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(Constructor, Lightmaps) - update

Name:	Apparatus
Date Posted:	Jun 07, 2008
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Right, doesn't really sound like a plan, but it is actually, this post is here just to fill in some dots:

I picked up constructor a few days ago and noticed with both the orc and the buggy models imported in that they don't really produce any significant shadow/or self shadowing. Today I just finished another bridge and for the sake of it, i imported it in Constructor.

I gotta say, after Relight, the darn bridge looks great with all those lightmaps on it. Now, the question is - can we get that in TGE?

It might not be possible, or not a very good idea, but I for one would very much enjoy such a feature..

forgot to add: the plan is to make a bunch of bridges for tge/tgea people out there.

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List:	12/10/08 - Textures Pack Down 12/09/08 - Materials Bazaar ~ Metals Library release 12/07/08 - Materials Bazaar (II) update 12/03/08 - Materials Bazaar (I) 12/03/08 - TGEA Environment Guide 11/04/08 - Kork 2.0, halted work 09/24/08 - Constructor Pipeline (I) 09/23/08 - Interior Guide Pack Free Download

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Julian R (Jun 07, 2008 at 22:58 GMT)

Nice work, how long did it take you?

Kim Ball (Jun 07, 2008 at 23:51 GMT)

Ooooo! I could really use those.

Jaimi McEntire (Jun 08, 2008 at 00:22 GMT)

Quote:
I gotta say, after Relight, the darn bridge looks great with all those lightmaps on it. Now, the question is - can we get that in TGE?

Yes - You'll need brushes in your map before you can export it, but it should work. Once you export it, you can use it in TGE 1.52 or TGEA 1.7 as is.

Of course, you need collision meshes to be able to walk on it, and it won't accept dynamic shadows on the DTS part (the main drawback). But you can get around most of this by making parts of the map out of brushes (the spots where you want to get dynamic shadows).

Scott Warren (Jun 08, 2008 at 04:09 GMT)

Very nice indeed. GG is booming with talent. great job =)

Apparatus (Jun 08, 2008 at 09:43 GMT)

the idea was to have these lightmaps on dts objects; as is, this model can be recreated easy in constructor and achieve the same result; my focus was on dts this time; the model here has 8 collision meshes (you can shoot trough and everything).
Edited on Jun 08, 2008 09:46 GMT

Jaimi McEntire (Jun 08, 2008 at 15:13 GMT)

Sorry - it's not currently possible to get the lightmaps without the dts being part of the dif. It doesn't need to be recreated though - even 1 brush is enough to make a dif.

Mike Rowley (Jun 08, 2008 at 15:46 GMT)

That looks really cool. You did a great job. :-)

Apparatus (Jun 08, 2008 at 20:04 GMT)

ok, now ime excited; gg has two very good tools (Showtool and Constructor) and i believe somebody should pick them up and push further the good things available there. Been reading today about Showtool used as centralized exporter via Collada, now Constructor gives us the lightmaps for dts shapes. the obvious gain here is visuals but hey, sometimes this matter.

the picture shown here is basically the same model added as a shape and as an interior (imported in constructor and saved as dif from there).

The top part is lit by the same cottagelight and seems to be more affected by it. The same light is inside the 'dif' version;

ime not really sure how this impacts performance or anything, how the lod still works or not (collision works just fine as long as you have at least one 1x1 brush somewhere along with the dts shape);

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Edited on Jun 08, 2008 20:55 GMT

Tom Eastman (Eastbeast314) (Jun 08, 2008 at 23:32 GMT)

That lighting looks very promising. Cool stuff as always!

Kevin McLaughlin (Jun 09, 2008 at 17:11 GMT)

The thing is, DTS models added inside a DIF via constructor are still DTS shapes. The DIF just stores and loads the DTS9(s) along with the brushes.

I can see it as useful in some ways for lighting. I can see it as useful for adding furniture and such inside a DIF house, rather than having to add each DTS in the mission editor.

But if you add a DIF that is a big DTS bridge with one tiny brush, you've really added a one-brush DIF and a DTS bridge, and your performance will react the same as if the DTS and DIF were placed in the mission separately.

Matt Fairfax (Jun 09, 2008 at 18:15 GMT)

Actually, the collision meshes (no longer limited to 9) will get baked into the far more efficient Interior collision system.

Also, as Apparatus has highlighted...the shape will now receive lightmapped shadows from the sun and other lights in the scene (sadly they do not currently react to dynamic lights).

Kevin McLaughlin (Jun 09, 2008 at 18:43 GMT)

I stand corrected, Matt. ;) Thanks. I was NOT aware that the collision meshes get baked into the interior system; I thought included DTS were still using DTS collisions. Interesting! That makes baking sound like a much more viable means of bringing in more complex shapes.

What drawbacks (other than lighting like a DIF) are we looking at for this method?

Apparatus (Jun 11, 2008 at 00:33 GMT)

Interesting enough, the collisions in a DTS object exported as a DIF (with a brush somewhere) are still correct. The only drawback i noticed in every test i made is the huge relighting times, even for one model. I imagine how long should one wait with 30-50 objects in the scene ..

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