[DWRZ]

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Well, this is what happens when someone falls in love with the Catacombs, but lives thousands of kilometers away:

I'll make my requests for help first, then my explanations... I'd also appreciate it if those who understand English+ speak French could forward this to those who only understand French.

1. Anybody who reads this, please send me links/e-mail me directly photos you have of the GRS. Specifically, I'm looking of photos of transitions from surface/Paris, to manhole/puit/ladders/stairs/PC-entrance hole, to Catacombs-- and vice-versa (from in the network to out). Also, photos from any parties are great!

2. If someone has photos of the walls + plaques/signs, and nothing else in the way, I would also really appreciate this. If anyone has the dimensions of any of the galleries, that would also be really great, as well as an elevation map (I'm not aware one exists...).

Ok, #1 is because I've managed to convince my professor of my Contemporary Urbanism class to do my final project on the Catacombs. However, I can't simply do whatever I want, and I think he wants me to focus on the transitions from City to Catacombs, "connection points". Otherwise, he says I can focus on the use of the galleries and the paths that people use for parties, so... any photos/stories/etc. on that would be great!

#2... I posted a while back about making a 3D Digital Map of the Catacombs. Well, I bought Half Life 2, I downloaded the Hammer Editor, I spent much time learning the basics of mapping...and I've started. I'm not that great, and so far I'm more concerned of getting the dimensions and scale and realism right than anything else. Still, I have to say, it is not bad, and comes out much better than I'd expected (I will post photos in a little bit). So far, I am working on the area around Rue Nasouty and the above-ground area of the Petite Ceinture.

I've made one demo where I bump-mapped the surfaces, added water, many props, and so on, and it was very impressive. Otherwise, so far I've mapped around 500+ meters of the network (very basic).

I also made one "gameplay" test-- even though I'm not that interested in that (I just want something to calm my nostalgia while I am away) since some people expressed interest. I put a fast zombie in the tunnel and started off the player without any weapons, having to run through the galleries before finding a pistol to kill the zombie. I have to say, it worked pretty well... so maybe there is a possibility to go in that direction.

In any case, I want to use some real-life textures versus the ones included in Hammer, but I don't have that many photos of just the walls, or the plaques (road signs, consolidations signs, etc.). So if anybody has these, I would really appreciate it...

Well, sorry for the long post... please help me out, I need my Cata-Fix and it's been too long...

-David

PS. Thanks to "maitre wahou" for approximate dimensions of the PC tunnel.
PPS. Photos will be up soon.