RPG Commenor

[Shadriss]

Well, ,I know what the problem is now. I dont know WHY theres a problem, but at least I know what it is.

 

Even with areaportals in the map, the engine is drawing EVERYTHING in the map at once. No WONDER the FPS went through the floor.

 

Anyone with any ideas, now's the time.

[Leslie Judge]

If I were you I would try to load the map in SP and see if the whole map is drawn. If it is, then something about the compile. If not, then something about the MP engine.

[Eldritch]

Perhaps you might consider adding hint brushes into the mix to improve the FPS, Shad? If you haven't already, that is.

[Shadriss]

When I said everything was being drawn, that was because I HAD gone into the SP side to take a look. EVERYTHING was being drawn. Makes very little sence. Why would the compile set it up like that?

 

As for hint brushes, if the AREAPORTALS arent working properly, why would hint brushes?

[Leslie Judge]

True.

 

Hehh, I though that you just took a look with r_showtris on in MP, sorry.

 

I'm sure there are leaf nodes in the map which can't be seen from an other one directly because of structural brushes between them, so without areaportals one should be not drawn if you are standing in the other. That's why I think there is something more serious. However no idea what can be wrong if the whole VIS phase gone through.

[Shadriss]

I would like to begin this post with the following statement :

 

I AM AN IDIOT!

 

That said, I will now explain why this is so.

 

Ok, this is a couple of problems. First, I had to shut down direct BSP monitoring, due to the fact that with a map this large, GTK and Q3Map2 kept loosing synch going into lighting. Since I did this, the compile process did NOT STOP when a leak was located.

 

Yes, this whole problem is because of a STUPID LEAK!

 

Now, I figured that out, I turned on the moniotring again so I could see that wonderful pointfile. It showed up... in an area that had NOTHING in it. Oh, there USED to be something there, but there wasnt now.

 

Or so I thought.

 

When I deleted that area, I forgot that I had lights FILTERED FROM VIEW! And as we all know, what you can't see, you can't delete. SO I had about 20 or so light entities out there, all alone in the void, just leaking over EVERYTHING. If a map leaks, ,it doesnt make a PRT file. If there is no PRT file, VIS cant do it's job.

 

And thus, oh mighty mappers, we see what a huge PAIN IN THE BUTT those teeny tiny leaks can be, and why one should always make sure all filters are off before deleting areas.

 

The current compile is underway, and baring any other STUPID mistake, I should be able to send this for BETA either tonight or tommorrow morning. So watch for it on PCGameMods soon!

 

And remember it IS a Beta - I'll want feedback here! Especially on weapons placement for the FFA version (this means YOU Wedge!).

[wedge2211]

 

Don't you just LOVE mapping?

[Shadriss]

OK. The news at 10pm (EST).

 

THe map is in it's final BETA compile as we speak. As soon as it's done, I wrpa it all up nice and pretty, and send it to Sergio over at PCGameMods. WIth any luck, he'll have it up toot-sweet, and you can all begin to enjoy this beast of a map.

 

From the numerical side, this thing weighs in at just over 16 Mg of map, textures, and shaders. Not bad, really... DOTF was closer to 20. It used 11806 brushes, and more curves than you can shake a stick at. (If you couldnt tell that last from the screenshots, you are blind.)

 

I'm sure there are a few errors out there to be found and fixed, so I want feedback on that soon. FIND THEM! LET US ELIMINATE THE CANCER FROM AMONG US! *trails off...* Wait... this isnt a political rally....

 

Talk at you all later - and enjoy.

[Shadriss]

It not up on PCGameMods yet, but it IS up on the Site.

 

http://www.ramapping.moonfruit.com

 

Enjoy, and be sure to post feedback here!

[wedge2211]

Downloading now...the procrastination of my homework will commence shortly.

[Blue_Lightsaber]

Here are some bugs that I discovered.

 

First, in the clinic, the windows on the bacta tanks are all shiny and look kinda like a rainbow effect.

 

Second, in the reactor, there is no floor. It's like the noclip effect.

 

Third, In the detention center, if you go to the prison chambers when the doors go up ( which has no sounds ) and look on the floor, you see some z fighting.

 

Fourth, alot of the doors in this map have no sound. I went to the hotel and the doors have no sound.

 

Fifth, in the general store weapons display, you can grab the weapons right through the glass, which is kinda unrealistic. But the spot where the health, thermal detonators, and binoculars is, is fine though.

 

Sixth, in the spaceport, in one of the elevators, ( I didn't try all the elevators so I dunno if it's just one or if it's more) in the elevator crack you see the noclip effect.

 

That's all for now, I'll look into it in more detail later.

[wedge2211]

Okay, I ust finished giving it a thorough run-down. First thing I want to say is, I DID enjoy it. It's very well detailed, and I'm sure the layout is great for RPG-style games. Second thing I want to say is, every time I tried to take a screenshot, it crashed to the main menu and told me, "ERROR: Hunk_AllocTempMemory: failed on 3145736" so I have to describe the bugs I found in clunky words. I hope this doesn't sound overly critical, but here goes...

 

1. [*]The doors inside the hotel/detention center/armory/spaceport are silent.

[*]The bench models in the arena and spaceport don't have clip brushes around them.

[*]HOM in the glass on the sealed bacta tanks in the clinic.

[*]The curves don't match up on the bookcase ends in the library, you can see through tem from the right angle.

[*]The stairs in the library don't have clip brushes on them (to make the player ascend at a nice angle).

[*]I couldn't get at the weapons in the armory. I thought the buttons on the desk might open those glass cylinders, but they didn't do anything.

[*]Some textures aren't aligned in the elevators in the spaceport.

[*]HOM under the reactor catwalks.

[*]You can jump down from the reactor catwalks and then look up through the catwalks (the undersides of the walkways aren't textured).

[*]The buttons underneath the schematics in the reactor control room are floating in space without support.

[*]There isn't any sound made when I use a button. While this isn't a big problem, in some cases something happens after a delay from when I push the use key...so it would be nice to know that I have actually pressed something.

[/list=1]

 

Hope those can get resolved for the final version!

[Pnut_Man]

I basically encountered the same problems that they reported.

I do have a question though: Did you guys manage to create a switch that would turn off the power of the city ?

[Leslie Judge]

I found one thing: at the spaceport the walls are textured with that hangardoor texture wich has two lights on it. It's OK, but if you take look at the windows where the waiting room is, the texture just not looks good as it shows up around the windows.

[Shadriss]

Thanks for the list Wedge. I'll address a couple of those now, since they arent errors.

 

The bench models in the arena and spaceport don't have clip brushes around them.

 

This was intentional. Remember, this is for the RPG version. The SIT emote doesnt look right unless the player actually can be almost inside the model. So, no clip brush. For the FFA version, those probobly wont even be in there.

 

The stairs in the library don't have clip brushes on them (to make the player ascend at a nice angle).

 

They did until JUST before the Beta Compile. I got several "degenerate surface" warnings about those brushes (probobly how I made them) and I had to take them out. THey WILL be back in when it's finalized.

 

I couldn't get at the weapons in the armory. I thought the buttons on the desk might open those glass cylinders, but they didn't do anything.

 

Again, Intentional. In the OmniModRPGFull, you are able to actually buy weapons via CVARs. I built the level with that mod in mind, and so I didn't want people to just waltz in and GRAB a weapon they should be paying for. Again, in the FFA version, the weapons will be more spread out, and not blocked off like that.

 

As for some of the other errors, Sometimes they are there after a compile, sometimes they arent. I'm not sure why this is. That HOM under the catwalks for example - that SHOULD be a greenish fog. And you should suffer a falling death once you go beneath the catwalks. Hence, the other problem about HOM under the catwalks shouldn't even be a problem either. *shrug*

 

I'm looking into it all, in addition to some other changes. Again, thanks for the feedback thus far.

 

Edit : No, Pnut. We didn't incorperate that. Mostly because Q3Map2 (the version packed with GTK1.2.11 anyway) still doesnt support dynamic lighting. Maybe, ,sometime in the future, I'll do something sadistic like that.

[Eldritch]

Just got around to playing it. I think it looks great, Shad. A couple of minor errors, but nothing you can't fix before the final.

 

If you want to send me the final map just so I can help you error check it, feel free. Sort of like "proofreading" an essay, no?

 

As far as the Reactor floor goes, I think there's an issue with the trigger brush that causes the falling death interacting with the fog brush. I had the same problem when building it, and I had to play around, adjusting the distance between the two brushes before it got worked out.

 

Again, if you need me to help, you know where to find me.

[Shadriss]

Aru - would you be overly heartbroken if we lost teh fog? It should be dark enough that it shouldnt cause a problem anyways.

[Eldritch]

Not truly heartbroken, but without the fog it just looks a little 'blah' in my opinion.

 

Lose it if necessary, but make sure to keep my "screaming death" brush intact.

[Wes Marrakesh]

Comments:

 

Many doors are soundless

Some curves don't line up

No falldeath in reactor

Reactor floor is HOM

Underside of catwalk is caulked

 

Questions:

Where'd you get that kickass music?

[Leslie Judge]

That music is from The fifth element. When the girl escapes the lab and goes out to the city.

[Shadriss]

OK, guys. I was on Duty last night, so I didnt get a chancec to get any work done then. BUT! Before I went to work on Monday morning, I did take all the feedback and work the problems. I'll take the one at a time.

 

Silent Doors

They all have sound now. I still plan to go through and give each area set a different set of door sounds, but for now they all use the generic soundset.

 

Clip Brushes for the Benches/Lights/md3s

As explained in an earlier post, most of this was intentional. The only md3's I gave clips to were md3s that I would not reasonably expect someuse to try to sit on. In the FFA Version, most of these md3's will be removed as distractions.

 

HOM Clinic Bacta Tanks Glass

THis is me being lazy and stupid. Originally, as you recall, all four tanks were supposed to be operational. I changed that to one, and turned the others back to normal brushes. And forgot to make them detail.

 

Bookcase Curves Misaligned (Library)

This was sheer stupidity on my part. I dont know HOW i thought those were well made to begin with. So I scrapped them and rebuilt them. THey work now. There is much rejoicing.

 

Clip Brushes for Library Stairs

Fixed. Again, t his was something that I changed at the last minute and forgot to put back in.

 

Weapons in the Armory

As I noted, this is a Beta of the RPG version of the map. I refer you to my previous post on this... I have however, altered it so that NONE of the weapons can be grabbed from the displays.

 

Spaceport Elevator Texture Issues

Button Sounds for Doors/Elevator Calls

I group those together because they were handled at the same time. I changed the trigger_multiple setup I was using to a Func_Button setup. It now makes sounds to let you know it's been pressed. In addition, those shafts have all been re-textured, as well as the elevator car itself. Not so "Crate-like" as Kal-El put it to me.

 

HOM in the Power Center

As you may have gathered from previous posts, this was supposed to be a fogged area. FOr whatever reason, the fog brush and the trigger_hurt were interefering with each other. THe fog has been removed, and the HOM is gone, the trigger_hurt works properly. Incidently, this also slightly improved FPS in there.

 

Catwalk Undersides not Textured

This shouldnt be an issue due to your imminant demise when you are looking at it, but I textured them anyway.

 

Power Center Controls Hovering

I never saw this. I checked it in my version of the Beta, and in subsequent compiles. *shrug* Well, as long as it's gone.

 

Spaceport Waiting Room-side Landing Area Texturing

Thanks to Leslie for pointing this out. The texture has been replaced on the wall only with the same one used on the lower side.

 

That takes care of the ones that were listed on THIS forum. Other issues noted from other forums :

 

End Cap in Arena Foyer hanging in Mid Air

Fixed.

 

End Cap for light in Clinic missing

Replaced.

 

HOM in the Far right Prison Cell, under the door

Cant believe I missed texturing that area, but it's been repaired.

 

The Vases Dont Have BOTTOMS!

Incidently, this was my favorite "Error". Man, Austin must have REALLY been hunting for these! Fixed.

 

In addition to all of that, I've also changed the lighting schemes a little, after a conversation with Kal-El. The Hotel lightinghas changed to a slightly yellow-ish light. However, , after looking at it in game, and seeing the way it turns the blue walls piss-green, I think this will probobly change back to white light. *shudder*

 

The bar lighting has changed. Most of the lighting is now reddish, and a couple of textures have changed to fit that. THe booth areas are still white-lit.

 

The Library is now more brightly lit, but I used a lavender light that brings out the browns and wood grains a bit more. It's still dark among the bookcases, and those may go back to white, but that has yet to be decided.

 

The Gallery area of the Arena has had it's lights changed to dark blue. THis makes a tremendous impact of the look of teh area, one I am VERY happy with. It will most DEFINATELY be staying.

 

The General store has had a change of lighting color to a light bluish tinge. THis also seems to work fairly well, and probobly wont change.

 

THat's the news at 4:45pm EST. I'll be releasing one final Beta version on the site in the next day or two. It's purpose is to find any remaining bugs, evaluate the new lighting, and to bring suggestions for FFA weapon/item placement.

 

TTFN!

[Shadriss]

The Final Beta for the RPG version is now avaliable on the Map Site. Remember, I want evaluations of lighting more than anything. I've got the FFA/TFFA waepons placecments already in mind now.

 

The FFA/TFFA version should be released about two days after the RPG version, due to a few changes that I have to make between the two.

 

Enjoy!

[Lil Killa]

1. The undersides of the deskes do not have textures on them or are calked or where u have patces u don't have them inverted.

2. The tops of the vertical lights in the entrance to the library are not caped.

3. the curves on the ends of the streets are not matching so u can see a "crack" in them.

4. The z-fighting in the bactas when the ater is raised is still there.

5. and the door under the room that loks over hangar has no sound

 

Those are just the probs i found hope they help.

[Shadriss]

Found and corrected, with the exception of the end caps on the walkways - they meet up perfectly in the editor. Not sure why we're getting those sparklies. *shrug*

[Leslie Judge]

I made some screenshots to show what I've found:

http://www.geocities.com/birolaszlo/commenor/commenor.html