyed ceiling here is what I have been doing so far but I am not sure if is a good method:
1. Choose an area to destroy the ceiling
2. Clip or carve that area out
3. Add a box above that clipped/carved area and add a rusty texture
4. Remove the bottom and top faces
5. Add a skybox texture above that space
6. Make some foliage coming down from roof and make sure some is visible under the main roof space
7. Add some other details like broken pipes or glass
8. Make a prop like the square beams and the general stuff under props_destruction to make it actually
"destroyed"
9. Possibly add a func_physbox which falls from the ceiling
I hope that this is the right way because it is how I have been doing it in my map. If someone who has more experience with destroyed aperture maps tell me whether this is right or if parts of it are wrong, I would really appreciate it.
Here are a few screenshots I took:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7953787/Screens ... _00001.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7953787/Screens ... _00002.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7953787/Screens ... _00003.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7953787/Screens ... _00005.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7953787/Screens ... _00009.jpg
(Sorry about the lighting, I'm still working on that)
Well... you could make it more interesting then just a perfect square...
"I hear voices. But I ignore them and I just carry on killing."
Use an env_projectedtexture to make good shadows coming through the junk. Also, use less square holes, as CaretCaret said, and vary up the shape a little. I like the pipes and the vines, but put more broken beams in up higher in the shafts and take out some of those wall panel models you have constantly repeated up there. Make some tilted brushes tied to func_detail coming down from the ceiling with vines coming off of them, some stray wires, and then make a frame shape out of the squarebeam models that you think looks good, then rotate some in different directions to make it look nice and delete some. Your ceilings will look very destroyed.
Also, I would suggest using the dirty laser models. Another thought, you don't have to go by this, but most of the destroyed chambers do not have many glass lights in the walls, and they have some props on the floors that are rubble/broken metal.
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Thanks a lot! About the other stuff, I only started this map yesterday and I was just wondering about the ceilings, however, thanks for the input!
No problem! Just remember it for the future. Destroyed is one of my favorite styles.
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I have started doing what you have suggested and it is starting to look a lot better! However, I am wondering if covering up the roof a little bit will add some lighting problems. I was thinking about just adding some more lights or destroying more of the ceiling. Do you have any suggestions?
Can't believe nobody commented on this yet... but NEVER use the carve tool! I promise you it's more trouble then it's worth and could one day result in a screwed up/inaccessible .VMF file
People freak out about the carve tool, I used it for the first time in ages the other day to make it a simple ceiling hole and it worked fine. It looked exactly the same as if I had spent 2 minutes manually adjusting brushes over the ceiling light.
To Clarify... you should use the Carve tool ONLY to cut SIMPLE SQUARE SHAPES (on grid) out of brushes. (VDC Article)
It can cause messed up brushes that are completely off grid and intersecting... and that can cause your .VMF file to get ****** up.
And if you want to cut a simple sqaure hole out of a wal... it takes a couple of second more to do it without the carve tool... and your always sorta safe, so i say don't take the risk and stick to the clip tool!
BE COOL, USE THE CLIP TOOL! 
That should be a song devoted to Hammer. "Be Cool - Use the Clip Tool!"
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