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  1. #11
    Administrator Major_A's Avatar
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    Did you find this one.
    http://www.modtheater.com/threads/bl...8/#post-353606

    mentions -nosurfshadows



  2. #12
    Yes mate, that was the thread I mentioned earlier.
    Unfortunately as the name would suggest, the "-nosurfshadows" option removes all shadows.... that's why we haven't seen the crazy Dutchman for a while. lol

    The concept of this option is pointless because if you didn't want lighting effects you could skip the light phase of the compile and get the same result.
    I have tried it and it does remove all shadows from the map although it retains the sun flare.

    Thank you for offering the suggested fix. They are all worth while trying.

  3. #13
    I was often told back in the early days to turn bounce off (-bounce 0) as it would regularly crash my light compile, and becomes temperamental at best...

    For great shadows I always alter the lightmapdensity for certain surfaces (the lower the more pronounced the shadows)...

    For example, a house may block the sunlight to a road, so I make the lightmapdensity of the road around '4' or '8', but it depends entirely on what you're trying to achieve in the map. To set the lightmapdensity, hit S for Surface Properties, load the properties of the surface you want (click mouse scroll wheel over surface of your brush or patch), then select that surface (Ctrl + Shift + Left Click) and enter a number in 'Density' (underneath 'Color') and hit apply.
    Last edited by 1337Smithy; 09-13-2017 at 10:40 PM.

  4. #14
    Hi all,

    Been a while since I've posted here, but decided to expand on my post before this one. This is only for anyone not familiar with this technique.

    Increasing the 'lightmap' density of any surface improves its shadow quality, giving you 'harder' shadows as apposed to the soft default property. Now, this property can be configured globally via the compiler (affects all surfaces) or done in Radiant Surface Properties on individual brush faces. I do the latter for more control.

    To change a surface, add a number to the 'Density' field (under the colour) and apply it to your surface: https://ibb.co/b747HG. In the example I've shown you, I use '8'. The lower the harder your shadows will look (I don't go any lower than 4).

    How it can look (taken from the map I'm working on):

    https://ibb.co/cDercG

    https://ibb.co/bsU7HG

    Note the wall behind the ventilation unit, as well as the floor underneath the bench. Brushes and patches will form shadows no problem, but to get the models to cast them I utilised the 'caulk shadow' texture. What it looks like in radiant: https://ibb.co/dk4k4w (I've placed caulk shadow brushes inside / under the models)

    Not only does this help with your shadows, thus influencing the atmosphere of a map, it can also fix nasty anomalies that occur with the default lightmapdensity. Namely when several brushes have a single light source illuminating them (common above doorways) and you get a jarring disparity in surface intensity on each brush face.

    Hope this helps.

  5. #15
    Administrator Major_A's Avatar
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    That's very cool information, detailed with pictures even!
    Thankyou.



  6. #16
    Cheers matey, that's very informative.

    I'm still getting these scorch marks. After a few days of starting a new map they find their way in.
    I am positive that (in my case) it is video card related. My Radeon R7 drivers upgrade automatically every couple of months and whenever they do, the scorch marks disappear for a short while before finding their way back.
    This "new" system has on-board video, its something I've steered away from for over 25 years. Dropping my defenses has bit me on the arse.

  7. #17
    No problem. It's one of those tips I've only just learnt about in the last few years. The original MOHAA levels never really altered the default so I never thought it was possible. I guess it cut down on compile times considerably back then and reduced system requirements. Though Breakthrough definitely took advantage of the lightmapdensity as I always thought the shadows in the campaign were good, and it was helped by their clever use of decals to form fake shadows.

    Oh, and I found an example of the anomaly you can sometimes find on brushwork with high density settings: https://ibb.co/gwH3Bb (taken from D-Day SP level, it can be quite jarring at times).

    RE your scorch marks - have you given the map to anyone else to see if it's compile related?

  8. #18
    I have wondered where and how the shadow texture was used. At one stage I even tried it as a regular caulk in an attempt to stop the light seeping around wall edges.

    Yes I have tried getting others to compile for me but the compile failed the lighting phase which is where and when the scorch marks are generated.
    With another guy I spent 5 hours and over 100 emails trying to walk him through setting up Radiant and MBuilder. lol It was a fiasco. He gave up and went to bed right when he was millimeters from compiling.
    I now have a young mapper lined up whom has agreed to help with the compile when my current map is completed. Although he is new to mapping (I've been tutoring him) I am not fussed who compiles it.
    It takes less than 10 minutes.

    Every one in a hundred or so compiles the map seems perfect... or the scorch marks are in a place that is unseen in game.

  9. #19
    Sounds like it won't be your hardware then. Have you tried with -bounce 0? I never use radiosity personally.

  10. #20
    No mate, I haven't tried "-bounce 0".
    I don't want to jinx myself but it seems to be compiling well today. About 5 or 6 good compiles in a row.
    It tends to do this from time to time then I get a heap of bad compiles. About 5 good ones then 100 scorched compiles. :/

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