I keep getting incorrect lighting on some surfaces of a few materials when compiling glycencity. This is how the original, current map looks: 1) https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/original.jpg 2) https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/original 2.jpg This is how it looked after i compiled the map the first time. I made only changes to some displacements and the color/intensity of the sunlight, i didn't touch any brush or map entity: 1) https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/recompiled parallax.jpg Then i remember i probably didn't have the adjusted vbsp.exe required for parallax mapping that i remembered reading about on the empires wiki, but even with that file, the compile would look exactly the same. Then i switched to the testers version of empires (next version) after i saw that the concrete materials were different in that version, and this is how it looked after the compile: 1) https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/testpires.jpg 2) https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/testpires 2.jpg 3) https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/testpires 3.jpg Cubemaps are build Ideas ?
I thought parallax was going to be disabled by default in next patch. Anyways ya I see what you mean... by the lighting. I kinda like it this way though... I would be able to see where I am driving without squinting. and no ugly blue snow.
Yes, sometimes source sdk has a habit of overriding the custom vbsp when it launches. Copying it over again usually fixes it. I use the valve batch compiler as well, so I never need to launch the launcher, circumventing the problem completely. VBCT: http://qsextreme.com/vbct/
The map is heavily colour corrected. Load the original map with "mat_colorcorrection 0" and it should look like your recompiled version. The .raw file that was used for glycen's color correction is in your emp folder if you wanted to use the same settings. "materials\common\emp_snow\glycencolor1.raw" https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Color_correction
I was talking about the concrete ica materials on the building walls, i'm guessing you're talking about the ground? The snow texture is one i made myself to replace the old one, and i changed the lighting slightly to reduce the intensity. A bright sun shining over a snowy landscape might be annoyingly bright in real life as well, but in a game i want to be able to see everything. And i don't know anything about it being disabled by default, but at least the concrete ica materials from the next version are indeed no longer parallax lit. That wasn't the problem this time, but it's good to know for the future that the sdk might overwrite my files I kept the colorcorrection intact, but instead of going from 0% correction (gray) to 100% correction (blue) over only a few inches, i changed the falloff settings completely. As i made it now, every part of the playable map is within this falloff area. The northwest corner flag has about 80% correction (blue), while the NF VF area in southeast only has about 10% correction (gray) gray: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/gray.jpg blue: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/blue.jpg (don't mind the graphical glitches, i took this screenshot a few days ago so i wouldn't forget to sew and fix those surfaces) average gray/blue: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/average.jpg (don't mind the road, haven't finished those yet) ON TOPIC: The problem is fixed ... in a way. It turns out the difference in lighting on those surfaces was caused by some surfaces being aligned to "world", others to ... that other option right next to "world" , and others that weren't aligned at all. So i aligned ALL vertical faces correctly so they all are lit and reflect correctly, and the differences are gone. A little bit annoying is the fact that when lit correctly, these concrete textures are a bit brighter when in direct sunlight due to its reflection than they used to be in older version, and so they now stick out a bit against the darker brick textures. Although that might be personal taste. Once you'd get used to this contrast, going back to the old map it would probably look dull that way. bright concrete vs dark bricks: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/bright.jpg Also it's too reflective: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/Reflective 1.jpg But i'll see what i end up with
I haven't fixed all reflective materials yet, but i have finished about 98% of all the rest. Plus i have the light and colors exactly like i want it, which is the first time with any of the maps i worked on. I wanted to show some screenshots comparing my version to the current version, but when put right next to eachother the difference is so big that i have no doubt many will complain. But ingame, it looks very good. Still bright (which for a semi sunny snow map can't really be any other way), but not overdone. Average blue tint in the north, but almost colorless in the south. The texture itself is imo a huge improvement, and i have redone the displacements in the middle so it is now one entirely subdivided, smooth area. I'm gonna post the screenshots anyway, but know that i'm considering the lighting to be finished. Imo it is now well balanced between bright hdr and visibility. This is the brightest the hdr lighting can get: (for a comparison with the current version: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234836/mapping/glycencity/glycen_comparison_1.jpg) This is the colorless south: (i know i know, wait till you see it ingame) This is closer to the blue northwest area: The middle: (average in every way)
But I kinda liked the blue snow... Still, tons of respect for what you did. I won't judge until I play it.
