ATTENTION: This work is copyright 1998 Ron Andrade for Portal Special Edition. Do not duplicate for other than your own purposes or redistribute without the permission of the author: Ron Andrade (Gadget Factor) |
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| You have come a long way toward the creation of your map. Technically, all the "construction" is complete. Now for the fine-tuning. Your map should look satisfactory: a steep valley with a lake at the bottom. The valley floor sports an impressive antenna array and along a shear and steep cliff is your plateau. A completely separate section also exists that cannot even be seen from the outside.

There is one major flaw: The sky has fallen. Or at least, that is how it may appear.

If you have been following these tutorials from the beginning, you should recall the point in chapter one where you were asked to select the ceiling and four outer walls of your world. You opened the texture properties for these surfaces and turned on the "Fake Backdrop" option.

It was explained to you then, that the fake backdrop option of a surface essentially turns that surface into a reception device, like a television. It was explained that when a 'camera' is added, this receptacle will actually broadcast the camera's point of view.

The 'camera" is know in UnrealEd as a "Sky Box."

Yes. It is a strange name for what is essentially nothing more than a video camera. Well, actually a 3D video camera.

To recap for those of you whom may be jumping the gun and have not perused chapter one in any sense of the word "seriously," we will briefly describe the preparation of the receiving end of a sky box.

The sky box is most commonly used as just that: a sky box. You use it to present the sky in any level. To make the sky box work, you need to have a receiving surface ... your television and an originating scene, your "movie studio."

Any surface whose texture properties are set to be a fake backdrop, will broadcast the image projected by the sky box camera. Note: the sky box is actually an object you place into a scene, not the actual scene it is placed into.

What is unusual about the sky box is that it's scene is almost always created and placed separately from the main level map completely detached. We will be accomplishing the same thing. You will find that the sky box is an invaluable tool and incredibly simple to use. Your only limit is your own imaginative mind.

Since our fake backdrops are already in place, let's get straight to work on the sky box scene itself.

Most sky box scenes average 2048 x 2048 units in width and breadth and about 512 units tall. The main thing to remember is that your sky box scene, when used to display a sky, should be approximately as wide and deep as the sky portion of your level and about 500 to 1000 units tall. Sky boxes are incredibly simple to accomplish. Study the sky box in the NYLEAVE map. Actually, this portion of this chapter will be based directly on this sample.

Create a cube that matches the size mentioned earlier: (height/width/breadth) 250 x 2048 x 2048. Move the brush anywhere in your universe - as long as it does not touch your existing world. Select an appropriate sky or other texture. A favorite for earthy cloudscapes is found in 'skybox.utx,' however, choose a starry texture. We will create the clouds shortly. The first thing you will want to do is to scale the textures to something more appropriate. Just leve them alone. No need to rescale them, yet.

Click the subtract from word tool to add your stage to the universe. Remember that this should be a freestanding cube that does not come in contact with any other object. Open the texture properties for all six surfaces (4 sides, top and bottom) and set their Effects to Unlit. This causes these surfaces to "glow" without the need of lights. Resize your cube brush to the following, leaving the height alone: 600 x 600. ~~06a

Position the brush so it will dig a hole into the very center of your stage - with the top of the brush evenly distanced from the top and bottom of the original cube. Intersect and subtract from world. You should now have a gaping hole in the middle of your cloud-covered stage.

Now, select one of the mountain textures from the skybox library. This is a masked texture that will give your stage the appearance of distant mountains. Select the plane brush and position it on the absolute edge of your cube. You should set the size of the plane brush to reach from the floor of the hole to a point near the top of the original cube. Set the width of the plane brush so it reaches as closely as possible from one corner of the hole to the next corner of the hole.

This will be a special brush, so click the Add Special Brush tool and set the following:

Pop-down menu: Masked Decoration
Masking: Masked
Visibility: 2-Sided
Solidity: Non-Solid
Effects: (None selected)

Click the Add Special button to add the plane.

Reposition the plane brush to another side and repeat. You will have four planes - one for each side of the hole. This will provide a good obstacle, preventing the player from seeing any seams in the clouscape.

Next, set your plane brush to of a type: Floor/Cieling. It will be a flat brush, horizintal with the floor. resize it to match the dimensions of the outer cube (2048 x 2048.) Position the plane brush just above the tops of the previous planes you have created and centered in the large cube as viewed from the top.

Select the white cloud texture and click the Add Special tool. All settings are the same for this plane as the previous planes. However, in the Effects properties, you will turn on Transparent.

Click the Add Special button.

Bring up the texture properties for this cloud plane and set the scale to 4 (or other scale if desired.) Click the effects tab and turn on the U-Pan or V-Pan or both. This will cause the clouds to move while the player is in the game.

You will notice in the sky box texture library, a great rocky "floor" texture. Assign this to the floor of the hole you made earlier. In the classes section of your object library, select INFO > ZONEINFO > SKYZONEINFO. At the center of the floor on the hole of your stage, right-click in the camera window and add the SkyZoneInfo. Raise the SkyZoneInfo abut 20 to 40 units above the floor. Double-click the SkyZoneInfo to bring up the properties box.

Set these properties:

ZoneLight -
TexVPanSpeed: 1.0
TexUPanSpeed: 0.1 (These keep the clouds from zooming by too fast)
AmbientSaturation: 255

Now for a touch of realism: Create another plane. Set it's size to something like 80 x 80 or something close. In your textures, load in shaneDAY.utx and select the star burst. In the Add Special box, select Masked Decoration with the same settings as above. However, turn the transparent property off.

Rotate the plane and move it off to one side of the main cube. Position the plane as though it were the front-end of a spotlight and 'aim' it at the SkyZoneInfo icon. Right-click on the front of the plane (the side facing the SkyZoneInfo icon) and select Add Light here.

The default setting for the light should suffice, except that it is a tad dim. While the light is selected, press CTRL-W to duplicate it. Ensure both lights are positioned directly in from of the star burst.

At this point, the Special Edition tutorial will be following a new paradigm. It will be explained how to do certain things and it will be suggested where to place items. However, the verbosity will be even less than before. With this in mind, let's get on to lighting up your world.

Using your camera view, navigate to the floor of your main cube - right-click and add a light. In your side axis view, reposition the light halfway between the floor of the main cube and the cloud plane you added. Now, from the top axis view, duplicate the light several times and reposition each light to be approximately 400 to 600 units apart from each other in a scattered pattern over and around your hole.

It will be easier to remove lights than to add them, so do not be afraid of adding too many.

Press the f* key to bring-up your rebuilder box. Turn on the Auto BSP checkbox and click the Rebuild button. This will take about twice as long as usual because the engine is now ray tracing the light patterns among other things.

When the rebuilding is complete, your camera view will have a completely different look as compared to what you are used to. The lighting effect ads a dramatic appearance to your level. SAVE YOUR LEVEL NOW.

Using your camera view, navigate to the location of the SkyZoneInfo icon. From there, rotate your camera in every conceivable direction. Locate areas that may be too bright and simply delete any extra lights there. If an area is too dim, select a nearby light and duplicate.

When you are satisfied with the result, rebuild your geometry again, but with the Auto BSP off.

Maneuver your camera back into your world. The top portion of your world should now be reflecting what the camera (the SkyZoneInfo icon) sees, from it's perspective. (In fact, the author has already used this technique to create monitors in a deathmatch level to warn sentry players when someone is coming their way!) :-)

Now, find a convenient place to start. Place your camera view at that point. You will not travel to every possible location a player can go - all with your camera view. Along the way, right-click to add a light or two. In the outdoor areas, add several lights - as many as needed to brighten up the outdoor area.

Note: the lights inside the sky box will also help to light up your outdoor area, even though they are only linked via a fake backdrop. Once you have scattered lights throughout your level, rebuild the geometry with Auto BSP turned on.

Now, travel through your level to fine-tune your lights. Some areas will be too bright, or too dim. Some will be just right. many areas will leave you with a desire to reposition your lights into a corner or closer to the ceilings, etc.

At this point, the lights will have a mysterious source. For now, this is not a concern as you will be adding decoration and other "actors" in the next chapter. For now, lets take a closer look at what can be done with lights. Keep these properties in mind when you go through your level fine-tuning the light structure.

It is important to note that there are two types of light: Dynamic and 'Static' - static light do nothing. They just sit there and glow. Dynamic lights, on the other hand will do things. A spot light can move around and change direction, a dynamic light can blink and flicker, etc.

A dynamic or static light is known as the light type. There are also light effects such as water shimmer and rotate, etc.

Lights in detail:

Open the properties box for any light and take a close look at the settings possibilities. Only four groups are of concern: Lighting, Light Color, Display and Advanced.

Expand the Light Color setting first, because it will be the most used.

Light Brightness indicates how bright the light source actually is.
Light Hue is the color of the light source (not necessarily the light emitted from the source)
Light Saturation is the amount of light emitted from the source.
[A setting of 255 is 100 percent - all white. The less light emitted, the more the source color will show. So a saturation of 100 will show a darker blue than a setting of 200 where the hue is set to blue.]

The only other value you will be most concerned with is Light Radius in the Lighting section. This is the distance from the source where the light emitted will become zero. Note that the drop-off rate (the fade toward dark) occurs before the edge of the radius is reached. The edge of the radius is the point with light brightness becomes zero.

The above listed settings will almost always require some experimentation before they feel 'right."

Lighting effects:
Note: Lighting effects will slow down game play if not used properly. use lighting effects conservatively.

LE_None: The default setting. Provides a steady stream of illumination.
LE_TorchWaver: A slight flicker, meant to emulate a torch.
LE_FireWaver: Similar to TarchWaver, but a more pronounced flicker. A larger flame.
LE_WateryShimmer: Think of an indoor swimming pool: the light reflected off the water.
LE_SearchLight: A spotlight that rotates 360 degrees. The LightPeriod field set the time of rotation.
LE_SlowWave: A pulsing light ... presented in 'waves.'
LE_FastWave: Same as above, but faster.
LE_Cloudcast: Cloud shadows on a nice summer day.
LE_StaticSpot: A spot like that does not move. Once aimed, the light remains trained on target.
[Set the bDirectional field in the Advanced settings to true]
LE_Shock: Flashes of brilliant illumination.
LE_Disco: Emulates the retro mirrored disco ball above 1970's dance floors. :-)
LE_Warp: Light refraction on specific surfaces become distorted.
LE_SpotLight: Same as the StaticSpot, but with movement.
LE_NonIncidence: [Unknown]
LE_Shell: [Understood to be] transforming hues, such as the inside of a seashell.
LE_OmniBumpMap: "Textured" illumination. Not much is known about this effect However, 'omni' usually means 'in all directions.' Bump usually refers to the relief or 'depth' of textures. Map usually refers to a texture image. However, there is no easily definable way of setting a texture map for this light. A line dropped by anyone who knows would be greatly appreciated.
LE_Interference: Causes the player to assume something is interfering with the light source.
LE_Cylinder: Literally a cylinder of light, without any drop-off.
LE_Rotor: Similar to a search or spotlight.
LE_Unused: Unused [go figure] :-)

Light Types:
Note: Light types will slow down game play if not used properly. use lighting effects conservatively.

All light types are self explanatory and do not require any additional settings, save the "pulse" types which use the light period to determine the speed of the pulse.

Adding a corona:
Set the bCorona to true. A corona is the 'halo' that appears around a light source. Use scale [under the DISPLAY setting] to adjust the size of the corona.

Adding a lense flare:
A little more is involved with adding lense flares. The lens flares are those 'spikes' of light that shoot out from the source - common with photographs of light sources. First, you must have a corona. In your object library, load the GENFX.utx file and locate the textures whose titles include "flare." Select the desire flare texture. In the Display settings, click USE in the Skin property. All set!

Armed with this information, go out there and illuminate the DMArray map to wow everyone!

In the next chapter we will deal with: Decoration Specifics and intro to Special Effects.

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