darth-ackbar Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hey everyone, as some of you know, I'm working on some Tatooine area models for my TC mod. Well I'm having some trouble getting them in-game. My latest problem is that when I warp to module, everything appears black. I can't see anything I am able to walk around fine though. Is it a problem with the lighting, or the model itself. I don't know a lot about lighting so I think that's possibly a problem. So in light of that, a few questions... 1) What is the purpose of lightmaps and how do they work? 2) Do I need to include AuroraDLights in my model? 3) Does anyone know what the problem actually is or have they experienced it themselves? 4) (slightly off topic) What happens if you don't have a .vis file, do you see everything or nothing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Drexl Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 1. Lightmaps are what lights up the area. If you don't have any, your area will appear black or at least very dark. 4. You do need a .vis file. The vis file is a little confusing to look at at first but is actually pretty simple. It tells the game what areas you can see from the "current" area. It's used for modules that are split up (pretty much all of them). For example, if I'm standing at the entrance to my module, will I be able to see through the door over there? It's up to you to know where the module is split up though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darth-ackbar Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 OK, I think it's probably the lightmaps that are the problem, is there a good tutorial anywhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trex Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I've had this problem before. I'll bet the problem is that the lights set in the area (.are) file are set to something incompatible with what you've created (maybe 0?). Change the SunAmbientColor and SunDiffuseColor to something else. These are an example from one of my own modules I made : Hopefully every should show itself then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Drexl Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Try Trex's solution first. If you still need a lightmap tutorial I know there is at least 1 in the tutorials section. Just look through there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithspecter Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 1. Lightmaps are what lights up the area. If you don't have any, your area will appear black or at least very dark. This is not true. Lightmaps do add lighting effects to areas, but areas can be lit without lightmaps, they just won't look as good. What you need is an AuroraDLight. Put one of those in there, and play around with the settings until it looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darth-ackbar Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Ok, so it's AuroraDLights that are the problem? I wasn't sure what they did so I left them out of my model. I'll try that next time I get the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Basically, the AuroraDLight & the lightmaps. This is what troubles modelers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithspecter Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Basically, the AuroraDLight & the lightmaps. This is what troubles modelers. The AuroraDLights are not a problem. Area modelers have been using them since the advent of KAurora. By using 1, you can effectively light up your area enough to see decently. The only problem is that the lighting is very bland, and there are no shadows. Lightmaps can help the problem, but lightmaps can be very finicky at times. It's best to wait until last to do the lightmaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darth-ackbar Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 OK everyone, I got it working, well one of the modules, still working on the other. When I warped to it in game, it suddenly struck me that I haven't got a clue how to put a skybox on the module I'm sure it can't be hugely difficult so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for all your help so far BTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disbeliever Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 SithSpector is correct. Your problem is not having an auroraDlight. Add one in and play with settings. He is also correct about lightmaps. Do those at the end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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