Sharper lightmaps
by Kevin Johnson · in Torque Game Engine · 04/30/2004 (1:33 pm) · 7 replies
Is there any way to sharpen up the shadows in dif light maps? I would like sharp shadows not the blocky ones i am getting now..
#2
05/01/2004 (2:25 pm)
One thing i'd like to have is 32 bit light maps on the terrain and interiors because the 16 bit ones really look like crap on smooth white objects like snow. I tried to change it a while ago but I had difficulty.
#3
TSE runs in 24 bit color for terrain lightmaps. Looks a lot better.
As long as you're using lightmaps, though, you will have somewhat blurry shadows. Something like stencil shadows would be pretty crisp, but at a big cost in performance.
05/01/2004 (9:20 pm)
You probably want 24 bit lightmaps, unless you feel like supporting... er... transparent light.TSE runs in 24 bit color for terrain lightmaps. Looks a lot better.
As long as you're using lightmaps, though, you will have somewhat blurry shadows. Something like stencil shadows would be pretty crisp, but at a big cost in performance.
#4
05/02/2004 (1:55 pm)
Kevin - you can change the lightmap scale when you export in map2dif. Look at the world parameters.
#5
I bumped it down and they did sharpen.. but when i try to bump it way down to like say 2 it says my lightmap is too large. Is there a place where i can increase this or am i stuck with 256x256?
05/03/2004 (6:58 am)
Thanx I bumped it down and they did sharpen.. but when i try to bump it way down to like say 2 it says my lightmap is too large. Is there a place where i can increase this or am i stuck with 256x256?
#6
You might want to try not using detail brushes and break up your geometry more, so it splits the lightmap. Ie. if there is a long flat wall, attach some geometry to it to try and break it up.
You could also try working with the code to increase the max lightmap size in the packer. It's not just a search and replace 256 with 512 operation though.
05/03/2004 (6:15 pm)
Yeah, that's problem #952 with map2dif. It doesn't split lightmaps when they get over a certain size and there's no easy way to increase the maximum lightmap size. You might want to try not using detail brushes and break up your geometry more, so it splits the lightmap. Ie. if there is a long flat wall, attach some geometry to it to try and break it up.
You could also try working with the code to increase the max lightmap size in the packer. It's not just a search and replace 256 with 512 operation though.
#7
05/04/2004 (2:45 pm)
I should probably add that there are steps being taken to resolve the many many issues we have with map2dif. Not baby steps. Hopefully we can get to it in a few months. 
Torque Owner Stefan Lundmark
Also, I think with Synapse Gamings Lightingpack you can achieve this.