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  • Other light.exe compilers that support colored lighting?

    Hey everyone, I'm new and i need to know, if there are any other light compilers besides tyrlite that supports colored lighting (or any other methods) because, for the size of my map, It is just too slow. It takes longer then VIS, when before i used it, light was instant.

    It's just too slow for me, as i am constantly compiling and testing what i make. I could just wait until my level is done and then do one long compile with colored lighting at the end, but then i don't really get to test different styles and how it looks beforehand. Is there any other compilers/programs or am i just stuck with tyrlite?

  • #2
    There is LordHavoc's tool and MHquake's tool (tool is in the lit pack).
    Both tools work differently, LH's is an all-in-one qbsp/vis/light tool used at compile time, where as MHquake's tool generates .lit files based on the existing light data in a .bsp which uses fullbright pixels in the textures near light sources for the color-information..

    Depending on your map layout and textures MHquake's tool can get great or real bad results.. so best experiment a little and design your map in such a way that it gets the best results.. (subtle use of torches and white/blue fullbrights in texures, try to avoid reds and greens).
    The advantage is that you can use Bengt Jardrup's tool for normal uncolored lighting and use MHquake's tool to generate a .lit to get the best of both worlds..

    LH's tool is nice too but is inferior to BJ's tool imho..

    In any case, make sure to read the readme's for the details..

    Hope that helps..

    edit: I believe FTEQW can generate .lit's on the fly.. (latest FTE builds)
    Last edited by =peg=; 09-07-2010, 03:04 PM.

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    • #3
      Thanks for the info. I don't think I'll be using hmap2 because the colored lighting looks funky, and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but i can't add my map with MHquake's tool. It added at first but it didn't generate the file when i clicked light bsp(s) and now i just can't add maps to it.

      q1rad did work when i tried it, but it makes the light level in my map all strangely bright, and I'll probably have to modify every light again if i do.

      for MHQuake's tool what key do i add to lights in my map to specify color? is it just "color" then "r g b" or is it "_color" or perhaps something else?

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      • #4
        None.. you can just leave them out completely.. and light the map with BJ's light tool without any color info.. then afterwards generate a .lit with mhcolour.. Granted, you don't have much control over the process but its quick and easy.. the color comes from fullbright pixels in the textures near light sources.. so torches get a nice soft yellowish glow and blue spotlights get a bluish glow etc etc.. I guess it failed because there was no light data in your .bsp yet..

        edit: I should mention that .lit files only work on clients that support them.. (DirectQ, Qrack, DarkPlaces and probably a few others like Fitzquake and Joequake).
        The .lit file should be placed in the same folder as the .bsp (id1\maps most likely) and colored lights must be enabled in the client (might require a reload of the map for it to take effect).
        Last edited by =peg=; 09-07-2010, 04:59 PM.

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        • #5
          I really need to mod this tool to provide better control, as well as multithreading the bastard (now that I have 8 cores I should see some nice results ) but I just haven't had time or opportunity lately...
          IT LIVES! http://directq.blogspot.com/

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          • #6
            Thanks for the info, I am using DirectQ to run Quoth so it shouldn't be a problem with that.

            As for what i can do, i did some testing and i really like the look i get from putting colored lights in with tyrlite. It makes the dark vents look more like vents and less like smaller rooms

            So i think i might just stick to tyrlite, especially because hmap2 produces some ugly colored lighting sometimes. I'll just switch to the other light tool when i want to do quick tests.

            EDIT: one last question about colored lighting - can you change the color of the sunlight? If so, what is the key you add to worldspawn to do it?
            Last edited by Bloodshot; 09-07-2010, 06:05 PM.

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            • #7
              Sticking with what works best for you is a good thing.

              You can't modify sunlight colour in my tool; that's an omission on my part, and might just be the motivation I need to do some more work on it.
              IT LIVES! http://directq.blogspot.com/

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              • #8
                That would be cool

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                • #9
                  I just meant to start a thread on this topic but all the info's already here.

                  I've been using hmap2 so far but it generates ugly artifacts from time to time. I had some minor ones in hidden spots on my last map and just ignored them but with my current map the situation is intolerable.

                  I'll have a look at tyrlite I guess.
                  dfsp*spirit
                  my FPS maps

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                  • #10
                    EDIT: Ignore this post for now, I think I got it and I'm trying some more things atm.

                    Ok, I ran into some trouble it seems.

                    What I am trying is to use skylight, a custom skybox and colored lighting. I would like to make the map look good (and similar) in modern engines. I compiled it with different tools and tested the results in different engines and it's horrible.

                    Here are proquake400 and enginex, map compiled with tyrans light tool:
                    http://www.airrocket.net/~spirit/4we...a2_enginex.jpg
                    http://www.airrocket.net/~spirit/4we...2_glpro400.jpg
                    They draw the light coming from the sky fine. Both ignore my skybox and colored lighting it seems. Maybe I have to enable this manually somehow?

                    Here is the same compile of the map with darkplaces:
                    http://www.airrocket.net/~spirit/4we..._alpha2_dp.jpg
                    It uses a different lightmap it seems, totally ignoring the skylight. Wtf?! Furthermore It ignores colored lighting and my skybox.

                    I thought this may be related to the fact that tyrans tool creates no dlit file but only a lit file. So I used hmap2 to compile and tested it again:
                    http://www.airrocket.net/~spirit/4we...2_dp_hmap2.jpg
                    As you can see it ignores the skylight and skybox. It has colored lighting (and light bugs) though.

                    Finally, here is the hmap2 compile in qrack:
                    http://www.airrocket.net/~spirit/4we...rack_hmap2.jpg
                    Note that is has colored lighting, does ignore the skylight but is the only engine to show my custom skybox.

                    I'm stunned.

                    Here is some info on what I did:
                    worldspawn of the map:
                    Code:
                    "classname" "worldspawn"
                    "message" "spirit1dm3 -- alpha2"
                    "light" "18"
                    "wad" "quake101.wad;spirit1dm3.wad"
                    "_sky" "spirit1dm3"
                    "_sunlight" "300"
                    "_sun_mangle" "30 -70 0"
                    "_sunlight_color" "1.0 0.8 0.8"
                    "worldtype" "1"
                    (Skybox files are at id1/env/gfx/spirit1dm3[bk|ft|...].tga)

                    command lines used for the tools:
                    hmap: hmap2 -light <mappath>
                    tyr: light -lit <mappath>


                    Most important question: What do I need to do in order to get skylight in all engines? I can't use skylight if the map will be pitch black on darkplaces and qrack...

                    Maybe some could enlighten me on the differences and why they show up. I guess it boils down to the engines loading/ignoring the lit and dlit files. But I don't get the skylight issue. Shouldn't the skylight be compiled into the lightmap? Do the engines using lit and dlit files completely ignore the precompiled lightmap? If so (and it seems so because they also ignore minlight/ambient stuff), how can I create skylight for those engines?

                    EDIT: I just had a look at my old map and I just spammed it with pointlights everywhere insead of using minlight/skylight it seems. Looks like I'll have to do that again.

                    EDIT2: Or I'll just release it without any lit/dlit files and force all engines to use the precompiled lightmap.
                    Last edited by dfsp_spirit; 09-08-2010, 08:46 AM.
                    dfsp*spirit
                    my FPS maps

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                    • #11
                      Sunlight should depend entirely on the build tool used and should be included in the lightmaps. I'm not a mapper so I'm not familiar with specifics here, but I do know that having sunlight dependent on the engine would require real-time lighting in the engine.

                      The problem with loading the sjybox is because there are so many differing standards for skyboxes that have developed over the years, and no one engine implements them all. In your case, both the worldspawn key you're using ("_sky") and the texture location (env/gfx) are all new and not supported by virtually anything.

                      The key should be one of "sky", "skyname", "q1sky" or "skybox" (no underscore), which are the 4 standards in use. The location should be "env", "gfx/env" or just "gfx", which are the 3 standards in use. The texture names may or may not have an underscore between the basename and the face suffix. That makes 24 wonderful wonderful combinations that engines already have to check for, so let's not add any more.
                      IT LIVES! http://directq.blogspot.com/

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                      • #12
                        Thanks! On the skybox: the key/location I'm using is the one that qrack uses it seems. And it seems to work in fitzquake085, at least the VeniVidiFuzzi map put it's skybox there and it worked for me. I'll change it to something else as you suggested and try it with some engines...
                        dfsp*spirit
                        my FPS maps

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by dfsp_spirit View Post
                          Both ignore my skybox and colored lighting it seems. Maybe I have to enable this manually somehow?
                          Skybox needs to be "sky" not "_sky" in worldspawn.

                          ProQuake does not supported colored lights, and it may never do so.

                          I don't know why colored lit files wouldn't work in Engine X as they should, .lits need to be in quake\id1\lits folder or quake\<gamedir>\lits folder.

                          Skyboxes go in gfx\env folder.

                          Originally posted by mhquake View Post
                          The key should be one of "sky", "skyname", "q1sky" or "skybox" (no underscore), which are the 4 standards in use. The location should be "env", "gfx/env" or just "gfx", which are the 3 standards in use.
                          Me personally, I look to FitzQuake as the gold standard for mapping (because it is the engine of choice for the mapping community). I know there are 10 silly places for stuff with all standards.

                          sky (worldspawn) and "gfx/env" (skybox location) are the ones I use. And all the single player releases in the last 6-7 years use those too.
                          Last edited by Baker; 09-08-2010, 09:46 AM.
                          Quakeone.com - Being exactly one-half good and one-half evil has advantages. When a portal opens to the antimatter universe, my opposite is just me with a goatee.

                          So while you guys all have to fight your anti-matter counterparts, me and my evil twin will be drinking a beer laughing at you guys ...

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                          • #14
                            Some engines do allow a leading underscore when loading skyboxes, others don't (Fitz does). It's trivial enough to remove it if it's present:
                            Code:
                            // allow keys with a leading _
                            if (com_token[0] == '_')
                            	Q_strncpy (key, &com_token[1], 39);
                            else Q_strncpy (key, com_token, 39);
                            and then use the same code for the rest of the loader.

                            The location thing is annoying and I ended up adding code to DirectQ to be able to load skyboxes from anywhere under the gamedir as a result of that (so yes, your env/gfx thing would actually work in DirectQ). With hindsight I think it was a bad idea as someone using DirectQ to test a map with during creation could easily build something that fails with every other engine.

                            None of that affects the fact that it's annoying though, and it's generally the poor engine coder who gets blamed when things fail to work, whereas it was really the content creator who put stuff in an obscure place to begin with.
                            IT LIVES! http://directq.blogspot.com/

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                            • #15
                              So tell me - the evil content creater - then: which place?

                              Just joking
                              dfsp*spirit
                              my FPS maps

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