Newbie DarkRadiant Questions

[Bikerdude]

How do I place head models so they appear in-game? as I tried placing the /MD5 models but that didnt work.

 

This issue seems like it should be simple, but I'm not having much luck.

[demagogue]

My first idea is I'd just create a simple object entity with the head model and drop the def file in the pk4.

[Bikerdude]

Ah yes, doh!

[Bikerdude]

My first idea is I'd just create a simple object entity with the head model and drop the def file in the pk4.

Ah yes, doh!

So used moveable plant pots and changed the model to a heads, still not appearing in-game :-/

[ERH+]

entityDef atdm:ambient_head_3
{
"editor_displayFolder" "AI/ambient"
"spawnclass" "idAnimated"

"model" "head_01"
}

[Bikerdude]

ta.

[Bikerdude]

another question then, how do you get Ai to be completely mute? I have set the default vocal set to "atdm:ai_vocal_set_mute" but I can hear them sneezing or coughing..

[ERH+]

Can I change objective's text length? By default every objective occupies three lines and anything beyond that will be cut out - is it hard-coded?

[DeTeEff]

How do I place head models so they appear in-game? as I tried placing the /MD5 models but that didnt work.

 

This issue seems like it should be simple, but I'm not having much luck.

 

When I did this I believe I used the whole AI-person and made the skin of the guy nodraw... A bit haXXor though...

[Bikerdude]

When I did this I believe I used the whole AI-person and made the skin of the guy nodraw... A bit haXXor though...

Hey stranger, its an update for your FM as it happens...

[Obsttorte]

Can I change objective's text length? By default every objective occupies three lines and anything beyond that will be cut out - is it hard-coded?

You have to alter the objectives gui files.

[R Soul]

I've recently been working on a set of intersecting arches using meshes made in Blender, but I don't have much of a feel for how good or bad performance is. Here's a video of me looking around a section of my map:

 

Do those numbers look okay for the sort of detail you can see? Bear in mind there's another set of arches on the level above, and I'd like to have another level with some more pillars, but a flat roof. And one or two archways at ground level. Can someone with more experience tell me if that's wise, or if it's likely to cause performance problems? The wiki page says the drawcall limit should be 4000, and the shadows limit 80000, but those numbers might be intended for a large outdoor area. Values of 3000 and 60000 for a small bedroom would clearly be ridiculous, so I'm not sure I should just be comparing my scene to those standards.

[Dram]

Nice arches! The best leads are the triangle count and vertex count on the models themselves. For those kind of arches my expectation would be about 3000 tris each.

[Obsttorte]

The stats look ok imho. They will rise once you add more lights, though. So as long as you keep the amount of lights (especially the shadow-casting ones) low enough, you shouldn't run into any issues.

 

Performance isn't something you care about in small areas usually. Even if the stats there might be higher then possible, there is no need to worry as long as they are still within acceptable ranges.

 

On another note: For the rounded walls you may wanna use patches to avoid the hard edges, unless they are desired or you are going to add something there to mask them.

[peter_spy]

Stats like that don't tell much by themselves, as model triangles are multiplied by the number of lights you got in the scene, ambient_world included. If you want to know whether you model is efficient, show us your topology, either in modeling app, or in game with showtris command. Ideally, you'd want to use only as many polygons/triangles as you really need to convey a certain shape, and fake the rest with your smoothing group and normalmap. Another important thing is the number of materials, you should keep it as low as possible too.

[peter_spy]

And for reference, this model is 4000 triangles (for both sides of the entrance):

 

And as you see it's not super efficient, there are some loops and divisions on the arch that could be removed, as they don't contribute to the overall shape much. In that regard, 3000 tris for a simple arch seems like much. Maybe you should use some more general guidelines, f.i. I rarely use more than 16-24 sides for a cylinder, as smoothing group does the rest for me. That would mean 8-12 sides for an arch. Typically that number goes down for smaller details, f.i. you can make thin bars with rectangles and one smoothing group, to fake a cylinder shape. But these have to be pretty small, so player's won't notice that. All in all, it's good to establish a general number for your big architectural pieces and go down from there. Modern games use similar, slightly higher values, so if you feel like 24 sides is still blocky, you can start from 32 etc.

 

Also remember that low number of tris/polygons isn't for performance reasons only. If you plan to fully unwrap your models, that also means less polygons to deal with during the unwrap phase, which means less time spent on that (which is always better). What is probably more important, low number of tris will also mean that you can use your model for casting shadows, instead of making a separate shadow mesh, and that is definitely a time-saver.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Judith

[ERH+]

Spawning objects:

     ai enemy = sys.spawn("atdm:ai_undead_skeleton_bloody");

- this line will spawn an AI, but what should it look like to spawn a func_static? What should I put instead of "ai"?

[Obsttorte]

The name you gave the entity. So if your func_static is defined like this

 

entityDef myFuncStatic
{
    "inherit"      "func_static"
    "model"      ....
}

you would spawn it via

 

entity fs = sys.spawn("myFuncStatic");

[JackFarmer]

There are entities called "func_camera_anim" and "func_cameraview.

 

Are these supposed to be used with a surveillance camera as in Thief 2?

 

I have been browsing through all AI and all models but I cannot find anything related.

[grayman]

There are entities called "func_camera_anim" and "func_cameraview.

 

Are these supposed to be used with a surveillance camera as in Thief 2?

 

I have been browsing through all AI and all models but I cannot find anything related.

 

Those are for use in cutscenes, described starting here.

 

Security Cameras ala Thief2 will be fully functional in TDM 2.07.

[JackFarmer]

Hello grayman,

 

Thank you very much for your quick clarification.

[Petike the Taffer]

I've been trying to make a little test map with a harbour motif. For testing, there is a rectangular pit in front of the harbour buildings, and it's filled with a water entity. The same sort you'd put in a well, to simulate the presence of water.

 

Unfortunately, I seem to be having problems with a leak in that area. The Pointfile shows me that the issue is probably with the entity that represents the body of water. Strangely, I have it fit correctly within the pit area. It's touching all it walls, the entity is completely enclosed. (It has those little gaps at the edges that all "make room" spaces have, but that's it. I haven't modified anything about it.

 

A second room is present above the pit room, and the sizes are the same. There are no gaps between the walls, there should be no leaks. The only thing the second room lacks is a "floor", otherwise the upper surface of the water entity would be inaccessible. I have yet to connect the third room, the one with the minor harbour buildings scenery inside, with the first two rooms (i.e. the pit and the space above it).

 

I've made absolutely sure the walls are all enclosed properly, without gaps between their edges, but I'm still getting a leak from the water entity. Does this mean I need to make it smaller than the internal volume of the pit ? Should it not be touching the inner walls of the pit ? What should I do ? I just need to fill the pit space with water, as I want to test how the harbour area would look like with water, piers, and some boats or ships. (A very simple scene.)

[Obsttorte]

You get leaks when the origin of any entity can be reached from the void (the area outside of your map). I would suggest you to check the pointfile. A red line will indicate how the specific origin is connected to the void, so you can trace down the leak. In addition, check the console when getting the leak warning. It will tell you which entity caused the leak. Maybe it isn't the water.

 

In addition, a screenshot would be of help.

[Petike the Taffer]

You get leaks when the origin of any entity can be reached from the void (the area outside of your map). I would suggest you to check the pointfile. A red line will indicate how the specific origin is connected to the void, so you can trace down the leak. In addition, check the console when getting the leak warning. It will tell you which entity caused the leak. Maybe it isn't the water.

 

In addition, a screenshot would be of help.

 

When I was testing the map yesterday, I switched off the pointfile, then intentionally deleted the water entity, then switched on the pointfile again... and the issue still persisted. I have looked at the entire pit space, and there are no gaps, but there is still a void issue. I really don't understand where the leak might be.

 

Could this also be a problem of the pointfile not updating itself properly, even after the problem is dealt with ? I seem to recall there was a problem or bug like that a few years ago. Has it been fixed ?

 

I'll provide screenshots, sure. Wait a few minutes, please.

 

----

 

Unrelated question: Which prefabs or textures for portal_sky are less resource intensive ? Though the starry sky one is obviously great-looking, I'd prefer something that's animated, but not as intensive. Or if none of the animated skyboxes are less-intensive, then some sky texture that looks good from most angles.

[AluminumHaste]

Pointfile is created by Dmap. If you delete the water entity, you would have to go into TDM, run DMAP, and then see if it leaks.