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Lightmaps

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:33 am
by Sniperjack
Does anyone know how to make custom object lightmaps 1024x1024 or 2048x2048 instead of 512x512 pixels?

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:36 am
by MR PINK BALLS
believe the game only supports 512x512 why do you need any more than that?,its plenty to work with

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:22 am
by Sniperjack
On big buildings where there are diagonal parts (such as beams) it looks very pixelated.

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:48 am
by Apache Thunder
Hope you know how to lightmap with 3DSMax. That is the only known way of making larger lightmaps.

But be warned. If you do make lots of really large lightmaps on a lot of statics. It WILL lag. The more lightmaps you use and the larger they are, the more video ram they take up! ;)

You would need to know how to import a heightmap into max, the object positions. Then replace the boxes in the scene with the geometries of the objects in the map while making sure the scale is correct. A whole bunch of stuff must be done and it is indeed quite complicated. Look at my Dalian Plant map as an example. I lightmapped most of the large buildings in 3DSMax and they turned out great. If you can do lightmaps right in 3DSMax, you can do things the game engine never can. Like add multiple lightsources to your lightmaps. ;)

You should see my lightmaps I did for the DC Sea Rigs interior. They are spectacular! If you can manage to learn how to do it, it is most certainly worth the effort. It will make your map stand out from the crowd if you do something special with the lightmaps. ;)

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 5:04 am
by fo0k
Sniper.. do you mean objectlightmaps for the buildings to light themselves..? thats kinda what I presume you mean.

if so.. then you can make them any size usaing samplesmaker.. goto http://www.cajunwolf.com/tutorials.htm and towards the bottom there is a tutorial on this..
if thats what you are after.. :)

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 5:55 am
by MR PINK BALLS
Sniperjack wrote:On big buildings where there are diagonal parts (such as beams) it looks very pixelated.
make the picture huge,get everything were u need it,scale it to 512x512,map it,done.

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:01 am
by Apache Thunder
SamplesMaker only has 3 options. Small, Medium, and Large. Large = 512x512.

There is no way I know of making SamplesMaker output larger then 512x512. Though if he is using the samples that EA made, then he will most likely get good enough results with medium or large size anyways since EA's samples were made using small lightmaps. (128x128).

Anything larger then 512x512 requires 3DSMax.

Do NOT use a image program to resize finished lightmaps. I tried that once. It would just make it look worse.

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:46 pm
by Sniperjack
OK, thanks guys. I was actually asking this for Reegad, and I don't have any idea how to do lightmaps myself. I think he uses the samplesmaker.

Are the any tutorials on how to do lightmaps in 3dsmax? I think I remember one on the Perfectionist Custom Level Design website, but that site seems to be down now.

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:09 pm
by fo0k
has anyone managed to create lightmaps for custom objects here?

tutorial would be very useful

Re: Lightmaps

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:13 am
by MR PINK BALLS
fo0k wrote:has anyone managed to create lightmaps for custom objects here?

tutorial would be very useful

Dont u just give the object a shadow mesh then the game will lightmap it in bc