FTE QW engine.

[Baker]

Just thought I'd post images of the stuff I recently did using FTEQW and Spike's help.


...
Support for FBSP map format (q3bsp + lightstyles + higher resolution lightmaps); pretty sunlight with nice soft shadowing via shader and q3map2 compiler allows for stuff like ambient occlusion and radiosity. This is really pretty for something that uses all static lightmaps. From Warsow / Qfusion.

I wasn't aware of the FBSP format until just now.

That's a brilliant by-product of Warsow. The lack of dynamic lighting capability in Q3BSP is a downside, but it would seem FBSP solved that.

Wow

[The map screenshots of yours look outstanding, of course.]

[golden_boy]

When it comes to idtech + static lighting (as opposed to realtime world lights), FBSP does the job pretty well. In my mind definitely a viable choice for eg. indie games.



Some Warsow maps do look very good especially lighting-wise which is what gave me the idea to use its format for singleplayer maps.

If you choose FBSP with static lighting, or q3bsp/doom3bsp with realtime world lighting is largely a question of what look you're going for. You can't really say that FBSP looks worse, just different.

And at that point, it is an artistic decision and no longer a technical one. FBSP makes static lightmaps a real attractive option in idtech based games.

edit - lightstyles were introduced into q3bsp by Raven Software in RBSP. Not sure for what game - Jedi Knight? Star Trek Elite Force? Something like that. FBSP (F = Fusion, QFusion engine, Warsow) is an evolution of that with a higher resolution lightmap.

[R00k]

Warsow is a great engine that also supports q1bsp too!

[Mindf!3ldzX]

When it comes to idtech + static lighting (as opposed to realtime world lights), FBSP does the job pretty well. In my mind definitely a viable choice for eg. indie games.



Some Warsow maps do look very good especially lighting-wise which is what gave me the idea to use its format for singleplayer maps.

If you choose FBSP with static lighting, or q3bsp/doom3bsp with realtime world lighting is largely a question of what look you're going for. You can't really say that FBSP looks worse, just different.

And at that point, it is an artistic decision and no longer a technical one. FBSP makes static lightmaps a real attractive option in idtech based games.

edit - lightstyles were introduced into q3bsp by Raven Software in RBSP. Not sure for what game - Jedi Knight? Star Trek Elite Force? Something like that. FBSP (F = Fusion, QFusion engine, Warsow) is an evolution of that with a higher resolution lightmap.

I wouldn't mind seeing that setup on my PC,it looks very nice.

[golden_boy]

Warsow is very nice, yeah. I was actually using its engine for my first FBSP tests. So for a while, Scout's Journey ran under warsow. The main reason why FTEQW is a better choice for me than QFusion is the fact that Scout's Journey uses QuakeC.

I think Warsow's AngelScript is probably really nice, but I'm not sure I want to throw away the last 5 years of QuakeC work. I also simply don't have the time to recreate the mod in AngelScript or whatever else.

Plus, Warsow can't do stuff like heightmap terrain.

[golden_boy]

More FBSP goodness. Since there's only 2 textures, white and grey, you can really see the purty lightmaps here. <3









Who needs realtime world lighting when you can have this?

[bluntz]

Anyone who is tracking enemies by their shadow of course.

[bluntz]

Can realtime shadows be applied to the monsters alone? If so you could have the best of both.
Low poly height maps really can save you some overhead maybe you can have it all.Have a look at this one is ony 240 polys.
I have seen some that are much less and still look very nice.

[R00k]

Quite honestly all the wizbang gfx hits the fan in the heat of gameplay.
Id rather play at 125fps on a normal setting than 30fps just so my friends think im playing a real game. Dont get lost in corporate need to be.

[Spike]

bluntz, I suppose I could render the model to an fbo then simply project it on to the ground, but that's a separate fbo for every single model seen by every single light. I'm not convinced it would be much faster. Adding darkness instead of adding light is never going to be as robust. It also would not contribute to bumpmaps or anything.
FTE's legacy r_shadows cvar enables q3-like blob shadows rather than the unreliable glquake shadows-cast-upon-nothing. They assume the model/monster is a blob, and that the light is directly above. That's the best I can really offer for shadows-without-lighting.
Regarding the second part of your post, offsetmapping+deluxemaps can indeed go a long way.

r00k, if people have the option then they have the option, and its up to them how much to enable to retain some minimum framerate. Its really not that different from large particle effects and the associated fillrate slowdown when you get rockets exploding in your face etc on older machines.
And yes, I expect deathmatch players to just switch everything off, including wall textures.

[R00k]

Ya but i mean even with all the features on high and still getting 200fps, in the heat of the battle you dont really even notice the shadow, bumpmapping etc...
its just corporate blabberslobber to sell games. I do like hires textures, and all the eyecany in single player but, on the field realtime multiplayer just doesnt need fluffy pillows up our ass.

[Spike]

oh, a good player would notice the shadows... They'd use it as a way to check if someone was coming around a corner.
There are people who play (quakeworld) with all the textures replaced with solid blocks of colour. While this increases visibility, it really hurts depth perception (on-screen 2d images...) so it can be harder to aim rockets.
So there are a few competitive advantages, if the framerate loss does not affect you.

But yeah, lights moving shadows and everything else can also be quite detrimental if you're trying to spot which pixels are players. More detail is certainly more distractions, enemies standing out does indeed help a lot.
Pretty graphics to lure them in, options to disable everything in order to retain them.

[bluntz]

Pretty graphics to lure them in, options to disable everything in order to retain them.

Couldn't have said it better!
Load all the GFX they want on the clientside and furl the packets to server.

[golden_boy]

Regarding heightmaps, this is a blog entry describing how the heightmap terrain in FTE is utilized.



The unique thing about this editor is that it allows you to work on a live map, eg adding terrain to brushwork without any in-between. Highly useful for level designers.

[bluntz]

WOW that is a nice map GB.