So, what are you working on right now?

[Baddcog]

So many cool shots.

Am I the only one who doesn't like the standard lights? They're to saturated (red/yellow) and make everything look the same.

 

Well, I changed my 'new fancy lights' (actually my old lights from Thief II but they are newer looking than the other TDM lights) to more of a blueish white hue for this very reason (for the 1.08 update). One was renamed light_blue but the others aren't named that ... but that's a long story lol. (and the globe lights)

 

Basically we can make more entities and make skins for a whiter glass, and make them a whiter light, but we ca'nt change even one lamp that has only been used twice because it will 'break' maps and completely destroy and devastate some authors artistic integrity.

 

But I like having (even if they are a bit saturated) more yellowy /orange colors on the older dirtier looking lights and more white/blue on newer stuff (at least electrical), it somewhat separates poor and rich areas and gives them a different ambieance.

 

You should be able to add _color prop to any light entities and easily desaturate them a bit for your personal taste though.

[Baddcog]

My thoughts exactely. They look like an actually living city.

 

The following shot is from the map I am building for the alternative gameplay contest. Where the wooden structure in the middle plays an important role...

 

 

Virgin sacrifice?

 

I don't mind the size of those beams, they look realistic for timbers in a place like that. And moreso because you have a variety of smaller boards on the platform below so it has a nice sense on scale based on construction.

[Melan]

About lights: you can also use objects instead of readymade objects, and add regular lights to them. Easy to change light properties that way.

[Obsttorte]

You can change the lights on almost all light entities.

 

Regarding map split: I guess a good solution would be to provide to versions of the map, a splitted and an unsplitted. So both parties, the low endlers and the high endlers, would benefit. Obviously this would mean some extra work for you.

 

Regarding vert drift: I've already mentioned as we were talking about the func_static issue, that the method used is very error sensitive. If someone could post the current way this is be done, I would gladly like to come up with alternatives if possible. A question about that, has the matrix-matrix product that was there been removed? (Maybe the wrong thread to post this, but ... )

[Baddcog]

I wouldn't recommend having different versions of the map. It's confusing for players (downloading, testing, responding/asking questions about map, etc...). You'd need to beta test everything twice. If you update you'd have two maps to update.

 

And that still doesn't solve your main concern of running out of entities.

[Sotha]

+1

Multiple versions of a single map is a horrible, horrible idea.

[pusianka]

Moonbo@

 

I am quite confused, but I have to ask: Are these my window textures in some of the shots???

[Baddcog]

Moonbo@

 

I am quite confused, but I have to ask: Are these my window textures in some of the shots???

 

The blue/yellow one on the right are the 'chipped' glass skins I added for 1.08 (sourced from cgtex I think), the others have been in the mod for quite some time.

[Jesps]

Virgin sacrifice?

 

Hmm, now that you given me the idea... *ponders*

 

In the meantime I'll just share this shot:

[Moonbo]

Moonbo@

 

I am quite confused, but I have to ask: Are these my window textures in some of the shots???

 

He Pusianka, so far I've only used stock textures in the map, so everything in those shots comes packaged w/ the game and wasn't taken from somewhere else. I think I swapped out those textures for more standard warped glass anyways, the colors were too jarring.

[Capela]

@Jesps, nice shot, i like it , the top light model dont seem the more appropriate for that room, just an a opinion.

[Baddcog]

still making progress...

[Baal]

Very nice. I like all the little details in the stonework (especially the stairs). Have I mentioned that yellow is not my favourite colour?

[Bikerdude]

Very nice, the normals really show well and there is details everywhere you look. But as Baal said, a tad too yellow.

 

In the meantime I'll just share this shot:

What are we looking at the back off, is it an organ or sum such..?

[Melan]

Baddcog: I like this scene very much!

[grayman]

Tres nice!

[Springheel]

I like the scene a lot! The stairs look great. Don't see any problems with the colour.

[Baddcog]

thnx, tonight at work I focused on the view the other way.

 

(and made it less yellow )

 

(the difference in FPS is pretty good PC to pretty bad laptop)

[Melan]

That's a more agreeable yellow!

[Bikerdude]

• thnx, tonight at work I focused on the view the other way.
  
• (and made it less yellow )
  
• (the difference in FPS is pretty good PC to pretty bad laptop)
  

Man its gonna be fiun to wonder around your map and Good man :-)

 

That's a more agreeable yellow!

hey mista, got any SS of your little mission..?

[Moonbo]

Hey Badcog, how did you get your lights so close together like that, without any black gaps between them? Are they intersecting?

[Baddcog]

Well, I used a world ambient over the entire map, that gets rid of pitch black so player can always see what they are doing.

 

And there is some light overlaps I'm sure, not paying too much attention to that. Up to three overlaps really won't have too much effect on performance.

 

The stairs are being hit by the light on the wall and the torch (there are lights in the tower windows, but noshadows I believe, and their radius is small). Then the torch and window light may intersect. The window and the blue light may intersect a bit also. The ground is mostly patches with caulk underneath so no really large polys that get hit by many lights at once. Likewise most of the building polys are split up quite a bit.

Almost every single unseen face is caulked too, so no wasted performance.

 

Same shot with r_showlightcount 1 and r_showtris 1

The pink I believe is 4 lights hitting the tris (ambient world is one but it doesn't cast shadows). (black=0, red=1, blue=2, green=3, pink = 4... white is 5 or 6 plus)

 

You can see there are only 10-20 tris that even get hit by 3 shadow casting lights.

 

And for higher detail things like the pillars I add noshadows 1 to them, then make a simpler shadow mesh just like an object.

[Melan]

hey mista, got any SS of your little mission..?

Well...

[Shadowhide]

Well...

not a black and white colors anymore ?

[Melan]

If you mean the lights, not here. I am experimenting with light colour in this mission.