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There's an old saying...(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: The Undertaker
...that the journey begins with the first step.
Damn, isn't that pic exciting?! 
Oh, well - to me it is.  I finally started workin on those tutorials on the 2k4 DVD. For the longest time I couldn't make a level to save my life, but these vid tutorials seem to help. Probably because I can see exactly what they're doing. 
So far I haven't wrecked my one room with a BSP split yet. Or something. 
This is good stuff - I'm goin back at it right now.
Posted by: smeerkat
welcome to hell... 
Posted by: The Undertaker
Behold!! A screenie of my newest creation!
And got ticketed for Camping in dev mode... 
The lighting didn't turn out too bad. Sorta looks like one of those labs in NOLF2. Think I'm startin to like this...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Woohoo, another one turned to the dark side 
Make sure you add visible lightsources wherever you can though 
Posted by: The Alien
Welcome
And knock yourself out
(But don't let UEd knock you out  )
Posted by: Dale
quote:
Originally posted by The Alien
(But don't let UEd knock you out )
Windows has a reputation for doing that, doesnt it ???
Posted by: The Undertaker
Hello again!
Today's project is gonna take an evening or two. So far I've followed the instructions, and this thing seems to be takin shape. It's a three-tier arena style map...
And as you can see there, I've successfully executed my first subtraction brush. 
It only took me three tries to understand the grid and the zoom properly... 
This map's gonna rock if I see the instructions through to the end. It'll have glass, walkways, ramps, an elevator, you name it. That module's a real crash course in level design... 
Posted by: The Undertaker
Sweet!! I got the pieces cut out without wrecking anything yet...
Hot damn!
Now I'm ready to go crash... 
Posted by: The Alien
Looks good so far. Keep on it
Posted by: PlasmaSamurai
/me missed the DVD edition 
/me is jealous 
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Sweet!! I got the pieces cut out without wrecking anything yet...
Hot damn!
Now I'm ready to go crash...
Yeah the level they create in the VTM's is rather nice
Posted by: Bushwacker
quote:
Originally posted by PlasmaSamurai
* PlasmaSamurai missed the DVD edition
* PlasmaSamurai is jealous
Yup so did Bushwacker. Only I'm not just jealous...I'm a bit ticked off as well. Would of really liked to have that little sucker.
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
This version?
Apart from the VTM's there is not much extra. I couldn't even find the "behind the scenes movie" that's supposed to be on it.
Oh the headset is nice, but I'm sure there are waaay better models out there
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
Apart from the VTM's there is not much extra. I couldn't even find the "behind the scenes movie" that's supposed to be on it.
Oh the headset is nice, but I'm sure there are waaay better models out there
The 'Behind the Scenes' link is in the main menu after the DVD autoplay fires up. Cliff looks funny, like he hadn't had a bath in three or four days...
I haven't even tried the headphones yet. My soundcard runs through a 300-watt home Sony surround rig, so I can hear the game quite well. (And maybe the neighbors can, too...  )
Posted by: The Undertaker
Okay, one more progress screenie before makin more of this map 'happen' first. This part was sorta cool. There's a dugout for the water on the floor, and the main braces for the elevator are in place now...
All of this is new to me and sorta exciting. It's cool seein those brushes in the front and side views because I actually know why they're there. You seasoned map vets probably see that and think, 'Wow, man, is that all j00 got?'
Hehe...
Gonna add that cone ceiling next. Word has it that it might actually be a tin-foil hat in disguise, so I'm a little wary... 
Posted by: The Undertaker
...So now I'm adding the Windows in, so now this map is gonna crash and burn to the desktop for sure now.
Posted by: The Undertaker
Alrighty then. Got the static mesh thing happenin now...
Those green ones on the lower level were freshly planted, so it'll take 'em a while to grow.
Posted by: smeerkat
Isn't UED fun?
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
The 'Behind the Scenes' link is in the main menu after the DVD autoplay fires up. Cliff looks funny, like he hadn't had a bath in three or four days...
I haven't even tried the headphones yet. My soundcard runs through a 300-watt home Sony surround rig, so I can hear the game quite well. (And maybe the neighbors can, too... )
I tested the headphones quite a bit lately, seeing as I was done with my exams, but my brother wasn't
They work pretty well
I do have seen the behind the scenes. It once came on the cover DVD of PC gameplay
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
You seasoned map vets probably see that and think, 'Wow, man, is that all j00 got?'
Hehe...
I'm not thinking that. We've all been there, trust me
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by smeerkat
Isn't UED fun?
Actually it is. So far I'm havin a blast with it. It probably helps to have a silly sense of humor as well... Then again, I haven't worked on a project for a month or four to suddenly discover the whole thing's screwed. 
My folks had a look at that work in progress, and my ma said, 'Wow, zat is some serious zree-D modelling, ja?'. LOL, where did she learn about 3D-modelling...? 
The office is closed tomorrow, so the weekend starts today. Went out for Canada Day supper, ate so much I had to hit the couch for a while.
'Tonight on the evening news...' (taped) ...then zzZ..zzZZz..zz..
I'm almost set to go do another tutorial round. I think this next one will show how to make the elevator and refine the textures and lighting.
So far mapping's still fun, if not a little addictive. The more I do, the more I learn, the more I see the power of it and want to push ahead a bit further. Sort of like curtains being pulled aside. 
Without these tutorials, I doubt I'd have ever graduated beyond a square room with five redeemers and one player start for 42 players...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
It's addictive yeah
And the drive to learn more about the powerful engine just pushes you to go ahead and do it
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
I'm not thinking that. We've all been there, trust me
Yeah, I know, mang.
That was sort of a joke - I was gettin tired and silly at the time. Sorta like 'those green meshes need time to grow'.
That totally kicks ass how you can add brushed to a group, snap the rotation point to the middle and just drag the copies around to make the rest.
Seein stuff like that, I was. 'Whoa...'
Cool!!
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Yeah, I know, mang.
That was sort of a joke - I was gettin tired and silly at the time. Sorta like 'those green meshes need time to grow'.
That totally kicks ass how you can add brushed to a group, snap the rotation point to the middle and just drag the copies around to make the rest.
Seein stuff like that, I was. 'Whoa...'
Cool!!
LOL
All in good fun m8
Posted by: The Undertaker
Goat, just a quick question for ya. I don't expect a technical explanation, just a thought for the future. (You might know where this is going... )
Is it possible to make a freeform/freehand cutout for the main level subtraction brush?
Shadow Warrior's Heavy Metal map is kind of curvy all around the outside edges, and... whoops, I said too much. 
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Goat, just a quick question for ya. I don't expect a technical explanation, just a thought for the future. (You might know where this is going... )
Is it possible to make a freeform/freehand cutout for the main level subtraction brush?
Shadow Warrior's Heavy Metal map is kind of curvy all around the outside edges, and... whoops, I said too much.
There is FreeHand Polygon Drawing. But, I just tried it in UT2004 UED and it doesn't seem to work anymore 
I'll have to look into it.
You can also use the 2D shape editor
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
There is FreeHand Polygon Drawing. But, I just tried it in UT2004 UED and it doesn't seem to work anymore
I'll have to look into it.
You can also use the 2D shape editor
Thanks, man, I appreciate that.
If all else fails, the 2D shape editor might be the ticket. Like I said, it's a thought for the future. The creative process works best if an idea's left to cook on the back-burner for a while. After a while, ideas start simmering up from the subconcsious.
Plus the fact I've still got a ton of tutorials to work through. There's a mountain of knowledge in there, and I intend to work through every bit of it.
Yeah, and in an earlier post I wanted to say you guys have been very supportive thus far. Thanks for that. 
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Thanks, man, I appreciate that.
If all else fails, the 2D shape editor might be the ticket. Like I said, it's a thought for the future. The creative process works best if an idea's left to cook on the back-burner for a while. After a while, ideas start simmering up from the subconcsious.
Plus the fact I've still got a ton of tutorials to work through. There's a mountain of knowledge in there, and I intend to work through every bit of it.
Yup I've found that thinking about a level for some time without starting to work on it, results in more consistent levels and nice touches
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
Yup I've found that thinking about a level for some time without starting to work on it, results in more consistent levels and nice touches
What I've got in mind is this: I've got the SW Strategy Guide, which just happens to contain a perfect top-down map of Heavy Metal. Take a felt pen and trace the layout onto a clear piece of overhead-projector plastic sheet.
Tape that sheet to the monitor and voila - perfect dimensions. The height measurements, I can do that myself by eye. We played that level so many times at work, sometimes I still have dreams being in that level.
Posted by: The Undertaker
Damn, looks like we lost Teh Goat.
Probably sleepin now. Niterz, mang!
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
What I've got in mind is this: I've got the SW Strategy Guide, which just happens to contain a perfect top-down map of Heavy Metal. Take a felt pen and trace the layout onto a clear piece of overhead-projector plastic sheet.
Tape that sheet to the monitor and voila - perfect dimensions. The height measurements, I can do that myself by eye. We played that level so many times at work, sometimes I still have dreams being in that level.
Yeah good way of getting the dimensions right 
Night m8
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
Yeah good way of getting the dimensions right
Night m8
Hehe... no sleep for me. I'm gonna go fire up the next video module. I'm itchin to see how the water in the base gets built. Probably some sort of funky builder brush or something.
My next post will contain another screenie or two...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Hehe... no sleep for me. I'm gonna go fire up the next video module. I'm itchin to see how the water in the base gets built. Probably some sort of funky builder brush or something.
My next post will contain another screenie or two...
Water is easy
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Where is that next post?
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
Where is that next post?
In two weeks.
Hehe, our German company's finally gone. They were very nice and all, but I can only stand so much OomPa music, if ya know what I mean.
Okay, I'd wanted to bring more to the table, but this is takin shape, though!
The lighting's still sorta crappy, but all the static meshes are in place. All the inner ramps are set. The support pipes in the corners make it look cool all around, too.
So without further ado, I'm gonna go work on the elevator. Wooooh...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
elevators are fun
Looks good btw
Posted by: The Undertaker
It's on da way, mang.
Water looks a little bizarre, gonna hafta retrace those steps again. That five-foot pool looks like a 20-metre diving tank.
Posted by: The Undertaker
That bastard water just won't animate in real-time...
It splashes and ripples when you fire a rocket into it, but otherwise it just sits there like a sheet of glass, peering into a 'diving tank' that's not even there...
[Edit] Maybe I made the water sheet too big... 
Posted by: The Undertaker
I figured it out, man!!
That yahoo in the tutorial said to put the waterNoiseFrequency down to 50. Tried bumpin it back up to 60, and hey, there's waves...
It doesn't really show in the still pic, but the waves hide the 'diving tank'. GoaT, I don't understand why the engine does that. Is that just the way it is, or...?
Posted by: The Undertaker
See, how do you get 20 feet of water depth from this...
Oh, well - for my learning purposes it works.
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Well you need to add a watervolume that fills up the tank below the water surface to have real water. The fluidsurface _only_ shows a watersurface, nothing more.
Did you add that?
Posted by: The Undertaker
Greetz, ya ol' goat!
Uh, damn. No I didn't. They never mentioned a fluid volume in the tutorial.
How do I do that?
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Greetz, ya ol' goat!
Uh, damn. No I didn't. They never mentioned a fluid volume in the tutorial.
How do I do that?
iirc they do mention water volumes in that tutorial. Or maybe that's in a later VTM? Don't remember.
Anyway, here you can find a tutor explaining a bit about water volumes.
I hope that helps?
Posted by: The Undertaker
Okay, here's what I've got. Apologies for the filesize, but I thought it might help if you saw all the panels.
See, the brush appears to be still there. I looked at that tut you posted, and I can understand setting the attributes. What it doesn't explain, is doing this after the fact.
What would you suggest? Is there a way I could copy that brush and create a new water volume? Would this bugger the map up?
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
You want to create a volume of that shape?
Easy. Select that brush and right-click on it. There is an option Polygons -> To Brush.
Then your red builder brush will have that shape. You can then simply add in a volume.
Or am I misunderstanding you?
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
You want to create a volume of that shape?
Easy. Select that brush and right-click on it. There is an option Polygons -> To Brush.
Then your red builder brush will have that shape. You can then simply add in a volume.
Or am I misunderstanding you?
Whoa!!!
That's exactly the ticket, exactly where that brush is! I've got Ued open right now - I'm gonna go try that...
Eh, oh.. the brush height will have to match the surface of the water, though? Otherwise the player hits water physics before even touching the surface. Damn, this is fun!!
BRB...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Whoa!!!
That's exactly the ticket, exactly where that brush is! I've got Ued open right now - I'm gonna go try that...
Eh, oh.. the brush height will have to match the surface of the water, though? Otherwise the player hits water physics before even touching the surface. Damn, this is fun!!
BRB...
You could just move the red builderbrush down a bit
Posted by: The Undertaker
Blast it! It added solid cement.
Do I have to delete that brush and make a new one? The brush is red, like j00 said, though...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Blast it! It added solid cement.
Do I have to delete that brush and make a new one? The brush is red, like j00 said, though...
You clicked add brush I assume?
You need to click Add Volume
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
You clicked add brush I assume?
You need to click Add Volume
That was a good idea movin the water volume down. I might have been workin on the wrong brush (the level subtraction brush). As you can see here, the volume brush is there.
Tried a quick playtest, and the water still looks like a diving tank. I haven't set any of the water volume's properties, though. I'll have another look at that tut and see what's in there.
I sure appreciate yer help thus far, though. Without yer suggestions, I wouldn't have been able to even make that water volume...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
what do you mean by "looks like a diving tank"?
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
what do you mean by "looks like a diving tank"?
Hold on a sec, I'll make ya a screenie...
Posted by: The Undertaker
This is what I'm not understanding...
Why does the engine make a deep tank like this? Is my map corrupted or something? Shouldn't be...
Posted by: The Undertaker
The color from inside the water volume is pretty awesome, though...
Thing is, I don't want to build anything else in this map until that water's fixed... 
[Edit] I moved the fluid surface right on top of the volume, and that didn't help, either.
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Oh but that what you see when you're looking down upon the water is actually just a cubemap. It's a bunch of textures put together and assigned to the watersurface to make it look like it's reflecting the surroundings. Of course in your case it seems to be reflecting wrong stuff as you assigned a cubemap from another level to it.
Normally what a mapper does is this:
- he finishes of the map or at least the part wherre the water is.
- then he goes to create a cubemap for the water, for a tutor you can refer here -> Slayweb
- then he assigns that cubemap to the water fluidsurface.
- this results in the water perfectly reflecting the surroundings it's in
Makes any sense?
I hope it helps.
Posted by: The Undertaker
Damn, goat, you really are a genius at this stuff!!
/me bows :notworthy: :notworthy:
Hehe, it makes sense, alright. I played around with this sort of thing with the POVRay raytracer a long time ago. Never would have thought cubemapping would be required in this...
Holy smoke, this little mapping stunt here is turning out to be an eye-opener, indeed!!
This is just a touch more complicated than making Doom maps...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
This is just a touch more complicated than making Doom maps...
It sure is
Wait until you get started with particle emitters and Terrain
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
if you got any more questions just ask
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
It sure is
Wait until you get started with particle emitters and Terrain
if you got any more questions just ask
Yeah, will do. Mucho gracias, man.
I think it best that I book outa here and focus on that cubemapping stuff. Loaded up that page, and thought. 'Yeah, that looks familiar...'
He's got specs on exactly how to place the camera for the cube sides, and that'll take a bit of concentration. Fortunately I have Photoshop, so image editing'll be a piece of cake.
Just fer shits & giggles, I'll post the cube map when it's done, too.
Deep breath, and here I go...
AAAAGGGHHH!!!!! 
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
good luck
Posted by: The Undertaker
Just a quick note before I go...
Is the TCom Slayster runnin that Slayweb site?
It just dawned on me when I went to the main page, and saw that animation like in Slayster's avatar.
I should drop him a line and say hello while I'm there...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Just a quick note before I go...
Is the TCom Slayster runnin that Slayweb site?
It just dawned on me when I went to the main page, and saw that animation like in Slayster's avatar.
I should drop him a line and say hello while I'm there...
Yes it's him
Posted by: The Undertaker
Uh, I just ran into a small snag. Realized I can't make a cubemap with only the 'work lights'.
You knew this all along, didn't you? 
Hehe, the water's gonna require a bit more prep work yet. The more ya do, the more interesting it gets.
[Edit] Adding the floodlights and stuff...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Uh, I just ran into a small snag. I just realized I can't make a cubemap with just the 'work lights'.
You knew this all along, didn't you?
Hehe, the water's gonna require a bit more prep work yet. The more ya do, the more interesting it gets.
Well I did say in my procedure towards cubemaps that a mapper usually finishes the map or at least the areas where the water is
As it will just show the cubemap and no real-time reflections you do need to only add those in when you're done with the rest
Posted by: The Undertaker
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
Well I did say in my procedure towards cubemaps that a mapper usually finishes the map or at least the areas where the water is
As it will just show the cubemap and no real-time reflections you do need to only add those in when you're done with the rest
Well, my official excuse is that I'm a newb mapper. I wanna see all the cool stuff in ten minutes or less! 
And that just sunk in. I'll leave the cubemap till the entire map is done. There's a lot of structure to go yet...
Thanks for the voice of reason, G!
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Well, my official excuse is that I'm a newb mapper. I wanna see all the cool stuff in ten minutes or less!
And that just sunk in. I'll leave the cubemap till the entire map is done. There's a lot of structure to go yet...
Thanks for the voice of reason, G!
Well you'll get there. You've made great progress already. But I wanna see you do a map on your own one day
Posted by: The Undertaker
And that will happen hopefully sooner than later. I'm workin like hell and tryin to learn.
You know what map I'm workin towards.
Damn it, no one would make it for me after years of buggin them, so I'll make the f0rkin thing MYSELF!
Not against you, G, but you know what I'm talkin about... Damn straight.
Posted by: The Undertaker
Holy shiat, this is gettin good!! Set up a temp work light, and this is what the level looks like so far...
Dayum, there's a few ways a person could go with a design like that. Hehe, Mordax ain't too impressed with concrete ( ), but in a raw setting, it sure looks stark and unforgiving. Add his metal textures, and a map like this could be a winner.
Hehe, couldn't resist - this is my impression of Doom3...
Idea-mill's a brewin here, G!
Posted by: The Undertaker
Fuchy capesta!! Oh, my eyes are burnin...
This is lookin good, mang. About a third through the outer hall now...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Looking good indeed
Needs some texture variation though
Posted by: The Undertaker
Well, ol' Goat - I made a bit of a boo-boo.
Made all the cut-outs and windows perfect for the top ring to duplicate below. I forgot to rotate the middle level cut-outs, which fuXx0rs the map flow.
Once a map is rebuilt, there's no goin back.
Could be worse, though - at least I had a point saved before starting the outer arena. If anything, it was worthwhile redoing that part makin the windows. Sure an eye opener what's goin on behind the scenes when yer lookin at a 'simple' window...
I'm almost back on track - some new screenies soon, mang...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by The Undertaker
Well, ol' Goat - I made a bit of a boo-boo.
Made all the cut-outs and windows perfect for the top ring to duplicate below. I forgot to rotate the middle level cut-outs, which fuXx0rs the map flow.
Once a map is rebuilt, there's no goin back.
Could be worse, though - at least I had a point saved before starting the outer arena. If anything, it was worthwhile redoing that part makin the windows. Sure an eye opener what's goin on behind the scenes when yer lookin at a 'simple' window...
I'm almost back on track - some new screenies soon, mang...
What you mean there is no goin back? You could just select all those brushes and rotate them, then rebuild.
Posted by: Slayster
@ G.o.a.T & UT
I've not been posting much recently but I've still been reading, it's nice to see the Mapping forum not completely dead.
Got yer email UT, glad the tutorial was useful
So how goes the level now?
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by Slayster
@ G.o.a.T & UT
I've not been posting much recently but I've still been reading, it's nice to see the Mapping forum not completely dead.
Got yer email UT, glad the tutorial was useful
So how goes the level now?
Hey Slayster old buddy
Posted by: Rune
One thing I learned in UT99 UEd ...
click a button ... save as mymap1.unr
add a room ... save as mymap2.unr
add another room ... save as mymap3.unr
add a rocket launcher ... save as mymap4.unr
move the rocket launcher ... save as mymap5.unr
etc.
Those invisi-fucking-walls show up at odd times for odd reasons and I got so sick of throwing out perfectly good map designs that I started saving after damn near every single fucking step and then testing every inch of the saved map ... so that if one showed up ... I could just revert back to the previous save and not lose much.
I'm serious, I had probably a dozen maps that were comin' along fuckin' COOL til some fucking invisi-wall showed up and ruined the whole fucking thing.
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by Rune
Those invisi-fucking-walls show up at odd times for odd reasons and I got so sick of throwing out perfectly good map designs that I started saving after damn near every single fucking step and then testing every inch of the saved map ... so that if one showed up ... I could just revert back to the previous save and not lose much.
I'm serious, I had probably a dozen maps that were comin' along fuckin' COOL til some fucking invisi-wall showed up and ruined the whole fucking thing.
Then you need to fix it Not give up.
Posted by: Rune
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
Then you need to fix it Not give up.
Fix UEd? ... cuz as far as I've seen there's no way to fix those invisiwalls once they appear. All you can do is revert back to a previous save and as I said ... that made it too much of a pain in the ass.
Then of course I never got UEd in UT2k3 to work until after the LAST patch they released  , so I didn't bother knowing UT2k4 would be out soon.
And now that I have UT2k4 ... I also have a baby so mapping is not high on my priority list right now.
Maybe I'll be free again to map for UT2k22.
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by Rune
Fix UEd? ... cuz as far as I've seen there's no way to fix those invisiwalls once they appear. All you can do is revert back to a previous save and as I said ... that made it too much of a pain in the ass.
Then of course I never got UEd in UT2k3 to work until after the LAST patch they released , so I didn't bother knowing UT2k4 would be out soon.
And now that I have UT2k4 ... I also have a baby so mapping is not high on my priority list right now.
Maybe I'll be free again to map for UT2k22.
Well I'm not sure what invisible walls you're talking about but I used to have them in UED 2 a lot (due to it being mainly based op BSP). I was also capable of fixing them time after time by turning some BSP into semisolid, changing build-order, shifting stuff around or so.
Posted by: Mordax
Its not that I dont like concrete its just that I dont think it flies too well and so isnt aproriate for a map based on an Airbase
Level looks very good btw, be sure to send me copy when its done
Posted by: The Undertaker
HAAA!!!
Brother GoaT, this totally kicks!
Now I'm glad I rebuilt all the subtraction windows/doors/mesh set for the outer arena ring! I wasn't too happy with some of the ramp alignment, the floor cutouts were off a bit from a top view. Not so much a player would notice, but enough to keep bugging me. Maybe I subconsciously wanted that other attempt to fail...
I'm still in the rebuilding process, but now I've got a result I'm happy with! Learned something new tonight adding/duplicating a series of ramp meshes. I MUST have been doing something wrong before because this didn't happen last time. The editor automatically adjusts the heights of the copied meshes!
See, in this view, the editor did all the vertical alignment. The bright green one is the last mesh...
That is way cool!!
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Glad to see you're still making progress
Posted by: The Undertaker
Hallo, ol' Goat!
Seems I've hit a bit of a snag here.
Judging from the error messages on a light/texture rebuild, it almost seems like there's a null texture in there. I have a suspicion where - after adding a joining cube thing for the pipes, duplicating all around the arena, the texture on those cube things is that water sheet texture.
I'm gonna try slapping some textures on a few of those and see if the error messages decrease...
This is what the message looks like...
Posted by: The Undertaker
HAA!!
WTFLOLOLAIMBOTWALLHACKBS!!!!111
Hehe, that was it, Goat! Cool part was once I had one pillar textured up, the editor automatically re-textured all the others. It did a full re-build with nary a gripe.
Alrighty, then - the raw construction's done to a tee, I love it! Now, the VTM order is final texturing before the final lighting. Is there any reason why I couldn't do the lighting first?
A couple reasons I want to light it up first. One, so you can see a screenie or two before I muck it up with textures. Second, it would be nice to build the map and playtest and view texturing without relying on a few worklights slapped in.
The metal look is a good start in the VTM, but I just watched through and he slaps that metal texture on almost everything. (For the sake of time, I guess) I'm gonna go a little farther and texture the other stuff differently, like the window frames, level edges, etc.
I'll be sure to upload a few screenies once the lighting's done. With all concrete texture, just to make Mordax happy...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Yes those messages are what you get when you have surfaces that have no texture assigned to them. these surfaces can easily be recognized as they are shown with the well-know bubble-texture
Mmm well I usually do the texturing first, or at least priliminary texturing before lighting. I do this because different textures tend to *react* different to lighting.
So if you first do the lighting and then textures you might be in a situation where the textures can really respond well to the lighting :/
If you do the texturing first you'll automatically do the lighting to suit those texture(theme).
Of course slapping in some basic working lights I do add sometimes first. But that's ok as these look nothing like final lighting anyway.
You really seem to get the hang of it though I can't wait to see original work of you
Posted by: The Undertaker
Well, I hit a bit of a lighting meltdown yesterday. Not sure what the hell exactly happened. I made a group for the florescent lights; seemed straightforward enough.
Duplicated, centered and copied the set to the other levels. Discovered at compile time that it made two copies for every set that I'd pasted. Huh?!
Well, no matter. I'm rebuilding those lights manually on one level because I know what parts they need. Gonna try makin a group out of those and copy them up.
That's pretty wild how the Special_Lit attribute works! You don't see the light from that lower bulb, it just shines from the light fixture static mesh. Way cool!!
Posted by: PrezElectOllama!!
Looks like great fun, Undiez. And a cool map. Can't wait to play it~
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Speciallit owns idd
Posted by: The Undertaker
Hot damn!! 
The lighting is almost perfect now. It's hard to show from a single screenie, but this bastard looks nice! I'm tempted to make a light or two on different levels flicker and see what it does.
So now comes the fun part - the texturing. I'll post a screenie after that's done. The excitement of the construction phase is over. It's time to bring this thing home.
Posted by: Rune
By the time you're done, UT2k5 will be out.
jk ... looks freakin awesome. Put the bish up for download as soon as your done. Love to give 'er a go.
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Looking great UT
Posted by: dan
If you want crisper shadows, set the texture lightmap to 4. It looks awesome.
Example:
Standard lightmap of 32
Changed lightmap of 4
Looks 1000x better.
Posted by: The Undertaker
Actually it does. The textures in the second pic look a lot sharper. The pillar in the first pic looks sorta muddy, but you can almost see the brushed-metal look in the second.
/me files this away for later reference...
Thanks for the heads up! I haven't started the texturing yet...
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Don't use such detailled lightmaps all around your map though. They'll hit performance. I'd say use em wisely.
Posted by: dan
quote:
Originally posted by the G.o.a.T
Don't use such detailled lightmaps all around your map though. They'll hit performance. I'd say use em wisely.
The only change I noticed in the map was the filesize. FPS stayed the same 
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
quote:
Originally posted by Vertigo
The only change I noticed in the map was the filesize. FPS stayed the same
Well it depends on the system you're running it at. On lesser systems it will hit performance. Especially if it's a video-card with not that much RAM iirc.
Posted by: The Undertaker
Hey, dudes.
No screenie update, unfortunately. I'm still working out some lighting problems. Still getting weird copies of lights that shouldn't be there. No matter - I'll toast the rest out and finish it manually.
I haven't given up on mapping, not by a long shot!
It's one more month till teh big move to my new place, and there's so much other crap takin up my time and insanity. Gettin more nervous by the day. So many loose ends to tie up, and all could be done in a variety of ways.
So don't give up on me yet.
Posted by: the G.o.a.T
Real-life is important
Take care.
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