The Geonosian Arena WIP

[Eklin]

in the screenshot that you have, a lot of the wall textures aren't lining up. Also, those two horizontal lines that go along the walls look a little too purple. They should be like a dark grey or something.

[DaJo Kesea]

The lighting was really screwed up in those last screenshots, Elkin. Nothing was as it is supposed to be.

 

HOWEVER, I have just about completed the entry room using a lot of patches and curves. It looks a million times better, and the frame rate is still decent. I just have a little touch up work to do in there, and then it will be ready. (I'll post a screenshot before I proceed.)

 

From that point, I will duplicate the entry point room several times and place them in a large oval, exits facing inward. A long hallway will also connect these rooms from behind, with a few ground level prison cell entrances along the opposite wall. The entry point rooms will all face inward toward the arena floor (next on my list of things to construct). Once all this is done, the ground level will be complete, and all that will be left to do is build UP!

 

Two (really four) questions:

1. Do detail brushes handle shadows and light just like structural ones? What about patches?

2. Second, does sky lighting pass through solid objects, constantly illuminating the floor even within rooms? If so, how do I make negative light or simulate shadows?

 

If anyone has a relatively close-up picture of the execution pillars, please send me one. I need to duplicate the texture and any possible deviation from the standard cylinder that might be near the top. I'm also going to revamp some of my textures since I now realize I can go higher than 256 px on textures that need to be large!

[winner_rex]

Hmm, those are questions for Rich.

I think structural brushes should only be "anything touching the void" at least according to some sites.

 

Here's a pic from the Padme Action figure, and it's reasonably accurate, though shorter...

http://www.rebelscum.com/photo.asp?image=swsaga/swsaga0202padmeaelooseltfront.jpg

 

Rock on

[DaJo Kesea]

Ok, I have the Padme action figure. So if her pillar is accurate, I'll go from that. Thanks for the pic. Rich is a good guy for help, too, thanks. His tutorials inspired me to start this project.

 

Well, I'm going to go get some junk food for inspiration and get back to work for the night. I hope to have something to show by sometime after midnight.

 

BTW, I found that putting a bevel on the floor where it meets the wall makes it look like sand pushed up against the edges of the room. Pretty neat! The trick is, again, lining up the textures.

[Eklin]

Might I suggest that for the wall textures, that rather than using that brown, wave-like one that you currently have, that you use more of a dotted, dirt-like texture.

It would probably make an easier job lining everything up, since it would be pretty much seemless.

 

Or, you could just blend the two different textures together, to give it some variety.

 

EDIT: Nevermind. I just took a look at some of those messedup screens that you have, and the textures look really good.

[RichDiesal]

I have been summoned?

 

Structural vs detail brushes make no difference in terms of visual quality. Both structural and detail brushes will look identical in-game.

 

The only difference between them is that detail brushes do not block the VIS process. Read Detail Brushes tutorial for more in-depth coverage.

 

As for patches, however, that's a bit different. Light shining on the front of a patch will be blocked (and cast a shadow) - however if you have any light source behind a curve, it will shine through as if the patch wasn't even there.

 

Sky lighting (if you're talking about a sky shader emitting surfacelight or sunlight) will shine just as if it was real lighting...it will not pass through any brushes.

 

Although incidentally, you can create negative light by adding the key light and a negative value.

[winner_rex]

ya learn something every day

[DaJo Kesea]

Rich! Hi, and welcome! I had emailed you previously about how much I enjoyed, and benefited from your tutorials. jnday@prodigy.net. Thanks for contributing here.

 

LucasForums was down last night when I tried to post an update, so here it is! I'm happy with the results, especially with the new sand texture, complete with boot prints! Of course, it may start looking too much like a beach volleyball arena, so we'll have to see. But for now, I'm happy.

www24.brinkster.com/jnday

I wonder if any light is getting behind those patches on the walls? I hope not. Actually, I'm hoping that the only reason the room is so bright with so little shadows is because I put the sky right in the doorway! That's only temporary until I create the arena floor. Any critcisms are welcome, but please hurry before I begin duplicating and rotating these rooms late tonight.

 

Question: How do I change the "clop clop" walking sound to more of a shuffling on sand sound in certain parts of the arena? Any way to make dust fly when you fall as well?

 

Thanks to all for your help, especially winner_rex and Rich. With the community behind me, things will work out just fine.

[winner_rex]

booya! looking good!

It doesnt look like any light is seeping through from the shots, like you said its probably because of the sky being so close. Also, another suggestion would to change the grey wall textures...as a temporary replacement I would suggest the yavin/v_ series textures. [edit] no, i take it back...use http://www24.brinkster.com/jnday/images/entry.jpg the rock texture from this shot...

Everything else is looking great!

[lo5t_h0pe]

the room is looking good. goes well with the mood. not sure how to suggest to light it. a bit bright right now. the room anakin and padme were in in the movie was pretty dark, so i would say go for that. ambient light seeping in kind of like caustics off the sand. as for the walls, i almost like the old textures better. they seemed smoother and more natural. the new one seems a bit too busy, if that makes sense. other than that, looks good and i look forward to when you move out of the rooms to the REAL fun.

[inbredyokel]

To light the rooms, couldn't you just have an illuminated arch-shaped polyhedron angling down onto the floor, like light coming into a dusty room through a window. This effect can be seen in Ente's level "PadHall" in the upper windows

http://www.jedioutcastmaps.com/core/241/b19.jpg

Then, just have the rest of the room dimlit lighted the same throughout to make it look like the light is diffusing off the sand, since the direct sunlight won't be able to reach the walls and ceiling.

[DaJo Kesea]

inbredyokel, I like that idea. In fact, I would like to use it for the ceiling spotlights in the prison cells. However, I think that the entryway is too large for that effect to realistically happen in these entry-point rooms. But yes, my intent is to have these rooms dark, with the textures barely visible through ambient lighting, and fill lights in certain spots to simulate reflected light.

 

Where can I find the shader for adding dusty light cones? And how would I go about making a glowing orb in the center of a room? (You'll see what I have in mind later.)

 

More to come. (I found the majority of the boot prints to be the size of Kyle's entire leg, so I might tweak that a bit before proceeding.)

[winner_rex]

for the orb, you could make a glass sphere brush and put a light entity inside of it...

or, i think in the flares folder there are flare effects but when i applied a flare to one surface it gave me an error message...but you could try it as a box...

[Lucreides]

The map sounds wonderful! Unfortunately, I can't access your site to see the progress thus far. Can anyone mirror the pics on a different server?

[winner_rex]

looks like they disabled hotlinking...

copy and paste

[Lucreides]

AH! I see. How could I have been so absent-minded. Thanks for knocking some screws loose.

 

The Map: Looks wonderful so far, needs better lighting (I know, this has been said many times). I'm looking forward to your progress on this gargantuan undertaking!

[winner_rex]

To be fair, he can't accurately create light until the map is essentially finished...so everyone knows:

 

Do not comment on the light yet

 

that is all:)

[Eklin]

Sweet mother of Yoda!

Those latest shots are awesome!

 

I don't really see any problem with the lighting. Maybe it's because I have no experience in mapping.

[pakmannen]

when editing a shader, there is the ability to change the "material" to "sand".

 

don't know what this does though. and there are no such sounds in the assets files.

 

however, i may have some sand sounds from another game, footsteps and such, i shall look into this.

[garak88]

Hey, this looks like its going to be a really incredible map, lots of beautiful detail. I had a question though, I don't know much about mapping, but I was wondering if it were possible to make the pillars in the center of the arena collapsable like they are in the final duel with Desann? Its probably impossibly complicated, I just thought I would bring it up.

[GoldenFrog]

I didn't know the pillars were collapsible! I beat him in 7 tries by running up to him and slicing at him a lot.

 

Oh well...

 

I think the map is GREAT! It is looking wonderful!

[winner_rex]

In an SP version they could collapse.

In an MP version they could break.

 

 

booya grandma

[DaJo Kesea]

Hi, all!

 

No updates tonigt...er... this morning , but I would like to say that things are going well. Thank you ALL for you wonderful compliments and contributions. Pakmannen, yes, thank you for mentioning the sound once again. That's a bridge I need to cross eventually.

 

Right now I'm having a little trouble with an arch I created. Just like the large arch that worked fine, I placed a bevel at the edge of the doorway, and added a thickness of 18. This makes a nice arch, by the way! However, in game it seems to be pulling apart. It may be because I ungrouped it and now each bevel is taking on different bend characteristics. I'll probably redo that arch without ungrouping, and I bet it will look just fine, so just hang tight a while. I must fix the minor issues as they come along, or I'll forget about them and give you beta testers a real workout!

 

I know the little stone structures in the throne room with Desann are breakable, but I didn't know you could collapse pillars! Nifty! Probably not an option available in MP, though. However, I am thinking I might make a few areas in the map deceptively breakable. What do I mean by that? Well, let's just say you're in a major saber fight and you corner your opponent. Suddenly, your saber taps a weaknness in the stone wall behind him, and the ledge gives, sending your opponent careening down from some high place back onto the arena floor. OUCH! But sweet! I'll see what I can do!

 

The pillar textures are complete now as well. They look pretty good, I think.

 

Nobody really knows exactly what the walkways behind the seating area really look like, so I guess I can feel free to take some artistic liberties! If anyone feels compelled to make a statue prefab of a Geonosian guard, fee free. I'll make some pedestals around the backs of entranceways and place these guys on them. Just a thought.

 

To bed I must go. Tomorrow/today is another day. Night all!

[Hanch Saode]

Uuuhhh....maybe no pictures, but a long post as yours are certainly just as good for us "waiters" Thank you again, for you new info on the map :D Sound like you have some cool ideas...that hing you mentioned about falling through this crack you can make in the wall...something like the detail in the duel_kamino ? When you fall out the edge...and then jump very high above, and end in the center of the map...is that would you ment?

 

Sounds good what you say!

[darth_micke]

Here comes a little droid.....just wanna tell ya it looks awesome!!!

 

 

Keep it up!