SDK Rendering

Hi all,

Im kinda confused, about this new update "rendering" thing...How can i
activate that in hammer ??? i just cant see in light rendering while
mapping ?? or did i understand everything wrong ??

Please help...thanks

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

i haven't fiddled with it yet , but i think you have to compile once to get that to work.. not totally sure..

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.else /me ~kill you
www.arclan.net

I tried that, but it didnt work, thanks for trying anyway..

Any other ideas ??

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

Euhm you mean HDR?

You must set the link to steam like this: "steam.exe -beta sdk" so it will download the beta sdk (or if its final the final 1) then open hammer via "Source SDK" open a map push F9 and in BSP you see now a HDR option :smile:

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Thx in advantage

And what happens next ?? do you render light in the editor ?

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

If youre talking about previewing lighting in the 3D window of the editor, it cant be done.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Thanks Genius...i have been waiting for that answer...and was excpecting it too...

Well i guess mapping for Quake 4 is much better than HL2 .. but the controls are hard...

Thanks anyway :smile:

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

wil5on said:
If youre talking about previewing lighting in the 3D window of the editor, it cant be done.

Yet. I heard rumor that they might be working on it somehow.

shrugs

I dunno.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Will, i just hope they would release it soon...

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

Dark|Killer said:
Will, i just hope they would release it soon...

Light preview isn't all its cracked up to be. At least not in my experience. The version that Unreal uses is not very accurate IMO. The map always looks differently. Perhaps looking in a 2d box is different than standing within the map I dunno but it always looks wrong.

I would think that HL2, if it could render light in real time while mapping would be similar because you are still looking from without. Much like determining the light in Britain via your TV set from the States.

Funny thing is, with block compiling, or whatever method is used in HL2, you can compile any newly lighted area in seconds so determining how it really looks should only take about 2 minutes tops.

Hell, I have screenshots reach me in longer time spans. :rolleyes:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Hammer is still based on an editor for Quake I. To implement lighting into it would require, at the very least, a rewrite of the 3D rendering code. Dont expect it any time soon.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Oh..man..And i thought valve is the most advanced company >_>

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

You cant say one company is the most advanced... each individual game has its own strengths and weaknesses. Half-Life 2 has good performance on lower-spec machines, but its beaten by the Doom 3 engine in terms of dynamic lighting. You could say that Space Invaders is an advanced game, it will run well on even an 8mhz graphics calculator, and on a modern computer will get far better framerates than Q4 (and is arguably more fun).

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

and is arguably more fun...

Unless you're a mega math geek.

I know someone who reads complex mathematical proof to relax in bed.

Preview lighting isn't really necessary for experienced mappers. We can pretty much visualize what the lighting is going to look like in-game before compiling, just using previous experiences with lighting.

It's like musical composers. They don't need to hear the orchestra play their composition to know how it sounds. They play it in their heads.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

true words. especially now that lightspot outlines are drawn.

visualizing atmosphere is a whole other story though. dunno about you
but it's hard to "feel" the map (with specularity etc) in hammer. Thats
still a bit of trial and error

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

If I have used the same reflective textures previously, I can get a pretty good idea how it's going to turn out in-game.

In fact, I usually come up with good lighting scheme in my head before I lay down the brushes.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Very true, but for those of you who havn't been mapping for long or dont have an "imagination" make use of...

I cant remeber the tools name, but its the one that allows you to cordon off a part of your map and compile it. Best way to test lighting fast and easy.

infact I think it is called the cordon

Hey Dr.Glass, welcome back..

If anyone knows the link, please post it up here :biggrin:

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

Orpheus said:
Funny thing is, with block compiling, or whatever method is used in HL2, you can compile any newly lighted area in seconds so determining how it really looks should only take about 2 minutes tops.

Sounds familiar.
and yeah, welcome home Doc.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

The cordon tool is integrated into hammer... its a button in the toolbar, I think its a square with yellow hazard stripes. Select that, draw a box and compile, it will only compile whats in the box, saving you time if you want to just test a small area.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher