Posts by channie

PC : Hitman 4

PSP : Loco Roco

PS2 : Guitar Hero

here

I've read the diffuse map is generated by the QW editing tools.

The main advantage is the artist is free to add gfx details (blasts, vehicles tracks, ...) on parts of the map that'll be walked over by players. No more blending by shaders, so you can basically do whatever you want by painting over

hey satan

yeah, RR2 gave some insights on getting proper shadows on the terrain, that was very appreciated

All the infos I gathered come from various previews on websites, infos on splash damage forums, among others.

The goal is to provide a comprehensive level design guide, a way to create a decent QW map from scratch, with balance in mind, so I talk about several conception topics including the main objectives design, secondary ones, routes, layout, covers, and more.

Once the SDK is released, I'll continue to write posts about technics, workflow, optimisation, iterative building, testing and marketing after release...

The guide, once properly revised, will be translated in various languages.

Some guys at Doom 3 World managed to get a megatextured terrain working in doom 3.

This kind of 'proof of concept' has a few drawbacks a 3d rendering-oriented programmer spotted :

- The diffuse map resolution is way too low comparing to QW screenies

- The fragment program just add a LOD on the megatexture chunks

- It seems a single diffuse map cannot get all the details we've seen on various QW screenshots, so is there a detail map or such to be added on top ?

- How is handled the LOD since using it impacts a lot on general performance (all the lods must be loaded on gfx cards to be handled by fragment program...)

So far, the workflow seems very smooth :

- create a 32k x 32k plane with any 3d modeling package

- apply a heightmap (from worldmachine or terragen) as a displacement modifier

- export the model to a .lwo or .ase

- fix material name of the exported model

- create the associated shader :

megatexture/mon_terrain


{


qer_editorimage megatextures\mon_terrain_editeur.tga


{


blend filter


megaTexture mon_terrain.mega


}


{


map _white


blend diffusemap


}


}

- There you go

Feel free to play around with this and post your results

Quote from skdr

Does it require SM3?

Yes.

Quote from JynxDaddy

When does the PC version come out

afaik, december 21.

Quote from Warby

yeah pc version with ue3 editor PLEASE !

afaik, the editor won't ship with the game.

btw, Edge UK gave it a 6 out of 10. But they complain mainly about the gfx and they don't have tested multiplayer at all.

Sounds good

Will certainly buy it as soon as it hits shelves !

Any release date so far ?

Quote from Squirrelly

[email protected] and I'll be glad to help.

Sure, thank you

I'll contact you in a few weeks once I'm done with the 1st part.

Thank you all for your inputs, very useful

Koko : nice to see you again dude

Satan : I don't know how works the internal process. However, by reading most of the articles and viewing the same amount of videos of Quake Wars, I've gathered enough info to start a level editing guide, that will be corrected once the game is out if I've ever written something wrong (and it'll probably happens...). The goal is to have some kind of tutorial explaining the level design rules, the balance basics, and the whole level building process,... that'll be useful for anyone planning to make a map for QW.

PhilipK : I've forgot to mention that the software I seek should be easy to learn & master. So far, any 3d modeling package does not fulfill the requirement since it requires a little bit of practicing before being ready to go. Also, 3DS or any modeling software is a bit slow to run since we speak about a map layout (so there's no need to support very big textures at this point) that needs to be quickly turned into 3D and converted back to 2D after editing.

Tailgunner : Freeworld3d seems to include all the features i wished. Will evaluate the product asap.

SindWiller : T.ED also seems to be the right kind of software i seek. Plus, it is lightweight, and not that expensive.

As far as I know, the terrain mesh is done with software like Lightwave, 3DS or Maya and then imported. I don't think it'll be editable within the QW's World Editor.

Some people pointed me Terragen, but its builtin tools are somewhat limited for terrain editing (i.e. no per-vertex manipulation).

Hey there, 1st post here,

I don't know it it's the right subforum to ask, but anyhow, here it is :

I'm writing some kind of tutorial covering the entire process of creating levels for Quake Wars (french), and i'm searching for a software able to do the following things :

- Import a heightmap

- Generate the geometry from heightmap

- Modify the geometry (elevation, smoothing...)

- Export modified terrain into heightmap

- Good workflow doing these operations is a plus, but not required.

The reason i'm doing this is when you create your 2D layout, you need to view it in 3D to foresee any problems regarding the balance with the elevations. You can then fix those problems in 3D and get the 2D heightmap to finalize your layout.

I don't bother whether this software is free or not.

Thank you for your time !